"Fatty, don't forget the plan." Xiao Wu rarely spoke up.
"Hehe, I got it!" Ma Hongjun grinned broadly, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "As expected of the Glazed Academy team, every one of them is a beauty."
"Ah..."
Xiao Wu sighed inwardly.
Ever since entering Slaughter City, Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai had changed—or rather, their true natures had been unleashed.
Oscar, likely due to Dean Flender's prior warnings, remained relatively restrained.
At least, in Xiao Wu's eyes, he was more restrained.
As for Zhu Zhuqing, Dai Mubai's absurd behavior had driven them further apart.
"Perhaps only someone as pure and flawless as Third Brother could remain chaste in Slaughter City!"
The way Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun acted in Slaughter City—how was it any different from certain rabbits breeding several litters a year?
"Uh... something doesn't seem quite right."
Xiao Wu shook her head, dismissing the inappropriate thought, and refocused on the original plan.
With Oscar's flight skill, Xiao Wu observed each member of the Glazed Academy team from above. When her gaze landed on Ning Rongrong—
"Ning Rongrong, so it really is them..."
Six years ago at Notting Academy, she had been stopped by three shameless Soul Masters.
They didn't want her soul rings or her soul bones—they only wanted to watch her condense a soul ring. To this day, Xiao Wu still didn't understand their motive.
Was a 100,000-year soul ring not appealing? Was a 100,000-year soul bone not valuable enough?
"Never mind, my brain isn't cut out for this!"
At any rate, few dared to target her now.
With Third Brother as a candidate for the next sect master of the Clear Sky Sect, she was likely to become the sect master's wife.
So what if she was a spirit beast?
She had also taken a special spirit medicine that could block the detection of Title Douluos, so there was no need to worry too much.
"Fatty, let's begin. Send Glazed Academy's two support-type Soul Masters off the stage," Xiao Wu said.
"Got it, Sister Xiao Wu. Don't worry."
Ma Hongjun flapped his fiery wings and swiftly descended toward the ground.
Xiao Wu also accelerated her flight, landing near Ning Rongrong and Ye Lingling on the competition stage.
"Oh no, we've been ambushed!"
Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er only realized they had been outmaneuvered at this moment.
However, they quickly regained their composure.
Dugu Yan's perception was sharp—if she wasn't intervening, it must be because Rongrong had planned it.
Immediately, Shui Bing'er and the others stopped paying attention and instead launched an assault toward Tang San and the other Shrek Academy members.
Before the match, Ning Rongrong had analyzed Tang San and his team's soul skills and strength, giving them an advantage of fighting with intelligence versus ignorance. Combined with the buffs from a 4-ring Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda and a 4-ring Nine Heart Begonia,
they actually managed to hold their own in a 4 vs. 5 situation without falling behind.
Dugu Yan, however, remained motionless, quietly observing.
"Two little beauties, should I send you off the stage, or will you leave on your own?"
"Don't worry, Brother will be gentle!" Ma Hongjun chuckled lewdly.
Ye Lingling frowned slightly but didn't respond.
"To have a student like you, it seems the Golden Iron Triangle's Flender is nothing more than an overhyped fraud," Ning Rongrong remarked coolly.
Truthfully, Ning Rongrong didn't have a favorable impression of Shrek Academy.
Recruiting geniuses to teach geniuses, yet still managing to get them killed—take Qin Ming, for example. Not having a 10,000-year soul ring for his fifth ring was just absurd.
Could Shrek Academy really not find a single teacher to hunt a 10,000-year spirit beast for him?
"Hmph, our teachers are none of the Seven Treasure Glazed Sect's concern," Xiao Wu retorted as she landed beside Ma Hongjun, facing Ning Rongrong and Ye Lingling.
Then, she immediately charged toward Ning Rongrong.
"Attack, Fatty! No mercy—this is a competition!"
"Got it, got it," Ma Hongjun replied before pouncing toward Ye Lingling.
The two aimed to eliminate Glazed Academy's support Soul Masters as quickly as possible.
After all, the combination of the Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda and the Nine Heart Begonia was practically unstoppable. If they weren't dealt with first, Shrek Academy's chances of victory were slim.
Even if it meant sacrificing one or two team members, they had to take out the opposing support first.
As long as these two were gone, with Tang San and Tang Long—two Soul Kings—along with Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing's Martial Soul Fusion Skill,
the advantage would lie with Shrek.
Xiao Wu activated her third soul skill, Blink.
One moment she was in front of Ning Rongrong, the next she appeared behind her.
As a spirit beast, her beast-like intuition told her that this Seven Treasure Glazed Sect's Ning Rongrong was no ordinary opponent.
Appearing behind Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu prepared to use another soul skill to throw her off the stage.
However, her body passed straight through Ning Rongrong without touching anything.
"What?!"
Xiao Wu's expression changed.
Before she could launch another attack, Ning Rongrong was already standing beside Ye Lingling, seven or eight meters away.
"How is this possible? A support Soul Master with such speed?" Xiao Wu's face twisted in disbelief as she shouted urgently:
"Fatty, be careful!"
"I may be a support Soul Master, but I don't have your kind of combat ability!"
Ning Rongrong grabbed Ye Lingling and soared into the air, causing Ma Hongjun's lunge to miss entirely.
Not only had Ning Rongrong dodged an attack from Xiao Wu, another Soul Ancestor, but she had also evaded Ma Hongjun's assault while carrying Ye Lingling.
This left the Soul Masters in the audience utterly stunned.
"Is... is this a special ability of the Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda?" A powerful Soul Master in the stands began theorizing.
No one knew what unique powers the Seven Treasure Glazed Pagoda gained after evolving into the Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda.
But today, they had witnessed something extraordinary!
A speed rivaling that of Xiao Wu's Blink skill, vastly improving a support Soul Master's survivability.
Truly worthy of the world's premier support sect.
Though support Soul Masters appeared fragile like any other, they were incredibly difficult to kill.
"Teacher, is this Rongrong's Martial Soul ability?" Xue Qinghe asked curiously. "If it involves the Seven Treasure Glazed Sect's secrets, you may disregard my question."
"I don't know either," Ning Fengzhi replied with a wry smile. "I certainly don't possess such an ability."
This was no lie to Xue Qinghe.
When it came to support Soul Masters, Ning Fengzhi was an authority.
But Ning Rongrong's Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda—capable of fighting, healing, storing objects, suppression, sealing, and fusion—
even the ancient records of past Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda ancestors mentioned no such abilities!
"I see..."
Xue Qinghe merely glanced at the arena thoughtfully and asked no further questions.
On the battlefield, the battle between both sides reached a fever pitch.
Tang San was holding back, resulting in a stalemate.
Under the buffs of the Nine Heart Begonia and Nine Treasure Glazed Pagoda, Shui Bing'er fought evenly against Tang Long and Tang San in a one-versus-two.
Tang San noticed that Ning Rongrong had evaded his decapitation strategy with Ye Lingling in tow.
"Will I really have to go all out?"
Tang San hesitated.
This was only the preliminary round. If his full strength was exposed, the matches ahead would become much harder.
However, in the next moment—
Tang San saw a ghostly figure appear before Xiao Wu and Ma Hongjun.
Especially when the opponent's soul rings slowly rose, Tang San's expression changed drastically.
"A... a Soul Emperor?!" Tang San's pupils constricted sharply as he stared fixedly at Dugu Yan, who now stood opposite Xiao Wu and Ma Hongjun.
Soon after, a calm yet unhurried voice, accompanied by the successive emergence of soul rings beneath her feet, resounded across the entire arena:
"Dugu Yan, Martial Soul: Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor, Level 67 Control System Battle Soul Emperor!"