Fierce Battle Against Shrek Academy Team
The referee's signal was a spark to tinder. On the Donghai side, transformation was instantaneous. Yao Xuan's body underwent its majestic, terrifying shift—scales erupting, claws forming, the Ancestral Dragon's phantom manifesting with two deep purple rings. But this time, he was not alone in his enhancement.
A cyan halo, delicate yet potent, bloomed behind Gu Yue. Her second purple soul ring flashed. "Elemental Control: Gale's Favor." A subtle, swirling breeze wrapped around Yao Xuan and Xie Xie, not lifting them, but lightening their steps, sharpening their reflexes. It was support, but of a different, more subtle school than the dazzling pagoda—a whisper of enhancement against a fanfare.
Xie Xie became a blur of shadows, twin daggers gleaming as he streaked not toward the frontline fighters, but on a diagonal intercept course toward the heart of Shrek's formation: Ning Xueqing.
Gu Yue herself turned her serene, deadly focus on Jun Xiaoyao. Elements gathered at her fingertips—a coalescence of fire and wind.
Yao Xuan, empowered by his own bloodline and Gu Yue's gale, moved. He didn't run; he flowed, a nine-colored torrent aimed squarely at Ye Xinglan. The battlefield split into three duels in an instant.
Ye Xinglan, feeling the potent triple-boost from the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda coursing through her—30% more power, speed, and spirit—met his charge not with apprehension, but with hardened resolve. The sting of her individual loss was fuel now. 'This time, with Xueqing's support, I will break through!'
"Sword God's Starlight! Sword God Descends!" she cried, her voice ringing with conviction. Her first and third rings ignited. The arena's ambient light seemed to dim as starlight was ripped from the very air, converging madly on her Star God Sword. It became less a sword and more a contained galaxy. With a shout, she swung. Not a single slash, but a cataclysmic event—a storm of thousands of searing star-marks and condensed sword-beams, a screen of annihilation meant to erase Yao Xuan from the platform.
The attack's magnitude made the audience gasp. It was a display worthy of a high-rank Soul King, a testament to the heaven-defying synergy of a top-tier attack spirit amplified by the premier support spirit on the continent.
Yao Xuan's assessment was clinical, even as the stellar tempest roared toward him. 'The Pagoda's boost is formidable. But it is still power applied to a foundation. And my foundation… is bedrock.'
"Ancestral Dragon Chaos Qi!"
He didn't dodge. He called forth his bastion. Twenty percent of his potent bloodline energy vanished, activating the second cycle. A shield of shimmering, chaotic nine-colored light solidified before him, a barrier that seemed to drink the very concept of 'attack'.
The stellar cataclysm hit. The sound was a continuous, deafening roar of light and fury. Star-marks detonated, sword-beams shattered, releasing waves of concussive force that made the arena's protective shields flare violently. At the epicenter, the Chaos Qi shimmered and rippled like a pond under heavy rain, but it held. Its nature was not to resist, but to unmake. Each wisp of chaotic energy disassembled the structured stellar power, turning cataclysmic force into harmless, dissipating energy.
Within this maelstrom of light, Yao Xuan moved. "Ancestral Dragon Shattering Void Step." Space itself seemed to flinch around him. One moment he was behind his shield; the next, he was through the dying edges of the stellar storm, closing the distance to Ye Xinglan in a blur that defied eyesight.
Ye Xinglan's eyes widened, but her body, trained to instinct, reacted. The Star God Sword, still pulsing with residual power, met his charge in a supreme, overhead slash—the culmination of her strength, her spirit, and her ally's support.
Yao Xuan met it head-on. His right claw, now supercharged by the raging power of his first soul skill, "Ancestral Dragon Sky-Splitting Strike," swept upward. He did not activate the skill's absolute armor-piercing property. To do so might permanently scar her spirit core. This was a tournament, not a war of annihilation.
CLANG!
The impact was not a clang of metal, but the sound of a star striking an anvil forged at the dawn of time. A visible shockwave of gold and nine-colored light exploded outward, flattening the remnants of frost and stirring dust from the arena floor.
Ye Xinglan felt the impact in her soul. An irresistible, foundational force, ancient and heavy, traveled up her sword. The splendid Star God Sword in her hand groaned. A web of fine cracks spiderwebbed across its luminous surface. A sickening jolt of feedback shot through her meridians, and her soul power gauge in her mind's eye plummeted. She was airborne, hurled back like a leaf in a typhoon, her enhanced speed now a curse as she tumbled uncontrollably. She barely managed to twist, landing in a skid that tore the soles of her boots, her arm hanging numb and useless at her side, her spirit trembling within her.
The realization was a cold flood. 'He… wasn't even using his full capability yesterday. Even with Xueqing's boost… I'm still so far…' The bitterness was sharp, but it was cleansed by a startling, dawning respect. He had shattered her attack, not her spirit.
Across the arena, the audience, after a heartbeat of stunned silence, erupted. "He crushed her again! Even with the Seven Treasures boost!"
"That shield! That claw! What is he?!"
"Did you see? He moved through her attack like it was nothing!"
The commentators were screaming, trying to dissect the impossible. In the Shrek preparation area, Dai Yunfeng's knuckles were white on the railing. Ning Xueqing, still locked in her own duel with Xie Xie's harassing shadows, felt a pang of alarm through her mental link. Jun Xiaoyao, trading elemental barrages with Gu Yue, gritted his teeth, feeling the shift in the battle's gravity.
Yao Xuan stood firm, the energy from the colossal clash still crackling around his claws. He looked at the struggling Ye Xinglan, then past her, assessing the wider field. The battle was not over, but its axis had just irrevocably tilted. The dragon had declared its sovereignty once more, and this time, the entire Shrek team was listening.