Realizing that Ye Yu's spear technique was laughably bad was actually a boon for Lin Wu.
On the arena platform, Lin Wu—empowered by his first soul skill: Tailwind—relied on his speed advantage to circle Ye Yu continuously, periodically conjuring sharp green wind blades to strike without warning.
And very soon, Lin Wu discovered...
Ye Yu's opening!
Although Ye Yu's physical attributes had reached the level of a Soul Emperor, in the world of Douluo Dalu, physical strength wasn't all that extraordinary.
Even Bo Saixi, an Ultimate Douluo, only barely managed to lift the Sea God's Trident—weighing 108,000 jin—with soul power amplification.
A typical Soul Emperor with optimal soul rings and a top-tier beast martial soul could barely exert a constant physical force of 10,000 jin with soul power included.
Ye Yu's physique might match a Soul Emperor, but with only Level 47 soul power—even having undergone two rounds of soul power compression—it was far from true Soul Emperor strength.
So in terms of sustained output?
He was only producing about 6,000–7,000 jin.
Of course, this referred to average force, not explosive bursts. After all, in this fantasy world, soul masters still had the edge over mundane beasts like bears or tigers.
But now—wearing hundreds of jin of weighted gear on arms, legs, and torso—without much acclimatization, his mobility had clearly taken a hit.
So Lin Wu let out a sinister laugh and first attacked from one direction with wind blades—then suddenly shifted, lunging in from the opposite side.
Ye Yu, caught mid-pivot with his spear, couldn't react in time.
As Lin Wu—the nimble Agile Attack Soul Elder—bent backward in a seamless iron bridge dodge, he bounced back up and clawed straight at Ye Yu's waist with a reverse strike.
Ye Yu dodged back quickly.
Lin Wu pressed the assault like a rabid beast, clawing wildly as he danced around Ye Yu's amateur-level spear swings.
Faced with this relentless close-quarters aggression, Ye Yu was genuinely annoyed.
Truth be told, he had little experience with such melee combat.
The last time he'd fought someone, he'd used his Blue Silver Spiritjade Vine to utterly steamroll arrogant classmates and that walking moneybag Yu Tianheng.
Those poor souls didn't even come close to touching his robe.
Now? He had to take a claw hit head-on just to create space and push Lin Wu back.
Whether it was the announcer or the audience, it was obvious—Ye Yu was at a disadvantage.
"Kid, just give up already,"
Lin Wu chuckled darkly, glancing at the scratch on Ye Yu's side and the fresh blood on his long, clawed hand.
"You're still too green. You're no match for me!"
But Ye Yu, gripping his jet-black iron spear, stared coldly from behind his full-face helmet—not the slightest panic in his eyes.
In truth, his skin—fortified by his Ice-Fire Tempering—was incredibly tough.
Lin Wu's claws had merely grazed his waist, drawing just a sliver of blood.
And within a single breath, the wound had already closed.
Thanks to his immense recovery ability, Ye Yu could easily drag the fight out, exhausting Lin Wu's stamina and soul power before going for the win.
But he despised that kind of strategy.
He hadn't come to the Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena to stall and cheese out wins.
He came here to push past his limits!
His first time on the Soul Arena.
At first, he'd been a little nervous.
But now, having calmed down and adapted, Ye Yu began to analyze the situation.
Even with hundreds of jin in weights strapped on, thanks to his Soul Emperor-level body and twice-compressed Level 47 soul power,
he should still hold an absolute strength advantage over Lin Wu, whose martial soul was Wind Howler Baboon.
His only real weakness?
Speed.
If he could somehow match Lin Wu in speed, then with his strength, victory would come swiftly.
And just like that, Ye Yu had found a way to win.
But how to overcome the speed gap against an Agile-type Soul Elder?
Even if he removed the weights and burned all his soul power, he still probably couldn't catch up.
And now, with weights on, there was no chance.
So what could he do?
As a modern soul with knowledge of countless novels and a lifetime immersed in internet science, Ye Yu suddenly had an idea:
Create a soul skill to boost his speed!
Creating a soul skill in the middle of a battle might sound absurd...
But Ye Yu wasn't aiming to invent a perfect technique on the spot.
He just needed a functioning version that could give him an edge right now.
Side effects?
With his body's ridiculous recovery rate—and Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone's second skill, Wildfire Burns, Spring Rebirth (which could regenerate severed limbs)—
he could heal from just about anything.
What was there to be afraid of?
So how exactly would he create a speed-boosting soul skill?
He had a clear idea.
Just like Tang San used gunpowder to replicate Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus—
If gunpowder worked in the Douluo universe, then the laws of physics were at least partially preserved.
Which meant...
Electromagnetic Conversion was possible!
Ye Yu's third soul ring came from the 10,000-year Thunder Hell Prison Vine, granting him the ability to convert soul power into lightning.
Why couldn't he focus that lightning into his legs?
One stream would stimulate his leg muscles, supercharging physical movement.
The other would flow through the arched iron plates embedded in his weighted gear, generating a rotating magnetic field.
This magnetic force would then repel Douluo's geomagnetic field, reducing his effective weight—
triggering a short burst of explosive speed!
And once the idea struck—Ye Yu acted!
Staring at Lin Wu, Ye Yu silently circulated his soul power, converting it into pure lightning energy—
then directed it into his legs.
Thanks to his prior Thunder Tempering, Ye Yu had exceptional control over his lightning-infused soul power.
Part of the current surged into his thighs, violently stimulating his muscles and cells.
The rest fed into the iron strips inside his leg weights, spinning rapidly—creating a potent electromagnetic field that opposed the planet's natural magnetism.
And just like that—
Ye Yu felt feather-light.
Not quite levitating—the magnetic field wasn't aligned perfectly—but enough to dramatically reduce his body weight.
"What the hell…?"
Lin Wu was stunned to see crackling silver-blue lightning burst from Ye Yu's legs.
"Wait, this guy's spear spirit has a thunder attribute?"
"But his soul rings didn't even light up! What kind of soul skill is that?!"
Author's Note:
Bo Saixi (Ultimate Douluo) barely lifted the Sea God Trident (108,000 jin), even with top stats.
Each level below shrinks in physical output:
Titled Douluo: ~50,000 jin
Soul Douluo: ~25,000 jin
Soul Sage: ~10,000 jin
Soul Emperor: <10,000 jin
So the MC's current physique would be considered weak in xianxia novels—but strong by Douluo standards.
Especially since he's just getting started. His Thunder Tempering and later soul skill Tribulation Ascension will let him forge a divine body, capable of crushing enemies barehanded.
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin