Rumble—!
Rumble—!
Overhead, the sky had darkened with thunderclouds summoned by the third soul skill of the Ten-Thousand-Year Thunder Hell Vine—Tribulation Ascension. The surging black clouds roiled with electricity, thunder echoing endlessly within them.
Moments later, a torrential downpour came crashing down.
At this point, they had just managed to clear a patch of Blue Silver Spirit Jade Vines.
Only to see, not far ahead, another dense thicket of the crystalline vines suddenly rise up like a sparkling wall of blue crystal, shimmering and dancing wildly in the rain.
Absorbing the starlight, these vines glowed with an almost dreamlike brilliance.
The Spirit Masters from the Spirit Hall, including Sano, were utterly overwhelmed with despair.
What kind of monstrous vine is this? How can it grow so fast?!
You can't cut it through, and you'll never finish cutting!
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
At that moment, the active effect of the third soul skill—Tribulation Ascension—finally completed its charge.
Under the guidance of the numerous Blue Silver Spirit Jade Vines below...
Bolts of dark purple lightning shot down from the sky like a rainstorm, blasting straight toward the Spirit Hall team trapped between the twin walls of Blue Silver Vines.
As for Ye Yu, a dense canopy of vines had already woven into a tight, impenetrable net above his head.
If lightning were to strike in his direction...
The moment it touched that net, the effect of the fourth soul skill—Geospiritual Link—would instantly channel the lightning into the earth below.
No harm would come to Ye Yu whatsoever.
And so, under the relentless bombardment of dark purple lightning from Tribulation Ascension, screams of agony rang out again and again.
Surrounded by twin walls of Blue Silver Vines...
Faced with the thunderstorm crashing down like a wrathful deluge from the heavens, the Spirit Hall team led by Sano was utterly hopeless.
There was no room to dodge, no space to hide.
And anyone struck by the tribulation lightning...
Would die on the spot, instantly reduced to a pitch-black husk of charred flesh.
After all, this was Heavenly Tribulation Lightning!
As the pitch-black clouds above continued to rain thunderous judgment upon the earth—
Explosions and deafening cracks rocked the battlefield.
Within the space between the twin vine walls...
As screams, wails, and desperate pleas filled the air, dirt and stone were blasted skyward by lightning strikes.
Dust billowed in all directions.
Ye Yu, however, sat high upon his Blue Silver Throne, his expression cold and indifferent beneath the visor of his helmet.
If possible, he didn't want to cause trouble.
But who would've thought that simply staying in Heaven Dou Imperial City, participating in a fair match in the Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena, could draw a mortal vendetta?
He hadn't sought conflict with Spirit Hall.
But since Spirit Hall had sent people to kill him—
He had no choice but to kill them instead.
Ye Yu had considered revealing his true identity.
Perhaps using Dugu Bo's name would make Spirit Hall hesitate.
But he remembered—his grandfather Dugu Bo also held deep grudges against Spirit Hall.
And more importantly, if he exposed his identity...
The Thunder Hell Infernal Spear would almost certainly be mistaken as his Second Martial Soul.
That would lead to even more trouble down the line!
So, if he didn't kill these Spirit Hall Spirit Masters, there would be endless problems.
But if he did kill them—then all he'd have to deal with... was the fact he killed them.
Naturally, Ye Yu chose the latter.
And so he waited calmly.
As the storm of tribulation lightning continued—
The cries, screams, and pleas gradually weakened and then fell silent altogether.
Judging that they were likely all dead...
Ye Yu moved his thoughts, and the dense mat of Blue Silver Spirit Jade Vines beneath him stirred to life.
The vines formed into a graceful Blue Silver Arch Bridge, lifting Ye Yu and the throne from one side to the other, delivering him to the base of the crystal wall ahead.
He stood from the throne and stepped between the two walls of Blue Silver Vines.
What greeted him was a scorched battlefield full of massive craters carved out by lightning, still billowing with smoke and dust.
Corpses of Spirit Hall's Spirit Masters lay strewn everywhere.
Each body had been charred to coal-black, unrecognizable husks.
The sight was utterly gruesome.
A strange "aroma" lingered in the air.
It made Ye Yu's stomach churn violently—
But with a deep breath, he forced it down.
In a world like Douluo Continent, how could one get by without killing?
If he couldn't even handle a scene like this—
How would he survive in the future?
After confirming there were no survivors—
Ye Yu retracted the summoned Blue Silver Spirit Jade Vines as he left the area.
The ground beneath, filled with tens of meters of these vines, had been hollowed out completely.
As the vines were dismissed—
RUMBLE—!
The ground beneath collapsed with a quake-like crash.
All the scorched bodies of Spirit Hall's Spirit Masters were buried deep underground.
Only then did Ye Yu turn and leave.
On the way back—
Ye Yu began reflecting on what he had gained from this battle.
He had to admit—
Compared to soul rings from venomous beast-type Soul Beasts like the Mandala Snake or Man-Faced Demon Spider, it was the plant-type Soul Beasts with life attributes that were the best match for his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul.
To him, his four soul skills were nearly perfect.
The first soul skill: Undying Rooted Growth
The second soul skill: Starlight Absorption
The fourth soul skill: Geospiritual Link
All of them could absorb external energy and convert it into vitality or soul power.
The first skill greatly boosted the growth and regenerative capabilities of the Blue Silver Spirit Jade Vines—
Making them nearly uncuttable and impossible to destroy.
Unless one's strength vastly surpassed his, escaping the endless entanglement and suppression of these vines was nearly impossible.
Meanwhile, the Geospiritual Link minimized the soul power cost of summoning and maintaining the vine Martial Soul.
Otherwise, despite the terrifying growth and regeneration of the Blue Silver Vines—
Ye Yu wouldn't have been able to summon them in such massive quantities or keep them active.
What enabled this was the synergy of his three major skills—
Each absorbing nourishment from the earth, power from the sun and stars, and energy from ley lines.
This drastically reduced the cost of using the Blue Silver Spirit Jade Vines—
Allowing Ye Yu to summon them as if it cost no soul power at all.
Still, compared to that guy who could conjure a true forest in a blink—
Ye Yu knew he still had a long way to go.
As for the third soul skill—Tribulation Ascension—
Besides its passive enhancement, which strengthened the vitality and regeneration of the Blue Silver Spirit Jade Vines—
Even after being severed, the vines could revive and grow stronger, just like undergoing a tribulation and ascending.
It also had an active effect: summoning rolling thunderclouds and channeling heavenly lightning to strike down foes.
This battle had proven just how effective that was.
Although the skill had a long casting time—
Once it charged up, its power was devastating.
And given how excellent the Blue Silver Spirit Jade Vines were at controlling the battlefield—
Ye Yu could pin enemies in place, giving them no way to escape the incoming heavenly lightning.
This soul skill was a perfect match for his Martial Soul.
Reflecting on all this—
Ye Yu did not re-enter Heaven Dou City through the gates, but instead scaled the outer walls quietly.
He returned to the Dugu Residence—
Carefully avoiding any chance of exposing his true identity.
Once back—
He didn't tell Dugu Bo or Dugu Yan anything about what had happened.
There was no point—it would only make them worry.
And that might cause even more problems.
Meanwhile, when Platinum Bishop Salas realized that his nephew Sano had been gone for days without returning—
A deep sense of unease began to rise in his heart.