After the team from Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy entered the field, and following another round of flattery from the host amid the audience's cheers, it was finally Shrek Academy's turn to enter.
As the cheers surged like waves, growing louder and rising and falling in the stands, the faces of the Tianling Academy team grew even paler, and the pressure weighing on them intensified.
Led by Beibei, the seven members of Shrek Academy stepped onto the high platform in an orderly formation.
At the very front stood Beibei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan. Behind them were Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao, and at the very back were Huo Yuhao and Ning Tian.
As the seven stepped onto the stage and faced the Tianling Academy team from across the field, even the previously deafening cheers suddenly faltered.
Even the Tianling Academy's team members were stunned. It was obvious from a glance that Shrek Academy's lineup consisted of very young members. These were clearly not the main team,only the reserve team. Yet this was the first match of the elimination round, a pivotal and highly publicized battle. Could Shrek Academy really be so careless as to risk losing face here?
The cheers for Shrek gradually died down. Confusion rippled across the entire arena, but the match still needed to proceed.
After the referee took his place, he gestured for both teams to step forward.
Both teams approached the center to hear the match rules.
The referee said in a deep voice, "First round: team elimination match. Both sides may use most types of soul tools during battle. However, once a team admits defeat, the opposing side must immediately cease all attacks."
"Additionally, soul engineers are not allowed to use high-destructive fixed-installed soul tools. Any questions?"
"No," Beibei answered first.
"Understood." The Tianling Academy captain, along with his team members, responded a bit late, still somewhat dazed by the situation.
Their expressions grew stranger as they looked at Beibei and the others. Although Shrek's students were well-nourished and well-trained, their young faces clearly showed they were far younger than Tianling Academy's nearly twenty-year-old participants. They were definitely not the main team.
Even so, the reputation of Shrek Academy still made the Tianling team uneasy.
"Both sides now move to your designated starting positions. No one may release their martial soul before the match begins. Violators will be disqualified."
Everyone retreated to their positions. Shrek Academy maintained their original formation.
Beibei confirmed the final tactical plan with the others. Once both sides were ready and in place, the Tianling Academy team took up a formation of three in front, two in the middle, and two at the rear.
The referee standing in the center slowly raised his right hand. Instantly, the originally noisy arena fell silent.
All eyes were focused on the stage. Around its edges, one hundred and eight metallic pillars lit up. Beams of white light shot upward and arced toward the center of the arena twenty meters above the ground, forming a translucent hemispherical barrier.
As the referee's raised hand dropped, his voice,amplified by soul power,boomed across the stadium: "Match begin!"
Both teams released their martial souls. The Tianling Academy team was noticeably slower due to nerves.
Their soul ring configuration was impressive: five Soul Ancestors and two Soul Elders.
Compared to Shrek's three Soul Ancestors, two Soul Elders, and two Soul Grandmasters, they held a clear numerical advantage.
Some spectators began murmuring:
"No way… they really sent the reserve team? I thought they just looked young."
"Exactly. They even have two-ring members. This is the elimination round! Shrek always goes all out in the first match. Why are they being so careless this time?"
Up in the royal stands, the Star Luo Emperor smiled subtly, hidden from public view. He knew exactly why his trusted subject and sworn brother, the White Tiger Duke Dai Hao, had rushed back to attend the opening match,his eldest son had died.
The son who had been a disciple of Shrek's inner court, steady, capable, and considered the future support of the Duke's household,had died on a Shrek Supervisory Mission.
For the Emperor, this was excellent news. The death would certainly create tension between Shrek Academy and the White Tiger Duke's family.
He also knew much about Dai Hao's younger son through private intelligence channels. Although the boy possessed the powerful inherited martial soul fusion skill, Nether White Tiger, he was arrogant, impulsive, and lacked any political depth. Even if he inherited the duke's title, the Star Luo royal family's authority would not be threatened for at least three generations.
The Emperor could even use this opportunity to reclaim military power from the Duke.
Dai Hao's hasty arrival was nothing more than a gesture of goodwill toward Shrek Academy,to show that despite his son's death, he held no resentment and still supported Shrek.
At the same time, the Supervisory Mission's failure severely tarnished its reputation. Two blessings in one event.
If Shrek Academy also stumbled here at the tournament, it would further shake the people's blind reverence toward the Academy.
The Emperor's gaze held a meaningful glint. During his youth, he had once studied at Shrek Academy,until he was expelled under their strict rules.
To see Shrek's glory dim, and to use that to strengthen the Empire's royal authority,nothing would please him more.
Meanwhile, the other academies' contestants also began whispering.
"Is Shrek Academy serious right now?"
"According to our informants, they brought only twelve participants this year."
"If seven are here right now… does that mean the main team only has five members?"
"…"
No matter what the discussions were, the teams on stage remained focused.
Beibei and the others carried a firm determination to win. They had to prevent Shrek Academy's honor from being tarnished. Losing here would bring immense shame, both to the Academy and to themselves.
As the two teams approached within thirty meters, the Tianling Academy's control-type soul master began launching long-range harassment skills.
In addition to control skills, they also fired soul tool beams,low-grade, third-level soul rays.
But by this time, their leading Soul Ancestor had already stepped into the maximum range of Xu Sanshi's Ghostly Shifting.
"This is it. Sanshi, little junior brother!" Beibei shouted.
After blocking a wave of attacks, Xu Sanshi vanished and instantly swapped positions with the enemy captain.
The enemy captain's eyes went dull,he had been struck.
It was Huo Yuhao. Using his second soul skill, he temporarily seized the captain's senses.
Even a Soul King like Ling Luochen from Shrek's inner court had struggled to resist Huo Yuhao's spiritual control. A mere Soul Ancestor from a minor academy had no chance.
Ning Tian quickly chanted her incantations. Her support buffs,strength boost and speed boost,fell upon Beibei and Jiang Nannan.
Beibei followed with Thunder Fury and Lightning Dragon Claw, tearing through the captain's defensive soul tool.
Jiang Nannan immediately seized the opening. Her flexible waist twisted, flipping over and locking her legs around the captain's neck.
With a twist,first soul skill Waist Bow,then her second skill, Gravity Control.
In the amplified state, the captain's beast-enhanced body was slammed head-first into the ground, cracking the arena floor. His skull fractured, and he lost consciousness instantly. The referee pulled him off the field for emergency treatment.
Xu Sanshi held off the remaining six with his third soul skill, Mysterious Underworld Force, and his second soul skill, Mysterious Underworld Shield Formation,now enlarged into a massive shield wall.
After Beibei and Jiang Nannan eliminated the captain, they charged toward the remaining enemies. Beibei silently counted down:
Three… two… one!
A roar burst from his throat.
The blue-violet lightning produced by Thunder Fury suddenly turned golden.
Brilliant golden light erupted. Above Beibei's head, a blazing aura condensed. Xu Sanshi swapped him into the center of the enemy formation at that exact moment.
The golden lightning streaked behind him like afterimages. As the thunder roared, waves of dragon might spread through the air.
Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon mutation,Golden Holy Dragon!
Beibei had awakened his hidden bloodline. His aura transformed completely.
The previously gentle Beibei now radiated overwhelming dominance and a kingly presence.
Dragons were the origin of soul beast power, and thus the origin of the soul master system itself. Their bloodline was the apex of the continent.
A Golden Holy Dragon's presence ignited instinctive fear in the Tianling Academy team.
Already intimidated by Shrek's reputation, now they were paralyzed by pure dragon might. Their limbs stiffened. They could not even resist.
At his peak, Beibei shouted, "Overlord's Domain of Thunder!"
Golden lightning surged outward like waves, enveloping the Tianling Academy team.
The lightning constricted and expanded like a dragon's breath.
The opponents' defensive soul tools shattered. Golden lightning wrapped around them, inducing paralysis.
Beibei unleashed his final burst. The lightning became utterly violent.
Even if they wanted to surrender, the Tianling team could no longer speak.
Two of the weaker Soul Elders were blasted out of their martial soul possession forms. Their skin was already charring.
Seeing this, the Tianling Academy instructor shouted desperately, "We surrender! Tianling Academy surrenders!"
The referee immediately declared, "Winner: Shrek Academy!"
Beibei's golden lightning faded.
The six injured Tianling Academy members were rushed for medical treatment. Other than the two more severely injured Soul Elders, the rest were mostly fine.
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