Have you ever seen the eyes of a lion, tiger, or cheetah? The gaze of such top-tier predators always carries a sense of majesty and killing intent.
Huo Yuhao had experienced far more than just hundreds or thousands of slaughter scenes. Even when he completely wiped out dozens of evil spirit masters in the lair of a bloodthirsty madman, he didn't even blink.
At this moment, with his cultivation and mental power surging, combined with the students from Tianling Academy overthinking the situation, Huo Yuhao seemed to have transformed into an ancient demon god, devouring everything as he approached them step by step.
As both sides stood ready, the referee glanced at Huo Yuhao in surprise once more before announcing, "First round, elimination match. Both teams are allowed to use most soul tools in this battle. However, if one side concedes, the other must cease attacking immediately. Soul engineers are not allowed to use fixed-installed soul tools or other high-lethality equipment in combat. Is that clear?"
"So, if I make a mistake during the battle and injure or even kill them, I wouldn't be breaking the competition's rules, correct?"
Huo Yuhao's words caused the students of Tianling Academy to feel a sudden jolt of fear. Even the team captain, who was the calmest of the group, couldn't help but twitch his eyelids wildly.
Among them, the two female students' eyes reddened, filled with tears, and they almost cried out in fear.
For these young students, death seemed like a distant concept. But the young boy in front of them, who looked even younger than they were, spoke of killing them without even lifting an eyelid. This filled them with an instinctive terror.
If it were other academy students, they might not have taken such death threats seriously.
But this person came from the Body Sect and Shrek Academy—two giants whose names alone carried a natural sense of intimidation, making it impossible not to believe him.
"That's correct," the referee replied, "but for the sake of humanity and the spirit of the competition, we still hope you will cherish both your own life and your opponents' lives."
Huo Yuhao nodded, and across from him, the captain of Tianling Academy turned pale and unconsciously nodded along with him.
"Good. Both sides, retreat to your respective corners of the arena. The match will begin on my command. Until I announce the start, no one is allowed to release their martial spirit, or they will be disqualified!"
Both sides slowly withdrew, but the students from Tianling Academy were so tense that they forgot to make any final combat preparations, all seven of them staring nervously in Huo Yuhao's direction.
In the center of the arena, the referee raised his right hand slowly.
At that moment, the packed audience of hundreds of thousands in Star Luo Plaza suddenly fell silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone widened their eyes, staring at the competition stage.
After all, this was Shrek Academy! Although the contestant from Shrek was so young, he still represented Shrek's honor. Everyone was eager to see what kind of astounding display he would show.
In the imperial city, Dai Yueheng opened his eyes wide, unable to believe that, after his team's severe injuries, Shrek Academy had dared to send only Huo Yuhao to fight in the opening battle!
What gave him the confidence to do this?
Xu Jiawei also held his breath, exchanging a glance with the Prime Minister beside him.
Huo Yuhao's strength and talent would be the litmus test to see if Shrek Academy and the Body Sect were truly working together.
If he possessed such a once-in-a-generation talent, worth both factions' full support, then Xu Jiawei knew he must do everything in his power to win him over, for Huo Yuhao's future potential would be limitless!
As the referee raised his hand, both teams immediately adjusted their positions. Meanwhile, one hundred and eight prepared soul masters from Star Luo Empire placed their hands on the metal columns in front of them.
Simultaneously, all one hundred and eight columns burst forth with light, as beams of white light shot into the sky, drawing beautiful arcs before converging about twenty meters above the arena.
When all the beams gathered, a white barrier descended, enveloping the entire competition stage.
The protective barrier was now in place, signifying the official start of the match.
On the Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy's side, although the seven students were nervous, they quickly spread out based on muscle memory, forming a traditional formation.
Three soul masters were positioned at the front—clearly assault or defense types.
Two soul masters were positioned slightly behind on either side—most likely agility types.
And at the rear, the central two soul masters stood in a standard configuration, likely a control system battle soul master and an auxiliary tool soul master.
This was a formation that had been proven through countless battles, called the "three-two-one" formation, the most commonly used formation in seven-person team battles in the Soul Master world today.
However, at this moment, not many people were paying attention to the Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy. Almost all eyes were focused on the Shrek side.
Huo Yuhao stood alone, so naturally, there was no formation on his side. He looked at the referee and asked calmly, "Can we begin now?"
The referee nodded, dropping his raised hand sharply and shouting, "Begin the match!"
As soon as the referee's voice rang out, the students of Tianling Academy immediately released their martial spirits.
Their group wasn't weak either; five of them had four spirit rings, indicating Soul Ancestor-level cultivation, while the remaining two had three spirit rings.
Their captain, who stood among them, had four soul rings glowing brightly—his cultivation had reached the high level of a Soul Ancestor. Across the entire continent, it was quite remarkable for someone to reach this level at the age of twenty.
However, in that moment, few paid attention to Tianling Academy's students. Almost all eyes were on Shrek Academy's representative.
And just then, an indescribable, terrifying aura suddenly appeared on the competition stage.
Scarlet light instantly lit up the entire stage. Rainbow-colored flames flickered in Huo Yuhao's eyes, and the fluctuations of soul power around him were earth-shattering!
Red! Red! Red! Red! Red! Red! Red!
A total of seven blood-red spirit rings appeared on Huo Yuhao, who looked no older than thirteen or fourteen but was, in fact, only twelve.
Blood-red spirit rings—100,000-year spirit rings!
"No, that's impossible!" Star Luo Emperor Xu Jiawei stood up abruptly, the calm imperial dignity he had moments ago completely vanishing.
Dai Yueheng smiled wryly. He knew Huo Yuhao possessed the Simulated spirit ability, having suffered a great loss under it before, even being forced to act like a pig at one point.
"Your Majesty, there's no need to worry—"
Dai Yueheng began to explain with a smile, but his expression quickly shifted. His sinister eyes opened wide as he instinctively tried to stand up.
However, with his legs now gone, he could no longer do so, and he slipped off his wheelchair, hitting the ground hard.
On the stage, Huo Yuhao raised both hands high. Behind him, a hazy, sea-blue humanoid figure appeared, holding a massive trident.
At this moment, this trident was lifted high, and blazing yet gentle golden light radiated from it, covering the entire Star Luo Plaza!
"Boundless Sea, Radiance of the Sea God!"