Xiao Lin is done for!
Below the Soul Arena, the veteran members of the Heaven Dou Imperial Team all thought the same thing.
Recalling Tang Ni's previous performances, they believed her iron fists were just as destructive as Xiao Lin's Coiling Dragon Staff.
For a moment, the veterans all silently mourned Xiao Lin in their hearts.
Even if he was only team captain for a single day—he was still the captain!
Among them, some of the girls like Dugu Yan even felt that Xiao Lin deserved it.
How could he throw fireballs at a girl? Tang Ni ended up covered in soot!
Too much!Even Xiao Wu silently agreed, secretly wanting to see Xiao Lin get beaten up.
Of course, she also knew that Xiao Lin's true strength was far beyond what he had shown so far.
At the edge of the arena, even Ning Fengzhi and the other two observers thought similarly.
They all assumed Xiao Lin had no way to turn the tide—unless he had one last hidden trump card.
CLANG!
Suddenly, a loud impact echoed across the arena.
It sounded like a massive bronze bell being struck—clear and resonant.
The audience below all stared, wide-eyed and stunned.
They saw that Xiao Lin's expression remained unchanged, but in front of him, a shimmering silver soul-force shield had materialized.
This was what had blocked Tang Ni's iron fist, even making her a bit surprised—her golden dragon eyes trembled slightly.
"You still have that much soul power left?"
Tang Ni looked at him in disbelief.
She had assumed Xiao Lin would be out of tricks by now, forced into hand-to-hand combat.
But instead, Xiao Lin had pulled out a big move, manifesting what looked like an eggshell-shaped soul barrier in front of his body.
"What else did you expect?"
Xiao Lin chuckled and split the cracked shield in half, then wielded the two halves like blades, thrusting toward Tang Ni.
His combat style could only be described as "unorthodox."
He wasn't even using his martial soul anymore!
Caught off guard, Tang Ni had no time to dodge. She could only activate her first soul skill again for bodily reinforcement.
"First Soul Skill: Golden Dragon Body!"
With the appearance of a yellow soul ring, Tang Ni's body glowed golden again, successfully blocking the attack—
But not completely.Xiao Lin's attack still pierced slightly into her abdomen.
Blood began to flow from Tang Ni's body.
"Ah!"
Several girls in the audience gasped at the gory scene.
Was it really necessary to go this hard over a captain's challenge?!
Only Tang San and a few others could perceive the terrifying strength of Tang Ni's physique.
She had used her first soul skill twice in a row—two consecutive uses of Golden Dragon Body.
Such enhancement skills normally could only be used once per fight—otherwise every soul master would just spam them. Who needs support classes then?
Only someone like Tang Ni, with exceptional physical strength, could endure using it twice.
"Pffft!"
Well… maybe she couldn't endure it completely.
Just after blocking Xiao Lin's strike, blood began seeping from under her skin, and she coughed up a mouthful of blood mist.
Xiao Lin didn't manage to dodge in time—got hit square in the face.
"Whew! Admit defeat, Tang Ni. I haven't even used my full strength yet!"
Xiao Lin shook his head and withdrew his Coiling Dragon Staff, dismissing the soul shield.
As his voice fell, everyone realized—Xiao Lin, who had just endured an intense battle, still looked perfectly composed.
No sign of exhaustion. No soul power depletion. No pale face.
"He's a monster!"
Ning Rongrong stared in shock.If it had been her, she'd have burned through all her soul power just by dodging—not to mention directly fighting.
Hearing her, the rest of the Heaven Dou Imperial Team nodded in agreement.
Even Ning Fengzhi was surprised. He noted that Xiao Lin seemed to use soul skills with very low consumption.
Either he was born with unusually abundant soul power, or he had incredible soul power regeneration...
In the arena, Tang Ni heard Xiao Lin's words and, of course, wouldn't admit defeat.
There was no "yielding" Tang Ni—only a Tang Ni who had been beaten.
But now, even she knew she couldn't outlast Xiao Lin, especially in terms of soul power.
"Huuuh..."
Tang Ni took a deep breath, then looked at Xiao Lin and said:
"Let's decide this with one final move. Deal?"
She no longer carried the same proud demeanor. After managing to say this, she felt her face burning in shame.
Fortunately, she was already covered in soot and ash from Xiao Lin's fireballs.
Otherwise, she would've been too embarrassed to stay at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
"Sure."
Xiao Lin nodded decisively.
He agreed partly because he wanted to see just how strong Tang Ni's offense was.
Two layers of Golden Dragon Body—that was nearly on par with his Martial Soul True Form.
But Xiao Lin couldn't use his trump card, "Heaven-Earth Toss," more than once.
"Then I'll fight you with everything I've got, too!"
As his voice dropped, an overwhelming wave of heat burst from Xiao Lin's body.
Everyone could clearly see that inside Xiao Lin's body, a second blazing core—a second furnace—had appeared.
"Holy crap! Xiao Lin is too insane!"
The Shi brothers spoke in unison.
"Yeah! He can actually use a second enhancement skill too?"Yu Feng's mouth dropped open in disbelief.
"Actually, he's been doing this for a while now."Oslo, being a sensitive agility-type soul master, had long sensed Xiao Lin's changes in speed.
He had always known Xiao Lin's second soul skill involved dual-stage enhancement.
He just never expected Xiao Lin to be capable of this level.
Even Tang San and Xiao Wu were stunned.
Back then, Xiao Lin had told them he could only use it once.
Now, he could do it twice?
The two exchanged a glance and saw shock mirrored in each other's eyes.
Brother Lin actually got stronger behind our backs!
At this point, even Ning Fengzhi and the other two were stunned again.
They had always known Xiao Lin was monstrous—but this was beyond monstrous for someone his age.
"This boy's body is truly special… and that energy core?"
As a Title Douluo, Dugu Bo could tell that Xiao Lin's energy core was extraordinary.
"Two energy cores spinning at the same speed… resonating at the same frequency..."
Even Sword Douluo Chen Xin was amazed. His always-calm demeanor cracked in awe.
It resembled the soul whirlpools within their own bodies.
If you had two of those... then?
He suddenly had an epiphany—perhaps this was the path to his next breakthrough.
Xiao Lin, of course, didn't use this casually.
It was a special soul technique he had developed by imitating soul cores.
He had also incorporated parts of dual-core cultivation techniques—but he didn't fully understand them.
So, it was more of a half-finished product.
But even so, it was enough to leave the entire audience in shock.
As Xiao Lin's body transformed, just breathing out released a stream of fire, raising the temperature dramatically.
Not just that—his fiery battle attire had turned white.
The flames were so hot they changed color.
"I concede!"
Staring at the transformed Xiao Lin, Tang Ni finally chose to admit defeat.
She now knew she was no match for him.
Admitting defeat was simply a way to lessen the disgrace—so that one day, she could win it back.
But sadly, that day would never come.
Xiao Lin never loses to someone he's already beaten.
Tang Ni had nearly forced Xiao Lin to reveal both his Martial Soul True Form and external soul bone.
She had already pushed him to show most of his true strength—and that alone was something to be proud of.
(End of Chapter)