"First round, central stage, Shrek Academy facing Blazing Academy."
The announcer declared the names of the entering teams in a loud voice. The teams on either side stepped into the ring with their heads held high.
In a split second, the entire audience surged like a raging sea, cheers rising and falling, some supporting Blazing Academy, but even more supporting Shrek.
Shrek Academy had already defeated one of the five elemental academies, if they could also take down Blazing Academy, then their status would inevitably rise another step. All the spectators were looking forward to this moment.
Dai Mubai still walked furthest ahead, Tai Long and Huang Yuan at his side, behind them were Tang San, and standing next to him were Xiao Wu and Jing Ling.
JoyBoy stood furthest in the back as customary. JoyBoy and Tang San had already discussed strategies with the team for today's battle and JoyBoy had told them that they will have to depend on themselves and he will only make his move only if they are in serious trouble or something unexpected happens.
He noticed that their uniforms no longer had just that 'wash even healthier' advertisement, but still had even more logos.
Perhaps it was because the effect of the advertisement was out of the ordinary, but Dean Flender had already found more than ten sponsors for the team uniforms. The uniforms appeared even more hilariously gaudy, but Shrek Academy's profit had also become even greater.
JoyBoy observed the Blazing Academy's seven students. They all seemed to be about the same age, a bit over twenty, seven people, in a triangular formation. He remembered everyone's information given by Grandmaster and from his knowledge from the novel.
The person walking furthest ahead was Blazing Academy's team captain, Huo Wushuang, a forty second ranked power attack system Battle Spirit Master. His spirit was a One-Horned Tyrant Dragon. In these qualifiers he was already known among Spirit Masters as most powerful head-on. He was also Blazing Academy's unyielding mainstay attacker.
JoyBoy remembered that the last part put a smile on his face.
Directly behind Huo Wushuang was another power attack system Spirit Master, thirty eighth ranked. This person's spirit was a Fire Leopard.
Further behind were two people, two youths with gloomy expressions. Their appearances were exactly identical, unexpectedly a pair of twins. One was called Huo Yun and the other Huo Yu, their spirits were Fire Crane. They were also the agility attack system fire element Battle Spirit Masters Grandmaster spoke about. Their spirit power had both reached the thirty ninth rank.
Furthest behind were two men and one woman, the two male Spirit Masters were extremely tall and wide, and if going by appearance, they would absolutely be taken for power attack system Spirit Masters. But Grandmaster had told the Shrek Academy team that the two weren't power attack system, but rather auxiliary system. Only their support contained a certain attack capability. If the opponents weren't especially powerful, their support characteristics wouldn't even be seen. Their spirits were also strangely identical, both had Sparks, a kind of unusual spirit.
And between the two was the whole Blazing Academy team's only woman. Even though she was the only woman among the Blazing Academy, she was the tallest among the seven members. Standing in the middle with a constant faint smile, there was a faint red light around her.
Apart from the captain, this girl was Blazing Academy's other fortieth ranked Spirit Master, and even the highest ranked in the whole team. Forty third ranked control system Battle Spirit Master, Huo Wu. She was the soul of the team, as well as their vice captain. Her spirit was she herself, using her own shadow, Fire Shadow.
The referee walked into the middle
"Both sides, salute."
The altogether fourteen members of both teams lined up, saluting their counterparts. Dai Mubai's gaze met Huo Wushuang's, and Tang San couldn't keep his gaze from meeting Huo Wu. The competition still hadn't started, but the smell of gunpowder filled the space between them.
Huo Wushuang glared at Dai Mubai, their gazes colliding. In a low voice he said:
"Today is the moment your winning streak ends."
Dai Mubai faintly said
"That's what I wanted to say. Today, one of our two teams will be unable to keep winning."
Huo Wushuang's gaze shifted to Tang San at Dai Mubai's side,
"It's a pity. If your control system Spirit Master wasn't a plant type, then perhaps you still might have had some chance. But, now... I advise you to forfeit, that way you can at least conserve your strength for the next match."
"You can release your spirits."
The referee's voice rose once again. In an instant, the central stage was covered by light.
Intense spirit ring light flooded the whole stage, without doubt, both sides had optimal spirit ring configurations. Like every match, JoyBoy only showed his martial spirit and got the same feeling of hunger for battle from his martial spirit, only this time it was a lot stronger than before but still somewhat manageable.
After the referee retreated, both sides simultaneously returned to their familiar formations. Blazing Academy still had a triangular formation, while the Shrek Academy side still had Dai Mubai, Tai Long, and Huang Yuan in front, JoyBoy in the back, and Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Jing Ling in the middle.
Going by formations, no doubt the Blazing Academy arrangement seemed even more offensive, while the Shrek Academy's side seemed relatively conservative.
"Match begin!"
Along with the referee's command, both sides moved in the first instant.
Dai Mubai abruptly took a step forward, making the whole stage shake. Huang Yuan and Tai Long followed at his side. At their waists appeared a slender and extremely durable strand of Blue Silver Grass.
At this moment, raging flames leapt up in a flash in the middle of the enemy ranks. Fiery red light filled half the stage with scorching hot air.
Raging flames rose practically simultaneously from all the seven Blazing Academy team members, each person's first spirit ring releasing dazzling light.
Sparks radiated all around the two auxiliary system Spirit Masters, countless little flecks of light in the air swiftly condensed towards those sparks. Along with the red flecks of light gathering, the sparks swiftly grew larger, spiraling over the heads of all the seven.
Huo Wushuang brazenly stepped forward with the other power attack system Spirit Master. A resonant dragon's roar rose from his throat, and the raging flames all over his body vaguely took the shape of a dragon behind him. Spirit Body Enhancement made his body swell a size, covering his skin with a layer of blazing hot deep red scales.
The two agility attack system Spirit Masters Huo Yun and Huo Yu detoured around them, a pair of dazzlingly beautiful wings extending behind their backs. Even though they couldn't fly, they still advanced in a bizarre curving way, gliding around, their target at the center of the Shrek Academy team, Tang San.
After the dazzling sparks condensed in the air one after another, they swiftly poured into the others. As each spark entered, it made the Blazing Academy students' flames even fiercer.
On the battlefield, there were only three people that didn't move. On Shrek Academy's side was Tang San and JoyBoy, and on the opposing side, control system Spirit Master Huo Wu.
Tang San and Huo Wu were still looking at each other, neither acting. JoyBoy being motionless was because he was observing the battle and trying to calm down his martial spirit whose hunger for battle was getting stronger as the battle was proceeding.
Soon he closed his eyes and started focusing on calming his martial spirit. He spread his senses in the surroundings to make sure he is still able to help if something goes wrong and boosted his agility, endurance and vitality up to four hundred times to make sure that he doesn't get hurt by an attack from his enemies. This was the maximum boost he could use without using his spirit rings. Soon he entered a trans like state and was only keeping track of his surroundings subconsciously while focusing on his martial spirit.
While JoyBoy was trying to calm down his martial spirit, the battle in the stage was continuing.
Dai Mubai, Tai Long and Huang Yuan had formed a perfect triangular formation with the help of Tang San and Huo Wushuang was in the center. Everything happened extremely fast, this encircling and annihilating joint attack was fast, precise, fierce, exploiting numerical advantage and instantaneous burst power to first destroy the strongest of the opponents. As long as they could smash Huo Wushuang, the rest of the battle would no doubt become a lot easier for the Shrek team.
However, the moment both sides were about to complete their encirclement, suddenly, a red whirlwind erupted from the floor.
Even though Tang San manipulated his Blue Silver Grass, his gaze had never left the opposing side's control system Spirit Master, Huo Wu. Sure enough, at this moment, Huo Wu moved.
Huo Wu acted without any warning, her movements also extremely simple, but what shone was her third spirit ring. The dazzling purple light mixed with the golden red around her, and a dazzling ring-shaped flame instantly erupted where it was needed the most.
Her control was extremely precise, and when that great ring of flame arrived, was precisely when Dai Mubai's trio completed their encirclement and attacked.
Bizarrely, even though that instantly erupting ring of flame appeared extremely grand, the moment it touched, it still didn't make any sound.
Whether it was Dai Mubai, Huang Yuan or Tai Long, none of them felt any threat of harm to them, the trio was only sent flying in a split second by a scorching hot powerful elasticity. It wasn't just them being ejected, even Xiao Wu and Jing Ling who were fighting to two opposing agility attack system Spirit Masters.
These five were struck practically simultaneously by that bizarre ring of fire, flying out in five different directions, perfectly destroying the Shrek team's formation all at once. Tang San, originally protected in the middle of everyone, was immediately exposed.
This was Huo Wu's third spirit ability, Defying Flame Ring. This ability didn't have any attack power, but its greatest characteristic was the ability to eject all enemies within the range of the Defying Flame Ring a certain distance.
As for how far they were rejected, and differentiation between friend and foe, that was up to the Spirit Master's own control. It the ability of a kind of peculiar spirit beast. Even though Dai Mubai, Huang Yuan and Tai Long were all bound by Tang San's Blue Silver Grass, the instant they were shot out by the Defying Flame Ring, Tang San was still left by himself.
From the start of the battle, this situation was what the Blazing Academy had arranged for Tang San, using Shrek Academy's best team tactic against them to deal with Tang San.
Four against one, they had even taken Tang San's Spider Web Restraint into account.
Attacking from different directions, Tang San's Spider Web could at most only restrain one person. There absolutely wasn't enough time for him to launch a second.
And that moment, he would already be besieged by three people, and they believed that not even luck could save him then. As for JoyBoy who was standing behind Tang San with his eyes closed, they weren't worried of him saving Tang San because of Huo Wu's third spirit ability, Defying Flame Ring.
They believed that Tang San was the core of the Shrek team. As long as he was routed, the Shrek Team would be like a toothless tiger, and dealing with them would be a lot simpler without the threat of Tang San's ten thousand year spirit ring, and even more without his powerful control capability.
For insurance, the Blazing Academy's two auxiliary system Spirit Masters' third spirit rings flared simultaneously, and the previously constantly condensing sparks in the air unexpectedly split from one into two, from two into four, instantly increasing fourfold, and rushed at the four responsible for the attack.
Dazzlingly beautiful balls of flame fell from the air like a meteor shower, blazing flames already impassably surrounding Tang San. The four people attacking Tang San simultaneously launched their third spirit abilities. Regarding this one attack, they were determined to win.
Confronted by four people attacking him, Tang San seemed very serene, very calm. When he noticed that Huo Wu's Defying Flame Ring went passed him ignoring him and attacked JoyBoy, he smirked and looked at Huo Wu, her charming face already showing a trace of pride after releasing that Defying Flame Ring.