Chapter 181

"You put it that way, it really does seem alike."

Xu Xiaoyan nodded seriously.

"But if we're really talking about it, Yuhao looks most like the boss, right?"

The others nodded in agreement.

Yuhao looks like the big boss; they at most count as minor villains under the boss.

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore, prepare to take the stage."

Yuan En Yehui shook her head, glanced at Xu Yucheng beside her, then turned her gaze forward.

Ten minutes later.

"The competition is about to begin, please all contestants proceed to the arena immediately."

An emotionless mechanical female voice came from the broadcast, stirring a faint echo in the empty waiting area.

Ahead, two massive arched doors slowly opened; the originally clamorous sound wave instantly became even more turbulent, the enthusiastic atmosphere rushing at them was staggering.

Fourteen people total from Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy and Shrek Academy walked into the arena side by side.

This is a grand building modeled after an ancient beast-fighting arena, a plaza over 1,500 meters in diameter, magnificent in momentum, with surrounding stands that can accommodate over 150,000 people, truly the continent's best. But at this moment only about one-third of the seats were occupied — entirely filled with Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy teachers and students.

And in the VIP seats, Lan Muzi and the other two were also invited in, and then the three quickly saw the three people in the front positions.

Huo Yuhao, Gu Yue Na... Gu Rachel.

Lan Muzi's gaze lingered for a moment on Huo Yuhao and Gu Rachel.

Spirit Transmission, Huo Yuhao.

Golden Princess, Gu Rachel.

Two Candidate Spirit Envoys from Spirit Pagoda Headquarters have come.

"Please." The Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy teacher raised a hand in gesture, inviting them to be seated.

Lan Muzi returned to his senses, nodded slightly, and led his companions to their seats.

Huo Yuhao's expression was calm, as if he had not noticed the gazes from behind, merely staring intently at the arena.

Gu Rachel, on the other hand, turned her head slightly; golden hair strands shimmered with soft luster under the lights, the corner of her mouth holding a trace of a strange smile.

Lan Muzi, Tang Yinmeng... she remembered, they were Light Dark Douluo Long Yeyue's disciples, right?

If these two went to Spirit Pagoda Headquarters and saw the claw mark Xiong Jun left behind, it would probably be quite interesting...

"Xie Xie, isn't your mouth pretty formidable? Use your mouth to defeat them!"

"Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, Ji You!"

"Class Monitor Yuan En, I adore you!"

On the arena, Le Zhengyu unconsciously frowned. The hostility rushing at them had almost condensed into substance; the neat, uniform cheers from the stands were all for the opponents. This inheritor of the Angel Martial Soul bitterly smiled and touched his nose: "Looks like we really aren't welcome here."

Long Chen stared at the people opposite, the corner of his mouth curling up slightly, "Then defeat them, make those students unable to make a sound."

Stepping on Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, establishing our own status in the Soul Master World, isn't that not bad either?

Ye Xinglan looked at the opposing lineup, her gaze sweeping over five people among them, frowning.

— Unexpected, the opponents actually turned out to be them.

Yuan En Yehui and Le Zhengyu both stood at the very front of the formation, four eyes meeting in a gaze, each feeling the other was an eyesore. Before the competition even started, there was already a tit-for-tat implication.

Is it because of martial souls?

Both sides frowned simultaneously, but still introduced themselves to each other first at the referee's request.

"Le Zhengyu."

"Yuan En Yehui."

"Ye Xinglan."

"Xie Xie."

After both sides finished introductions, the atmosphere suddenly tightened.

The arena lights suddenly illuminated, the clamor in the stands gradually subsided, everyone's attention drawn to the center.

"Five, four, three, two, one, competition begins!"

As the referee's command fell, both sides simultaneously revealed soul rings and martial souls; large numbers of yellow and purple soul rings floated in the air.

A long sword emitting bright yellow light appeared in Ye Xinglan's palm; the sword body seemed dotted with countless twinkling starlight, dazzling even in broad daylight.

Star God Sword!

The moment Ye Xinglan grasped the Star God Sword, her aura fused with the sword as one, already entering the state of unity of body and sword, momentum flourishing, not inferior to a four-ring Soul Ancestor, clearly an opponent worthy of attention.

However, compared to this "old opponent," Tang Wulin and the others and the audience were more concerned with three other people.

A pair of angel wings appeared behind Le Zhengyu; four dazzling soul rings burst forth in succession from under his feet, circulating ceaselessly around him.

Purple, purple, purple, purple!

Long Chen suddenly stepped forward; a clear dragon roar suddenly rang out from within his body. His figure abruptly grew three inches taller, robes fluttering without wind; likewise four purple soul rings rose from under his feet.

Duanhunxiao's mouth corner revealed a smile; a green flute appeared in his hand; two yellow and two purple, four soul rings circled around him.

Three four-ring Soul Ancestors, among them two with all-purple soul ring configurations, this was somewhat beyond the expectations of Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy teachers and students.

The bunch Shrek Academy sent this time... are quite formidable.

Fortunately their academy's seven contestants aren't far off; Yuan En Yehui and Tang Wulin, Xu Xiaoyan's soul ring ratios are also all purple, only the latter two are currently three-ring Soul Elders, cultivation-wise unable to compare with the other side, the others have normal soul ring configurations...

Oh, wait, there is one abnormal soul ring ratio.

Xu Yucheng, soul ring ratio four yellow.

Audience: "..."

To call him strong, this soul ring ratio really is somewhat lacking; to call him weak, becoming a four-ring Soul Ancestor at fourteen and a half is already quite good, making one's mood complex.

"Holy Light Dragon? Holy Angel? Three Soul Ancestors?"

Lin Jia Yi frowned.

It seems their academy's chances of winning aren't that great.

While the teachers and students of Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy were worrying, the battle had already begun. Xu Lizhi took the lead in distributing steamed buns to his teammates.

After eating Xu Lizhi's steamed bun, Long Chen lightly tapped the ground with his toes, and his figure shot up like an arrow leaving the bowstring, swiftly flashing toward the direction where Yuan En Yehui was.

His second soul ring on his body suddenly lit up, Dragon's Roar.

Surging sound waves condensed into something tangible, surging around him. Faint golden light and shadow flickered in and out of existence, gradually outlining the silhouette of a giant dragon. Majestic holy aura erupted like a volcanic explosion.

His target was clearly Yuan En Yehui.

The opponent's cultivation was clearly the strongest in Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy. Then defeating the opponent would naturally be a bonus. That way, he would have a chance to go to the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well, and could also smoothly enter the Inner Court, killing two birds with one stone.

However, when Xie Xie and the others saw Long Chen's martial soul clearly, they simultaneously turned their heads to look at Tang Wulin, meaningful smiles appearing on their faces.

It's a dragon!

"Wu Lin, it's up to you."

Xie Xie said with a wink.

Tang Wulin nodded, a trace of fighting intent flashing in his eyes, and went up to meet him. The three purple soul rings around his body suddenly retracted, replaced by a dazzling golden halo.

Fine golden dragon scales covered his whole body like a tide, refracting soul-stirring cold light under the sunlight. Tang Wulin's right arm muscles knotted, and when his five fingers spread, five golden claws over a foot long snapped out with a clang, the claw tips flowing with heart-palpitating sharpness.

"Roar—"

Long Chen's Dragon's Roar sound wave had not yet fully unfolded when it suddenly came to an abrupt halt, as if its throat had been gripped. He discovered in horror that the faint golden giant dragon phantom around him was actually trembling violently, beginning to collapse as if encountering a natural enemy.

That trembling sensation originating from the depths of his bloodline caused his movements to stagnate for a moment.

In the blink of an eye, Tang Wulin's Golden Dragon Claw had torn through the air and arrived. Where the claw blades passed, Long Chen's holy aura melted like ice and snow, and his protective soul power was torn open with five hideous cracks.

Bang!

Accompanied by a dull impact sound, Long Chen's whole person flew backward like a kite with a broken string, scraping over ten meters on the stage before barely stopping.

The whole venue fell silent in an instant.

Whether it was the audience or Long Chen's companions, none of them expected the result to be like this. However, Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, seeing their side gain the upper hand first, soon started cheering.

"How is this possible?"

Beside Lan Muzi, Tang Yinmeng subconsciously cried out in alarm.

"Just now was... martial soul suppression? What martial soul can suppress the Holy Light Dragon?"

And what's with that golden soul ring? The legendary million-year soul ring?

Compared to others' shock, the Shrek Academy students still on the stage just felt extremely unreal.

No matter how they thought about it beforehand, they couldn't have imagined that Long Chen, ranked top two in strength in their team, would give up like this. Clearly the boy opposite hadn't shown much strength, just made one move, and their teammate directly knelt... Is this reasonable?

"Long Chen... are you a spy sent by Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy? You're actually from Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, right? You went down in one exchange... this is too fake."

Le Zhengyu's mouth twitched, and he secretly complained in his heart, but he didn't give up the fight, actively迎向 the Titan Giant Ape that Yuan En Yehui had transformed into.

Long Chen knelt, so only he could fight Yuan En Yehui. They still had two Soul Ancestors on this side, so they still had a fighting chance.

In the center of the arena, Le Zhengyu quickly clashed with Yuan En Yehui. Angel wings spread, holy light collided fiercely with the Titan Giant Ape's violent aura, erupting in deafening roars.

Seeing this, the others took different actions.

The third purple soul ring at Xu Xiaoyan's feet suddenly lit up, and Blizzard instantly spread toward the entire venue.

The moment the wind and snow covered the venue, Xie Xie quietly disappeared. Wang Jin Xi, Zhang Yangzi, and Xu Yucheng rushed up together.

On Shrek's side, Duanhunxiao flipped his hand, a jade-green long flute held horizontally at his lips. His fourth soul ring suddenly lit up. Melodious flute sounds turned into tangible sound waves, sweeping toward the opposite side.

Instantly, Tang Wulin and the others all felt a bout of dizziness. The spreading speed of Xu Xiaoyan's released Blizzard also slowed by a notch.

Seeing this, Ye Xinglan and Baihanying pressed forward, intending to seize the opportunity to turn the tide.

Hexiaopeng also held a bright silver large hammer in his hand, smashing it fiercely at Tang Wulin. Golden light flashed in Tang Wulin's eyes, and he forcibly stabilized his figure amidst the dizziness. Facing the whistling large hammer, he advanced instead of retreating, his right arm Golden Dragon Claw fiercely迎上!

"Clang—!"

Amidst the deafening metal collision sound, Hexiaopeng only felt severe pain in his tiger's mouth, the bright silver large hammer nearly shaken out of his hand.

Duanhunxiao's eyes sharpened, still wanting to act to suppress, suddenly—

A spiritual blast sharp as a sword tore through the air!

Ugh!

He groaned dully, his movements instantly freezing. He looked with some shock toward that seemingly frail blue-haired girl in the distance—Xu Xiaoyan was just withdrawing the golden light from her eyes, a faint smile on the corner of her mouth.

"Spiritual Blast? Spiritual Power approaching Spirit Sea Realm?"

Duanhunxiao's heart surged with shock.

Just that one strike, if he hadn't also been approaching Spirit Sea Realm, it might have been dangerous.

That girl isn't a tool martial soul? Such strong spiritual power, and even using a self-created soul skill of the spiritual blast type. One would believe it if said to be a spiritual attribute...

As the owner of a music-type martial soul, he is very strong in group control. Suppressing the seven people opposite is no problem. But once interrupted, the time needed to accumulate and explode again increases.

With his movement stopping, the Blizzard released by Xu Xiaoyan had no obstruction, completely covering the venue.

"Although without Sister Na helping me train, using Elemental Heart to assist my Blizzard isn't as strong, but obstructing vision is absolutely more than enough."

Xu Xiaoyan secretly thought.

Amidst the spreading wind and snow, two black shadows that had quietly touched behind Duanhunxiao and Xu Lizhi suddenly struck!

It was actually Xie Xie and his clone. Xu Xiaoyan's Blizzard was used to cover his figure.

Xie Xie's clone rapidly approached Xu Lizhi, catching the latter somewhat off guard. But his reaction was not bad. He quickly stepped with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and retreated, looking at him with a complex expression.

Xie Xie's main body emerged from the wind and snow like a ghost. The flashing cold light of his dagger slashed out, interrupting Duanhunxiao's movement before he could blow the next note.

Duanhunxiao turned the long flute in his hand, pointing it at Xie Xie's dagger, resolving the attack.

"You're a music-type martial soul, why is your body technique trained so well? Do you want to hit people with the flute?"

Xie Xie didn't engage head-on, intending to use speed and words to disrupt this control-type Soul Master, buying time for the other battlefields, so he retreated and said with feigned surprise: "Could it be your academy's canteen food is too awful, starving even you flute-blowers into looking like warrior monks?"

A burst of laughter erupted from the audience stands.

Duanhunxiao's eye twitched, and the jade flute in his hand suddenly glimmered with a dim light.

Yet Xie Xie didn't panic in the slightest, his figure slipping away like a swimming fish, his mouth still running: "Oh my, got angry, got angry! Does Shrek specialize in training street performers? This flute-playing is slicker than the old masters under the overpass!"

"But that's useless, watch my upward flick, cut off the lower path......"

"Shut your mouth!!!" Duanhunxiao roared, unable to endure any longer.

Xie Xie paid him no heed.

His teacher had said, since his verbal combat prowess was decent anyway, he might as well use it; a Soul Elder like him tying down a Soul Ancestor here, what was there to be dissatisfied about?

Next, Xie Xie not only didn't stop, his trash talk grew even more, even dragging Xu Lizhi, Ye Xinglan and the others into it. It distracted the others fighting to the point they nearly revealed flaws because of it.

Finally, Duanhunxiao could endure no longer, his third soul ring abruptly lighting up.

Third Soul Skill — Duanhun Nine Turns!

The piercing flute sound transformed into nine sound blades tearing through the air. Xie Xie, however, advanced instead of retreating, his footwork shifting, leaving three afterimages: "Just this? My neighbor's auntie scolding the street has more momentum than you!"

On the VIP seats, Gu Rachel burst out laughing with a "pfft": "This kid's mouth is sharper than his daggers."

Huo Yuhao smiled wryly.

What's this, evasion plus taunting MT?

But Xie Xie tying down that Soul Ancestor skilled in group control right now is indeed very significant.

Without this Soul Ancestor's group control, the other battlefields...... Shrek would be powerless to recover.

After all, Shrek is currently in a six-versus-seven situation.

Lan Muzi frowned tightly, secretly sighing.

After Long Chen was subdued by Tang Wulin in one move, the rhythm of this match fell into the hands of Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.

Le Zhengyu, relying on his fully awakened martial soul, and Yuan En Yehui were fighting evenly matched, but both were fighting cautiously, so it was hard to tell who was superior for the time being.

However, the other battlefields weren't that optimistic.

Hexiaopeng, without support, facing Tang Wulin alone, was about to be defeated; if not for his martial soul possessing a space attribute, he fundamentally wouldn't have lasted until now.

And Ye Xinglan and Baihanying...... they have four enemies in front of them!

Ye Xinglan's Star God Sword trembled violently in the wind and snow, the three inches of cold light exhaled by the sword tip appearing somewhat inadequate. Before her and Baihanying, Wang Jin Xi's Bone Dragon King martial soul stood towering grimly, Zhang Yangzi circled in the air blocking the retreat, Xu Yucheng's Dark Magic Scythe glimmered with dim light — farther away, Xu Xiaoyan's martial soul had already lit up with the radiance of a control soul skill.

Baihanying: "......"

This is trouble.

With Xinglan's strength, she could contend against a four-ring Soul Ancestor, but facing this many opponents, they're afraid...... defeat is already certain.

(End of Chapter)