Chapter 67: The Decisive Winner
Ye Lingling's relentless advance brought her right up to Shi Mo.
Facing her, tortoise shell shield gripped in both hands, Shi Mo watched as Ye Lingling condensed yet another Rasengan without the slightest hesitation and drove it straight toward him.
Right now, Shi Mo only had the tortoise shell shield in his hand. The other shield he had thrown earlier had been blasted far away by Ye Lingling's previous Rasengan when it attacked from behind. Even if he tried to pull it back with his Spirit Power now, it would still take time to return.
With no room to retreat, Shi Mo clenched his teeth, raised the shield in front of him, and chose to meet the Rasengan head-on.
Under everyone's gaze, Rasengan and the tortoise shell shield collided once more. This time, Shi Mo did not hold anything back. He poured all of his strength into his arms and refused to give up an inch, even as the shield was ground away under the spinning impact of the Rasengan.
Shi Mo's choice was not meaningless. At the very least, he managed to block Ye Lingling's Rasengan from the front. Even if the Rasengan wanted to drill through the tortoise shell shield, it would take time. For him, that short window was enough to recall the other shield and send it at Ye Lingling's back again.
This time, her Rasengan would be fully occupied with the frontal clash. She would have no way to deal with another attack from behind.
On the surface, the situation had begun to tilt in Shi Mo's favor. As long as he could hold out long enough with the shield in his hands, he had a real chance of winning.
But could Shi Mo really stop Rasengan?
The Rasengan did not only carry terrifying cutting force from its high-speed rotation. The user could also choose to instantly detonate the compressed miniature "typhoon" at any moment, unleashing all of its destructive power in a single burst.
That was exactly what Ye Lingling chose to do.
The instant she sensed the threat from behind drawing closer, Ye Lingling decisively released the full power of her Rasengan.
The white orb of Spirit Power in her right hand suddenly erupted with dazzling light, then exploded outward. Under the violent impact, the tortoise shell shield in Shi Mo's hand shattered on the spot. Shi Mo himself coughed up a mouthful of blood and was blown clear off the arena.
Although Shi Mo's figure looked miserable, Ye Lingling did not have time to worry about him. She immediately turned, ready to deal with the incoming tortoise shell shield.
Fortunately, after Shi Mo was sent flying, he lost control of the shield. Its trajectory no longer changed, and Ye Lingling smoothly sidestepped it with a simple shift of her body.
Qin Ming's figure flashed as he appeared beneath Shi Mo, catching him just before he hit the ground.
"Shi Mo, are you alright?"
The members of the Royal Fighting Team hurried over to Shi Mo's side. Only Yu Tianlin leaped onto the arena and went directly to Ye Lingling.
"Sister Lingling, how are you?"
The intense exchanges just now had not only consumed Ye Lingling's Spirit Power, but also drained a lot of her stamina. Her breathing came out slightly heavy. After taking a few deep breaths, she finally calmed down.
"I am fine now."
Once her breathing steadied, Ye Lingling shook her head to show she was alright. Then she stepped off the arena and walked over to Shi Mo. "How is Shi Mo?"
"Shi Mo is fine," Qin Ming replied. "Although your final strike was very powerful, he still had the tortoise shell shield buffering the impact. He is indeed injured, but not seriously."
"That is good."
Seeing Shi Mo sitting cross-legged on the ground, circulating his Spirit Power to heal, Ye Lingling finally let out a breath of relief. She really did not want to see a teammate seriously injured in what was ultimately just a training match.
"But Lingling, I did not expect you to be this incredible now," Qin Ming said, admiration clear on his face. "You actually managed to defeat Shi Mo."
"Yes, yes," Yu Feng added quickly, "Shi Mo's Spirit Power level is three levels higher than Lingling's, and as a battle-type Spirit Master, his physical attributes completely surpass hers. To win under these conditions, that self-created Spirit Skill, Rasengan, is really terrifying."
"It is not four levels, it is three," Yu Tianlin corrected as he walked over. "In the past three months, Lingling and I both leveled up. She's already at level twenty-four."
Hearing his younger brother's explanation, Yu Tianheng sighed emotionally. "Not only did you create your own Spirit Skill, but you even managed to level up during that time. You really have been working hard these past three months."
After being praised by everyone, Ye Lingling looked a bit overwhelmed and said softly, "It's nothing. Everyone has made great progress these last three months."
"It is not just because of the self-created Spirit Skill," Qin Ming, as teacher, summed things up for them. "Rasengan is indeed powerful, comparable to a thousand-year Spirit Skill, but that alone is not enough to defeat Shi Mo."
"The crucial factor was Lingling's combat awareness. I did not expect her combat sense to become this sharp after only three months. She stayed calm from beginning to end, analyzing the situation and responding appropriately. At the critical moment, she blew away the tortoise shell shield and sent Shi Mo flying. That is the real reason she won."
Ye Lingling's expression was modest. "Teacher Qin Ming, you overpraise me."
At that moment, Shi Mo, who had more or less stabilized his injuries, opened his eyes. After scanning everyone around him, his gaze landed on Qin Ming.
"Teacher Qin Ming, I lost this time," he said in a low voice.
"It is alright. Your performance was already excellent," Qin Ming praised. "As a defensive-type Spirit Master, your responses from start to finish were flawless. It is just that Rasengan's power was too high. You simply could not withstand it."
No matter how strong the Black Turtle Martial Soul's defense was, Shi Mo was still only at level twenty-seven and did not possess a thousand-year Spirit Ring yet. Rasengan, on the other hand, was undeniably on the level of a thousand-year Spirit Skill. It was only natural that he could not block it.
In the original story, Tang San was already level twenty-nine and on the verge of breaking through to his third Spirit Ring. Even then, when he clashed with Dai Mubai at the Rose Hotel, he had to use both Entanglement and Parasitic. Dai Mubai simply activated his thousand-year Spirit Ring Skill, White Tiger Vajra Transformation, and instantly broke free from all the restraints of Blue Silver Grass.
Tang San later told Xiao Wu that if they fought to the death, even if he used all of his abilities, he only had about a seventy percent chance of dragging Dai Mubai down with him. At that time, Tang San did not yet have Dragon Beard Needles; his strongest hidden weapon was the Zhuge Crossbow. According to the original description, as long as a Spirit Master activated their third Spirit Skill, they could block the Zhuge Crossbow's volleys. So Tang San's estimate of only having a seventy percent chance of mutual destruction was completely reasonable.
It was only after Tang San reached level thirty-one and gained his own thousand-year Spirit Skill, Spider Web Restraint, that he could completely bind Dai Mubai and prevent him from breaking free, gaining absolute advantage.
This was the difference in quality between hundred-year Spirit Skills and thousand-year Spirit Skills.
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