The Phantom King was a very cautious person, and he'd studied Tang Wulin's battle footage in great detail. As such, he was quite wary of Tang Wulin's explosive power. His immunity to physical attacks wasn't complete immunity, and on top of that, he was still quite susceptible to the shockwaves from physical attacks. His main advantage was that he possessed far greater spiritual power compared to other Soul Masters of the same caliber, and that made him very adept at predicting his opponent's movements.

After learning that his first-round opponent was going to be Tang Wulin, he had immediately devised a strategy for himself; he was going to employ guerrilla warfare tactics to wear down Tang Wulin as much as possible. Tang Wulin's battle style was extremely explosive and brutal, and there was no way that he'd be able to sustain such an extraordinary level of offensive output. As long as he could weather the initial storm, he'd have a chance to retaliate. He was a very patient and composed fighter. Yue Zhengyu had lost to him even after gaining an absolute advantage, and it was just as Yue Zhengyu had deduced, that was certainly not just due to dumb luck.

Tang Wulin gently tapped his foot on the ground, and golden light shimmered from his body. The first thing to appear was the golden visor of his Dragon Moon battle armor. Immediately thereafter, specks of golden light appeared all over his body, and he also released his suit of two-word battle armor. His opponent had donned their suit of battle armor right away, and he certainly wasn't going to act cocky and refrain from doing the same. No matter what he thought of his opponent, he was still a Soul Master with a suit of two-word battle armor.

His left foot tapped against the ground, and he flapped his dragon wings vigorously. In the next instant, he was already hurtling directly toward his opponent like a golden shooting star.

"Golden Dragon King, Golden Dragon King, Golden Dragon King!" Raucous cheers rang out like tsunami waves from the spectator stands.

What they loved the most about Golden Dragon King was his insane explosive power. Even though all of his matches were quite brief, his brief eruptions of explosive power were enough to get one's blood pumping long after his matches had concluded.

Phantom King's body flashed, and he quickly retreated, displaying no intention of fighting fire with fire. His seven soul rings consisted of four purples and three blacks, and none of them had lit up yet at this point. During his movement process, his entire body seemed to have turned completely transparent. He was so fast that he reached the other end of the competition platform in virtually the blink of an eye, leaving a trail of afterimages in his wake. He was even faster than Tang Wulin while using his golden dragon wings.

What incredible speed! This was an agility attack system Soul Master!

Tang Wulin stopped at the center of the competition platform and appraised his opponent with an intense gaze. As he had moved through the air, his wings had only opened up slightly to adjust his bodily balance, which meant that he was displaying this incredible speed even without flying. In terms of regulation speed, he was faster than Tang Wulin.

Generally, when facing an opponent like this, the best way to counter them was to unleash an attack that covered a large area, thereby affording them no avenues for evasion. It was often the case that when one possessed extraordinary speed, their defenses would most likely be quite lackluster.

However, not only was this Phantom King extremely fast, he also possessed abilities to weaken his opponent's attacks, and only then was he able to make it to this point. The combination of his unique abilities had also allowed him to forge quite a reputation and given him the nickname of Phantom King. He was always able to find his opponent's weakness, then end the battle with a single fatal blow.

Tang Wulin waved a hand through the air, and his Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his grasp. The spear was over four and a half meters long, and in his suit of golden battle armor, he was already over three meters tall, and he appeared even more intimidating and dazzling with his long spear in his hand. In terms of appearance, there was no one as spectacular as him in the entire competition.

Tang Wulin slowly raised the Golden Dragon Spear in his hand.

You're trying to counter me with pure speed, eh? Let's see if you can truly withstand my attack!

He immediately identified his opponent's strategy, which was to wear him down and defeat him, but that was not going to be an easy strategy to implement. Ever since he had gained complete control over his newfound strength, he had never unleashed it with all his might. Now, he was planning to test things out to see if control had truly reached a sufficiently proficient standard.

He pointed his Golden Dragon Spear forward, aiming it directly at Phantom King. At this point, there were over 500 meters between them. Even for beings at their cultivation ranks, this was a relatively safe distance. In particular, an agility attack system Soul Master would have more than enough time to react with such a large distance between them and their opponent.

However, in the instant that Tang Wulin pointed his Golden Dragon Spear at Phantom King, a bone-chilling sensation suddenly welled up in Number 142's heart for some reason.

Can he still directly attack me from so far away?

Just as he was feeling rather perplexed, Tang Wulin sprang into action. He abruptly lunged forward with his left foot before stomping it heavily into the ground.

A massive crater instantly appeared on the competition platform, and the surrounding ground shattered in massive chunks. At the same time, his body abruptly accelerated and was propelled through the air. In the instant that he sprang into action, Phantom King immediately reacted. He also accelerated, and his third soul ring lit up while his body moved horizontally like an illusionary shadow.

His third soul skill was one that enhanced his speed, and after many years of cultivation, not only was he extraordinarily fast, his control over his own speed and his own body was also near-perfect, so he was extremely adept at evading enemy attacks.

However, right at this moment, he was greeted by the sound of a thunderous roar of fury.

"Roar!"

A loud dragon's roar erupted throughout the entire competition venue, and a massive golden dragon head appeared around Tang Wulin's body. The golden dragon head had a diameter of over five meters, and golden ripples appeared all over the entire competition platform as it let loose that thunderous roar.

Phantom King was largely immune to most physical attacks, but he certainly wasn't immune to shockwaves! He was momentarily stunned by this almighty roar, which slowed down his reaction speed slightly.

However, as soon as he realized that he was potentially in a bad situation, he immediately reacted, and his seventh soul ring abruptly lit up. His entire body turned into an almost gaseous state, and this was his Phantom True Body.

This was the greatest trump card for all seven-ring Soul Sages, and under the enhancements of his battle armor, his martial soul true body would undoubtedly be in its most powerful state.

However, during the time that it had taken him to release his seventh soul skill, Tang Wulin flapped his wings vigorously and reached his opponent in a flash.

His Golden Dragon Spear pierced through the air toward Phantom King like lightning, and a platinum spear projection erupted from it, turning his blue phantom body into the same color as the dazzling platinum light.

Phantom King immediately reacted as he turned his body to the side, evading the spear projection while pouncing directly toward Tang Wulin.

A chilling sensation washed over Tang Wulin's body, and the Phantom King was too fast for him to evade. In the instant that the two of them came into contact with one another, Phantom King tried to pass through his body with his illusionary phantom body. A bone-chilling sensation immediately spread through Tang Wulin's body, striking him with a sense of paralysis.

However, he merely gave a cold internal chuckled as his dragon core expanded violently like a heart before contracting forcefully. Tremendous blood essence fluctuations were immediately pumped throughout his entire body, and a layer of reddish-golden light appeared over his skin.

Phantom King let loose a howl of anguish, and his body instantly became even more insubstantial. Just as Tang Wulin had predicted, the extreme yang attribute of his bloodline aura was the natural bane of phantoms!

He didn't even need to turn around as he thrust the rear tip of his Golden Dragon Spear backward, aiming it directly at Phantom King.

Just as Phantom King let loose that howl of pain, his fourth soul ring lit up, and his body suddenly split up into two phantoms, then into four, and the four phantoms flew away toward different directions.

Back when he had faced Yue Zhengyu, he had used this soul skill to make Yue Zhengyu expend a large amount of his holy energy, and only then was he able to find an opportunity to secure victory in the end.

As soon as he discovered that Tang Wulin's bloodline aura had a crippling effect on him, he immediately chose to flee and open up some distance before reassessing his opponent.

However, Tang Wulin certainly wasn't going to afford him that opportunity.

He stomped his right foot onto the ground in a vicious manner, and powerful shockwaves abruptly erupted forth in a diameter of 30 meters. Eight golden dragons then rose up from the ground, surrounding this space and forming a cage-like structure. What was even more fearsome was that countless platinum spear projections were suddenly unleashed from Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon Spear, and they hurtled directly toward Phantom King.

From the Golden Dragon Roar to the Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth, the sequence of actions Tang Wulin had taken was to abruptly accelerate before thrusting his spear forward. Reddish-golden bloodline aura then erupted from his body, following which he unleashed his Golden Dragon Shakes the Earth to conjure up the eight golden dragons, then unleashed countless spear projections at once.

The entire process had only taken the span of a breath or two, and the spectators were completely entranced. In the hearts of the vast majority of the spectators, particularly among those who weren't Soul Masters, the same thought reflexively welled up in their hearts; this was how a powerful Soul Master fought!

Phantom King let loose a sharp cry, and the blue light radiating from his body suddenly became brighter. The four phantoms were clearly unable to escape, so they abruptly converged and combined as one again. Immediately thereafter, the phantom body transformed into a blue needle, and as opposed to attempting to flee from the scene, the needle hurtled directly toward Tang Wulin. He was unleashing an attack that Tang Wulin had to address.