The next day, the Soul Duel Tournament's Round of 16 was held as scheduled.
Wang Nan was already standing on the arena with a few other team members. Just like the first day, all the main team members, except for Ma Xiaotao and Ye Xiaosheng, had already appeared. However, the substitute members were replaced by Xu Sanshi, a defense-type Spirit Master who was most effective against Soul Masters, and Huo Yuhao, who possessed spiritual detection.
In the resting area, the Sun Moon Empire Royal Soul Master Academy had already arrived. They had always regarded Shrek Academy as their primary opponent, so they naturally wouldn't miss any of Shrek Academy's matches.
After an elder, the leader of the Sun Moon Royal Academy, took his seat, his eyes occasionally glanced towards the Shrek resting area, especially lingering a bit longer when he saw Ma Xiaotao.
Ma Xiaotao had participated as a substitute member in the previous Soul Duel Tournament, but since the start of this tournament, Ma Xiaotao had never revealed her Spirit. They already had a vague guess about her strength.
On the arena, the referee was repeating the competition rules, while Wang Nan's gaze was fixed on the opposing team's members. As expected before the match, Yaoyang Academy's captain, who excelled in close combat, did not appear. It seemed they were planning to win by suppressing Shrek Academy with long-range firepower, just like before.
"Match, begin!"
With the referee's command, he swiftly retreated outside the arena.
Various lights illuminated on both sides of the arena. On Shrek's side, Wang Nan, Dai Yueheng, and Xi Xi had already charged forward.
On Yaoyang Academy's side, various spirit tools fired simultaneously. From Wang Nan's perspective, it seemed capable of filling half the arena, making it utterly impossible to evade.
On Shrek Academy's side, Huo Yuhao stood at the very back of the formation. His two yellow spirit rings were inconspicuous among the Spirit Emperors and Spirit Kings. Almost everyone thought he was just there to make up the numbers on the arena.
However, it was precisely with this "filler" person that Wang Nan, with a single glance, found a gap through the dense barrage of attacks.
His first spirit ring lit up, and Wang Nan's figure flickered continuously, brushing past several attacks as he crossed half the arena.
Dai Yueheng, on the other side, although not as agile as Wang Nan, still identified the weakest points of the attack and, relying on his third Spirit Ability, White Tiger Vajra Transformation, passed through Yaoyang Academy's firepower net.
Xi Xi, being an agility-attack system Spirit Master, was even faster than Wang Nan, so there was no need to mention her.
At the back of the team, Xu Sanshi's second spirit ring lit up. His Mystic Turtle Shell Shield split into multiple shields, blocking in front of the other three. With the assistance of Gongyang Mo and Huo Yuhao, he blocked every attack flying towards them.
Yaoyang Academy's contestants seemed to have anticipated this situation and showed no panic. As the two sides drew closer, blue spirit tool thruster lights illuminated behind the three front-row contestants of Yaoyang Academy.
Through Huo Yuhao's spiritual detection, Wang Nan could see that their bodies were under immense strain from the thrust of the spirit tool thrusters, and expressions of pain appeared on their faces. But even so, they endured the discomfort and charged toward Wang Nan and his two teammates.
Something abnormal must be a sign of trouble. Wang Nan dared not let them get close. His third spirit ring lit up, and a golden dragon shadow burst forth from the front end of his Coiling Dragon Staff, continuously advancing and tearing tiny black cracks in the surrounding space.
Wang Nan's third Spirit Ability was an area attack. Under its cover, Yaoyang Academy's contestants did not choose to evade. Or rather, their physical strength was insufficient to withstand the impact of changing direction in mid-air with the spirit tool thrusters.
The light of an invincible shield lit up. The next moment, a large handful of strangely shaped spirit tools were thrown out by him. As spirit power was injected, those spirit tools emitted dazzling light and exploded in front of Wang Nan.
Just as he was engulfed by the intense white light, Wang Nan heard explosions from the other two locations on the arena.
In the surrounding audience stands, the spectators were still cheering for the three Shrek Academy Disciples who had passed through the dense firepower net unscathed. The next moment, they saw those three Disciples engulfed in intense light.
In the resting area, Wang Yan suddenly stood up, his eyes filled with surprise and uncertainty as he looked at the arena.
The Soul Duel Tournament explicitly stipulated that fixed-position spirit tools, which are highly destructive, could not be used. But Yaoyang Academy's contestants, by some means, had caused their spirit tools to explode with attack power comparable to fixed-position spirit tools.
Although it seemed those spirit tools could not achieve such an effect through long-range attacks, by using such a self-sacrificing method, it was enough to severely injure the unprepared Wang Nan and his two teammates.
The explosion lasted for several seconds. Finally, the dazzling light on the arena gradually dissipated.
For a moment, both the resting area and the audience stands were in an uproar.
On the arena, a faint light shield enveloped the three Shrek Disciples. Except for Xi Xi, who, as an agility-attack system Spirit Master, had weaker physical strength and suffered some impact, Wang Nan and Dai Yueheng were completely unharmed.
On the contrary, the three contestants from Yaoyang Academy were seriously injured by the aftermath of the explosion after their invincible shields ended.
Since spirit tools had already been used on the arena, Shrek Academy no longer concealed theirs.
The light of spirit tool thrusters illuminated behind Dai Yueheng, but his physical strength was far superior to the Soul Masters from Yaoyang Academy. His figure continuously advanced and turned, and his tiger claws descended, shattering the shields on Yaoyang Academy's contestants.
Xi Xi also had two short daggers in her hands, shimmering with blue-violet electric light. Her Spirit was the Lightning Leopard. These two spirit tools not only compensated for her weakness in attack power but also could cooperate with her Spirit.
Although Shrek Academy's Soul Guidance System was not as advanced as the Sun Moon Empire Royal Academy's, it was still ahead of other Soul Master academies. The spirit tools it customized for the Martial Soul Department's Core Disciples were naturally high-quality.
On the Sun Moon Royal Academy's side, the two elder leaders both widened their eyes. They had clashed with Shrek Academy multiple times in the Soul Duel Tournament, and this was the first time they had seen Shrek Academy's Disciples use spirit tools in combat.
Wang Yan, who was beside them, finally relaxed and sat down again. He had probably figured out the opponent's strategy.
Yaoyang Academy wasn't trying to win through a team battle but rather to injure Shrek's main combat power through this "self-destruct" style attack. This way, they would have a chance to defeat the remaining substitute members in the subsequent individual matches. Even if they still failed in the end…
Thinking of this, Wang Yan subconsciously glanced at the Sun Moon Royal Academy next to him. Even if Shrek still won in the end, their combat power would still be affected in the subsequent matches. When they encountered a strong enemy like the Sun Moon Empire, the outcome would be hard to predict.