Chapter 103: Shenfeng Academy

When Yang Xiong returned to the Shrek team, he found that the whole team seemed vaguely off, especially that the members' minds no longer seemed as united as before.

But Yang Xiong didn't care about that, acting as if nothing had happened.

Ning Rongrong squeezed Yang Xiong's old waist hard and said, "You little Xiao Xiongzi, at this crucial moment of the match you actually took a leave to go play. Just you watch me punish you."

Yang Xiong felt a sharp pain in his waist and couldn't help flinging Ning Rongrong away: "You little brat, you dare squeeze me? Watch me squeeze back."

The two whispered quietly in the team as if nothing were wrong, which drew sideways glances from the other members.

Yang Xiong was a bit puzzled: "Rong Rong, how have our results been these past few days?"

Ning Rongrong replied helplessly, "What else can I say? We lost to Tian Shui Academy a few days ago, and now our record is fifth place. If we lose a few more matches, qualifying will be very difficult."

………

However, the Shrek Team indeed had strength; they went on a winning streak, and their standing remained fifth among all teams.

In the final round, the Shrek Team finally faced the top‑ranked team of this tournament, Shenfeng Academy, which had only lost one match so far.

Shenfeng Academy's attack power is extremely formidable; especially since all its members have the wind element attribute and can all fly, making it the recognized strongest team in the Tiandou Region. The entire qualifying tournament was only lost to Chi Huo Academy.

In contrast, the Shrek Team has lost only four matches in total; although they remain fifth, the Xiangjia Academy, which is sixth, has already lost five matches, meaning the Shrek Team can advance regardless.

This is also the first time in history that the Heaven Dou Royal Academy has had two teams advance; no matter the situation, the people of Emperor Xue Ye seem quite pleased.

Yang Xiong looked at Feng Xiaotian with a sense of helplessness; Feng Xiaotian truly lives up to being Douluo's famous sycophant, but his strength is somewhat disappointing.

Originally, regarding this match, when planning before the competition, Yang Xiong directly suggested forfeiting, since even if they lost another match they could still advance based on their wins.

But Yu Xiaogang and Tang San were determined not to give up, even planning to go all out. Moreover, Yang Xiong saw a hint of tension in Tang San's eyes; perhaps his own breakthrough to level 39 had put a lot of pressure on him.

Over the years, Yang Xiong and Tang San have had a certain rapport; he knows that although Tang San appears refined on the surface, he is extremely ambitious inside, even stubborn, and would never easily admit defeat nor let others surpass him.

However, once they actually stepped onto the arena, the situation turned unusually bleak.

In fact, Shenfeng Academy has only four Soul Ancestors; in terms of number of Soul Ancestors and overall soul power, it is weaker than the Shrek Team, and it holds no advantage even compared to other Five Element Academies' teams.

But Shenfeng Academy has three very important points, which explain why their record can be first.

The first is that every member can fly.

In the Douluo World, martial souls are myriad, but only Flying Soul Masters and Title Douluo can truly fly; other Soul Masters, no matter how strong their soul power, can only fight enemies using powerful jumps.

Therefore, Shenfeng Academy has an absolute advantage over other academies; any academy facing seven flying Soul Masters is almost entirely at a disadvantage throughout, having only ranged soul skills and no other attacks or counters.

The second characteristic is control ability; because all members are wind‑element Soul Masters, the wind element naturally possesses control, and when seven of them simultaneously use wind skills, any formation is essentially broken instantly.

Since all seven of Shenfeng Academy have wind attributes, it's equivalent to having seven Control System Soul Masters, a level of control almost unimaginable.

Thus, in every Soul Fighting Competition, Shenfeng Academy is unusually easy; after the seven release soul skills in the air, the opponents are gradually knocked off the arena.

The final point is Feng Xiaotian, whose soul power is level 44, with the martial soul Swift Wind Twin‑Headed Demon Wolf, making him the highest soul power student recognized in the Tiandou Region. His combat talent is extremely strong, regarded as the top expert in the region, and so far he has only used two soul skills, never having exerted his full strength even against Thunder Academy.

When the Shrek members stepped onto the arena and the referee announced the start, all members of Shenfeng Academy took to the air, leaving the Shrek members forced to look up at their opponents, feeling completely at a loss.

Tang San quickly activated his First Soul Skill: Entanglement; the Blue Silver Grass surged rapidly toward the Shenfeng Academy members, moving at incredible speed.

But the Shenfeng Academy members were unafraid; Feng Xiaotian immediately unleashed several Wind Blades, instantly shredding the Blue Silver Grass to pieces.

Especially with the wind blowing, Dugu Yan's poison mist was instantly dispersed, and the two controls immediately lost effect.

The Shrek members stared at each other in disbelief; no wonder Shenfeng Academy ranks first—their flight, control, and attack abilities are hopeless.

Sure enough, as time passed, Shenfeng Academy's members waited leisurely, occasionally releasing soul skills to attack, sometimes blowing out gusts of fierce wind, leaving the others somewhat exhausted in dealing with them.

Seeing Shenfeng Academy's attitude as if to toy with the Shrek members, Tang San, Dai Mubai and others instantly became furious; Tang San directly activated his Third Soul Skill: Blue Silver Hurricane Formation, causing countless Blue Silver Grass to instantly envelop the entire arena, appearing extremely sharp.

But Feng Xiaotian was unfazed, directly activating his First Soul Skill: Wind Blade Array; instantly a pair of wolf claws produced dozens of Wind Blades, and when the Wind Blades collided with the Blue Silver Hurricane Formation, the Blue Silver Grass was shredded again.

Dai Mubai launched his Second Soul Skill: White Tiger Fierce Light Wave, but every member of Shenfeng Academy was so fast they all evaded it; moreover, one Soul Ancestor even activated his Third Soul Skill: Hurricane Roar, directly blocking Dai Mubai and the others' attack.

The Shrek Team actually had another way to break the deadlock: Oscar's Flying Mushroom Sausage, but unfortunately Oscar had already been transferred to Team One, and his Soul Power Level is relatively low.

As time stretched on, the Shrek Team and Shenfeng Team engaged in a tug‑of‑war, with the Shrek Team now completely at a disadvantage.

Especially Feng Xiaotian's Wind Blades are extremely sharp and powerful; even a Beast Soul at full strength can be easily wounded.

As time passed, under the fierce gale, the Shrek members began to be gradually eliminated.

Naturally, the first to be eliminated were the slower‑reacting Shi Brothers; although their defenses were very strong, Shenfeng Academy, taking an unconventional approach, produced several small tornadoes that swept the two slow‑reacting men off the arena.

This battle lasted over half an hour, especially in the later stage, when several participants summoned their martial souls to defend at full power; even Tang San used the Clear Sky Hammer to strike various Wind Blades, showing that defenses like Blue Silver Grass or Mysterious Jade Hand are ultimately limited.

Throughout the process, only Yang Xiong, using his Teleportation Ability, eliminated three members of Shenfeng Academy; Yu Tianheng and Dai Mubai simultaneously activated soul skills in coordination, especially Dai Mubai's White Tiger Meteor Shower—a large‑area Fourth Soul Skill of great power—allowing multiple allies to eliminate one Soul Ancestor.

In the end, as expected, Tang San and the others exhausted their soul power and were all knocked off the arena, leaving only Yang Xiong to face the remaining three members of Shenfeng Academy.

Yang Xiong's speed was still sufficient; each time a Wind Blade attacked, he fled instantly, and his anticipatory ability even made Feng Xiaotian question his own life.

After a final grueling battle, Yang Xiong reluctantly conceded defeat.

However, Yang Xiong found it odd; in the original work, how did Shenfeng Academy lose repeatedly to the Shrek Academy? With their tactics, the advantage of same‑level Soul Masters should be very clear, and even winning would require great effort, yet the Shrek Team repeatedly defeated Shenfeng Academy.

The match between Shenfeng Academy and the Shrek Team was the final game; all competitions in the Tiandou Region had concluded, and the qualifying spots were all decided.

Shenfeng Academy, Thunder Academy, Tian Shui Academy, Chi Huo Academy, Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and the Shrek Team—five teams—advanced, while Xiangjia Academy was regrettably eliminated.

After a passionate speech, Emperor Xue Ye bestowed substantial rewards on each team, even promising extra bonuses for the champion; the rewards include, but are not limited to, Gold Soul Coins, titles, future Soul Ring acquisitions, and even fiefdoms.

From the scene, the Heaven Dou Empire, Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, and the Spirit Hall began to clash, not fully breaking out, but Platinum Archbishop Saras seemed quite angry.

Dai Mubai and Yu Tianheng went onstage to receive the qualifying certificates and prizes; although Tang San was also a deputy captain, his performance was far from impressive, constantly suppressed, at least not as bold and striking as Dai Mubai and Yu Tianheng, and certainly not as good as Yang Xiong.

It was clear that both Tang San and Yu Xiaogang were very depressed; they essentially devised the team's tactics, yet against Shenfeng Academy they seemed somewhat vulnerable.

Yang Xiong saw Tang San and Yu Xiaogang's solemn expressions, clearly unable to devise any tactics against Shenfeng Academy, but Yang Xiong didn't want to bother with them; some things can only be truly understood through actual combat, especially against Flying Soul Masters.

After the award ceremony ended, Yang Xiong exchanged a few words with everyone, then alone took Ning Rongrong and left the team.

The current Shrek team is becoming increasingly dull and chaotic; Yang Xiong and the others have little interaction, whereas Ning Rongrong gets along well with the others, especially the several girls.

Of course, Ning Rongrong and Dai Mubai also find each other disagreeable; Ning Rongrong has a childish temperament and sometimes speaks bluntly, feeling very sorry for Zhu Zhuqing, while Dai Mubai is somewhat fickle and somewhat macho.

After leaving the team, they unexpectedly ran into Feng Xiaotian's group, mainly Feng Xiaotian, Huo Wushuang, Huo Wu, and Shui Bing'er, the main forces of the Elemental Academies.

Feng Xiaotian's eyes lit up when he saw Yang Xiong and Ning Rongrong walking together: "Yang Xiong, I didn't expect you to win a beauty so quickly. If you have time, give me some pointers."

Yang Xiong sighed helplessly, "You little Feng Xiaotian, you still dare to flirt everywhere—aren't you afraid Huo Wu will get jealous?"

Feng Xiaotian hurriedly looked at Huo Wu, and saw Huo Wu's expression gloomy, as if about to get angry.

Feng Xiaotian quickly spoke: "Little sister Huo Wu, I am devoted to you, how could I dare flirt around; it's all Yang Xiong's nonsense."

Ning Rongrong, standing aside with an unafraid demeanor, said: "Fine, you Shuang Tou Guai, I remember a few days ago you were asking for my information, how come you're so quick to deny it now."

Feng Xiaotian suddenly became extremely stammering: "Little Demon Girl, don't speak recklessly; you're damaging my image."

Ning Rongrong snorted: "You, wearing a mask every day, what image could you have? Maybe you're hideously ugly."

…

Recently Yang Xiong has sparred with Yuan Su Xue Yuan many times, and has gradually become acquainted with these people. Although they are only acquaintances, these geniuses are not as arrogant as imagined; their conduct is relatively simple and pure, and at least there is no entanglement of any interests between them.

After some small talk, Feng Xiaotian took Yang Xiong's shoulder and said: "Yang Xiong, although you lost to Shenfeng Academy this time, I have great confidence in your strength."

Yang Xiong gave Feng Xiaotian a cold look: "Fine, you Shuang Tou Guai, do you really think I lost to you?"

Feng Xiaotian's face froze: "What do you mean, you guy? How about we have another one‑on‑one match, and then you'll see my true strength."

Ning Rongrong said: "Fine, you Shuang Tou Guai, are you trying to corrupt Xiao Xiongzi? Xiao Xiongzi, this guy, when alone with you, must be looking to learn some pick‑up tricks or the like; you must stay far away from him."

Feng Xiaotian: …

Yuan Su Xue Yuan members: …

(End of chapter)