Chen Ming's shield was originally formed based on a proportion of his own attributes. After adding the effects of Energy Devouring Shield, it possessed extremely high resistance against pure Spirit Power attacks.
The effect that converted burst damage into sustained damage was attached to the shield itself rather than Chen Ming's body.
Although this meant Chen Ming could no longer accumulate damage to increase his own attributes, it practically doubled his defensive capability.
To destroy Chen Ming's shield in a single blow required output several times greater than the shield's maximum carrying limit.
And even if the shield was broken, it only meant one layer of shield had been shattered. Aside from consuming some Spirit Power, Chen Ming himself would remain mostly unaffected.
Backlash? Damage?
The shield was the one taking the damage.
If the shield absorbed too much sustained damage and burst apart, what did that lingering damage have to do with Chen Ming himself?
After being forced into a brutal exchange of injuries and taking over a dozen punches from Chen Ming, even someone as thick-headed as Yan realized Chen Ming possessed abnormally high resistance against Spirit Power attacks.
So he immediately changed tactics.
He stopped relying on pure Spirit Power attacks and instead shifted toward mixed physical-and-elemental damage or pure physical attacks.
Honestly speaking, Yan was absurdly durable. It was almost as though all the stat points meant for intelligence had been dumped entirely into Constitution.
Fueled by the rage burning inside him, Yan finally managed to destroy the shield created by Chen Ming's first Spirit Ability through relentless attacks.
A savage grin spread across his face as he threw a magma-infused heavy punch toward Chen Ming.
He already imagined himself defeating Chen Ming with this desperate strike and staging a dramatic comeback.
But the instant the magma fist landed on Chen Ming's body, the savage smile on Yan's face froze completely.
A visible bend appeared in his arm.
Scorching magma flowed across Chen Ming's body, yet failed to injure him in the slightest.
Not only did Yan's all-out attack fail to achieve the effect he imagined, the rebound force instead numbed his entire arm.
The result was extremely humiliating for Yan, turning his inner rage into a state of powerless confusion.
Chen Ming smiled faintly, then casually punched Yan to the ground.
Having lost his fighting spirit, Yan could no longer force himself to continue.
After coughing up several mouthfuls of blood, he was forced to release his Martial Soul possession state and fell unconscious.
"I started out as a defense-type Spirit Master. Although I've changed somewhat now, my greatest strength is still my defensive capability."
Chen Ming brushed the magma off his body, revealing golden scales without the slightest trace of damage.
His physical body was incredibly powerful.
After consuming two immortal herbs, evolving his Martial Soul, training through various methods, and receiving support from pills and medicines, Chen Ming's current physique was already beyond comparison with ordinary Spirit Masters of the same rank.
In terms of offensive power, without using additional methods and relying solely on his Martial Soul and Spirit Abilities, Chen Ming was only at the level of a Spirit Ancestor.
But when it came to defense, his defensive capabilities rivaled the very best defense-type Spirit Kings.
And if he used additional methods such as burning his origin, activating secret techniques, or entering deep dragonization, Chen Ming's defense could even temporarily rise to a level approaching a Spirit Saint who was not using Martial Soul True Body.
If he activated Invincible Golden Body, Chen Ming could even withstand one or two attacks from a Titled Douluo head-on. Though only one or two.
Yan had gone through tremendous effort preparing for a mutual-damage exchange with Chen Ming, yet in the end he had merely broken Chen Ming's extra shield without causing any real damage to Chen Ming's actual health.
After wildly throwing what was basically a flurry of reckless punches to test his own defense and attribute levels, Chen Ming turned to look at the only person still standing—Xie Yue.
"You coming or not?"
"Your Spirit Power consumption is already too high. Even if I win now, it wouldn't be an honorable victory."
Xie Yue's voice was low and heavy. No one could tell what he was truly thinking.
"It's fine. Dealing with you is even easier than dealing with that guy. This much Spirit Power is enough."
"How arrogant."
Xie Yue took a deep breath, anger rising in his heart.
If Chen Ming had been in perfect condition, Xie Yue could still tolerate this level of disdain. After all, Xie Yue considered himself roughly equal in strength to Yan. Since Chen Ming could utterly defeat Yan, beating him would probably just require a bit more effort.
Even though his Spirit Power rank was higher, he honestly might not have been Chen Ming's opponent.
But now Chen Ming had already consumed significant Spirit Power and stamina, and even his Spirit Abilities had been broken, yet he still looked down on him so casually.
Xie Yue truly could not endure it anymore.
What, did Chen Ming think he was just dead weight?
"You really want to fight me?" Xie Yue confirmed once more.
"Come on. One more won't make a difference."
"Hmph!"
Xie Yue leapt onto the arena and summoned his Martial Soul. Two crescent-shaped blood-red blades appeared in his hands.
He deliberately gave Chen Ming a moment to prepare before taking a deep breath and charging forward.
At that exact moment, a curve lifted at the corner of Chen Ming's lips.
The energy flow around his body suddenly became strange and violent.
Most of the dragonification on Chen Ming's body rapidly receded, leaving him looking as though he wore a suit of light armor.
Golden energy gathered around his right arm. The scales on that arm rapidly expanded and transformed, eventually forming a massive dark-gold shield.
The shield itself looked like it had been forged entirely from pure gold.
It was roughly eighty centimeters wide, around one and a half meters long, and over four centimeters thick.
The surface bore dragon-scale-like patterns, while a protruding dragon head sat in the center.
Xie Yue slashed toward Chen Ming at high speed, but the instant his moon blade struck the shield, a violent rebound force exploded back at him.
Not only was he forced several steps backward, even the web between his thumb and index finger on both hands went numb.
Xie Yue focused his eyes and saw that his moon blade technique had not left even the slightest scratch on that strange dragon-scale shield.
"What kind of ability is this? Some special Spirit Ability?"
Looking at the shield that covered most of Chen Ming's body, Xie Yue felt his scalp go numb.
Moon Blades were an agility-focused assault-type Martial Soul. Their strength lay in precise strikes against weak points and rapid consecutive slashes that amplified their destructive power.
Xie Yue never feared beast-type Spirit Masters with strong defenses. No matter how much beast possession strengthened them, living creatures would always have weaknesses that could not be completely hidden.
As long as he found the weak point, he could inflict sufficient damage.
But what stood before him now was a huge, heavy shield.
No real weak points.
Rapid cutting and repeated attacks were completely ineffective.
Spirit Power surged through Xie Yue's body as his first and second Spirit Rings lit up simultaneously. He attempted to move behind Chen Ming and attack from blind spots.
But after jumping around the arena for half the match, attacking nonstop while searching for opportunities and angles, Xie Yue never once saw Chen Ming's back.
No matter how he moved or what feints he used, all he ever faced was that cold shield.
Every single strike was perfectly intercepted by Chen Ming's massive shield.
In the end, his endless chain of attacks produced nothing but a series of metallic clangs like iron being hammered.
There wasn't a single mark or indentation on the dragon-scale shield. Instead, Xie Yue felt his Martial Soul becoming unstable from the vibrations; if the collisions continued, the Moon Blades might actually suffer damage.
His arms were numbed by the counter-shocks, to the point where even holding his Martial Soul felt floaty and weak.
...
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