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As the stirring sound of the horn echoed, the previously noisy atmosphere within the Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena was instantly ignited. The audience's passion surged like a tide, with cheers and shouts intertwining, shaking the entire venue.
By this point in the preliminaries, it was already largely clear which teams would advance.
Currently, the Royal Fighting Team had nine consecutive victories. The other Five Element Academy teams, with the exception of the Elephant Armored Academy, also maintained perfect records.
The Elephant Armored Academy was very unlucky because they encountered the Divine Wind Academy in their first match and were unilaterally thrashed. In the second round, they met the Heaven Dou Academy and were thrashed again.
In the third round against Shrek Academy, due to injuries sustained in the previous two battles, and coupled with Shrek Academy's reputation for directly surrendering at the opening ceremony, the Elephant Armored Academy only fielded their substitute players, thinking it would be enough to win the match. As a result, they capsized.
After that, the Elephant Armored Academy's bad luck continued. They successively encountered the Royal Fighting Team, the Thunder Academy, and the Blazing Academy. To everyone's disbelief, the Elephant Armored Academy achieved an astonishing six consecutive losses, basically announcing their elimination from the finals.
VIP section.
Today, the atmosphere here was somewhat unusual due to the arrival of a special person: the Supreme Pontiff of Spirit Hall.
Surrounded by Yue Guan, Gui Mei, and Salas, Bibi Dong slowly walked into the VIP section. Hu Liena was seated in the second row of the VIP section; whether by coincidence or design, she was sitting with Xue Qinghe.
School Master Ning stood up, cupped his hands in a bow, and said, "I never expected Supreme Pontiff to be interested in these small preliminary matches."
Bibi Dong smiled faintly, "School Master Ning is joking. There are many hidden talents in these preliminaries, many good prospects. Of course, I have to come and see."
Good prospects?
Hearing this, the expressions on the Heaven Dou Imperial Family's side changed slightly.
Are they trying to poach people again?
School Master Ning also harbored some suspicion in his heart, but his expression remained calm, "Supreme Pontiff is absolutely right. This competition has indeed seen the emergence of many talented young Spirit Masters."
Bibi Dong's gaze swept across the arena, finally landing in the direction of the Royal Fighting Team's resting area, "I am quite looking forward to the Royal Fighting Team's upcoming performance, especially Xuan Ming's."
School Master Ning's heart tightened. He didn't know what Bibi Dong's intentions were towards Xuan Ming, so he could only respond cautiously, "Xuan Ming is indeed a rare genius. His talent and strength are top-notch among the younger generation."
Bibi Dong's lips curved slightly upward, revealing a meaningful smile, "Genius always attracts attention."
On the arena, the Royal Fighting Team and the Blazing Academy members had already begun to enter. Their combat zone was still the central main stage. Both teams stood ready, and the atmosphere was extremely tense.
Looking at Xuan Ming, who once again stepped onto the arena, the Blazing Academy's mood was actually somewhat heavy. After all, although Xuan Ming had been suspended for a week, the investigation into him confirmed an astonishing fact: he had already reached Spirit King!
In previous matches, they had also watched the Royal Fighting Team's games. As the attack system Spirit Master of the team, Gu Yuena, although she had never revealed her spirit ring, her crushing combat power against Spirit Elders confirmed that she was at least a Spirit Ancestor.
In other words, the Royal Fighting Team had two Spirit Kings and four Spirit Ancestors!
In terms of spirit power level alone, there was a huge gap between them. Even if the flames they controlled had a certain suppressive effect on Dugu Yan, it only suppressed Dugu Yan alone.
"Huo Wu, do we really have to fight?" Huo Wushuang, the captain of the Blazing Academy team, suddenly felt a little flustered.
Xuan Ming hadn't officially made a move since the start of the competition, so everyone knew nothing about his true strength. For them to fight the Royal Fighting Team now was essentially helping others scout for information!
This was not worth it!
Originally, he advocated for directly forfeiting this match to avoid meaningless consumption, but after learning the news of Xuan Ming's return to the arena, Huo Wu opposed the forfeit and insisted on fighting!
"Brother, are you scared?" Huo Wu asked.
Huo Wushuang's face showed helplessness, "If I say I'm not scared, would you believe me?"
Although he hadn't personally witnessed Xuan Ming's matches in the Great Spirit Arena, he had heard a lot about this guy's fierce reputation during this period.
If it were the finals, he definitely wouldn't back down. Even if he couldn't win, he would still fight hard.
But now it was the preliminaries. If they fought the Royal Fighting Team and suffered heavy losses, how would they compete in the subsequent preliminary matches?
"No matter what, I have to fight him. I want to see if he's as formidable as the rumors say," Huo Wu said.
Huo Wushuang sighed, "Alright."
"But I'll say this first, if there's danger, I'll forfeit directly. We can't let this one match lead to further losses in our subsequent matches."
"You can forfeit, but I have to unleash my fourth Spirit Ability first," Huo Wu said.
"Yes, yes, my dear sister." Huo Wushuang turned around and walked to the front of the team.
The Royal Fighting Team, led by Xuan Ming, also stepped onto the arena.
Host Dou Dou walked to the center of the field, "Both teams, line up and salute."
The fourteen members of both teams stood in two rows. However, both sides tacitly did not salute.
Seeing this, the referee was also used to it. Etiquette is etiquette, but there are also many people who don't bother with it, especially in such strong team matchups where the teams are evenly matched. Before the battle, there is basically no politeness.
Huo Wushuang, also a captain, stood opposite Xuan Ming. He had intended to say a few provocative words as was customary before a battle, but facing the Darkness Domain Dragon Emperor, who was rumored to have a formidable reputation, he truly felt the immense pressure!
Little sister! We can't beat them!
Huo Wushuang was already regretting giving in to Huo Wu's impulse to fight the Royal Fighting Team in this match.
However, since he was already on stage, he couldn't do something like Shrek, surrendering before even fighting. He would at least have to wait until a clear disadvantage appeared before forfeiting.
"Aren't we starting yet?"
Noticing that the other several Spirit Arenas had already begun, Xuan Ming cast his gaze towards the host.
Although the preliminaries involved multiple matches simultaneously, the matches in the central main Spirit Arena were often the most watched. To build atmosphere, in addition to the referee, the Great Spirit Arena would also provide a host for commentary.
Host Dou Dou suddenly snapped back to attention, lowering her head with a shifty gaze, "You can release your Spirits."
Ning Rongrong and Ye Lingling exchanged glances, then, one on each side, they grabbed Xuan Ming and ran to the back of the team.
Both teams' members also began to resume their battle formations, simultaneously releasing their Spirits.
"Still not planning to make a move?"
Looking at Xuan Ming, who hadn't even released his Spirit, Huo Wu was somewhat annoyed.
"Match start!"
With Host Dou Dou's command, both teams' members moved at the same time.
Dugu Yan let out a low cry, and a faint green poisonous mist suddenly spread. Gu Yuena, holding her Silver Dragon Spear, charged out from the poisonous mist. Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing followed closely behind. The target of the three was the same: Huo Wushuang, the captain of the Blazing Academy team.
Ning Rongrong also applied amplification buffs to the three at the same time.
Their tactics had always been this simple and crude. Since their own team coordination had significant problems, they wouldn't give the opponent a chance to coordinate!
As long as they forcibly eliminated the opponent's attack system first, the others would not have the ability to break through Dugu Yan's defense.
Boom—!
Just as Huo Wushuang was about to be surrounded by the three, Huo Wu's third spirit ring lit up, and a golden-red fire ring erupted, instantly spreading out.
Gu Yuena and the other two, who were about to attack Huo Wushuang, immediately felt a strong repulsive force land on them. All three were then flung in different directions. Even though this move caused no damage, it instantly broke their pre-planned tactical formation.
"Now!" Huo Wushuang shouted loudly. The other members of the Blazing Academy team seized this opportunity and launched their attacks.
The Royal Fighting Team, due to significant problems with team coordination, was momentarily flustered. Although Dugu Yan wanted to release poisonous mist to block the flames, the Blazing Academy's flames had a strong suppressive effect on her poisonous mist. As soon as the poisonous mist was released, it was burned through by the flames. Although it couldn't be completely incinerated, it still burned a passage wide enough for them to advance.
Suddenly lacking three main players, Dugu Yan, who was controlling the field in the center of the team, was exposed. Huo Wushuang, as the main frontal attacker, immediately charged towards Dugu Yan. His third spirit ring flickered, activating 'Tyrannical Dragon's Fury,' and Huo Wushuang transformed into a one-horned fire dragon, his charge becoming even more terrifying.
But Dugu Yan stood still, showing no intention of dodging, as if waiting for Huo Wushuang to knock her down. Seeing this, Huo Wushuang instinctively felt a bad premonition and subconsciously held back his strength.
Sure enough, just as his attack was about to reach Dugu Yan, an invisible and colorless wall suddenly appeared. Huo Wushuang crashed into this colorless wall, unable to advance an inch.
"What is this?" Huo Wushuang was stunned.
Whose defensive Spirit Ability?
Similarly, on the other side, the two agility-attack system Spirit Masters of the Blazing Team both targeted Xiao Wu, intending to forcibly eliminate her first.
However, just as they were about to hit Xiao Wu, they encountered the same situation as Huo Wushuang. An invisible and colorless wall blocked Xiao Wu's path, perfectly deflecting their attacks.
"It's you?" Huo Wu looked at Xuan Ming, who had raised his right hand, his palm flickering with a faint white light.
According to the Great Spirit Arena's data, Xuan Ming's White Light Domain could condense invisible and colorless walls with extremely strong defense.
When did this guy release his Domain?
"Your coordination..." Xuan Ming hesitated to speak.
"It's simply an utter lack of coordination."
Purely relying on brute force!
"It's not that we don't need coordination," Ning Rongrong said with a little embarrassment.
Gu Yuena attacks, Dugu Yan controls the field, Xiao Wu provides secondary attacks, Zhu Zhuqing finishes off, she looks for opportunities to cast buffs, and Ye Lingling provides healing and recovery as needed. They always easily overpower the opponent with brute force, so why would they need any tactical coordination?
"We call this adapting to circumstances," Ye Lingling whispered.
Xuan Ming was somewhat speechless, "Able to block but don't, able to dodge but don't, waiting for me to save you. Is that called adapting to circumstances?"
Dugu Yan's fourth Spirit Ability, Jade Phosphor Poison Armor, could condense highly poisonous spirit power into a dark green energy armor on her body, providing both defense and counter-damage effects. Furthermore, enemies who attacked the poison armor would be contaminated with highly toxic venom.
Although this potent venom's power would greatly diminish when facing high temperatures, if she had released it just now, at least blocking Huo Wushuang's attack would not have been difficult. But what was Dugu Yan doing? She just stood there!
And Xiao Wu, she clearly had Teleportation ability and could escape, but she just didn't use it!
"Isn't it because we trust you?" Ye Lingling said strangely.
"Besides, shouldn't we let you feel a sense of participation?"
..." Xuan Ming.
Why do you talk just like Ning Rongrong now?"