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Within five minutes, Huo Wushuang had had enough. He ran toward the ice castle, shouting in anger, ready to punch it to pieces and crush all the snowmen. He was inexplicably annoyed and wanted to destroy everything in front of him!
But then—
"Qiao dou ma dai!" Mi Xue suddenly yelled when she saw Huo Wushuang charging at her.
Though he didn't understand what it meant, Huo Wushuang stopped instinctively. "What kind of gibberish is that?" he asked.
"Ahem," Mi Xue cleared her throat and exaggeratedly raised her voice, facing the referee, "I surrender!"
Chrysanthemum Douluo announced, "Huo Wushuang wins."
Huo Wushuang was infuriated but couldn't continue fighting after his opponent had surrendered. His chest heaved with anger. Why would Tianshui Academy send someone like this to the match?
"She's definitely an otaku," Tang San thought, understanding Mi Xue a bit more.
When the second Tianshui Academy member took the stage, Huo Wushuang noticed that Mi Xue's icy arena and ice castle hadn't dissipated. It was clear that Mi Xue's goal was to set the stage to Tianshui Academy's advantage.
Soul skills that continued to have effects after use were usually seen in food-based support Soul Masters. It was rare for other types of Soul Masters to achieve that. Mi Xue's soul skills were quite unique.
"Even with the terrain advantage, I won't lose!" Huo Wushuang was frustrated, so he fought more aggressively in the second round, using more soul power. Despite his vigor, he won, but at a considerable cost to his soul power.
The third and fourth Tianshui Academy members also lost to him, but Huo Wushuang had used up almost 80% of his soul power and couldn't continue against the fifth opponent, eventually losing the match.
By then, Huo Wushuang understood Mi Xue's role: not only to create a terrain advantage but also to mess with his mindset.
"Nice job, Mi Xue," Shui Bing'er said, high-fiving her. "If Huo Wushuang had defeated all of us, even if I beat him, I might not be able to take down all six members of Blazing Fire Academy. My ice phoenix form consumes a lot of soul power, but now with you, Xue Wu, and Shui Yue'er, we have three fighters left. As long as they can take down two opponents, I can manage the rest."
"He was too easily provoked," Mi Xue replied with confidence. "Fire types tend to be hot-tempered, right?"
"Blazing Fire Academy might use strategy to win, but they won't stand a chance against Tian Dou Royal Academy's first team," Shui Bing'er said, glancing at the group that included Tang San, Huo Wu, Yu Tianheng, Xiao Wu, and Guang Ling. "Those five could probably take on entire teams by themselves. Even their substitutes are incredibly strong."
Mi Xue's mood darkened as she nodded in agreement. "They're all inhumanly powerful. Especially that Tang San—the one with a hundred-thousand-year fifth soul ring. He killed a thirty-thousand-year-old soul beast with one punch. He doesn't even look that muscular, but his strength is insane."
As a transmigrator herself, Mi Xue initially thought she could look down on everyone in this world. Even when she first saw Tang San's published theories, she assumed it was an old scholar. She was wrong.
It wasn't until the first preliminary round that Mi Xue realized just how terrifying Tang San was. At only fourteen, he was already a Soul King!
But the biggest shock was discovering that Tang San was the same person who wrote those theories—rather than some elderly scholar, he was just a kid. It meant that at age six or seven, he was already compiling information and preparing to publish research.
"Could he be some sort of reincarnated genius?" Mi Xue thought.
She even had a hunch that Tang San might be like her—another transmigrator. But unlike her previous life, where she was just living day-to-day, Tang San might've been some research scientist, accustomed to writing papers.
Honestly, Mi Xue was glad to meet another "compatriot" after crossing over, though she wasn't sure how to approach him or discuss how to return to Earth. Although this world had supernatural powers, Mi Xue really missed some things from Earth—like Ice Fortress.
While she was lost in thought, Shui Bing'er interrupted with an idea. "What do you think about using a honeytrap?" she asked Mi Xue.
Mi Xue, who knew Shui Bing'er well, was surprised. "Are you saying you have a thing for Tang San?"
Shui Bing'er didn't hide her feelings. "Is that a problem?"
"Liking someone is fine, but there are many excellent women around him," Mi Xue pointed out. "Men in another world with harems, huh? But he is pretty handsome and powerful. Being with him would definitely feel safe."
"What's wrong with a powerful lion having multiple lionesses?" Shui Bing'er retorted. "It's just the natural order."
"As long as he can handle them all."
"My sister and I are half-sisters; we're used to this sort of thing," Shui Bing'er added. "Many strong female Soul Masters wouldn't be as accepting."
"Of course, that depends on whether Tang San is interested in me," she added with a playful smile.
Mi Xue had no energy to continue that line of conversation and decided to change the subject. "I don't think using a honeytrap is a good idea. Let's focus on how we're going to beat Tian Dou Royal Academy's first team."
"I think psychological tactics could work. They probably don't know exactly what I did in the first match," Shui Bing'er suggested.
Even though Mi Xue suspected that Tang San was a transmigrator like her, she thought he might've been some kind of scientist in his previous life, the kind of person not into entertainment. Perhaps she could still catch him off guard.
The match between Blazing Fire Academy and Tianshui Academy eventually ended in Tianshui's victory, just as Tang San had predicted. Due to Mi Xue's antics, Huo Wushuang lost his composure, wasting too much soul power in the following rounds. In the end, the entire Blazing Fire Academy team lost to Tianshui.
However, the main goal of the qualifiers was to showcase individual Soul Masters' strength, with a points system to determine rankings. Even though Blazing Fire Academy lost, they still had a chance to gain points against the other eleven teams in subsequent matches.
After the first qualifier match, the second match started five minutes later. This time, it wasn't Tian Dou Royal Academy's first team on stage, but Star Luo Royal Academy versus Canghui Academy.
Yes, Canghui Academy had advanced to the third round. Their Seven-in-One formation was indeed formidable, and they hadn't faced any of the three guaranteed advancement teams or the Four Elemental Academies.
However, in the qualifiers, Canghui Academy was arguably the weakest. Their participants had gem-based martial souls and were all energy-based control or augmentation types, making them the least formidable among the thirteen teams.
But they had to fight on despite being the underdogs. Unsurprisingly, Canghui Academy was crushed by Dai Weisi from Star Luo Royal Academy. All of Canghui's participants ended up with negative points, indicating that they would likely remain at the bottom of the rankings throughout the qualifiers.
Tian Dou Royal Academy finally entered the arena on the second day. Their opponent was the Godwind Academy team.
"Long time no see, Tang San! Or should I call you 'Theory Master' now?" Feng Xiaotian greeted him warmly, playfully putting an arm around his shoulders. "I've gained some insights into spinning, so don't be surprised when we face each other!"
(The chapter ends)