Chapter 93: "Rematch" with Snake Lance Douluo, Sublimation of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.
Facing attacks aimed at every vital point on his body, Tang Shan remained undaunted in the face of danger.
Soul Power surged into his palms like a tide. With his fingers pressed together, the wind from his palms whistled as he struck repeatedly, accurately parrying the fierce attacks close at hand one by one. Simultaneously, his body descended rapidly like a falling lead weight, the wind surrounding him kicking up layers of airwaves.
Snake Lance Douluo flicked his wrist, and the long lance in his hand suddenly twisted and deformed, resembling a living phantom snake. A scale-like cold light flowed along the shaft as it coiled toward Tang Shan's body with a sinister and vicious arc.
Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!
Tang Shan's palms were as fast as lightning, the dense slapping sounds merging into one. In the eyes of onlookers, his arms had already turned into blurry phantoms, moving so quickly that only fleeting afterimages could be captured, making it impossible to distinguish the trajectory of his Moves.
In terms of raw power, Snake Lance Douluo was clearly far inferior to him; however, when it came to the seasoned timing of combat and years of battle experience, he was clearly at a disadvantage.
Invisible Astral Winds churned wildly between the clashing of fist and lance, the resulting air currents darting about like sharp blades. Fallen leaves on the ground were swept up by the energy, dancing in the air; before they could land, they were ground into powder by the aftershocks of the impact, fluttering down to cover the ground.
The long lance suddenly thrust forward, its sharp tip aiming straight for the throat. Tang Shan instinctively raised his hand to block, but just as his fingertips touched the shaft, the tip dipped eerily, changing direction like a spiritual snake flicking its tongue, targeting the opening at his shoulder socket.
Clearly, after a few rounds of exchange, Snake Lance Douluo had already figured out how to bypass Tang Shan's instinctive perception.
The continuous shadows of the lance were like layers of crashing waves, completely suppressing Tang Shan. The airtight offensive was like a torrential downpour, each strike carrying a chilling killing intent and emitting a suffocating pressure.
'Is this my limit without activating my Martial Soul?'
Feeling his crumbling defense, Tang Shan took a deep breath and then unhesitatingly released his Martial Soul.
His body surged violently, knotted muscles bulging like rocks, and thick veins protruding like coiling dragons. The blood and Qi within him were like a blazing furnace, surging and boiling wildly through his Meridians with a muffled roar.
An invisible Aura suddenly soared into the sky from him.
He boldly grabbed the Snake Lance thrusting toward his brow with his right hand, his palm clearly feeling the violent power fluctuations transmitted from the lance. The purple Soul Ring beneath his feet suddenly lit up, and a rich purple halo spread out like a tide.
His entire left arm swelled wildly once more, with blue-black veins coiling around it like sturdy hemp ropes or twisted, winding little snakes, exuding a heart-palpitating sense of power.
The physical transformation was secondary; the most crucial part was his subtle control and perception of force.
Relying on his superior command from a Pseudo-Seeing God level of control, Tang Shan instantly caught a slight stagnation in Snake Lance Douluo's power circulation. With a gentle flick of his palm, despite appearing to have far less strength than his opponent, he forcibly twisted the Snake Lance by half a degree.
Just as the Snake Lance deflected, Tang Shan's left foot slammed into the ground. The earth beneath him let out a muffled groan under the unbearable weight, and his twice-expanded thigh erupted with unparalleled, fierce power, his entire body's strength exploding perfectly with the momentum. His figure was like an arrow piercing the air, launching a Teleportation-like assault toward Snake Lance Douluo, leaving only a footprint an inch deep on the spot, yet with no cracks around it. This showed just how subtle Tang Shan's control over power was.
"Again."
Snake Lance Douluo had already prepared himself the moment his Martial Soul was shaken.
After all, in their previous encounter, his opponent had relied on this very keenness to perceive the flaws in his power circulation and then launch a close-range surprise attack.
Even though he had already corrected his method of exerting force, this time he was still caught by Tang Shan in a subtle flaw that he himself hadn't even noticed.
How could this not be a good thing? Having a flaw isn't scary; what's scary is that a flaw objectively exists but remains undiscovered.
Seeing Tang Shan close in on him in the blink of an eye, a sky full of fist shadows descended like a storm. The wind from the fists tore through the air, producing a muffled whistling sound.
This time, Snake Lance Douluo could no longer block with the shaft of his lance. Majestic Soul Power surged into his palms like a tide. Relying on his powerful Physical Body, which far surpassed Tang Shan's, he forcibly withstood the fierce offensive. However, after blocking only a few Moves, Snake Lance Douluo's expression couldn't help but change slightly.
Streams of distinctly different forces—some feminine and tricky, some fierce and overbearing, some vicious and ruthless, some sharp and piercing—erupted from Tang Shan's fists, surging into his arms through his clashing palms like thousands of steel needles, causing a wave of discomfort.
"How is this possible?"
Snake Lance Douluo couldn't help but cry out in shock, his eyes filled with disbelief. One must know that the Soul Power added to his palms was no ornament; how could it be so easily penetrated by this force?
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The sounds of fists colliding with palms were like thunderclaps, and the violent airwaves they kicked up distorted the surrounding air. The figures of the two combatants constantly crossed paths in the forest; wherever they passed, ancient towering trees snapped and fell, and the ground became riddled with pits and spiderweb-like cracks spreading everywhere.
"Senior, there's no need for surprise. Soul Power is Soul Power, and Internal Force is Internal Force; they cannot be conflated."
Tang Shan's body was like a burning torch, emitting a startlingly scorching breath. His skin was as red as a branding iron, and the blood and Qi within him had long since reached their limit, like a flood dragon churning the sea.
As he spoke, streams of scalding hot air gushed from his mouth and nose, rising as curling white mist; the terrifying temperature inside his body could well be imagined.
As the exchange grew more intense, their attack rates involuntarily skyrocketed, and the intensity of the battle continued to climb.
Snake Lance Douluo stopped speaking and instead gradually activated his own strength. He keenly sensed that the Aura on Tang Shan was undergoing some kind of transformation, as if he were about to reach a Breakthrough.
Meeting speed with speed, meeting violence with violence!
Every collision was a pure clash of power, every exchange a direct confrontation. Even subtle techniques existed now only to unleash more overbearing force.
His blood and Qi surged, already breaking through the physical limits and climbing to an unprecedented Peak;
Soul Power roared through his Meridians like raging waves, then flowed continuously into his limbs, merging with his boiling blood and Qi, amplifying the strength of every inch of muscle as if it were to burn and boil alongside them;
His mental force was active to the extreme, yet silent to the extreme.
So active that every minute movement of Snake Lance Douluo was clearly reflected in his mind, frantically deduced and analyzed in his consciousness to find the perfect counter-strategy;
So silent that every punch and kick of Tang Shan's had escaped the shackles of thought, turning into instinctive physical counters.
Essence, Qi, and Spirit—all three climbed to their Peak simultaneously, as if to complete some qualitative sublimation. An invisible Will began to slowly condense on Tang Shan.
Though that Will was still in its embryonic stage, it already exuded a heart-stopping sharpness, as if a primordial beast were being nurtured within.
Sensing the embryonic form of that Will on Tang Shan, Snake Lance Douluo's eyes narrowed, and a sharp look curled at the corner of his mouth: "Since you have this Opportunity, what's the harm in this old man lending you a hand!"
With a shift in his thoughts, an indestructible yet sinister and vicious Will was infused into his fists, which he then boldly threw out to meet Tang Shan's heavy punches.
Will is inherently formless; when applied to a fist, it becomes Fist Intent; when attached to a saber, it becomes Saber Intent.
Even though Snake Lance Douluo's Will was most compatible with his Martial Soul, the Snake Lance, when applied to his fists now, it still erupted with extremely terrifying power, tearing the air wherever the wind from his fists passed.
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