Before long, the cool silver-haired young man, Xie Yue, stepped onto the arena.
The referee glanced at the Iceflame Dragon coiling in midair behind Mu Yang and said, "Mu Yang, please retract your secret technique. All skills can only be released after the match begins."
Hearing this, Mu Yang raised an eyebrow but didn't argue. He simply canceled the Iceflame Dragon.
Since the match hadn't officially started, any lingering techniques from the previous round couldn't be carried over. Otherwise, it would be no different from using soul skills before the match to gain an early advantage.
"Both contestants, release your martial souls. Match, begin!"
"First soul skill, Moon Blade Slash!"
The moment the match started, Xie Yue's first soul ring lit up. His moon blades sliced through the air, sending a crimson energy blade hurtling toward Mu Yang, while he himself charged straight at his opponent.
Having watched his teammate Yan's battle with Mu Yang earlier, Xie Yue knew that the secret technique that summoned the ice-blue dragon was extremely powerful—something he likely couldn't withstand.
However, he had also noticed that while Mu Yang's Iceflame Dragon secret technique was formidable, it required time to activate. His best chance to win was to fight with speed, close the distance, and not give Mu Yang the opportunity to cast it.
Therefore, right from the start, Xie Yue unleashed an instant-cast offensive soul skill and launched a direct assault.
The crimson energy blade slashed forward at high speed, but Mu Yang remained unfazed. With a light tap of his foot, he activated his supreme movement technique: Soaring Immortal Steps.
In an instant, he left an afterimage where he had stood. His body shifted sideways by more than ten meters, dodging the incoming energy blade as if he had teleported.
So your offensive soul skill is instant-cast? Well, I'll just 'teleport'—let's see how you deal with that.
"Fourth soul skill, Blades of the Moon!"
Xie Yue didn't falter after his first attack missed. His fourth soul ring suddenly lit up, unleashing a surge of soul power.
In an instant, countless sharp flying blades materialized in the air, swirling toward Mu Yang and sealing off all possible escape routes.
"Hmph—"
Soaring Immortal Steps was a profound movement technique, but it wasn't true spatial teleportation. With no way to evade, Mu Yang let out a cold snort as an ice-blue radiance erupted from his body. A layer of ice-blue armor instantly materialized, covering him completely.
Iceflame Secret Technique: Iceflame Armor!
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
The storm of razor-sharp flying blades crashed against the Iceflame Armor, producing a rapid series of metallic clashing sounds.
Although Xie Yue's fourth soul skill was an offensive technique, it was a multi-strike group attack, meaning each individual strike wasn't particularly strong.
Despite the sheer number of flying blades, they failed to pierce through the armor's defense.
What's more, as Mu Yang circulated his soul power, the damage to the Iceflame Armor was rapidly regenerating, restoring itself under the barrage of attacks.
"Secret Technique: Iceflame Dragon!"
With the protection of the Iceflame Armor, Mu Yang didn't hesitate to summon the Iceflame Dragon once more.
However, Xie Yue immediately recognized the severity of the situation. He knew that he couldn't let Mu Yang complete the summoning—otherwise, his defeat would be inevitable.
Without hesitation, Xie Yue tensed his arms, veins bulging. He stretched both arms outward, his twin moon blades connecting into a perfect circle as he shouted:
"Full Moon!"
In an instant, Xie Yue vanished—his figure and his twin moon blades disappearing together.
What appeared before Mu Yang's eyes was now a massive, spinning white disc.
There was no sound of friction or rushing wind—almost as if all noise had been devoured by the rapidly rotating white disc.
Understanding that Xie Yue's technique had immense explosive power and that his Iceflame Armor alone likely wouldn't withstand it, Mu Yang dared not be careless. While continuing to summon the Iceflame Dragon, he diverted part of his attention, channeling his soul power. A brilliant blue crystal glow rapidly spread across his body from beneath the protection of the Iceflame Armor.
Among the spectators were several Title Douluo-level experts, but very few noticed that Mu Yang's physique had subtly expanded. Beneath the Iceflame Armor, a completely translucent and crystalline layer of armor had formed.
—External Soul Bone: Crystal Scale Armor!
Silently manifesting his external soul bone, Mu Yang's body shimmered once again with a radiant blue crystal glow as he activated his soul bone ability: Crystal Body.
Soul Bone Ability: Crystal Body—grants 30% immunity to all physical and energy damage below the God level.
At this moment, Mu Yang had already stacked three layers of defensive measures:
1. The immunity effect from Crystal Body.
2. The protective barrier of the Iceflame Armor.
3. The Crystal Scale Armor external soul bone beneath it.
Of course, these three defensive layers didn't cover his head and neck. Due to his current soul power level, the Crystal Scale Armor had yet to extend to those areas.
The next moment—
"Roar—"
A majestic ice-blue dragon soared into the air behind Mu Yang.
At the same time, the white disc, slicing through the air, struck Mu Yang's body.
"Boom—"
A violent impact resounded. The tremendous force pushed Mu Yang back a step, while the rapidly spinning white disc was also sent flying a few meters away. Its rotation even slowed slightly, revealing Xie Yue's faint silhouette.
But in just the blink of an eye, the white disc regained its original speed and once again shot toward Mu Yang.
"Boom—"
A second explosion rang out. The impact this time was noticeably weaker—Mu Yang's body only trembled slightly, without stepping back. Likewise, the white disc was no longer deflected.
"Screech—"
A piercing grinding sound echoed. The white disc, like a high-speed rotary blade, tried to slice through Mu Yang as if he were a solid block of metal.
"Not bad... but still not enough!"
After two seconds of deadlock, Mu Yang noticed that his Iceflame Armor had already been breached by the white disc's cutting force. Now, only the ultra-durable Crystal Scale Armor beneath it was holding firm.
His speed, in all aspects, was superior to Xie Yue's. The defensive strength of the Iceflame Armor alone rivaled that of ordinary ten-thousand-year defensive soul skills. Coupled with the Crystal Body soul bone's 30% damage immunity, the fact that Xie Yue could break through the Iceflame Armor was proof of how powerful his "Full Moon" truly was.
If Mu Yang had only relied on the Iceflame Armor, he wouldn't have been able to withstand this attack head-on and would have been forced to evade.
Unfortunately for Xie Yue, Mu Yang took defense very seriously.
"As the saying goes, you can only deal damage if you can stand your ground."
Mu Yang understood better than anyone that a fragile body was a death sentence.
Right now, merely breaching the Iceflame Armor was meaningless. Xie Yue had yet to even touch the true defense beneath it.
In fact, Mu Yang didn't even need to use all his defensive means—just the Crystal Scale Armor alone was enough.
At this point, Xie Yue's attack was doomed to be nothing more than a mere scrape.
For additional chapters
Versatile mage {40 chapters}
Douluo Dalu:This Soul Master is to Weird {30 Chapters}
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