Regardless of whether you had committed evil deeds or not, as long as your martial soul possessed dark or evil attributes and you chose not to join Shrek Academy, you would be defined as an Evil Soul Master.
Conversely, even if your martial soul possessed evil or dark attributes, and even if you had committed countless wicked deeds in the past, as long as you pledged allegiance to Shrek, you were no Evil Soul Master.
Of course, the premise for all of this was that you had to possess formidable talent. If you lacked talent, even if you were willing to join Shrek, you would still be branded as an Evil Soul Master.
"Feng Piaoling, don't think that just because Elder Xuan holds you in high regard, I will show mercy! To secure a spot as a contestant in this tournament, I paid a tremendous price and put in countless efforts!"
Wang Ying's outward appearance closely resembled the late Xu Zhongyi—he had a hook nose and a gloomy countenance, completely detached from the image of a righteous Soul Master. If he put on the black robes of the Holy Ghost Church, he would pass for a textbook Evil Soul Master.
For a long time, he had harbored discontent over not being selected as one of the Shrek Seven Monsters, believing that he was in no way inferior to the remaining five members aside from Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yaoheng.
He simply lacked their luck, that was all.
It was precisely for this reason that he maintained a hostile attitude toward a proud favored child of heaven like Feng Piaoling. He believed that apart from being somewhat stronger in close-quarters combat and wielding more formidable soul tools, Feng Piaoling was no match for him in any other aspect.
As long as he pulled away and denied the opponent the chance for close combat and soul tool deployment, he would stand a very high chance of securing victory.
"Alright, what's the point of talking so much? The match will end very soon anyway. Make your move," Feng Piaoling said as green light surged in his right hand, summoning his Green Lotus Sword martial soul.
He truly had no interest in wasting words with this fellow and decided to settle this swiftly.
Because the opponent was simply not on the same level as him.
The appearance of Feng Piaoling's second martial soul instantly sparked a uproar across the entire arena, drawing numerous gazes. Among them, Xu Jiwei and Xu Jiujiu subconsciously glanced at each other, both detecting a shade of gravity in the other's eyes.
No wonder their empire's Prime Minister, Nether Duke Zhu Tianhao, had chosen so decisively to sever ties with the Dai family; as it turned out, Feng Piaoling was actually a Twin Martial Souls user!
Equally solemn was Dai Hao, though beneath the gravity in his eyes lurked a subtle glint of killing intent and anxiety.
Now, his son Dai Huabin had thoroughly antagonized the youth. Given that old fox Xu Jiwei's calculating nature, there was no way he would pass up the opportunity to win Feng Piaoling over.
Moreover, that fence-sitter Zhu Tianhao seemed to have already chosen to stand with the imperial family.
Without a doubt, it was also because of Feng Piaoling.
It appeared he had to prepare for both contingencies. If Feng Piaoling returned to Shrek after the tournament, his Dai family would just have to accept defeat and apologize to the youth.
However, if the youth chose not to return to Shrek, a way had to be found to eliminate him before he grew into his full potential.
It would be best if he did not return to Shrek. When that time came, without needing Dai Hao to raise a hand himself, that old fellow Xuan Zi would eradicate him.
Hopefully, it will be the latter... Dai Hao sighed inwardly, silently praying that Feng Piaoling would not return to Shrek.
"You!"
Wang Ying's face flushed red with rage. Feng Piaoling's impatient tone lit a fire in his chest. Since when—since when had he, Wang Ying, been looked down upon like this?
Five soul rings—two yellow, two purple, and one black—rose from beneath his feet. His first, second, and fourth soul rings lit up in succession, causing Wang Ying's momentum to surge step by step, while a teal light shield similar to the White Tiger Protective Barrier condensed around his body.
Evidently, all three of these soul skills were boost-type skills.
At the same time, beneath the stage, Huo Yuhao had already applied his Spiritual Detection Share to him.
Feeling a peculiar fluctuation of spiritual power, Huang Jinxu frowned slightly. However, after catching sight of Xuan Zi drinking alcohol and gnawing on a chicken leg nearby, he opened his mouth, but ultimately refrained from stopping it.
Under Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Share, Wang Ying's senses were magnified endlessly.
"Demon Eagle Claw, hit!"
His third soul ring glowed as he roared, dark teal soul power unfolding from his body like the wings of a majestic eagle.
A moment later, a massive teal energy eagle claw ripped through the air and struck.
Under Feng Piaoling's Heaven-Reaching Demon Eye, this energy eagle claw was riddled with flaws. A hint of sarcasm flashed through his mind as he casually swung his sword.
Pop!
With a flash of sword light, the teal energy eagle claw shattered into pieces. Feng Piaoling advanced toward Wang Ying step by step.
"Damn it!"
Wang Ying was startled. Although he knew full well that his third soul skill could hardly inflict much damage on Feng Piaoling, having it shattered in an instant still exceeded his expectations.
His heart pounded violently, and a trace of panic crept into his chest. However, when he noticed that Feng Piaoling had no intention of using soul tools, nor was he even using his first martial soul with attached soul rings—instead simply gripping his ringless second martial soul as he strolled slowly toward him—
His panic was instantly replaced by towering rage.
"Fifth Soul Skill: Demon Eagle Dominates the World!"
Stomping his right foot heavily forward, the fifth soul ring burst into brilliant light. Wang Ying thrust both fists forward, pouring every drop of violent, dark teal energy into them.
In the next instant, a terrifying eagle screech echoed out as a somewhat blurred demon eagle pounced forward. Previously, his third soul skill had only unleashed the demon eagle's claws; now, in his rage, he released his fifth soul skill, manifesting the entire demon eagle.
Its power had increased by far more than a fraction—it was at least twice as strong!
"Let's see how you block..." Before he could finish the sentence, Wang Ying's expression froze.
In his field of vision, before the wildly violent demon eagle could even spread its wings, it was cleaved into two halves by a teal sword light unleashed by Feng Piaoling, dissipating into nothingness. Thereafter, the dazzling sword light filled his vision, blinding him to everything else.
It was none other than the final stance of the Nine Gale Swords—Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon!
Pfft!
The protective light shield shattered, and Wang Ying was sent flying backward, slamming heavily into the light barrier emitted by the one hundred and eight soul tool pillars.
Instakilled in a single strike!
Seeing this scene, the expressions of the Shrek group turned quite unsightly. No matter how one looked at it, Wang Ying possessed strength close to that of the Shrek Seven Monsters, yet he was so utterly defenseless before Feng Piaoling.
He hadn't even managed to force out the opponent's soul tools or his ring-attached first martial soul.
Just how terrifyingly strong had this guy become?
"Wang Ying didn't lose unfairly; they simply aren't on the same level at all," Xuan Zi said, watching Feng Piaoling instakill Wang Ying on the stage, feeling increasingly satisfied in his heart.
A genius like this belonged to Shrek Academy.
"Feng Piaoling wins!"
After announcing the match result, Huang Jinxu cast a surprised glance at Feng Piaoling, a touch of intrigue appearing on his face.
The technique the youth had just executed was clearly the ancient sword technique from the Wind Sword Sect of ten thousand years ago that His Majesty had mentioned earlier.
What puzzled him, however, was that if the Wind Sword Sect truly possessed such a formidable combat skill, why had it perished so quickly back then?
"Judging from the combat skills those little fellows from the Hall of Souls displayed earlier, this should be something he figured out himself. He truly is an peerless genius."
At this thought, Huang Jinxu looked at Feng Piaoling once more with a hint of added admiration.
Perhaps this time, he really might end Shrek's thousand-year winning streak.