Douluo: What the hell is the academic master development system?

Chapter 164 The Laws of Dark Mist
After exchanging a glance with Chen Ping, a thick black mist emanated from the scorpion tiger in front of Chen Ping, quickly enveloping the entire scorpion tiger.

For a moment, apart from the thick black mist, there was no other sound in front of Chen Ping. The scorpion tiger's paw pads completely concealed its tracks, and the entire arena was extremely quiet, as if Chen Ping was the only one there.

If that were all, it wouldn't be so bad. The key point is that the black mist in front of Chen Ping seemed to come alive the next moment, drifting towards Chen Ping.

"What a cunning attack method."

Chen Ping hadn't expected that the scorpion tiger's attack method would be so cunning.

In the wild, this scorpion tiger, controlling the black mist with such a slow and sluggish attack method, would at most launch a surprise attack at night.

But this scorpion tiger in front of us has obviously been in Shrek's arena for far too many years, perhaps a few years, perhaps ten years, or even a hundred years.

The battles with Shrek students have taught it two things.

First of all, you can't kill the Shrek students. If you do, at best you'll get a beating from Gong Changlong by the ear, and if they don't learn their lesson, you'll just be killed and made into extra food for the students.

As for the second point, it is that these Shrek students cannot leave the Colosseum, which means that as long as it keeps the black mist running, it will eventually be able to swallow Chen Ping, who can only move around inside the Colosseum.

The Black Mist tactic, which was originally only effective in the dark or for escaping when surrounded, has been transformed into an offensive tactic in the arena, much to the surprise of many junior Soul Masters who had only heard of the Scorpion Tiger Soul Beast.

This scorpion is so smart! It's almost as smart as a human!
Chen Ping turned his head to look behind him, then at the black mist that was spreading outwards, and realized that he had nowhere left to retreat.

The black mist before him now resembled a wall of sighs, over three meters high, surging towards Chen Ping step by step.

In response, Chen Ping neither retreated further nor swung his staff haphazardly. Such dense black mist was definitely not something he could clear with his staff; it would only waste his energy.

So Chen Ping simply tapped his heels off, took off his shoes, and walked barefoot into the black mist.

"What is he doing?"

Du Weilin stared wide-eyed, completely baffled by the significance of Chen Ping's actions.

Wang Yan adjusted his glasses and said, "He probably wanted to reduce the noise he made. Walking barefoot does make less noise than wearing shoes, which is similar to the effect of a feline spirit beast's paw pads."

"Although the Scorpion Tiger, a type of soul beast, can release black mist, it does not have any detection-type soul skills. It mainly relies on its hearing to find enemies in the black mist."

"Although the scorpion tiger has a keen sense of smell, the density of the black fog reduces the reliability of its sense of smell. Overall, Chen Ping's decision to take off his shoes and enter the black fog was bold, but it was indeed a good decision."

After Wang Yan gave his analysis, the homeroom teacher of Class Two nodded repeatedly in agreement.

All he wanted to do now was see if Chen Ping could defeat such a cunning five-thousand-year-old soul beast; he didn't care which class was more outstanding.

After all, Class One has too many top-tier players and too many Soul Masters. He only has Xie Huanyue as his trump card, and now he has no desire to continue the competition.

“What Teacher Wang Yan said is correct, but there is one more point that Teacher Wang Yan may not have considered.”

Just then, Yan Shaozhe chuckled and stroked his white beard: "Our Shrek arena is made of sand, mud, and stone slabs of varying sizes, so that it can be repaired at low cost if it gets damaged."

"This kid is walking barefoot on it, which is like giving himself an extra sense of sight when he is deprived of sight." "When the scorpion tiger walks on the stone slab, the sound may be absorbed by its paw pads, but such a heavy body will always vibrate slightly. At this time, Chen Ping, who is barefoot, can sense the scorpion tiger's movements immediately."

"Don't be fooled by the fact that this scorpion tiger has been in Shrek's animal pen for so long and is almost like a spirit. This kid is just as cunning."

"I wasn't very optimistic about this kid challenging a 5,000-year-old soul beast at the second level, especially since he drew the most difficult 5,000-year-old soul beast in the beast pen, the Scorpion Tiger. Now I'm not so sure about him."

While Du Weilun and the others were discussing Chen Ping, Chen Ping, who had already been swallowed by the black mist, was on edge.

Both Wang Yan and Yan Shaozhe's analyses were correct; Chen Ping's intention in taking off his shoes and entering the black mist was indeed as described.

But it was clear that the scorpion tiger, as a top hunter, was quite patient. It did not rush to attack, but instead remained still, listening carefully to Chen Ping's movements.

Both the man and the tiger were now hidden in the thick darkness and fog. Whoever made a sound first would lose the initiative, and the other would only have one choice: to eliminate the tiger.

This is the law of darkness and mist.

"Hu-hu-"

Chen Ping's breathing was very soft. He couldn't see anything in the black fog, so he could only rely on his hearing and touch.

Soul Masters have significantly enhanced five senses compared to ordinary people, but they still cannot compare with Soul Beasts, let alone Soul Beasts of five thousand years.

Chen Ping might be able to calm his breathing as much as possible, or even hold his breath, but he couldn't stop his heartbeat as well.

Therefore, Chen Ping was not qualified to make the first move. Letting Scorpion Tiger strike first and then responding accordingly was the only option for him.

Chen Ping wasn't sure how much time had passed—perhaps tens of seconds, perhaps several minutes. Just as his hand, gripping the Dragon-Touching Staff, was starting to ache, he felt a barely perceptible vibration on the soles of his feet.

Is it an illusion?

Chen Ping hesitated for a moment; the vibration was far too subtle.

It is as subtle as the natural flow of sand and gravel after the stress is transmitted through the passage of animals.

Thinking of this, Chen Ping tensed up. Even though he couldn't hear anything, he still swung the Dragon-Touching Staff in his hand.

"Roar!"

A tiger roar was heard.

Just six or seven meters from where Chen Ping had been standing, the scorpion tiger, which had been crouching low like a black cat-like insect, suddenly lunged at Chen Ping's location like a taut spring, kicking up clouds of sand.

This scorpion tiger was able to locate Chen Ping's position from the very beginning using its hearing, but it never made a move rashly.

Instead, it crawled forward from a distance of several dozen meters, silently approaching Chen Ping to within six or seven meters before suddenly lunging at him.

(End of this chapter)