"Round of Sixteen to Eight, first match—Shrek Academy versus Dou Ling Royal Academy. Contestants from both sides, enter the preparation area."
The members of Shrek Academy arrived at the waiting zone one after another. At long last, they had fully recovered. Four official team members were now fit to fight, while all seven reserve members were in peak condition.
More importantly, none of their true trump cards had been exposed yet. To the other academies, Shrek Academy remained the same as ever—powerful, mysterious, and unfathomable.
Naturally, Su Yunlin had also equipped the official team members with soul tools. Dai Yueheng was the only exception, since he already possessed his own.
Ma Xiaotao carried only a single defensive soul tool. Her flames damaged most soul tools anyway, so Su Yunlin simply did not bother giving her more. Besides, aside from defense, Ma Xiaotao lacked nothing.
Ling Luochen also carried only one defensive soul tool. Her true key equipment was Huo Yuhao himself. With Huo Yuhao's support, Ling Luochen's ice could briefly evolve into the level of Ultimate Ice.
Chen Zifeng, on the other hand, was armed from head to toe—Class 6 defensive soul tool armor, trigger-type defensive soul tools, speed boosters, and more.
His Soulchasing Sword Martial Soul allowed him to equip a greater variety of soul tools than ordinary Spirit Masters. Most soul tools were highly compatible with him.
The lineup for this match was:
Dai Yueheng, Ling Luochen, Chen Zifeng, Beibei, Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, and Huo Yuhao.
Wang Yan chose to keep Ma Xiaotao, Su Yunlin, and Wang Dong in reserve.
As a Rank 67 Spirit Emperor, Ma Xiaotao was naturally their greatest trump card. Furthermore, she had not appeared in the previous tournament, meaning everything about her remained unknown to the opposing teams.
And unknown opponents were always the most terrifying.
Su Yunlin and Wang Dong were naturally trump cards as well. Up until now, Su Yunlin had only revealed two Spirit Abilities: his first Spirit Ability, Wing Blade Guillotine, and his second Spirit Ability, Dark Night Dash.
Wang Yan knew just how powerful Su Yunlin's remaining Spirit Abilities were, so he had no intention of letting him expose too much—at the very least, not before the quarterfinals.
Naturally, Ma Xiaotao felt somewhat depressed about it. She had been holding herself back for far too long and desperately wanted to step onto the stage and unleash her strength, but she had been stopped.
Su Yunlin had directly told her that if she refused to obey orders, he would beat her back into line.
The moment Ma Xiaotao thought about this guy, who specifically targeted people's faces during fights, her confidence instantly weakened. After all, girls cared deeply about their appearance, and no girl wanted her face smashed in.
Most boys would show some restraint when sparring with girls and avoid hitting too harshly.
But Su Yunlin was different.
Other than Wang Dong, he never held back against anyone. Once he attacked, he would beat his opponent straight into unconsciousness.
"Alright, Senior Xiaotao. There'll be plenty of chances for you to fight later," Su Yunlin said, trying his best to comfort her. "Your evil fire still needs Huo Yuhao to suppress it anyway. Just keep your mentality stable. It's not like we're banning you from competing forever."
"This is my first time participating in the Continental Spirit Master Tournament. Of course I want to perform well." Ma Xiaotao sounded unwilling. "After this, I won't have another chance."
It truly was her first time competing in the tournament. During the previous one, her evil fire had erupted, preventing her from participating.
"The Spirit Master Tournament is nothing more than a glorified children's game. Why take it so seriously?" Su Yunlin said casually. "Let's be honest here—with your talent, there probably haven't been many in Shrek Academy's history who surpassed you.
"Your lineage should descend from Ma Hongjun of the original Seven Monsters. As far as I know, when Ma Hongjun was your age, he wasn't as strong as you are now. You suffered from evil fire, and so did he. To be precise, he was the source of your bloodline's problem in the first place.
"And according to the historical records I've collected, Ma Hongjun's control over his evil fire in his early years was honestly pretty terrible. But you're different. You endured it through sheer willpower all the way until now. If I remember correctly, Ma Hongjun resolved his evil fire problem around the Spirit Elder stage.
"But you cultivated all the way to Spirit Emperor rank while still enduring the torment of evil fire. Nineteen years old, Rank 67, and still persevering through it. Just imagine how terrifying your willpower is.
"So relax. The Spirit Master Tournament isn't your destination. The peak of the continent—that's the stage meant for you."
Although Su Yunlin did not particularly like Ma Xiaotao, he had to admit that both her talent and willpower were truly exceptional. The erosion of evil fire at the Spirit Emperor level was not something an ordinary person could endure.
Meanwhile, Wang Dong stroked his chin and muttered to himself:
"Fourth Uncle… no, wait. Back when that Phoenix Douluo was young, his private life was definitely the messiest."
Wang Dong had only learned about it from Fourth Uncle's wife and several other aunts. Just hearing stories about Fourth Uncle's private life when he was young had disgusted her.
Fortunately, after he got together with Fourth Aunt, he immediately changed his ways.
At the very least, in that place, Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt were deeply in love.
Wang Dong glanced at Ma Xiaotao.
'Senior Xiaotao should be a descendant of Fourth Uncle and Fourth Aunt, right?'
The corner of Su Yunlin's mouth twitched.
So she was basically an all-knowing know-it-all? How did she know everything?
The little witch truly lived up to her title.
Ma Xiaotao's gaze became somewhat absent-minded.
"The peak of the continent…?"
A moment later, her eyes focused onto Huo Yuhao's back. Instantly, her gaze became incomparably resolute.
"I will reach it."
At that moment, Xiao Xiao looked thoroughly discouraged.
"I feel so useless… I can't even help at all."
Wang Dong gently rubbed Xiao Xiao's head.
"Relax. You're also a twin Martial Soul user. This tournament was never meant to be our stage in the first place—our real stage is the next one. With your talent, your future potential might even surpass Senior Xiaotao's. Just keep a steady mindset."
Xiao Xiao immediately threw herself into Wang Dong's arms.
"Dong'er, you're so nice! If only you were a boy!"
Ma Xiaotao had also recovered her spirits by now.
"Little Xiao Xiao, don't rush things. Your potential is enormous. In the future, you can absolutely become a powerhouse like Elder Xuan. You possess the talent of twin Martial Souls.
"Two top-tier Tool Martial Souls. Our academy is especially skilled at nurturing twin Martial Soul users. Once you enter the inner courtyard, the elders of the Sea God Pavilion will probably fight over the chance to take you as a disciple."
Xiao Xiao looked at Ma Xiaotao blankly.
"Sister Xiaotao, what's the Sea God Pavilion?"
"Uh…" Ma Xiaotao paused awkwardly. "It's the place where the academy's strongest experts live. You'll understand once you enter the inner courtyard."
Wang Yan also smiled as he explained to Xiao Xiao:
"Xiao Xiao, don't let temporary achievements hinder your future growth. Look at the powerful opponents we've encountered so far—them being stronger than you is only natural because they're older.
"You're not even thirteen years old yet, and your cultivation has already reached Rank 30.
"By the time you reach their age, you'll definitely be at the Spirit Emperor level. Even if you somehow aren't a Soul Emperor, you'll still at least be a high-level Spirit King. The true advantage of twin Martial Souls only appears after reaching the Titled Douluo realm.
"Once you break through to Titled Douluo and begin adding Spirit Rings to your second Martial Soul, your Spirit Power will rise rapidly all the way to Rank 95. Becoming a Super Douluo won't be difficult for you at all.
"For Spirit Masters with only a single Martial Soul, things aren't nearly as convenient. Take Xiaotao for example—after becoming a Titled Douluo, every single level she advances will be painfully slow. That's the advantage of twin Martial Souls."
Hearing this, Xiao Xiao finally regained her confidence.
"Okay! I'll work hard and cultivate properly!"
"Heh, that's more like it. The little monsters of Shrek should never fear hardship. We advance bravely and strive forward!" Elder Xuan walked over at some point.
Surprisingly, he was not drunk at all right now, making him seem unusually normal.
"Xiao Xiao, are you interested in becoming this old man's disciple?" Elder Xuan asked warmly.
"Ah? Become Elder Xuan's disciple?" Xiao Xiao was stunned.
From Wang Yan, she had already learned that Elder Xuan was one of Shrek Academy's supreme experts—a Rank 98 Super Douluo.
Xiao Xiao looked toward Su Yunlin.
"Class Monitor…"
Su Yunlin smiled faintly.
"It's naturally a good thing if Elder Xuan wants to take in a disciple. Once you become Elder Xuan's disciple, Teacher Wang will have to call you Little Martial Uncle instead. Right, Teacher Wang?"
Wang Yan scratched his head awkwardly.
"Seems like that's true…"
"Then alright." Xiao Xiao was just about to bow and formally greet Elder Xuan when he stopped her with Spirit Power.
"No rush, little girl. After the Continental Spirit Master Tournament ends, all of you will head to Sea God Island. At that time, you can formally acknowledge me as your master."
"Okay!"
And while they were chatting away, the Shrek team on the tournament stage had already secured victory.
...
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