"This... is a close-combat soul tool?"
The massive Mysterious Heavy Ruler, like half a door panel, was held in Huo Yuhao's hand. Its surface was etched with mysterious and intricate patterns, somewhat blurry but exuding an air of overwhelming arrogance. The patterns stretched down to the handle, almost covering the entire ruler, adding to its fierce and domineering appearance.
As the wielder of the Golden Toad Martial Spirit, Xiao Hongchen, watching from the stands, immediately sensed the extraordinariness of the Mysterious Heavy Ruler in Huo Yuhao's hand. Not even mentioning the craftsmanship of the ruler, the material alone was something he had never encountered before—rare metal, the likes of which surpassed any he had seen.
He could feel that the metallic elements in this material were far denser than any rare metals he had come across. In other words, the rarity of this metal exceeded anything known to this world.
"A close-combat soul tool?" Huo Yuhao chuckled lightly, swung the Xuan Heavy Ruler, and calmly said, "You can think of it as a divine artifact."
A divine artifact!
The moment those words left his mouth, shock filled the hearts of the audience. After all, they all knew that Sea God Tang San's trident had been a divine artifact bestowed upon him as the Sea God!
Though they found it hard to believe that the Mysterious Heavy Ruler in Huo Yuhao's hand could be a true divine artifact, considering he was from Shrek Academy, it wasn't entirely out of the question. What if Shrek Academy really possessed such a divine tool?
It was like the difference between a wealthy man and a poor man both wearing international designer clothing.
If the poor man wore it, others would surely assume it was a cheap knockoff, and they might even point out the flaws. Even if it were genuine, they'd claim it was fake.
But if a rich man wore the same outfit, others would believe it was a custom-made design. Even if the wealthy man claimed it was a counterfeit from a street vendor, people would assume he was joking.
Huo Yuhao, holding the Mysterious Heavy Ruler, glanced once more in the direction of Yunluo Academy and said casually, "Who's next?"
The captain of Yunluo Advanced Soul Engineering Academy stopped a volunteer teammate and, with a determined expression, stepped onto the stage himself.
With a solemn face, he bowed deeply to Huo Yuhao, introducing himself, "Yunluo Advanced Soul Engineering Academy, Situ Yu."
Huo Yuhao smiled, returning the bow slightly. "Body Sect, Huo Yuhao."
On the rooftop, Elder Xuan snapped a chicken bone in fury. The fact that Huo Yuhao refused to identify himself as part of Shrek Academy left him deeply enraged.
Situ Yu nodded and said in a grave tone, "I know you're still holding back, but I hope you'll take this match seriously and show me the true gap between us. If you beat me, Yunluo Academy will forfeit the rest of the matches today."
Huo Yuhao shook his head and delivered a statement that stunned everyone present.
"There is no one in this competition worthy of my full strength. You are all too weak."
"How arrogant! Isn't he afraid of offending every faction present?" the Star Luo Empire's prime minister exclaimed in surprise.
Xu Jiawei shook his head slightly. "He has the capital to be arrogant, and the resolve to dominate the world. Send him an invitation to the auction. We must have something good for this auction."
On the stage, the referee stepped forward and said in a deep voice, "Both sides, step back."
Situ Yu's eyes grew sharper, exuding an intense, cutting aura. His earlier fear was buried deep within him. This time, he would give his all to prove that Yunluo Academy was no coward.
Leading Yunluo Academy through the brutal first round and into the round-robin stage was no small feat. As the captain, Situ Yu was the team's core!
Yet Huo Yuhao remained indifferent. In the previous two matches, he hadn't even used his martial spirit. And even now, he showed no signs of releasing it.
Both Huo Yuhao and Situ Yu retreated to the edge of the stage.
The referee glanced at them before shouting, "Begin!"
Situ Yu, having learned from Ma Yingjun's earlier defeat, moved with lightning speed. Metallic clanking sounds erupted from his body as numerous metal pipes unfolded.
In mere breaths, Situ Yu's body doubled in size.
His sturdy legs each extended three metal support beams, each as thick as a forearm and incredibly sharp, embedding themselves into the ground to form a stable base.
From his legs upward, a myriad of offensive soul tools appeared, encasing him in thick metal armor, transforming him into an impenetrable fortress.
At least thirty metal pipes extended from his body, the largest protruding from his chest—a dark golden power-gathering soul cannon with a half-foot-wide muzzle.
"Fortress strategy?" Xiao Hongchen sneered from the stands.
The fortress strategy, also known as the soul cannon platform tactic, used soul armor to maximize defense and was equipped with numerous offensive soul tools and energy-restoring devices to sustain combat power. But the strategy's fatal flaw was its lack of mobility.
In the Sun Moon Empire, this tactic was primarily used in the military. Rarely was it seen in smaller-scale battles. For Situ Yu to use it in a one-on-one match showed just how far behind Douluo Continent's soul tool development lagged.
"He's bound to lose," Ma Rulong, the reserve team captain, remarked, "but his goal is likely just to last a few more rounds against Huo Yuhao. With his soul armor's protection, he should manage that."
Six metal tubes on Situ Yu's arms spewed blinding white light. Simultaneously, four of his soul rings alternated between glowing. A massive fan behind him spun, emitting layers of white light.
A barrage of white energy balls, each the size of a ping pong ball, shot from Situ Yu's body, forming a relentless rain of light heading straight for Huo Yuhao.
"A six-barrelled mini-soul cannon," Ma Rulong commented. "It's a decent attack for a level-four soul tool, but it consumes too much soul power and its power is too dispersed, easily countered by energy shields. It's only useful against the primitive soldiers of Star Luo Empire."
Situ Yu wasn't done. Six short, thick tubes on his shoulders fired fist-sized white energy balls that arced through the sky toward Huo Yuhao.
And yet, it wasn't over!
His chest-mounted power-gathering soul cannon glowed intensely. Initially unused due to its high soul power consumption, Situ Yu now poured all his remaining soul power into it, assisted by his soul power recovery tools.
The audience could see the light warping around the cannon's muzzle.
As the blinding white light shot forth, it darkened, and the energy on the stage became chaotic.
From the start of the battle until now, Huo Yuhao had not moved an inch.
Unlike his previous match against Ma Yingjun, it seemed he had no intention of instantly defeating Situ Yu.
"What's Huo Yuhao thinking?" Xiao Hongchen mused. "Could he be all bluster, just a grandmaster in appearance but weak in reality?"
But what happened next shocked Xiao Hongchen, engraving Huo Yuhao's image deeply into his mind.
Xuan-rank Battle Skill: Eight Extremes Fireguard!
Facing the incoming barrage, Huo Yuhao showed no fear or hesitation. This was precisely the situation he had been aiming for.
He leaped into the air, merging with the Mysterious Heavy Ruler, and spun rapidly. Man and ruler became one, executing a Xuan-rank battle skill, the Eight Extremes Fireguard, taught by Elder Yao, specifically designed to counter long-range attacks!
A fierce, icy-white flame enveloped the Mysterious Heavy Ruler. As Huo Yuhao spun, he transformed into an ice-white fire dragon, charging at Situ Yu.
Whether it was the countless energy balls or the high-energy soul beam from the power-gathering cannon, they were all distorted, absorbed, and transformed into power for Huo Yuhao's strike upon contact with the ice-white flame.
Boom!
A massive soul power explosion echoed across the stage, as icy white flames consumed everything.
Situ Yu was sent flying out of the flame's range, crashing heavily toward the ground below.
Encased in his soul armor, Situ Yu's body, weighing over half a ton, was ill-suited for such a fall.
His soul tools were heavily damaged, and he was left bleeding from his nose and mouth. His teammates rushed to pull him out of the remains of his soul armor.
The Yunluo Academy members all stared toward the stage. As the smoke cleared, Huo Yuhao's figure reemerged, standing before the referee, who seemed to be in rough shape too, his clothes...