Chapter 365 - Opposites Attract

“We’re facing a thunder beast!” Yue Zhengyu exclaimed. “As expected of the Spirit Pagoda! They have such a rare soul beast! Be careful everyone, we can’t underestimate it. It’s extremely quick, and its lightning is lethal.”

Before Yue Zhengyu could say any more, the thunder beast made its move. It whipped its crooked tail around, sending another bombardment of violet-blue lightning at Tang Wulin’s team.

Yuanen Yehui snorted as she strode forward. Three purple soul rings appeared around her as a pair of pitch-black wings unfurled from her back. Inky darkness spread from her body, rapidly eating away at the surrounding light and swallowing up the bluesilver grass around them. It also engulfed every lightning bolt that shot toward them, soaking them up like a blighted fen. The darkness spread beyond the net of bluesilver grass, but it soon reached the boundary where electricity crackled in the air, and it stopped.

By that point, Tang Wulin recovered from his numbness, and he commanded his bluesilver grass to shoot up toward the thunder beast. Yuanen Yehui launched herself into the air. Her second soul ring lit up and a violet blade of darkness appeared in her hand. She flew straight at the thunder beast, blade in hand!

But at that moment, golden light burst at her side, a holy radiance that pushed back her darkness. Yue Zhengyu flew off as well, moving to the other side of the thunder beast to avoid Yuanen Yehui’s aura of darkness.

Doubt welled within the hearts of Tang Wulin and the others when they saw the clash of light and darkness. They were certain that the two would cancel each other out, but something even stranger happened. Both of their blades seemed to be drawn to the other, changing their courses mid-flight. Before they could even get anywhere near the thunder beast, they crashed into each other.Light and darkness came together, roiling, struggling, and an instant later, a booming shockwave tore through the air.

Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu extricated themselves from the clash, putting distance between each other, and yelled at the exact same time.

“What the hell are you doing!”

The rest of their teammates watched in stupefaction. It was like the attraction between yin and yang!

Light and darkness could never coexist, but, the truth was, light and darkness usually didn’t behave like that when they came into contact with each other. This explosive clash occurred because they both had angelic martial souls, one holy and the other fallen. The two were destined to always stand opposite of one another. Their martial souls were so incompatible that, upon sensing the other’s aura, they felt more inclined to target one another! They simply couldn’t help themselves from doing so.

While the two bickered with each other, the thunder beast transformed into a streak of lightning. It appeared a hundred meters away, completely out of reach of Tang Wulin’s bluesilver grass and wholly unscathed.

Xie Xie sprang into action. He understood that the thunder beast relied on its lightning attacks and nimbleness to dominate its opponents. As an agility-type soul master, it was his job to take it down. He sped forward like a wisp of ghostly fire, zigzagging toward the thunder beast, leaving afterimages in his wake. As he did, Gu Yue unleashed a barrage of wind blades, sieging the thunder beast from all sides.

No elements actually countered the lightning attribute, so they couldn’t restrain it in that way. Lightning possessed both explosive might and frightening speed. It did have drawbacks, however, being more taxing on its user and not very suitable for defense.

Tang Wulin calmly stayed back to guard Gu Yue and Xu Lizhi. Ever since the ninth trial, he realized that their opponents were far more intelligent than before. The thunder beast was a clear example of that. Strength itself was nothing to fear, but strength and intellect were a frightening combination. It was clear to him that this thunder beast was exceedingly clever. It didn’t engage Xie Xie in combat immediately, but chose to evade and draw him away from his companions first. Just thinking about what sort of schemes a soul beast could hatch left him terrified.

Xie Xie continued to chase after the thunder beast, and when he finally drew close, he used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to soar into the air and sent a Light Dragon Blade slashing toward it. At that moment, he saw the panic in the thunder beast’s eyes disappear, confidence taking its place within their amethyst depths.

Not good!

A ball of lightning one meter in diameter suddenly appeared between him and the thunder beast. Before he could react, it extinguished the Light Dragon Blade with a flicker of electricity, then paralyzed Xie Xie’s body with another. Leaving him no time to recover, the thunder beast shot the ball of lightning at him. Its violet fury engulfed Xie Xie’s body and promptly burned it to ash.

All of this happened too quickly. Xie Xie had been lured too far away for anyone to reach him, even if they had taken action earlier.

No one could save him.

“Xie Xie!” Tang Wulin screamed as he charged forward.

However, to both his and the thunder beast’s surprise, the lightning ball suddenly exploded in a burst of sparks.

Amidst the crackle of electricity in the air, Xie Xie fell to the ground. Wisps of smoke trailed from his body, which had been burnt black, and every hair on his body stood on end.

Only then did Tang Wulin realize what happened. He used a shadow clone to escape at the last minute! It was just his clone that died!

When he came face to face with the thunder beast’s might, Xie Xie realized that this was an opponent he couldn’t handle by himself. Only by working as a team did they have a chance at seizing victory.

But the thunder beast had reacted to Xie Xie’s reappearance too quickly. Before he could retreat, it sent another barrage of lightning at him. Xie Xie used Shadow Dragon Storm to defend himself, and this time, the lightning strikes only numbed his body instead of sending daggers of searing pain into it.

The fact that this thunder beast’s cultivation was at the five-thousand-year level made Tang Wulin’s heart go cold with dread. He shot a strand of bluesilver grass out to wrap around Xie Xie’s waist then dragged him back. Fortunately, Xie Xie was still in one piece.

Xie Xie’s entire body had been burnt black. Smoke rose from every inch of him. If he hadn’t reacted in time and used Shadow Dragon Storm to defend himself, he would’ve been on the verge of death if not completely dead. Every single one of his muscles twitched rapidly, making it seem as if his body were trembling without end.

Tang Wulin willed his bluesilver grass to wrap around the waists of Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu and drag them back into their triangle formation.

“I’m sorry,” Gu Yue said from her place behind Tang Wulin. “We were too far from Xie Xie just now. I can’t teleport things at that distance.”

“It’s not your fault,” Tang Wulin said with steel in his voice. “On your guards, everyone.” He slowly raised his hands, his blood essence flow beginning to reverse.

For the first time since he gained it, Tang Wulin’s third soul ring lit up.

Due to his limited spiritual power, he couldn’t use his bluesilver grass soul skills and reverse the flow of his blood essence at the same time. However, his third soul skill could activate independently, freeing him to prepare Dragon Shocks the Heavens.

Golden light gathered around Tang Wulin while a draconic roar rumbled from his body. The thunder beast flinched as the roar flooded over it, its ears suddenly perked ramrod straight. It scratched its cheeks anxiously, and its eyes began to wander, searching for its next target.

Yet Yuanen Yehui and Yue Zhengyu continued to glare at each other.

“You idiot!” shouted Yuanen Yehui. “Look what you did! If it weren’t for you, I would have already killed that thunder beast!”

Yue Zhengyu snorted in response. “Bullshit! How would you be able to kill it without my help? It’s at the five-thousand-year level! It’s both fast and powerful! It’s one of the beasts that stands near the peak. Don’t you know why you never see ten-thousand-year thunder beasts? If it reached that level, it’d be too domineering! All of the other soul beasts kill it before it comes to that! That’s why!”

He clearly had a deeper understanding of thunder beasts than Yuanen Yehui.

“Y-y-yeah. T-t-that’s right,” said Xie Xie. “T-this thunder beast is really p-p-powerful. I-it’s much more powerful than we are! Unless you have f-five soul rings and a powerful martial soul, killing it alone is impossible.”

“All of you be careful,” said Tang Wulin. “Just wait for an opening.”

A hundred meters away, the thunder beast smirked and whipped its tail, hurling a lightning bolt at them. It streaked across the room, closing the distance in the blink of an eye. Tang Wulin smiled as he watched the bolt approach. Golden light gathered around him and poured into a vine of bluesilver grass, causing it to grow rapidly and become as thick as a man’s thigh. Scales sprouted from the vine as well. They quickly covered the vine, making it resemble an enlarged snake striking at its prey as it shot forward to meet the lightning bolt head on.