Chapter 76.1: I come from Shrek, and from the Tang Sect!
All of their hands trembled a bit when they heard themselves called up. When Bei Bei raised his head, the lazy smile that was normally present on his face had vanished. Resolute determination now filled his face as he took large strides towards the stage.
He Caitou followed immediately after Bei Bei, while Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, Xiao Xiao, Huo Yuhao, and Wang Dong all trailed behind him.
Right. As of this moment, the seven of them were now representing Shrek Academy. As of this moment, they were the current generation of Shrek’s Seven Monsters. The halo of their ancestors seemed to envelop their bodies, alongside the halo of the Tang Sect!
The radiance of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy seemed to ignite within them at the same time, and when it did, their emotions reached an unprecedented level of excitement.
Their breathing had become somewhat rushed amidst the cheers that had encompassed them, and their faces had become flushed. Their soul power had also begun rapidly circulating throughout their bodies due to their excitement. As a result, they all felt as if they had an unlimited amount of energy.
Finally, they neared the tall stage that they’d be participating upon. However, when they did so, Bei Bei didn’t rush to step onto it. Instead, he turned towards his companions and said in a low voice, “We can’t just win this match; we have to do so overwhelmingly. We have to show the glory that belongs to Shrek Academy. Yuhao, we’ll be relying on you.”
Huo Yuhao forcefully nodded. He naturally understood what his senior brother was implying.
Only when he saw this did Bei Bei turn around and take large strides towards the tall stage in front of him.
The seven members of each team gathered at their respective corners of the stage and looked towards one another. When the students from the Tian Ling Advanced Soul Academy saw that Shrek Academy had actually sent out such a young line-up, they were involuntarily stunned. Has Shrek Academy sent its preparatory team up? But, but this is the knockout round! Aren’t they scared that they’ll lose?!
A similar question appeared in all of the spectator’s minds as well, including those of the participating academies. Even the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy was left dumbstruck.
At this moment, even Xiao Hongchen was doubtful of his own judgement. Wasn’t Shrek Academy being too brazen? Regardless of how strong they were, would they be able to beat a team of soul masters who were near twenty years old with a team that had an average age of fifteen? One that even had a few members that looked eleven to twelve years old? There were no second chances if they were to lose!
The Star Luo Emperor also had a stunned look on his face. He asked doubtfully, “Just what is Shrek Academy doing? Why aren’t they sending out their main force? Why isn’t Dai Hao’s son coming up on stage?”
However, a competition was a competition. No matter how doubtful they were, the competition still had to go on.
The referee sent by the Star Luo Empire had already taken his position. He motioned for both parties to step forward.
The seven students from both teams gathered in the center of the arena. The closer they got to each other, the more the Shrek’s Seven Monsters were able to see the unsightly faces of their opponents. Countless years of history before them had already proven this; the result of meeting Shrek Academy in the first round was obvious.
On the other hand, the interest of the students from Tian Ling Advanced Soul Academy were piqued by Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao as they got closer. What’s more, Bei Bei and the rest were clearly very young! This was undoubtedly their preparatory team. Furthermore, it was a preparatory team that had an average age that was lower than fifteen. Sure enough, Shrek Academy was completely deserving of its nickname of an academy for monsters. Just what were they trying to do?
“The first round of the knockout round is a team fight.” The referee said solemnly, “Both parties can use a large majority of their soul tools during the fight. However, if one party admits defeat during the course of the fight, the other party cannot continue attacking. Soul engineers cannot use stationary soul tools which have a high degree of killing power. Do you understand?”
“Understood.” Bei Bei calmly took the initiative to respond.
The leader of the Tian Ling Advanced Soul Academy’s team was a slender youth who looked around twenty. Among the seven they were pit against, his expression was rather ordinary. He responded as well, following Bei Bei.
Although they were only fighting against Shrek Academy’s preparatory team, it was just as Ma Xiaotao had said. Shrek’s reputation in itself was a powerful weapon. As they looked at the menacing gazes of Huo Yuhao’s seven, the students from the Tian Ling Advanced Soul Academy felt even weaker.
The referee nodded, “Good. Both parties, move back to your corners. Once I give the command, the battle will start. Before I announce the start of this match, you are not allowed to release any martial souls. Otherwise, you will be punished.”
Both parties started to slowly widen the distance between them. As they retreated, Huo Yuhao turned around and whispered, “Later, everyone stand according to my arrangements. After that, fight by following my Spiritual Detection.”
Huo Yuhao had no confidence in commanding the team members of the official team. However, he was closely related to a large portion of the preparatory team. The team leader, Bei Bei, was his senior brother; the second eldest of the lot, He Caitou, was also his senior brother. There was no need to even mention Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao. He’d gotten closer to Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan over these past few days, but more importantly, everyone was convinced by his Spiritual Detection.
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Over on the other side, the Tian Ling Empire were taking a very defensive formation. Quickly, both parties arrived at the edges of the arena.
The referee who stood at the center of the arena slowly raised his right hand. At this moment, the Star Luo Plaza filled with several hundreds of thousands of people instantly quieted down. Every single spectator was staring at the spacious stage with their eyes wide.
This was the first round of the tournament, as well as the first knockout round. Moreover, it was a match that had the continent’s number one academy participating! Shrek Academy’s participants were very young, but they still carried the glory of Shrek with them. Everybody wished to see what they could do.
As the referee raised his hand, both parties immediately took their positions. At the same time, the hundred and eight soul masters from the Star Luo Empire pressed their hands to the metal pillars in front of them.
The hundred and eight metal pillars lit up simultaneously, causing rays of white light to surge into the sky. They carved out arcs as they gathered in midair, twenty meters above the stage.
When the hundred and eight rays of light were gathered together, a white curtain of light rained down, covering the entire field. The protective barrier had been completed, signifying that the Continental Advanced Academy Soul Duelling Tournament was about to begin.
Over on the Tian Ling Advanced Soul Academy’s side, the seven people quickly arranged themselves into a traditional battle formation. Three soul masters stood at the very front of the formation, and the fact that they were either assault or defense-type soul masters could be seen with a glance. The two soul masters who stood slightly behind them should be agility-type soul masters. The last of the soul masters stood in a single line, one in front and one in the back, and according to the traditional layout, it was clear that they were respectively control-type and auxiliary-type soul masters.
This was the best seven-man formation that had been devised after countless battles. If they were focused on attacking, the three people in front would be assault-type soul masters; if they were focused on defense and stability, there would be one or two defense-type soul masters.
A traditional formation like this one was called the 3-2-1-1 formation.
However, not many people were currently looking at the Tian Ling Advanced Soul Academy team. Practically everyone was focused on Shrek. Furthermore, they involuntarily cried out in surprise due to the scene in front of them. The ones who cried out the loudest were actually the hundred-plus Advanced Academies that were participating in the tournament. This was because Shrek Academy had revealed a formation that they were simply unable to comprehend.
Huo Yuhao stood at the very front of the formation, and his still-infantile face was currently filled with an arrogant look. On the other hand, the six people behind him maintained a fan-shaped formation behind him, making it seem as though the stars were cupping themselves around the moon. As a result, he was made the most prominent of the lot.
What was this formation even called?
The Advanced Academies that could participate in this tournament all had a certain amount of reputation within the continent. They had each conducted research into military strategy with regards to soul masters, but not a single academy had ever created a formation like this one.
A formation like this made it seem as though the other six were just there to cheer for Huo Yuhao, as if they were letting him go out and fight by himself. This was an incomprehensible scene! After sending out its preparatory team, Shrek Academy was giving everyone another surprise.
Even the referee was somewhat dumbstruck. The fact that he was able to become a referee of the tournament showed that he was naturally a high-ranking soul master who had been specially chosen by the Star Luo Empire.
The host of every single tournament was an empire, and this was also a time where the various countries were able to reveal their strength to the outstanding elites coming from the various academies. Naturally, they would do everything to the best of their abilities. However, even this referee had never seen a formation like this in a team fight before! He even forgot to put down the right hand that he had lifted earlier.
“Referee, we can start now.” Huo Yuhao said to the referee in an extremely unperturbed manner.
He wasn’t old, and even his voice was in the midst of cracking. Thus, his puerile voice was somewhat coarse. However, he was now the main focus of the entire crowd after standing in front.
Only then did the referee come back to his senses. He swung down his right hand, then shouted, “Match, start!” No matter what formation they were using, all he needed to do was ensure that the match went smoothly.
Following the referee’s shout, both parties simultaneously released their martial souls.
The seven from the Tian Ling Advanced Soul Academy couldn’t be considered weak at all; their soul rings were mainly comprised of yellow and purple ones, and flashed with dazzling light. Of the seven, five of them had four soul rings, while the other two had three soul rings. The four soul rings of the youth who led the pack flickered dazzlingly. Clearly, he had already reached the later stages of the Soul Ancestor rank. Reaching a stage like this at the mere age of twenty was relatively decent.
However, simply nobody would pay attention to the state of the Tian Ling Advanced Soul Academy at this moment. All of the spectators were focused on Shrek Academy’s side. More accurately, they were all focused on Huo Yuhao, who was taking large strides forward.
At this exact moment, an indescribable yet terrifying aura impressively appeared on the tall stage.
In that instant, a blood-colored light lit up the entire tournament stage. Filled with icy, cruel, slaughtering, berserk, and other types of terrifying auras, it suddenly exploded out…