Volume 20, Chapter 178.3: 'Specter' Na Na
After unleashing this blade, the surrounding air heated up. Na Na’s surreal-looking body turned even more illusory as the heat caused the air around her to ripple.
The blade instantly turned into a rainbow and the blade light extended from two feet to ten feet. Na Na disappeared amidst the blade light as she unleashed its power. Her body combined with the blade and she slashed at Huo Yuhao. At that moment, the blade light was like the rising sun. Regardless of whether it was her speed, strength, soul master type, or soul tool, she had reached the peak of a Class 5 soul engineer.
When Na Na started her attack, Huo Yuhao started moving. A dark-golden light shone brightly and his Darkgolden Terrorclaws appeared. He stomped to cease all forward momentum. He stabilized himself in place, choosing not to advance further.
The ten-foot-long scarlet-red blade light was extremely terrifying within that patch of red air. However, the scarlet-red light was concealed by Huo Yuhao’s Darkgolden Terrorclaws as they appeared.
They appeared as five enormous dark-golden blade lights. The huge terrorclaws exuded a terrifying killing aura that nearly covered twenty feet. When they came out, they swept aside everything in their path. Huo Yuhao was like a Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear in human form. His right arm was dyed completely dark-gold.
Both parties weren’t using any flowery skills against each other when they collided. On one side, there was a combination of woman and weapon aided by a powerful soul tool. On the other side, there was the frightening offense of a person equipped with the Darkgolden Terrorclaws, a rare external soul bone from the overbearing Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear.
When these parties collided, a metallic clanging sound rung out. It sounded like gold and steel had struck each other head on.
Following that, the illusory figure was thrown more than ten meters away.
As this figure was flung back, it unleashed a golden light barrier. This light barrier forcefully dispelled those dark-gold blade lights that pestered Na Na so, but it was also crushed instantly.
Na Na was the one who was flung. While her soul tools were strong, they weren’t destructive enough to compete with the Darkgolden Terrorclaws.
Huo Yuhao didn’t even use all his strength, when he unleashed the Darkgolden Terrorclaws, as he didn’t want to harm her. Otherwise, given his current cultivation, it would’ve been much more powerful had he injected all of his soul power into them.
However, Na Na’s soul tool was of great quality. Only a few flaws appeared after it was struck. But the automatic defensive soul tool barrier on her body had been completely destroyed.
The students supporting Na Na cheered when her scarlet-red blade light appear. However, their cheers were stuck in their throats shortly afterwards, and they were devastated. Na Na, who gave off an extremely powerful seeming gaze, was forced back in one blow. It was evident that she was at a disadvantage.
Na Na’s illusory figure suddenly became a little more realistic. She lifted her head as she landed on the ground, and her eyes met Huo Yuhao’s.
She saw the intense competitive will in Huo Yuhao’s eyes.
Did I just lose to him in a direct confrontation? Na Na was very indignant. However, she managed to keep her cool even under such circumstances. Her body flashed, and she once more burst towards Huo Yuhao. She increased her speed again, then her first and second soul rings flashed sequentially.
Na Na’s figure divided into three, all of them illusory. These three figures separated from one another once they were less than five meters away from Huo Yuhao, before swiftly gathering in towards Huo Yuhao at the center. Three scarlet-red light streaks shot toward Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao grinned. He acted just as the Na Na figures grouped together. His body also turned illusory like Na Na’s, but the illusionary aspect came from the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.
In this fight, many of the spectators couldn’t even see what was going on clearly. They could only see Huo Yuhao shuttling between the three figures, and hear clanging or knocking noises resonated continuously.
Sitting in the main spectator stand, Jing Hongchen’s expression turned serious. He naturally knew who Na Na was. He’d been the one to grant approval for her to compete in the next Elite Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament.
However, he saw her inferiority compared to Huo Yuhao after just a short bout fighting him.
In terms of absolute speed; Na Na was quicker than Huo Yuhao with the enhancements from her first and second soul skills. However, she was only fast. She wasn’t nearly as accurate as Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao’s Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track allowed him to appear at the weaker areas in Na Na’s onslaught. While it seemed like Na Na had encircled him, he was the one attacking her incessantly with his Darkgolden Terrorclaws.
Na Na’s first soul skill increased her speed and made her body more illusory, which meant she would suffer less harm when she was attacked. Her second soul skill allowed her to form doppelgangers. With these abilities and her powerful close-combat type soul tool, she was fighting like an agility-type soul master with the strength of an assault-type.
The doppelgangers weren’t real; they were just her second soul skill. They didn’t possess any offensive strength. They purely used speed to create illusions. These three figures were actually just the one person.
But how could her doppelgangers trick Huo Yuhao, and his spiritual detection? Huo Yuhao could take the initiative easily even if he used less effort than her. While they appeared to be on par with one another, Na Na was actually being suppressed, and was at a disadvantage. This was clear from how relaxed Huo Yuhao was—he didn’t even use his left hand, instead placing it behind his back.
Na Na was panicked as the battle dragged on. She no longer underestimated Huo Yuhao.
Did he really just become a Soul Ancestor? According to the academy’s information, he should be more inclined towards a control-type soul master!
However, she suffered every time she collided with him even though he was just a Soul Ancestor. The Scarletflame Blade she was using, was a brilliant Class 5 close-combat soul tool. It contained a scarlet flame, which had a temperature of one thousand degrees Celsius. She tested it once on a wild beast, and the wild beast had been instantly cooked as she slashed it with the blade. However, the scarlet flames were dissipated before they even touching Huo Yuhao’s body. They couldn’t affect him in the slightest. This also meant that it was completely ineffective against Huo Yuhao.
“Clink!” A crisp sound resonated. Na Na was forced back again. Huo Yuhao’s strength numbed her right hand.
“Wait a minute!” Huo Yuhao shouted. He stopped Na Na just as she was about to burst towards him again.
“What?” Na Na stared at him warily.
Huo Yuhao said, “This isn’t fair for you. I suggest you change your weapon. I have twin martial souls. My first martial soul is spiritual-type, while my second martial soul is ice-type. Using fire-type or ice-type soul tools against me won’t be very effective.”
Na Na was confused. “Why are you telling me this?”
Huo Yuhao’s eyes flashed with burning light. “Your close-combat strength is impressive. But I can also tell that you haven’t given your all yet. Since this is the case, I want to spar with you in your best condition. That’s the point of sparring, isn’t it? You would’ve already lost if I simply wanted to defeat you.”
Na Na snorted furiously. “Don’t be so arrogant. Let’s go again.” As she spoke, she burst towards Huo Yuhao again. But she didn’t use her second soul skill this time. She only used her first soul skill to increase her speed.
Although she was unconvinced, her soul tool had already changed while she made her move. The Scarletflame Blade disappeared, replaced by a green blade.
She seemed to fancy blades. Huo Yuhao was under greater pressure when this blade appeared.
It was also a Class 5 soul tool, but it was a wind-type soul tool. The blade unleashed six wind blades towards Huo Yuhao, which came from different directions. Huo Yuhao found it tough to navigate even though he had both the spiritual detection and the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track.
Na Na inched closer to him. She wielded her ‘Swift Blade’, and six more wind blades attacked from different directions towards Huo Yuhao. She also got closer to Huo Yuhao with the speed boost from the blade. She wasn’t slashing the blade anymore, instead she stabbed it towards Huo Yuhao’s chest.
He lifted both his hands, they were instantly covered in diamond ice crystals. He retracted his Darkgolden Terrorclaws and switched to the Ice Empress’ Pincer with Mysterious Jade Hands. He did something else too, something weird. His left hand grabbed forward towards the Swift Blade, while his right arm started to make large revolutions like a huge windmill.
Something even weirder happened. As he revolved his right arm, the six wind blades seemed to be attracted by something, and changed their direction. They all slashed towards a corner of the arena, leaving several marks. While his left hand touched the Swift Blade.
Both of their bodies jerked. But the Ice Empress’ Pincer couldn’t compare to the Darkgolden Terrorclaws. Even though he managed to block the Swift Blade, there wasn’t enough strength. Huo Yuhao’s staggered two steps back. However, Na Na was forced back too.
How did he deflect the wind blades? Na Na was shocked once again. But the blades were still useful, or at least they were better than the Scarletflame Blade.
Her attacks began anew after her discoveries. She kept on wielding the Swift Blade as she surrounded Huo Yuhao with attacks. Her assault continued swiftly.