Chapter 120: Defeating the Sun-Moon, Advancing to the Finals
The Royal Sun-Moon Soul Guidance Academy has been defeated, bowing out in the semifinals for the first time. The audience erupted, everyone shouting and cheering, especially those from the Sky Soul Empire who traveled from afar to Star Luo City to watch the match. They were incredibly proud.
Previously, only Shrek Academy had managed to defeat the Royal Sun-Moon Soul Guidance Academy, while the royal academies of the three great empires were consistently crushed by them, never securing a victory. Despite the merger of the original Douluo Continent and the Sun-Moon Continent, the inherent animosity remained, deeply affecting every match against the Sun-Moon Empire for the other three empires.
Their desire to defeat the Royal Sun-Moon Soul Guidance Academy was as strong as the latter's desire to overcome Shrek Academy—constantly on their minds, even in their dreams. And now, finally, a team from the Douluo Royal Academy succeeded, creating a historic moment.
The citizens of the Sky Soul Empire couldn't wait to declare, "This is our Sky Soul Empire's team!" similar to a fisherman who, after catching a fish, proudly displays it on his vehicle and drives around the village to show it off.
At the end of the semifinals, only two teams advanced: Di Ao Academy and Shrek Academy. With the Royal Sun-Moon Soul Guidance Academy defeated, the next opponent would be Shrek Academy.
"Can we really win against such an opponent?" Dai Yueheng wondered, his heart filled with envy and bitterness as he listened to the roaring cheers across Star Luo City. The closer they got to the finals, the more he doubted Wang Yan's methods. Could they really make Du Qianjue, who seemed to effortlessly dominate, concede the championship just for Xiaoxiao?
Seeing Wang Yan so confident, Dai Yueheng swallowed his doubts. Since that day, Xiaoxiao had become silent. Once a lively and naive little girl, she seemed to have grown up overnight, becoming reserved and distant, hardly speaking even to her close friends, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, except for Jiang Nannan.
Seeing Du Qianjue's almost solo demolition of the entire Sun-Moon team weighed heavily on everyone except Wang Yan. They lacked confidence. Wang Yan felt immense pressure too but couldn't show it—if even the coach despaired, then all hope would truly be lost.
The finals were set for three days later, giving Ling Luochen and the others time to recover from their soul power exhaustion. However, Bei Bei's Bright Blue Tyrannosaurus Rex awakening and Xu Sanshi's Xuanwu bloodline revival couldn't be used just yet due to their low cultivation levels. Chen Zifeng's injuries were also not healing quickly enough, meaning he couldn't participate, further weakening the already battered Shrek team. Wang Yan was pulling his hair out over it.
He could only hope his arrangements would work, that Du Qianjue would give the championship to Shrek Academy for Xiaoxiao's sake. Xiaoxiao, please!
If Mu En from Shrek Academy, sunning himself back at school, knew of this, who knew if the old man wouldn't burst a blood vessel in frustration. Not sending reinforcements was precisely because Mu En wanted Shrek to taste defeat, to let these overly proud fools realize there were always greater powers, to teach them humility.
Without shedding the burden of their pride, Shrek would forever stagnate and eventually decline or even perish. Mu En's foresight was long-term and broad, seeing the trajectory of Shrek's rise and fall, and his decisions were spot on. Investing in Huo Yuhao, tying him to Shrek's fate, and vigorously developing soul guidance technology to catch up with the Sun-Moon Empire was right.
Ultimately, when Huo Yuhao ascended to godhood, Shrek Academy was secured for another ten thousand years at the pinnacle. Unfortunately, his teammates couldn't keep up. In this timeline, Huo Yuhao, abandoned by the plane's consciousness, became merely a pawn for Du Qianjue, unable to achieve the feats from the original story, accelerating Shrek's ruin by ten thousand years.
Now, at the conference, Wei Feng and the coaching staff raised a crucial question, "How do we fight Shrek?" All eyes turned to Du Qianjue.
"Why are you all looking at me?" Du Qianjue rolled his eyes, "It depends on what you all think. If you want to fight Shrek, that's fine by me. As long as we win, it doesn't matter to me."
At this point, Du Qianjue didn't care much about crushing Shrek anymore. Having defeated so many teams, the novelty had worn off. The intense battles of the original story, when they reached him, turned into child's play. It was becoming boring.
"Just defeating Shrek is enough. Their unbroken streak of victories ending is my only goal."
"Then why don't we start?" Wei Feng was eager to try. They had analyzed Shrek's current team. By the time of the finals, Shrek's viable fighters would only be Dai Yueheng, Ling Luochen, Gongyang Mo, and Xixi—three Soul Kings and a Soul Emperor. Chen Zifeng definitely couldn't participate, and everyone had seen the severity of his injuries during the match against the Royal Sun-Moon Academy. If it had been them, they'd probably still be in bed.
A team of one Soul Emperor and three Soul Kings, was that difficult to beat? Not necessarily! Even without Du Qianjue's overwhelming power, Wei Feng and the others were confident they could defeat Shrek.
"To defeat the unbeatable Shrek Academy would be an honor they too wanted to claim."
"Then there's nothing more to discuss. You six work out your tactics," Du Qianjue lounged on the sofa, "I'll do like before, finishing up to ensure we don't lose."
Lin Weilin thoughtfully handed him a plate of washed grapes. "Thank you, senior," Du Qianjue took the plate, popping a grape into his mouth. Being so laid-back was an easy way to lose one's fighting spirit.
If only Xue'er were here to feed him, his life would be perfect. No, as soon as the competition ended, he was heading straight for the extreme north. He couldn't wait any longer.
Three days later, the finals arrived as scheduled. The familiar high platform, the same participants. Xu Jiawei talked endlessly again, to the point where Du Qianjue felt like dragging this Star Luo Emperor down and giving him a thrashing.
"This tournament's champion will receive three soul bones from the Star Luo Empire, and the runner-up one!" Xu Jiawei gestured, and ten soul bones, each emitting a powerful aura, appeared before him. Each was a ten-thousand-year soul bone, a top-grade treasure.
Xu Jiawei was really splurging, but with Du Qianjue, a player way off the charts participating, many wanted to witness the legendary hundred-thousand-year soul ring. This allowed Xu Jiawei to make a killing on ticket sales. Offering up four top-grade ten-thousand-year soul bones wasn't too painful given the circumstances.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please demonstrate your strength to the fullest!" "The finals begin!!!"
Cheers filled the air as both teams emerged from the tunnels to the arena. Di Ao Academy fielded the same seven main players without any change. But the lineup for Shrek Academy was quite intriguing...
Leading them was Dai Yueheng, the Soul Emperor team captain, followed by Ling Luochen, Gongyang Mo, and Xixi. Then came Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi, the highest-ranked among the reserve team's Soul Masters. Up to this point, everything seemed normal.
But the slender figure at the end was Xiaoxiao?! The audience was stunned. Everyone was familiar with Xiaoxiao; during the elimination rounds and subsequent matches when the main players were injured, it had been the reserve team on stage. Her power level was well known—a mere two-ringed Great Soul Master.
Not fielding Jiang Nannan, a four-ringed Soul Ancestor specializing in agility attacks, nor Hu Cai Tou, a four-ring, fourth-grade soul guidance master, but letting Xiaoxiao participate?
What was Shrek thinking? This was the finals! Were they conceding because Du Qianjue was too powerful, giving up and just going through the motions?
Even the highest officials of the Star Luo Empire, watching from above, were baffled by Shrek's strategy. No matter how hard the audience racked their brains, they couldn't fathom it. This was exactly Wang Yan's desperate measure to counter Du Qianjue.
Using a beauty trap... Well played.
Du Qianjue understood Shrek's strategy the moment he saw Xiaoxiao; they really took Xu Sanshi's words to heart and acted on them?
Interesting, very interesting," Du Qianjue squinted at Xu Sanshi, a hint of amusement in his eyes. Excellent, Xu Sanshi, prepare to say goodbye to your cattle!
As the referee, Huang Jin Xu, stood emotionlessly in his designated spot, functioning as an impassive announcer. "The Grand Final of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament, Shrek Academy vs. Di Ao Academy, teams prepare! The first team battle, begin!"
The twelve players, excluding Du Qianjue and Xiaoxiao, released their soul rings and charged towards each other. Du Qianjue glanced at Xu Sanshi, his seven soul rings rising, his Soul Sage-level aura instantly dominating the field.
Sensing Du Qianjue's terrifying presence, Dai Yueheng's face paled. Despite his reluctance, he had to play the villain as Wang Yan had instructed. "Xiaoxiao!"
Hearing Dai Yueheng's shout, Xiaoxiao struggled with her expression, showing a hint of bitterness. "Is it really going to be like this?"
Eventually, Xiaoxiao released her martial soul and threw the Three Lives Soul Cauldron in front of Du Qianjue, blocking his path. "So they really sent Xiaoxiao to stop me," Du Qianjue grinned as he watched the cauldron hover motionlessly before slapping it down to the ground and casually sitting on it.
Xiaoxiao, puzzled by Du Qianjue's actions, watched him curiously, not understanding why he had chosen to sit down. Du Qianjue smirked at her, his teasing smile causing Xiaoxiao's pale, struggling face to flush red, leaving her flustered.
Du Qianjue raised his left hand, making a grabbing motion towards Xiaoxiao. Using his earth attribute, he pulled her through the air towards him. When Xiaoxiao reached him, he caught the slightly frightened girl and placed her beside him on the Three Lives Soul Cauldron. The cauldron was large enough, nearly one and a half meters in diameter, providing ample space for two.
Once settled, Xiaoxiao's fear subsided somewhat, replaced by curiosity as she looked at him. "Aren't you going to fight me? I came here to stop you," she whispered.
Seeing the little girl's aggrieved look, Du Qianjue chuckled. He knew all too well that the beauty trap wasn't her idea; it wasn't in character for her, unlike Meng Hongchen, whose personality had crumbled. Xiaoxiao had hardly changed from her original depiction.
Why should he resent her for something she didn't intend?