Chapter 158

Star Net National Academy over there had a somewhat peculiar formation; six people stood in a triangle, one in front, then two, then three, with only Xu Jiujiu at the rear, the gold in her eyes growing noticeably stronger, like the team's commander.

Shilake Academy this time had a different formation from the last match; last time they set up that weird formation to use Xu San Shi to swap out the opposing team's captain. This time, let alone that they aren't preparing to use this tactic, even if they were preparing to continue using it, they couldn't possibly set up that formation again—their intention is too obvious.

This time Dai Yaoheng, just as against Zhengtian Academy, stood at the very front of the team, with Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong at his sides, Bei Bei and Xu San Shi behind the three, protecting Ling Luochen and He Caitou in front, forming a very standard formation.

Xu San Shi gazed at Xu Jiujiu with a faint smile, looking at her then at himself, his face occasionally flashing a hint of a mischievous smile.

The powerful effect of his Profound Darkness Substitution is already well known, but even being familiar doesn't guarantee one won't be fooled; no one dares to guarantee they won't be trapped by his soul skill—if he successfully swaps out the opposing side's core personnel, the match situation will instantly undergo an earth-shaking change.

At this moment, seeing Xu San Shi's eager-to-move appearance, even Xu Jiujiu couldn't help but frown slightly; evidently, she also had some misgivings about this strange yet extremely practical combat soul skill, Profound Darkness Substitution.

"The match begins!"

Just as both sides were closely monitoring the opponent's situation, the Heavenly Slaughter Douluo let out a loud shout, a golden light flashed across the center of the match stage, and this powerful Honored Douluo vanished.

Both sides reacted extremely quickly, all releasing their martial souls in the first instant.

Huo Yutong's mental detection unfolded instantly, spreading toward Xu Jiujiu.

Dai Yaoheng, taking advantage of the gap when they went on stage, briefly gave them an overview of the story and characteristics of this martial soul, the Star Crown.

More than ten thousand years ago, the organization that governed soul masters on the Douluo Continent was still one called the Spirit Hall; back then, even the two great empires of Heavenly Fight and Star Net had to rely on its favor.

The Spirit Hall once possessed six exceptionally powerful martial souls, which also represented the several strongest forces at the time, one of them being the Star Crown.

At that time, the Heavenly Fight and Star Net Empires each held three seats; back then, the Star Net Empire's royal lineage was still the White Tiger Duke, but the White Tiger martial soul was not among those six great martial souls—rather, it was this Star Crown, which was the foremost of the Star Net Empire's three great martial souls.

However, the lineage of the Star Crown has always been thin, so it rarely appears on the continent, similar to a reclusive sect.

Until over four thousand years ago, when the Sun-Moon Continent collided with the Douluo Continent, the two landmasses joined together, sparking conflict between the Ri Yue Di Guo and the Douluo Continent's original empires; the Star Net Empire bore the brunt, enduring the majority of the pressure.

At that time, the imperial family narrowly avoided annihilation; at the critical juncture, the Star Crown Sect emerged from seclusion, leading the Star Net Empire's military and civilians in resisting the powerful enemy; after unremitting struggle, they not only preserved the Star Net Empire but also established its position as the foremost power among the original three states.

Then, due to the decline of the White Tiger Duke lineage, leaving only a thin bloodline, the throne changed hands, and the Star Crown Sect became the new master of the Star Net Empire.

Of course, they did not employ any dark means against the White Tiger Duke lineage; instead, they made it a hereditary dukedom, so that the Star Net Empire enjoyed unanimous support at the time, which led to the later prosperity lasting a thousand years.

Even now, even if the combined national strength of the Dou Ling Empire and the Tian Hun Empire were added together, they still could not match the Star Net Empire.

The Star Crown Sect's ability to turn the tide back then shows its strength; if we speak purely from a support perspective, perhaps the Star Crown martial soul is inferior to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, but the Star Crown is not merely supportive—it also possesses strong combat ability.

In the support aspect, the Star Crown is obsessively entirely oriented toward combat, which differs from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's all-around nature; one could say the existence of the Star Crown martial soul is purely for battle.

Therefore Dai Yaoheng firmly told the several participating team members that Xu Jiujiu, this auxiliary battle soul master, is absolutely the core of the Star Net Royal Academy; the boost she can bring to this team is immense, her role being somewhat similar to that of Shilake Academy's starting team's Gongyang Mo. Since Dai Yaoheng said so, Huo Yutong naturally is wary of Xu Jiujiu, her mental detection focusing on Xu Jiujiu's every move, ready to counter her actions.

A golden light flared from Xu Jiujiu's forehead; it was a diamond-shaped gold gemstone. As soon as the gemstone appeared, it burst forth with brilliant gold light, then detached from her forehead, slowly floating upward with gold light swirling around, a gorgeous crown appearing above her head, then slowly descending to rest upon her head.

This crown seemed to be composed of countless stars, all a pale gold, with that diamond-shaped gem as the starting point; the stars swiftly gathered backward, and the crown bore eighteen larger stars protruding upward, forming a beautiful circle of points.

This is the Star Net Empire's royal martial soul, the Star Crown.

Two yellow, two purple, and one black—five soul rings appeared simultaneously on Xu Jiujiu's body; this princess was indeed a Soul King–level powerhouse.

And the other six people before Xu Jiujiu—namely, the opponents that Wang Yan had previously introduced in detail to the Shilake Academy members—also all released their respective martial souls; these six were all Soul King–level powerhouses, making the Star Net National Academy's lineup at this moment actually a full Soul King team.

However, upon seeing Xu Jiujiu's five soul rings, the Shilake crowd's first reaction was actually a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, at least it's not a six-ring Soul Emperor.

If Xu Jiujiu were also a Soul Emperor like Dai Yaoheng, they would truly be reduced to tears.

Xu San Shi's martial soul had already been released; this guy, as if afraid no one would know, let out a loud roar to the heavens.

"Profound Darkness Substitution!"

Only see the black light of his Profound Darkness Tortoise Shell Shield in his hand flaring intensely, the light pointing precisely toward Xu Jiujiu's direction.

Seeing this, Xu Jiujiu's Star Crown on her head blazed with light, her third soul ring lighting up, a strong golden light pillar shooting up into the sky.

Inside this golden light column, it was entirely a golden mist, specks of starlight swirling and rising within, appearing extremely extraordinary; from the outside, one could not determine the effect of this soul skill.

On the Shilake Academy side, Ling Luochen had already released her fourth soul skill, a vast ice fog sweeping across the entire match stage, concealing the figures of her, Xu San Shi, and He Caitou.

"Just playing with you~"

Before his figure was engulfed by the ice fog, Xu San Shi this guy still waved at the opposing princess, having never actually released Profound Darkness Substitution.

Xu Jiujiu's gaze tightened, she coldly glanced at him, and the rising golden mist swiftly spread out, enveloping the other six members of her side.

Instantly, each member of the Star Net National Academy team was covered with a layer of gold; Princess Jiujiu's surrounding golden halo did not dissipate, and starlight continued to surge forth from her Star Crown.

(End of chapter)