"Elder Xuan, there is no need to say more. Whatever is going on between Senior Sister Zhang Lexuan and that guy named Feng is their own business. Even if they really end up together in the end, it has absolutely nothing to do with me," Bei Bei said petulantly.
"Bei Bei, I..." Zhang Lexuan looked at him guiltily.
"I won't be participating in the upcoming matches. I wish you two happiness." With that, he turned around and walked back to his room.
Zhang Lexuan wanted to chase after him, but Xuan Zi called her out, "Lexuan, girl, don't forget your mission."
"I understand." Her mission was to protect Shrek Academy for the rest of her life; this was a promise she had made to Mu En.
Yan Shaozhe sighed and said, "You guys head over first. As for Bei Bei's side, Elder Xuan and I will go clear things up with him."
The rest of the Shrek team overheard their conversation, and they couldn't help but look at each other in bewilderment.
Looking at this situation, it seemed that the relationship between Bei Bei and this Grand Senior Sister of the Inner Courtyard was anything but ordinary. But wasn't Bei Bei in love with Tang Ya? He had even joined the Tang Sect early on for her sake... Why was he involved with the Grand Senior Sister now?
This was the question in everyone's mind at that moment.
The format for the quarter-finals consisted of a team battle and an individual elimination match.
If a team won the team battle, they would only need to defeat three of the opponent's members in the individual elimination match the next day to advance to the semi-finals.
If they lost the team battle, they would have to defeat all seven of their opponents the next day while sending out no more than three of their own members. Only then could they force a tiebreaker, which would be a three-two-two format.
Best of three matches.
The winner would advance to the semi-finals.
...
Under the watchful eyes of the massive crowd, Feng Piaoling led Meng Hongchen, Xiao Hongchen, and four other students from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy assigned by Teacher Ma toward the competitors' waiting area.
This was Feng Piaoling's first time stepping onto the stage.
Because of the outstanding performance of the Soul Hall disciples in the earlier matches, everyone held immense expectations for the Soul Hall.
Therefore, when Feng Piaoling, the legendary Master of the Soul Hall, stepped onto the field, the cheers from the entire audience erupted like cascading waves, each louder than the last.
The atmosphere was instantly ignited, to the point where the military forces responsible for maintaining order had to go all out to prevent any unexpected incidents.
Xu Jiawei, the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire, arrived at the imperial city's wall with great interest. Whenever there was a match involving the Soul Hall or Shrek Academy, he would always be present.
Today was no exception.
The Star Luo Empire Emperor was also very curious about whether Shrek Academy was more formidable, or if the rapidly rising Soul Hall was stronger.
He would likely get a glimpse of the answer today.
The members of Shrek Academy grew instantly alert upon seeing Feng Piaoling appear.
A year ago, Feng Piaoling was already very strong. A year later, today, no one knew exactly how far his strength had progressed.
Dai Yaoheng, in particular, was quite wary of Feng Piaoling. Others might not know, but he was well aware that the six assassins sent by his foolish younger brother consisted of five Soul Kings and one Soul Emperor.
Such a lineup would have been troublesome even for him to handle.
Not to mention Feng Piaoling, who back then was just a Soul Elder.
Yet, the opponent had survived completely unscathed and had even rescued the others.
That was what truly made him terrifying.
The others from Shrek also attached great importance to this match. After all, the Soul Hall members had already proven their strength beforehand, as had that Xiao Hongchen. For such a group of people to willingly follow Feng Piaoling's lead, it was hard not to be wary of him.
Only Zhang Lexuan smiled faintly, thinking to herself, Has he already grown to this point?
"Competing members from both sides, please take the stage." The referee's voice pulled the Shrek team back from their thoughts.
Feng Piaoling retrieved his Class 5 Soul Tool, the Thunder Tribulation Sword, and fastened it to his waist. With a flash of his body, he instantly appeared on the competition platform. Such eerie speed left the crowd below deeply shaken.
Xiao Hongchen was also startled. He turned his gaze to Teacher Ma and asked, "Teacher Ma, is there even a need for us to go up?"
Now, he seemed to understand why his younger sister was so determined to join the Soul Hall.
Even his own grandfather had not hesitated to use a hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast embryo to strike a deal with Feng Piaoling just to invest in him.
Teacher Ma froze for a moment, then shook his head. "No need."
With that speed just now, even he hadn't reacted immediately. What did he have to worry about? Even if an accident really occurred, they could always win it back during the individual elimination match.
On the other side, the team members from the Dou Ling Advanced Soul Master Academy were similarly startled. However, once they stepped onto the stage and saw that Feng Piaoling stood entirely alone, with no intention of anyone else joining him, the shock on their faces was instantly replaced by anger.
"Are you the only one?"
The leader was a large-framed but very thin youth with hollow cheeks named Gu Zhujian. He was the vice-captain of the Dou Ling team, possessed the Purple Imperial Bamboo martial soul, and was a Rank 57 Assault System Soul King.
Standing beside him was another vice-captain, an extremely burly youth named Sai Yuan. His martial soul was the Dreadclaw Bear, a sub-species of the Darkgolden Dreadclaw Bear. His soul power was at Rank 53, and in terms of pure strength and defense, he actually surpassed the Rank 64 Dai Yaoheng.
Seeing Feng Piaoling standing alone on the opposite side, both men felt they were being looked down upon, and their expressions turned extremely unsightly.
Feng Piaoling smiled calmly. "I alone am enough."
"Arrogant!" Hearing this, whether it was Gu Zhujian, Sai Yuan, or the rest of the Dou Ling students, they all looked thoroughly enraged.
But the referee didn't care about their feelings. After confirming that only Feng Piaoling was taking the stage, he gave the direct command, "Let the match begin."
He then quickly backed away from the center of the arena.
The seven members of the Dou Ling team unleashed their martial souls at the very first moment. As if they were pressed for time, three of them immediately unleashed their soul skills while still a hundred meters away.
Chi Hengyu, a Defense System Soul Master, unleashed his massive Vajra Shield martial soul. He slammed the shield fiercely into the ground, and immediately after, his fifth soul ring lit up. The originally massive Vajra Shield instantly expanded, splitting from one into two, two into four, four into eight... forming a vast wall of shields in almost an instant.
Simultaneously activating their soul skills were Qing Feng, a Control System Soul Ancestor, and Tang Niuniu, an Auxiliary System Tool Soul Ancestor.
Tang Niuniu was petite. With a shift of her body, her ears became furry, looking exactly like a cute raccoon beast-eared girl.
Compared to the urgency of the Dou Ling students, Feng Piaoling appeared extremely composed and relaxed.
Tang Niuniu pressed her hands together, and her third soul ring lit up, casting a green light onto Qing Feng. Qing Feng's fourth soul ring then illuminated, and a massive earthen wall surged straight toward Feng Piaoling's direction. Not only that, but in front of the shield wall created by Chi Hengyu, row after row of outward-facing earthen spikes formed, creating a defensive line that resembled a fortress.
Including the referee, many discerning onlookers who saw this scene showed expressions of approval. It seemed the Dou Ling Academy had not let anger blind their judgment; they were still adopting a steady and cautious strategy.
Although the opposing Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy had only sent out Feng Piaoling, he was the Master of the Soul Hall. The Soul Hall disciples had already proven their strength earlier, with even them being able to fight across one or even two soul rings.
Thus, Feng Piaoling, as the Master of the Soul Hall, surely possessed at least the strength of a Soul Emperor.
He was absolutely not to be underestimated.
Compared to the Dou Ling team, Feng Piaoling appeared far more casual.
Without even revealing his martial soul, the Thunder Tribulation Sword at his waist unsheathed in an instant. Then, with a flash of his body, he appeared before the Dou Ling Academy's defensive fortress as if he had teleported.
At the same time, a sharp, dark-gold halo vibrated around the Thunder Tribulation Sword in his hand as he slashed forward.
Without any hesitation, the sword light from Feng Piaoling's Thunder Tribulation Sword erupted. The golden sword light cut through the air as if splitting open space itself with a single strike.
Boom!
The earthen wall was pierced through, the internal metal shields were sent flying, and the defensive fortress was violently torn open, leaving a gaping hole.
The figures of Gu Zhujian and the others were exposed. At that moment, they were in the middle of assembling a large offensive soul tool.
"Holy crap, what kind of monster is this?"
Seeing Feng Piaoling shatter a defense composed of a Soul King and two Soul Ancestors with a single strike, the seven members of the Dou Ling team blurted out curses in unison.
But they were not incompetent after all. Facing the encirclement of just Feng Piaoling alone, a golden light flashed on the chests of the five Soul Kings among them, and a golden protective barrier instantly covered their bodies.
This was the single-use Class 5 Soul Tool, the Invincible Barrier, capable of defending against any attack below the Soul Douluo level for three seconds.
"A smart choice."
Looking at the Dou Ling students who were acting as if facing a formidable enemy, a flash of approval crossed Feng Piaoling's eyes. The Thunder Tribulation Sword in his hand swung at a speed that bypassed visual perception, leaving a blur of sword shadows.
Chirp, chirp, chirp...
The Invincible Barriers were shredded into thin mists of light and dissolved away.
The sight made the audience below feel a wave of numbness wash over their scalps.
Looking back at the seven members of the Dou Ling team, every single one of them felt a chill on their necks. They subconsciously touched their throats and found themselves bleeding.
For a moment, everyone froze in place, losing the courage to launch another attack.
"How on earth did this happen? Putting aside those two Soul Ancestors, those five Soul Kings all activated their Invincible Barriers. Why did they still fail to block Feng Piaoling's attack? Reasonably speaking, even if the long sword in his hand is a Class 5 Soul Tool, it should be impossible to achieve this. Could his attack power have already reached the Soul Douluo level?" Huo Yuhao said in disbelief.
He was not the only one with such a question.
Everyone else felt the same way.
Right at that moment, Emperor Xu Jiawei of the Star Luo Empire spoke from atop the imperial city. Carried by his soul power, his voice spread to every corner of the Star Luo Plaza.
"His attack power has not reached the Soul Douluo level; he merely saw through the weakness of the Invincible Barrier. The Invincible Barrier is said to be invincible, but in reality, weaknesses do exist. As long as you strike the weakness, the Invincible Barrier will naturally shatter."
Everyone came to a sudden realization.
So that was why. The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy was originally the leader among soul engineer academies, and the Invincible Barrier was invented by the Sun Moon Empire.
As a member of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, it seemed reasonable for Feng Piaoling to know the weaknesses of the Invincible Barrier.
However, Xu Jiawei did not think so in his heart. It was true that the Invincible Barrier had weaknesses—or rather, any defense had weaknesses—it was just a matter of whether one could see through them.
Because of variations in materials, the weakness of almost every Invincible Barrier was different.
This kid was able to instantly see through the weaknesses of five different Invincible Barriers and shatter them in a flash. Could it be that his eyesight had already reached the Titled Douluo level?
Xu Jiawei looked down at Feng Piaoling, who had defeated the Dou Ling Royal Academy single-handedly, thinking silently to himself.
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