The Titled Douluo referee, his own aura a heavy weight pressing down on the stage, took one last look at the two sides. On one, a sea of forty-two young, nervous, and furious faces. On the other, seven calm, almost bored, expressions. He raised his hand, the crowd's roar falling to a hush.
"The match begins... NOW!"
His voice was a thunderclap. The stage exploded.
A chaotic wave of light—fiery gold, icy blue, crackling purple, earthen yellow, and venomous green—erupted from the forty-two allied students as they unleashed their spirits. Across the field, the Emperor Team responded as one. Seven powerful, unified auras flared, their combined presence a single, sharp spearhead against the messy, disorganized wave of their opponents.
The Emperor Team did not wait. They did not defend. They charged.
Zhang Tian, Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, Dugu Yan, and Yu Feng shot forward like a single, cohesive unit. Shi Mo and Ye Lingling remained at their starting point, the unshakeable core of their defense, Ye Lingling's Nine Heart Flowering Apple already glowing.
Zhang Tian, leading the charge, was the first to act. His eyes were cold, his movements fluid. His first, second, and fifth spirit rings blazed to life in a single, seamless instant.
"Second Spirit Ability: Parasitic Spores!"
An invisible cloud of microscopic, crimson spores burst from him, carried forward on the wind of their charge, faster than any eye could see. They were seeds of chaos, settling on the skin, armor, and spirits of every opponent on the stage.
The allied teams, bracing for a physical clash, were caught completely off guard.
Before they could even question what the ability did, Zhang Tian's fifth ring pulsed with a dark, menacing light. He whispered, his voice a cold promise of the doom to come.
"Fifth Spirit Ability: Blood Thunder Hell Cage."
The stage was instantly transformed. It was no longer a stone platform; it was a living hell.
A forest of thick, crimson vines, their surfaces covered in barbs as sharp as daggers, erupted from the ground. And in the same instant, the parasitic spores that had landed on them ignited. The vines, now crackling with a furious, violet lightning, spread across a massive fifty-meter radius, enveloping the entire Divine Wind Academy, half of the Blazing Academy, and crashing against the defensive formations of the other teams.
The attack was too fast, too powerful, and too unexpected.
The members of the Divine Wind Academy, whose spirits were built for speed but were as fragile as glass, were snared instantly.
"What is this?!" one of them shrieked.
"My spirit power… it's being devoured!"
"The lightning! Aaaargh!"
The combination of the blood-draining vines and the paralyzing thunder from the cage was a death sentence. They convulsed, their bodies smoking, their spirit power siphoned away at a terrifying rate. In the first three seconds of the match, seven students were defeated, collapsing in a bound, twitching heap.
Only Feng Xiaotian, their captain, managed to react. His reflexes were superb. "Third Ability: Stormwind Wings!"
A burst of cyan energy erupted from his back, launching him just above the lethal cage of lightning. He stared down in horror as his entire team was neutralized, their unconscious bodies still being drained by the crimson vines.
"My team… he… he beat nearly my whole team in one move…"
The Blazing Academy members, caught on the edge of the blast, were tougher.
"Fire wall! Now!" Huo Wushuang roared. "Third Ability: Wrath of the Tyrannosaurus!" His body erupted in raging flames. He and his sister, Huo Wu, unleashed a torrent of fire, a defensive inferno aimed at the oncoming vines.
HSSSSSS!
The vines sizzled and steamed, but they did not burn. The crimson grass, born of an empress and tempered by immortal herbs, was almost immune to common fire. The Blazing Academy was forced to pour a massive amount of spirit power just to hold their ground, their formation shattered, their faces masks of shock.
"This grass… it's not burning!" Huo Wu cried out, her confidence shaken. "Brother, this is bad!"
Tang San, seeing the terrifying attack envelop the field, reacted with lightning speed. "He's targeting everyone! DEFEND! Second: Parasite! First Ability: Bind! Boss Mubai, Brother Tianheng, block!"
He slammed his hands on the ground, unleashing his own Purple Spirit Grass, creating a defensive wall of vines to intercept the oncoming crimson tide. But his vines, though powerful, looked weak, almost sickly, next to the vibrant, crackling crimson of Zhang Tian's.
"This won't hold him!" Tang San yelled. "Blast a clearing! NOW!"
Dai Mubai and Yu Tianheng didn't hesitate. They poured their spirit power into their strongest attacks, not as an offense, but as a desperate, defensive explosion.
"Fourth Ability: White Tiger Meteor Shower!"
"Fourth Ability: Thunderous Dragon Head!"
A storm of light and a roaring dragon head exploded outwards, tearing a small, safe pocket in the advancing forest of crimson vines. But the vines were relentless, pressing in from all sides. The lightning from the Blood Thunder Hell Cage arced over their barrier, striking their bodies.
"Agh! This lightning is strong!" Yu Tianheng grunted, his own draconic lightning flickering in protest.
On the other side of the stage, the other academies were fighting for their lives.
"Sisters, unleash the icy wind tactic!" Shui Bing'er of Heavenly Water Academy commanded. A wave of icy wind, cold enough to freeze magma, washed over the vines. The vines frosted over, their movements slowing, but the ice shattered almost instantly as if it was immune to ice. The lightning crackling within them was too chaotic as it neared them.
"The ice… it doesn't work!" one of her teammates cried in panic.
"Then break them! Shattering Ice Lances!" Shui Bing'er ordered. The seven girls unleashed a barrage of ice attacks, not trying to freeze the vines, but to physically shatter them.
Nearby, Mu Qingzhu of the Plant Academy watched with cold, analytical eyes. She saw the vines coming, felt their familiar, yet corrupted, power. She activated her spirit bone. "Instant Defensive Construct Creation!" A massive, dense shield of her own Azure Blood Vines erupted from the ground, taking the brunt of the lightning. The shield held, but she grunted, "This power… it's heavy! It feels… angry."
The Thunderclap Academy fared the worst. "He dares use lightning against us?!" Yu Tianxin roared, his pride stung. "Lightning Barrier! Show him the power of true dragons!"
He and his teammates, Lie Tian with his Thunder Hawk and Lie Dong with his Thunder Spider, combined their own purple lightning, creating a defensive shield.
The two storms—crimson-violet vs. pure-purple—clashed. The feedback was instantaneous and brutal. The Thunderclap team's lightning was like a stream trying to stop a river. It was consumed, turned back on itself. Several members screamed as the Blood Thunder surged into their barrier, injuring them. They held, but barely, their faces pale, their spirit power already dangerously low.
The entire arena was in chaos. In a single, devastating opening move, Zhang Tian had defeated one team, crippled another, and forced the remaining four onto a desperate, defensive footing.
As the chaos of Zhang Tian's opening gambit settled, the Emperor Team split. Zhang Tian himself, a calm predator in the eye of the storm, began to walk towards the largest cluster of survivors: the combined, shattered remnants of the Shrek, Blazing, and Divine Wind captains.
Ning Rongrong and Dugu Yan, their movements in perfect sync, veered off, their target the still-reeling Thunderclap Academy.
Yu Feng shot into the sky, his buffed wings carrying him towards the Plant Academy.
And Zhu Zhuqing… she simply vanished.
Shui Bing'er, a careful and brilliant leader, was trying to rally her team, her eyes scanning the chaotic battlefield. "Stay together! Watch for—"
"Looking for me?"
Zhu Zhuqing's voice, a cold, silken purr, came from the center of their formation. She had moved so fast, she was a phantom, a ghost of shadow and malice.
"Sisters! Ice-Lock Array! Bind her!" Shui Bing'er commanded, her voice sharp with alarm. The seven girls moved in perfect unison, their spirits releasing a wave of frost. The temperature on the stage plummeted, ice crystals forming in the air, the very moisture of the atmosphere becoming a weapon to slow her.
Zhu Zhuqing just smirked. "Cute."
She didn't slow down. She accelerated. "Self-created skill: Infernal Dance."
A whirlwind of shadow and black fire erupted from her body. The fire wasn't just hot; it was a cold, dark flame that seemed to eat the ice. The entire Ice-Lock Array, a high-level coordination skill, turned to hissing, vaporous steam. The seven girls cried out in shock as their own icy mist was turned against them, a scalding cloud.
"This fire… it's not normal!" one of them shouted in panic. "It's feeding on our ice!"
Shui Bing'er remained calm, her mind racing. "She's trying to counter our element. She's a single target! Third Ability: Ice Seal!" A beam of freezing energy, faster than a normal attack, shot from her hands, aimed at freezing Zhu Zhuqing solid.
Zhu Zhuqing didn't dodge. She countered. Her third spirit ring flared. "Eclipse Ray Strike." She didn't infuse it with darkness. She infused it with fire.
A beam of pure black fire met the ice beam. KSSSSSH! The ice didn't just melt; it exploded into a cloud of superheated steam that obscured the battlefield.
"Her speed is too high! Surround her!" Shui Bing'er commanded, trying to peer through the mist.
"Too late."
Zhu Zhuqing's voice came from their left. She wove between the seven girls, her speed a disorienting blur, her movements enhanced by Rongrong's 40% agility buff. She was untouchable. "Self-created skill: Frozen Shadow Claw."
Her hand, now coated in a layer of black, frosty ice, flashed out. It raked across the back of one of the Heavenly Water girls. The girl cried out, a sharp, choked sound. Her spirit power pathway, her very meridians, were frozen solid. She crumpled to the ground, her body going numb.
"Qing'er is down!"
"Behind you!" two other members screamed, launching a pincer attack of ice lances from behind Zhu Zhuqing.
"We have her!"
"Do you?" Zhu Zhuqing's voice, amused and cold, came from in front of them. She hadn't even turned. Her fourth spirit ring, the black ten-thousand-year ring, flared with a dark, terrifying light. "Abyssal Clones."
Four perfect, identical copies of her, each one radiating her full, powerful aura, shimmered into existence. The two clones instantly engaged the two attackers from behind, their own claws of fire and ice a flurry of deadly motion. The other two clones, plus the real Zhu Zhuqing, turned on the remaining three girls, including Shui Bing'er.
The Heavenly Water team, masters of formation and teamwork, were thrown into chaos. They had been in a 7-v-1. Now they were in a 6-v-5.
"Which one is real?!"
"They all feel real! My ice… it's not working on them!"
"She's too fast! I can't keep up!"
The clones were not just illusions. They could fight. They were tangible, deadly, and possessed a fraction of her power. One clone used a fire-infused claw, melting an ice shield. Another used an ice-infused strike, freezing a girl's leg to the stage.
Shui Bing'er saw her team being dismantled, her perfect strategy, her years of training with her sisters, all falling apart in seconds. "Sisters, focus! Defeat the clones! They must be weaker! We must combine our power!"
To their credit, the Heavenly Water girls were elite. They were not easily broken. They rallied, their bond their greatest strength. Two of them combined their power, creating a swirling "Ice Prison" that trapped one of the clones. They shattered it.
"One down!"
Another clone was taken down by a combined beam from Shui Bing'er and another teammate. But in the time it had taken them to defeat two clones, the real Zhu Zhuqing, her speed a terrifying, unstoppable force, had already taken down another girl.
The fight was now 3 vs. 3. (Zhu Zhuqing + 2 clones vs. Shui Bing'er + 2 teammates).
"This isn't working!" Shui Bing'er realized, her heart sinking. She knew she had to end this, to risk everything on one final, desperate move. She shoved her two remaining teammates back. "Fall back! I will handle her!"
She unleashed her most powerful attack, the one she had been saving for the finals. A miniature, but profoundly powerful, Ice Phoenix erupted from her spirit, its cry a high-pitched, freezing shriek as it shot towards Zhu Zhuqing.
Zhu Zhuqing's clones vanished, their power recalled to her. She met the attack head-on. She combined her elements, her body a blur of motion, wreathed in black fire and black ice, her hands coated in shadow. She was a trinity of destruction.
She tore through the Ice Phoenix, her claws shattering the dense, magical ice construct.
But Shui Bing'er was not a simple opponent. She had been waiting for that. The Ice Phoenix exploded outwards, not in a wave of force, but in a blinding, instantaneous flash of absolute-zero cold. "Ice Seal!" she cast again, this time at point-blank range, pouring all her remaining spirit power into the attack.
Zhu Zhuqing was caught. The flash-freeze was too fast. Her leg was encased in a thick, heavy block of solid blue ice, rooting her to the stage.
"Now, sisters!" Shui Bing'er commanded, her voice triumphant. The remaining two girls, seeing their opening, charged, their own ice lances aimed at the trapped Zhu Zhuqing.
Zhu Zhuqing just smirked.
The "ice" around her leg, the ice that had been so thick and solid, suddenly melted. It hissed, turning to steam. It had been her ice. A feint. A trap of her own.
Before the two girls could even register their mistake, she was on them. "Abyssal Clones!" This time, she used them as a distraction, flashing between the two, her attacks a blur of pure, overwhelming speed. They fell, their bodies frozen by her shadow-ice before they even hit the ground.
It was now just Zhu Zhuqing vs. Shui Bing'er. The two captains stared at each other across the stage, both of them panting, their spirit power depleted.
The fight was not over. Zhu Zhuqing was fast, but Shui Bing'er's control of her element was profound. The duel continued, a beautiful, deadly dance of fire and frost.
While Zhu Zhuqing was busy dismantling the Heavenly Water Academy, Ning Rongrong and Dugu Yan crashed into the Thunderclap Academy's formation. The team was already injured, their spirit power in chaos from the backlash of Zhang Tian's opening volley.
"What is this?!" Yu Tianxin roared, his body still numb, his lightning-wreathed arm flickering erratically. "My lightning… it felt like it was eaten! Like it was turned against me!"
"Less complaining, more fighting, little lizard!" Dugu Yan laughed, her voice a sharp, predatory sound as she charged, her long, green hair flowing behind her.
Ning Rongrong's Nine Treasure Glaze Tile Pagoda appeared above her, a beacon of power that pulsed with a rhythm that matched the beating of her heart. Its nine-colored light was a sight that made every Spirit Master in the arena gasp.
"First Spirit Ability: Strength!"
"Second Spirit Ability: Agility!"
"Third Spirit Ability: Spirit Power!"
"Fourth Spirit Ability: Defense!"
Four rings of light, each one pulsing with a 50% buff, shot out. They landed on Dugu Yan, on Yu Feng, who was already taking to the skies, on Shi Mo, who was standing guard by Ye Lingling, and on Zhu Zhuqing, who felt a sudden, welcome surge of power in her duel with Shui Bing'er.
"Fifty percent?!" Yu Tianxin gasped, his eyes widening in disbelief. "This woman is dangerous!"
"You should worry about yourself!" Dugu Yan, now wreathed in the 50% buffs, roared in reply. She activated her Jade Phosphorus Dragon spirit. She was a vision of green, draconic power, her aura now swelling, a crushing weight that easily matched his own.
Yu Tianxin, his pride as the heir of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan on the line, roared in fury. He activated his Dragon Transformation, his right arm swelling with crackling, blue-purple scales. He charged Dugu Yan. "You dare face me, woman?! I am the heir to the true dragons!"
"Heir?" Dugu Yan laughed, her own, poison-coated draconic claws meeting his charge head-on. "You're just a lizard!"
CLANG!
The sound was like two boulders smashing together. Yu Tianxin's lightning-wreathed arm met Dugu Yan's poison-coated claws. He had expected to send her flying. But she didn't budge. His arm was strong, but hers, amplified by her evolved spirit and Ning Rongrong's ridiculous buff, was just as strong. They were locked in a pure, brutal power struggle.
"Get the support type spirit master!" Lie Tian, the Thunder Hawk user, screeched from above. He and the Thunder Spider user, Lie Dong, broke from the main fight and charged Ning Rongrong, their eyes blazing with a desperate, tactical light.
"Fools," Ning Rongrong muttered, not a hint of fear on her face. She leapt back, her movements surprisingly nimble thanks to her own buff. "Self-created skill: Nine Jewel Divine Light!"
A concentrated beam of nine-colored spirit power, sharp as a laser, shot from her finger.
"What?!" Lie Tian was forced to dive frantically, the beam searing the air where he had been a fraction of a second before, clipping his wing feathers. He screeched in a mixture of pain and surprise. "She can unleash such a powerful attack?! A support type like her?!"
Lie Dong tried to shoot a web, but Ning Rongrong was already moving again, her own agility buff making her a blur of motion. "You're too slow!" she taunted, firing another beam that forced him to jump back.
Meanwhile, the battle of the dragons was turning. Dugu Yan was a brutal, relentless brawler. She was not just strong; she was poisonous.
"My… my spirit power…" Yu Tianxin grunted, the muscles in his arm beginning to tremble. "What did you do?!"
"That's the point, lizard-boy!" Dugu Yan hissed, raking her claws across his chest. The scales screeched in protest, and a thin, green mist, her potent neurotoxin, began to seep into his body. His spirit power sputtered, his lightning flickering like a dying candle.
High above, Yu Feng, his speed a thing of legend thanks to Rongrong's buff, had become a menace. He flew circles around the Thunder Hawk user, his wind blades, now 50% stronger, pinning him down, not allowing him to support his team.
Yu Tianxin was desperate. He was being beaten in a raw power struggle, and he was being poisoned. He saw Dugu Yan prepare for another devastating strike, and he roared, unleashing his full, remaining power.
"Fourth Spirit Ability: Dragon's Thunderous Descent!"
He leaped into the air, his entire body wreathed in his most powerful lightning, a living thunderbolt diving at Dugu Yan.
Dugu Yan just smirked. She didn't dodge. She met the attack. Her own fourth spirit ring flared. "Jade Dragon's Earth-Shaker!"
She slammed her foot into the stone stage, and the platform exploded upwards. A massive pillar of green, poisonous energy, mixed with shattered rock, erupted from the ground, meeting his descending attack in a cataclysmic explosion that shook the entire arena. The fight was far from over.
The stage was a chaotic, beautiful, and terrifying tapestry of elemental power.