No one knew how much Huo Yuhao had improved over the night.
It was just that in the morning, when everyone was having breakfast together, they all noticed Huo Yuhao's expression was not very good.
"What's wrong with you?" Ma Xiaotao asked, puzzled.
The others were also somewhat curious.
"Nothing." Huo Yuhao smiled, but there was a trace of helplessness in his smile.
Who would have thought? He had spent eighty percent of his Life Gold energy, damn it, to fill the second star ring, and the progress bar had only increased halfway.
What kind of concept was this?The energy required for the first star ring was already considerable, though not particularly exaggerated, but the second star ring was different.
The Life Gold he had used contained such immense vitality that probably all the peak Douluos on Douluo Continent combined didn't have as much. And yet, it still wasn't enough to fill the ring.
This made Huo Yuhao troubled. How could such enormous energy be accumulated?
"Yuhao, the engraving knife should be in your hands now, right? Did you try it last night? Did it have any effect on you?"
Zhang Lexuan put down her chopsticks and looked at him seriously.
"Don't worry, Senior Sister. Everything went smoothly." Huo Yuhao said with a smile.
"That's good. If there's any problem, report it to me immediately," Zhang Lexuan said.
"Okay." Huo Yuhao nodded.
Zhang Lexuan turned to the others. "Finish your breakfast; we should set off."
Upon hearing this, everyone became excited—they were about to enter battle again.
Before setting off, Wang Yan also distributed the soul devices obtained from last night's auction to everyone, in case they could use them on the arena.
…
The sunlight was gentle, and the breeze was just right.
The enormous Xingluo Square was already orderly with hundreds of thousands of spectators, the atmosphere buzzing. In the rest area, students from various academies chatted quietly while waiting for the competition to begin.
In the imperial stands, Xu Jiawei arrived with a bright smile, sitting in his VIP seat to observe the matches, accompanied by the empress.
The first match of the second round of the round-robin was Shrek Academy, so they arrived a bit later. When the team reached the rest area, the audience's enthusiastic cheers nearly lifted the roof.
Because it was Shrek Academy competing, many people had queued for tickets since last night, and even scalpers couldn't get them—this showed how astonishing the academy's popularity was.
In the rest area, the Shrek team members chatted quietly; the match wouldn't start immediately, so there was no rush.
While eating breakfast, Wang Yan had already introduced the opposing team for this match: the Qianling Advanced Soul Master Academy from the Douling Empire, one of the top three academies in that empire.
Huo Yuhao could not help but sigh. An academy that could rank in the top three of the Douling Empire had only a single Soul King level student. Indeed, among all the empires of Douluo Continent, Douling Empire was truly the weakest.
For example, top-tier combat power: Tianhun Empire had the support of the Ben Ti Sect; Xingluo Empire had the strong masters of the Offering Hall; even the Hall Master, according to the original record, might have reached level ninety-eight. Although it was unclear why the Hall Master had not appeared, he was mentioned.
Sun and Moon Empire was even more ridiculous, with the Holy Spirit Church secretly collaborating, and a large number of level-nine Soul Masters.
And Douling Empire?Hah, level ninety-seven was the strongest.
As time passed, finally, under the gaze of the crowd, Cheng Gang, acting as the referee, stepped onto the arena. He said in a deep voice,"Next, the second round of the round-robin begins. Please welcome the captains of today's first two competing academies to the stage for the draw: Shrek Academy and Qianling Advanced Soul Master Academy."
Ma Xiaotao stood up and walked directly to the stage. On the other side, the Qianling captain also appeared—a tall young man with a cold, sharp expression, his aura like a spear, exuding clear dominance.
The draw was the usual method, tossing the lottery balls.
Soon, under everyone's gaze, a red ball dropped from the lottery sphere.
Cheng Gang grabbed it and announced loudly,"Shrek Academy versus Qianling Academy, Team Battle."
Upon hearing "Team Battle," Ma Xiaotao's expression remained calm, while the Qianling captain's face changed slightly.
After the captains left the stage, Cheng Gang said,"Please have both academies send in their participants."
As in previous matches, Wang Yan and Zhang Lexuan chose to rest some of their main fighters.
Among the participating students, Ma Xiaotao stayed out as the strategic weapon. On the front line were Dai Yaoheng, Yao Haoxuan, and Gongyang Mo.
The substitutes were Huo Yuhao, then Xiao Xiao, Xu Sanshi, Beibei.
Before entering the stage, Huo Yuhao glanced at Dai Yaoheng, curious. He wondered if Dai Yaoheng had recently encountered some joy, as his smile hadn't stopped since returning to the team—very strange.
Qianling Academy's team had five males and two females.
Based on Huo Yuhao's memories from reading online novels in his previous life, this team, aside from the male captain, consisted of four defense-type Soul Masters, all with the same Martial Soul: mid-to-upper-level Lingxi Shield.
The remaining two female members were a fire element and an ice element, quite formidable, earning the nickname "Ice-Fire Dual Control."
Their names were appealing: the fire-element one was Fei Yu Yan, the ice-element one An Lengye.
Upon entering the stage, Dai Yaoheng gave Huo Yuhao no chance to show off first. The three front-line Shrek members went ahead, with Huo Yuhao's group behind.
Qianling had the four muscular defense students in front like a wall, then the spear-like captain, and finally the ice-fire dual control girls.
A typical 4-1-2 formation.
Seeing the three Shrek front-line members with arms crossed, calm expressions, the Qianling captain Shen Ce's face turned serious.
"Remember, fight in our way. Even if this bone is tough to chew, we must show our own style."
"Understood."
The six students responded in unison.
Cheng Gang knew he couldn't delay, or the audience would complain, and immediately announced,"Start the match."
The moment he said "start," all eyes turned to Huo Yuhao. He smiled.
Three of his soul rings suddenly appeared, with the third, the ten-thousand-year soul ring, quietly lighting up. On its deep surface, a trace of the Xuanming Turtle Shell Shield's light pattern subtly fractured.
A deep, dark stream of energy burst from Huo Yuhao, and using shared spiritual perception, he locked onto the Qianling captain Shen Ce.
With faint, illusory light emerging, in the next moment—before anyone could react—Huo Yuhao forcibly swapped positions with Shen Ce.
The moment the swap succeeded, Huo Yuhao's left eye turned dark blue, releasing a strong spiritual wave. The Evil Eye Tyrant, an external soul bone skill, Illusion, activated.
The swapped Shen Ce was clearly caught off guard. His soul rings and Martial Soul had just been summoned; he raised a silver spear in his right hand, looking comically like a character from Lu Xun's "Runtu piercing the porcupine."
"Huh?"
Blinking, Shen Ce realized his teammates had changed.
"Attack."
Xu Sanshi laughed loudly. His Xuanming Turtle Shell Shield radiated black light, crashing violently into Shen Ce, giving him a brutal lesson.
Beibei and Xiao Xiao were not to be outdone. Three large cauldrons combined with a Lightning Net fully restrained Shen Ce. The paralysis and dizziness struck him before he could react.
It was clear he was finished.
Yao Haoxuan's body swelled into a giant several meters tall. With his second soul ring activated, his palms grew huge. One sweep sent Shen Ce flying off the arena.
The Qianling captain, Shen Ce, slammed into the soul shield, then fell to the ground—eliminated.
"What happened?"
The match had just started, and the captain was already eliminated. The Qianling substitutes and leader were dumbfounded, as were the other academy students and spectators.
"No, look at Qianling Academy."
Chaos broke out in the audience.
On stage, Huo Yuhao stood calmly among the four Lingxi Shield Soul Masters and the ice-fire dual control girl. His eyes closed, his spiritual waves invisible—unless one had strong perception, one couldn't detect anything.
Meanwhile, the six Qianling students seemed dazed, frozen in place, occasionally showing signs of nervousness.
This bewildered everyone. What had happened?The scene was so strange it gave an eerie sense of déjà vu.
The soul master experts in the audience were impressed. With this skill, they almost immediately regarded Huo Yuhao as the strongest control-type Soul Master in this tournament.
"His soul bone skill is an area-of-effect control skill," said the Sun-Moon Royal Soul Master Academy observers, their expressions serious. To instantly trap a group of Soul Sect members, this skill was extremely powerful.
What shocked them most was that spiritual attribute area control required immense spiritual strength. Just how strong was his spiritual power?
"Roar!"
At the instant the group control took effect, Dai Yaoheng acted. Two halos appeared above his head, Gongyang Mo's auxiliary skill.
Gongyang Mo still wanted to use his skill, feeling he should have some participation.
A tiger roar echoed. Six soul rings rose on Dai Yaoheng.
The audience stirred again—Shrek's first Soul Emperor appeared. Although Dai Yaoheng had previously entered, he had not activated his soul rings.
Local Xingluo Empire spectators were thrilled. The white tiger projection behind Dai Yaoheng was the inherited Martial Soul of the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.
Cheers erupted, some shouting "Long live White Tiger!"
Xu Jiawei still smiled, but his gaze deepened, contemplative.
Dai Yaoheng leaped into the air. The fourth soul ring lit up instantly; his soul power surged violently. The air seemed to twist, forming hundreds of human-head-sized white light spheres, nearly filling the space above him.
"Fourth Soul Skill: White Tiger Meteor Shower!"
He swung his right fist. Endless meteor rain fell instantly, the roaring sound deafening.
Huo Yuhao remained still.
"Who cares? The referee will rescue."
Sure enough, as Huo Yuhao stayed calm, Cheng Gang moved to the front of Qianling Academy, waving his hand. A surging wave of soul power shattered all the meteor rain.
When the dust settled, the sky was full of white streams and soul energy points, which eventually dissipated.
Huo Yuhao quickly canceled the illusion soul skill. He breathed a bit heavier. Controlling six people didn't consume much for him, after all they were only Soul Sect members. If they were Soul Kings, the cost would have been higher.
When the illusion disappeared, the Qianling students who had tried to break it regained clarity. The dazed look left their eyes.
Seeing Huo Yuhao, An Lengye and Fei Yu Yan were shocked, trying to counterattack.
But Cheng Gang stopped them. "You lost."
The four defense students and the two girls froze.
"Lost?"
"Referee, the match just started. How can we have lost?" An Lengye asked.
"You were hit by the group control skill, then Shrek Academy's Soul Emperor students launched a group attack soul skill. I intervened to save you. That's why you lost. Understand?"
Cheng Gang explained kindly.
They glanced over and saw Dai Yaoheng standing there, six soul rings radiating pressure.
"It's you."
Fei Yu Yan looked at Huo Yuhao with a complex expression. Just now, she felt trapped in a special space containing what she hated most. She knew it was an illusion and tried to break free, but the spiritual restraint was terrifyingly strong—at least ten seconds were needed to escape.
"Much obliged."
Huo Yuhao smiled and strode back to his team, passing Dai Yaoheng with a smile.
He had inscribed the White Tiger Meteor Shower soul skill.
"Well done."
Yao Haoxuan, Gongyang Mo, Xu Sanshi, Beibei, and Xiao Xiao high-fived Huo Yuhao, all very excited.
This plan had been conceived beforehand.
As for Dai Yaoheng? Oh, he went home—not present.
The reason Huo Yuhao could swap positions with Shen Ce was because he had previously inscribed the Xuanming Swap soul skill.
From this moment, Shrek Academy had two consecutive swap opportunities. Xu Sanshi hadn't revealed this skill yet, meaning in the future, if someone tried to defend against Huo Yuhao, Xu Sanshi could strike unexpectedly.
"Shrek Academy wins."
Cheng Gang immediately announced the result.
Cheers erupted. The seven Shrek students stood in a line, cupped their fists to the opponents, and walked off the arena.
Qianling students looked at each other helplessly. They had wanted to show their style, but the match ended so quickly.
Everyone had been completely controlled.
This battle's speed was rare, but the lightning-fast victory further impressed the audience with Shrek's field control capability.
Finishing early, no time wasted.
In the rest area, many traditional strong teams from previous tournaments watched Huo Yuhao and the others seriously.
Based on current information, Shrek Academy's main team consisted entirely of Soul Kings, even with two Soul Emperors.
Yes, even though Ma Xiaotao didn't enter, she was still estimated to be a Soul Emperor, possibly high-level.
Five Soul Kings, two Soul Emperors—a lineup simply… astonishing.
"Let's go back." Pan Tianxing and Ma Mingzhu withdrew their gaze, leading the Sun-Moon Royal Soul Master Academy members out. They had no matches today.
Returning mainly to discuss strategies against Shrek Academy. The old rival's demonstrated strength was no joke—they couldn't be careless.
In Shrek Academy's rest area, while watching the match, Wang Yan began explaining their next opponents.
Everyone gathered closely, almost as if needing a fire pit to warm themselves.
The next opponent's academy captain, nicknamed a "once-in-a-millennium genius," sounded impressive.
Huo Yuhao remembered the person's Martial Soul was interesting, named after a type of smoke.
Called Golden Leaf.
He recalled drawing it in his previous life—not bad.
But smoking is bad for health, better not to.
So in the day-after-tomorrow match, Huo Yuhao planned to make this guy quit smoking.
........................
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