Chapter 131: Defeat

"Damn it!" Xu San Shi cursed loudly, "How could we possibly accept such a stifling defeat? He Caitou, come with me! We must drag those two turtlenecked turtles out!"

"Okay."

He Caitou responded, and together with Xu San Shi they began exploring in the mist.

They really had no other options now; they could only resort to this clumsy method.

As the master of the mist, how could Xiao Feng possibly be found by them so easily? Xu San Shi led He Caitou in circling the competition platform several times, not even catching a glimpse of their hems.

Finally, upon completing the fifth lap, Xu San Shi suddenly stopped.

He put on a solemn face and seriously asked He Caitou, "He Caitou, how is your condition now?"

He Caitou's expression showed some struggle; he finally sighed and admitted, "My vision and hearing are already beginning to hallucinate; I fear I can't hold on much longer."

Mine is about the same.

Xu San Shi replied indifferently, scanning the fog-filled surroundings, then suddenly asked He Caitou, "He Caitou, can I trust you?"

"?"

Xu San Shi's out-of-the-blue remark left He Caitou stunned.

Xu San Shi continued, "If we lose this match, the blame is entirely on me; I was careless and misjudged the opponent's ability—how could a five-ring Soul King be easy to deal with? To be frank, my trump card requires extreme concentration; in my current state I cannot possibly use it, meaning we have already lost our greatest ace."

"But." He shifted tone, "We are not completely without options; I will leave you to search for the enemy, you will lose my protection and must not move from here—can you do that?"

As he spoke, Xu San Shi's usual carefree demeanor faded; his eyes sharpened, his words filled with anger and resentment at his own carelessness.

He Caitou stared blankly, locking eyes with Xu San Shi for a moment, as if meeting for the first time the usually jovial youth who served as the team's comic relief.

Soon after, he broke into a hearty laugh.

"Of course I can," he said. "Who do you think I am? I am He Caitou, the personally transmitted disciple of Fan Yu, chief soul engineer of the Shileke Soul Engineering Department—how could I fail at something this simple?"

Thanks, brother.

Having received an affirmative answer, Xu San Shi patted He Caitou's shoulder, then shot forward, racing around the competition platform at an almost unreal speed.

"!"

Xiao Feng and Qing Feng, hidden in the mist, were startled; Xu San Shi's sudden burst of speed even matched that of some agility-attack Soul Ancestors—how did he do it? No time to ponder, Qing Feng quickly launched another earth spear at He Caitou.

If this continues, being found is only a matter of time, but for now He Caitou, as a soul engineer, lacks any protection; they only need to seize this interval to eliminate him, leaving Xu San Shi—a deeply poisoned defensive Soul Ancestor—incapable of turning the tide.

Yet contrary to their expectations, when the earth spear came from behind, He Caitou, as if eyes grew on his back, raised a hand and fired a soul engineer cannonball that shattered it in midair.

Qing Feng found it hard to believe; he fired several more earth spears in succession, yet He Caitou blocked them all without letting a single drop through.

As He Caitou said, he is the personally transmitted disciple of the third-in-command of the Shileke Soul Engineering Department; considering that Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo have so far only Huo Yutong as a student, in the outer courtyard's soul engineering department he dares claim third place, with no one daring to claim second.

Even given the difference in study time, even Huo Yutong could not compare with him in soul engineer devices.

Such a he, if not for Xiao Feng's mist obstruction, could eliminate Qing Feng—a Soul Ancestor unskilled in one-on-one combat—in under a minute; with his full concentration, Qing Feng could not possibly break through his defense in a short time.

Meanwhile, during this interval Xu San Shi had already run a lap around the platform; the platform is only so large, and Xiao Feng and Qing Feng, being among the slowest of their peers, were quickly spotted by him.

Facing his surprise attack, Qing Feng hastily stomped the ground, instantly a spiked earth wall burst from beneath, appearing strongly defensive at a glance.

Yet his reaction was still a beat slow; as the earth wall rose, Xu San Shi leapt high, clearing its range and appearing before the two, his first and third soul rings flaring simultaneously.

Xuanming Power! Xuanming Shock!

The two soul skills were unleashed with virtually no delay, instantly causing Xiao Feng and Qing Feng to lose control of their bodies.

Xiao Feng gritted his teeth, preparing to release his fifth soul skill once the effect of Xuanming Shock wore off.

He was not merely capable of shielding perception; as a Soul King, he had absolute confidence in his fifth soul skill, certain it could eliminate Xu San Shi in a single move. Yet Xu San Shi's actions at this moment completely exceeded his expectations.

Only saw Xu San Shi suddenly dash toward the edge of the platform, then leap high and jump outside the platform.

What is he doing? Xiao Feng and Qing Feng were both dumbfounded.

Due to their shock, they failed to notice the bright fourth soul ring glowing on Xu San Shi's body.

Xu San Shi fully understood his condition; after this round of eruption, the neurotoxin in his body spread again—even if Xiao Feng did nothing, he could not last ten seconds, and those ten seconds were clearly insufficient to deal with Xiao Feng.

If he cannot deal with Xiao Feng, then He Caitou faces an unsolvable deadlock; this match is undoubtedly a loss.

Therefore he chose to directly use Xuanming Substitution to remove Xiao Feng from the stage.

The scene before his eyes changed abruptly, and Xiao Feng fell into panic for a moment.

He never imagined Xu San Shi possessed such a divine skill; Xuanming Substitution for arena combat is downright sneaky—below seven rings it can almost be said to be a guaranteed first-encounter kill.

In his haste, he could only unleash his third soul skill, condensing an arrow laced with neurotoxin and firing it into Xu San Shi's body.

Xu San Shi was unable to dodge, taking the shot squarely and collapsing limp.

He had already done enough; the mist dissipated, revealing Qing Feng's figure.

Waiting for him was He Caitou bursting forth with full power.

As a food-system soul engineer, He Caitou lacked Xu San Shi's robust physique; although he hadn't undergone intense exercise that would spread toxins, he also could not last long, so he had to decide the outcome with this burst of power.

A blinding white light flared up again on the platform; Qing Feng paled in shock, hastily layering earth walls, yet they could not block the light's advance at all.

Boom—

The surging white light simply engulfed Qing Feng, and He Caitou dropped to one knee, panting as he stared ahead.

Is it over?

Everyone stared fixedly at the spot where Qing Feng had just been, eager to know his fate.

Soon the explosion's smoke cleared, revealing Qing Feng completely unharmed.

What—

He Caitou's eyes widened; he was about to say 'impossible' when he suddenly realized something, and his face darkened.

He figured out how Qing Feng had managed to block his attack.

Although Qing Feng bore no wounds, a trickle of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth, clearly indicating he had forcibly used some technique beyond his limits.

He Caitou instantly guessed that technique—or rather, the name of that soul engineer device.

Invincible Shield—the Dou Ling Royal Advanced Soul Master Academy had prepared an Invincible Shield for Qing Feng! The Invincible Shield is at minimum rank five; under normal circumstances a Soul Ancestor could not use it, but in special situations it can still be forcibly activated.

Obviously, Qing Feng had just forcibly driven the invincible shield at the cost of his own injury, blocking this round of He Caitou's outbreak.

Now He Caitou has not only expended most of his soul power, but the toxin has also spread, obviously he has lost the ability to continue fighting.

Although the two of them had already tried very hard, they still couldn't turn the tide.

He Caitou's body went limp, and he lost consciousness.

Shilake Academy lost, losing because of their soul tools.

By the way, because in the original story when they faced the Dou Ling Royal Advanced Soul Master Academy, the two Soul Emperors' injuries had healed, so they won especially easily; as a result, several people from this academy didn't even get to show their abilities before going offline. Therefore, most of the abilities they displayed in these chapters are my imagination, the writing might not be good, just read for fun; I am the first to surrender to being put on the shelves/online.

(End of chapter)