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******
Two months later.
Heaven Dou City, Great Spirit Arena.
"Ranking Tournament, Round Thirteen—battle for the top spot among the Heaven Dou Empire's advanced academies! Twelve-win streak Shrek Academy VS twelve-win streak Godwind Academy!! It's about to begin!" the referee announced excitedly.
Although the Heaven Dou Royal Academy did not participate in the ranking stage, Tang San—the captain of Shrek Academy—kept exploding with standout performances, still drawing a lot of… traffic.
Mm, negative traffic!
Because Shrek Academy's reputation had long since stunk to high heaven, countless spectators were dying to see how Shrek would lose.
Yet Shrek Academy was like an undying cockroach. Relying on Tang San and his "Eight Spider Lances," they kept pulling off clutch plays, forcibly defeating strong teams like Thunder Academy and Tianshui Academy, driving Shrek's haters insane.
They desperately hoped a team would stomp Shrek Academy into the ground.
Now all their hopes rested on Godwind Academy—because Godwind also had a twelve-match winning streak!!
Moreover, in the qualifiers, Godwind Academy had defeated Shrek Academy!
"Feng Xiaotian!!"
"Feng Xiaotian!!"
"Godwind!!"
"Godwind!!"
"Shrek Academy, drop dead!!!"
"Look at those Shrek team members—don't they just beg for a beating!"
"Right? And how did a bearded uncle sneak in there? That uncle is under twenty-five too?!"
"No idea. And that fatso is even more punchable—his eyes haven't stopped roving. One sweep from him and I've got goosebumps all over."
Ma Hongjun's eyes glowed red as he kept scanning the female spectators. His mouth grew drier and drier.
The popsicle in his hand was already gnawed down to almost nothing, yet the lustful fire in his body still refused to subside.
Impatient, Ma Hongjun blurted, "Third Brother, can we finish this fight quickly? I can barely hold it in!"
Tang San shot Ma Hongjun a glare. "Even if you can't hold it, you'll hold it. Is Godwind Academy so easy to fight? We still need you to perform later. You're our only flying-type martial soul—save all that 'fire' and vent it on the enemy."
"Oh. Got it." Ma Hongjun sulked. His evil fire wasn't vented that way, and he knew it.
Thinking of something, Ma Hongjun quietly took two steps back, eyes drifting again toward Xiao Wu's beautiful legs.
If the women in the stands wouldn't indulge him, well—if you won't give me face, then staring at your wife's legs should be fine, right?
While Tang San and Yu Xiaogang discussed tactics for facing Godwind, a youth in a cyan, silver-trimmed team uniform walked over.
Everyone looked up—sure enough, it was their upcoming opponent, Godwind's captain, Feng Xiaotian.
"Feng Xiaotian? What do you want? You can't eavesdrop on tactics here," Dai Mubai said loudly.
Feng Xiaotian waved a hand. "What tactics could Shrek possibly have? Isn't it just your dragging stratagem—stall until the opponent's soul power is exhausted, then rely on Tang San to eliminate however many he can?"
"So what? If it works, it works!" Yu Xiaogang spoke up. He also had his own agenda in favor of this tactic.
In every battle, the one to finish the strongest opponent must be Tang San.
On a national stage like the ranking tournament, the better Tang San performed, the more resounding the Master's reputation became!
"No need to be so troublesome. It's going to come down to me and Tang San as the finale anyway. After observing these past days, I'd say—other than the soul masters of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy—the strongest Soul Sect is you, Tang San, isn't it?"
Hearing the praise, Tang San's lips curled slightly.
"Correct! Didn't expect your eye to be that sharp."
The twelve-win streak had given Tang San tremendous confidence, rekindling that invincible feeling of never tasting defeat.
"I also reckon that, aside from Heaven Dou Royal Academy, I'm the strongest Soul Sect. How about this: you and I go on first—one bout decides the match!" Feng Xiaotian declared with confidence.
Ma Hongjun blurted, anxious, "Third Brother!! Say yes!"
"Good, that's exactly what I wanted!!" Tang San agreed. This actually favored Shrek, since he wasn't sure how much damage Mubai and the others could do to Godwind's lineup.
Seeing both sides agree to a one-on-one to decide victory, the referee immediately adjusted the announcement:
"The outcome of the following match will be determined by the result of Tang San versus Feng Xiaotian!!"
"Heaven Dou Empire Ranking Tournament, Round Thirteen—Shrek Academy versus Godwind Academy—begins now!!"
Tang San and Feng Xiaotian leapt onto the platform and faced each other.
Tang San summoned Blue Silver Grass, while Feng Xiaotian directly activated his martial soul—"Gale Two-Headed Wolf" possession.
Without hesitation, Feng Xiaotian opened his second and third soul skills. He'd chosen a fast assault, giving Tang San no chance to control him!
"Twin Wolves Possession!!"
"Gale Twin Wings!!"
After fusing with the twin-wolf phantom, his arms merged again with enormous cyan light-wings. Feng Xiaotian's physical attributes surged, allowing him to withstand the activation of the "Gale Demon Wolf Thirty-Sixfold Slash."
Tang San stared solemnly at him. Was Feng Xiaotian about to use that self-created soul skill he'd used against Heaven Dou Royal Academy?
Just as Tang San anticipated.
Feng Xiaotian called out, "Gale Demon Wolf Thirty-Sixfold Slash—First Slash!!"
He turned into a crescent of cyan edge, shooting straight for Tang San.
Purple intent flashed in Tang San's eyes.
Opening the Purple Demon Eye, he instantly locked onto Feng Xiaotian's high-speed movement. His fourth soul ring lit up.
"Blue Silver Prison!!"
A jet-black Blue Silver Grass cage erupted where Feng Xiaotian's body would pass.
Yet facing Tang San's Blue Silver Prison—
Feng Xiaotian simply ignored it, spreading his wings and angling the wing-blades at the prison.
The moment those massive cyan light-wings touched the "Blue Silver Prison," countless blades of Blue Silver flew like grass clippings across the air.
At each severed stalk, one could see a clean, tidy cut left by the wing-edges.
Tang San's purple pupils shrank sharply. Was his Blue Silver Grass really this fragile?
Or was Feng Xiaotian's "Gale Demon Wolf Thirty-Sixfold Slash" simply that strong?
Why is my Blue Silver Grass different from Ye Lan's?
No time to think. White light flickered in Tang San's hands as he unleashed "Mysterious Jade Hand."
The instant Feng Xiaotian's left wing slashed toward him, Tang San crossed his jade-like hands and braced against the light-wing.
Bang!!
So painful!!
A pain boring into marrow made Tang San bare his teeth.
Seeing Tang San block his First Slash, Feng Xiaotian wasn't surprised.
But if the First Slash could be blocked—
What about the Second? The Third?
Are you also a double Black Tortoise with Ye Lan's support?
Feng Xiaotian slid in a graceful arc, stacking the speed and power of the previous strike onto the next.
Second Slash!
Bang!
Third Slash!
Bang!
After eating three slashes, Tang San knew that if this continued, defeat was certain!
The jet-black "Eight Spider Lances" burst forth, puncturing his fecal-green team uniform emblazoned "Yu Yan Clean—Wash for Better Health!" GG.
With the Purple Demon Eye, Tang San instantly locked onto the cyan wing that was about to strike in high-speed motion.
With a thought, the Eight Spider Lances stabbed toward the inevitable path of that cyan wing.
Bang!
This time, the Eight Spider Lances collided head-on with Feng Xiaotian's wing.
"Ah!!"
Tang San cried out in pain—two lance tips had been neatly sliced off by the wing of light.
Feng Xiaotian's mouth quirked up. Did this fool think my wings were fixed in place?
At the instant the Lances were about to pierce him, he merely gave a light flap, slipping away from the thrust.
When he realized even the invincible "Eight Spider Lances" were ineffective, Tang San's face changed drastically, cold sweat beading on his forehead!
What to do?!
At this rate, I'll definitely lose.
"Eight Spider Lances," "Blue Silver Grass," and "Mysterious Jade Hand" are all ineffective against him, and Feng Xiaotian's "Gale Demon Wolf Thirty-Sixfold Slash" only grows stronger with each strike.
Stronger and stronger?
At that moment, Tang San thought of something.
Isn't that just like the Random Cloak Hammer Technique?
Before Feng Xiaotian's next slash arrived, a small black hammer appeared in Tang San's palm.
Hands gripping the hammer, he drove power from calves to thighs, then through a twist of the waist, a snap of the shoulders, back leading the arms—his whole body turning half a circle.
With the acuity of the Purple Demon Eye, the Clear Sky Hammer landed squarely on Feng Xiaotian's wing.
Bang!!
Feng Xiaotian grimaced; his once-stable light-wings fluctuated violently.
He instantly poured soul power into stabilizing them.
Right then, Feng Xiaotian cast off all thought of pain. He truly could not lose again!
He'd already lost to Ye Lan's student last time—must he lose to Tang San this time?
Cheers thundered in his ears as the audience shouted his name!
So as not to betray their expectations, he could not lose to Tang San!!
Borrowing force once more, Feng Xiaotian ignored the wing's pain and spun a full circle.
On the ground, Tang San did the same—hands locked on the Clear Sky Hammer, turning again to borrow force.
Bang!
Bang!
Their attacks grew faster and faster. Each collision burst into showers of black motes and cyan sparks.
It was the view of martial souls repeatedly cracking and being repaired by soul power.
In barely over ten seconds, the two had exchanged more than a dozen rounds. As the clash continued, both speed and power climbed sharply!
In the VIP stand, Emperor Xue Ye, Platinum Bishop Salas, and Seven Treasure Glazed Sect Master Ning Fengzhi stared, dumbfounded, at the little black hammer in Tang San's hand.
"Is that the Haotian Hammer?!" Emperor Xue Ye muttered.
"Your Majesty, the black little hammer in Tang San's hand is indeed the Clear Sky Hammer. What a Clear Sky Hammer… Yu Xiaogang truly had good luck—he actually dug up a treasure at Nuoding Academy. Tang San's martial souls are Blue Silver Grass and the Clear Sky Hammer!" Ning Fengzhi murmured.
Salas's eyes narrowed. Clear Sky Hammer? Blue Silver Grass? Twin martial souls? Fourteen or fifteen years old?
Isn't that precisely the son of the wanted criminal Tang Hao from fifteen years ago?
Such gall—to dare compete in the 'Continental Advanced Academy Elite Soul Master Tournament' organized by Spirit Hall this year!
Savoring the prospect of such a great merit, Salas said blandly, "So he has twin martial souls—so what? Can Yu Xiaogang teach a twin-martial-soul soul master? He's already led the first martial soul, Blue Silver Grass, astray. Tang San's Blue Silver Grass can be said to be useless aside from poison—and in poison, he can't match true poison-aspect martial souls."
Emperor Xue Ye's face tightened. "No matter how he misleads the child, becoming a Titled Douluo shouldn't be hard. I just don't know if he can break the curse of twin martial souls."
Originally, Emperor Xue Ye was quite interested in Shrek's Tang San, but once he learned the boy belonged to the Clear Sky Sect, his interest vanished.
Haotian sect disciples are famous for their stubborn tempers—and for being sect-slaves.
A Clear Sky disciple knows the Clear Sky Sect, not the Heaven Dou Empire.
So the Emperor instantly shelved any thought of recruiting Tang San.
Investing in Tang San would be like throwing meat buns to a dog—gone for good.
If not for the fact that he dared not offend the Clear Sky Sect, he might have had the dark guard assassinate Tang San already—after all, before sealing their sect, the Clear Sky Sect stood with the Star Luo Empire.
On the platform, the more the "Random Cloak Hammer" and the "Gale Demon Wolf Thirty-Sixfold Slash" clashed, the more terrifying the power became!
Both sides could even borrow a trace of force from the other's technique, causing their charge-up moves to break past their original limits.
As the two kept spinning, twin cyclones rose on the stage.
Within those whirlwinds, black soul-light motes and cyan soul-light motes flashed and collided in a dazzling view.
The spectators kept cheering for Feng Xiaotian—he was their only hope of defeating Shrek!
"Go, Feng Xiaotian!!"
"Take down Tang San!!"
"Go, Feng Xiaotian!!"
"Down with Sh—rek!!"
Though the cheers fanned Feng Xiaotian's fighting spirit to its peak and his soul power surged with excitement—his "Gale Demon Wolf Thirty-Sixfold Slash" performing at one hundred and twenty percent—
A sudden sound cut off the crowd's roar.
Bang!!!
Like a kite with a severed string, Feng Xiaotian was blasted off the platform by the Clear Sky Hammer. In the end, his martial soul's quality was still a notch below the Clear Sky Hammer; the "Gale Twin-Headed Demon Wolf" could not endure the Random Cloak Hammer stacked to its apex.
Tang San turned, sweeping a gaze across the arena, then threw back his head and roared, "Heaven Dou's Number One Academy is Shrek Academy!!! I am the Number One Soul Sect of Heaven Dou!
!"
Half-kneeling, Feng Xiaotian pushed himself up and said, "Tang San, you only defeated me. You're not worthy of the title 'First Soul Sect.' You haven't even beaten the Soul Elder, Ye Lan."
"Che, him? I stopped taking him seriously long ago. He's just a freeloader carried by his teammates," Tang San said carelessly.
"Heaven Dou Royal Academy didn't enter because they're afraid of running into Shrek, aren't they?" Tang San continued to boast viciously.
"Boo!!"
"Boo!!"
"Boo!!"
The crowd couldn't stomach Tang San's arrogance. In no time, most of the spectators got up and left.
Clearly, they were very dissatisfied with Shrek taking first place in the Heaven Dou ranking stage. They thought, in secret: if only the Heaven Dou Royal Academy had participated.
Feng Xiaotian shot Tang San a speechless look. Heaven Dou Royal Academy had a seeded slot, so of course they didn't care about the ranking stage.
If they had energy to burn on rankings, they'd rather rest and build strength.
After basking for a moment in the deflated crowd, Tang San lifted his chin and strode back to Shrek Academy's lounge.
"Nine-Heart Begonia—Fourth," a purple light flashed from Ye Lengleng's fourth soul ring, and a shower of petals drifted toward Feng Xiaotian.
His shattered arms healed in moments. He glanced gratefully at Ye Lengleng. "Thank you."
Ye Lengleng waved it off. She happened to be watching the match with Dugu Yan.
As a healer, she couldn't ignore seeing an acquaintance so badly hurt.
"Where's Captain Ye? He didn't come?" Feng Xiaotian asked.
"Hahaha, same as always—our idol is holed up at Heaven Dou Royal every day. He only went to Sunset Forest a while back," Dugu Yan laughed.
Shrek Academy lounge.
Xiao Wu hugged Tang San excitedly. "Third Brother, that was amazing! We actually defeated the strongest Godwind Academy! Now Shrek Academy is thirteen wins, thirteen victories—Heaven Dou's number one academy!!"
The Master nodded, excited. "Good, good. We're number one!!! If not for Heaven Dou Royal abstaining, we'd even have trampled them to the top!!"
Oscar hesitated. "That Angel Holy Sword Soul King—can we really beat him?"
Xiao Wu huffed. "So what if he's a Soul King? Didn't you hear Third Brother? Once he releases Eight Spider Lances, his strength rises to Soul King level. What garbage martial soul is Angel Holy Sword? Third Brother's Clear Sky Hammer is the number one tool martial soul under heaven!!"
"Xiao Wu's right. Third Brother now might even be stronger than my father, the Titan Giant Ape King! That Angel Holy Sword isn't unbeatable!!" Tai Long chimed in, excited.
"I also believe Little San can beat a Soul King. Pity Heaven Dou Royal won't take the field—otherwise we could get our revenge like in the qualifiers," Dai Mubai sighed.
Yu Xiaogang looked over the newly confident group with satisfaction. Riding the momentum of thirteen straight wins, Shrek had finally stepped out of its former shadow.
Now what he needed to do was bolster that confidence—forge Shrek's heart of invincibility.
"As of now, Little San's strength is far beyond what it used to be. In a pure duel, I doubt there's anyone in Heaven Dou Royal who can beat him."
"But Heaven Dou Royal's roster depth is outrageous—Black Tortoise for defense, Nine-Heart Begonia for healing, and Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon for assault."
"And we even have Shrek's traitors—the Seven Treasure Glazed Pagoda and the Shadow Saint Cat."
"In the finals, we probably can't beat Heaven Dou Royal in a team fight—their tactical systems are simply too many."
"However, we can defeat Heaven Dou Royal in the ranking stage. Since they aren't participating now, do you have any way to make them enter?" Yu Xiaogang asked.
"Put your heads together—tomorrow is the scheduled round of Shrek versus Heaven Dou Royal."
"If Heaven Dou Royal still forfeits like usual, we'll lose our only chance to defeat them in the ranking stage," Yu Xiaogang concluded.
For a moment, everyone buzzed with discussion.
Soon after, Xiao Wu's round eyes spun and flashed—she'd thought of a brilliant idea.
Heaven Dou Royal Academy, First Team training ground.
Unlike usual, today the First Team's training ground also gathered members of the Second Team.
They surrounded a blond youth, urgently pressing him with questions.
"Captain Ye, will the First Team participate in tomorrow's ranking stage of the Continental Elite Soul Master Tournament?"
"Captain Ye! Please join the rankings!! Shrek Academy is way too arrogant!!"
"Yeah, even Godwind lost to Shrek!! Tang San is out there claiming Shrek is the number one academy, and that he's Heaven Dou's number one Soul Sect!"
"Just seeing that dark face of his makes me want to puke. He's hateful—a petty man gloating at success!!"
"They abused us like that before—you have to avenge us, Captain Ye!"
Team Leader Wang said, "All right, all right—another word and Ye Lan's head will explode."
"Ye Lan, will you compete tomorrow?"
"Relax. Tomorrow, the First Team will face Shrek. Back then, the reason we joined the qualifiers was that Shrek abused our classmates. Since they showed no respect to Heaven Dou Royal Academy, then I won't be holding back tomorrow either. I'll put a full stop to this."
"Good!!!"
"Captain Ye, long live!!"
"God Ye, long live!!"
Team Leader Wang shot Ye Lan a grateful look. "Sorry to trouble you. I know you're busy cultivating every day. You're the most gifted talents of Heaven Dou Royal—of the entire Douluo Continent, even—and yet you still have to make time to vent our Second Team's anger."
Ye Lan scratched his head, embarrassed. Ever since his Blue Silver Grass awakened a third ultimate force, he couldn't really claim to practice all that much.
A mere one or two hours of cultivation each day reached the growth cap of his martial soul; the rest of the time he spent reading all kinds of books and studying everyone's martial souls and soul rings.
Though there wasn't much concrete progress, his understanding of martial souls had deepened considerably.
After bidding farewell to the Second Team, Ye Lan chewed on a blade of grass while watching Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing train.
From time to time he shouted, "Rongrong, run faster—didn't you eat lunch?"
Ning Rongrong's little face flushed—caught slacking again—so she kicked it up a notch.
Just then, she saw Ye Lengleng and Dugu Yan, and her smile bloomed. She seized the chance to goof off.
"Lengleng-jie, bad woman—you're here?!" Ning Rongrong hugged Ye Lengleng's arm, delighted.
"Mhm, we just came back from the Great Spirit Arena. Didn't expect a little incident," Ye Lengleng said.
"What happened? Everything okay?" Ye Lan asked.
"Ye Lan, this is for you." Ye Lengleng handed him a yellow envelope.
Ye Lan took it, looking at her in puzzlement. "Whose letter?"
Dugu Yan said with disgust, "Those buzzing flies from Shrek just had to shove this at Lengleng and tell her to pass it to you."
Ye Lan opened the envelope, curious what tricks Shrek was up to now.
The letter read:
Tomorrow—does Heaven Dou Royal Academy dare fight our Shrek Academy? Are you not taking the field because you're afraid of us? If you don't participate in the Continental Advanced Academy Elite Soul Master Tournament tomorrow, then your entire team are craven cowards!! Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong—where's that fire you had when you betrayed Shrek? Are you scared we'll grind you underfoot?
After reading, Ye Lan rolled his eyes.
Had Shrek abused weaklings so much they were hallucinating? They really thought the ranking format could beat Heaven Dou Royal?
"Let me see, let me see!" Ning Rongrong grabbed the envelope from Ye Lan's hand, while the others crowded around to read it with her.
"What kind of brain circuit do these flies have? Do they really think we're afraid? Using such a brain-dead goading ploy!!" Dugu Yan spat.
(End of Chapter)