Please support the novel with your power stones, it motivates me. Thank you! Every 10 power stones = an extra chapter!! Join my Patreon for more chapters and to support me.
https://patreon.com/Absolute_Winter
The middle-aged man bowed slightly to Bai Chen and said seriously:
"Hello. My name is Yan Lan. I hope you'll remember my name."
After the events that had just happened, he had already realized something.
This boy who looked only about ten years old was very likely some major figure whose background he could not guess.
What he needed to do in this battle was not necessarily win, but to fight impressively enough so the other side would remember him.
Bai Chen smiled faintly.
"My name is Bai Chen. No need to be polite. Let's begin."
"Alright. Please guide me."
Yan Lan stopped wasting words. He spread his hands forward and pulled a long saber from its sheath.
Two yellow, two purple, and one black five soul rings slowly rose from his body.
"Hm… a blade with a sheath?"
Seeing his martial soul, Bai Chen tilted his head with interest.
Normally in the Douluo world, weapon martial souls do not come with sheaths—swords and blades usually manifest directly.
So if someone draws a blade from a sheath, it usually means the blade itself is not the martial soul.
However, Bai Chen's spiritual perception told him something different.
Both the blade and the sheath were actually part of Yan Lan's martial soul.
No wonder someone who could enter the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had some extraordinary qualities.
Thinking this, Bai Chen no longer used the mental-attribute techniques he had used in previous fights.
Instead, his body flashed forward.
Yan Lan was slightly startled.
But in that moment of distraction, Bai Chen had already rushed in front of him.
"Hmm!"
Instinctively he stepped back and immediately activated his third soul ring.
A white blade aura slashed toward Bai Chen.
However, what shocked him was that Bai Chen seemed to already know exactly where his attack would land.
Just before the blade aura struck, Bai Chen's hand had already moved forward and blocked the attack precisely.
Clang!
The blade struck Bai Chen's hand.
But instead of flesh being cut, Yan Lan felt as if he had struck solid metal.
Even his arm trembled slightly from the impact.
On Bai Chen's hand, a faint layer of golden dragon scales emerged.
After practicing the Tang Sect's Six Skills, Bai Chen's hands had become the hardest part of his body.
With Mysterious Jade Hands, Heavenly Dream armor, and dragon scale protection, even a Soul King's attack had difficulty injuring him.
After blocking the attack, the distance between them became extremely short.
Yan Lan recovered quickly and did not dare hesitate again.
His fifth soul ring, the black one, slowly lit up.
White blade light condensed at the tip of his saber, ready to strike at any moment.
In response, Bai Chen's eyes flashed with purple-gold light.
"Hmm?!"
The combination of spiritual shock and the Purple Demon Eyes produced an immediate effect.
Although Yan Lan had already prepared defenses, he still lost control of his body for a moment.
Bai Chen simply swung a hand through the air.
Suddenly, Yan Lan's arm jerked violently to the side, as if pulled by invisible strings.
"Slash!"
A terrifying blade light flashed.
Yan Lan's fifth soul skill struck in the wrong direction, slicing across the edge of the arena and nearly cutting it in half.
This was the power of a Soul King's fifth soul skill—if faced head-on, even Bai Chen would have difficulty blocking it.
But in real combat, Yan Lan had no chance of actually landing the attack on Bai Chen.
In the Douluo III era, Bai Chen was accustomed to one-hit kills with time-freeze techniques.
But in Douluo II, he relied more on raw stats and mental abilities.
Many people overlooked his basic combat techniques.
In reality, Bai Chen had never stopped practicing the Tang Sect Six Skills.
Especially during his time at Shrek Academy, after learning forging, medicine, and soul-tool theory, his next step was to integrate soul skills with the Tang Sect techniques.
Because of this hard training, even if Bai Chen faced an opponent with equal raw stats, he could still defeat them easily.
His close-combat techniques combined with future prediction abilities created a terrifying synergy.
In terms of raw strength, Yan Lan was actually not weaker than Bai Chen.
Bai Chen's spiritual shock could threaten him but could not directly decide the battle.
Meanwhile Yan Lan's fifth soul skill carried decisive power.
Combined with his higher soul power level, his raw numbers were actually superior.
But the problem was that Bai Chen's mental perception and predictive ability made it impossible for Yan Lan to fully use that advantage.
When the fifth soul skill missed, Yan Lan immediately raised his blade horizontally to block Bai Chen's incoming punch.
However, Bai Chen did not strike the blade.
Instead, just before the punch landed, he suddenly opened his palm.
In his palm burned a small golden flame.
In the next instant, the golden flame exploded.
A powerful shockwave formed from Ultimate Light and Ultimate Fire blasted Yan Lan flying.
He crashed heavily onto the ground.
Just as he tried to stand up, the surrounding air suddenly twisted.
An overwhelming fatigue and dizziness flooded his mind.
"Damn…"
Yan Lan truly felt like swearing.
He had clearly prepared himself mentally for defeat before the battle.
But this was still too frustrating.
From the beginning of the fight until now, he had never once gained the initiative.
It was as if his opponent could see every move he would make in advance, dissolving every action before it even happened.
By the time he reacted, the situation was already hopeless.
If they had simply exchanged blows directly, even if he lost he would not feel so humiliated.
But this feeling of being completely controlled without being able to use his full power was unbearable.
Bai Chen didn't care what he was thinking.
After binding him with a mental cage, Bai Chen used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Steps and instantly appeared behind Yan Lan.
His finger pressed lightly against Yan Lan's neck.
"You've lost."
Hearing the voice behind him, Yan Lan laughed bitterly and raised his hands.
"Yes, I lost. Could you cancel your soul skill? This dizziness feels terrible."
"Alright."
Bai Chen removed his finger and released the mental cage.
Yan Lan collapsed onto the ground in relief.
Thus, the strongest Soul King of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's headquarters had been defeated by Bai Chen.
Everyone around looked at Bai Chen as if they were staring at a monster.