The preliminary rounds of the Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament had been underway for twelve days, and a large gap had already opened up between the leading academies and those trailing behind.
Academies like Auckland Academy, with twelve consecutive losses, had completely lost any hope of advancing.
The Emperor Battle Team had twelve wins from twelve matches, undoubtedly ranking first. Next were Shrek, Godwind, Skywater, Thunderclap, and Blazing Fire academies, all with similar numbers of wins, forming the second tier of the leading group.
Shrek's strength was still considerable. Even if they weren't utterly overwhelming as in the original work, they were still not inferior to the top five academies and had even defeated Elephant Armor. However, in one match, they suffered a miserable defeat against Blazing Fire.
Having lost his fire immunity, Tang San's Blue Silver Grass was heavily suppressed. Without the Eight Spider Lances and unable to reveal the Clear Sky Hammer, he was thoroughly overpowered by Huo Wu, who was also a control-type. All his Blue Silver Grass was burned away.
Once Tang San fell, and Ning Rongrong did not participate, the others seemed to lose their backbone and completely lost their formation. Dai Mubai was entangled by Huo Wushuang, and Zhu Zhuqing tried several times to break through and combine with him for their fusion skill, the Nether White Tiger.
But how could Huo Wu let her succeed? With a single Repelling Fire Ring, she completely separated Zhu Zhuqing from Dai Mubai. Then, Huo Lie, an agility-type Soul Ancestor, suddenly struck, using his superior speed to easily knock Zhu Zhuqing out of the arena. Oscar, the support, was also knocked out by Huo Xing.
Dai Mubai soon lost as well. Though his strength was on par with Huo Wushuang, his soul power at just level forty was no match for Huo Wushuang's deeper reserves at level forty-three.
In the end, only Ma Hongjun was left struggling on Shrek's side. Although his fire was much stronger than Blazing Fire Academy's, two fists couldn't fend off four hands. He couldn't withstand the joint assault of the Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang siblings.
The tactics arranged by the Grandmaster were useless in the face of absolute strength.
Shrek could have won, as long as Ning Rongrong participated. Her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda could have raised the team's overall strength by a tier. But the Grandmaster believed that as long as they finished in the top five in the preliminaries, it was enough to advance, so there was no need to care about a single match's outcome; better to preserve their strength.
Tianlin was very dissatisfied with Tang San's performance. He was still counting on Tang San to attract Shi Nian's attention.
But with this level of strength, how could he possibly catch Shi Nian's interest?
If Tianlin didn't know Shi Nian wouldn't dare attack him, he'd have used himself as bait. Just as he was troubled by this, the big screen suddenly displayed the new round's matchups.
The preliminaries had entered the latter half, and now two matches were displayed at a time.
The Emperor Battle Team's opponents were Shrek today, and Purple Star tomorrow.
He didn't need to worry about Purple Star, but Shrek was important. Tianlin checked Shrek's schedule and found that after today's match with them, Shrek's opponent tomorrow would be Blue Sunshine.
Tianlin smiled slightly. "I've got a plan."
...
Meanwhile, on the Shrek side, the Grandmaster was trying to persuade them to forfeit. This was a battle they couldn't win—unless he revealed their last trump card, there was barely a sliver of hope. But the Grandmaster wanted to save that move for the finals.
Ning Rongrong was speechless—how many times had the Grandmaster tried to persuade them to forfeit? He'd done so before against Elephant Armor and Blazing Fire too. True, finishing in the top five would be enough to advance, but they had to get into the top five first.
Moreover, the main purpose of the Soul Master Tournament was to gain experience. If they surrendered every time they met a strong opponent, what would be the point of participating at all? Being able to fight against strong teams like Emperor Battle Team was good for their growth, even if they lost.
In the end, with everyone insisting, Shrek decided to fight. However, the Grandmaster's bottom line was still to keep Ning Rongrong in reserve. This time Ning Rongrong had no objections—she didn't want to go against her Sword Brother anyway, and besides, her participation wouldn't make a difference.
Others might not know, but she was well aware of how much Tianlin countered support-type Soul Masters. The Flow of Wind and Water spirit skill was simply a nightmare for all supports.
...
"In today's first round, Shrek Academy versus Heaven Dou Royal Academy!"
In the Great Soul Arena, the host loudly announced the lineup. The members from both sides marched onto the field with heads held high.
Instantly, a wave of enthusiastic cheers erupted from the stands, because Tianlin, who had missed nearly ten matches, was back in action today.
"Is Shrek really that strong? Sword Prince is going back on the stage for them," Feng Xiaotian said unhappily. Their Godwind's strength was clearly above Shrek's, yet they weren't being given the respect due to the top of the Five Element Academies.
"Brother Tang, this is our first match against each other. Please give me your guidance," Tianlin smiled, cupping his fists at Tang San.
Tang San was stunned by Tianlin's courtesy. Weren't they on bad terms? Yet this guy was still so polite. Still, you don't hit a smiling face, so Tang San replied, "By all means, Brother Jun."
After both sides took their positions and released their martial souls, the referee announced the start of the match.
"Xuanwu Shield Formation!"
As soon as the match started, the Shi brothers performed a strange move—together, they released countless shields, forming a protective barrier around all the Emperor Battle members.
Everyone thought it odd. Was Emperor Battle so timid? The fight hadn't even started, and they were already turtling up.
"Not good, they must be stalling for time, letting that zither soul master charge up for a pinpoint breakthrough!"
Tang San's expression changed, and he led the other six to launch an attack immediately.
For this match, Shrek had no support; Meng Yiran replaced Oscar, and Tai Long replaced Jiangzhu—it was an all-attacker lineup.
"Third Soul Skill, Snake Blade Eightfold Strike!"
Meng Yiran made the first move. Her third soul skill, inherited from the Man-faced Demon Spider, didn't give her the spider web or Eight Spider Lances, but her snake staff did inherit some characteristics of spider legs—she could stab eight times in an instant, making it eight times more powerful than her first soul skill.
Clang, clang, clang...
Focusing on a single point, Meng Yiran repeatedly stabbed one spot on a shield until finally, a small hole appeared, with cracks spreading from the edge.
"This girl's attack is pretty good, she managed to slightly pierce my and my brother's defensive formation," Shi Mo praised.
"Excellent, Senior Yiran. Now it's our turn!" Ma Hongjun cheered. With an opening, everyone now had a focal point for their attacks.
Tai Long's iron fists, Xiao Wu's kicks, Dai Mubai's light waves, Zhu Zhuqing's thrusts, and Ma Hongjun's fire—all targeted that spot.
Finally, the shield shattered completely, exposing the seven members of the Emperor Battle Team beneath.
"Third Soul Skill, Blue Silver Strangling!"
Tang San's Blue Silver Grass shot through the opening, aiming straight for Huan Yin's neck—a ruthless move, as the poison on the Blue Silver Strangling could be lethal.