After Mu Jin left, Nanmen Yun'er took her leave as well. Only Wu Feng stayed behind to accompany Ning Tian. Although the three of them were a team, in truth, only Ning Tian and Wu Feng were closely related; Nanmen Yun'er was only a classmate of theirs.
"Young mistress, we can't just leave this as it is. That bastard dared to hurt you! Shall we use the strength of the clan?" Wu Feng said hatefully.
An unresigned look flashed through Ning Tian's eyes. "Sister Feng, don't let anger cloud your reasoning. This is Shrek Academy. How can we rashly use the strength of our clan? Furthermore, we lost in terms of personal strength; we can't randomly accuse others for our loss. If we want to wash this humiliation away, we'll have to work hard by ourselves. Also, haven't I said this before? Don't call me 'young mistress' in the Academy. We're sisters here."
"Alright." Wu Feng obediently replied, softly nodding her head as she did so.
After pondering for a moment, Ning Tian said, "Let's see if we can find a way to watch their match tomorrow. As long as we watch them carefully, I'm sure we'll be able to find a clue as to why we lost. They didn't rely on luck to beat us, they relied on strength. That student with the ten year soul ring seems to be known as Huo Yuhao; he's the one we should pay the most attention to. He could end up being our greatest opponent during our time in the outer courtyard."
Fortunately, the tournament's matches were held individually, which meant that there wasn't a large audience for each match. As a result, Huo Yuhao's team wasn't followed too closely.
Aside from proving themselves, Huo Yuhao's team had had their confidence levels increased after both successfully entering the top 16 and beating one of the three strongest teams. Soul Elders weren't that scary; after all, hadn't they just beat a team led by a Soul Elder-ranked expert? Even an extremely synergistic team like Ning Tian's had lost to theirs, so the excitement in Huo Yuhao's team could be imagined.
Huo Yuhao finally fulfilled his promise with Xiao Xiao. He first sold his regular amount of twenty fish, then brought the remaining fish he'd bought to the forest and had a picnic with Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao. This went on all the way until the sky had become dark, when the three quietly returned to their dorms.
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong first went to clean themselves up. Huo Yuhao knew that Wang Dong was somewhat of a mysophobic, so he changed into a set of clean clothes. "Are we going to do it on your bed, or on mine?"
Wang Dong's face stiffened and he replied with a slightly angry voice, "Would it kill you to add the word 'cultivate'? Can you not make it sound so ambiguous?"
Huo Yuhao was speechless. "Don't listen to Xiao Xiao's nonsense, I don't like you. I definitely still prefer pretty girls."
Wang Dong humphed. "Let's do it on our own beds, your's is too hard."
Huo Yuhao furrowed his brows. "Stop arguing, let's do it quickly. If we cultivate together, our cultivation speed practically doubles. Don't you want to quickly catch up to that Ning Tian in terms of soul rank?"
Wang Dong smiled craftily. "Who would want to argue with you? Who said that we can't cultivate together while we're sitting on our own beds? Drag your bed over and make a 50cm gap between them. That way, we'll be able to hold hands if we stretch our hands out. Furthermore, we'll be able to use the remaining space as the dividing line between our sides of the room."
Huo Yuhao rolled his eyes. "Aren't you tired of all of this? Aren't you just lying to yourself?"
Wang Dong glared at him with his large, beautiful eyes. "Are you coming over or not? If you aren't, I'm going to sleep. I wasn't even a hardworking person in the first place. If it weren't for you, why would I even think of cultivating at night?"
"Fine, I'm scared of you then." Helpless, Huo Yuhao could only drag his bed over next to Wang Dong's and sit in a cross-legged position with his palms outstretched.
Wang Dong raised his hands to meet Wang Dong's, causing their Haodong Power to rapidly circulate throughout their bodies.
Defeating Ning Tian today had been the first time that they'd tried using their Haodong Power to activate a soul skill together. When they'd succeeded, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had faintly felt that there was a chance for them to covertly turn all of their soul skills into fusion skills via their Haodong Power. When the two of them had gathered their soul power to activate the soul skill, it hadn't been as strong as a true fusion skill, but it had still distantly exceeded the strength of their usual skills. They'd been able to smoothly defeat their opponents because of this.
On the other hand, their match today had given Huo Yuhao a feeling of power for the first time ever. However, their cultivation levels were simply too low. It had taken the two of them working together to activate the soul skill for it to barely reach the level of a Soul Elder. After all, Huo Yuhao's own soul power was still too weak. If it weren't for the fact that his Spiritual Shock was a unique spiritual-type attack, they probably wouldn't have been able to win their earlier match as efficiently as they had.
Only a single day had passed, yet a large number of freshmen had already been eliminated from the freshmen assessment. After the second day finished, only the top 16 teams—or a total of 48 students—would remain from this year's freshmen assessment. Everyone that had reached this point could be considered an excellent figure from this year's freshmen; so much so that they could even be considered as one of the most outstanding figures amongst their peers in the entire continent.
During the lot-drawing for the top 16, Huo Yuhao's team saw a few familiar faces. Huang Chutian's team—who they'd beaten during the round-robin tournament—had entered the top 16 as well.
Huo Yuhao whispered to Wang Dong, "How long do you think the Lan sisters will have to rest in order for them to use their fusion skill again?"
Wang Dong replied, "I don't think it'll be that long. Even though they're twins, their fusion skill wasn't that strong. I reckon that it's because their compatibility rate isn't that high—their fusion skill wasn't explosive enough. Its ability to restrict opponents isn't too bad though. However, they aren't able to maintain the drain on their soul power for a long time. If we meet them again, you won't even need to make a move. As long as you help me activate my Light of the Butterfly Goddess, I'm confident that I'll be able to break their fusion skill."
While they talked, they continued to observe the rest of their opponents. At this point in the tournament, Huo Yuhao was probably the only one-ringed Soul Master left.
There were even more people in the Spectator's Stand today. The stands had already been filled up, despite the matches not yet being started. Strangely, there was an empty space in the middle of the stands that was about three or so square meters wide. An old man with disheveled hair and holes all over his clothes was sitting there with his legs dangling off the edge of the stand. He was drinking alcohol from a reddish-purple gourd that he was holding in his hands. In addition to that, there were a few pieces of fried chicken that had been placed on oiled paper in front of him. He was also holding a fried chicken leg in his off hand. As he drank and ate, he appeared to be extremely joyful.
Every single person who was watching the tournament from the Spectator's Stand was a teacher at Shrek Academy, yet nobody had even dared to approach this old man, much less question him.
Wang Yan respectfully walked over to the sloppily dressed old man and whispered, "Xuan Lao, you've come."
"Yep." The old man simply snorted before he continued eating and drinking.
Wang Yan pointed towards the stage below and said, "The three youngsters that I talked about are over there. Yesterday…."
When he got to this point, Xuan Lao impatiently waved his fried chicken leg around and said, "I'll take a look for myself."
As he stood there, he looked like a miniature mountain of meat.
On the other hand, the two people standing next to him seemed like sprouts in comparison to him. Not only were they shorter than him by a head, they were even slightly emaciated. The two of them seemed somewhat similar, as if they were brothers. However, they weren't twins. Something that was notable was that their arms were particularly slender.
If one were to look at these three students from a distance, the two skinny students would probably be overlooked.
"Both sides, introduce yourselves. Prepare for the match to begin." The proctor said in a deep voice.
The mountain-sized boy slapped his chest fiercely, causing the fat on his body to jiggle. "I'm Xie Huanyue from Class 2."
"Class 2, Luo Tianlong."
"Class 2, Luo Tianba."
The two skinny students had names that sounded extremely domineering.
Huo Yuhao's team then introduced themselves one by one. When the proctor announced the start of the match, the round of 16 formally started.
However, Huo Yuhao's team were already twitching their faces before the two sides had even clashed….
The reason behind this was very simple; they'd met another three-ringed expert….
Xiao Xiao couldn't help but comment, "Are we just this unlucky, or is the school deliberately playing with us?"
Three soul rings rose up from the student known as Xie Huanyue. Furthermore, his three soul rings were all optimal ones. As they moved rhythmically around his fat body, they became increasingly clear. In the instant that he'd released his soul rings, his body had unexpectedly expanded once again, causing his height to jump from 1.7 meters to 1.9 meters. Moreover, the color of his skin had instantly darkened. He forcefully thumped his chest using his fists, causing muffled thumps to ring out. Immediately afterwards, he charged towards Huo Yuhao's team with large strides.
Luo Tianlong and Luo Tianba didn't release their martial souls straightaway. Instead, their bodies flashed as they began to run behind Xie Huanyue; they were using his enormous body to hide themselves.
This was their usual style of fighting, and it had allowed them the advantage of making the first move on many occasions in the past. Unfortunately, this was the first time they'd met a prodigy like Huo Yuhao.
Hiding? What was the use of that!? Could they hide from his Spiritual Detection? Following the appearance of a faint golden light in Huo Yuhao's eyes, a three-dimensional image instantly appeared in both Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao's minds.
This time, Xiao Xiao didn't even bother to bring out her Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron. Instead, she instantly released her Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute. At this point, the fact that she was a twin-souled soul master had already been revealed. Thus, she naturally chose the best option for the situation.
As her speed-inhibiting song rang out, Xie Huanyue and the two students who were hiding behind him were instantly slowed down.
However, Wang Dong didn't impatiently charge forwards. Instead, after releasing his Radiant Butterfly Goddess, his dazzlingly massive pair of wings unfurled, hiding Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao from his opponents view. At this moment, he and Xie Huanyue could only see each other.
Xie Huanyue didn't seem to care about the fact that he'd slowed down; he heavily stamped his left leg into the ground, but this time around, there were no more thumping sounds. At that moment, his first soul ring immediately lit up.
The three of them were able to predicted that he was about to jump due to Huo Yuhao's spiritual detection. However, how high could that enormous body of his jump?
In the instant that Huo Yuhao's team felt puzzled, they quickly realised their mistake.
Unexpectedly, Xie Huanyue's body shot straight into the air; it was almost as if he'd been shot from a Soul Cannon. He actually managed to jump ten meters into the air. Immediately afterwards, he curled his body up, making him look like an enormous meatball that smashed towards Huo Yuhao's team.
Luo Tianlong and Luo Tianba—who were clearly siblings—simultaneously made their moves. Although their speed had been reduced as a result of Xiao Xiao's soul skill, they were still relatively quick. There were two hundred year soul rings surrounding them; in addition to that, their forearms were silver, and an enormous Mantis Blade had sprouted from both of their arms. Not only were they quick, but their bodies seemed extremely dexterous as well.
At that moment, Wang Dong charged forwards. He didn't rely on his powers of flight to meet the midair Xie Huanyue, but charged toward the Luo brothers instead, simultaneously releasing his Guillotine Wing in an attempt to defeat their agility with his power. The Luo brothers were slowed down by Xiao Xiao, so they weren't able to completely dominate him in terms of speed. As a result of this, he had the confidence to block them even though it was a 1v2.
As for Xie Huanyue, who was currently falling from the sky, the only thing that awaited him was naturally Xiao Xiao's Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron.
As her Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron had already split into three, Xiao Xiao activated her second soul skill, Cauldron Sweep. She didn't have any hope of completely stopping him, she simply didn't want to completely fail.
Xiao Xiao didn't dare to look down on her opponent in the least, as he was a genuine Soul Elder-ranked expert. Thus, she used her most powerful soul skill in the instant she made a move.
Unexpectedly, Xie Huanyue didn't dodge or use a soul skill as he faced Xiao Xiao's attack. Instead, she allowed the three large cauldrons to strike him.
In the instant that he collided with the three cauldrons, Xie Huanyue's body whirled around in midair, his first soul ring finally lit up, allowing him to activate his first soul skill.
His originally humongous body once again expanded, and this time around, he looked like a balloon that was being filled with air, causing his body to become perfectly round.
Just as Xiao Xiao's Cauldron Sweep was about to activate its special effect for striking his body, the enormous 'balloon' suddenly shrunk, neutralising a large chunk of its power. After that, it immediately shot straight towards Xiao Xiao.
How strong! In that instant, Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao knew that they wouldn't be able to block his charge. This Xie Huanyue had an extremely mysterious martial soul, one which seemed unique amongst Beast Souls. However, they didn't know what it was.
On the other side of the battlefield, Wang Dong hadn't been put at a disadvantage; even though his opponents were strong, he'd still been able to rely on his Spiritual Detection combined with the durability and sharpness of his Guillotine Wing to fight on an even footing against the two people. However, the Luo brothers weren't just quick; they were crafty as well. They avoided directly clashing with Wang Dong entirely, putting them in a stalemate for the time being.
"Bang—" Xie Huanyue's enormous body was akin to a huge ball as he descended, but he was still sent flying by the Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron in the end. This was more or less because he'd been simultaneously struck by Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Shock and Xiao Xiao's Cauldron Sweep.
Because he wasn't able to use his force-neutralising soul skill due to Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Shock, he was sent flying.
Unfortunately, Xiao Xiao's Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron clearly didn't have enough power to threaten him. After his enormous body landed on the ground, he instantly bounced back up into the air.
Huo Yuhao had a stunned look on his face. When he'd used his Spiritual Shock on Xie Huanyue, he'd clearly been able to feel it slow down upon touching his fleshy skin. Furthermore, his spiritual power had also been filtered before it entered Xie Huanyue's brain. In the end, he'd only been dazed for an instant, which was about as effective as when he'd used it on Ma Xiaotao. Just what kind of martial soul is that!? How can it be this troublesome?!
The pressure surrounding Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao suddenly increased, which Wang Dong was naturally able to sense via Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection. A cold light flickered through his eyes as his wings suddenly flashed, forcefully shoving the Luo brothers backwards. Immediately afterwards, his second soul ring lit up.
The dazzling Light of the Butterfly Goddess once again appeared on the battlefield. Even though it didn't have a lock-on effect, Wang Dong definitely wouldn't miss his target, due to the foresight that Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection gave him.
The Luo brothers naturally wouldn't just stand there and wait to be defeated, but didn't have a support skill like Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection. As such, their reaction speed was much slower than Wang Dong's. By the time they'd readied their second soul skill, Wang Dong had already released his.
The Luo brothers sent out several tens of blade lights from their Mantis Blades in an attempt to stop Wang Dong's Light of the Butterfly Goddess, but it was all for naught. They were completely inferior to Wang Dong in all aspects, regardless of whether it was their soul rank, the quality of their martial souls, or even the age of their soul rings. A golden light flickered outwards as Wang Dong's Light of the Butterfly Goddess released its full power, forcefully blasting them away. However, the instant that their soul skills were broken, the proctor in charge of the match rushed into the arena like a ghost, retrieved them from the golden light, then left like a bolt of lightning. Evidently, he'd determined that the Luo brothers would've suffered heavy injuries from Wang Dong's attack. Thus, he'd interfered in the match. However, his interference signified that they'd be unable to continue any further.
Wang Dong's accurate judgement, high attack power, and prompt decision making skills were all acknowledged by the teachers watching their match. However, in the instant that Wang Dong had triumphed over his opponents, Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao were in the middle of taking on Xie Huanyue's all-out attack.
In reality, the total strength of Xie Huanyue's team was weaker than that of Ning Tian's team; there was an insurmountable distance between the Luo brothers and Wu Feng and Nanmen Yun'er due to the massive gap in quality between their martial souls. However, the teachers had privately evaluated all of the Soul Elders within the freshmen classes, and Xie Huanyue's had ended up ranked higher than Ning Tian. It could be seen how tyrannical he was from this.
After falling from the sky again, Xie Huanyue's second soul ring lit up. Huo Yuhao repeated his old tactic and sent another Spiritual Shock towards him. At the same time, Xiao Xiao made a move with her Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron. Their current objective was to drag the fight out between the three of them for as long as they could, so that they could wait for Wang Dong to return. When he did, they'd use the combined strength of all three of them to take on Xie Huanyue.
However, although Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection was able to detect where his opponents would move, he wasn't able to find out the specific soul skill they were planning to use.
Xia Huanyue's second soul ring suddenly lit up while he was still in midair, and he waved his originally stocky right arm. Just as Huo Yuhao activated his Spiritual Shock, Xie Huanyue's arm grew longer, and suddenly smacked all three of Xiao Xiao's Threelives Soulcrush Cauldrons that were flying towards him away with surprising accuracy.
Even though Xiao Xiao immediately activated her Cauldron Shock skill, Xie Huanyue's arm simply smashed through it. His monstrous strength had actually sent all three of her cauldrons flying. Immediately afterwards, his ball-like body descended from the sky. He extended the hand that he'd used to sweep the cauldrons away once again, and sent it towards Xiao Xiao.
He was affected by the Spiritual Shock for too short a time, and his control over his soul skills had reached the pinnacle; this was true foresight. After predicting the instant that Huo Yuhao would activated his Spiritual Shock, he'd used his own soul skill to escape danger by a hair's breadth. He'd placed himself in a winning position in but an instant.
Even though Xiao Xiao possessed two martial souls, her close-combat skills were extremely lacking. She'd always considered herself to be a control system Soul Master, not an assault or agility system Soul Master. As such, she wasn't too experienced in combat. When Xie Huanyue's enormous body fell towards her, she was left somewhat blank.
Huo Yuhao suddenly rushed towards her from behind and grabbed her waist. With a flash, his body swayed like a demon, allowing the two of them to evade Xie Huanyue's decisive blow. Afterwards, he immediately rolled on the ground with Xiao Xiao in tow, allowing them to escape the weight of Xie Huanyue's body.
"Pu—" Even though Xie Huanyue's enormous body had landed, the sound of a heavy collision didn't ring out. This time around, he didn't bounce back into the air; he rolled on the ground, following Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao.
This occurred just as Wang Dong defeated the Luo brothers by releasing his god-like powers, in turn causing Xie Huanyue to feel pressured. If he wasn't able to defeat Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao before Wang Dong returned… he didn't have any confidence that he'd be able to beat them in a 1v3.
The third soul ring on his fat body finally lit up, which caused his body to instantly be illuminated purple. This caused Xie Huanyue to look like an enormous purple ball. Following a low growl, a strong purple halo erupted from his body, allowing him to immediately catch up to Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao.
In that crucial moment, Huo Yuhao displayed the true quality of a man; he instantly stood up from his rolling position and exerted force through his arms, thrusting Xiao Xiao into the air—Xie Huanyue wouldn't be able to attack her while she was up there.
"Yuhao—"
"Huo Yuhao—"
Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao simultaneously cried out, but the tyranical purple halo around Xie Huanyue's body had already collided with Huo Yuhao's. Huo Yuhao's entire body shook, and a purple halo rose from his feet. He stood there unmoving, while his Spiritual Detection Sharing instantly disappeared.
A figure flashed as the proctor pulled Huo Yuhao out of the arena just before Xie Huanyue's enormous body could crush him. This prevented him from becoming a meat patty beneath the meatball…
Xie Huanyue silently cursed his bad luck. However, he was still completely confident in himself. Defeating a Soul Master who only has a ten year soul ring isn't useful at all. That twin-souled Soul Grandmaster managed to escape. However, it seems like I still have a chance to win this battle! The Luo brothers were just his subordinates; he was the true source of combat power on his team. He was confident that he could use his three rings' strength to face two Soul Grandmasters, and felt that his chance of victory was still above 70%.
mistake that had allowed Xie Huanyue to get close to them. Currently, her will to fight had been entirely aroused.
Wang Dong retracted his wings and carried Xiao Xiao back down to the ground. He was just as angry as Xiao Xiao. As he fiercely glared at Xie Huanyue, he only had one thought in his mind. This bastard dared to injure Yuhao—I want to kill him.
Xie Huanyue didn't make any impatient moves. As his enormous body moved slowly towards Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao, his first soul ring remained lit, allowing his body to remain as fat as it previously was. This was a special characteristic that belonged to his martial soul. As someone who owned a top-ranked defensive Beast Soul, he didn't only cultivate his defense—his goals weren't that simple. He wanted to become an all-rounded defense and control system soul master. Moreover, his cultivation up to this point had been extremely successful; so much so, that he, as well as another freshman who'd reached the Soul Elder Rank, had already become core disciples of the outer courtyard before the freshmen assessment had even started.
"Xiao Xiao, I need fifteen seconds." Wang Dong growled. With that, he closed his eyes, simultaneously causing both of his soul rings to light up. Golden halos immediately started to appear from his dazzling blue wings. While this occurred, he raised his arms and folded his front wings.
Xiao Xiao nodded heavily, but didn't say anything. Instead, she walked straight towards Xie Huanyue with large strides. The sounds coming from the Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute became extraordinarily passionate, and jade-coloured halos spread rapidly from her jade flute.
The Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron suddenly returned to her, and its three cauldrons surrounded her in a three-pronged formation.
With a snort, Xie Huanyue suddenly squatted down, then bounced himself back up into the air. This time around, he shot himself directly towards Xiao Xiao. His body was the most powerful weapon he had at his disposal, and even though his speed had been reduced, he was still extremely confident in himself.
At the same time, his second soul ring lit up as he looked for an opportunity to use his extensible arm to attack Xiao Xiao's Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron.
However, just before he reached five metres away from Xiao Xiao, the three large cauldrons surrounding her simultaneously released a black light and shot towards him. However, instead of colliding with Xie Huanyue, they collided with one another above her head. At the same time, Xiao Xiao's other two soul rings simultaneously lit up.
Practically all soul skills that belonged to a soul master could be used together with their other soul skills, but their level of synergy depended on both the strength of the soul master's martial soul, as well as the compatibility between the soul skills that were being used together.
Xiao Xiao finally revealed her strongest move as she faced such a powerful enemy.
National Treasure, Cauldron's Trembling Quake.
When the three cauldrons fused together, a violent bang rang out. An enormous cauldron that was double the size of her previous cauldron appeared, covering the sky as it did so. Mysterious runes emerged from the enormous cauldron, causing an indescribable sense of awe to burst forth.
Xie Huanyue's arm was forcefully deflected off the cauldron when he struck it, and when his fat body collided with it, he was actually glued to it, causing him to remain motionless in the air. Halos of black light that were being released from the enormous cauldron unceasingly invaded his body, causing Xie Huanyue to discover that the soul power in his body was unexpectedly rapidly evaporating.
Shocked, he hurriedly roused his soul power, wanting to utilize his powerful thousand year soul skill. However, to his astonishment, he discovered that he wasn't able to. His body seemed to be in a fixed state; he wasn't able to cancel any soul skills that he'd already activated, while at the same time he was also unable to release any more soul skills than the ones he had active. The only thing that occurred was the rapid evaporation of his soul power. On the other hand, the towering cauldron that was akin to a mountain continued to stand upright, as if it wasn't fazed by his attacks in the slightest.
The Ninephoenix Worshipping Flute instantly disappeared from Xiao Xiao's hand when the enormous cauldron appeared. Furthermore, one could clearly see black halos of light rising from her body as well. However, her expression was turning paler by the second.
The soul power consumed when fusing two soul skills using a special method like this neared the consumption of a fusion skill! When this was added onto the soul power she'd used up during the battle itself, Xiao Xiao definitely wouldn't last for a long period of time. However, Wang Dong's words were the only thing that was in her mind now. Fifteen seconds. No matter how I achieve it, I have to last fifteen seconds.
In the instant that Huo Yuhao had fearlessly thrown her into the air, her simple heart had been completely moved. In that instant, she'd been completely assimilated into Huo Yuhao's team. Although she was a girl, hot blood still surged through her heart. For our team's honor, and for my companions, I can sacrifice something as well.
Normally, fifteen seconds was a relatively brief period of time. However, it felt agonizingly slow now.
At that moment, a feeling of panic began to appear in the heart of the Rank 32 Xie Huanyue. When he looked into Xiao Xiao's eyes, he saw that they were filled with a resolute stubbornness; they clearly showed that she was willing to sacrifice herself to take him down with her! Is she crazy? This is only a match in the freshmen assessment! Although he wasn't sure what Xiao Xiao was doing to keep him from moving, he clearly understood that even twin-souled soul masters couldn't break one of the laws that governed all martial souls; the stronger its ability, the greater its drain.
One second passed. Another second passed. Yet another second passed.
The proctor began to get worried; he didn't know whether he should stop a match like this or not. Furthermore, even if he did stop the match, how would he decide the victor of the match? Huo Yuhao, who'd awakened from the intense feeling of dizziness the purple light had caused, clenched his fists tightly. Due to his Spirit Eyes, he was able to clearly see what was going on; Xiao Xiao was clearly overdrawing her soul power!
"Xiao Xiao, give up!" Huo Yuhao yelled. He wasn't willing to let his teammates get hurt, even if it meant losing the match!
Xiao Xiao's reply to Huo Yuhao was in the form of her tightly pursed lips. However, the black halo around her body seemed to intensify even further.
In that instant, Huo Yuhao was deeply touched by the stubborn look in Xiao Xiao's eyes. It wasn't just him; even the chicken wing-eating Xuan Lao stopped chewing his food and slowly nodded at Xiao Xiao.
Five, four, three, two, one…
When the last second finally arrived, a golden pillar suddenly appeared behind Xiao Xiao. Wang Dong's Radiant Butterfly Goddess had completely turned a brilliant gold, and following the appearance of the golden pillar of light, he rose into the air like a butterfly bathed in fire. As his body rose into the air, the golden pillar unexpectedly curved, transforming into a terrifying, enormous, crescent-shaped blade of light.
In that instant, the air itself seemed to have been rent apart as the entire arena was filled with a domineering undulation of soul power that was hard to describe.
As he looked at the enormous blade of light coming towards, Xie Huanyue was scared to the point that his soul nearly left his body. Even if he was extremely confident in his defense, he didn't think that he'd be able to block Wang Dong's attack.
The proctor didn't dare to hesitate any longer; he charged into the arena with a flash. However, he discovered, to his astonishment, that he wasn't able to separate Xie Huanyue from Xiao Xiao's Cauldron's Trembling Quake. As the enormous golden blade of light whistled over, the strong pressure emanated from it made the proctor feel as if he was suffocating—even with his Soul Emperor level of cultivation.
No way, is this something a Soul Grandmaster student can even use? Even though the proctor wanted to release his martial soul, it was already too late. Helpless, he could only use his body to forcefully block Wang Dong's attack.
At that exact moment, an enormous absorption force suddenly descended from the sky, causing the golden blade of light to turn towards the sky just before it hit the proctor.
A huge, fiery hand had suddenly appeared in the sky. It grabbed the golden blade of light and seemed to crush it within its grip. After that, the golden blade of light directly shattered with a "pu".
As he chewed on his chicken leg, Xuan Lao muttered, "This Orleanian chicken leg is a bit too salty today." With that, he stood up and slowly walked off the tall stage.
After the National Treasure cauldron quietly vanished, Xiao Xiao collapsed and fainted.
The brilliance of the Radiant Butterfly Goddess vanished as well, but Wang Dong forced himself to remain standing. He looked at the somewhat blank proctor with an unyielding gaze. "We've… won…" After forcing out these two words, he was unable to continue persevering, and collapsed.
"Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao." Huo Yuhao wildly rushed into the arena with all of his strength and hugged his two companions.
At that moment, Xie Huanyue's body had already returned to its original size, but his school uniform was soaked with cold sweat. In that instant, he truly felt that Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong had wanted to kill him, but there was nothing he'd been able to do about it. As the fat on his body trembled, he discovered that Xiao Xiao's gaze had been deeply carved into his heart.
The teachers in the Spectator's Stand were all completely silent. At this point in time, they'd were completely ignoring the other matches that were occurring or had already ended.
The individual strength of each student that made up the two teams weren't much to them. After all, one would have to be a six-ringed, Soul Emperor-ranked expert at the very least to become a teacher at Shrek Academy. However, they were astonished by Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao's stubborn conviction. Wang Dong's situation was still acceptable to them, as it seemed like he'd only used up all of his strength. However, Xiao Xiao had clearly overdrawn her soul power; this wasn't something that she could recover from in a short period of time.