"Referee, our Kamikaze Academy voluntarily forfeits this afternoon's losers' bracket match!"
Right at that critical juncture, a slightly rugged, middle-aged man stepped forward from the sidelines. He was the head advisor and team leader of Kamikaze Academy, a respectable Rank 69 Soul Emperor. At this exact moment, his heart was completely overflowing with a complex cocktail of intense anxiety and deep relief. He knew with absolute certainty that his student team could not afford to sustain any brutal, career-ending injuries here, and the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy's combat methods had become notoriously ruthless and bloodthirsty. He refused to gamble the entire future cultivation and talent of these young children just to put on a desperate show against such unhinged monsters.
Hearing the advisor's loud declaration, a subtle, highly amused smile played on Bibi Dong's regal lips. After all, with Kamikaze's immediate surrender, today's schedule would no longer need to drag out into a tedious afternoon and tomorrow morning.
"Mnn... request granted," Bibi Dong murmured smoothly, her exhaled breath carrying a faint, enchanting fragrance.
Hearing the supreme Pope herself directly answer his request, the Kamikaze leader's breathing instantly became shallow and rapid, his heart hammering against his ribs in absolute, reverent awe.
"Since that is the case, there is no need to delay today's combat until the afternoon. Let it commence right now. The semi-finals shall be held immediately this morning!"
Bibi Dong's voice was remarkably light and melodic, yet the instant the words left her lips, a suffocating, terrifying wave of pure spiritual pressure violently swept across the entire stadium like a localized hurricane.
Feeling this crushing pressure slam straight into his chest, Tang Chuan was completely dumbfounded. What is going on?! Didn't Grandmaster go to find Bibi Dong to beg for mercy and plead our case? Why is she still acting so completely unyielding and aggressive?!
Very quickly, a dark, deeply disturbing possibility flashed through his mind, but he instantly forced himself to suppress it. His master, Yu Xiaogang, was the biological son of Yu Yuanzhen, the supreme Clan Head of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan! Even if Bibi Dong was the master of Spirit Hall, she would absolutely never dare to easily lay a violent hand on someone with such a massive, continent-shaking background!
The Grandmaster's Divine Purgatory
Meanwhile, deep within a pitch-black, suffocatingly damp subterranean dungeon located beneath the city outskirts, a completely different reality was unfolding.
"AAAHHHHHHH!!!!" "OWWWWWWW!!!!"
Two massive, heavily muscled brutes were currently alternating strokes, brutally raining down steel-studded whips across Yu Xiaogang's naked, pathetic body. Beside them, a third man was actively rubbing handfuls of coarse rock salt directly into the freshly torn, bleeding gashes, while occasionally utilizing a low-grade healing spirit ability to patch up the grandmaster's vital organs just enough to ensure he wouldn't actually escape into the sweet release of death.
"Hey, boss... exactly how long do we have to keep doing this? We've been non-stop whipping and salting this piece of trash for two entire days now," one of the sweaty brutes panted, pointing his whip toward Yu Xiaogang's thoroughly mutilated, scar-crusted body. A tiny, pathetic flicker of human pity seemed to flash in his eyes.
"You absolute, brainless idiot!" the leader of the torturers roared, violently smacking the back of his subordinate's head. "We're being paid a grand total of twenty thousand gold spirit coins for this! Even when we perform high-profile assassinations for major nobility, we barely make a thousand coins! If you two weak-willed bastards don't want the money, pack your bags and get the hell out right now! Don't ruin my payday!"
The lead brute truly felt like strangling these two saintly idiots. Their only job was to follow orders and exact pure, unmitigated physical torment on this cripple! Why on earth did they suddenly develop a pathetic conscience?
"Cough, cough! Boss is absolutely right!" the whipped subordinate quickly backpedaled, a sycophantic grin plastering his face. "Looking at how lively and energetic this Grandmaster still is, our strokes must have been a bit too gentle. Why don't we tie him upside down and try a few new positions?"
"Now that's what I'm talking about. Get to work!"
The Arena of Despair & Tang Chuan's Schemes
Back on the grand battlefield, Tang Chuan and Tang San—the two hypocritical "Buddhas" of the Tang clan—stood firmly arrayed, occupying the absolute front and rear positions of the Heaven Dou Imperial formation. Tang Chuan's face was still twisted into an expression of utter, venomous disbelief. The reality before his eyes was simply too absurd to accept!
Tianshui Academy was obviously strong enough to challenge the Golden Generation of Spirit Hall. Under normal circumstances, those two powerhouse teams should have clashed in the winners' bracket, wounding each other severely! Yet, those Tianshui women had actually chosen to forfeit so shamelessly just to hunt him down!
Insolent sluts... every single one of you already has a clear path to your own execution! Tang Chuan snarled internally.
Standing at the absolute vanguard of the formation was Tang San, ready to display his dual martial souls to the world. In Tang Chuan's twisted, reincarnated mind, he knew his own current body hadn't inherited his father's Clear Sky Hammer martial soul. Therefore, he was more than happy to let his younger brother claim this "world-famous glory" and draw the absolute, unbridled wrath of Spirit Hall upon himself.
After all, the moment the Clear Sky Hammer appeared on this field, the entire upper echelon of Spirit Hall would inevitably explode into pure, murderous fury. According to his vast knowledge, the current state of Spirit Hall was nearly identical to his previous life: the former Pope, Chi Xunji, had been violently hammered to death by their father, Tang Hao. Spirit Hall absolutely loathed the very sight of the Clear Sky Hammer.
Furthermore, his younger brother was his primary, most dangerous competitor for the ultimate awakening of the Blue Silver Emperor bloodline. As the saying goes, there can only ever be a single Blue Silver Emperor on the continent. As long as Tang San died right here under the furious blades of Spirit Hall, he, Tang Chuan, would become the sole, undisputed inheritor of that supreme plant divinity!
Thinking up to this point, a deeply sinister, profoundly wicked smirk twisted across Tang Chuan's face. In his eyes, his biological brother was nothing more than a convenient, brainless stepping stone designed to enhance his own divine talent. As for brotherly love or family bonds? Heh, a sanctimonious, hypocritical fake like Tang San isn't even worthy of being my brother. Let him dream his pathetic dreams right into the grave!
Sitting high up in his exclusive VIP booth, Fu Ye captured every single micro-expression and twisted glance passing through Tang Chuan's eyes. Beside him, from her high papal throne, Bibi Dong's magnificent gaze also locked onto the boy's intensely scheming face.
In truth, Bibi Dong didn't possess any real, deep-seated hatred for Tang Hao anymore. To her and her supreme husband, Tang Hao was nothing more than a convenient, disposable chess piece that had already outlived his usefulness. Even if Tang Hao hadn't violently crippled Chi Xunji back then, she would have personally executed that wretched beast herself.
She was well aware that Tang Hao was currently hiding somewhere within the dense crowds of the stadium, masking his presence. But since that crippled man had technically helped her erase an enemy, as long as he didn't stupidly expose his identity or commit any reckless acts on her territory, she was completely content to treat him like a silent ghost.
Right at that moment, as if sharing a profound, soul-deep telepathic connection, Fu Ye and Bibi Dong shifted their gazes, their eyes meeting across the vast expanse of the stadium. Their lips curved simultaneously into a subtle, intensely intimate smirk. Everything was understood in perfect, unspoken harmony.
The Cataclysmic Clash
"Seven-in-One Martial Soul Fusion Skill—Activate!"
The Heaven Dou Imperial Team didn't possess the divine auxiliary power of Ning Rongrong, but they did have their own elite support master, Ye Lingling. Utilizing her unique Nine-Hearted Begonia martial soul, Ye Lingling successfully channeled her dense spirit power, weaving an intricate, glowing energetic web that seamlessly linked the lifeforces and spirit reserves of the remaining six combatants together.
Seeing this desperate setup from across the field, Dugu Yan's beautiful eyes instantly flashed with a fierce, lethal layer of unbridled wrath. One had to understand that executing a high-level Seven-in-One combination inevitably demanded a horrific, often irreversible toll on a spirit master's future cultivation and physical meridians. And as the absolute central anchor and conduit for this massive, multi-person energy transfer, the physical pressure and strain placed upon Ye Lingling's body was unequivocally the most devastating in the entire team!
Having served as Ye Lingling's protective "Big Sister" back during her days in the Heaven Dou Royal Team, Dugu Yan understood her friend's physical constitution better than anyone. Lingling's basic physical durability was actually inferior to even an ordinary, non-combat spirit master. Her current Rank 40+ Ancestor cultivation had only been achieved because the imperial family had spent millions of gold coins, utilizing countless rare herbs to forcefully stack her cultivation. Dugu Yan absolutely refused to stand by and watch her former sister's future talent and physical body be completely destroyed and shattered by these selfish Tang brothers!
However, right at that exact microsecond, five violent, high-tier Spirit Ancestor energy torrents ruthlessly flooded straight into Ye Lingling's meridian channels. Ye Lingling was completely ignorant of the horrific, permanent damage this crude Seven-in-One formation would inflict upon her future potential. Even though she was currently facing her beloved former sister on the battlefield, her fierce loyalty to her team pushed her to sacrifice everything.
"Ngh...!"
The moment that colossal, multi-person energy wave slammed into her core, Ye Lingling felt her throat instantly fill with a thick, metallic surge of fresh crimson blood. Yet, hardening her heart, she violently suppressed the agonizing pain, instantly redirecting the absolute totality of that raw, turbulent power straight into the waiting body of Tang San!
BOOM!
A deep, echoing sonic boom vibrated outward from Tang San's preparing form. Behind him, the remaining six members continued to relentlessly dump their entire soul power reserves into his core, fueling his final, cataclysmic transformation.
"Clear Sky Hammer—Manifest! Clear Sky Avatar!!!"
Witnessing her sweet friend actively coughing up blood just to fuel that hypocritical brat's weapon, Dugu Yan's beautiful face was completely consumed by an ocean of lethal, unbridled bloodlust.
"A Soul Saint! His aura has actually forcefully broken through the barrier, temporarily achieving the terrifying pressure of a Rank 70+ Soul Saint!"
Up in the crowded spectator stands, several high-ranking experts let out shocked, frantic gasps. But to a true, elite powerhouse like Dugu Yan, this artificially bloated Tang San was nothing more than a slightly larger, easily crushable cockroach.
"Sister Yan'er... let the two of us show them what a real, divine fusion looks like," Meng Yiran murmured smoothly, stepping up right beside her. Looking at the enemy's crude, self-destructive combination, her heart filled with an intense, competitive fire.
"Mnn. Let's thoroughly cripple every single one of them!"
Dugu Yan wasted absolutely no time. She needed to instantly shatter the link, forcefully severing the connection between Ye Lingling and the rest of the formation. Otherwise, the moment her own supreme attack slammed into Tang San, the massive, explosive blowback would inevitably travel backward along the energy lines and violently obliterate Ye Lingling's frail body!
Under the eyes of the entire continent, Meng Yiran and Dugu Yan stepped together, their soft, voluptuous bodies melting into a deeply intimate, flawlessly synchronized embrace. The very next millisecond, the exact space they occupied violently erupted into a blinding, world-shattering pillar of pure, radiant golden divinity!
"Martial Soul Fusion Skill—The Dragon Lance Goddess!!!"