Chapter 180

Xiao Hongchen's mood is very bad right now.

As the ace, he had been sidelined by the team until the final match, and he never imagined that in the team battle he wouldn't even get a chance to perform before being sent off the stage.

He had originally hoped to stay silent and then make a stunning debut, so how could he accept this?

Thus, in the second match of the individual elimination round, he, having expended little in his previous bout, rushed onto the stage.

As the match began, Xiao Hongchen, like Li Yan in the previous match, first probed with soul tool cannonballs.

Ling Luochen easily blocked it with an ice wall and intently watched Xiao Hongchen's movements.

So far, Wang Yan's tactical arrangements have shown no major loopholes, so Ling Luochen trusts his judgment—this Xiao Hongchen is definitely up to something.

And her suspicion was confirmed the very next second.

Only saw Xiao Hongchen wave his hand, countless golden small balls scattered into the air, and as his first and third soul rings lit up, soul tool cannon barrels sprouted from those metal balls, giving the feeling that Xiao Hongchen instantly turned into a hedgehog made of soul tool cannon barrels.

「？」

Ling Luochen was stunned in an instant.

There must be over a hundred of those soul tool cannon barrels, right? How did this Soul King Xiao Hongchen do that? Can he really maintain it?

Xiao Hongchen answered her doubt with action.

The muzzles of all 128 soul tool cannons burst forth with dazzling light, and a terrifying torrent of energy erupted instantly.

Ling Luochen shouted without hesitation:

"I surrender!"

Huang Jinxu's figure instantly descended from the sky, and with a single outstretched hand he helped her block this strike.

In this match, Ling Luochen surrendered without using a single soul skill, yet no one in the Star Net Plaza felt blame toward her.

Come on, could a Soul King even block this? If Soul Emperor Dai Yaoheng took a hit, he'd suffer heavy injuries.

What the hell is this Xiao Hongchen up to? How did he manage to do this?

Feeling the awe-filled gazes of the entire crowd, Xiao Hongchen let out a proud hum.

Although this shot consumed half of his soul power, Ling Luochen is also a very powerful Soul King; if he hadn't used this one‑move strategy to defeat the enemy, his soul power consumption might have been even greater.

Ling Luochen staggered toward the match stage, his face somewhat guilty.

She didn't even have the courage to struggle, feeling she had brought shame upon Shrek.

However, beyond her expectations, Wang Yan patted her shoulder and said reassuringly:

"Ling Luochen, you did well."

"Huh?"

Ling Luochen blinked in surprise.

Huo Yutong helped Wang Yan explain: "Xiao Hongchen's attack has already reached Soul Saint level; you couldn't block it, and by not doing anything extra and simply surrendering, you've done something beneficial for the later matches—you did well."

Having said that, she rose and walked toward the match stage.

Xiao Hongchen's strength truly far exceeds everyone's imagination; he is no longer something the other Shrek members can handle, and must be dealt with by either her or Dai Yaoheng.

Dai Yaoheng will bear the final heavy responsibility, so the next one to step up is naturally her.

Seeing her step onto the stage, Xiao Hongchen's eyes lit up.

Since Shrek's first match, he has always regarded Huo Yutong as his greatest imagined rival; as the strongest of both sides' reserve teams, Xiao Hongchen has firmly believed that in this tournament the two of them would inevitably face each other.

The opportunity for a clash in the team battle was ruined by Xu San Shi, but that might not be a bad thing; otherwise, if he had defeated Huo Yutong in the team battle relying on teammates' assistance, he would have had a hollow victory.

He smiled at Huo Yutong and said, "Hey, Huo Yutong, how much has your soul power recovered?" "...?"

Huo Yutong couldn't help but look at him with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot.

"Why should I tell you?"

Xiao Hongchen laughed triumphantly.

"It seems you don't dare to tell me, but that's fine—I can tell you that I still have about half my soul power left; it's not much, but it's definitely enough to deal with you."

"..."

It seems the brain of the ace of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Tool Academy isn't working very well.

Huo Yutong simply chose to ignore him, directly looking at Huang Jinxu and urging him to start quickly.

Seeing Huo Yutong ignore him, Xiao Hongchen didn't get much angrier; in his view, Huo Yutong is a genius of his same level, so a little arrogance is quite natural.

Huang Jinxu twitched the corner of his mouth, no longer waiting, and announced:

"Match start!"

As soon as he announced it, the soul tool cannons seemed to have been waiting for this moment, rapidly condensing into form and aiming at Huo Yutong opposite the stage.

The next moment, the cannon fire roared in unison.

"Boom—boom—boom—boom—boom—"

This time Xiao Hongchen did not unleash all 128 soul tool cannons at once, because in the team battle Huo Yutong had just demonstrated interference and invisibility abilities, and Xiao Hongchen could not guarantee he could defeat the opponent in one go.

Even for Xiao Hongchen, firing all 128 soul tool cannons simultaneously is a highly soul‑power‑consuming trump card; using it twice would nearly exhaust his soul power.

Soon the smoke cleared, but Huo Yutong's figure had completely vanished from the stage.

Xiao Hongchen raised his eyebrows, knowing this meant Huo Yutong had entered an invisible state.

To deal with someone like her, one cannot rely on reckless attacks.

Xiao Hongchen quietly took out a round little ball, held it in his hand, and instead of launching an attack, he observed his surroundings, staying alert for Huo Yutong's attacks.

The scene reached a stalemate, yet neither the two combatants on stage, nor the members of the two teams below, nor the spectators in the Star Net Plaza felt impatient; instead, they tensely watched the stage, searching for any trace of Huo Yutong's presence.

After watching the previous match, everyone knew that if Xiao Hongchen could catch Huo Yutong's movements, the match would very likely end in an instant.

Time passed second by second, when suddenly Xiao Hongchen's head, which had been vigilantly scanning the surroundings, jerked upward and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

At the same time, an ice‑blue longsword appeared out of thin air and slashed at him.

Soul Impact combined with Ice Extreme Unparalleled—a dual spiritual and physical attack—that, if it truly landed, could instantly kill an ordinary Soul King.

Unfortunately, as a layer of yellow light rose, the Emperor Sword struck the Invincible Shield, but failed to hit Xiao Hongchen.

On the contrary, Xiao Hongchen, while bleeding from the mouth and nose, revealed an excited smile.

"Finally, I've caught you!"

He suddenly crushed the small ball he was gripping tightly, and a beam of silver light shot out from it, heading into the void.

However, strangely, it did not shoot toward the direction the Emperor Sword had slashed, but instead toward a point about three meters away from it.

Obviously, that was Huo Yutong's true position, and the trajectory of the Emperor Sword's slash was also an illusion fabricated by simulation.

Faced with this sudden burst of silver light, Huo Yutong couldn't dodge in time and was hit squarely.

Immediately afterward, her complexion changed abruptly.

(End of chapter)