Most of the arena was swallowed by smoke. A massive black shadow stepped out from within it.
What appeared before Wu Ling was a giant black tiger more than twenty meters long and nearly ten meters tall. One of its eyes was red, the other blue, and the inverted king mark on its forehead shone a brilliant gold.
"I have seen a five-for-one opening before, but a seven-for-one opening is new. That really opens my eyes."
"Roar!"
Ignoring Wu Ling's provocation, the Netherworld White Tiger released a thunderous roar. A powerful aura spread from its enormous body, scattering the white mist around it. Then it lunged straight at Wu Ling.
Unlike most Martial Soul fusion skills, which used energy as their main form of attack, the Netherworld White Tiger fought almost entirely through its body.
Because Davis and Zhu Zhuyun had just received several layers of enhancement, this Netherworld White Tiger's strength had reached the level of a top-tier Spirit Leader. If measured against Soul Beasts, it was roughly equivalent to a beast of around twenty thousand years.
In past tournaments, that power would have been overwhelming. Even with the Netherworld White Tiger's time limit, the opponent might not have survived long enough for the limit to matter. In most matches, the moment it appeared, the goddess of victory had already begun waving.
Unfortunately, its opponent this time was someone who had tied the goddess of victory to his side and forced her into his own shape, a person who could not be judged by common sense.
"Hmm. A giant black cat. What a pity. Compared with black cats, I still prefer white-haired ones."
While Wu Ling was still speaking, one tiger claw, nearly half the size of his body, swept down at him from an angle. In response, Wu Ling simply raised one hand.
As expected, the unexpected happened.
With a boom, the ground cracked open into a deep crater. Wu Ling, who had seemed invincible in every previous match, was sent flying under countless shocked gazes.
The audience had been imagining whether Wu Ling would easily receive that claw. After all, his image of overwhelming invincibility had already taken root too deeply. But when he was swatted away, that image shattered. In its place was a still-powerful image, but one that had flaws. To the audience, the almost deified Wu Ling suddenly felt a little more grounded.
Because of that, however, they overlooked one thing.
Wu Ling still had not used his Martial Soul.
Wu Ling was also somewhat surprised while flying through the air. The Netherworld White Tiger's strength had exceeded his expectations.
"I see. It inherited the previous buffs. No wonder its strength is so high. It still cannot break my defense, but if I do not possess a Heroic Spirit, raw strength alone makes this awkward. Looks like I need to learn from a certain Hanma."
At the same time, Davis, who had controlled the Netherworld White Tiger to strike, stared in shock at Wu Ling, who remained unharmed in the air. If he had faced that claw himself, even fully equipped, he might not have endured it. Yet Wu Ling had not even opened his Martial Soul and looked perfectly fine.
"Aside from some damage to his clothes, his skin does not have the slightest injury. Internal injury is possible, but judging from his expression, it does not look like it. Did we really fail to break his defense?"
For a moment, Davis began to doubt his own life. But he was still the battle-hardened crown prince of the Star Stripe Empire. After Wu Ling landed back on the stage, one thought immediately appeared in his mind.
"I do not need to defeat him. I only need to knock him out of the arena!"
After finding a route to victory, Davis's spirit surged. He felt his body swelling painfully with power and heard Zhu Zhuyun cheering him on from within the fusion.
"Come, Wu Ling. Let me show you my limit!"
Wu Ling's heel had barely touched the ground. Even bacteria had not had time to climb onto it before Davis drove the Netherworld White Tiger at him again. This time, its claw swept horizontally.
Wu Ling calmly glanced to one side and instantly understood Davis's plan.
"If you cannot break my defense, you plan to knock me out of the ring? Heh. Naive."
Facing that strike and the powerful wind carried by its claw, Wu Ling performed a sideways aerial flip. He avoided the attack and landed on the Netherworld White Tiger's foreleg.
In the next second, the tiger smashed its leg down toward the ground. By then, Wu Ling had already used agile footwork to leap onto its shoulder.
"Bastard! Wu Ling, do you have the heart of a strong man or not? Fight me like you did before!" Seeing his plan mercilessly broken by Wu Ling's behavior, and under both physical and mental pressure, even the well-educated Davis cursed.
Wu Ling dodged the Netherworld White Tiger's palm as it slapped toward its own shoulder and jumped directly onto its head. Hearing the voice from beneath his feet, Wu Ling laughed.
"Do you think I am stupid? Your current state cannot last long. Once you are exhausted, I can do whatever I want with you. If I can defeat you easily and without injury, why would I clash head-on? I am not even bothering with technique.
"As for the heart of a strong man, sorry. My heart of a strong man means doing whatever I want."
After hearing Wu Ling's words, Davis was so furious that he gritted his teeth. He slammed the tiger's head into the ground. Wu Ling leaped onto its back. Davis flipped backward to crush him. Wu Ling moved onto its stomach.
Just as Wu Ling had said, from that moment onward, the Netherworld White Tiger never touched him again. In the audience's eyes, the scene on the stage looked like Wu Ling was teasing a cat. It just happened to be an especially huge cat.
Three minutes passed. The Netherworld White Tiger, which should have lasted five minutes, had its duration forcibly shortened by two minutes because of those self-destructive attacks.
Suddenly, Wu Ling felt empty air beneath his feet. The Netherworld White Tiger vanished, and Davis and Zhu Zhuyun collapsed on the stage, utterly drained.
Davis, forcing himself not to faint, stared at Wu Ling as Wu Ling jumped down. His lips murmured something. Through lip-reading, Wu Ling confirmed that Davis was praising how handsome he was.
"Really, I know I am handsome, but you do not need to praise me in public, do you?" Wu Ling bent down and said with obvious amusement.
Hearing Wu Ling's shameless self-praise, Davis finally could not hold on any longer. His eyes rolled back, and he fainted.
"What happened? Did my handsomeness knock him out?" Wu Ling muttered teasingly. Then he waved toward the referee.
The referee immediately snapped back to his senses, raised the amplifier, and shouted, "The champion of this Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament has been decided! The winner is the Spirit Hall Team!"
The roar of tens of thousands of people was so loud that pedestrians several streets away could hear it clearly.
Although Wu Ling's final fighting style had not quite matched the audience's expectations, his earlier performances had prepared everyone for the result. Since they had already guessed the ending, they were only slightly disappointed and did not care too much. After the referee made the announcement, they continued to pour out their enthusiasm.
Amid the cheers of more than ten thousand people, Wu Ling, now the champion, walked down with his expression unchanged, just as silently as he had first stepped onto the stage.