Chapter 367 - Elemental Stripping
After Goldsong’s renaming, the barrage of lightning began the weaken. The forest of lightning that filled the sky grew thinner and thinner, and soon enough, the thunder beast’s visage could clearly be seen. Lightning snaked from its body, its face wreathed in fury and its pupils now vertical slits. It no longer summoned bolts lightning, but instead gathered violet-blue electricity into its body. This voltaic energy now held a hint of gold, and a moment later, the thunder beast transformed into an enormous ball of lightning!
“Did it stop caring about its own life?” Yuanen Yehui stepped forward, taking the lead. “Be careful, everyone!”
“Use your Titan Giant Ape soul!” shouted Tang Wulin.
“Mn.” Yuanen Yehui nodded in understanding. She had twin martial souls while Yue Zhengyu only had the Holy Angel. In order to keep their martial souls from clashing, she had to switch to her Titan Giant Ape martial soul.
A third soul ring appeared around Yuanen Yehui and her body swelled with strength, her clothes ripping apart until only the skintight, highly elastic outfit she wore underneath remained. She roared and swung her gigantic arms around, her aura flaring up, and only then did Tang Wulin realize why Yuanen Yehui always disguised herself as a boy. A girl transforming into a Titan Giant Ape truly wasn’t a pretty sight.
Yuanen Yehui immediately activated her third soul skill, Diamond Titan. It was a formidable soul skill that temporarily boosted her physical strength by an obscene amount! Only with this skill could she truly be considered strong when using her Titan Giant Ape martial soul.
Without warning, the sky warped for an instant, making everyone’s vision blur. The golden-violent ball of lightning shot toward Goldsong! However, Goldsong showed no fear and instead wielded the Bluesilver Golden Array at full power. With a flick of its tail, the entire array grew brighter and golden strands of grass shot up into the sky. The grass twisted as it spread upward, forming a giant whirlpool that sucked in the lightning.
In a strange turn of events, the swiftly approaching lightning ball suddenly slowed down once the Bluesilver Golden Array surrounded it. From the outside, Tang Wulin and the others could see the whirlpool of grass draining the lightning from the ball of energy. Gu Yue stared at the Bluesilver Golden Array, too shocked to even prepare her own attack.
Goldsong hadn’t used elemental guidance. That only worked when an elemental attack struck it! No, Goldlight was using elemental stripping, a stronger form of elemental guidance!
Elemental stripping… Gu Yue’s eyes widened at the thought. Elemental stripping was an ability purely meant to counter elemental soul masters, a control ability that all elemental soul masters yearned for. The Bluesilver Golden Array’s elemental stripping wasn’t as powerful as the real thing, however. The target had to enter the scope of the array for it to activate. Even with that limitation, it was a powerful ability for the three-ringed Tang Wulin. He would now be a nightmare for all ranged elemental soul masters. That array can be used for both attack and defense!
As Gu Yue thought about it, the Bluesilver Golden Array faced some problems. The bluesilver grass that Goldsong controlled could resist the lightning, but the normal strands of grass couldn’t. The lightning of the thunder beast burned that grass black, strand after strand cracking and crumbling to ash.
As he currently was, Tang Wulin couldn’t handle something like a five-thousand-year thunder beast on his own. He could feel his blood essence and soul power drop with every second that passed, his face growing pale.
Yuanen Yehui snorted and stepped forward. She focused her strength into her legs and rocketed her gigantic frame into the air, punching at the thunder beast with her second soul skill, Air Cannon! Under the effects of Diamond Titan, Air Cannon became far more formidable. A white streak shot from her fist, a condensed burst of air speeding toward the thunder beast like an artillery shell. The air shell struck the lightning ball, and the resulting shockwave of the clash sent rumbles throughout the entire hall.
Tang Wulin’s Bluesilver Golden Array failed at that moment, and the glowing formation lines that surrounded Goldsong faded away. In a flash, Goldsong returned to its normal size and slithered onto his shoulder.
At the same time, the weakening lightning ball dissipated entirely and the thunder beast came flying out of it.
“Judgement!” Yue Zhengyu exploded with holy might and shot a beam of light down at the thunder beast. The thunder beast trembled in the face of the light, fighting to resist its vindictive glow. But its resistance was futile. It had already been exhausted to the brink of collapse. The light slammed the thunder beast into the stone floor, which cracked under the force of impact.
The moment Yue Zhengyu summoned the holy light, Xie Xie darted forward. He held a grudge against the beast after their previous clash, and he arrived at the downed thunder beast in a flash, attacking with a Light Dragon Blade. However, right as he did, a shield of light formed around the thunder beast. Xie Xie’s dagger bounced off the shield, almost as if he had just struck an elastic wall.
Then, in a brilliant flash of light, the thunder beast disappeared.
“Eleventh trial cleared,” the electronic voice announced.
Everyone looked at each other in surprise. Despite passing the trial, none of them looked happy. It had been a hard-won trial. If not for Tang Wulin’s Bluesilver Golden Array restraining and exhausting the thunder beast, they would have had to pay a far higher price to prevail. Even so, they won, and could continue their search for a spirit soul for Yuanen Yehui.
Yuanen Yehui looked at Tang Wulin. “Are you able to continue?”
“Of course.” Tang Wulin met her gaze. Success was one thing, but he made a promise, and he kept his promises. “No matter what happens, we’ll do our best to help you.”
“Here.” Xu Lizhi handed a bun to Tang Wulin.
It only took Tang Wulin two bites to finish it. Bringing a food-type soul master really was a great idea! He’s just perfect for helping me fill my stomach!
With the conclusion of the battle, Tang Wulin became acutely aware of how empty his stomach was. After devouring the pork bun however, he felt much better, leading him to look at Xu Lizhi with a heated gaze.
“Don’t look at me like that! I’m not a girl, Wulin!” Frightened by the way Tang Wulin looked at him, Xu Lizhi hastily chanted and summoned a few more buns for him.
Yuanen Yehui saw this exchange occur and grimaced, then directed her eyes away from the two gluttons toward the door of light. Oddly enough, the electronic voice hadn’t urge them to enter the door or begin a ten second countdown. Since they weren’t being forced to enter the door, they relaxed and spent the time they had recovering. Tang Wulin focused on absorbing the nutrients of the buns as he observed their surroundings.
“Did something change, Gu Yue? Are they giving us time to rest now?” asked Tang Wulin.
Gu Yue furrowed her brow. “I’m not sure. I asked my teacher about the spirit soul tower, but she just told me to experience it for myself and that knowing too much ahead of time would ruin it.”
“Alright, we’ll just wait and see then.”
Yuanen Yehui sat in front of the door. If anything happened, she would enter immediately. It was only ten minutes later that the electronic voice sounded off once more.
“You have ten seconds to enter the door.” A small illusory thunder beast appeared beside the door, floating in the air. “Or absorb the thunder beast spirit soul.”
Tang Wulin was actually quite fond of this thunder beast. If he possessed a lightning-attribute martial soul, he would have jumped at the chance to take it as his second spirit soul. Unfortunately, neither he nor anyone else on his team possessed the lightning attribute. No one aside from Yuanen Yehui could absorb another spirit soul at the moment anyway.
“Let’s go!” Tang Wulin shouted. His soul power hadn’t recovered much, but with the help of the buns, he had recovered most of his blood essence.
“I have a red bean bun, I have a red bean bun!” Xu Lizhi chanted, his third soul ring lighting up.
The others were were already walking toward the door when they heard his chant and turned see a bunch of white buns appearing in his hands. They were tiny, but emitted an alluring fragrance. He’s using his third soul skill?
“What are those for?” Tang Wulin asked.
“I’ll tell you on the next floor. Here. Each of you gets one.”
Everyone nodded in confirmation and walked through the door of light.