Meanwhile, Tang Wulin's mecha had only just raised its leg, and the soul cannon blast was already quite close. However, as opposed to being aimed at Tang Wulin's mecha, the cannon blast was aimed at the ground just in front of him, so if he were to step forward, he'd be running straight into it. The best way to counter this would be to withdraw his leg and pause for a moment. This was clearly a tactic from his opponent to try and control his rhythm!

Tang Wulin's heart stirred as he came to this realization. His opponent was using their long-range attacks to control the rhythm of the battle and restrict his movements.

Ling Wuyue had once told him that the most powerful long-range attacking mecha pilots could control everything on the battlefield, and that their opponents would be reduced to puppets on strings that were forced to obey their will. These types of mecha pilots were extremely fearsome, and the impossible could often be made possible by them. Even if they only had one type of simple long-range weapon at their disposal, they would still be able to unleash a bag of countless tricks.

In the face of such an opponent, the first thing that he had to do was to ensure that he didn't fall into his opponent's rhythm. Even if he had to take a few attacks head-on, he had to foil his opponent's control.

As such, Tang Wulin activated his mecha's propeller almost without any hesitation. At the same time, he injected his soul power into his spear to release a powerful spear projection, and he hurtled directly toward the cannon blast.

"Boom!" The melee combat mecha instantly passed through the explosion and continued to accelerate as it charged toward the opposing mecha.

However, right at this moment, the opposing mecha seemed to have suddenly begun to perform a dance on the other side of the competition platform.

With each and every movement it performed, a cannon blast would be unleashed from the soul cannon in its hand.

As soon as Tang Wulin passed through the first cannon blast, nine more were already hurtling toward him. The trajectories of these cannon blasts were very strange; all of them were flying in curved trajectories, hurtling toward a path that Tang Wulin had to take if he wanted to close in on his opponent.

Tang Wulin harrumphed coldly and displayed his immense physical resistance and exemplary control. Even while his mecha was being accelerated by its propeller, he forcibly controlled it to change directions in mid-air, sending him flying forward diagonally instead of straight forward.

However, right at this moment, the nine cannon blasts that he'd already evaded suddenly crashed into one another.

A violent boom erupted from the side, followed by a powerful shockwave.

Tang Wulin instantly realized what his opponent was trying to do; they had clearly predicted that he would be able to evade the first attack, so they had unleashed these attacks as a follow-up. Even though all nine cannon blasts were traveling on curved trajectories, they were converging toward a single point. The two mechas were situated several hundred meters away from one another, and these generic mechas had no high-end circuits that could enhance their aim, so his opponent's accuracy in long-range attacks was quite extraordinary. As expected of the top 16; those who had made it to this point were truly a level above the rest.

These thoughts ran through Tang Wulin's mind in a flash, and immediately thereafter, shockwaves erupted from beside his mecha. The powerful force behind these shockwaves instantly diverted his mecha off its original course, and he had just forcibly made the mecha change directions while traveling at high speed, placing intense overall strain on the mecha that was making it screech and tremor violently.

These mechas were very heavy, so they could easily harm themselves while performing some awkward maneuvers.

Tang Wulin was slightly alarmed by this, but he remained completely unflustered. He slammed the spear in his mecha's right hand into the ground to arrest its sideways momentum, and the mecha performed a roll in mid-air. At the same time, he turned off its propeller, and it landed on the ground in a stable manner.

However, he still had to praise his opponent. Even though he'd already made a great effort not to fall under his opponent's control, he was still controlled in the end.

Right at this moment, Tang Wulin was suddenly struck by the sense of a looming threat, and he discovered that there was a massive cannon blast hurtling toward him. This one was completely different from the cannon blasts unleashed by the generic soul cannon, and it was like a miniature sun that was approaching him at an alarming speed. This attack had clearly been unleashed before his mecha had been diverted sideways from the shockwaves of the previous explosion.

He had completely fallen into his opponent's rhythm, and this was something that he really didn't want to see.

The cannon blast had a diameter of over a meter, and it was shimmering with dazzling light, but at its core, there was a ball of flashing black light. It was quite apparent that this attack was definitely not one that Tang Wulin wanted to take head-on.

However, it was already too late for him to evade. Even if he were to use his soul skills, there was no way for him to evade the attack in such a short time. His spear was still rammed into the ground, so he couldn't even defend himself with his weapon.

In this critical situation, Tang Wulin did something that no one expected.

He drew his spear out of the ground, then sent his own mecha falling backward to evade the cannon blast. At the same time, his mechas leg swept upward, and a rumbling boom concealed the loud dragon's roar that rang out immediately thereafter.

A series of Bluesilver Emperor vines erupted forth, winding themselves around the mecha's leg and striking the cannon blast.

"Boom!"

A resounding boom rang out, and the melee combat mecha was sent flying horizontally, opening up further distance between itself and its opponent, and it was looking rather disheveled. However, Tang Wulin controlled the mecha to slam its hands into the ground twice in quick succession, and only then was he able to make a stable landing.

This was one of his Nine Arts of the Golden Dragon, Golden Dragon Whips its Tail!

Number 231 was rather disappointed that his attack hadn't ended this battle right there and then. That last cannon blast was one of his own soul skills by the name of "Black Sun", and it possessed incredible offensive power; who would've thought that Tang Wulin would withstand it in such an innovative manner? His mecha didn't seem to have sustained much damage in the process, either.

During mecha battles, one only had to destroy the opponent's mecha to secure victory, so this wasn't a realistic battle scenario. Otherwise, even if the one's mecha were to be destroyed, they could still fight with their own powers. But if that were to be allowed, then all of these mecha battles would most likely just overlap with Soul Master battles.

A hint of astonishment surged through Tang Wulin's heart, and a cold expression appeared on his face.

His opponent did indeed possess exemplary long-range attacking skills, and with their ability to control the flow of the match, it would not be easy for him to close down the distance between them in a generic mecha unless he was to reveal some of his Golden Dragon King abilities. However, doing so would immediately blow his cover, and that was not something that he wanted to do for now.

Even so, he still had alternative methods. He quickly transferred his spear from his right hand to his left while waving his right hand through the air, and a streak of golden light flashed past as the Golden Dragon Spear appeared in the mecha's grasp.

The Golden Dragon Spear that Tang Wulin used as a Soul Master was obviously different from the one currently being wielded by his mecha. The size of his Golden Dragon Spear could be changed at his behest, and he also had disguise techniques that could alter its appearance. At this moment, the Golden Dragon Spear in his mecha's hand was over 12 meters long, and it was shimmering with a deeper golden light than normal. At the same time, all of the dragon patterns on its surface had been concealed.

During his Soul Master battles, his Golden Dragon Spear was always of a scorching white color due to his soul power injections, so the two spears looked completely different at his point.

It would be rude not to reciprocate an offering, so he was going to make his opponent face his long-range attack as well.

Before his opponent had a chance to unleash another attack, Tang Wulin's mecha abruptly stepped forward before hurling the Golden Dragon Spear through the air.

The Golden Dragon Spear spear reached his opponent amid a flash of golden light virtually in the blink of an eye.

He had hurled the Golden Dragon Spear using the Tang Sect's hidden weapon hand techniques, and he had placed more emphasis on speed, making his projective too fast for his opponent to evade.

He had injected both his soul power and blood essence power into the spear, and also guided his mecha's arm using his Bluesilver Emperor vines, instilling this attack with as much power as possible.

All of the spectators merely saw a flash of golden light before the Golden Dragon Spear reached Tang Wulin's opponent.

What...

Everyone's eyes widened as the Golden Dragon Spear hurtled toward Number 231. The soul cannon had just concluded its cooldown period, and Number 231 was just about to unleash a second round of attacks when the Golden Dragon Spear arrived.

He immediately controlled his mecha to fall to the side at an extremely fast speed. At the same time, his mecha suddenly took on a crimson color, and a burst of energy resembling a massive energy barrier suddenly erupted from within the mecha. The energy barrier fused with the mecha to bolster its defenses, but he had still completely underestimated the power of the Golden Dragon Spear.

"Thump!" The Golden Dragon Spear was indeed diverted slightly off course by the crimson energy, but its sharp front tip still pierced directly through the crimson light.

Thankfully, it was diverted away from the mecha's vital regions, but it still punctured through the mecha's shoulder before flying into the distance.

If this were a soul master battle and someone's shoulder had been punctured by the Golden Dragon Spear, then they'd at least be crippled. Fortunately for Number 231, mechas didn't have any life force energy for the spear to devour, but even so, a layer of cold sweat had already appeared all over his body. What a fast and powerful attack!