Chapter 158: The Three Upper Clans Appear
"Damn it! How is this wench Dugu Yan so strong?!"
The surrounding discussions were not particularly quiet, and Yu Tianheng, standing on the arena, clearly heard the voices questioning the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. His veins bulged with fury as he roared and unleashed his strongest attack:
"Fourth Spirit Ability: Blue Lightning Divine Dragon Charge!"
A burst of blue light erupted from Yu Tianheng's forehead. Amidst crackling sounds, streams of electric serpents converged into a massive blue dragon, several meters long, roaring as it surged toward Dugu Yan with claws bared.
"Struggling in vain!"
Dugu Yan sneered coldly. Soul power erupted around her, and the light from her fourth spirit ring, already darkened from age, flared brilliantly. The golden radiance around her exploded outward like a storm, roaring toward Yu Tianheng.
This was her fourth spirit ability, Golden Dragon Tempest, derived from a 9,000-year-old Demon Eye Golden-Scaled Dragon.
The golden tempest roared like a wild beast, shattering the blue dragon into fragments before sweeping over Yu Tianheng, striking him repeatedly like a relentless whip.
"Yu Tianheng, remember this! It's not that I'm not good enough for you—it's that a despicable man like you is unworthy of me! If I hear you slandering me behind my back again, I'll beat you so badly even your mother won't recognize you!"
Amid her fierce rebuke, Dugu Yan flashed forward, delivering a swift kick to Yu Tianheng's chest, sending him flying off the arena.
"This Dugu Yan is quite the fiery personality," remarked Qian Renxue with a trace of admiration in her eyes. However, when her gaze shifted to the fallen Yu Tianheng, her expression turned to one of disdain.
Although the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had tried hard to conceal their past conflict with the Nine Stars Hall, Qian Renxue, being the crown prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, a Holy Maiden of the Worship Hall, and a nominal disciple of Ning Fengzhi, naturally knew about Yu Tianheng's underhanded actions during that incident.
"First, there's that self-promoting fraud Yu Xiaogang, and now a backstabbing coward like Yu Tianheng. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan truly has no worthy successors. Their decline is inevitable."
With Yu Tianheng's defeat, the referee announced the result:
"Finals, Round Three, Match Two: Nine Stars Academy vs. Heaven Dou Imperial Academy. Nine Stars Academy wins!"
After the Nine Stars Team left the arena, the third match began quickly.
The three top-tier teams—Nine Stars Academy, Spirit Hall Academy, and Godwind Academy—were undoubtedly the strongest contenders in the tournament. After their matches, most of the remaining teams could hardly compare, leading to lopsided battles. The Xingluo Royal Academy's opponent, another team from the Xingluo Empire's main competition zone, had already been thoroughly defeated by Davis during the preliminaries and chose to forfeit outright.
Among the remaining matches, the most notable was the battle between Shrek Academy and Thunderclap Academy.
While Bibi Dong wanted to ensure her "old flame" Yu Xiaogang's reputation was upheld, she couldn't make it too obvious by giving Shrek Academy a free pass. Thus, she arranged for Shrek to face a strong team before they could reach the semifinals.
However, if Shrek encountered any of the top-tier teams—Spirit Hall Academy, Nine Stars Academy, or Godwind Academy—without their celestial herbs, their fate would be sealed, and they'd be sent packing. After much consideration, Thunderclap Academy was deemed the most appropriate opponent.
For Yu Xiaogang's sake, Bibi Dong had truly wracked her brains. One had to admit, Yu Xiaogang was indeed the poster child for living off others' support.
In the finals, losing a match meant elimination. Facing Thunderclap Academy, which had four Spirit Ancestors, Yu Xiaogang had no choice but to send out his trump card—Ning Rongrong.
The pill Ning Rongrong had taken was one Ning Fengzhi had purchased at great expense from the Nine Stars Hall. Its effects were above average, and since she had consumed it early, its benefits had already manifested significantly. Furthermore, due to Xiao Yu's emergence, Ning Fengzhi had intensified his oversight of Ning Rongrong's training.
As a result, Ning Rongrong became the third—and final—Spirit Ancestor in Shrek Academy, alongside Dai Mubai and Tang San. She was now a Level 41 support-type tool Spirit Ancestor.
With Ning Rongrong's assistance, Ma Hongjun, Tai Long, and Zhu Zhuqing, whose spirit power levels were at 37 and 38, performed at the level of Spirit Ancestors.
Since Oscar hadn't yet broken through to the Spirit Ancestor rank, Yu Xiaogang opted to replace him with Tai Long in the lineup. Having two support-type spirit masters in the formation was inherently impractical.
Tang San, whose twin spirits had already been revealed during the qualifying rounds, had no reservations against Thunderclap Academy. As soon as the match began, he unleashed the Clear Sky Hammer.
Clear Sky Hammer, Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, and Thunderclap Academy's captain Yu Tianxin's Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.
The three upper clans' legendary martial spirits appeared simultaneously on the arena, drawing significant attention.
The match itself was incredibly intense. Given Yu Tianheng's earlier humiliating defeat by Dugu Yan, voices questioning the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon continued to rise. This spurred Yu Tianxin, also from the clan, to give it his all.
Yu Tianxin pushed Shrek Academy to the brink, forcing them to reveal their trump cards: Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing's Martial Spirit Fusion Skill, Tang San's Eight Spider Lances, and more. Despite this, Yu Tianxin ultimately lost.
Tang San was enraged by the prolonged struggle. In a moment of fury, he nearly smashed Yu Tianxin's head with the Clear Sky Hammer. However, he restrained himself at the last second, remembering that Yu Tianxin was both his teacher Yu Xiaogang's clanmate and the nephew of his prospective mentor, Liu Erlong. Instead, he lightly pierced Yu Tianxin's skin with the Eight Spider Lances, allowing him to experience a few minutes of the Man-Faced Demon Spider's poison before administering the antidote.
After the third round, the teams rested for a day before entering the fourth and final elimination round.
The fourth round would determine the top three teams, who would then proceed to a combination of single elimination and team battles to decide the ultimate champion.
As Xiao Yu had expected, the draw for the fourth round was far from random. Nine Stars Academy was matched against the Star Luo Empire's seeded team, the Star Luo Royal Academy. Meanwhile, Spirit Hall Academy and Shrek Academy were matched with weaker teams, essentially guaranteeing their spots in the finals.
Faced with this blatant manipulation, Xiao Yu could only sneer. Corruption and rigging exist everywhere, it seems.
"For this match, I won't be participating."
Xiao Yu casually announced the lineup for the match. Although the Star Luo Royal Academy was a formidable opponent, it made little difference to him. With the tournament nearing its conclusion, he decided to give his teammates a chance to shine.
At the very least, it would show the spirit master world that Nine Stars Academy was not just about Xiao Yu. Every member of the team was a standout among the younger generation of spirit masters. This would cement Nine Stars Academy and the Nine Stars Hall as the ultimate destinations for aspiring talents, a choice that guaranteed unmatched returns.
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