novelhk Chapter 127 The raging fire is extinguished, and victory is easily achieved.
Chapter 127 The raging fire is extinguished, and victory is easily achieved.
Chapter 131 The raging fire is extinguished, and victory is easily achieved.
In this first match, Wang Yan arranged for five people: Ma Xiaotao, Huo Yuhao, Jiang Nannan, He Caitou, and Ning Tian.
There was no other way; everyone else was in bed, and Wu Feng was just an ordinary second-ring Soul Master with neither special abilities nor unique mechanics, so there was no point in him going up there.
Even Gongyang Mo and Ling Luochen, whose injuries were relatively minor and whose cultivation levels were higher, would have to wait until the round-robin tournament to recover their fighting strength and join the competition.
They are currently with Wang Dong, Wu Feng, and a few others in the Shrek Academy's designated area below.
Not far away, on the Star Luo National Academy team's side, Dai Yueheng, sitting in a front seat, saw that the Shrek team only had five players on the field, with only Ma Xiaotao as their main player, and he let out a soft exclamation.
Dai Yueheng glanced at Gongyang Mo and Ling Luochen, who were both pale-faced below the stage, and stroked his chin thoughtfully. With his meticulous mind, he could naturally make the connection.
He couldn't help but feel overjoyed.
Serves you right! You Shrek students can't tell what's important and what's urgent, you actually fired me! Let's see what you do about it!
You actually had the heart to fire me just for assassinating that lowly illegitimate child?! How much blood have I, Dai Yueheng, shed for Shrek Academy?!
If you're heartless, don't blame me for being unjust!
Dai Yueheng clenched his fist. Since that was the case, he had no choice but to take on the task of defeating Shrek!
As Huo Yuhao and his group of five entered the stage, the audience erupted in thunderous cheers.
But looking at the somewhat immature young men and women, apart from Ma Xiaotao, everyone—from the audience to the emperor and ministers in the capital, and even the participants from various academies—realized that these people were most likely Shrek Academy's reserve team members.
With an incomplete roster, consisting entirely of reserve players, is Shrek really that confident, using the first match as a training exercise?
What does this represent? It represents their absolute confidence in their own abilities!
The worst thing is to overthink things. After this round of imagining, the already stressed-out Tianling Academy team members were even more trembling.
Seeing this, the captain of Tianling Academy quickly reassured his team members.
Although losing to Shrek is perfectly normal, even if they lose, they should still do their best to put on a great performance, otherwise they'll be talked about for the rest of their lives.
Shrek Academy set up a somewhat strange formation, with Ma Xiaotao standing at the very front, head held high and chest out. Behind her was Huo Yuhao, and behind Huo Yuhao were Ning Tian, He Caitou, and Jiang Nannan.
It looked as if the battle was being completely handed over to Ma Xiaotao.
Seeing that both sides had struck their poses, the referee gave the whistle.
"The match begins!"
With the referee's loud shout, both teams released their martial spirits almost simultaneously.
As the martial spirit possessed her, fiery red feathers appeared quietly on Ma Xiaotao's body, and her eyes lit up with a blazing light.
Yellow, purple, and black—six perfectly matched soul rings encircled Ma Xiaotao's proud and delicate body. With a gentle flap of her fiery wings, she floated in mid-air, while the phantom of the evil fire phoenix behind her emitted a warm phoenix cry.
The phoenix is the king of birds, and its status among avian martial souls is comparable to that of tigers and dragons among beasts. Both are absolutely top-tier martial souls, not to mention the fire phoenix with the purest bloodline.
In terms of spirit quality, only Huo Yuhao on the Shrek Academy team is better than Ma Xiaotao. Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi, whose spirits are not fully awakened, or Wang Dong's Goddess of Light Butterfly, are not as good as Ma Xiaotao.
[If she hadn't seized the Golden Dragon bloodline to evolve into the Radiant Dragon God Butterfly, this martial soul's strength probably wouldn't have surpassed that of the White Tiger. Perhaps Princess Tang used it too poorly; judging from the original work, it didn't seem particularly outstanding.]
The phoenix's oppressive aura covered the entire field, coupled with the soul power suppression brought by Ma Xiaotao's powerful cultivation that was close to that of a Soul Saint. Some of the opposing Tianling Academy team members even sat down on the ground, and some didn't even activate their Martial Souls.
Everyone else had the standard, optimal configuration of spirit rings, but Huo Yuhao had four enigmatic white spirit rings.
Xiao Hongchen snorted coldly and turned her head away, muttering in dissatisfaction, "What is this—a spirit ring like this? How disappointing!"
On the field, Ma Xiaotao had already made her move.
Her second soul skill, Phoenix Rebirth, and her third soul skill, Phoenix Wings Soaring, were activated simultaneously. At some point, a light gold belt appeared around her waist, emitting a faint golden halo. The fluctuations of her soul power were rapidly increasing.
"The seven treasures have names, the first being: speed; the second being: relief; and the third being: strength."
Standing at the back, Ning Tian held up the exquisite pagoda in her hand. The three spirit rings on the pagoda—two yellow and one purple—also lit up at the same time. The activation of the three spirit rings made the pagoda in her hand exceptionally dazzling, and it even seemed to increase in size.
Three beams of light shot out simultaneously, landing on Ma Xiaotao and making the flames on her body burn even more fiercely.
In terms of support effects, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda is definitely the pinnacle in Douluo Continent. Even Ning Tian, who only has three rings, can boost Ma Xiaotao, a Soul Emperor whose cultivation is close to Soul Saint, by 30%.
"drink!"
Ma Xiaotao gave a shout, and her first spirit ring lit up.
The mighty fire is extinguished—oh no, the Phoenix Fireline is activated.
As a century-old soul skill, even when Ma Xiaotao uses Phoenix Fire Line normally, it is just a straight line of fire, about the thickness of an arm. Ma Xiaotao usually uses this move as a feint, not expecting it to cause any effective damage.
But this time—
The sea of fire that covered half of the arena surged toward them, and the intense heat even scorched their eyebrows and hair. The Tianling Academy team members had no intention of continuing to fight. They were terrified and shouted "Surrender!" "Surrender!"
Finally, Ma Xiaotao's powerful fire extinguisher failed to reach the opposing Tianling Academy team, as it was stopped in time by the referee.
But the fire destroyed most of the competition stage—and the residual high temperature won't dissipate anytime soon.
Afterwards, the Star Luo Empire had to send a whole class of water-type soul masters to solve the problem at the arena.
The referee's throat bobbed slightly before he calmly announced, "Shrek Academy wins this match and advances to the second round of the round-robin tournament."
boom-
The audience was stunned at first, and after a brief silence, the atmosphere was completely ignited.
"Shrek!"
"Shrek!"
The audience erupted in thunderous cheers, creating a vibrant and enthusiastic atmosphere.
Countless spectators shouted in unison, raised their hands and jumped on the spot, their faces flushed, their excitement overflowing.
Similarly, their eyes showed not only excitement but also a frenzied elation.
This is Shrek Academy, the Shrek Academy that has maintained its undefeated myth for thousands of years!
After returning to the rest area, Zhang Lexuan gave Ma Xiaotao and Huo Yuhao a thumbs up, and Wang Yan, the teacher in charge, immediately stepped forward.
"Want to go watch other people's matches later?"
Huo Yuhao shook his head slightly. "No need to watch. It's just the knockout stage. The really strong teams won't go all out."
.
Wang Yan immediately understood, "————Alright, you can all go back and rest."
In the rest area of the Sun and Moon team, Ma Rulong watched Huo Yuhao and the others leave and muttered to himself.
"Shrek Academy is more interesting than I thought. They even know how to use a soul tool to amplify soul skills. Interesting."
Anyone with eyes could see that Ma Xiaotao's first soul skill, Phoenix Fire Line, was unusually powerful during the battle just now.
To outsiders, it was simply that the Shrek Academy team's Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Master's full-force amplification, combined with Ma Xiaotao's own activation of two amplification Soul Skills, made her Phoenix Fire Line exceptionally powerful.
But actually, the key is the belt around Ma Xiaotao's waist.
If Lan Xuanyu were here, he would naturally recognize that the belt is one of the exclusive accessories of the battle armor.
Baili Du naturally taught Huo Yuhao about battle armor and forging. Although Huo Yuhao hasn't studied forging yet, he can still use some precious rare metals as substitutes for spirit forging.
Xiao Hongchen narrowed his eyes, watching Huo Yuhao's departing figure. "Doesn't this mean that Shrek Academy is no longer the same Shrek Academy as before? They also understand the essentials of using soul tools in conjunction with soul masters in combat."
Everyone on the Sun and Moon team, including the team leader Ma Lao, nodded in agreement, but then Xiao Hongchen said something that really spoiled the mood.
"But only enemies like this are worth defeating!"
His voice was full of pride.
Ma Rulong, who had just changed his attitude towards him, suddenly didn't want to talk to Xiao Hongchen anymore, and even the old man Ma had a few black lines on his face.
You're always looking down on everyone and everyone else. If it weren't for your powerful grandfather, you wouldn't be able to act so arrogantly here. Who would even bother with you?
Geniuses are bound to be arrogant, but arrogant geniuses often don't live long.
The second match started quickly, but compared to Shrek Academy's glorious start, it seemed rather ordinary.
Of course, evenly matched team battles are exciting enough, but bloodshed is what viewers want to see.
When everyone returned to the hotel, Wang Yan called a meeting with the students.
Zhang Lexuan and Xian Lin'er's main responsibility is to protect the safety of the trainees. Besides, it's just a round-robin tournament, so they don't need to arrange tactics themselves.
Wang Yan said in a deep voice, "In the round-robin tournament two days from now, you will likely need to go all out. Now, let me make arrangements for the round-robin tournament."
"The round-robin tournament is divided into team battles, individual battles, and 2-2-3 strategies. The method of competition between the two sides will be determined by drawing lots on site."
"Team battles are, of course, just normal seven-on-seven team battles. Individual matches aren't about one person going up for only one match; the loser is eliminated, and the winner continues fighting until one side's seven members are completely eliminated. I will adjust the order of appearance based on the opponents' abilities on the spot, so just do your best."
"The main strategy is still the 2-2-3 formation. As the name suggests, it consists of two 2-on-2 matches and one 3-on-3 match, with a best-of-three format. Therefore, I have carefully considered your strengths and weaknesses."
"This is a tentative plan. Jiang Nannan and He Caitou will be in one group, Ma Xiaotao and Ning Tian will be in another group, or Ma Xiaotao and Huo Yuhao will be in another group. We'll decide based on the situation. Wang Dong, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng, you three will be the team members for the three-on-three match."
"Of course, our goal in the 2-2-3 strategy is to win the first two matches and try to avoid the third one."
He Caitou and Jiang Nannan exchanged a glance. He Caitou gave her a simple and honest smile, and Jiang Nannan smiled and nodded in response.
Everyone agreed after hearing this. Indeed, Wang Yan's arrangement seemed reasonable. Winning the first two rounds of all-in poker could solve their current manpower shortage problem.
Then, Wang Yan seemed to realize something, hesitated for a moment, and couldn't help but ask, "Yuhao, can your shared mental detection penetrate the protective shield?"
Although Huo Yuhao didn't understand why Wang Yan asked that, he still answered truthfully, "I tried it today. The protective shield on the Star Luo Empire's side isn't very strong; I can pass through it. Why?"
Wang Yan said naturally, "When others are competing, don't hold back your invisible mental detection. For the glory of the academy, we can only do everything we can to win now."
Huo Yuhao was taken aback, and his gaze toward Wang Yan was filled with disbelief and coldness.
Although he was a teacher, Wang Yan felt quite embarrassed by his gaze. Just as she was about to say something, Huo Yuhao spoke up, his voice filled with disbelief.
"Teacher Wang, are you saying I should cheat, right?"
"No—it's just—to uphold Shrek's honor, we'll need to use a few tricks—"
Huo Yuhao slammed his hand on the table, startling everyone present.
Then he stood up and walked towards the door, saying, "I'm withdrawing from the competition. I'm not competing anymore."
Wang Yan quickly stopped him, "Hey, Yuhao, what are you doing?"
Zhang Lexuan and Xian Lin'er also came over, and Huo Yuhao turned around and looked directly at them.
"Teacher Lexuan, Dean Xian, has Shrek Academy's victory over the past ten thousand years really been won through cheating?"
Xian Lin'er said somewhat embarrassedly, "—Xiao Wang was only doing this for the honor of the academy, so using some necessary means is acceptable."
Zhang Lexuan glanced at Xian Lin'er and Wang Yan, then at Huo Yuhao, whose face was cold and hard, and patted him on the shoulder to show her support.
Huo Yuhao shook his head decisively, "No way! If I really have to cheat, I'll drop out of school right now!"
The atmosphere at the scene instantly became extremely tense. Wang Dong couldn't help but complain, "Do you have some kind of mental fastidiousness? Why are you making such a fuss! It's just using your soul skill, is it really that big of a deal?"
Huo Yuhao sneered, "Who do you think you are to speak here?! Get lost!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Dong swayed as if he had seen something extremely terrifying. He slumped into a chair, his face pale.
Huo Yuhao glanced at the Shrek Academy students, then looked at Wang Yan, whose face was grim. "I'm sorry, Teacher Wang Yan, I cannot comply. I have a kind of mental fastidiousness; I would rather not have a victory obtained through cheating! Please find someone else."