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"Yuwen Tuo, how did I perform... Huh, where's Yuwen Tuo?"
Ma Xiaotao rushed back to the team, naturally seeking Yuwen Tuo first for praise.
But when she came off the stage, she found that Yuwen Tuo was no longer there.
Only Gongchang Long (Archer Long) was left with a dark expression.
"That kid claimed he was severely injured and had run out of spirit power, so he asked for leave to go back and rest early!" Beibei said helplessly.
Ma Xiaotao was stunned. That reason, would anyone believe it?
He clearly defeated his opponent in less than a minute. Where were the injuries?
"Elder Gong, Teacher Zhou, you would allow such a reason for leave?"
"What could this old man do even if I didn't allow it? That brat didn't ask this old man for leave; he went directly to the tournament's organizing committee, and then had the committee come to me. If I had stalled and refused, word would spread, and people might think we at Shrek Academy abuse our students!" Gongchang Long said angrily. "And that kid didn't just ask for one day off; he asked for tomorrow's leave too."
"To think I believed he had improved. Turns out he only came out for less than a minute."
Hearing this, Ma Xiaotao felt a little disappointed. This guy didn't even want to watch her match to the end.
Yuwen Tuo naturally didn't have that much free time. The significance of his participation in today's match wasn't just for a victory, but for Yu Mengdi's Angel Clan's sacred flames.
He had just forcefully absorbed the flames of the Holy Light Cross Slash using his pure fire, and now was the time to utilize it.
This thing could effectively help him purify the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife.
While the sacred power of the Xuanyuan Sword was formidable, it was somewhat too sharp-edged. Yuwen Tuo worried that using the Xuanyuan Sword to remove the curse on the carving knife would result in the knife breaking at the same time the curse was removed.
The Spirit Gold needed to be in its complete state to unleash its maximum efficacy.
Flames surged in the center of his palm, slowly guiding the absorbed Angel Sacred Flame into the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife.
After a full day of purification by the Xuanyuan Sword's sacred power yesterday, there wasn't much curse left inside. The remaining bit should be sufficiently handled by the Angel Sacred Flame.
This time, Gongchang Long didn't come to disturb him again. After all, he had already gone to the organizing committee to ask for leave without reporting to him first, so what else could he do?
Fortunately, the opponent for the second day, Changning Academy, was pitifully weak.
They could dance, but not fight.
This academy had originally performed a mocking dance towards Shrek Academy, only to be two-on-sevened and instantly wiped out by Huo Yuhao and Ling Luochen.
Now, facing Ma Xiaotao in her enraged state, they didn't even have time to dance, let alone react.
A flash of fire blasted them, leaving all seven severely burned. All the anger Ma Xiaotao had accumulated due to Yuwen Tuo was unleashed upon these unlucky individuals.
Although she didn't kill or cripple them, being burned so badly by the Ultimate Flame likely ruined their foundations, making it difficult for them to achieve much in this life.
The match ended too quickly; many people didn't even notice that Yuwen Tuo hadn't shown up today at all.
And now, more people's attention had shifted to Ma Xiaotao.
Even Xiao Hongchen, who had always been full of confidence, now dared not say for certain that he could win the championship.
Because his teacher, Elder Ma, had personally stated that in a one-on-one fight, even he might not be Ma Xiaotao's opponent.
It was important to know that Elder Ma was a Titled Douluo. If he used all his Soul Tools, he could even contend with ordinary Titled Douluo.
Yet, he had no absolute confidence against Ma Xiaotao. Did this mean that Ma Xiaotao's strength was already comparable to a Titled Douluo?
Teachers were indeed knowledgeable. Many people had already noticed that Ma Xiaotao's terrifying Phoenix Flame had reached the level of Ultimate Flame.
A Soul Sage possessing the Ultimate Flame Phoenix martial soul indeed had true combat power comparable to an early-stage Titled Douluo who had just broken through, such as Cheng Gang of the Star Luo Empire.
If it were just an ordinary Soul Sage, a Soul Emperor from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, utilizing Soul Tools, they might have a chance to fight.
But now, the opponent's strength was already approaching the Titled Douluo level.
No matter how miraculous Soul Tools were, their current development hadn't reached the point where a Soul Emperor could directly face a Titled Douluo.
In fact, the various academies had basically given up on contending for the championship, merely hoping for second place.
In a Soul Master competition for youths, there appeared a master comparable to a Titled Douluo. What else could they do? Even the most exquisite tactics required someone to execute them.
As the saying goes, "Even the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice."
Ma Xiaotao now possessed a strength that negated all tactics. No matter what strategy was employed, it was useless against her.
"Alas, Shrek Academy lives up to its millennia-old heritage. It seems the champion of this Soul Dueling Competition will inevitably be theirs again," Elder Ma sighed.
This year was clearly the strongest generation for their Sun Moon Empire, yet unexpectedly, Shrek Academy suddenly produced a monster like Ma Xiaotao.
And in the younger generation, there were also two other monsters: Yuwen Tuo and Huo Yuhao.
This couldn't go on. He had to find a way to bring Yuwen Tuo back to the Sun Moon Empire. Otherwise, he had a premonition that in five years, this guy would also be an incredibly terrifying opponent.
"Damn it, I won't give up. One day, I will surpass everyone at Shrek Academy and become an invincible existence," Xiao Hongchen clenched his fists, unwilling to yield.
Just at this moment, a voice sounded from the doorway, "The opportunity to become stronger is tonight. Greetings, esteemed sirs of the Sun Moon Empire, I am Qing Ya, the auctioneer of the Auction House. I have come by order of Her Royal Highness Princess Jiujiu to deliver invitations to tonight's grand auction."
The person who arrived was precisely that beautiful auctioneer.
Elder Ma took the invitation. "Thank you. Is there an important item being auctioned tonight? So important that Princess Jiujiu herself needs to preside?"
"This servant does not know. Tonight's auction will be personally presided over by Her Royal Highness Princess Jiujiu. Her Royal Highness merely instructed this servant to convey to you not to miss the opportunity to become stronger. This servant still needs to visit other academies, so I shall take my leave now."
With that, Qing Ya respectfully departed.
She then went to Shrek Academy, Spirit Douluo City, and Heaven Dou City, inviting people from the continent's largest forces to tonight's auction.
In fact, Yuwen Tuo hadn't forgotten about this auction, but he wasn't interested right now, because he had less than a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins on him. He couldn't even afford a good auction item anymore.
He had merely informed Xiao Xiao beforehand to pay attention to the whereabouts of each auctioned item. It wasn't time for them to participate yet.
Especially that trump card item: the 700,000-year Ice Snow Empress embryo.
In the original work, this treasure was eventually acquired by Xiao Hongchen for an astronomical price of 150 million Gold Soul Coins. This amount was something he couldn't afford even if he sold himself.
So, it was better to let Xiao Hongchen take it for now. Yuwen Tuo had several ways to obtain it. The simplest was that he remembered that shortly after the competition, the Body Sect would invade the Sun Moon Empire. If he followed along, and perhaps followed Huo Yuhao's path, he would definitely have a chance to acquire it.
And this wasn't the only method. In fact, Yuwen Tuo had other plans in mind.
In any case, he was determined to get the Ice Empress. After all, the Ice and Snow Empresses were strongest only when united!