Chapter 45

Looking at this scene, Chen Qiye already knows there's nothing left to watch; unless the other side also produces a transmigrator, they cannot possibly evade Huo Yuhao's trick soul skill.

Six 100,000‑year soul rings outright—no one could stand up to that.

Sure enough, when Huo Yuhao advanced alone, he successfully drew everyone's gaze onto him. In that instant, Huo Yuhao felt pride well up for the first time—this was his own moment! Watching Huo Yuhao's actions, not only Wang Yan was stunned, but even the referee was a bit stunned.

Huo Yuhao's move was completely beyond reason—was he trying to take on seven opponents alone? Every tournament's organizer is a great empire, and this is the time for the nation to showcase its strength to the outstanding talents of the various academies. Naturally they would spare no effort. Yet this referee had never seen a team‑battle match arranged in such a formation! He even forgot to lower his raised right hand.

"Referee, we can start now, right?" Huo Yuhao said calmly to the referee.

At that moment the referee finally reacted and announced the start of the match.

When everything was ready, an indescribable terrifying aura brazenly appeared on the arena.

A blood‑red light flashed for an instant, illuminating the entire arena. An aura brimming with cold, cruelty, slaughter, madness and other terrifying flavors suddenly erupted.

One, two, three, four, five, six. A full six blood‑red soul rings appeared on Huo Yuhao, who looks no older than thirteen or fourteen but is actually only twelve.

Damn, you're digging a death‑trap that won't even repay a life!

Staring at those six terror‑infused 100,000‑year soul rings, at that moment Huo Yuhao was undeniably the focus of the entire arena, even the focus of this continent‑wide advanced Soul Master Academy competition! Six 100,000‑year soul rings appearing on a single person is beyond ordinary imagination. Cries of astonishment rose like towering waves from hundreds of thousands of people. The deafening roar was overwhelming. Even the emperor, empress, and the civil and military officials of the Star‑Luo Empire on the city walls were simultaneously shocked to their feet.

Looking at the seven stunned opponents opposite, Chen Qiye felt there was no point in watching any longer; the next instant Huo—someone—would surely unleash the Ice Emperor's Claws or the Eternal Freeze Domain.

Since Huo Yuhao no longer possesses a martial soul fusion technique, he will most probably resort to the Ice Emperor's ultimate art.

As time passed, everything unfolded as Su Yu had foreseen: a teal radiance manifested on Huo Yuhao, the Eternal Freeze Domain sprang open, and a twin‑clawed ice‑emerald scorpion swept the crowd aside, the seven being directly swept out of the arena without any resistance! This time Huo Yuhao modestly tapped a fragment of the Ice Emperor's primordial power; otherwise his own interfering soul skill alone could never have contained the seven.

In the seven's eyes, they beheld one of the three great kings of the Extreme North—the Ice‑Emerald Imperial Scorpion!

The Ice Emperor's oppressive pressure is beyond what a handful of humans can endure, let alone that bunch of unruly kids; with their strength they can't even keep up with Ling Luocheng, and even if they surpassed him, they still could not bear the Ice Emperor's pressure.

………

At that moment, Huo Yuhao calmly told the referee, who was already stunned as a wooden chicken, "The match is over."

"Huh?" Even the referee didn't react, and only after looking at the seven who had already flown out of the arena did he announce the result.

The Star‑Luo Plaza, which accommodated hundreds of thousands of spectators—including the Star‑Luo Empire's royal family, civil and military officials, and more than a hundred advanced Soul Masters and Soul Guide Academy members—went dead silent at that moment.

After a brief silence came a tsunami of shouts; they were awed, they were fearful, yet they also felt an indescribable excitement!

Huo Yuhao slowly turned, faced the bustling crowd of the Star‑Luo Plaza to the south, and shouted in a deep voice, "Remember, I am from Shrek Academy, I am from the Tang Sect!"

Watching Huo reach the pinnacle of his show‑off, Chen Qiye also turned and walked away.

The round‑robin has begun, also signaling the opening of the competitors' rest area. Today only the first round of the round‑robin is being held, with four of the eight participating teams taking the stage.

However, all sixty‑seven teams that qualified from the elimination round sat in the rest area without exception.

At night, Wang Yan still took them to an auction; Huo Yuhao, like a country child entering the city, remained curious about everything, and the kind‑hearted Bei Bei answered his questions tirelessly.

Wang Yan's point was actually very simple: to help them understand the trend of soul guide development, even bringing up the injuries of the Seven Oddities in the inner courtyard. "The seven main team members are all above Soul King level. That means they can equip at least a fifth‑grade soul guide device, perhaps even sixth‑grade. Let's take an extreme example: what if every soul guide device they have is defensive? After all, each of them already possesses sufficient combat power; what they need most is self‑defense. He Caitou, Huo Yuhao, you two are top students of the soul guide system and also disciples of Fan Yu. Tell everyone, in that corpse explosion, would the outcome have changed if they had defensive soul guide devices?"

When everyone found a good seat and sat down, Wang Yan posed a question to He Caitou and Huo Yuhao.

After casting a glance at Chen Qiye, Huo Yuhao and He Caitou signaled, and He Caitou then spoke: "It would definitely be different. I can assure that the corpse explosion could not break a pure sixth‑grade defensive soul guide device. A fifth‑grade defensive soul guide device would at least ensure they wouldn't be maimed, and would reduce injuries by at least sixty percent."

………

Walking into the auction hall, a red‑carpeted staircase, five meters wide, extended downwards, with no staff outside to guide.

Continuing downward, after about twenty meters they arrived at the registration area. Wang Yan had already completed the tedious procedures before bringing the group, handing each a badge; with the badge, a girl in a red long dress led them inside.

Passing through an ancient, simple wooden door, the scene suddenly changed; the view was all dazzling gold. A wide corridor of golden brilliance, its luxurious décor even surpassed the Star Emperor Grand Hotel where Huo Yuhao and his companions lived.

The corridor was over ten meters wide, its floor paved with precious ivory‑white jade bricks; every ten meters on both sides stood a pair of columns of the same material, carved with gorgeous patterns, and the walls seemed wrapped in gold leaf, their carvings intricate and splendid.

Using his vision far beyond that of ordinary people, Huo Yuhao made a brief observation and was instantly amazed by its meticulous detail.

At the corridor's apex, luxurious crystal chandeliers hung, yet they gave no sense of oppression, as the corridor's height was a full five meters.

The lighting was a soft bright yellow, and against the golden walls on both sides, the three‑dimensional golden world could dazzle anyone.

Chen Qiye opened a separate room, isolated far away from Wang Yan and the others.

A woman in a purple long dress stepped onto the stage from one side of the auction hall. She appeared to be about thirty, with dignified and beautiful features, a faint smile on her face, moving gracefully; the tailored long dress perfectly outlined her fully mature curves. She was the auctioneer for this event, Qing Ya, and even at thirty she could still make the lecherous Xu Sanshi begin to salivate…

Shrek Academy is wealthy and generous; Wang Yan repeatedly snapped up many soul guide devices, which made Qing Ya on stage a bit excited. If Chen Qiye remembers correctly, the centerpiece is a baby bottle, the main item is a ranking chisel, and the Soul‑Devouring Fierce Blade.

The term "centerpiece" actually refers to the second‑to‑last item to appear; in many novels it's considered the final appearance, so people habitually think the centerpiece is the last to appear…

………

When the final item finally arrived, the cart was brought out, and Qing Ya stepped to the front of the auction platform. Her pretty face was slightly flushed, and she lowered her voice a few tones, saying: "Esteemed guests, our mysterious grand gift is about to be presented. This is also the last item of tonight's auction. Originally, it should not have been here. But to thank all of you for your continued support of Starlight, with the permission of our chief auctioneer, we have specially added this piece. Although its price is extremely high, I believe every true connoisseur will find it worth the value. Now, please let our protocol lady bring this mysterious grand gift up."

The cart slowly rolled onto the stage from one side of the auction platform; unlike the previous items, this time the cart was not only larger, but its covering cloth had been changed to a vivid, eye‑catching red.

Everything in this Starlight auction house is tied to color; gold is the most prestigious, followed by the red that matches the 100,000‑year soul rings.

This is Chen Qiye's goal on this journey: the Living‑Spirit Gold.

Living‑Spirit Gold does not belong to this plane; it is an extremely rare special metal. The metal itself seems almost alive, yet it has no intelligence. It can decompose almost all known metals and ores. It is very rare, and this Living‑Spirit Gold contains an immense amount of energy.

Wang Yan had no intention of buying it, and as soon as the chisel was introduced, Chen Qiye waved his hand, "One hundred thousand gold soul coins!"

When that voice rang out, the auction hall fell into astonishment, and even the auctioneer was so surprised she forgot to speak.

"I'll bid one hundred thousand."

When the items were handed over, Qing Ya the auctioneer was especially courteous; although she didn't know Chen Qiye's true identity, seeing the golden mask she was somewhat flattered and surprised.

………

At night, when Chen Qiye wielded the Soul‑Devouring Fierce Blade, Jingliu in the Sea of Spirit was nowhere to be found, and Chen Qiye didn't idle; he directly released his spirit probe toward the Soul‑Devouring Fierce Blade. At the instant they made contact, Chen Qiye's body shuddered violently.

He only felt a darkness before his eyes; the Soul‑Devouring Fierce Blade seemed to become an endless black hole, frantically devouring his spirit power, and an extreme chilling aura, bearing terrifying fierce energy, surged along his spirit probe into his Sea of Spirit.

"Holy crap, this damn thing is poisonous!"

Chen Qiye couldn't hold back and let out a curse. The aura of the Soul‑Devouring Fierce Blade was extremely fierce, breaking into Chen Qiye's Sea of Spirit, continuously releasing destructive power, attempting to completely annihilate his Sea of Spirit.

However, in the next instant, a dragon‑shaped ethereal shadow roared toward the heavens in his mind, causing the entire Sea of Spirit to surge violently, yet Chen Qiye's Sea of Spirit remained intact, and the invading Soul‑Devouring Fierce Blade's power was instantly absorbed by the ancestral dragon's ethereal shadow.

The original crisis was swiftly resolved, and moreover, Chen Qiye could clearly sense that the Soul‑Devouring Fierce Blade's power had instantly lost more than half, and the remaining power could no longer threaten him.

"Ah… this…"

"Could there be other hidden powers within my body?"

Chen Qiye shook his head, not thinking too much, and focused his gaze on that Soul-devouring Ferocious Blade. A faint green light actually shot out like a tangible substance, directly landing on this carving knife.

The azure light emanating from its main body also became clear and tranquil like water, without a trace of impurity. Originally the dark main body of the carving knife also turned into something like a blue crystal.

When the Soul-devouring Ferocious Blade touched Chen Qiye's forehead, a surge of life force, rich to the extreme, instantly poured through his brow into his body, and even Chen Qiye's sea of spirit was tinged blue.

Not only was Chen Qiye greedily absorbing this vast life force, but a dragon mark within his sea of spirit was also absorbing it.

When the Soul-devouring Ferocious Blade cut open Chen Qiye's brow, he felt as if his mind were being torn apart, but the pain did not last long before disappearing.

When everything had calmed down, Chen Qiye's sea of spirit had become a verdant green ocean, but soon it turned azure in an instant…

When Chen Qiye woke up, the Eye of Life and Spirit in his brow was fully formed; his body, whether flexibility or strength, had completely surpassed his previous level 54.

Now his endurance is stronger; if he goes to the Star Dou Great Forest again, Chen Qiye is confident that he can absorb a sixth soul ring of over 100,000 years.

Each day's matches are one-on-one, two-on-two, or three-on-three, or else team battles.

The sun was high; the match time had arrived. The Emperor of the Star Luo Empire had also come to the city wall of the Imperial City to watch. Undoubtedly, what he paid most attention to was also Shrek Academy's performance.

On the competition platform, the referee walked to the center and, via the amplifying soul device, loudly said: "Both sides enter the waiting area. The captains of both sides go up to draw lots."

The members of Shrek Academy dressed in dark green match uniforms rose and entered the waiting area; Wang Yan nodded at Bei Bei, and Bei Bei then exchanged a glance with Xu Shi before striding onto the competition platform.

The draw begins! Everyone is watching what result this match's draw will have. No matter the match format, any match involving Shrek Academy will undoubtedly be very exciting.

Now the spectators only hope that Shrek Academy's opponents can last longer, so they can see more exciting matches.

"Shrek Academy versus Qian Ling Academy, team battle." The referee loudly announced the draw result.

(End of chapter)