Chapter 351: Azure Strike of the Water Emperor

The day of the semifinals, the sky was extremely overcast, as if rain could fall at any moment.

In the morning, the spectators arrived early at the plaza, awaiting the start of today's matches.

If we ask which of today's two matches attracted them more, there is no doubt it was the morning bout.

In the afternoon, Shilake Academy faced Heavenly Dragon Gate, and any clear‑eyed observer could see that the victor would inevitably be Shilake Academy; the gap between Heavenly Dragon Gate and this millennial champion team was unusually vast.

Conversely, although the Tang Sect was by no means weaker than Shilake, their opponent Holy Spirit Sect possessed far greater combat power than Heavenly Dragon Gate, and being a team composed of Evil Soul Masters, this squad attracted considerable controversy.

Twenty minutes before the match began, the Tang Sect's team arrived.

As always, Tang Wulin led the way, and none of the Tang Sect members showed any hint of unease about facing a strong opponent; they were supremely confident.

The Holy Spirit Sect, their opponents, arrived at the plaza five minutes after them.

The Evil Soul Masters still wore black robes, looking grim, which gave the audience a chill.

"Individual elimination round, first match, competitors, take the stage."

Hearing this, the audience instantly directed their expectant gazes toward Tang Wulin, who stood at the front of the Tang Sect team.

Up to now, Tang Wulin had always been the first to represent the Tang Sect in battle.

As the strongest of the Tang Sect team, he had already proven his strength in the previous match against Long Aotian, and the audience subtly hoped that, as the tournament's top male contestant, he could teach those cruel Evil Soul Masters a lesson.

Under the gaze of countless eyes, Tang Wulin rose slowly, living up to expectations.

When he stepped onto the arena, his opponent was already prepared.

The man was very tall, over two meters, extremely slender like a reed pole, his black robe hanging on him like a tattered sack.

His movements were noticeably stiff and slow, stepping toward the arena's center as if his knees would never bend.

"Both sides, announce your names."

"Tang Sect, Tang Wulin."

"Holy Spirit Sect, Wang Xiaolei."

Wang Xiaolei's voice was hoarse and cold, even carrying a strange resonance, markedly different from a normal person's speech.

Seeing him, Huo Yutong's eyes flickered with something unusual.

Immediately, Tang Wulin's expression froze in surprise, a moment of bewildered amusement.

Zheng Zhan glanced back and forth between the two, announcing, "Both competitors, step back and await my signal to begin."

To be honest, although he didn't particularly like Shilake or the Tang Sect, his aversion to the Holy Spirit Sect was even stronger.

This had nothing to do with whether he belonged to Xu Tianran's faction; any normal person would find it hard to like those beasts of the Holy Spirit Sect.

Therefore, when he received instructions from Xu Tianran before the match that he only needed to ensure minimal protection and nothing extra, he genuinely breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing both had retreated to the arena's edge, he announced, "The match begins!"

As Zheng Zhan's right hand came down, the two on the arena moved simultaneously.

Two soaring dragon roars sounded, and a red and a blue giant dragon appeared on the arena.

Wang Xiaolei swung his arm, and countless bone claws erupted from the ground, latching onto Tang Wulin.

It was clear that both were specialists in ranged attacks.

As for attack range, Wang Xiaolei considered himself no worse than Tang Wulin. Yet the next second his gaze froze.

Suddenly, Tang Wulin leapt onto the Water Dragon King's back; the Water Dragon King then flapped its wings, taking off in place to evade the bone claw ambush.

"…Tsk!"

Wang Xiaolei couldn't help clicking his tongue.

Because Tang Wulin had been fighting on the ground earlier, everyone had overlooked the possibility of him riding two dragon kings.

Seeing him now soaring high on the Water Dragon King, the crowd realized he could fly, and his mobility was remarkably strong.

Tang Wulin gave a light laugh, then he commanded both dragons to exhale dragon breath toward Wang Xiaolei.

Wang Xiaolei became somewhat panicked; although he excelled at ranged attacks, his mobility was poor, making it almost impossible to dodge this strike.

He had no choice but to brace the hit.

The third and fourth Soul Rings flared, and Wang Xiaolei consecutively unleashed the soul skills Dead Spirit Sea and Death Guard.

A sharp ghostly howl rang out, and countless pale souls surged from beside Wang Xiaolei, shielding him from the blow.

Seeing those souls, Zheng Zhan couldn't help clenching his fists.

He could tell that those souls were refined from living human spirits, and Wang Xiaolei had already summoned over a hundred of them.

How many people has this guy harmed? If Xu Tianran hadn't been determined to cooperate with the Holy Spirit Sect, he would now want to slap this beast to death.

The water and fire dragon breaths collided with Death Guard, producing a violent sound.

Wang Xiaolei's complexion instantly turned much paler.

It was evident that after blocking the strike, the number of souls around him dropped by more than half, meaning his power had sharply diminished.

Those were the lingering souls he had amassed over a long time; losing so many at once was understandably painful.

Enraged, he flung his arm violently, a flash of black light streaking out, striking at Tang Wulin in the air.

This was his fifth soul skill, Whip of Death, which also required a massive amount of soul nourishment.

He had already fed this skill with two hundred wronged souls; its power was so formidable that even an ordinary Soul Saint could not withstand it.

As long as the opponent is hit, they will be corroded by death's aura and relentlessly assaulted by the terrifying resentful spirit energy within the Whip of Death, until their own soul also turns into a vengeful spirit.

Facing the strike, Tang Wulin snorted dismissively, then raised his right hand, firing an instant azure beam.

The beam's speed even surpassed that of a typical Seventh-level Soul Conduit Beam; in an instant it pierced the Whip of Death and also pierced Wang Xiaolei's Death Guard and Dead Spirit Sea.

After piercing everything, the final target naturally was Wang Xiaolei's body.

"Ah, ah…"

Wang Xiaolei let out a dry sound, glanced down at the gaping wound in his chest, then his legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground.

The plaza fell silent in an instant.

This match ended too quickly; it had barely started for less than ten seconds when it was over.

Zheng Zhan glanced at Wang Xiao Lei's corpse, sighed helplessly, and announced: "In the first match of the Tang Sect vs. Holy Spirit Sect individual elimination tournament, the winner is Tang Wulin."

(End of chapter)