"As expected, killing Mu En early was the right move."
Su Ming thought to himself.
What were Spirit Skills?
They were skills a Spirit Master obtained randomly from a pool of many possibilities after absorbing a spirit ring, based on the combination of the absorbed spirit beast's abilities and the Martial Soul's abilities.
That was the case for ordinary Spirit Masters.
For Spirit Masters with top-tier Martial Souls, their Spirit Skills had a strong tendency. For example, the Dai family, who had obtained the White Tiger's Vajra Transformation Spirit Skill for countless generations, could basically generate this skill at the third spirit ring position as long as they absorbed an assault-type spirit beast, only the quality differed, meaning the spirit power consumption varied.
Bei Bei was also in this situation.
From Mu En to Bei Bei, at least three generations had passed, and the bloodline had been diluted. Yet, Bei Bei could still inherit these two ultimate skills solely through his spirit rings.
It showed how deeply Mu En had integrated these two sets of ultimate techniques into his Martial Soul.
"Even so, Mu En was only a half-god, far from a quasi-god."
Even restored to his peak state, free from bodily ailments, he wasn't a quasi-god, far from it.
It wasn't that Mu En's worth wasn't high, but that he had no external forces.
Quasi-god, quasi-god — they had already atypically entered the domain of gods.
Di Tian had always been in this domain, but before Douluo 2, this realm wasn't classified, because it only became widespread after Battle Armor appeared.
Using external forces to boost the upper limit of one's power into the godly domain, then finding a way to permanently reside there — that counted as a quasi-god. Di Tian had the Dragon God's Claw; undoubtedly, he qualified to become a quasi-god, but he seemed not to have considered permanently staying in that domain.
Mu En wasn't a quasi-god, but Su Ming needed to grow. By now, he had already brought about massive changes on the continent. Tang San could only swallow his anger because he had no more cards to play.
His ace had been matched and eliminated by Su Ming right from the start.
Looking back, Su Ming felt the key wasn't his scheming, but that Tang San was too stingy and didn't help treat Mu En.
With the Golden Ancient Tree present, no one should die from injuries or illnesses.
Even if it required sacrificing the essence of the Golden Ancient Tree, even injuries to one's origin like Mu En's should have been completely recoverable, allowing him to reach an even higher level.
Even then, he might not have become a quasi-god, but this era was different.
In this era, Su Ming began promoting Battle Armor.
If Mu En were alive and Su Ming didn't promote it, the change to the continent wouldn't be thorough enough, and faith collection would be slow.
If he promoted Battle Armor, and Mu En on Shrek's side secretly developed a method to nurture Battle Armor, creating Four-Word Battle Armor, wouldn't Su Ming be in trouble?
Mu En was a ruthless character who could grind away the baleful aura from a god-level dragon core bit by bit while severely injured himself!
He didn't need too many conditions. Just one piece of Soul Refined metal, a massive burst of true luck, plus Tang San's support, and he really might have nurtured it to the Heaven Refinement level.
Without even forging Battle Armor, purely relying on the metal to assist in condensing a third spirit core, he would have had a chance to become a quasi-god.
So, looking back now, Su Ming increasingly admired his own foresight in killing Mu En at the start.
In the time Su Ming was pondering, the outcome on the arena had already been decided.
The two ultimate skills were good, but unfortunately, they were targeted against evil Spirit Masters.
The Martial Soul Fusion Skill performed by two Spirit Sages wasn't something Bei Bei could withstand.
Bei Bei was eliminated. The crimson-gold giant toad pressed its advantage, and the crimson-gold energy spheres spewing from its mouth began to branch out.
Everyone except Xu Sanshi received its attention.
"You forced our hand."
The giant eye began to transform.
"True Words in Nothingness, Mental Tempest!"
They also threw martial virtue to the wind, using their Martial Soul Fusion Skill to attack the members of the Sun Moon Imperial Team.
"Surrender!" Xiao Hongchen's voice came from within the giant toad.
He told his teammates to leave first.
The Sun Moon Imperial Team members, their heads splitting with pain, were sensible and didn't try to resist.
Only the two sides using Martial Soul Fusion Skills and Xu Sanshi remained on the field.
The giant toad looked at Xu Sanshi.
Xu Sanshi's expression turned bitter, and he ran towards the edge of the arena himself.
Just as he was about to fall off, his fourth spirit ring flashed.
The giant toad sneered coldly, not moving from its spot.
Xu Sanshi's strategy failed. He returned to the preparation area, covered in dust and looking disheveled.
"Such strong spiritual power. Does the Xiao Hongchen-Meng Hongchen Martial Soul Fusion Skill also boost spiritual power? We successfully swapped Xiao Hongchen before at the academy."
With Xu Sanshi also eliminated, the giant toad no longer held back.
"Invincible Toad Cannon!"
Pieces of armor components appeared on its body. Opening its mouth, crimson-gold energy gathered.
"At this rate, your Battle Armor will be permanently ruined!" Meng Hongchen anxiously reminded Xiao Hongchen.
Xiao Hongchen was burning his Battle Armor, then using his Golden Attachment to fuse it as part of his body, forming a layer of Battle Armor outside the crimson-gold giant toad.
Xiao Hongchen didn't care at all.
"What's there to fear? Su Ming said our Battle Armor-making technique still isn't up to par. We'll definitely have to remake it in the future. At worst, I'll switch to practicing as a blacksmith and replenish this set of Thousand Refined First Grade Spirit Metal myself."
Meng Hongchen stopped trying to dissuade him.
She had reason to suspect Xiao Hongchen was doing this on purpose. After this match against Shrek, they would face the Body Sect anyway, which they couldn't beat. Might as well burn the Battle Armor first, giving him a reason to avoid the fight.
Xiao Hongchen had said similar things before, something like... "Kings shall not meet."
Sensing the terrifying energy fluctuations from the giant toad, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong'er also chose to make their final stand.
"Solo Dance Amidst Frost, Splendor of Light!"
Wang Dong'er's phantom appeared on the arena. She gently raised her hand, surrounded by extreme ice and snow power, and her palm struck out, colliding with the crimson-gold energy.
"Ice Empress! Please!"
Both Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen inside the giant toad were greatly shocked.
The power from the other side felt off.
"Isn't Wang Dong'er supposed to be leading? Why is this ice and snow power so strong?"
Meng Hongchen gritted her teeth and burned her own Battle Armor.
"Hurry, Xiao, fuse with my Battle Armor!"
"What an exciting battle."
Su Ming clicked his tongue in admiration.
On one side, there were cheaters; on the other, plain and ordinary Spirit Masters.
"Hongchen's Attachment finally wins once."
If Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen were willing to burn their Battle Armor, what more could be said?
If the core formations they engraved were too low-level and didn't fully unleash the Battle Armor's potential, only raising them by one major rank, then burning the Battle Armor removed this drawback.
Because the spirituality was all burned, all its power was squeezed out.
This was equivalent to the Martial Soul Fusion Skill of two Spirit Douluos.
Su Ming had already made his evaluation. On the arena, both sides were still locked in a stalemate.
However, the situation was indeed shifting in the direction Su Ming judged.
Splendor of Light was still weaker.
Wang Dong'er's phantom shattered, revealing the figures of Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong'er.
On Wang Dong'er's body, a blue-golden light appeared, protecting her.
"Semi-final first match, Sun Moon Imperial Team wins!"
The spectator stands erupted with deafening cheers.
This battle contained tactics from both sides, forcing concessions from each other, ultimately returning to an ultimate clash of raw power.
Thrilling!
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