"Pfft!"
Ye Wuqing's expression turned extremely grim again. His first spirit ability, "Golden Barrier," was as fragile as thin paper before Lu Jingming's black long spear, crumbling at a touch.
The golden light shield shattered instantly, dissipating into specks of light in the air.
At a critical moment, a gleaming golden leaf appeared in Ye Wuqing's hand. He decisively activated his third spirit ability, "Falling Slash."
A golden slash erupted instantly, heavily striking the black long spear, and the immense force caused the spear's trajectory to deviate.
Ye Wuqing used this impact to rapidly retreat, creating some distance between himself and Lu Jingming.
He knew very well that he was not skilled in close combat, and engaging in melee with Lu Jingming was by no means a wise move; a slight misstep would lead to defeat.
Lu Jingming, not one to let an advantage slip, elegantly flicked his long spear. The shaft traced a beautiful arc, stabbing towards Ye Wuqing again, the wind from the spear whistling.
"Fifth Spirit Ability, Purple Descent Thunder Arrow!"
Tang Xiaolei roared, his fifth spirit ring shining brightly, powerful spirit energy fluctuations spilling forth.
Purple lightning rapidly condensed in his hand, forming a massive thunder arrow radiating a terrifying aura.
Tang Xiaolei exerted all his strength, shooting it vigorously towards the sky.
The next moment, the massive thunder arrow descended from the sky like a falling meteor, carrying an aura of destruction, accurately locking onto Lu Jingming.
The air around the thunder arrow ionized, emitting a crackling sound.
"Heh, you think I'm just here for decoration!" March 7th, seeing this, puffed up her adorable, chubby cheeks in frustration.
She swiftly drew her pink longbow to a full moon shape, and her second spirit ring lit up with dazzling purple light.
"You take an arrow from me too! Second Spirit Ability, Time of Ice Carving Arrow Rain!"
With her clear and melodious shout, a frost arrow whistled through the air.
In flight, the frost arrow rapidly split, transforming into hundreds of arrows carrying extreme cold, pouring down on Tang Xiaolei like hail.
Wherever the arrow rain passed, the air seemed to freeze, and the temperature plummeted.
Tang Xiaolei's face instantly darkened. He continuously drew his bow, his spirit rings constantly flashing, attempting to intercept the overwhelming arrow rain.
However, he overestimated his own strength and underestimated March 7th's attack.
The purple light arrows froze upon contact with the intense cold, losing their forward momentum.
Immediately after, the frost arrow rain completely encased the area within tens of meters around Tang Xiaolei.
In the blink of an eye, only a massive ice mountain remained where he stood, Tang Xiaolei's figure, in the act of drawing and firing his bow, frozen within the ice.
Nonetheless, Tang Xiaolei's fifth spirit ability successfully interfered with Lu Jingming, buying precious time for Ye Wuqing.
The black spiral spear glow spun rapidly, instantly disintegrating and shattering the purple lightning arrow descending from the sky.
Jumping lightning raged around him, but it didn't harm him in the slightest.
Ye Wuqing seized the opportunity to distance himself, his second, fourth, and fifth spirit rings simultaneously shining with bright light, clearly preparing to use all his strength and release three spirit abilities at once.
Facing a powerful opponent like Lu Jingming, he dared not be careless. He immediately unleashed his strongest offensive means, going all out.
"Second Spirit Ability, Golden Leaf Rain! Fourth Spirit Ability, Golden Fall! Fifth Spirit Ability, Dance of the Golden Leaves!"
As Ye Wuqing roared, countless golden leaves fluttered down like snowflakes.
These golden leaves spun, carrying an incredibly sharp aura, cutting through the air with a buzzing sound.
They rapidly converged, forming a gigantic golden tornado that blotted out the sky, sweeping towards Lu Jingming under Ye Wuqing's control.
Wherever the golden tornado passed, the air warped, forming a massive vortex.
"Excellent!" Lu Jingming watched the approaching golden tornado, a confident and composed smile on his face.
It was a good chance for him to test the true power of the Stigmata of thunder.
In an instant, muffled thunder roared in the sky, as if the heavens and earth trembled.
Countless bolts of thunder energy converged from all directions, surging towards Lu Jingming like a stampede of ten thousand horses.
Under the influence of electromagnetic force, Lu Jingming's body slowly floated in mid-air. Behind him, countless bolts of lightning furiously entangled and gathered, gradually forming a hundred-meter-tall Thunder Giant.
The Thunder Giant held lightning in its hand, continuously gathering the surrounding thunder power, ultimately transforming it into a dazzling Thunder Light Spear.
The Thunder Light Spear was dozens of meters long, emitting blinding light that forced the audience to raise their arms to shield their eyes.
"All thunder in the world, serve my will! With thunder, shatter the darkness!"
Lu Jingming's eyes flashed with lightning. He looked at the sweeping golden tornado, his lips slightly curved, then pressed his single hand down.
The next moment, the Thunder Giant behind him swung the Thunder Spear in its hand, stabbing down with world-destroying momentum!
The instant the Thunder Spear pierced the golden tornado, time seemed to stop, and the entire arena fell into a dead silence.
"Boom!"
The deafening thunderclap was so loud it seemed to shatter eardrums.
Lightning raged in the air, spreading outwards from the Thunder Giant and the golden tornado.
The air, under the powerful electrical discharge, emitted a strange and pungent odor, like burnt ozone.
And the once mighty golden tornado was instantly swallowed and submerged by this terrifying lightning.
The high temperature brought by the lightning rapidly melted and disintegrated the golden leaves, turning them into nothingness, leaving only flashes of golden light shimmering within the lightning before completely disappearing, as if they had never existed.
Ye Wuqing lay in the rubble thrown up by the explosion, residual crackling electricity still on his body.
He was completely paralyzed, unable to move, and could only stare blankly at the sky. In his eyes, Lu Jingming's figure, suspended in mid-air and surrounded by lightning, was like a god!
"Angel, Consecration Slash!"
"Sacred Spirit Slash!"
High in the sky, Ye Guyi and Yu Mengdi's fierce battle was nearing its end.
At this moment, the two gigantic, divine angelic projections simultaneously raised their Angelic Holy Swords, which radiated endless brilliance.
The golden holy sword and the platinum holy sword illuminated each other, their light overwhelmingly dazzling, almost forcing everyone's eyes shut.
The two massive light swords clashed with a deafening roar in the air. In an instant, it was as if a blazing sun suddenly rose in the arena, its blinding holy light spreading outwards, instantly dyeing the entire venue pure white.
Within that dazzling holy light, a figure could vaguely be seen plummeting rapidly from high altitude like a bird with broken wings, pure white feathers fluttering down.
As the blinding light gradually dissipated, the audience finally managed to see the situation on the arena floor.
Yu Mengdi knelt on one knee, her sword plunged into the ground. She gasped for air, sweat soaking her clothes, her face slightly pale.
Ye Guyi, however, stood tall, holding her holy sword proudly in the void.
Although she too was slightly out of breath, her chest heaving, from her overall condition, the ultimate victor of this epic angelic battle was undoubtedly her.
Meanwhile, a winner was decided in another part of the arena.
Yan'er from Righteous Heaven Academy was completely enveloped within a massive water ball. Inside the water ball, she desperately held her breath, her limbs weakly struggling, looking utterly disheveled.
Gu Yue's lips curved slightly. She gently snapped her fingers, and the water ball instantly burst, water splashing everywhere.
Yan'er, soaking wet, fell from the competition stage like a limp rag.
Her drenched appearance unexpectedly created a unique allure, causing many spectators to whistle, the whistles echoing through the arena.
On the other side, Castorice quietly held her magnificent purple scythe, serene as a fairy in a painting, standing perfectly still.
Not far from her feet, Yang Yifan and Xue Lang lay with their eyes rolled back, limbs limp, looking utterly exhausted and "broken" from the ordeal.
"Sixteen into eight, team battle, St. Freya Academy wins!" Dan Heng's expression was calm, his gaze lightly sweeping over the completely defeated Righteous Heaven Academy, then he announced the match results.
After the showdown between St. Freya Academy and Righteous Heaven Academy, the Soul Master Tournament's sixteen-into-eight schedule progressed steadily.
The team matches were held on the first two days, and the third day welcomed the individual elimination matches.
Righteous Heaven Academy, after their devastating defeat in the team matches, had already given up on any extravagant hopes of a comeback.
After all, if they couldn't defeat St. Freya Academy in the team matches, they felt they had no chance in the individual elimination matches.
However, they still insisted on participating in the individual elimination matches.
Ultimately, Righteous Heaven Academy sent their three strongest Spirit Kings from the team to compete. After their defeat, their journey in this tournament perfectly ended, unfortunately stopping at the top sixteen.
In contrast, St. Freya Academy advanced triumphantly, sweeping aside their opponents with a powerful stance. Their brilliant performance led almost all spectators to believe they were strong contenders for the championship.
However, in the sixteen-into-eight matches, the appearance of Shrek Academy brought a huge variable to the tournament.
Shrek Academy sent out three main team members: Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yaoheng, and Ling Luochen.
Among them, Ma Xiaotao's cultivation as a Spirit Saint, once revealed, instantly shocked the entire arena.
At that moment, almost everyone felt that the championship trophy for this tournament was very likely to be reclaimed by Shrek Academy.
After all, while St. Freya Academy was strong and performed brilliantly, Lu Jingming and the others were currently only Spirit Kings. Compared to Ma Xiaotao's Spirit Saint cultivation, the level of shock they delivered to the audience was indeed slightly less.
Apart from Shrek Academy itself, most other spectators believed that Shrek Academy would win the championship in this tournament.
This was because ordinary spectators knew too little about Spirit Masters. They didn't understand the true value of a hundred-thousand-year spirit ring, nor did they comprehend what "ultimate attributes" meant, and they certainly couldn't grasp the relationships of elemental counter-attributes between Spirit Masters.
With the sixteen-into-eight matches successfully concluded, the eight-into-four matches were next. In the drawing of lots, St. Freya Academy drew the Star Luo Imperial Academy.
When he saw this drawing result, Lu Jingming shook his head helplessly.
Star Luo Imperial Academy's luck was truly a bit poor, encountering them already in the top eight.
However, given the overall strength of Star Luo Imperial Academy, whether they met St. Freya Academy, Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, or Shrek Academy, the final outcome would likely be defeat.
When the audience saw this drawing result, most expressed some regret.
After all, Star Luo Imperial Academy and St. Freya Academy were both teams representing the Star Luo Empire in the competition. Now, they were meeting in a "civil war" in the top eight.
Moreover, most of the audience present at the venue were actually citizens of the Star Luo Empire; audiences from other countries constituted only a minority.