An evil, dark-red light emerged from his Soulsucking Bell, which then transformed into a series of halos. They immediately slammed struck Bei Bei, who'd just finished using the Tyrannical Emperor's Thunderous Domain.
Bei Bei's entire body trembled violently when he was struck, and his eyes turned blank. Shangguan Can then pointed towards Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, and Bei Bei unexpectedly turned around and shot straight towards them.
A spiritual control-type soul skill? Shangguan Can actually has a soul skill like this?
Considering how powerful Bei Bei's martial soul was, his spiritual power definitely wasn't weak! Yet, Shangguan Can had still been able to temporarily take control of his mind. This greatly startled both Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong.
Fortunately, the hypnotized Bei Bei was only able to follow his instincts; he couldn't display the finesse he usually possessed when he fought clear-headed. Furthermore, he was currently in a weaken state from using the Tyrannical Emperor's Thunderous Domain.
Huo Yuhao suddenly stopped in midair as Wang Dong flapped his wings, which caused him to fly backwards a few meters, Bei Bei in tow. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong then hugged each other tightly.
On the one hand, you had Huo Yuhao, whose Spirit Eyes began to emit a faint-gold color, while on the other, you had Wang Dong, whose beautiful wings had been entirely unfurled as he released his Radiant Butterfly Goddess.
When they hugged each other and released their martial souls, the ten or so meters around them lit up as a special sort of light blossomed from their bodies.
As blue, purple, and gold light began to fill their surroundings, and Wang Dong's complete and gorgeous Radiant Butterfly Goddess folded its wings forwards in a hugging motion.
At the same time, an enormous, faint-gold vertical eye appeared behind Huo Yuhao, its pupil filled with boundless purple light.
Wang Dong's Radiant Butterfly Goddess violently ignited with a bluish-golden flare of light as it approached the Spirit Eye. When the two images of light finally fused in midair, they suddenly swung downwards.
The Golden Road Amidst Withering Resplendence.
The fused colors of blue, purple, and gold instantly cut out a flat path atop the tournament stage.
The person who bore the brunt of their blow was Bei Bei. Afterwards, the ray of light continued forward, and struck the paralysed Ye Wuqing. However, Shangguan Can had sensed an opportunity to flee out of the attack's range.
Huo Yuhao had no other choice but to do this, as Bei Bei had almost used his Thunderous Dragon Claw against them. If they were delayed by Bei Bei, Ye Wuqing would be able to recover from his paralysis, and they would have no chance of winning this match at all. Thus, he could only choose to do this. The purpose behind Wang Dong's shift in location had been to make sure that Bei Bei and Ye Wuqing were in a straight line.
Bei Bei let out a muffled groan as his body was transformed into a golden statue. His Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon instantly collapsed, as was also the case for the distant Ye Wuqing. However, he was able to snap out of his paralysis at this moment.
After releasing his fusion skill, Huo Yuhao didn't dare to waste any more time. He took a sudden stride forward, then used his right hand to pat Bei Bei before shooting straight towards Ye Wuqing. At this moment however, Wang Dong didn't continue to follow him. The remnant soul power that they had left was now in Wang Dong's body, and before he left, Huo Yuhao removed the Milk Bottle from his neck and shoved it in his hand.
As his soul thruster activated, Huo Yuhao shot straight towards his opponent like a bolt of lightning. There was only Ye Wuqing in his eyes now.
A Soul King who had lost the use of his martial soul was merely a soul master who possessed slightly more powerful soul power. Thus, how would he be able to withstand Huo Yuhao's Ultimate Ice? Moreover, the only way they could win this match was to defeat Ye Wuqing first before doing anything else.
After being touched by Huo Yuhao, the traces of gold on Bei Bei's body receded. However, he immediately fell straight towards the ground.
The Golden Road could cause one's martial soul to collapse, but it also possessed a powerful erosive effect. After using his Tyrannical Emperor's Thunderous Domain to block Ye Wuqing's most powerful attack while draining as much of his soul power as he could, Bei Bei was like a lamp whose oil was nearly extinguished. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so easily controlled by Shangguan Can. Right after that, he had to suffer the corrosive effects of the Golden Road. Although Huo Yuhao had quickly dispelled the effects of the fusion skill, Bei Bei directly fainted due to overexertion. As Wang Dong held the Milk Bottle in his hands, he looked towards the charging Huo Yuhao with a complicated look in his eyes. At this moment, he was inwardly screaming a single phrase: You can't, you can't use a soul tool!
Ye Wuqing currently resembled a golden man. Although he had Rank 58 soul power, he had drained an utterly enormous amount of it during his battle with Bei Bei. How could he not panic after losing the use of his martial soul? He would need a period of time to dispel the negative effects of the Golden Road.
At this moment, Huo Yuhao arrived in front of him.
"Even if I don't have a martial soul, can a Soul Grandmaster like you threaten me?" Ye Wuqing said arrogantly. He sent his right fist flying through the air to meet Huo Yuhao's attack. A ball of soul power condensed into a white light, which then used his fist as a conduit as it flew out.
Huo Yuhao once again used the Ice Empress' Pincer as he sent his palms forward to meet Ye Wuqing.
After controlling Bei Bei, Shangguan Can had seemingly fallen silent. However, he was actually focused on absorbing the soul power provided by a Milk Bottle, and he paid no attention to the current situation of the battle.
"Peng–" Huo Yuhao's body turned sluggish. His Ice Empress' Pincer broke through his opponent's soul power, but the powerful impact from that collision forced him to screech to a sudden stop. All of the soul tools he had now had been used to increase his speed, and even if that wasn't a case, a Class 2 attack-type soul tool wouldn't be able to pose a threat to a Soul King!
The soul paralysis ray? Huo Yuhao no longer had the support of the Haodong Power, and he didn't have much of his soul power left. As a result, he didn't dare to use it in an extravagant manner!
Clenching his teeth, Huo Yuhao used the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to flash towards Ye Wuqing in an illusory manner. A majority of his hidden weapons then flew out rapidly.
Ye Wuqing was immediately overjoyed after he saw that Huo Yuhao had been blocked by his attack. He urged the soul power in his body outward, causing a layer of white mist to penetrate his body and form a protective barrier. After all, Huo Yuhao didn't possess a high enough cultivation, so his hidden weapons would simply be unable to break through his defenses.
The gap between Rank 27 and Rank 58 was simply too large. Even if Ye Wuqing was temporarily unable to use his martial soul, and his cultivation wasn't even a third of its usual peak, Huo Yuhao wouldn't be able to shake him easily.
Seeing that his opportunity to win was disappearing, Huo Yuhao started to panic. He finally couldn't endure it any longer and cried out, "Ice Empress, help me!"
If this were a normal time, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion would definitely have ignored Huo Yuhao's request. Both she and the Skydream Iceworm needed an expert who would be able to cultivate their way to becoming a God.
This was the only way that would allow them to break away from the restraints imposed on them by the world. If they were to blindly help him with everything, how would he truly grow?
However, this was clearly different. Both the Skydream Iceworm and the Ice Empress had been infected by the Shrek's Seven Monsters' attitudes of sparing no cost for Shrek's glory.
In the next moment, Huo Yuhao's aura suddenly changed.
He didn't undergo the violent transformation or visual differences that Xu Sanshi and Bei Bei had gone through when they releasing their hidden powers. However, the current Huo Yuhao was much more terrifying in Ye Wuqing's eyes.
While using the Ice Empress, Huo Yuhao's eyes would occasionally flicker with a jade-green light. This was a natural phenomena caused by the appearance of that particular martial soul. At this moment, however, his eyes turned a penetrating color of jade, making it seem as though his eyes were precious gems that sparkled with light.
Huo Yuhao's body was instantly taken over by the Ice Empress. The voice of the latter rang out in the depths of Huo Yuhao's soul, "Watch carefully. You have to be adept at using every bit of strength that you have, and you need to diligently train your control over your strength. If you want to defeat the strong while being weak, the only technique you can use is control."
The Ice Empress didn't use the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track; she shot directly forward, and the tattoo of the Ice Empress on Huo Yuhao's back turned extraordinarily bright and clear. However, his body emitted no traces of chilliness at all.
Ye Wuqing felt his heart thump as he sensed the sudden changes in Huo Yuhao. At this exact moment, the effects of the Golden Road vanished.
Overjoyed, Ye Wuqing's first reaction was to once again release his martial soul to block Huo Yuhao. As he releasing it, he didn't forget to send a punch out, causing an even more condensed ball of soul power to stop the advancing Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao raised his right hand; to put it more accurately, the Ice Empress raised Huo Yuhao's right hand. She pointed a single finger towards the incoming ball of soul power, then gently tapped it.
The white ball of soul power paused distinctly for a moment, then slowed down. The Ice Empress then used the back of Huo Yuhao's hand to swipe at it, causing it to unexpectedly fly away. However, the speed of Huo Yuhao's advance didn't slow in the least.
Ultimate Ice wasn't just able to freeze humans; it was also able to freeze soul power! It was just as the Ice Empress had said–everything depended on one's level of control.
The speed of Ye Wuqing's movements wasn't slow either. With a flash of light, his soul rings started to rise from his feet.
At this moment, however, Huo Yuhao suddenly felt his entire body go dark. Right after that, he couldn't see anything else as he directly fell into a deep sleep.
From the point of view of the audience and the two teams within the waiting area, a strange transformation had suddenly occurred in Huo Yuhao's body. A jade-green pillar of light that was as thick as an arm suddenly shot out from his chest. The instant this pillar of light shot out, everyone was able to see that Huo Yuhao's vertebrae, sternum, and ribs were emitting an intense jade-green light, even though his body was covered by his clothes.
In the next instant, this jade-green light fell on Ye Wuqing.
The jade-colored light flashed and disappeared right after that.
Ye Wuqing was a Rank 58 Soul King! At this moment, however, his face only had shock on it. After that, Huo Yuhao's charging figure struck his body.
Ye Wuqing didn't resist at all as his entire body was forcefully knocked backwards. Just like Yan'er, he directly fell off the tournament stage with a crash. However, Huo Yuhao also fell down. Unlike Ye Wuqing, who fell off the stage, however, the place he fell was still a part of the stage.
This was the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion's four hundred thousand year soul skill, Ice Empress' Wrath.
Huo Yuhao had never used this skill in the past; to use this soul skill, one had to at least be a Soul King. This was also the skill with the highest attack power among the four soul skills that the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion had given him.
After adjusting all of the remaining soul power in Huo Yuhao's body and using her own origin to protect his body, the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion used a weakened version of the Ice Empress' Wrath.
Had it been the original version of the Ice Empress' Wrath, even Titled Duoluo would have felt the wrath of the Frost Seal immediately. Then, only the Ice Empress would've been able to remove the seal. However, her Wrath could barely even deal with Ye Wuqing, who only had a little soul power left and was limited by The Golden Road and whose martial soul had yet to fully recover. Before the consciousness of the Ice Empress returned to Huo Yuhao's body, it was greatly aggrieved, and already thought to urge Huo Yuhao to quickly enhance his strength once it returned.
Unfortunately, at this moment, Huo Yuhao had passed out. Had he been conscious, he would surely have protested; after all, he was barely thirteen years old!
Huo Yuhao's hard work ensured that Bei Bei's sacrifice was not wasted. Justsky Academy's strongest member, Ye Wuqing had finally been beaten, and was out of the competition.
In terms of numbers, Shrek Academy had three people left, while their opponent's team only had Shangguan Can left. However, could Shrek Academy really win?
Wang Dong had already rushed out when Huo Yuhao was unconscious, and Shangguan Can also stopped recovering his soul power with the Milk Bottle. A sinister smile crept over Shangguan Can's face as he watched Wang Dong, looking confident of winning.
Previously, when Huo Yuhao's soul power had been completely sucked away, Wang Dong had been unable to even utilize his martial soul. Now, he looked like a helpless child. Certainly, Wang Dong was unable to make Shangguan Can feel threatened.
"In the end, I'm still the one who has to put an end to this competition." Shangguan Can said as he walked slowly towards Wang Dong, Soulsucking Bell in hand. Wang Dong—who'd been running as fast as possible towards Huo Yuhao—stopped in his tracks.
Behind Wang Dong lay a long-unconscious Bei Bei, whose chest was still bleeding. In front of Wang Dong, Huo Yuhao lay similarly unconscious, with his lips pulled tensely together. Seeing this, the look in Wang Dong's eyes turned fierce.
"I suggest you bring the two of them down, and then leave yourself. You can only pass two rounds; I'm a four-ringed Soul Ancestor, you don't stand a chance." Shangguan Can said, sniggering at Wang Dong.
Wang Dong responded coldly, "You're just a auxiliary-type Soul Ancestor. What makes you so sure you can beat me?"
"Even though I'm an auxiliary-type soul master, I'm still a Soul Ancestor! Notwithstanding how much more soul power I have compared to you, just this Soulsucking Bell in my hand would be sufficient to defeat you. Hurry up kid, I don't want to waste anymore time with you."
Shangguan Can got increasingly excited as he spoke, as his heart beat faster and faster.
When he left the competition with the ultimate victory, Shangguan Can would have made history, and his name would surely be written into the annals of Justsky Academy's history. After this, his title would have to include the fact that he was the first to defeat Shrek Academy in the Elite Continental Soul Master Academy Tournament. Regardless of the standards of the team from Shrek Academy, they were still representatives of Shrek.
I won, I won. It's truly unexpected that I would ultimately win this competition. Shangguan Can could hardly hide the joy in his heart, and was smiling uncontrollably as he thought about his impending victory.
"Senior Brother Bei Bei once said, don't assume victory prematurely." Wang Dong said as he took long strides towards Shangguan Can.
Shangguan Can could have activated his fourth soul skill at this moment and controlled Wang Dong's spirit, but he wasn't in a hurry at all. Shrek Academy's members always put up such a strong front, and that only made him more determined to crush their persistence.
"It's futile, do you still not understand that, kid? Your soul power is so depleted now that even your martial soul probably can't release any power. How are you going to fight me? Just give up quickly, then I won't hurt you." Shangguan Can said with a smile. What he wanted to see most was Shrek Academy's members bowing down in front of him.
Wang Dong walked even faster, and said coldly, "Are you certain that my martial soul is incapable of releasing any power?"
Both parties were now within forty meters of each other.
Shangguan Can seemed speechless for a moment, before he retorted, "So what if you can still release power from your Martial Soul? I'm sure the best you can do is just release your martial soul. I can feel the weakness in your soul. Stop acting brave; from your martial soul, it seems that the battle style that you specialise in is focused on releasing energy, which is one of the styles that requires the most soul power from us soul masters. You obviously can't release any soul skills now, so stop pretending, it's useless."
Wang Dong took a deep breath, the look in his eyes growing colder. "Who told you that you can't be defeated without soul skills?" A flash of light passed through his body as he spoke, and a layer of black light seemed to flash past, but not a single Soul Ring appeared. A simple and unsophisticated jet-black hammer appeared in his hand. The hammer was enveloped by a ball of black light. Once the hammer appeared, a strong, thick feeling arose.
Shangguan Can gasped with astonishment, saying, "You Shreks are all freaks, but you don't stand a chance." He didn't dare to hesitate any longer, and started to shake the Soulsucking Bell in his hand forcefully as he spoke. He also activated his fourth soul skill, Spiritual Control, on Wang Dong. Multiple rings flew towards Wang Dong.
A mocking smile appeared on Wang Dong's upturned lips, and he continued charging forward, ignoring the the spirit-controlling halos that surrounded his body.
At that moment, a light appeared between Wang Dong's eyebrows, and the ball of golden light expanded at an astonishing speed, growing to a radius of about ten meters, emitting a blinding light.
Shangguan Can screamed, his mouth spewing fresh blood. He felt like his brain was about to split open, and the Soulsucking Bell in his hand was shattered to pieces.
The hammer in Wang Dong's hand flew out of his hand at this moment, drawing a beautiful and strong arc in the air as it flew straight towards Shangguan Can's chest.
A figure appeared in front of Shangguan Can's body just in time. The strong body blocked the path of the hammer, and a "ping" sound could be heard as the hammer hit the body. The figure stepped two steps back to steady himself from the impact of the hammer, and remarked breathlessly, "What a strong force."
The black light converged, and before anyone could see the hammer that was about to emerge from the black light, it disappeared.
Wang Dong's body shook a little, but he stood his ground.
Wasn't that the Soul Sage judge who just blocked the attack for Shangguan Can? The judge's appearance meant that this competition had finally ended.
"They really won." Wang Yan watched, dumbstruck, as Wang Dong limped towards Huo Yuhao, his lips trembling. Wang Yan was rendered speechless. He could never have guessed that this team made up of four Soul Ancestors, one Soul Elder and two Soul Grandmasters could have defeated a strong team of three Soul Kings and four Soul Ancestors.
Yes, even Shrek couldn't believe it.
He Caitou was also stupefied. When he had lost the round, he had thought that it was the end. After all, the opposing team had still had a Rank 58 Soul King that had not entered the arena.
Yet, a miracle happened again. Although Shrek Academy paid for their victory with blood, they did not lose the glory that belonged to the Shrek Academy. They won match–Shrek Academy had emerged victorious again!
The whole match could only be described as immensely tragic. From the first round, Xu Sanshi was already badly injured. Although he later exaggerated his injuries, Bei Bei had verified that the source of his injury was genuine.
In the second round, He Caitou had used all his power, and Xiao Xiao had sustained major injuries–even her martial soul was crushed by her opponent. If not for the fact that she was born with two Martial Souls, this would have been a blow serious enough to force her departure from the competition.
The third round didn't end any better, with Bei Bei unconscious after severe injuries, and Huo Yuhao on the ground, exhausted. Shockingly, the final victory was achieved by Wang Dong, whose soul power had already been completely depleted.
In the three rounds of this match, it could be said that every one of Shrek's Seven Monsters had tried their very best, and utilised every possible trick they had up their sleeves. They had won through sheer perseverance and will, despite being a much weaker team than their opponent, gaining the final victory.
This victory was hard-earned, but to the Shrek Academy team and Shrek's Seven Monsters, it was undoubtedly glorious. An unparalleled glory.
Tears started to course uncontrollably down Wang Yan's cheeks as he struggled to understand how Wang Dong had summoned a second Martial Soul, and the power with which Huo Yuhao had vanquished his opponent.
The only thought that occupied his head was victory. They had achieved the final victory. Shrek had won.
Victory for Shrek Academy in the Elite Continental Soul Master Academy Tournament hadn't been so difficult for at least a few thousand years. This competition had certainly been difficult, but in Wang Yan's heart, this was more meaningful than an easy victory by Shrek Academy's regular members. He could see seven stars gradually rising. In the near future, these Seven Monsters would definitely become strong pillars of Shrek Academy.
Far away, beyond the Imperial City and the battlements, the Star Luo Emperor had already taken off his crown.
He Caitou, who by this time had recovered slightly, rushed up to the stage and helped Wang Yan hold his teammates. He Caitou was a person who looked simple and straightforward on the outside, but actually harbored a deep hatred in his heart. At this moment, the most outstanding student from Shrek Academy's Soul Tool Department couldn't rein in his tears any longer.
Wang Yan temporarily passed the three people in his hands to He Caitou, then stood up. He was no longer able to control the emotions in his heart anymore, and he had to stand in testimony for the venerable and adorable kids he was a teacher of. He took large strides forward and said a few words to the referee, who nodded back at him and passed the sound-amplifying soul tool over to him.
Wang Yan took a deep breath, then used the sound-amplifying soul tool as a medium to say loudly, "Everyone, please quiet down a little. I'm the teacher in charge of Shrek Academy's team, Wang Yan, and I have a few words to say."
The atmosphere in Star Luo Plaza now was astonishingly frenzied, but it instantly quieted down upon hearing Wang Yan's announcement.
The gazes of the audience were all drawn towards the tear-filled Wang Yan.
"Fellow friends, teachers, and students from the various participating academies. You all saw what just happened. For the sake of defending our academy's glory, my children from Shrek Academy have fought a long, bloody battle to obtain a final victory."
"I know. A lot of you are asking: why has Shrek Academy suddenly become so weak? Why was it so difficult for Shrek Academy to win? These kids have done all they could to finally create a miracle. This was simply an unwinnable match! They relied on their own willpower to persevere under all this, but why would a situation like this occur?"
"This is a story known only to a few people in the academy, and I shouldn't say anything about it. However, I can't hold it in anymore; I have to stand in place of these venerable, admirable, and adorable children of mine to testify."
"Our Shrek Academy is known as the continent's number one academy by everyone here, and we made ample preparations for this year's tournament like everyone else. However, none of the participating students you see in front of you were official members; they were preparatory team members who came here to gain some experience. They aren't representing our academy to take part in this tournament because we decided to give them this much experience; it's because we had no other choice."
At this point, the various representative teams from the various academies, the populace, and even the Emperor, who was originally planning to leave the city walls, felt curiosity in their hearts.
"Before we came to Star Luo City to participate in this tournament, our academy's official and preparatory teams were assigned to do something else. We were to eliminate a group of bandits that were led by an evil soul master in the Ming Dou Mountain Range. They were a group of bandits who wantonly killed, robbed, and committed every imaginable evil act. For the sake of the safety of the merchants and common people who live in the Ming Dou Mountain Range, our Shrek Academy decided to take it upon ourselves to solve this problem. Finally, we found those bandits and their leader in a cave. We completely dominated them in terms of strength, but that evil soul master used an evil skill to detonate the corpses of his fellow bandits. Due to the large number of dead bandits, that detonation caused severe injuries to our official team members. One of which died, and the other six received injuries to different extents. Of which, we've sent a few back to the academy to recuperate. The academy didn't have enough time to send more people, and thus we came here with a disjointed team. A few of our official team members who have lighter injuries are still resting in the hotel, and the only people we have who can come up are these preparatory team members.
"In reality, even the first match that we participated in was extremely tough for us. This team was only able to slowly get to this stage by diligently working together. For the sake of Shrek's glory, they have already given all they can, and as a teacher of Shrek Academy, I am proud of them. They will always be Shrek Academy's most dazzling students."
"The reason why I chose to stand in front of all of you today is because I wish for everyone here who has placed their hopes on Shrek Academy to not criticise these kids too harshly. Of the seven of them, there are even three who are only twelve years old! The other four aren't even fifteen yet. What more can we ask of them? Even if we lose this tournament, in my heart, they have won. That is all. Thank you, everyone."
With that, Wang Yan handed the sound-amplifying soul tool to the referee, and bowed deeply towards the audience. Only then did he return to He Caitou's side and bring the three unconscious people down from the stage. The audience remained silent for a few seconds. Nobody cheered, but what replaced it was the sound of intense clapping. It started out soft, but it infected the entire arena. Even Shrek's opponents and the Emperor and his ministers above the city walls were clapping for Shrek Academy.
The enigma behind Shrek Academy's team was finally solved. It was exactly this that stunned everyone present. This was especially true for Wang Yan's last words; there were actually three of these kids who were only twelve years old!
As their opponents, Justsky Academy felt like they couldn't raise their heads at all. They had lost. Not only had they lost to Shrek Academy's preparatory team, but they had lost to such young opponents.
Naturally, there were two exceptions to this. Ye Wuqing and Yan'er were still stuck in Huo Yuhao's Frost Seal, and no matter how hard the medical soul masters sent by the tournament's organisational committee tried, they were unable to melt the ice that covered them.
Protected by a large number of medical personnel and soul masters from the empire, Shrek Academy once again left the arena. Only, their departure was filled with a moving and tragic air. The audience wasn't even sure whether or not they could participate in the next match.
They truly didn't wish for this tournament to lose the presence of Shrek Academy. They weren't just the continent's number one academy, but one that could make its students go crazy to defend it. Without them, this tournament would definitely lose its luster.