"Begin!" With the referee's command, the much-anticipated match officially started.
A White Tiger Barrier blossomed around Davis. Though his soul skills weren't identical to Dai Mubai's, the first three were the same—family-tested choices honed over generations. Li Chang'an had once heard Dai Mubai mention as much.
Davis and Zhu Zhuyun moved first.
Davis charged head-on, aura surging, activating White Tiger Vajra Transformation as he pressed straight into Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu. His soul power was formidable and his martial soul brutally domineering. He might have been a notch below Zhu Zhuqing in raw soul power, but in a frontal clash, the White Tiger excelled.
Behind him, Zhu Zhuyun flickered into motion. A supporting light flowed into her from the rear, and her figure all but vanished. With a flash that left only a pale afterimage arcing through the air, she cut from the flank—targeting Li Chang'an.
Plainly, the two black soul rings on Li Chang'an had marked him as the greatest threat.
Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing, however, no longer feared Davis. Xiao Wu's Invincible Golden Body and Zhu Zhuqing's Nether Thrust met him head-on.
"Bang!"
"Shhk!"
Zhu Zhuqing's claws tore through Davis's barrier, scoring two dark-element gashes across his forearm, while Xiao Wu forced him back five full meters.
Li Chang'an, for his part, was unhurried. He acted as if he hadn't even noticed Zhu Zhuyun. He tossed the Taibai Sword high—then flicked it. Steel whistled past, forcing Zhu Zhuyun to reveal herself and abort the strike to evade the blade.
Clang—
Her phantom-like form stalled midair—another swift silhouette gliding into her path, trailed by a ribbon of speed-boosting light. Sister met sister, and sparks cascaded through the air as Zhu Zhuqing and Zhu Zhuyun collided again and again like twin meteors, claw against claw.
Zhu Zhuqing was younger, but in soul power, rings, and martial soul, she pressed the advantage. Zhu Zhuyun did have external amplification; Zhu Zhuqing did not. Even so, it only let Zhu Zhuyun barely hold the line.
On the other side, the duel had fully ignited. For now, Xiao Wu alone confronted the imperious Davis—yet she felt no pressure. That man was standing behind her, anchoring the field.
With a shimmer, Xiao Wu flashed in front of Davis. Her second soul skill, Charm, poured from her rose-tinted eyes.
Davis snorted, amethyst light flaring in his gaze. Under the Vajra Transformation's boost, he spat a White Tiger Light Wave, then accelerated—tiger claws spread—aiming straight for Li Chang'an.
He had, however, underestimated Xiao Wu.
In an instant she teleported, slipping past the Light Wave. A heartbeat later, a dense sheath of gold covered her—then snapped tight around Davis.
As heir apparent of the White Tiger line, Davis had seen countless battles. He didn't panic. Barrier and Vajra surged to the limit, a flood of white light erupting from within to blast Xiao Wu away by force.
He miscalculated.
When his light met Xiao Wu's golden aura, it offered no resistance at all. Her braided scorpion-tail lashed out and cinched tight around his neck.
Soft-Bone Charm Rabbit, Xiao Wu—Fourth Soul Skill: Invincible Golden Body—activate.
For Xiao Wu, nothing suits her better. While active, all attacks are nullified, and her strength doubles. Duration: three seconds, plus one additional second for every ten ranks of soul power.
Three seconds seems brief, but it wins fights. Those three invincible seconds guaranteed her the approach she needed.
Her long hair—no longer her body—looped Davis's throat, just as Li Chang'an preferred; he had told her he disliked seeing her bind foes with her body. She had revised her grappling accordingly. Braids tightened; Xiao Wu flashed behind Davis, one foot planting on the floor, the other braced at his lower back.
First Soul Skill: Waist Bow!
Her frame drew taut within the golden glow—and detonated. With the Invincible Golden Body doubling her power, then Waist Bow doubling it again, the force that surged from her slender form was terrifying. Even a Rank-60 spirit master, caught like this, could not resist.
Davis's body rocketed like a cannonball, slamming into his teammates.
One woman was enough to break the line.
Mu Xi's support arrived a beat later; Xiao Wu's expended soul power flooded back, all debuffs cleansed.
Davis, tumbling helplessly, was barely caught by three teammates working together. That was when Meng Yiran moved. A pale-green miasma drifted over the Star Luo formation while they were occupied, and though they hastily pushed back with soul power, the anesthetic poison had already seeped in.
Li Chang'an still hadn't struck. Relying on Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, Meng Yiran, and Mu Xi alone, the enemy formation was already in chaos.
That was exactly the effect he wanted in this tournament: let the girls go full burst.
At that moment, Hu Liena, thrilled by Li Chang'an's quiet instruction, pecked him on the cheek right there on the field—and moved.
With a light step and a turn, she drifted to the front line. A faint smile touched her lips. As her martial soul unfurled, her beauty seemed to sharpen; a plush fox tail blossomed behind her.
Two yellow, two purple, one black—five soul rings rose and pulsed in perfect rhythm. Her aura surged—
Spirit Emperor.
A collective gasp swept the arena. Even Li Chang'an's earlier shock value hadn't hit this hard—he only showed two black rings. Hu Liena was a five-ring spirit Emperor, the strongest competitor on the stage.
Even Spirit Hall Academy's representatives, the strongest seen so far in this tournament, had topped out around Rank 53.
A soft roseate glow spilled from Hu Liena. Her eyes flickered. Davis, just recovering his footing, froze for a fraction, then barked with veteran instinct, "Don't look at her eyes!"
Hu Liena's voice came husky, threaded with a velvet allure. "And if you don't look? Others call me the Celestial Fox."
From that first glance to that one line, the entire Star Luo squad failed to act.
An uncanny sequence followed. Hu Liena's five rings gleamed in order—first the black fifth, then the fourth, third, second, and finally the first. With each pulse, the red glow around her deepened.
Behind her, Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing struck as one. Finish them while they're reeling. At Hu Liena's current level, her charm could bind them long enough. One had lethal speed; the other, teleportation. A synchronized blitz would be decisive.
At the same time, Meng Yiran's fourth ring lit—the poison thickened.
Thud!
Thud!
Before the Star Luo team could recover, the poison and Hu Liena's soul skills overlapped—and in a chorus of pained cries, Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing kicked them off the stage one by one.
Crimson Rose Academy—victory!
A clean win achieved without Li Chang'an lifting a hand—earned by Xiao Wu and the girls alone.