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Shrek's Exclusive Luxury Suite—
Wang Yan was carefully reviewing the list of participants from Tianxing Academy in his hand.
Logically speaking, an academy with no Soul Kings to its name wouldn't even warrant Wang Yan's attention. However, this time, Tianxing Academy had unprecedentedly slapped every other academy in the face. Not only could a Soul Elder defeat a Soul Emperor, but they could also directly ascend to Soul Sage-level strength—a reality so absurd that Wang Yan, a Soul King himself, couldn't have imagined it in his wildest dreams.
Yet, here it was, unfolding right before his eyes.
Because of this, Wang Yan found himself deep in thought. It seemed the era of soul tools was unavoidable.
In the future, perhaps even a Soul Elder could possess the strength of a Soul Sage. This realization left Wang Yan, a Shrek teacher who had once prided himself on his Soul King-level strength, feeling an urgent sense of unease.
"Teacher, what do you think about tomorrow's match?"
Ma Xiaotao's voice broke through Wang Yan's contemplation.
Having spent so much time under Wang Yan's guidance, Ma Xiaotao had come to deeply respect his wisdom. Against other academies—even the Sun Moon team—she could have charged into battle without consulting him.
But Tianxing Academy was different. Their strength was simply too outrageous.
Shrek's current main lineup included three Soul Emperors and four Soul Kings, with Ma Xiaotao among them.
Though both teams were composed of relatively traditional soul masters, Ma Xiaotao had reviewed Tianxing Academy's combat data. Despite each of their main members being individually weak, through the use of self-created soul skills taught by Tianxing Academy, almost every one of them could fight across a major cultivation gap—an utterly shocking revelation.
The most absurd part was the soul-guided armor Huo Yuer had worn today, which skyrocketed her from a Soul Elder to Soul Sage-level strength, utterly dominating the Sun Moon team's captain, who could wield a Level 7 soul tool.
Faced with such opponents, even someone as proud as Ma Xiaotao had no choice but to humbly seek wisdom from Wang Yan's brilliant mind.
Wang Yan rubbed his temples with a pained expression and said:
"It depends. We'll see whether tomorrow's draw results in a team battle or individual matches."
At these words, the Shrek team members preparing in the suite gathered around. Ma Xiaotao caught the underlying meaning in Wang Yan's statement, sensing he had some thoughts, and asked:
"Teacher, do you have any ideas?"
Wang Yan didn't hide anything and spoke directly:
"If it's a team battle, our chances of victory are around seventy percent. Based on my observations, their team has just been formed, so their coordination can't match ours. Moreover, their team's composition is unscientific—they lack the support of auxiliary soul masters."
Upon hearing this, the Shrek team nodded in agreement. After all, as main members, nearly everyone was an elite member of Shrek's inner court enforcement team.
Though they had recently been humiliated by a Soul King-level evil soul master, it didn't erase the pride they'd cultivated over the years.
Dai Yueheng, hailing from a military family, voiced his concerns:
"But Teacher, if the other members of Tianxing Academy also have that kind of soul-guided armor, I'm afraid even perfect coordination won't save us."
The room fell silent. Faced with overwhelming strength, no matter how good the teamwork, it would ultimately be nothing more than a joke.
However, Wang Yan chuckled lightly and said:
"Though I'm not a soul engineer, I know that enabling a Soul Elder to reach Soul Sage-level strength means that soul-guided armor is anything but simple—it might even be a Level 8 or Level 9 soul tool.
But precisely because of this, such soul tools must be extremely rare. Even within Tianxing Academy, there can't be many. After all, since the start of the tournament, only Tianxing Douluo's senior disciple Huo Yuer has used this kind of soul-guided armor. So, we needn't worry too much."
This reasoning made sense, and the group relaxed somewhat.
But soon, Wang Yan grew serious again:
"What I fear most now is drawing individual matches for tomorrow.
As inner court disciples of Shrek, I don't doubt your individual strengths. But if Huo Yuer uses that soul-guided armor to reach Soul Sage-level strength—and her attribute is extreme ice—none of you, except Ma Xiaotao, would stand a chance against her."
At this point, Wang Yan turned his gaze toward Ma Xiaotao.
"If we do draw individual matches tomorrow, Ma Xiaotao, you must go first. Because if even you can't hold her back, none of the others will stand a chance either.
At that point, whether we can defend Shrek's honor will depend entirely on you."
Ever since the Sun Moon Empire joined the Soul Master Tournament, Shrek had consistently maintained its top position, rallying the hearts of the Douluo Three Kingdoms. Therefore, Shrek Academy absolutely could not afford to lose.
Ma Xiaotao understood the gravity of the situation. However, she currently possessed the cultivation of a Level 67 Soul Emperor, and even against a Soul Sage, she believed she might have a fighting chance.
"Leave it to me. If I face Huo Yuer, I'll do everything in my power to defeat her," Ma Xiaotao declared earnestly.
Seeing this, Wang Yan nodded approvingly. A strong enemy wasn't frightening; what was truly terrifying was losing confidence before the battle even began, which would mean being halfway defeated already.
However, after some thought, Wang Yan decided to boost Ma Xiaotao's confidence further and said:
"Ma Xiaotao, having confidence is a good thing, but don't let it overwhelm you. At her core, Huo Yuer is still only a Level 32 Soul Elder. Her forced elevation to Level 70 is merely a temporary boost.
Moreover, this cultivation level is likely quite unstable. With your Level 67 cultivation and years of rich combat experience, I believe your chances of winning are high. So when the battle begins, stay calm and proceed steadily."
Wang Yan's analysis was logical and well-supported, and Ma Xiaotao nodded in agreement.
Team battles weren't a major concern; what truly worried Wang Yan was individual matches. To prepare Ma Xiaotao further, he analyzed Huo Yuer's personal intelligence in detail, ensuring she would have an easier time defeating her opponent.
Though Huo Yuer's Snow Empress martial soul had only one soul ring, Wang Yan had no doubt that this single martial soul granted her four soul skills.
After all, the only way a mere Soul Elder could possess a 700,000-year beast soul ring—aside from sacrifice—was beyond Wang Yan's imagination.
However, due to the scarcity of information on the Snow Empress, even Wang Yan had only heard of its three known abilities: Emperor Sword, Emperor Palm, and Emperor Cold Sky. As for the fourth ability, he had no clue.
Additionally, there was Huo Yuer's Ice Jade Scorpion left arm bone. Having experienced the horrors of corpse explosions, Ma Xiaotao took special note of the Ice Explosion skill's psychological impact.
Seeing Wang Yan completely focused on Ma Xiaotao and seemingly ignoring everyone else, Dai Yueheng couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
But there was nothing to be done. Their martial souls simply couldn't compete.
In this era, possessing an extreme attribute was akin to wielding a dimension-dominating weapon.
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