"I have to disagree. My nephew-disciple's forte lays in his ability to create miracles," Zhen Hua countered with a smile.
Mu Ye turned around with a surprised look on his face. The film of tears over his eyes had already been evaporated by him using his soul power. "You think Wulin can win?"
Zhen Hua shrugged in response. "Why not? We've all watched Wulin's past matches; how much of his power do you think he's used in the previous rounds? What was that final clash with Saber Demon in the last match all about? Saber Demon withdrew under inexplicable circumstances, but do you think he threw the match for Wulin's sake? Compared to that Saber Demon, do you think A'Ruheng is more powerful?"
Mu Ye said in a proud manner, "That Saber Demon may have attained a saber soul already, but the congenital secret method of our Body Sect transforms one's body into their soul, so Ruheng is still more powerful than that Saber Demon.."
Zhen Hua continued, "Even so, he won't be more powerful by much, right?"
Mu Ye faltered slightly upon hearing this. Zhen Hua was right! A'Ruheng had the lowest odds among all four of the semifinalists, while Wild Gale Saber Demon Sima Jinchi had the second-highest odds. Of course, this was a result of A'Ruheng hiding his true power, but that Saber Demon was definitely no slouch. If Tang Wulin could even defeat Sima Jinchi, then...
A faint smile appeared on Zhen Hua's face. "Don't you think that Wulin has been constantly progressing at a rapid rate during the past half a year? He has made it to this grand final on the merit of his own power, and if you ask me, this is going to be a very fierce match, one that A'Ruheng may not emerge victorious from."
All of a sudden, Mu Ye burst into boisterous laughter. "So what? They're both my disciples! Both of them will continue to pass on the teachings of our Body Sect!"
Zhen Hua and Mu Chen both remained silent. Indeed, Mu Ye had all the reasons in the world to be excited. The two combatants who had made it to the grand final were both disciples of his!
Regardless of who secured the final victory in the end, this was still one of the happiest moments of Mu Ye's entire life. He was still of the opinion that A'Ruheng was slightly more powerful, but he also wanted to see if his other disciple could truly create another miracle as Zhen Hua suggested he would.
On the competition platform, the two combatants were appraising one another from afar with serious expressions. Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon Spear was shimmering with faint light, and even though he couldn't see A'Ruheng's facial features, his hulking body still gave off a very intimidating aura.
"This is the grand final; five, four, three, two, one, begin!"
As the countdown commenced, a referee descended onto the competition platform. He glanced at two combatants before waving a hand through the air as a commencement signal.
Tang Wulin and A'Ruheng both sprang into action almost in complete unison. A'Ruheng stepped forward with his right foot, and an explosive boom rang out from his body as his muscles began to bulge.
Witnessing it through a screen wasn't as immersive of an experience, but seeing A'Ruheng now, Tang Wulin could clearly sense a terrifying vicious aura surging toward him from A'Ruheng's body. Even though they were separated by a distance of several hundred meters, he could still clearly sense this devastating aura.
In the face of his senior disciple brother, he felt as if he were appraising a humanoid Great Beast. It was no wonder that Jade King had immediately released his domain without any hesitation; he had virtually been forced to do so in the face of A'Ruheng's intimidating aura!
In response to the external pressure weighing down on Tang Wulin, his dragon core began to beat faster of its own accord. With every single compression, powerful blood essence fluctuations were pumped throughout his entire body, and a layer of faint golden light appeared around him. At the same time, he unleashed his Golden Dragon Body, and golden dragon scales appeared all over the surface of his skin.
Neither of them immediately released their suits of battle armor, and they were charging toward one another in their base forms.
Tang Wulin pointed his Golden Dragon Spear forward and stomped his left foot heavily into the ground, accelerating drastically as a result. A'Ruheng also did the same.
Their speeds both stemmed from their respective absolute strength, so speed wasn't actually their forte. Even so, the instantaneous explosive force that they were able to generate still propelled them forward faster than the vast majority of agility attack system Soul Masters of the same caliber.
The two figures almost instantly met at the center of the competition platform. A'Ruheng let loose a thunderous roar as he launched his right fist through the air. A ball of reddish-golden light exploded violently like a cannon blast, stunning all of the spectators present.
A burst of scorching heat surged toward Tang Wulin. This wasn't actual heat, but instead, the terrifying power that one was able to generate after their blood essence reached a certain degree of power.
So one could unleash such powerful explosive force with their blood essence alone once it became powerful enough? This senior disciple brother of his most likely really did possess a body as powerful as that of a Great Beast.
These thoughts flashed through Tang Wulin's mind in an instant, and instead of thrusting his Golden Dragon Spear forward, it suddenly disappeared from his grasp. At the same time, he flapped his golden wings vigorously before clenching his right golden dragon claw into a tight fist and unleashing a punch in retaliation.
These instantaneous changes that Tang Wulin had made seemed to be quite simple, but the timing involved, as well as his bodily control and judgment of the match situation were all close to perfection.
A'Ruheng's attack encompassed a very large area, but it was undoubtedly the case that there was one point on his fist that was the most powerful. As such, he would naturally be striving to aim that most powerful point at Tang Wulin.
However, never did he think that Tang Wulin would put away his most powerful weapon at a time like this.
The Golden Dragon Spear was close to five meters in length, and the fact that it had suddenly disappeared naturally meant that the most powerful point of A'Ruheng's attack had struck nothing but empty air. Right at this moment, Tang Wulin flapped his golden dragon wings to instantly close the rest of the distance between them, and his fist struck A'Ruheng's right as the power of A'Ruheng's attack was running out.
Just a simple change had completely thrown off A'Ruheng's rhythm, allowing Tang Wulin to avoid the full brunt of his attack.
"Boom!"
A resounding boom akin to the explosion of a high-grade soul missile rang out at the center of the competition platform, and bright reddish-golden light instantly encompassed a diameter of over 50 meters, enshrouding Tang Wulin and A'Ruheng within it as well.
Immediately thereafter, two figures flew backward out of the explosion of reddish-golden light.
Tang Wulin was constantly swaying his own body as he flew through the air in order to better arrest his own momentum, yet on the other side, A'Ruheng simply flew backward in a balanced manner, only arresting his own momentum after he crashed into the protective barrier.
Both of them then began to shake out their arms at almost the exact same moment. Neither of them had managed to gain the upper hand during this clash.
Perhaps it was due to the fact that they were disciple brothers, but neither of them used any soul skills or special abilities during that clash; it was nothing more than a clash of pure strength.
At the time, Tang Wulin felt as if he were about to be devoured by a tsunami. The devastating blood essence fluctuations radiating from A'Ruheng's body made it feel as if he were a miniature sun. Was this the power of the congenital secret method? To think that it could elevate one's bloodline power to such an insane level; this was downright terrifying!
A'Ruheng was also quite astonished. He discovered that Tang Wulin possessed inferior blood essence compared to his own, but there was an extremely regal aura in Tang Wulin's bloodline that struck him with a sense of pressure and affected his performance. Furthermore, Tang Wulin had stowed away his Golden Dragon Spear at the last moment, and his golden dragon claw possessed a crushing special effect, so he had no choice but to divert some of his power to protect his own fist. Thus, he was unable to gain the upper hand during that clash, but even so, both sides were able to accurately gauge one another's strength as a result of that exchange.
In terms of strength, Tang Wulin was indeed inferior to A'Ruheng, and not just by a little. He was only able to just barely match A'Ruheng during that clash through the use of his Golden Dragon Body, golden dragon claws, and some battle tactics.
A'Ruheng was the perfect epitome of explosive strength, and not only was Tang Wulin stunned by his power, he was even more intrigued by the congenital secret method.
"Nice!" A'Ruheng let loose an explosive cry before bursting into boisterous laughter. His body swayed, and a resounding boom erupted from the ground beneath his feet. In the next instant, he appeared directly in front of Tang Wulin before launching both of his fists straight toward Tang Wulin's shoulders.
Tang Wulin was indeed inferior to him in terms of strength, but ever since he'd successfully cultivated the congenital secret method, no one had been able to withstand such a clash of pure strength against him! The feeling of encountering someone with ample strength to resist him filled him with elation. Even Mu Ye was very reluctant to engage in direct clashes of strength with him, and now, he had finally found a suitable opponent; how could he not be ecstatic?
Tang Wulin took a deep breath before slowly thrusting his palms forward. A deafening dragon's roar immediately rang out as he unleashed his Golden Dragon Shocks the Heavens!
"Boom!" Another violent boom rang out, and A'Ruheng was sent flying backward for several dozens of meters, but Tang Wulin plummeted straight from the sky before slamming into the ground amid another resounding boom.
The spectators were all completely flabbergasted. Every single one of them could feel adrenaline pumping through their veins.
This type of battle was so brutal and manly! There was no technique to speak of; they were simply fighting fire with fire!