Chapter 354: Complete Victory
Translator: Oneshotwonder Editor: Hitesh_
The soul essence was not only the secret to immortality, but also the key to becoming a Super Einherjar.
Even among the Einherjars, the soul essence was not a well-understood subject. The leading parties in this field were the Divine Master sect and the Templar's court. They both agreed that the soul essence was the most effective in staving off malignant elements such as the effect of Soul Mastery.
Michaux Odin was not only the one-in-a-million genius, but he was also regarded by the sect elders as the most likely candidate to be the second person in the sect history to obtain the power of soul essence. His power lied in his extraordinarily powerful sea of consciousness, which had given him a decisive advantage in cultivating the soul essence. The sect elders believed that with the unique cultivation methods that they had taught the young master, Michaux would become the first person to achieve immortality in 300 years.
Compared to the members of the great houses, Michaux did not carry the burden of becoming an Einherjar. His motivation was purer, and therefore, he was more focused on his goal. Michaux had always thought that no one would have known more about the soul essence than him. However, he was surprised to see the existence of soul essence in someone else's body.
There were a number of reasons why Wang Tong would never understand the complicated feeling inside Michaux right then. For one, Wang Tong barely understood what the soul essence was, because he had never read the complex and intricate theories of the mysterious power. Wang Tong's approach to any new power had always been "get it first, understand it later."
Wang Tong had first come in contact with the soul essence through Mr. Wannabe. He had always suspected that it was Mr. Wannabe's soul essence that had allowed the latter to exist in the crystal space. Otherwise, the power of the crystal would undoubtedly have eroded Mr. Wannabe's soul energy over time. Wang Tong's suspicion was confirmed while he was trapped inside the crystal space, fighting the Pirate King Zachery. If not for his attempt to tap into this new source of energy, Wang Tong would have been defeated by Zachery in a heartbeat. Although Wang Tong was lucky enough to possess the power, he practically knew nothing about it. Nevertheless, Wang Tong was convinced that the new power he had discovered was the ultimate prize in cultivation, and therefore, he decided to learn more about it from the experts such as Michaux.
The key to the Mastery of spells was to use soul energy to disturb opponent's sea of consciousness. However, since Wang Tong's sea of consciousness was already infused with soul essence, he was practically immune to any soul energy attacks.
Han Linu tasted bile in his mouth when he watched the puppets slump to the ground. He was dumbfounded as to how his opponent was able to cut off his connection with the puppets.
Most of the audiences thought that the puppeteer simply slipped up at the most crucial moment of the battle, and some even suspected that Wang Tong was one of the practitioners of the Lunar Mastery.
"Haha! I told you guys that petty tricks are not reliable. You just can't count on it to work every time." Karl shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Calm your underpants, Karl. The mastery didn't fail by itself; it was Wang Tong's doing. Perhaps, he has learned the Mastery as well… Nah... it can't be. I didn't see him use any hand signs. Hmmm... strange." Hu Yangxuan mumbled to himself as Wang Tong's method of countering the mastery was entirely different than what he had seen at the Templar's court. Wang Tong's technique of breaking the mastery had eluded everyone, including the puppeteer himself. By then, not only Han Linu had lost his weapons—the puppets, his confidence had also taken a toll.
After a while, the puppeteer finally gathered himself. "Ha! Interesting! I would never think that there is such a powerful fighter on Earth. Which school are you from?"
"A-Class Academy, Ayrlarng." Wang Tong answered.
Although Han Linu had searched hard in his memory, the name of the school still escaped him. He smiled awkwardly as then said, "Sorry.. never heard... of it. Well, it doesn't matter! Count yourself lucky, because today, I will show you my real power. "
Suddenly, a curved blade appeared in Han Linu's hand, and his fingers of the other hand started to form and shift into various signs. All the while, Han Linu's lips moved quickly and quietly, as if he were murmuring to himself. As Han Linu's fingers finally stopped dancing, he looked up at Wang Tong, eyes glinting as he roared, "Sword Attack—Web of Heaven and Earth!"
Wang Tong hurried a few steps back, and he watched as thousands of golden tendrils sprouted out of the tip of Han Linu's blade. These sparkling tendrils formed an intricate web that threatened to engulf Wang Tong. This was the ultimate form of the technique "Web of Heaven and Earth." The web of golden tendrils was infused with the arcane power that Han Linu harnessed from his cryptic cultivation.
Although Han Linu's movement was rather ordinary, the sudden explosion of the deadly golden web had made the strike more lethal than the coup de grace of a sword master. Once trapped inside the golden web, even a level six fighter would be completely immobilized long enough for Han Linu to finish off the fight.
Wang Tong had been quick to evade the attack, but he was still too slow, and was trapped and immobilized by the web.
"Han Linu has materialized his soul energy!" One of the hosts shouted in surprise.
The turn of events had put a spin on the mundane match between the two fighters. No one had expected the two fighters to display such power, that was fit for the final match of the tournament.
Wang Tong cranked up his soul energy, trying to break free but to no avail. The harder he worked against the web, the tighter the constrictions became.
With his puppets destroyed, the web attack was Han Linu's last hope. While he had been worried that Wang Tong was able to move quickly and render his web attack useless, looking at his struggling opponent then, Han Linu finally heaved a sigh of relief. He knew that once Wang Tong was trapped, any resistance would be futile.
"Just give it up. This web is our sect's secret weapon. It's not made out of just soul energy, as you might have already guessed. Your GN force is useless. No one but an Einherjar might have a chance of getting out of the trap."
Seeing the situation come back under his control, Han Linu took a deep breath and tidied up his tousled hair. All the while, he marveled at his near escape from a complete defeat.
Han Linu's concern was not unfounded, since this web attack was meant to be used together with his puppets to cover all angles. With the puppets destroyed. Han Linu was not entirely certain that the attack would be effective.
Wang Tong cracked a smile and then replied, "This web might not be as powerful as you think."
Although Wang Tong was not sure what kind of material these webs were made out of, he was certain that there were soul energies attached to it. He reasoned that he would be able to disable the trap once he absorbed all the soul energy that was attached to its substance.
Thanks to the Tactics of the Blade, Wang Tong's soul energy was adapted to absorbing soul energy, as he had performed such task—intentionally or not—on Ma Xiaoru and Li Ruoer. Ever since Wang Tong had obtained soul essence, his ability to absorb other's soul energy also had improved significantly.
"Ha! Fine! I will allow you three seconds to get out." Han Linu closed into Wang Tong while brandishing his blade, threatening to attack at any moment.
Before Han Linu got any closer, his jaw almost dropped when he saw the golden web suddenly lost its luster. The sudden turn of events also disheveled all the sect members. They had witnessed a boy disable the two deadliest weapons of the Lunar sect: the puppets and the golden web.
As the golden shimmer disappeared, the web became just an ordinary web made out of a clear material that looked like plastic. Wang Tong easily tore the 'plastic' web apart and freed himself.
"What else do you have, use it all on me! Otherwise, I am ready to kick some a*s!" Wang Tong shouted as he flexed his wrists. He didn't enjoy a second when the web restricted his movement, and it was now time to attack.
"Hold on a second, please, PLEASE! I ...I... surrender!"
Only with the slightest hesitation, Han Linu surrendered to his opponent. Many more fights were waiting for him, and he figured that there was no sense in getting injured in a losing battle, especially while he was already down on his luck.
Wang Tong was shocked by the puppet master's plea, as he found it out of character as a warrior.
As if Han Linu had heard Wang Tong's thoughts, he shrugged helplessly and then said, "Well, you have disabled two of my weapons in a row, so what else am I supposed to do? Let's hope that I will never fight with you again."
As the heir of one of the most powerful Mastery sects, Han Linu was well aware of the importance of withdrawing from danger and preserving the strength of his sect. There was still a long way ahead of him, with the hope of the entire sect on his shoulder. Therefore, he needed to be prudent.
The students from Ayrlarng were elated by Wang Tong's victory against the heir of the Lunar Mastery. They felt that despite the splendid display, the Lunar Mastery's technique was very ineffective, as it appeared to have failed twice.
However, the sect members knew that it was impossible for Han Linu's weapons to have accidentally failed, since they were as reliable as human GN force. Although no sect member was willing to admit it, the failure of the weapons had proven that Wang Tong possessed extraordinary power and knowledge about their sect's secret weapons.
"Haha! Boss, this dude only looks tough, but he fights like a girl."
"No kidding. I was expecting much more from him."