Chapter 171: Battle Against Tianshui

Subsequent developments were just as Shi Quan had said; many academies on the Heaven Dou Empire side raised protests, but in the end, they were all sternly rejected by the Spirit Hall side.

When it came down to it, the Spirit Hall's final answer was only one sentence: if you don't want to participate, you can withdraw. The organizing committee is absolutely fair.

The Heaven Dou officials did not step forward either, and the controversy over the team changes was left unsettled.

The first round of matches ended quickly, followed by a one-day rest.

Early the next morning, Dugu Bo, acting as the team leader, returned to the rest area with the draw results.

"Your opponents are Tianshui Academy; you are the fourth match on stage."

"Tianshui?" Yu Feng's eyes lit up. "The other side is all beauties, Xiao Quan, we'll have to go easy on them later."

Shi Quan smiled faintly. "That's not impossible. Since it's our own team anyway, we can discuss it with them when we get on stage."

Yu Feng then asked, "How will you discuss it?"

"We won't counterattack, and we'll withstand their Martial Soul Fusion Skill..."

"Agreed." Shi Quan nodded.

"Second round of the Grand Finals, fourth match, Heaven Dou Team versus Tianshui Team. Please have the contestants from both sides enter the arena." The host's voice came through.

"Isn't that being a bit too arrogant?" Yan frowned slightly.

Xie Yue shook his head slightly. "This Shi Quan is not a foolish person; I imagine he has something to rely on."

Soon, they arrived at the designated positions in the arena. Just like in the Preliminary Round, there was a one-minute preparation time. Both sides summoned their martial souls, then waited for the referee to announce the start before they could launch an attack.

"Let's go."

"Captain Shui Bing'er, shall we make a deal?" Shi Quan stepped forward and spoke first.

Shui Bing'er and the others looked at the soul rings flickering on Shi Quan's body, their eyes filled with shock.

"Chrysanthemum Elder also told us to pay attention to this Shi Quan, but he's just a Blue Silver Grass Mutated Spirit; I could burn it all away with one fire, I don't know what's so special about it." Yan curled his lip, scanning the Blue Silver Emperor in Shi Quan's hand up and down.

"Fine!" Shui Bing'er looked at the all-Soul Ancestor team opposite her, thought for a brief moment, and agreed.

On the arena.

As Shi Quan summoned his martial soul, there was an uproar in the audience seats below.

Shui Bing'er was stunned for a moment and asked, "What kind of deal?"

"When the match starts in a moment, you can directly release your Martial Soul Fusion Skill, and we will not take the initiative to attack. If we withstand your Martial Soul Fusion Skill head-on, will you concede directly?"

"We'll know in a moment, won't we?" Xie Yue smiled, his gaze burning as he looked at the arena.

Shui Bing'er was taken aback and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Is this the creator of the New Extreme Soul Ring Theory?" In the spectator stands, Hu Liena looked in surprise at the soul rings flickering on Shi Quan's body.

In the rest area, Shi Quan gave a heads-up and led his teammates into the arena.

"This Shi Quan is indeed worthy of being called a genius. I heard from Ghost Elder that his Innate Soul Power was only level one; to think he could reach this point." Xie Yue couldn't help but nod in praise.

"Yang Yunhai wants to withstand the opponent's Martial Soul Fusion Skill head-on?" Hu Liena was surprised.

"A thousand-year second soul ring!? A ten-thousand-year fourth soul ring!?"

One minute passed quickly, and the referee's voice fell.

"The match begins!"

Shi Quan and the others gathered together.

Shui Bing'er also nodded slightly and turned to run toward Xue Wu. The two held hands and began to dance on the spot. A thick, cold mist immediately rose from around them.

Four soul rings flashed alternately, and circles of blue halos spread out with her dance. As she danced, a dark cloud appeared directly above the center of the main arena, perfectly shrouding the entire area of the stage.

Immediately after, bean-sized raindrops began to fall from the sky, turning into a large curtain of water that poured down, then transformed into flakes of snow that gathered toward the center of the dark cloud, forming a massive ice and snow vortex.

A terrifying chill swept through the surroundings; the entire arena floor was covered in frost, and even the spectator stands were affected.

"It can actually affect this far!?" Everyone in the spectator area looked shocked.

"What terrifying energy; the power of this move has definitely reached the peak level of a Soul Emperor." Hu Liena's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly.

Xie Yue also frowned and said, "The strength of an attack-type Martial Soul Fusion Skill is indeed astonishing. At the same level, we probably wouldn't be their match."

Yan sneered, "Xie Yue, you and Na Na are control-type skills, of course you can't compare. And if it were really two-on-two, would they even have the chance to release a Martial Soul Fusion Skill?"

On the stage.

"Blue Silver Growth." Shi Quan flipped his hand and pressed down lightly; the Blue Silver Emperor in his hand immediately grew downward.

"Fourth soul skill, Basalt Formation!" In front of Shi Quan, Shi Mo and Shi Mo, standing side by side, raised their hands and punched, colliding together. The next second, their fourth soul rings lit up simultaneously, and a jade-green turtle-shell-shaped light shield instantly expanded from the two as the center, solidifying into substance.

"A two-person fusion skill!" Yu Xiaogang's expression changed slightly when he saw this.

This was not good news for him. Now that a two-person fusion skill had appeared, would the Heaven Dou Team also reveal a three-person, four-person, or the strongest Seven-in-One Fusion Skill?

"Teacher, these Shi brothers are biological brothers after all; a fusion skill doesn't represent anything." Tang San comforted him, "The Seven-in-One Fusion Skill is your original creation; I believe that Shi Quan definitely couldn't have researched it."

Regarding the Shi brothers' two-person fusion skill, Tang San also looked disdainful; it was just a two-person fusion skill, and its defensive power could at most withstand a Soul Emperor's attack. As long as his Seven-in-One Fusion Skill was released, how could a protective shield of this level withstand it? It would be an easy sweep, Tang San's expression remained calm.

Snow Dance Tornado, the sky full of wind and snow pressed down toward Shi Quan and the others.

The inside and outside of the Basalt Formation were covered with layer upon layer of Blue Silver Vine.

Countless snowflakes acted like a meat grinder, constantly cutting every corner of Shi Quan's defense. Under the snowflakes, which were sharper than blades, there was a constant, teeth-gritting sound of cutting and friction.

The Blue Silver Hardening ability was also released; the hardened vines were constantly torn and shattered under the cutting of these snowflakes, and then slowly recovered under the promotion of the Growth characteristic.

A seemingly unremarkable characteristic was vividly displayed under the continuous, relentless attacks.

Shui Bing'er also discovered this scene. She had wanted to consume the opponent's defense, but now she realized that relying on continuous attacks only consumed their own soul power. Without the slightest hesitation, she immediately changed her strategy.

A clear phoenix cry rang out from the blue pillar of light that shot into the sky; the snowflakes that had been attacking in a tornado formation high in the air flew upward.

In mid-air, the snowflakes condensed and gradually took shape. A massive blue phoenix with a body length of seven meters appeared out of thin air.

"The main event is here; we have to hold on tight!" Shi Quan smiled and draped his hands over the shoulders of the Shi brothers.

"Whoosh!" A loud phoenix cry suddenly came from the arena; within sight, the giant Ice Phoenix swooped down.

"Boom!" It quickly collided with the outer vines below. Ice chips flew, the vines were quickly covered in frost and then collapsed, revealing the defensive shield underneath. The shield also quickly became covered in a layer of frost and began to dim gradually.

"Crack, crack." The giant Ice Phoenix was also continuously shattering amidst the stalemate.

After a few blinks of an eye, the defensive barrier ultimately could not withstand it and shattered with a boom, revealing the vine barrier at the very center.

The marble floor slabs cracked piece by piece; the competition arena, which had been reinforced with a Soul Guidance Device and could withstand attacks from below a Soul Emperor, suffered damage for the first time.

"So strong!"

On the spectator stands, the students from all the academies had grave expressions, while simultaneously feeling fortunate in their hearts.

It was fortunate they had not encountered such a powerful team, and after this battle, one team was destined to be eliminated, which was undoubtedly good news for the remaining teams.

Looking out, the cold mist dispersed slightly, leaving a mound of ice nearly ten meters high in the center of the arena.

The next second, "Crack, crack, crack..." dull snapping sounds rang out continuously, and cracks kept appearing on the surface of the ice layer.

Following the final cracking sound, the entire ice mound collapsed with a roar like a snow mountain avalanche, ice shards flying everywhere; amidst the snow mist, several vines slithered out, crack, crack, and as the vines surged, the surrounding ice blocks scattered in all directions, finally revealing seven unscathed figures within.

"We concede." After Shui Bing'er saw the figures of Shi Quan and the others clearly, she surrendered without the slightest hesitation.

"It looks like it was the protective barrier of the Shi brothers that blocked most of the attack," Hu Liena said with a grave expression, "but in reality, it mainly relied on Shi Quan's vines."

"This Shi Quan is truly not simple; I fear that even my Moon Blade would need to hack at those vines several times to cut through them," Xie Yue, standing to the side, also had a slightly grave expression.

"What's there to fear? No matter how tough these vines are, I'll burn them clean with a single fire," Yan said, not panicking in the slightest; his martial soul possessed an innate restraint against Plant Spirit martial souls.

"Heaven Dou Imperial Academy's Heaven Dou Team is victorious."

The referee's voice came from the stage.

Shi Quan nodded slightly toward Shui Bing'er and the others, then turned and left the arena with his teammates, returning to the rest area to continue watching the matches.

On the Shrek side.

"The Heaven Dou Team's consumption in this match was not only small, but they also had a very good concealment of their own strength," Yu Xiaogang said, looking in the direction of the Heaven Dou Team.

"One can only say that guy Shi Quan is too cunning," Tang San said. "The Heaven Dou Team itself lacks a Strong Attack System Spirit Master, making their offense weak and their defense strong; if it were a normal fight, it would definitely not have been this easy for the Heaven Dou Team to win."

"This is called cunning?" Ning Rongrong couldn't help but roll her eyes at Tang San, secretly mocking in her heart: "Utilizing one's own advantages is something seen everywhere in team competitions; are they supposed to use their own weaknesses to compare against the opponent's strengths? To be biased to this extent, you are truly the first..."

Because it was an elimination tournament, one was eliminated immediately upon losing, so the second round of matches was twice as fast as the first and ended very quickly.

The Grand Finals only officially became intense starting from the third round.

After two rounds of eliminations, the participating teams went from the original thirty-three teams down to only ten, and among these remaining ten teams, two teams received a bye.

The remainder included not only the three Seed Teams but also the first-place teams from the Heaven Dou Empire's preliminary and Promotion Tournament.