Chapter 127

In the stands, the atmosphere was fervent and tense, the audience's cheers and discussions rising and falling, as if they would overturn the entire stadium.

Under the gaze of ten thousand people, both sides entered the arena and stepped onto the competition stage.

Huo Yuhao and Yu Longheng, as team leaders, each walked at the very front, their eyes meeting.

Yu Longheng put on airs, smiling elegantly and calmly: "You, at this moment, facing us, it's still too early. You shouldn't have rashly agreed to the match yesterday, leaving both sides riding a tiger and unable to get off."

Xie Xie, behind Huo Yuhao, heard Yu Longheng distorting facts and shifting blame, and rarely didn't speak up, merely sizing up Yu Longheng with a strange look in his eyes.

This one... will he still be able to laugh out loud in a moment?

And Huo Yuhao, hearing Yu Longheng's words, likewise returned a smile, "Yeah, too early."

Seeing this, Yu Longheng narrowed his eyes, secretly letting out a cold snort.

The match had not yet begun, but an intangible smell of gunpowder already permeated the air. Ye Xinglan also looked coldly at Gu Yue Na, who in turn glanced at her indifferently, ignoring her.

The clamor in the stands gradually quieted down, everyone holding their breath in anticipation of this showdown destined to be recorded in history.

While waiting for the referee's signal, Yu Longheng suddenly frowned. He noticed the expressions of those team members behind Huo Yuhao — not a trace of nervousness or fear, but rather all wearing a kind of strange anticipation.

Yesterday, they should have seen his strength. So what's going on now? What did he miscalculate?

Something's wrong, very wrong.

"Match, begin!" The referee's voice broke the brief silence.

Yu Longheng forcibly gathered his thoughts and shouted:

"Quick battle, quick decision!"

Yu Longheng and the people behind him released their martial souls and soul rings together.

The light of soul rings of various colors lit up.

Just at the instant they prepared to launch an offensive like yesterday —

A suffocating pressure suddenly enveloped the entire venue.

Huo Yuhao stepped forward slowly, four soul rings that subverted the Soul Master World's common sense rising beneath his feet:

Black! Black! Black! Black!

The entire Heavenly Sea Stadium fell into dead silence in an instant, eighty thousand spectators together with the myriad residents watching the match behind screens collectively losing their voices.

In VIP Box 1, Long Huan Tian, Shen Yi, and others abruptly stood up, dumbstruck.

A ten-year-old Soul Ancestor, four ten-thousand-year soul rings — this is an unprecedented miracle in Federation history!

Is this real?

No one dared to believe it!

And on the competition stage, the four ten-thousand-year soul rings and the majestic soul power of Soul Ancestor level emitted a suffocating extreme pressure.

Under this pressure, Ye Xinglan, whose soul power cultivation had only reached Soul Elder, instantly halted her steps preparing to charge at Gu Yue Na, her face pale as paper, eyes filled with terror and shock. Several Soul Ancestors from Shrek were also not spared, their bodies suppressed by intangible gravity, becoming sluggish, cold sweat pouring down their foreheads.

"This is impossible!" Yu Longheng's voice was hoarse, unlike his own.

At this moment, he seemed to understand why the others from Donghai Academy were so calm, and also thought he understood the deep meaning of Huo Yuhao's words.

Indeed too early — for them, facing such a monster, they were far, far from prepared!

But... he didn't believe it. This is absolutely fake!

It's something like the infamous Simulation Soul Skill!

"Make a move!" Yu Longheng's roar snapped everyone back to their senses. Ning Yue, face pale, gave him an amplification buff. Xu Lizhi's buns were also delivered into their hands.

The next moment, battle armor clad Yu Longheng's body, and he violently charged at Huo Yuhao.

At the same time, the other two Soul Ancestors beside him —

Yao Qixuan, possessing the Cangqiong Wangsun Martial Soul, directly tore through the airflow, flew into the sky, and dove toward Huo Yuhao.

Lin Xuyao, a Control System Soul Master possessing the "Hell King Vine" martial soul, stood in place and directly unleashed two soul skills at Huo Yuhao.

Third Soul Skill — Iron Thorn Cage!

Fourth Soul Skill — Humus Mist!

Clearly, the configuration of four ten-thousand-year soul rings had shocked them, making them unanimously decide to take down Huo Yuhao first.

A vine cage with thorns rose from beneath Huo Yuhao's feet. This soul skill, when unleashed by Lin Xuyao, would take even a same-level Power Attack System Soul Master two seconds to break free.

Not to mention the purple poison mist of the fourth soul skill had already begun to spread, seeping toward Huo Yuhao's direction, certain to control him for an instant.

But with a flash of silver light, Huo Yuhao's figure had already appeared outside, his body not having a trace of discomfort.

"Spatial Soul Skill? Poison immunity?" Lin Xuyao's face drastically changed.

This is simply his nemesis.

And the place Huo Yuhao flashed to was precisely Yu Longheng's direction of advance. Seeing this, the latter's face sank, his fourth soul ring shining brightly.

Ten-thousand-year Soul Skill — Thunder Imperial Dragon Wrath!

With a violent shout, thunder across the sky roared and gathered, actually condensing into a ten-meter-long giant lightning dragon in an instant.

The instant the Thunder Dragon appeared, the entire platform was dyed a weird, deep blue.

Yesterday, he used this very move to disrupt Heavenly Sea Academy's formation, giving his teammates an opening to exploit, resolving the battle within one minute.

"Roar—"

The Thunder Dragon's long chant shook the heavens, violent sound waves carrying high-voltage current, even the air ionized with a scorched aura. The airflow brought by the dragon's diving body tore open gullies in the ground, flying gravel turning to dust before it could land.

"Seems the memory I left you yesterday wasn't deep enough."

Seeing Huo Yuhao neither dodge nor evade, Yu Longheng coldly snorted, but then saw Huo Yuhao's right arm suddenly ripple with silver radiance.

Soul power, spiritual power, blood qi power — preliminary three-in-one fusion.

A hair-raising shattering sound rang out. That palm wrapped in silver-white soul power actually pierced through the Thunder Dragon like cutting tofu. The sky-full of thunder strangely froze at this moment, then burst and scattered into countless points of light.

Yu Longheng hadn't even had time to be shocked when his field of vision only had that fist growing larger and larger. Silver radiance flowing on the fist's edge split space into fine cracks, blasting toward the battle armor core on his chest.

"Bang—"

Powerful Soul Masters in the audience witnessed a shocking sight — that Battle Armor Master's Battle Armor was actually covered in cracks like fragile glass.

One-Word Battle Armor components actually... shattered?

Yu Longheng only felt his five viscera and six bowels shaken out of place, fresh blood spraying wildly from his mouth, his whole body crashing into the protective barrier like a broken rag doll, vision blurring.

Shattered Battle Armor components scattered all around, just like all his pride. In the last moment before his consciousness sank into darkness, his vision was soaked in endless bitterness.

Those talents praised by teachers, that strength admired by companions, at this moment all turned into sharp fragments, piercing piece by piece into the deepest depths of his self-esteem.

Yet he couldn't even summon hatred anymore.

Because the spiritual intent and bloodline power contained in that attack just now detonated his dragon clan bloodline, giving rise to thoughts of submission from the depths of his soul.

At this very moment he even had the impulse to acknowledge Huo Yuhao as master, no longer able to raise any hostility toward Huo Yuhao...

"Spatial power? A self-created battle technique fusing spiritual power, soul power, and even blood qi?"

Shen Yi murmured to herself upon seeing this, heart shocked.

The latter she couldn't understand — is that an ability a Soul Ancestor can comprehend?

As for the former, if the martial soul is related to the space attribute it could be understood, but using the power of space with Soul Ancestor level strength, logically it should also be impossible to destroy One-Word Battle Armor — what exactly happened just now...

The battle in the arena did not stop because of Shen Yi's thoughts.

Seeing Yu Longheng blasted away with one punch, Yao Qixuan's heart shook violently. Before he could even react, a bone-piercing chill suddenly crawled up his spine — Huo Yuhao's gaze had, at some unknown time, locked onto him and his teammates not far away.

Those eyes glowing with faint golden light were calm in a way that made one's heart palpitate.

"Not good!" Yao Qixuan just wanted to warn them, but it was already too late.

The instant their four eyes met, he only felt a spiritual bomb explode in his mind. Invisible spiritual pressure, like a towering giant wave, crushed over their Spiritual Seas with irresistible force.

That wasn't simple intimidation, but Spiritual Piercing precise to a hair-raising degree!

"Ah!!!"

Yao Qixuan let out a miserable scream. He felt ten thousand ice needles stab into his brain simultaneously, each one stirring his nerves, the world before him instantly shattering to pieces.

"Thud! Thud!"

Consecutive sounds of falling bodies rang out. His teammates behind him fell like harvested wheat stalks, one by one collapsing to the ground. Some clutched their heads and rolled, some fainted directly, and some even had blood seeping from their seven orifices...

The entire arena fell into an eerie silence.

In the audience stands, countless people gaped their mouths, yet couldn't make a single sound.

Those Soul Masters with higher cultivation were even more dumbstruck. They could sense that in that instant just now, the intensity of spiritual power Huo Yuhao released had already reached the realm usually only possessed by Titled Douluo — Spirit Abyss Realm!

This also proved that his four ten-thousand-year soul rings were real!

"What kind of monster is this?"

Compared to Huo Yuhao, Shrek Academy's students are simply minor sorcerers seeing a great sorcerer — the latter is the true monster!

At the arena edge, Xie Xie barely caught the pale-faced Xu Lizhi, his Adam's apple bobbing involuntarily, "Big Brother is even more ferocious than I thought."

He smiled bitterly looking around; his companions who were originally preparing to charge at opponents all froze in place. Only he, as an Agility Attack System Soul Master, barely seized a sliver of an opening, catching this little fatty before the spiritual storm swept over.

This guy was also one of only two who didn't suffer devastation from Yuhao Big Brother's Spiritual Blast.

As for the other one...

Xie Xie's gaze turned toward the distance.

Gu Yue Na was looking down at Ye Xinglan fallen at her feet, black hair drifting gently amid the surging soul power, surrounded by traces of various elements raging.

"Being knocked unconscious by Spiritual Blast — for a guy like you who treats Shrek Academy's honor as everything, that's actually more fortunate, why bother seeking me out?"

Ye Xinglan stared blankly at the center of the arena, not answering.

There now remained only Huo Yuhao standing calmly alone, his teammates sprawled haphazardly around him.

Exactly the same scene as yesterday, only the positions were reversed.

Ye Xinglan, who had wanted to struggle up, directly knelt on the ground — not from injury, but the impact of her belief collapsing made her unable to support her body. The Star God Sword in her hand also "clanged" as it fell to the ground, just like her shattered pride.

From childhood to now, she had always been the most dazzling genius, the future star Shrek Inner Court placed high hopes on.

But now, a previously unknown youth told her in the most cruel way — you and Shrek's honor are nothing!

"Referee sir, the match is over."

Huo Yuhao looked at the stunned referee to the side.

The referee, shocked into speechlessness, heard the voice by his ear, still dazed for a moment before reacting, shouting with a trembling voice: "D-Donghai Academy vs Shrek Academy, Donghai Academy wins!!!"

The silent audience stands, after several seconds of dead silence, suddenly boiled over. Deafening cheers erupted like a tsunami, instantly sweeping the entire arena.

Ten seconds, or five seconds?

No one could calculate the time under the circumstances just now, but they knew Shrek lost, lost to Donghai Academy, lost to one person.

This is Huo Yuhao's victory, and also Heavenly Sea Alliance's victory!

Not caring about these vain glories, Huo Yuhao gave one last look at the Shrek students sprawled across the arena, then turned and left with the others.

The mountain-shouting sea-roaring cheers in the audience stands seemed like a thick layer of frosted glass; Ye Xinglan's world now contained only that gradually receding figure. In a trance, she seemed to see Huo Yuhao's expression — those eyes held no victor's pride, only calm.

You crushed us Shrek, yet not a trace of joy can make you rise?

Ye Xinglan's lips trembled, yet she couldn't make a sound. That back clearly hadn't released soul power, yet made her feel a pressure even more suffocating than before.

This isn't arrogant disdain, but true calm that regards the so-called "Continent's Number One Academy's" pride as dust.

The lights on the arena dome suddenly became exceptionally glaring; only then did she discover her vision had long since blurred. Scalding liquid traced across her cheeks, condensing into cold pearls at her jaw, one by one smashing onto her trembling hand backs.

Lost.

She lost, the academy also lost.

It's all her fault...

In the audience stands corner, Wu Zhangkong closed his eyes, sighing deeply.

Words he once wanted to say to Luo Yanglu surfaced in his mind once again.

Even Shrek Academy has never produced a monster like Huo Yuhao; that Erqing Douluo... also cannot compare with him.

……

After watching the competition, Shen Yi heard the boiling cheers beside her ears, her complexion alternating between dark and pale; she wanted to step down and stop Huo Yuhao and the others to say something, to recover some momentum for the Academy, but Luo Yanglu sitting beside her said indifferently:

"This is merely an ordinary competition, it did not violate the rules, nor did it cost lives; what does Your Excellency intend to do?"

"……"

Shen Yi pursed her lips, her face turning cold, "Does the Spirit Pagoda want to use this method to pave the way for its younger generation?"

Stepping on Shrek Academy's head to pave the way for their own disciples — truly a fine calculation!

Luo Yanglu turned to look at her, Hua Yichen's voice echoing in his mind.

"Yuhao exceeded my expectations; he will suppress this era, even like the First Generation Tower Master unified the entire Spirit Pagoda's forces — a change unseen in ten thousand ages... whether it is fortune or calamity I do not know, but our Spirit Pagoda's ten-thousand-year foundation surely cannot be afraid."

Thinking of this, Luo Yanglu did not offer any explanation, and smiled at Shen Yi:

"Since a figure like Yuhao who can truly suppress an age has appeared, why can't our Spirit Pagoda do this?"

Shen Yi abruptly looked at him, an indescribable fear suddenly rising in her heart.

The Spirit Pagoda — does not intend to continue keeping a low profile?

……

At the East Sea Spirit Pagoda, Hua Yichen, having watched this brief yet shocking competition, revealed a smile at the corner of his mouth.

Yuhao, this is your first step onto the Federation stage.

He called over a staff member and instructed in a low voice: "Relay the news to Headquarters, and move Yuhao's ranking on the Young Genius Ranking to first place, title — Spirit Transmission!"

……

At the same time, Shrek Academy.

An elderly woman watched the scene of Shrek's defeat on the screen, crushing the tea cup in her hand; scalding tea water dripped through her fingers, yet she was completely unaware.

Spirit Pagoda, using our Shrek Academy as a stepping stone — you have gone too far!

(End of Chapter)