Chapter 45: "You Are the Challenger"
Seeing this result, Dai Huabin's gaze suddenly became sharp, and he then cast it toward Lin Xuan without any concealment, battle intent rising in his chest.
He had waited far too long for the chance to face Lin Xuan head-on.
Xie Huanyue rubbed his round belly, a bitter smile appearing on his honest-looking face.
Yan Shaozhe took in the expressions of the four people, smiled slightly, and announced loudly,
"The matchups are set! For the first semifinal match, Lin Xuan's team versus Dai Huabin's team; for the second match, Ning Tian's team versus Xie Huanyue's team, which will take place after the first match ends!"
"Contestants, please prepare yourselves. Now, those not involved, please retreat to the observation area."
As his voice fell, the atmosphere of the entire venue was instantly ignited.
Today, the freshman assessment finally welcomed the first head-on confrontation between Soul Elders.
At this time, all the partitions in the assessment area had been completely removed, leaving a field much larger than before.
Lin Xuan and his two teammates walked slowly onto the Soul Dueling Platform from the left side; on the other side, Dai Huabin and his two teammates also stepped up.
Seeing that both sides were in position, the proctoring teacher spoke,
"From this moment on, the rules of the match will change slightly. You can fight with everything you have; I will be in control of the situation. However, anyone I save will automatically be considered eliminated. Is that understood?"
"Understood," both sides replied in unison.
"Good." The proctoring teacher nodded and continued, "Now, both sides announce your names."
"Wu Feng."
"Dugu Qing."
"Lin Xuan."
Lin Xuan finished his introduction naturally this time without saying any more trash talk. He didn't have the slightest interest in Dai Huabin and just wanted to finish the fight and clock out.
But it seemed Dai Huabin didn't want the start of this match to be boring.
"Zhu Lu."
"Cui Yajie."
After the two finished and it was Dai Huabin's turn, he coldly stated his name. An invisible murderous aura erupted from him, and his sharp gaze pointed directly at Lin Xuan.
"Lin Xuan, you don't need to feign composure to try and provoke me. To tell you the truth, I have already seen through your weakness. Today is the day of your defeat."
"Hmm?" Lin Xuan was somewhat puzzled upon hearing this.
Seen through my weakness? How come I didn't know I had a weakness? Even if I did, would you be the one to see it?
Not just Lin Xuan himself, but Dugu Qing, Wu Feng, and the surrounding crowd were all stunned.
What? Lin Xuan has a weakness?
Did Dai Huabin really see something, or was he just talking trash to affect Lin Xuan's mindset?
Lin Xuan smiled, looking indifferent.
"Whatever makes you happy. Are you done? If you're done, let's start fighting. After all... playing house with you here is really boring."
Hearing this, everyone showed a refreshed expression.
Look at that, what's a real provocation? Just hearing those words made them feel an urge to go up and fight.
Dai Huabin laughed out of pure anger, "Arrogant brat, you're just a lucky fellow who hasn't encountered me yet. Did those previous teams really lose to a weakling with a flawed Martial Soul like yours?"
"You seem to have a misunderstanding, so I should clarify."
Lin Xuan's smile remained unchanged, his eyes showing contempt as he looked at Dai Huabin. He raised his finger and pointed straight at the other party,
"You are the challenger."
"Both sides ready—begin the match!"
The proctoring teacher gave the order, instantly cutting through the thickening smell of gunpowder on the field.
Dai Huabin's side reacted extremely quickly, the three of them releasing their respective Martial Souls almost simultaneously.
Dai Huabin's body suddenly expanded, white fur sprouted from his skin, and the majestic character for 'King' appeared on his forehead. His hands transformed into sharp tiger claws, and three Soul Rings—two yellow and one purple—rose from beneath his feet. His aura was fierce and intimidating!
Martial Soul, White Tiger!
Zhu Lu's figure became agile and light, her eyes turned into clear cat eyes, and sharp claws extended from her fingertips. Although she was far from being as brawny as Dai Huabin, she had an illusory, elusive feel to her.
Two hundred-year Soul Rings rose beneath her feet.
It was exactly the Hell Civet Martial Soul passed down through generations of the Star Luo Empire's Zhu family.
Behind Cui Yajie, two fluffy and soft pink fox tails quietly unfurled. A hint of charm appeared in her eyes as they shifted. Strangely, she seemed to instantly age by three or four years, as if changing from an immature flower bud into a brilliantly blooming rose.
This was her Martial Soul, the Nine-Tailed Fox. In terms of quality, it could be considered high-tier among all Beast Martial Souls.
However, releasing their Martial Souls was not the entirety of their actions.
The moment Dai Huabin completed his possession, he unhesitatingly took out six metal spheres from his storage spirit tool and threw them forcefully into the sky!
The spheres rose to about ten meters above the ground and did not fall; instead, they eerily hovered in mid-air, positioned exactly above the six people on the platform, including their own team of three.
Immediately after, complex spirit tool inscriptions lit up on the surfaces of the six spheres. After a faint sound of mechanical gears turning, each shot a solid and extremely piercing beam of intense light downward from its base!
"Voom—"
Under the shroud of the light beams, the core area of the entire Soul Dueling Platform was illuminated in a deathly white, the intense light making it almost impossible to keep one's eyes open.
At first, the surrounding crowd didn't understand what was happening, wondering what Dai Huabin's abnormal behavior was intended for.
But then, someone in the spectator stands cried out in shock,
"Shadows! The shadows of everyone on the field... are gone!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd was in an uproar, and everyone suddenly had an epiphany!
So that's it! This was the 'weakness' of Lin Xuan that Dai Huabin spoke of!
Thinking back carefully, all the methods Lin Xuan had shown so far—summoning Shikigami, shadow clones, stealth, position swapping... without exception, all relied on'shadows' as a medium or carrier.
It could be said that shadows were the cornerstone of his entire combat system!
Now, these six beams of intense light had completely eliminated all shadows on the field, which was equivalent to disabling more than half of Lin Xuan's offensive methods.
High on the platform, a hint of surprise flashed in Yan Shaozhe's eyes.
He hadn't expected Dai Huabin to actually discover the loophole in Lin Xuan's Martial Soul and prepare such a targeted tactic.
Yan Shaozhe turned his gaze toward Lin Xuan, who remained calm in the middle of the field, and whispered to himself,
"How will you choose to face this situation? Will you prioritize destroying the spirit tools, or... once again show us methods we never anticipated? Lin Xuan, will you bring us a new surprise?"
On the platform, Wu Feng and Dugu Qing also immediately understood the opponent's intention. Their expressions changed slightly, and they almost simultaneously prepared to leap up and attack the spirit tools hovering overhead.
"Your opponent is me!"
Cui Yajie gave a delicate shout, her fox tails swaying lightly as her first Soul Ring lit up, attempting to interfere with their actions.
Yet Lin Xuan, who was at the center of the storm, still didn't make any major movements.
He even looked up with interest at the piercing light sources above him, then turned his gaze toward the waiting Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu opposite him, the relaxed smile on his lips not fading in the slightest.
Seeing Lin Xuan still acting this way, the cold sneer on Dai Huabin's face grew even wider. He shouted loudly, his voice spreading throughout the field with the help of Soul Power,
"Lin Xuan! Did you think this was all I prepared? Now is the real highlight! And you have already wasted the last possible chance of winning. You will surely pay the price for your arrogance!"
Before his voice finished, Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu moved toward each other with perfect rapport, finally embracing.
Zhu Lu's gaze toward Dai Huabin became as gentle as water, as if she wanted to melt the other person.
But Dai Huabin was completely different; his eyes held only burning battle intent, as if the person he was looking at wasn't Zhu Lu, but Lin Xuan.
Only then did the teachers in the stands finally have to believe that unbelievable result.
"It's actually a Martial Soul Fusion Skill!"
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