Chapter 160

She flicked her bare hand, sending a golden light toward Huo Yutong, who was wielding her sword and slashing forward, and it collided with Huo Yutong's Emperor Sword.

A strange scene unfolded as a golden light shield burst from the golden light, instantly blocking the Emperor Sword and sweeping toward Huo Yutong, intending to trap her and Tang Wulin inside.

Huo Yutong's eyes shifted instantly; her keen perception sensed the strange soul tool locking onto her. She gritted her teeth, flicked her hand, and flung Tang Wulin, who had just been holding her hand, away.

This golden soul tool naturally wouldn't relent; it locked onto both Huo Yutong and Tang Wulin, so trying to escape would be pure wishful thinking.

The golden light shield instantly expanded, pulling the airborne Tang Wulin into its range.

Just as Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong were about to be enveloped together, an accident occurred—a flash of black light—Tang Wulin vanished from his spot, replaced by Xu San Shi.

Now the soul tool could do nothing; Tang Wulin had been swapped to the opposite end of the arena, and no matter how large its range, it could never cover the entire stage.

Thus the light shield descended, trapping both Huo Yutong and Xu San Shi inside.

Xu San Shi twitched the corner of his mouth and looked helplessly at Huo Yutong.

"Yutong, you…"

In that instant, Huo Yutong flung Tang Wulin between Xu San Shi and his original target, simultaneously shifting the mental detection that had been focused on the soul master before Xu Jiujiu onto Tang Wulin, signaling Xu San Shi and Tang Wulin to swap places.

After so many matches, the Shilake Academy team had developed a habit of blindly trusting Huo Yutong's Mental Detection guidance; Xu San Shi hadn't even processed what happened before instinctively following her instruction, swapping Tang Wulin out of the soul tool's range, thereby keeping Tang Wulin from being isolated from the arena alongside Huo Yutong.

Huo Yutong ignored him and urgently whispered, "Big brother, do you know what this soul tool's effect is?"

She had only studied soul tools for a year, so her knowledge of high-level soul tools was limited; at least, she didn't know the name or effect of the soul tool Xu Jiujiu was currently using.

Precisely for this reason, when only one person could escape, she unhesitatingly gave the opportunity to Tang Wulin; if the soul tool had strong destructive power, she would rather bear it herself, being the stronger combatant.

He Caitou's voice at this moment was filled with disbelief.

"This soul tool is called Absolute Defense, a one-time seventh-level soul tool, similar to an invincible shield, but it is a special soul tool used in reverse. Once activated, within fifteen minutes, anyone sealed by the Absolute Defense shield must face the defense of an eighth-rank Soul Douluo defense-system soul master."

"The Absolute Defense shield offers equal protection inside and out; even if one wanted to destroy its core bead, at least the strength of a seventh-level Soul Sage or higher would be required. The Star Net National Academy is truly willing to spend—according to my knowledge, this item's market price has already been driven above a million gold soul coins; they've really gone all out to beat us!"

His voice reached all Shilake Academy team members' ears via Mental Detection Sharing, and their expressions instantly soured.

Before the match, Wang Yan's greatest worry finally came true: the Star Net National Academy brought out a top-tier soul tool to deal with them.

In terms of sheer strength, they might still be able to match the Star Net National Academy, but financially, being away from home, they truly cannot compete with the Star Net Royal.

This move was truly vicious, instantly separating two Shilake Academy members from the match and forcibly creating a seven-versus-five situation. Moreover, they interrupted the martial soul fusion between Tang Wulin and Huo Yutong; originally, through martial soul fusion, Tang Wulin's combat power had approached that of a Soul Emperor, but now it dropped back to the level of a Soul King.

On the other hand, because Xu San Shi's Profound Ice Displacement failed to swap with his intended target, the original target he meant to swap with successfully blocked in front of Dai Yaoheng.

This participant's name is Sheng Yi; his martial soul is the Giant Wing Vulture, making him the sole defense-system Soul King of the Star Net National Academy, with exceptionally strong defensive power.

Xu San Shi wanted to swap him out because he feared that the participant's formidable defensive power, combined with Stellar Radiance Technique, could successfully block Tang Wulin and the others' attacks.

Now his concern has become reality: Huo Yutong's Emperor Sword was blocked by the Absolute Defense soul tool; Sheng Yi spread his double wings, after blocking the Wind King's Broken Blade that struck first, he stepped forward to intercept the charging Dai Yaoheng and Xu Jiujiu, his first and fourth soul rings lighting up simultaneously as his skin turned iron-gray and starlight flickered.

"Boom!"

Dai Yaoheng's tiger claw struck his body, producing a sound like striking iron; he staggered back two steps, clearly at a disadvantage, yet still managed to block Dai Yaoheng's charge.

His defense had bought Xu Jiujiu enough time; she pointed to the sky, her fourth soul ring blazing with dazzling light, from her body a cluster of intense starlight burst forth, this starlight as brilliant as the sun forming a shield that forcibly kept Ling Luochen's ice mist and He Caitou's cannon fire outside, protecting their own side inside.

Just as her plan seemed about to succeed, an accident occurred: a figure entirely wrapped in golden airflow rushed into the range of the starlight shield at the very last moment before it was completed, and was not locked outside.

"Tsk."

Xu Jiujiu's originally upturned mouth corner instantly drooped; she coldly gazed at the opponent who had ruined her plan.

Obviously, the person who rushed into Xu Jiujiu's soul skill range at the critical moment was Tang Wulin; aside from Dai Yaoheng, no other Shilake Academy participant possessed that level of speed.

From the moment Huo Yutong threw him away, he had a vague sense of foreboding.

Xu Jiujiu's plan core was obvious: simply split the battlefield, letting the many bully the few.

This is a very common and basic tactic in team battles, but achieving it is not easy, since the opponents are also living people who won't simply allow us to divide the battlefield; thus it usually requires layered scheming to accomplish.

Undoubtedly, Xu Jiujiu and her team successfully executed this plan; the moment it was completed, it drove Tang Wulin and his allies into a desperate situation.

Yet through Huo Yutong's Mental Detection, Tang Wulin instantly saw Xu Jiujiu's gaze and realized the matter was far from over; Xu Jiujiu clearly still had hidden cards she hadn't played.

A strong sense of crisis prompted him to act immediately, even charging into the enemy camp before he could explain to his teammates.

Fortunately, he guessed correctly; his decisive action brought a sliver of hope to what had been a surely losing situation.

(End of chapter)