"Xiao Wu!"
Tang San and Liu Erlong screamed almost at the same time.
Pa, pa, pa!
Xiao Wu's body hit the ground, rolling several times before finally landing face-down, unmoving.
As expected, seeing Xiao Wu faint, Huo Wu curled her lips.
She was now a rank 44 Control System Soul Ancestor and had even comprehended the Fusion Ring Ability. Unless one was a fool, it was obvious that her Spiritual Power far surpassed that of an ordinary Soul Master. This had already been evident during the previous battles. She could even manipulate the trajectory of fireballs created with her fourth soul skill while in Fusion Ring state—didn't that prove her Spiritual Power was extraordinary?
Xiao Wu, a mere rank 39 Soul Elder, dared to use a Charm skill on her across such a wide gap? Where did that confidence come from?
And that opposing team leader, Yu Xiaogang, hadn't warned her at all—what confidence was that supposed to be? That's a "Grandmaster"?
Of course, to be safe, she still used her third soul skill as insurance, which also conveniently knocked Xiao Wu away.
And the result was exactly as she expected. Xiao Wu's Charm soul skill had little effect on her and even backfired, giving her the opening she needed.
"Xiao San, don't be impulsive, your injuries aren't healed yet." On the other side, Yu Xiaogang pressed Tang San down.
Liu Erlong reacted quickly, rushing into the arena. She pulled out a blanket to cover Xiao Wu's body, shielding her abdomen.
Carefully lifting her, she glared at Huo Wu with fiery eyes.
"Erlong!" Flender quickly called out.
Only then did Liu Erlong suppress her anger, turn around, and rush off toward the medical tent. Tang San immediately followed.
'If they're afraid of injuries, why even participate? It's not like I struck with my full strength. Should I have waited for Xiao Wu to recover and counterattack, wasting more of my soul power?' Huo Wu muttered inwardly, curling her lips. Looking up, she saw the towering Tai Long entering the field, his face full of rage.
"Third soul skill, Demon Ape Golden Body!" Reaching his spot, his body shook and transformed into a golden giant ape, charging forward.
"Heh, just a big dumb brute thinks he can beat me?" Huo Wu sneered, raising her hand.
"Fourth soul skill, Brilliant Sun!" This time, instead of above her head, a vortex of fire condensed above her palm. In just a few blinks, the orange-yellow core turned searing white.
"Just as I thought!" On the spectator platform, Yang Yunhai praised.
"Huo Wu's control over her soul power and mastery of her skills has improved a lot."
He had never publicly explained his theory on soul skill development, yet those with perception had gained insight just from observing him. Feng Xiaotian and Huo Wu were prime examples. Tang San could be counted too, though his accomplishments clearly lagged behind. After all, Feng Xiaotian had created his own soul skill, the Thirty-Six Consecutive Slashes, while Huo Wu had comprehended Fusion Ring—both capable of independent thought.
Tang San, however, was still stuck on mere imitation, unable to deduce beyond what he copied.
"Go!" In the arena, Huo Wu flicked her slender hand, tossing out the blazing white fireball, which shot toward Tai Long at incredible speed.
With Tai Long's massive frame, she hardly needed to adjust its trajectory.
Tai Long either knew he couldn't dodge or simply didn't care—he stopped abruptly and punched forward.
"Second soul skill, Explosive Strength! Fourth soul skill, Giant Spirit Fist!"
'Idiot!'
On the spectator platform, Ning Rongrong was startled.
Couldn't he see that vortex? That fireball was clearly compressed—how could its power be judged normally? Did he forget how Huo Wu blasted him unconscious in the qualifiers with the same skill?
She really couldn't understand how Tai Long dared to meet it head-on!
Huo Wu was also surprised. It was the first time she had seen someone punch her fourth soul skill.
'Insane.' Yang Yunhai was speechless. Even he wouldn't dare to take that fireball with his body, yet Tai Long actually tried to smash it with his fist. Just looking at it, the fireball Huo Wu had condensed this time was even more compressed than before.
That explosion would definitely be stronger—probably enough to make even a Soul Emperor retreat.
And Tai Long was just a Soul Ancestor… impressive!
Boom!
The blazing white fireball collided with his massive fist. A thunderous roar erupted, flames engulfing Tai Long instantly. His body was blown out of the fire cloud.
His shoulder protruded oddly, his right arm twisted. The bone at his elbow was almost poking through the skin.
'Dislocation and comminuted fracture, meridians torn.' Yang Yunhai instantly judged.
Dislocation and fractures could be treated. In his past life, even shattered bones could be replaced with steel or ceramic. In the Douluo world, a soul bone could do the trick. But meridians were different—soft tissues that rarely healed completely. Many who injured tendons in his previous life never regained full strength. It was the same here.
Unless immediately treated by a Titled Douluo healer, or someone with an exceptionally powerful healing Martial Soul like the Nine-Heart Begonia, recovery would be limited. And it couldn't be delayed—the longer it dragged, the harder to restore.
But here, none of that existed. Ye Lingling's cultivation was still too low, and she wouldn't help anyway.
Another path was breaking through rank 50 quickly, letting a new soul ring's energy repair the body. Unfortunately, Tai Long had only just reached Soul Ancestor—not an option.
Soul bone? Not suitable. Soul bone energy surged directly into the limb, strengthening bone but damaging meridians even worse. That was the difference between healing bone and tendon.
Only a gentle soul bone, like the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone, could help.
So, yes, he could be healed—but why would Yang Yunhai bother?
The Vigorous Orangutan Martial Soul relied entirely on arms. With damaged meridians, Tai Long couldn't exert full strength without risking reinjury. That was no different from being crippled. Against weaker opponents, maybe fine, but in equal battles, completely disadvantaged!
Huo Wu had done well!
"Referee, this isn't my fault. He punched my skill himself." Huo Wu quickly turned to the referee.
The referee glanced at Tai Long and nodded slightly.
Though his chest was bloody, he was still breathing.
"…" Flender's face darkened as he flew in, scooping Tai Long up and rushing to the medical tent.
Jiangzhu and Oscar had already gone when Ma Hongjun was injured. Now with Flender carrying Tai Long away, only Ning Rongrong, Jing Ling, Qin Ming, and Yu Tianheng remained on Shrek's side.
Yu Tianheng entered silently, clearly displeased at his teammates' injuries. At the designated spot, he activated Spirit Possession.
"Dragon Transformation! Third soul skill, Thunder Fury!"
Scales sprouted on his arms, his hands became dragon claws, and lightning arcs danced over his body as he charged steadily at Huo Wu.
"Second soul skill, Fire Shadow Clone!" Huo Wu spun gracefully, creating a fiery duplicate. In the next instant, both clone and real body raised their hands. "First soul skill, Explosive Fireball!" Fire vortices condensed in their palms.
'Accelerating skill release, compressing soul power for greater strength—not bad. Definitely inspired by Yang Yunhai.' Ning Fengzhi sighed to himself.
"She's using the fire clone to hide her true body. With its glow, Tianheng likely won't notice the fireball behind it." Qin Ming's face grew grim. "Hopefully, Tianheng reacts in time."
Soon, they were just five meters apart. Huo Wu struck first, her clone hurling a fireball.
"First soul skill, Thunder Dragon Claw!" Yu Tianheng raised his claw, striking forward. He knew her fireballs were extremely dangerous—he couldn't risk taking one directly. Only a ranged clash could work.
Bang!
The thunder dragon claw and fireball collided, flames filling the space between them.
"Second soul skill, Thunder Crash!"
Lightning erupted from Yu Tianheng's body, spreading outwards.
Using flames to blind, then counterattacking—that much he expected.
Pu!
The clone was blasted, collapsing back into fire.
'So her clone weakened after casting. Makes sense.' Yu Tianheng thought.
"No…" Qin Ming's pupils contracted. Other students' eyes lit up instead.
"Interesting." Yang Yunhai raised a brow.
'There must be more. She'll follow with another strike.' Yu Tianheng retreated immediately, activating his fourth soul skill.
"Fourth soul skill, Blue Lightning Dragon Assualt!"
At that moment, the flames surged and formed a towering six-meter fire wall.
"As expected, her Defying Flame Ring!" Yu Tianheng's eyes flashed.
Behind the wall, he glimpsed a shadow. He punched out, unleashing his Blue Lightning Dragon toward it.
The fire wall was too fast to dodge. Jumping over would make him an easy target. Only a clash could reduce the damage.
Only Yang Yunhai could truly smash through.
Boom!
The dragon and fire wall collided, exploding in light.
Yu Tianheng then saw Huo Wu leap up behind the flames, a fireball glowing in her hand.
'Planning to throw it from above?' He guessed, summoning thunder claws again.
"So easy to fool," Yu Feng muttered.
Yang Yunhai nodded slightly. "Smart play. Against Tianheng, with less soul power, she can't fight head-on. Outthinking him is the only way."
"Tianheng reacted well, but…" Meng Shenshou shook his head.
"Once you fixate, you leave a blind spot." Yang Yunhai recalled Shui Bing'er's words.
As Yu Tianheng struck upward, Huo Wu had already circled left, tossing a fireball silently.
The thunder and firelight masked it perfectly. The fireball curved behind him.
Just then, her soft voice drifted out. "Sorry, you lose!"
"!?!" Yu Tianheng froze, turning back.
"Too easy to fool!" Yang Yunhai clicked his tongue. He fell for a feint again.
"When?!" Yu Tianheng's face changed—
Boom!
The fireball hit his back. Flames roared.
Pu!
He coughed blood, body bent, flying forward.
And in front—Huo Wu's fire clone descended, its long leg whipping into his face.
"Turns out, what I saw earlier was only her clone!" Yu Tianheng realized, even as pain wracked his face. The fire clone followed with another kick.
"We concede!" Qin Ming's voice rang from outside.
At once, the clone dissipated, and in the distance, Huo Wu relaxed, hand over her chest, breathing heavily.
'That last move wasn't even used. Good, saved a card.' she thought.
Her fire clone could even grapple and self-detonate, but since its form mirrored her own, she disliked using it against male opponents. If it were Yang Yunhai, though, she'd gladly have it crush him.
Thinking this, she looked directly at Yang Yunhai, chin tilted proudly, before leaving the field.
"…" Yang Yunhai's mouth twitched.
"…" Zhu Zhuqing and Dugu Yan glanced but kept quiet.
"Hmph." Dugu Yan snorted, hugging Yang Yunhai's arm.
"…" Back on the spectator stand, Huo Wu caught sight of it, her eyes flaring.
In the arena, Yu Tianheng, face pale and back charred, was carried off by Qin Ming.
"Cough, sister, my turn." Beside Huo Wu, Huo Wushuang stepped up.
The outcome was inevitable. Ma Hongjun, Huang Yuan, Dai Mubai, Xiao Wu, Tai Long, Yu Tianheng—all injured. Only Jing Ling remained. As a Soul Elder, he couldn't match Huo Wushuang, a Soul Ancestor. Though Huo Wushuang went easy, burns were unavoidable.
Jing Ling limped away, Qin Ming supporting him.
Only Ning Rongrong remained watching. When her teammates all left, she followed.
"…" Staring at Shrek's empty stand, the other academies fell silent.
All seven Shrek fighters injured. Meanwhile, Blazing Academy had only sent out four. Especially Huo Wu's growth—her strength had risen dramatically, a looming threat.
They were growing mid-battle. Feng Xiaotian, Huo Wu—and Yang Yunhai most of all. He grew terrifying to watch.
The matches continued, but in the medical tent, silence.
'Damn it!' Tang San clenched his fists, eyes burning as he looked at his fallen teammates, especially Xiao Wu.
'Pray you don't meet me in the finals.' His heart seethed.
Outside, Tang Hao frowned.
Huo Wu and Feng Xiaotian's growth he saw. Tang San's as well. Letting Tang San participate was to temper him. But after Yang Yunhai injured him, Tang San missed many matches, wasting valuable experience. How could he be pleased?
'That Yang Yunhai… has become an obstacle in Xiao San's path.' He thought darkly.
"But for now…" He couldn't act yet, even if he wished to.
"Let's return." Flender's voice came.
Soon after, under everyone's gaze, Shrek carried off yet another round of wounded students.
That night, at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy camp—
"Xiao Hai, the draw is out. Tomorrow we face Fabia Academy." Meng Shenshou reported.
"And Shrek?" Yang Yunhai asked.
"Against Thunderclap Academy," Meng Shenshou replied wryly. "But they forfeited. Understandable, given how many of their team are injured."
"Truly a pity." Yang Yunhai nodded, rising to his feet, scanning his teammates.
"Go back to your rooms and cultivate."
"Yes, Captain!"
(End of Chapter)
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