Chapter 91: Tang San's Weaknesses
As Huyan Li was injured and it seemed like he was badly hurt, the rest of the Elephant Armor Academy team quickly came to his aid.
It had turned into a siege to support, and Tang San reacted quickly, activating his third soul skill: Blue Silver Hurricane Formation. In an instant, several members of the Elephant Armor Academy were wrapped in Blue Silver Grass. At this moment, the Blue Silver Grass even appeared to have a hint of green, with its tips as sharp as blades. Even though the Elephant Armor Academy's students had strong defenses, they were left with numerous wounds on their bodies.
Dai Mubai also activated his fourth soul skill, White Tiger Meteor Shower. Under the continuous attack, four of the Elephant Armor Academy's Soul Emperors were knocked down on the arena.
However, the other two Soul Lords, Huyan Ba and Huyan Shan, simultaneously activated their fourth soul skill, Gravity Resistance, to protect Huyan Li. Many people from large sects with similar martial souls often have similar soul skills; this is a result of the inheritance from various sects.
Seeing the opponents charging in again, Huyan Li, who had been injured, let out a roar, and his head released a terrifying force. The Shrek team members were immediately sent flying. Of course, Yang Xiong's role was to protect the two support members and not rush into attack.
From Huyan Li's head, golden light radiated as though he was wearing a helmet, and particularly, there were two sharp tusks on the helmet.
The crowd couldn't help but swallow their saliva. The head soul bone—this was the head soul bone, and judging by its age, it was likely a ten-thousand-year-old soul bone. This was the first soul bone to appear in the entire Soul Master competition.
Yang Xiong let out a cold snort but didn't take any action, instead continuing to stay next to the two support members.
Huyan Li, Huyan Ba, and Huyan Shan then simultaneously activated their third soul skill: Death Pressure, and immediately the entire arena trembled. Everyone felt an immense pressure on their bodies, even Yang Xiong, Ning Rongrong, and Oscar, who were relatively far away, felt the pressure.
The appearance of the head soul bone shocked everyone, especially Ning Fengzhi, who couldn't help but laugh, "Sect Master Huyan, your grandson is indeed extremely talented. I didn't expect that at such a young age, he already has a head soul bone. It seems he has a boundless future."
Huyan Zhen merely snorted and didn't respond. Soul bones were treasures in the Soul Master world, and his grandson, who had only reached level 43, had revealed such a soul bone in front of so many people, making it easy for others to covet.
Under the Death Pressure of the Elephant Armor Academy, especially facing three Soul Lords, this soul skill was incredibly powerful against Soul Emperors.
Unfortunately, the Shrek team had undergone rigorous training and could not be easily defeated by such broad, large-scale attacking soul skills.
Especially Huyan Li, although his head soul bone was powerful, he had already used three soul skills, and his remaining soul power was not abundant.
Oscar quickly handed over a Super Recovery Sausage. After everyone consumed it, their soul power was restored, and with Ning Rongrong's enhancement soul skill, they continued their assault on the three members of the Elephant Armor Academy.
Although Tang San was a Soul Emperor, his combat power was at the Soul Lord level, and Dai Mubai's strength was also impressive.
After several minutes of fighting, the last member of the Elephant Armor Academy was knocked down, and the Shrek team won. However, fighting against a team with three Soul Lords made everyone feel the real pressure.
But everyone could tell that tactically, the fight had been almost completely one-sided. Tang San, especially, didn't show anything impressive in terms of control. In fact, he exposed significant weaknesses. If it hadn't been for Yang Xiong's strength, which was much greater than Huyan Li's, they might have been overwhelmed. At least two Soul Emperors supporting the team couldn't contend with a Soul Lord of that power.
As everyone stepped off the arena, Oscar, still feeling shaken, spoke, "Brother Xiong, if you hadn't protected us earlier, Rongrong and I would have been in danger. That big guy looked really scary."
Yang Xiong smiled, "I'm just playing the role of a defensive soul master now. My main job is to protect the two support members and maintain our formation."
Ning Rongrong muttered, "If you had attacked earlier, those big guys might have lost by now, there would have been no need for all this trouble."
Yang Xiong only smiled and didn't reply. He hadn't really cared much about the Soul Master competition. After all, he wasn't trying to win the championship.
Even though they had defeated the powerful Elephant Armor Academy, Tang San didn't say anything to the others, nor did he pay attention to the other matches. Instead, he left with Yu Xiaogang and the others.
Yang Xiong, however, was dragged by Ning Rongrong to go shopping. With his straightforward personality, he really didn't understand why girls liked shopping so much.
Yu Xiaogang, seeing Tang San's somewhat gloomy expression, spoke to comfort him, "Xiao San, don't think too much. You performed very well in this match. At least your combat power was no less than Huyan Li's."
Tang San shook his head, "Teacher, there's something I am very clear about. Even though we won this match, my Blue Silver Grass was clearly countered."
"For these soul masters with strong physical bodies, the toughness of my Blue Silver Grass is too weak, and it's hard to control them effectively. My self-created soul skills have some advantages, but they can only barely make up for the difference between Soul Emperors and Soul Lords, and they can't provide absolute suppression."
Yu Xiaogang quickly responded, "Xiao San, don't overthink it. You're still young, and you have a long road ahead. Don't forget that your true strength lies in your second martial soul, the Clear Sky Hammer. Only when you add soul rings to the Clear Sky Hammer will you become the real you."
Tang San was puzzled. "Teacher, why do you and Father not want me to add soul rings to the Clear Sky Hammer? I could become even stronger."
Yu Xiaogang gave a faint smile. "Twin martial souls are extremely rare, and your talent is even greater than I expected. But there is a huge flaw with twin martial souls, and that is the risk of soul rejection when cultivating both at the same time, which can result in body explosion and death."
"Over the years, I have tried to analyze and study it, but I still haven't been able to uncover the secret of cultivating twin martial souls. This might be one of the greatest challenges in history."
Tang San fell silent after hearing this.
...
Yu Xiaogang once said that control-type soul masters were the strongest in battle, but Tang San's Blue Silver Grass flaw was still too obvious. It lacked toughness and was vulnerable to fire and ice, making it easy to counter, leaving it far behind top martial souls.
Although Tang San had performed well recently and was recognized for his strong combat power, his Blue Silver Grass had little to do with it. His combat ability came mostly from his self-created soul skills.
In the Soul Master competition, information spread quickly, and everyone's strengths and weaknesses were amplified. Strong teams would analyze their opponents' weaknesses to devise countermeasures, as this competition was a once-in-five-years event.
Compared to Tang San's strong self-esteem, others were relatively happier, especially the girls. At such a young age, they had already defeated a strong team like the Elephant Armor Academy, and they seemed to enjoy the attention, living like celebrities.
After the match against the Elephant Armor Academy, many teams quickly began analyzing Shrek's weaknesses.
So far, Shrek's team had never lost and had not faced any other top teams, so their record was still perfect. This dazzling achievement attracted attention from other academies.
In the next few matches, the opponents had mostly arranged for weapon-type soul masters or fire-type soul masters to face them. Under the influence of these two types of soul masters, Tang San's control was further weakened.
Everyone knew that Tang San was the tactical core of Shrek's team. Most of their tactics revolved around him, so cutting off Tang San's Blue Silver Grass control would break the team's fluidity. This made Shrek's team have to clash directly with their opponents, leading to exhausting battles.
This resulted in a grueling battle each time, with both teams suffering heavy losses before Shrek gradually emerged victorious.
Compared to other teams, Shrek's advantage was not Tang San or Dai Mubai, the Soul Lords, but the fact that Shrek had two high-level support soul masters.
One day, everyone attended the match between the Blaze Fire Academy and the Water Academy. Both teams were strong, and the Water Academy easily defeated the Elephant Armor Academy, leaving Shrek in a serious mood.
Tang San observed the match and couldn't help but ask, "Teacher, why do I feel like these two teams have good teamwork, but they don't seem to have support-type soul masters like Rongrong and Xiao Ao? Do they not have support-type soul masters?"
Yu Xiaogang looked at the arena and shook his head. "Elemental Academies are old top teams. Their teams are required to have a single element. Like the Elephant Armor Academy you fought, they even have the same martial soul for all seven members and don't have a support-type soul master or a speed-type soul master."
Tang San's face showed surprise. "Teacher, I've been reviewing that match. It seems their team-building style is completely different from ours. They seem to prefer focusing on one attribute and pushing it to the limit."
"And recently, I've carefully observed the Five Elements Academy. They don't have much coordination between the different elements, and while their strengths are obvious, their weaknesses are just as clear."
Yu Xiaogang said, "This relates to the two main schools of thought in the Soul Master world: one is the extreme style like the Elemental Academies, and the other is the balanced style. Our team, for example, is more balanced."
Tang San seemed to realize something. "Teacher, has the Elemental Academy never considered compensating for their weaknesses?"
Yu Xiaogang remained silent for a long time before speaking. "Every academy has its own legacy, even its own backers. The Elephant Armor Academy has the Elephant Armor Sect, the Thunder Academy has..."
"Ah, in recent years, aside from the Five Elements Academy, there haven't been any other top teams in the Tiandou Empire. Even this year, only the Tiandou Royal Academy has shown good performance. In contrast, the Star Luo Empire seems to pay more attention to balanced teams, and their soul masters' cooperation is better."
Tang San asked, "What about the Spirit Hall?"
Yu Xiaogang smiled bitterly. "Compared to the two great empires, Spirit Hall has a deeper understanding of soul masters. They focus on individual extreme styles, while their teams focus on the balanced style. I call it the fusion style. In fact, I believe that their coordination might be the strongest."
Tang San said, "Spirit Hall is so selfish. Haven't they considered sharing their theories? That would help the development of the Soul Master world."
...
The others seemed to agree, but Yang Xiong and Ning Rongrong were left speechless. Having grown up in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, they had seen far more soul masters and information than the others.
Anyone with a little insight into the Soul Master world would know that cooperation yields better results, especially with a supreme support system like the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
But for the students, their combat power was relatively weak, and their experience was limited. If they couldn't push their power and martial soul attributes to their limits, they would lay hidden risks for future cultivation, not to mention the Five Elements Academy. There were no support soul masters with a Thunder attribute in the world, and even control-type soul masters were rare.
(END CHAPTER)
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