"I don't know!" Zheng Xiaolong shook his head blankly.
This question was far beyond the level of a small fry like him, who hadn't even reached the Great Soul Master rank. His "version" hadn't been updated enough to see through Cao Jinxuan's condition.
Xiao Xiao beside him wasn't much better—the pure foolishness on her little face was impossible to hide.
At this moment, Lin Yun fell into deep thought.
The next second, Lin Yun stopped thinking.
Even the dumbest person could figure it out—this guy must have suffered a backlash from using Time Solidification on him and Qing'er, which was why he ended up wrecking himself. The only question was why the backlash was so severe.
But it wasn't that surprising. Lin Yun had gained who-knows-what benefits from his recent epiphany. For a mere Great Soul Master to achieve something like this, even if Cao Jinxuan had been completely drained, Lin Yun wouldn't have been the least bit shocked.
The fact that he wasn't dead was already a miracle.
Yan Shaozhe, who had been watching from the shadows, could no longer stay calm. In a flash, he appeared in front of Cao Jinxuan, placing a hand on his shoulder and channeling gentle light-type soul power into his body to assess his condition.
Zhou Sichen, meanwhile, anxiously wiped the blood from Cao Jinxuan's face, waiting for Yan Shaozhe's "verdict."
After a long moment, Yan Shaozhe opened his eyes, his brows tightly furrowed and his expression grave.
"Teacher, how is Cao Jinxuan?" Zhou Sichen asked urgently.
He didn't know who Yan Shaozhe was, but given how the man had appeared out of nowhere, he understood that this had to be a powerful teacher from Shrek Academy. Asking him was definitely the right move.
"His soul skill backfired, and the backlash was extremely severe—so much so that his martial soul shattered. It'll likely take a long time for him to recover," Yan Shaozhe said solemnly.
"Martial soul… shattered?" Zhou Sichen muttered in disbelief, overwhelmed by a wave of guilt as thick as the descending night.
If not for his words, Cao Jinxuan might never have used his soul skill on Lin Yun and Qing'er, leading to this backlash, martial soul shattering, and severe injuries.
Honestly, this really couldn't be blamed on Lin Yun. Zhou Sichen even felt a strange sense of having staged a scam.
"Will the match continue?" Yan Shaozhe looked at Zhou Sichen and Long Xiangyue.
"No, Teacher. We forfeit," Zhou Sichen said bitterly, shaking his head.
Was there even any point in continuing?
Fight? Fight my ass!
Their opponent hadn't even lifted a finger, and one of their own was already down. And with that terrifyingly cold scorpion glaring at them, Zhou Sichen and his team had completely lost their will to fight.
"Very well. I'll take this student with me. The academy will arrange for a high-level healing-type soul master to treat him," Yan Shaozhe said with a nod. With a wave of his hand, he took the unconscious Cao Jinxuan and soared into the air.
And just like that, one of the quarterfinal matches ended in the most bizarre way possible.
Lin Yun's team became the first to advance to the semifinals.
After the match, Lin Yun quickly bid farewell to Xiao Xiao and Zheng Xiaolong and returned to his dormitory. Sitting cross-legged on his bed, he began meditating on the strange fluctuations he had sensed during the battle.
Before today, Lin Yun's understanding of the Golden Dragon King had been limited to its peerless physical strength and the indestructible power of Destruction. But after being affected by Cao Jinxuan's control, he realized that the Golden Dragon King might also have some ability to manipulate time.
However, this sensation was vague, and since his Golden Dragon King bloodline wasn't fully awakened, his grasp of this temporal ability remained hazy.
What Lin Yun needed to do now was to meditate on this sensation before it faded, striving to comprehend as much as he could about the power of time.
The earlier he could grasp time-based abilities, the better. Who knows? He might one day truly master time itself, traversing space and sailing through time to become the Temporal Dragon God.
From this day onward, Lin Yun had unknowingly embarked on a path entirely different from that of the Golden Dragon King. Though he wasn't yet aware of it, this would lay the foundation for his future growth.
It also meant that if he continued down this path, his achievements would inevitably surpass those of the Golden Dragon King.
The future was promising.
Meanwhile, in the quarterfinal draw—whether due to someone's curse or sheer luck—Huo Yuhao's team didn't end up against a Soul Elder team. Instead, they were matched against a team of three Great Soul Masters.
A free win.
This meant that two of the Soul Elder teams were forced to face each other, leading to a fierce clash between Dai Huabin and Xie Huanyue—a battle between the mighty White Tiger and the defensive Pudgy Elephant.
Unsurprisingly, Huo Yuhao's team won. Princess Tang single-handedly carried the match, while Huo Yuhao happily clung to the big goose's leg, enjoying the ride.
As for Dai Huabin and Xie Huanyue's match?
It was… hard to describe.
At the Soul Elder level, Dai Huabin couldn't fully utilize the advantages of his White Tiger martial soul. Ever since Dai Mubai, the White Tiger lineage's soul skills had followed a fixed pattern—White Tiger Barrier, White Tiger Light Wave, White Tiger Vajra Transformation—none of which provided a decisive killing move before the fourth ring. Close-quarters combat was his only option.
Coincidentally, Xie Huanyue was also a master of melee combat.
In the original work, Xie Huanyue was described as a "meatball."
When he activated his soul skill, leaping into the air before crashing down, the sheer pressure was no less terrifying than a pig falling from the sky. His immense defensive power allowed him to shrug off Dai Huabin's tiger claws. As long as his vulnerable spots (like his eyes) weren't hit, Xie Huanyue was practically bullying Dai Huabin.
The little bastard of the White Tiger Duke was instantly seething—this was an absolute disgrace!
Since when did defensive-type soul masters overpower assault types? Let alone one from the White Tiger bloodline!
Could Dai Huabin tolerate this humiliation?
Of course not!
So, the trump card he had been saving to use against Lin Yun—his Martial Soul Fusion Skill—was unleashed in a fit of rage. With his blood pressure skyrocketing, Dai Huabin completely lost his composure, and a massive Netherworld White Tiger materialized on the stage.
The moment he actually used the Netherworld White Tiger, Dai Huabin was flooded with regret.
Instead of indulging in a momentary clash of pride, winning the freshman championship should have been his goal. But now that the Netherworld White Tiger had been used, and Martial Soul Fusion Skills had a cooldown period, there was no way he could use it again in the finals.
At this point, Dai Huabin wanted nothing more than to kill Xie Huanyue. The Netherworld White Tiger treated the poor kid like a soccer ball, kicking him all over the stage.
And honestly? The fusion of two soul masters into a Martial Soul Fusion Skill resulted in soccer skills that could put the national team to shame.
The sheer artistry was off the charts.
Though, considering Dai Huabin and his peers had grown up eating food far more precious than sea cucumbers, it made sense that their skills were better than the national team's. Then again, maybe they just hadn't eaten well enough.
In the end, the four semifinalist teams were finalized:
Class 8, Freshman Division—Lin Yun's Team.
Class 8, Freshman Division—Ning Tian's Team.
Class 4, Freshman Division—Wang Dong's Team.
Class 4, Freshman Division—Dai Huabin's Team.
As the semifinals loomed, Lin Yun finally awoke from his meditation.
(End of Chapter)
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