His Bluesilver Impaling Array struck empty air, and at the same time, light flashed from Bubble King"s mecha. The ma.s.sive bubble detached itself from its body, hurtling directly toward Tang Wulin like a gargantuan soul bomb. Tang Wulin could clearly see that one bubble after another was being produced within the huge bubble, and these bubbles were constantly expanding before fusing with the original outermost bubble. The ma.s.sive bubble then began to turn red.
This thing really was being used as a soul bomb!
Tang Wulin took a deep breath before raising the left arm of his mecha, and a burst of golden light appeared as his Golden Dragon Spear emerged in the mecha"s grasp before being hurled forth without any hesitation.
He had to pop that bubble!
The Golden Dragon Spear flew through the air like a bolt of golden lightning, and as it pa.s.sed through the bubble, a string of loud booms rang out in rapid succession in its wake.
Tang Wulin could one layer of bubble explode after another, and resulting shockwaves radiated proliferated outward, encompa.s.sing close to half of the compet.i.tion platform. He was situated quite far away from the epicenter of the explosion, but his mecha was still sent flying through the air, and he could imagine just how fearsome that bubble would"ve been had it landed on his mecha.
However, before the residual shockwaves of the explosions had completely died down, Bubble King"s mecha appeared soundless in front of Tang Wulin once again, and it had done so in a very bizarre manner.
In the wake of the explosions, Bubble King"s mecha had hurtled down toward the ground within a giant bubble in order to evade the shockwaves. As soon as the bubble landed on the ground, it sprang up like a gigantic rubber ball, propelling it up into the air around twice as fast as when it had crashed into the ground, thereby immediately launching it toward Tang Wulin.
Thus, the huge bubble quickly expanded in Tang Wulin"s field of view as it approached him, and he was quite stunned by the versatility of his opponent"s bubbles.
A serious expression appeared on his face as he thrust this spear forward, and a series of Bluesilver Emperor vines wound themselves around his spear. At the same time, a tremendous burst of spear intent also erupted forth. He wasn"t taking any evasive measures, and he didn"t even seem to be afraid of being enveloped by the bubble; he was merely thrusting his spear forward with unstoppable force.
The two instantly collided, and the spearhead plunged into the bubble, causing it to cave in. The bubble immediately tried to engulf Tang Wulin"s mecha, but it was kept at bay by a series of Bluesilver Emperor vines. Meanwhile, a spear projection erupted from the tip of Tang Wulin"s spear to try and forcibly pop the bubble.
Another bubble was released from Bubble King"s body, fusing with the outermost bubble from the inside, and the two mechas were situated extremely close to one another, separated only by two layers of bubbles.
Tang Wulin"s spear jolted as a thunderous roar of fury abruptly erupted from within Tang Wulin"s mecha. A huge golden dragon head surged forth from his mecha"s chest, letting loose an almighty roar and creating powerful soundwaves that sent ripples running along the surface of the outermost bubble.
Bubble King"s mecha clearly faltered momentarily, and the spear projection was finally able to pierce through the two layers of bubbles before thrusting directly toward the pilot room on the opposing mecha"s chest.
As the golden dragon head let loose that ferocious roar, Tang Wulin"s mecha also began to emit a buzzing sound. The generic mecha was unable to withstand his explosive power, and it abruptly shattered, by the spear projection formed by the spear still existed, and it instantly reached Bubble King"s chest.
"Thump!" Bubble King"s mecha was completely punctured by the devastating force behind the spear projection, but a peculiar scene then ensued.
The punctured area suddenly took on a pink color before beginning to squirm violently. At the same, Bubble King suddenly activated the propeller on his mecha"s back, abruptly launching his mecha forward to crash into Tang Wulin"s mecha.
The force of the impact completely shattered the protective barrier around Tang Wulin"s mecha, and immediately thereafter, a series of bubbles enveloped his mecha before quickly turning red, then unleas.h.i.+ng a string of explosions before his Bluesilver Emperor had a chance to push them away.
In the blink of an eye, the tables had turned twice, and the spectators had no idea who was on top.
Tang Wulin activated his soul power with all his might, and both his soul core and dragon core were pumping energy at a supramaximal rate. All of his soul power was being used to defend his mecha while his Bluesilver Emperor vines created a makes.h.i.+ft suit of armor around his mecha to withstand the string of explosions.
The spectators didn"t know who had gained the upper hand, but Tang Wulin was well aware of the fact that he had come off second-best following that clash.
In the instant that his spear projection had punctured Bubble King"s mecha, he had already sensed that something was wrong. Not only had he used his Golden Dragon Roar in his last attack, he had even unleashed his Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosionat at the same time. However, as his spear projection pierced through the opposing mecha, he felt as if it had plunged into something extremely viscous and rubbery, kind of like a completely solid and filled-in bubble. Even the vibrational force that had been imbued into his spear projection quickly dissipated after it had pierced into that viscous substance, and immediately thereafter, Bubble King had launched his counterattack.
This was his martial soul! Tang Wulin was convinced that this was definitely the effect of his opponent"s martial soul true body. Bubble King had used his martial soul true body to defend himself, then retaliated by sending Tang Wulin flying before attacking him with a string of bubbles. What a troublesome opponent!
This was the first time that Tang Wulin was feeling stumped by an opponent in the mecha battle discipline. Not only did his martial soul possess both offensive and defensive prowess, it even had control abilities and was immune to physical attacks. This was an insanely powerful martial soul! His bubbles were like rubber b.a.l.l.s, and the more power he exerted into them, the stronger the rebound force was. This was like an invincible martial soul!
All of a sudden, Tang Wulin recalled a lesson that Wu Zhangkong had once taught him.
There were no invincible martial souls in this world; every single martial soul had its strengths and weaknesses, and it was often the case that the more powerful a martial was, the more fatal its weakness would be.
Wu Zhangkong"s words had been verified over and over again through Tang Wulin"s cultivation, and it applied to himself as well.
His Bluesilver Gra.s.s had many flaws, and it was far from a powerful martial soul. Even after being upgraded to become the Bluesilver Emperor, it was still lacking in offensive power. As for his Golden Dragon King? It appeared to be an extremely powerful bloodline, but it was bestowed upon him by the 18 seals, which were like ticking time bombs within his body.
Similarly, Dragon King Long Yue had been a virtually insurmountable opponent to Tang Wulin and the others in the past, but he also had his own set of problems to deal with. The mental instability brought to him by his Mountain Dragon King martial soul made him constantly p.r.o.ne to being reduced to a brainless killing machine, so he didn"t dare to use too much of his power.
As such, this Bubble King also had to have a weakness; he just had to find it.
The most important lesson that Tang Wulin had learned on the demonic island was the importance of being able to remain calm no matter what kind of perilous situation he was in. The more he panicked, the worse the situation would become. Only by remaining calm could he make the best decisions and give himself a chance to turn the tables.
It was exactly this mental state that allowed Tang Wulin to remain calm, even though he was expending a vast amount of soul power and sustaining damage to his mecha in the face of his opponent"s exploding bubbles. He was still calm and collected, and searching for his opponent"s weakness.
After unleas.h.i.+ng that string of bubbles, Bubble King"s mecha also paused momentarily before landing on the ground, seemingly waiting for something.
In reality, he hadn"t emerged completely unscathed after taking that spear strike from Tang Wulin.
Even though his martial soul true body had allowed him to avoid being killed on the spot, the Golden Dragon Vibrational Explosion imbued within the spear projection had still shaken him violently and inflicted a lot of damage on him. He had still underestimated Tang Wulin, and it simply didn"t occur to him that Tang Wulin would be able to pierce through his dual layer of defenses. In reality, his second bubble was different from the first one in that it possessed the greatest defensive prowess among all of his soul skills. Even so, it was still unable to block Tang Wulin"s attack, and the connotations behind this were quite apparent.
Thankfully, he was able to turn the tables through the use of his martial soul true body, but he wasn"t sure if his opponent would be able to survive that string of bubble explosions.
Under normal circ.u.mstances, the result of this battle would be nothing more than an afterthought. In the face of his exploding bubbles, it wouldn"t be a surprise to him even if his opponent"s generic mecha were reduced to dust. However, this was a mecha pilot who had made it into the semifinals, so he definitely couldn"t be judged by normal standards. He had sensed an extremely vicious and overbearing aura within his opponent"s spear intent projection, and if it weren"t for his fast reactions, this battle would have already concluded. In the face of such an opponent, how could he not be cautious and wary?