Cao Ming, though arrogant, acted with extreme caution. After the host announced the soul duel to begin, he stood with his feet apart, fists clenched and hanging loosely at his sides, a stance that was both offensive and defensive.
"As expected of a veteran who has experienced countless soul duels. Despite looking down on me, he remains careful, lest he be capsized in the shallows."
"Compared to my fight with the Savage Bear, I am indeed less mature and too naive."
Wang Zhong also assumed a defensive posture. Ying Yanyang had told him long ago that when walking in the soul master world, one could never be sure if they were the eagle or the rabbit. Arrogance was the only sure path to death.
Now, facing Cao Ming, he felt a dawning realization.
Confidence, arrogance, and presumption could all be displayed openly, but once the fight truly began, one had to be fully alert and never underestimate the opponent.
Strategically, one could despise the enemy, but tactically, one had to take them seriously!
"First soul skill, Charge!"
Beneath Cao Ming's feet, his first hundred-year soul ring slowly rotated. The ox phantom behind him let out a great roar, lowered its head, and panted heavily. Its thick front hooves pawed the ground, its fiery red ox eyes filled with frenzy.
With a heavy stomp of his right foot, Cao Ming's body shot forward like a wild ox that had broken its reins. His determined, invincible aura truly brought the image of a savage bull to life.
The oppressive aura rushing towards him made Wang Zhong frown deeply. For martial spirits like oxen and sheep, the Charge soul skill, while best utilizing the spirit's inherent power, had an equally obvious drawback.
It was a simple, straightforward linear attack. As long as the soul master observed carefully and reacted prudently, it could be dodged.
Furthermore, Charge always came with Trample; these two soul skills complemented each other, almost always appearing as a pair.
"Although I could withstand this attack with pure strength, something feels off."
"As someone on the verge of becoming a Silver Douluo, any soul master would know the weakness of his Charge. A slight sidestep would be enough to dodge it. If one were confident enough, they could even counterattack while evading. Cao Ming is sure to fall for this."
"Yet, despite such an obvious flaw, Cao Ming has maintained a winning record. This weakness might be intentional."
"His second and third soul skills are very likely designed to exploit that opening as a follow-up attack!"
A torrent of thoughts flashed through his mind. He abruptly shifted his right foot, this dodge creating a distance of nearly half the arena between him and Cao Ming.
After charging past where Wang Zhong had been standing, Cao Ming's expression turned bewildered.
"How could he dodge so far? He didn't even try to exploit such an obvious weakness and counterattack."
"Could it be that he knows the secret of my soul skills? But I haven't been in a match for the past month. Or has he heard something from others?"
His face suddenly darkened. Cao Ming looked at Wang Zhong with increasing gravity. His soul skills being known to his opponent was the greatest disadvantage, leaving him at a constant disadvantage.
In contrast, he had absolutely no information about Wang Zhong's soul skills.
Indeed, in his nearly twenty soul duels, Wang Zhong had won without using a single soul skill.
With overwhelming strength and incredibly high movement speed, Wang Zhong had been unstoppable in all his previous soul duels, thus negating the need for soul skills.
Cao Ming's change in expression did not escape Wang Zhong's notice. He was now completely certain that his earlier conjecture was correct; otherwise, why would the other person have such an expression?
Taking a deep breath, Cao Ming suddenly clenched his fists. The muscles in his body bulged, and soul power flowed through his limbs, granting him immense strength.
"I must change my plan. This shrimp is prepared for me. Whether by chance or something else, relying on the element of surprise as before is likely to lead to defeat."
There were no angry roars, no hysterical madness, no curses about Wang Zhong's unsportsmanlike conduct or prior investigation. A soul duel was a soul duel; only victory mattered here. Gathering information about one's opponent in advance was also a form of skill.
He stomped his foot on the ground, using the rebound force, and charged at Wang Zhong like a cannonball. His right fist was clenched, soul power surging within it. Augmented by his speed, it concealed a formidable power.
"My soul skills are figured out, so now I can only rely on my physical body for a direct confrontation."
"I am the wielder of a beast martial spirit. With my martial spirit possessed, my strength and destructive power are greatly enhanced. This shadowy opponent is of the plant type, a tool martial spirit, and will surely be inferior to me in this regard."
"As long as I am careful of his soul skills, victory will still be mine!"
"Moreover, my second soul skill is specifically designed to counter any control-type soul skill!"
These were Cao Ming's thoughts at the moment, the best and most correct approach he could devise in such a short time.
Even Wang Zhong expressed a hint of admiration. He was truly a veteran of countless battles in the Grand Soul Arena; such rapid decision-making and adaptation were on a completely different level from his previous opponents.
He retreated a step, also clenching his right fist, and met Cao Ming's fierce punch with his own.
As their fists collided, a powerful soul power shockwave swept across the arena.
Cao Ming's footsteps faltered, taking step after step backward for dozens of paces. The stone slabs of the arena beneath his feet shattered with each step, completely broken. The terrifying power of Wang Zhong's blow was evident.
He looked up sharply at Wang Zhong, his eyes filled with profound shock.
Even he was forced to retreat under the impact of their collision, yet the "little shrimp" he considered a plant-type martial spirit wielder stood rooted to the spot like a nail, not moving at all.
"How is this possible!" Cao Ming exclaimed in surprise, this being the first time he had spoken since revealing his martial spirit and soul power.
"How can your physical strength possibly surpass mine when my martial spirit is possessed!"
His eyes widened, Cao Ming nearly bit his steel teeth together. This was too bizarre and defied all logic.
It was a universally accepted ironclad rule across the continent that beast martial spirit soul masters possessed stronger physiques than tool martial spirit soul masters.
"What's so surprising about that? If you can move freely and live your life as usual while carrying a weight of fourteen hundred jin, then you can also do what I can do."
Wang Zhong's tone was as calm as water, but his words almost made Cao Ming bite off his tongue.
"Fourteen hundred jin!!!"
"Are you f\*\*\*ing kidding me!"
Fourteen hundred jin was a weight that even a pure strength-type Soul King would rarely use for training. And yet, he claimed to live normally without being affected while carrying such a burden.
Seeing Cao Ming's hysterical reaction, Wang Zhong shrugged indifferently. If you don't believe me, so be it.
Seeing that Wang Zhong was no longer paying him any mind, Cao Ming clenched his fists tightly. From that single blow, it was clear that his strength was inferior to the other party's.
"This is absurd. The wielder of a bull beast martial spirit, known for its brute strength, has lost in a contest of strength!"
In the audience, Hu Yuan, the older brother from Blazing Fire Academy, was also filled with shock.
As a wielder of a fire-type beast martial spirit himself, he knew very well the strength he could achieve with his martial spirit's enhancement. With his thirty-ninth-level soul power, coupled with his fire ape martial spirit and soul skills, his strength was infinitely close to a thousand jin.
A bull-type soul beast, known for its brute force, would only be stronger than him. Yet, such strength could not budge that somewhat short figure.
"This 'wooden man' is rather strange!"
His gaze fixed on Wang Zhong on the stage, Hu Yuan's expression was extremely solemn.