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"The Celestial Star Formation!"
On the field, Xu Xing stood alone, feeling a boundless power within himself. Gazing at the demonic figures, he uttered a low shout and raised his hand to press down.
In an instant, the stars within the domain began to rotate, resembling falling meteorites.
"Hmph!"
A dual male and female voice emanated from the demons' mouths. With a slight bend of their legs, they leaped up, wielding their moon blades to strike at the nearest star.
Boom!
A massive explosion resounded as the demons were forced back to the ground. They looked up at the hundreds of stars hurtling towards them and immediately dodged, unwilling to confront them head-on.
In that moment, the demons had already gauged the power of these stars. Each dispersal equated to an explosion of soul force equivalent to the level of a Soul Ancestor.
Naturally, Soul Ancestors couldn't harm Soul Douluo-level experts.
However, the fusion time of the Martial Soul was limited and consumed massive soul power. There was no time to waste in fighting these stars. They had to seize the opportunity to leap to Xu Xing and achieve victory in one strike.
Furthermore, these stars were not only attacking the demons but also aiming at Yan and the others.
As for Xu Xing's teammates, after channeling all their soul power to Xu Xing, they had already exhausted themselves and collapsed on the ground, devoid of attack capabilities, effectively eliminated.
Naturally, the Martial Soul Hall team couldn't attack those who were defenseless.
"You despicable fellow!" Yan covered himself in molten lava, forming a wall to allow the other four to come over while he resisted the impact of the stars.
"Not bad."
The competition arena this time was a desert.
Under Yan's molten heat, the sand crystallized, enhancing the defense of the lava wall and withstanding the impact of Xu Xing's stars.
Of course, the main reason was that Xu Xing had focused most of his attention on the demons.
Whizz!
A moon-blade-like light slashed towards his back, but in the nick of time, Xu Xing's body executed a 180-degree turn, narrowly evading the attack.
"I mustn't be careless at all."
Cold sweat beaded on Xu Xing's forehead.
Just now, he had glanced at Yan and the others, only to be seized by the demons' chance to attack him up close.
If he had been hit, he might have been severely injured.
Fortunately, within this star domain, he was the brightest star himself, able to move and fly at will.
He was the master of this star domain!
"I am the ruler of the stars!"
As his voice fell, the demons, Yan, and the other five, including members of the Star Crown Academy team, all felt as if they were in the sky, about to fall downward.
To the audience outside, it appeared as if the demons, Yan, and others were flying into the sky, and the sand from the desert arena was also rising towards the sky, finally covering the top of the light curtain.
"Is this gravity?" Xiao wu exclaimed, confirming with Tang San.
"Similar," Tang San adjusted his detection glasses on his nose, "That spatial area might be centered around Xu Xing's position... In simpler terms, where Xu Xing stands, his head is the sky, and his feet are the ground. The gravity in that space adjusts according to Xu Xing's position."
"He can't control gravity himself, but it adjusts based on his orientation."
"In summary—"
"I am the position! I am the time and space! All things in the four directions! I am their master!"
Hearing Tang San's description, everyone was shocked, unable to imagine how such a terrifying domain skill was born.
The ruler of the stars... This wasn't an exaggeration but a fact!
However, Tang San wasn't particularly surprised. After all, for Xu Xing to become a true ruler of the stars, he needed more than just the title of a Douluo.
On the other side, Bibi Dong was also astonished by Xu Xing's abilities. After Tang San and the others arrived, she had divided her attention slightly to listen to their discussion.
Especially upon hearing Tang San's evaluation of Xu Xing's domain, she valued Xu Xing even more, thinking to herself, "This person is from the Star Crown Sect. In the future, he will definitely stand with the Star Luo Empire. The chance of using him for the Martial Soul Hall is very small. Perhaps it's time to stimulate Dai Mubai a bit more."
Meanwhile, on the field, the demons emerged from the sand, looked up at the changed gravity, and glanced at the audience sitting outside, instantly realizing the change in spatial gravity.
Now, they were in the sky.
"Truly terrifying ability," the mixed male and female voice sounded. Faced with the stars continuing to shoot at them, they chose to evade rather than attack.
Huo Liena and Xie Yue naturally discussed—
As long as they didn't waste soul power, the demons could maintain their current state for a considerable amount of time. On the other hand, reversing gravity would undoubtedly consume a considerable amount of soul power.
Therefore, the strategy adopted was simple: drag it out.
Xu Xing also realized the consumption of soul power within his body. Gritting his teeth, he threw his team of six out of the field, then waved his hand, arranging all the stars within the domain into an extremely complex three-dimensional star map.
"The Celestial Star Formation!"
"Annihilate!"
Hum!
In an instant, 365 stars accelerated in a mysterious manner. Their speed was so fast that even a Soul Douluo-level demon would find it difficult to resist. They were continuously bombarded, their silver metal armor on their bodies crumbling, their two moon blades cracking, and even the tail behind their waist broke into three pieces.
"Fusion Soul Skill: Demon Moon Shield!"
The demon activated their soul skill, but it was shattered by the stars in one blow.
"Cough!"
After a round of bombardment, the demon's figure slowly dispersed, turning back into Xie Yue and Hu Liena.
Xie Yue's clothes were tattered, and her aura was weak.
Hu Liena had blood at the corners of her mouth, half kneeling on the sandy ground.
The Martial Soul Fusion Skill of Soul Douluo level was actually shattered by a Soul Saint-level domain! And it even caused injuries to both of them!
This shocked the experts present, and they couldn't help but admire the talent that emerged from the Star Crown Sect.
Bibi Dong narrowed her eyes and thought to herself, "To have beaten Nana so badly... If this person can't be used by the Martial Soul Hall, he must be eliminated. We can't afford to give him any more time to grow."
However, with just a Soul Elder absorbing the starlight soul power of six individuals to achieve this level, if his cultivation were to further increase and absorb more soul power from others, wouldn't he be comparable to a Titled Douluo?
Wang Chen, Mu Tian, Huo Yuhao, and others also noticed this scene, their hearts sinking.
Wang Chen: "Another guy who didn't appear in the original work, probably another transmigrator."
Mu Tian: "There seem to be quite a few transmigrators in the Douluo Continent."
Huo Yuhao: "Damn, his Celestial Star Formation! Why is your cheat so awesome? Can this small Douluo plane withstand such ancient formations?"
Meanwhile, Tang San quietly asked Electrolux within his dantian, "Electrolux, did you record that technique Xu Xing named 'Celestial Star Formation' just now?"
"Of course," Electrolux replied, "That formation is indeed extremely exquisite. I couldn't fully comprehend it, but I did discern some insights—constructing 365 stars, condensing the power of stars for attack, extremely powerful."
"However, I feel that the main purpose of this formation isn't for attack but rather to condense the power of stars for cultivation, or perhaps to adjust the seasonal climate of the world, or even to create a new world."
"Treating it merely as a bomb-like attack... It feels like a waste of such a profound technique."
"Anyway, it's that kid's business. I'm too lazy to bother. Besides, I've already recorded the corresponding energy circulation pathways, and the movement trajectories of the stars within the formation. We'll have plenty of time to study it later."
Regarding the Celestial Star Formation, Tang San felt that Xu Xing's description was exaggerated. After all, based on its current demonstrated power, it was just like that. It didn't reach the level of destroying the heavens and earth.
Of course, it was also possible that Xu Xing's strength was insufficient and hadn't been fully developed.
However, even if Electrolux's recorded Celestial Star Formation was only basic and not complete, it was sufficient. After all, to correspond to the heavens, it was about corresponding to the stars of this universe, not creating a completely unfamiliar cosmic sky and stars out of thin air.
Adaptation to the local conditions was the key.
At this moment, Xu Xing, who had unleashed the full power of the Celestial Star Formation on the desert field, had also exhausted all his soul power, and the domain dissipated.
Everyone fell down, covered by sand.
Finally, Yan and the others crawled out of the sand with Hu Liena and Xie Yue, bringing the unconscious Xu Xing along.
Winner: Martial Soul Hall Team.
Although they were the victors, the Martial Soul Hall team didn't have much joy because they had fought a very tough battle and only managed to turn the tide with their numerical advantage...
...
"Nana, how do you feel about today's match?"
At noon, during the break, with lunch and rest for everyone, Bibi Dong called the Martial Soul Hall team into the Pope's Hall, her tone calm, devoid of joy or anger.
But Hu Liena knew that it was because her performance had disappointed the teacher.
"It's all my fault, Teacher. I shouldn't have given the Star Crown Academy time to prepare," Hu Liena realized her mistake and immediately admitted it.
"Pope, I'm also at fault. As her brother, I've always indulged my sister and didn't stop her," Xie Yue also admitted his mistake, hoping to accept punishment together with Hu Liena.
Yan opened his mouth, hesitated for a moment, then finally said, "Pope, I'm also at fault. I should have interrupted their soul fusion at the beginning of the match."
The other four also admitted their mistakes.
"Very well." Bibi Dong nodded, somewhat satisfied with the performance of the seven. She said, "It's not all your fault because Tang San revealed his Hundred Thousand Year Fifth Ring in the first round, affecting you, and causing you young and spirited little ones to want to show your strength immediately to intimidate your opponents."
"This is true for most of the teams from other academies as well."
"There aren't many young people in this world who can resist impulsiveness and conceal their trump cards, especially after Tang San stole the limelight... This is also his calculation, to observe the bottom cards of the nearly hundred participating academies."
Hu Liena was shocked and incredulously asked, "Teacher, are you saying that Tang San deliberately revealed his trump card in the first round not only out of confidence in his own strength but also calculated the characters of all the members of the teams participating in this competition, in order to observe the bottom cards of each team and arrange tactics accordingly?"
Xie Yue was shocked, "If that's the case, then Tang San is too terrifying!"
Yan was also surprised, "Did he actually calculate the thoughts of every team?"
Bibi Dong stopped the three from continuing their speculation and said slowly, "This is just a very simple strategy, knowing that the participants are all young people."
"Young and spirited, it's a common problem for your age group, most people are like this."
"Tang San revealing his Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring dazzled everyone, and the other academy teams, in order to showcase their own strength, would undoubtedly reveal all their cards."
"Because for most academies, compared to the distant championship, showcasing everything, winning the favor of the Martial Soul Hall, Tian Dou Empire, and Star Luo Empire, and winning good reputation across the continent, is crucial. After all, this competition is broadcasted live across the continent... 'Live broadcast', this term was also created by Tang San."
"You can imagine, almost the entire continent is watching. For fame and face, can they hold back?"
"No one wants their limelight to be stolen by Tang San..."
Huo Liena and the others finally understood.
In other words, the teams that didn't want Tang San to steal all the limelight would inevitably reveal all their cards. And once all the cards were revealed, Tang San would know, allowing him to formulate countermeasures.
Indeed, it was a strategy.
However—
"In that case, won't all our forces and academies know the bottom cards of the other academy teams?" Huo Liena asked puzzled.
"Because Tang San never revealed his bottom cards," Bibi Dong said plainly, "He only revealed his Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring, but what about those two kids? Are they soul skills? What are their specific effects? Does he have any other trump cards?"
"Besides the information reported by Ma Xiu Nuo about Tang San's first soul skill: Endless Recovery, which can restore the condition of the soul master's entire body, the second soul skill, suspected to be able to enhance teammates, and that he himself is an auxiliary system soul master."
"We know nothing else."
"But can you say that he's just an all-around support-type soul master who can heal and enhance?" Huo Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan looked at each other, all shaking their heads.
In the first round of the first match, Tang San's performance in speed and strength was beyond ordinary assault or agility attack types.
An all-around support-type?
That's definitely a disguise!
Perhaps he's a control type, after all, Tang San's last move controlling the Blue Silver Emperor to send the Shrek Academy team out of the field was definitely a control type technique.
"Ghost Douluo." After lecturing the others, Bibi Dong called Ghost Douluo over and asked, "Before, when you personally enforced the law, what happened?"
"Tang San was slandered by the Canghui Academy..." Ghost Douluo recounted the incident.
"Heh, this is the drawback of the Tian Dou Empire, each doing their own thing, targeting each other even within the same camp," Bibi Dong sneered, then said to Ghost Douluo, "In this match, the Martial Soul Hall team won miserably, but it's also a blessing in disguise. Under the oppression of the Star Crown Academy kid's domain, Xie Yue and Yan both reached level sixty. You'll lead them to hunt for soul rings."
"It's my honor." Ghost Douluo respectfully bowed to Bibi Dong and then led Xie Yue and Yan out of the Pope's Hall, heading to the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Then—"
Bibi Dong looked at Hu Liena and the others who were still kneeling on the ground and said, "Get up. For the remaining rounds of the competition, the other substitutes will temporarily take the place of Xie Yue and Yan."
"Nana, do you have any problems being alone?"
Hu Liena shook her head, her eyes determined. "No."
She knew this was a test from her teacher.
After all, hunting soul beasts with Xie Yue and Yan would definitely take more than ten days. If they were unlucky, they might not encounter suitable soul beasts even in a month.
Therefore, before the final, it was very likely that there would be a situation where only Hu Liena remained from the Martial Soul Hall's Golden Generation.
If she lost...
The three teams, Tian Dou, Star Luo, and Martial Soul Hall, the ones guaranteed to advance, would lose their qualification for the knockout rounds and could only participate in the subsequent promotion matches and the finals.
It seemed good, but in reality, these three guaranteed teams couldn't afford to lose.
Because once they lost, even if they had the qualifications to enter the promotion matches and the finals, they would be looked down upon by other academies, who would think they relied on the backing of the three major forces rather than their true abilities.
"In the next matches, I can't give anyone the opportunity to display similar techniques to the Martial Soul Fusion." Hu Liena reminded herself silently. Otherwise, if she lost, not only would the Martial Soul Hall team lose face, but the honor of the entire Martial Soul Hall would also be affected. The elders of the Elder Hall have always been at odds with the teacher—
Just like those three ten-thousand-year-level soul bones, which the teacher personally hunted and obtained, but when he wanted to directly award them to the three members of the Golden Generation, he was stopped by the elders of the Elder Hall, forcing the teacher to treat them as prizes for the competition and indirectly give them to the three of them.
However, this elite competition was truly a gathering of talent, and protecting the honor of the Martial Soul Hall's consecutive championship would not be an easy task...
...
The next seven days would be the competition between the remaining advanced academy teams.
The strength of these team members was mostly Soul Elders, with few Soul Ancestor, but they still showcased their strength to the world, and many teams even won with the advantage of the environment, defeating stronger opponents.
For example, in one match in a river terrain, the participating teams were:
On one side, there was a relatively unknown advanced academy, with all team members being Soul Elder, and one of them even a Great Soul Master; while their opponents were a more well-known advanced academy from the Star Luo Empire, with six Soul Elder and one Soul Ancestor among their team members.
In theory, the outcome should have been without suspense, with a high probability of victory for the Star Luo team.
But the reality was, the team from the unknown academy, all skilled swimmers, immediately jumped into the river at the start of the match, taking advantage of the convenience of the river terrain to evade the opponent's soul skill attacks.
However, mere evasion wasn't enough. They would be warned by the referee for passivity, and if it happened more than three times, they would be disqualified from the match, directly losing.
Therefore, these seven people took advantage of the breaks between the opponent's soul skill releases to launch long-range soul skill attacks... The soul power showdown between the two sides turned into a turn-based game.
Although this match was somewhat speechless, the previously relatively unknown advanced academy gained a lot of fame, and the seven members of their team were noticed by some major powers, thinking they could be recruited.
Although their way of fighting was a bit "sneaky," it was still better than Oscar's initial approach. That was truly sneaky, while these seven were just more clever.
The sects, clans, they also needed intelligent people to join.
The original work had a total of over a hundred advanced academies, and ordinary advanced academies, generally speaking, only required Soul Elder to graduate.