Mist Upon Mist

Mist Upon Mist

The sun was already high in the sky, and it was time for the match. The referee stepped into the center and announced loudly through a sound-amplifying Soul Tool, "Both sides, enter the staging areas."

The draw began!

Whether Wang Yan's prayers had truly worked or not, the result of the draw was exactly what he had hoped for most.

"Shrek Academy versus Thousand Spirit Academy, team battle." The referee loudly announced the result.

A team battle was undoubtedly the most intense and comprehensive form of competition, testing the overall strength of both sides. The captains of both teams indicated that they had no objections to a team battle.

The referee said in a deep voice, "Contestants, take the field."

In the staging area, Ye Qingchen, Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, Xiao Xiao, Huo Yuhao, and Wang Dong rose together and headed onto the stage.

Once on the stage, the two sides each occupied one half. On Shrek Academy's side, Ye Qingchen and Xu Sanshi stood at the very front. Behind them were Jiang Nannan and Bei Bei. At the very back, Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao stood on either side, while Huo Yuhao stood in the center.

At the front of Thousand Spirit Academy's formation stood not their captain, but four people. Standing there, they resembled a wall. Only behind those four was their captain, followed by two girls. Their formation carried an air of impregnable defense.

The four tall members at the front were named Yang Ming, Song Hu, Bai Chen, and Ye Mao. According to Wang Yan's assessment, these four should have come from the same school of training—in other words, the same sect—because their Martial Souls were identical: the defensive-type Rhinoceros Shield, a fairly high-grade defensive Martial Soul.

The Thousand Spirit captain behind them, standing as stiff and cold as a spear, was named Shen Ce. He was the true core and main attacker of the team. His Martial Soul was the Thousand Strike Spear, and he excelled at both close-range and long-range combat.

The final two girls were An Lengye, the blue-haired one whose Martial Soul was the Frost Bear, and Fei Yu Yan, the red-haired one whose Martial Soul was the Blazing Tiger. Both followed control-oriented paths, making them an ice-and-fire dual-control combination.

They had not used any Soul Tools in their previous matches, so there was no way to judge that aspect. However, this team's overall combat strength was absolutely not comparable to the Cloud Luo Academy team Shrek Academy had faced in the previous round.

Shen Ce possessed the strength of a five-ringed Soul King. According to Wang Yan's estimate, his cultivation was around Rank 53 or 54. The other six were all Soul Ancestors with at least four rings. Two of them were likely above Rank 45.

"Match start!" Following the referee's shout, the members of Shrek Academy and Thousand Spirit Academy released their Martial Souls almost simultaneously. Only one person was an exception: Huo Yuhao.

Soul rings were the easiest way to gauge an opponent's strength. As both sides released their rings at the same time, they naturally watched each other closely.

The moment Ye Qingchen truly released his Martial Soul, the Thousand Spirit Academy team visibly froze. An invisible pressure seemed to grip their throats with giant hands, causing their breathing to quicken involuntarily. Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan moved at the same time.

The seven members of Shrek Academy could practically be described as having no formation at all. They even appeared somewhat scattered, as if each of them were fighting independently.

Compared to them, Thousand Spirit Academy was far more organized.

The four people at the front—Yang Ming, Song Hu, Bai Chen, and Ye Mao—were enveloped in a layer of dark yellow light as they released their Martial Souls. Immediately afterward, their bodies began to change.

Their already tall bodies visibly became more muscular. A dark yellow sheen appeared across their skin, which also became rougher and thicker-looking. The greatest change occurred in their right arms. The muscles in their thick forearms twisted violently, and shields actually grew from their right arms.

The shields were dark yellow as well, their layers upon layers of hardened keratin resembling heavy armor. The Rhinoceros Shield Martial Soul was a variant of a rhinoceros-type soul beast. The four were as one. Four Rhinoceros Shields, each a meter in diameter, formed a wall protecting the three people behind them.

These four Rhinoceros Shield Soul Masters all possessed two yellow and two purple rings, making them four-ringed Soul Ancestors. Simply standing there, they radiated a solid and sturdy presence. If not for the invisible pressure emanating from Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, and Huo Yuhao in the distance, which made their breathing somewhat hurried, this defense would have been even more perfect.

Behind the four Rhinoceros Shield Soul Masters stood their captain, Shen Ce.

Shen Ce's method of releasing his Martial Soul was somewhat unusual. He raised both arms to his sides, and a layer of bright silver light burst from his entire body. Tilting his head toward the sky, he struck a pose as though he wanted to embrace the heavens. Then, a streak of silver shot from behind his back, instantly soared into the air, bounced off the defensive barrier, and descended to hover before him.

It was a long spear with sharp points at both ends. It was twelve feet long, entirely brilliant silver, with faint inscriptions carved into its surface. The moment the spear appeared in Shen Ce's hands, it erupted with a fierce, sharp aura that stood in stark contrast to the four Rhinoceros Shield Soul Masters before him.

This was Shen Ce's Martial Soul—the Thousand Strike Spear! As an assault-type battle Soul Master with a Weapon Martial Soul, he gave Shrek Academy's seven members a familiar feeling. They had felt the same kind of presence from Chen Zifeng, another assault-type fighter among this generation's official Shrek Seven Monsters.

Wasn't Chen Zifeng's Soul-Chasing Sword also filled with that same terrifying sharpness? In past battles, Chen Zifeng's aura had been suppressed by Ma Xiaotao, so it had not stood out. Yet Huo Yuhao and the others had all experienced the terror of that sharpness.

Without question, Shen Ce's Thousand Strike Spear also bore five Soul Rings—two yellow and three purple. As a Soul King, he certainly could not compare with Chen Zifeng. However, his abilities should have been extremely similar, and his attack power was undoubtedly extraordinary. The purple of his fifth Soul Ring was deep as an abyss. Though it was not yet a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring, it was at least more than eight thousand years old.

Just as Shen Ce released his Thousand Strike Spear, two utterly different lights formed the backdrop behind him. On the left was blue ice, while on the right was red fire.

An Lengye and Fei Yu Yan had each released their Martial Souls.

The Martial Souls of these two female Soul Masters were quite distinctive. Both possessed Beast Martial Souls, but rather than transforming their own bodies, their Beast Martial Souls took the form of phantoms before them.

Before An Lengye stood a massive deep-blue bear three meters tall, its entire body emanating a dense icy-blue aura. Before Fei Yu Yan stood a fierce tiger two and a half meters long, blazing red all over and marked with black stripes.

Unlike Shrek Academy's charge, Thousand Spirit Academy's seven members did not rush forward after releasing their Martial Souls. The four Rhinoceros Shields clustered together, protecting their companions behind them. At the same time, all four activated their first Soul Skills. Shield Wall!

Countless dark yellow phantoms bloomed from the Rhinoceros Shields. In an instant, the four shields seemed to become hundreds or even thousands, blocking the Shrek Seven Monsters' vision and route of advance.

"Prepare to attack!" Huo Yuhao informed everyone.

Upon receiving the message, everyone quickly began to move. Xu Sanshi immediately raised the Profound Nether Shield.

An Lengye could not reach Ye Qingchen, who controlled the space. In an instant, Ye Qingchen alone had completely disrupted their tactics, and even Fei Yu Yan, who wanted to attack, was unable to make a move.

Where the hell did this guy come from? The Thousand Spirit Academy team could not help but think.

Seeing that the situation was unclear, Shen Ce, gripping the Thousand Strike Spear, had no choice but to act.

"Go!" With a low shout, he guided the Thousand Strike Spear in his hands with both arms, preparing to fire it.

At that very moment, a transparent barrier appeared around Ye Qingchen.

The next instant, the Thousand Strike Spear flew from Shen Ce's hand and shot toward Ye Qingchen. Take one out if possible! Under the gazes of countless spectators, everyone could clearly see everything on the stage. At that instant, all of them widened their eyes.

Just as the Thousand Strike Spear was about to strike, the transparent barrier reflected the attack. It caused no tangible damage at all, and everything ended in silence.

"What are you standing around for? Get moving!" Ye Qingchen said to his stunned teammates.

"Senior Sister, deal with the fire attribute. Sanshi, switch over and deal with the ice attribute. Leave the remaining four to the rest of you."

Thousand Spirit Academy's tactics were solid, but without Shen Ce, everything became easy to resolve. An Lengye was no pushover either. Her fourth Soul Ring lit up instantly.

The Frost Bear let out a roar, and a burst of freezing air suddenly erupted. An Lengye's blue hair turned white as well. The cold wind in the air transformed into a massive frost tornado, sweeping toward Ye Qingchen. But in the next instant, An Lengye appeared before Bei Bei, while Xu Sanshi appeared where An Lengye had originally stood.

Immediately, deprived of An Lengye's control, the frost tornado went berserk. Ye Qingchen arrived before the frost tornado, his originally purple eyes faintly revealing an icy-blue glow. The light burst forth as he raised a hand and pointed at the frost tornado.

The blood-red soul ring appeared once again, stunning the entire audience. Its terrifying aura even made the protective barrier jointly erected by one hundred and eight soul masters around the stage tremble violently.

Even the air around Ye Qingchen's body seemed to solidify. Behind him, the faint silhouette of a gigantic phantom flashed past.

"Showing off elemental attacks before an element controller? Laughable." His deep voice spread throughout Star Luo Square through a Soul Tool amplifier prepared in advance.

Hearing that voice and witnessing the astonishing scene onstage, every spectator felt as though their heart had been seized.

Then, the audience witnessed a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives. The frost tornado that had been raging forward froze in place at that instant, then swept back toward Thousand Spirit Academy.

Ye Qingchen snapped the fingers of his right hand at the Frost Bear across from him. As though it had seen the most horrifying thing in the world, the Frost Bear's body trembled violently. Then... then, with a bang, it exploded into a sky full of light and shadows, vanishing into the air just like that.

An Lengye groaned and spat out a mouthful of blood, instantly collapsing to the ground. Before she lost consciousness, the last thing she remembered was Ye Qingchen's violet gaze. A defense that had seemed incomparably solid had fallen into chaos because of one person.

Ye Qingchen flew into the air, the purple orb hovering before him. "Nine Heavens Universal Transformation Heavenly Lightning."

In an instant, dark clouds filled the sky above the arena, and thunder rumbled. The next second, bolts of lightning struck down toward Thousand Spirit Academy's team members, throwing the field into utter chaos.

Ye Qingchen stood there as the red in his eyes gradually faded. Against the backdrop of his opponents, he was like a god who ruled everything upon this stage.

After Shrek Academy's first match had ended, nearly every academy had conducted in-depth discussions and research on Ye Qingchen, the pillar of Shrek Academy, who had released four Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings and one Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.

Yet even after their research, not a single academy, including Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, had been able to reach a definite conclusion.

Ye Qingchen looked down at Shen Ce across from him and said in a deep voice, "Do you still want to continue?"

Shen Ce looked at his companions, who had already lost all will to fight, then at An Lengye lying unconscious on the ground. With a sigh, he shook his head. "We surrender."

Ye Qingchen's brilliance had nearly eclipsed all his companions, but Shen Ce, who had faced them head-on for so long, could see clearly that Xu Sanshi—the defense-type soul master who had used the strength of a Soul Ancestor to withstand the full-force combined attack of Shen Ce, a Soul King, and a fire-element Soul Ancestor—was already a formidable force capable of deciding the match's outcome. Not to mention that the rest of Shrek Academy's team had barely made a move at all.

"Shrek Academy wins." At the referee's announcement, the seven members of Shrek Academy lined up, gave their opponents a slight bow, and filed off the stage.

(End of Chapter)