Instant Kill

Instant Kill

Dark clouds blanketed the sky. The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament continued match after match. As of yesterday, the third round had completely concluded.

After the first three rounds, the situation had gradually become clearer. The traditionally strong teams were beginning to stand out. Yet the academy that sparked the most discussion remained the continent's number one academy—Shrek Academy!

It was already fully daylight, but the clouds overhead kept the sky somewhat gloomy. Fine threads of rain began to drift down in a steady drizzle. This was the first rain since the tournament began. Without a doubt, today's participating teams would be competing in the rain.

"They're here! They're here!" Someone shouted, and the spectators, along with the academy team members who had come to compete or watch, all turned their eyes toward the contestants' entrance.

Walking at the front was still Ye Qingchen, followed in turn by Bei Bei, He Caitou, Jiang Nannan, Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and a girl around twenty years old who had never appeared in a match before.

The girl was beautiful, but her expression was exceedingly cold. Team leader Wang Yan followed behind her. In other words, only six members of Shrek Academy had come to compete today. Xiao Xiao, who was seriously injured, and Xu Sanshi, whose vitality had been damaged, had not come.

Xu Sanshi needed time to recover from the damage to his vitality. Although Xiao Xiao's injuries had been stabilized, she would not be able to compete anytime soon. The cold girl at the rear of the team was undoubtedly Ling Luochen, the control-type battle Soul King with an Ice Element martial soul.

The Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy team had the strongest reaction upon seeing Ling Luochen. Ma Rulong frowned slightly and muttered to himself, "Is Shrek Academy finally sending out one of their main team members? If I remember correctly, they seemed to have brought ten contestants this time. She's the first one besides the reserve team to show herself."

After entering the resting area, Wang Yan did not arrange any tactics, leaving everything to Ye Qingchen.

Ye Qingchen said, "Today's opponent is Changning Academy from the Star Luo Empire. You could say they're fighting on home ground. Once the draw is over, I'll arrange the order of appearance."

Before long, the referee arrived on the competition stage, and the draw began. Luck was clearly on Shrek Academy's side today, as the results proved.

"Looks like the task of defeating Shrek Academy falls to us."

Just as Ye Qingchen finished drawing lots and was about to step down, the captain of Changning Academy suddenly called out loudly from across the stage.

Ye Qingchen glanced at him and curled his lip. "Well, the bigger the forest, the more kinds of birds it attracts." With that, he walked off the stage without another word.

The Changning Academy captain's voice had been loud enough for everyone from Shrek Academy who had already entered the waiting area to hear him.

He Caitou said angrily, "Now everyone thinks they can push Shrek Academy around. We have to teach them a lesson later."

At that moment, Ling Luochen stood up. She walked to Ye Qingchen's side and said in a low voice, "Do they really think Shrek Academy has no one left? Qingchen, leave this team battle to me. You only need to go out with me. I'll make them pay for their arrogance."

Ye Qingchen hesitated briefly, then reconsidered. "Let's go. Show them what we're made of."

Ling Luochen lowered her head and whispered a few words into Ye Qingchen's ear. Ye Qingchen nodded, then followed Ling Luochen onto the competition stage.

The seven members of Changning Academy had swiftly taken the stage as soon as the drawing ended. Though they had not yet retreated, they had already formed a wedge-shaped formation. That arrogant captain stood at the very front.

Seeing that only two people from Shrek Academy had taken the stage, the referee asked in confusion, "Shrek Academy's representative team, this is a team battle, not the two-two-three format. Please have your other members enter the stage immediately. Otherwise, they will be considered to have forfeited."

Changning Academy's captain smiled contemptuously. "Shrek Academy really is finished now! They're so nervous they've made such a basic mistake. What a pity for the reputation of the continent's number one academy. Changning Academy may not be number one on the continent, but defeating the number one academy today will still be quite an experience."

Ling Luochen said calmly, "The two of us are enough for this team battle."

As she spoke, she did not even spare her opponents a glance. She simply led Ye Qingchen toward one side of the competition stage.

The referee froze, unable to stop himself from asking, "Are there really only two of you competing?"

Without turning back, Ling Luochen and Ye Qingchen nodded and slowly walked away.

The opposing team finally retreated to the edge of the stage as well. The referee raised his right hand. "Both sides, prepare. Begin!"

As his right hand dropped, the seven members of Changning Academy swiftly released their martial souls. Their arrogance was not entirely without reason. Aside from their captain, who was a Soul King, the other six were all Soul Ancestors. Moreover, their captain possessed the optimal soul ring configuration: two yellow, two purple, and one black.

Ling Luochen released her martial soul as well, with the same two yellow, two purple, and one black soul rings. Behind her, Ye Qingchen still had four black and one red.

Ling Luochen raised her right hand and shouted, "Begin."

As her first soul ring flashed, the Ice Staff appeared in her grasp, and the surrounding air immediately turned frigid.

Naturally, she had said that to Ye Qingchen. Ye Qingchen stepped forward, and several elements instantly arranged themselves before him. The Ice Element hovered in front of Ye Qingchen.

"Go!" Ye Qingchen pushed the ball of Ice Element light forward, and it sank into Ling Luochen's body.

Ling Luochen's gaze instantly turned cold, and an indescribable aura burst forth from her. The next moment, she directly activated her fifth soul ring. The black soul ring shone with an oppressive radiance as it spread outward. The seven members of Changning Academy had only just released their martial souls when they sensed that something was wrong, for all of them felt the temperature plummet. Then they saw an ice-blue ring of light rapidly expand from across the stage.

"Using a ten-thousand-year soul skill right from the start? Everyone, be careful!" Changning Academy's captain cursed under his breath and immediately released a soul skill, preparing to defend himself.

However, he soon witnessed a sight that left him staring blankly. In his vision, the referee, who was quickly backing away from the center of the arena, suddenly froze at the feet. Then the unfortunate referee turned into an ice sculpture, remaining motionless in his retreating posture.

Before Changning Academy could react, they all felt a cold that surpassed even the ultimate. As that extreme chill washed over them, each of them merely felt a flash of cold across their bodies before their vision blurred. Their active soul skills, along with their bodies, were all frozen within ice and snow. Eight ice sculptures now stood upon the competition stage.

Ling Luochen withdrew her staff, turned to Ye Qingchen, and said, "Go kick them all off the stage."

Ye Qingchen's heart twitched. She really is fierce!

Ling Luochen's method of battle had been very simple. With Ye Qingchen's ultimate enhancement, her Ice Element had transformed into ultimate ice. Then she had used her fifth soul skill, Ice Radiance Ring.

Even if it had not been ultimate ice, her powerful magical control and elemental control would still have been enough to freeze the opposition for a period of time. That was the terrifying aspect of an ultimate martial soul. When enhanced by the same attribute, ultimate ice could display a horrifying power beyond normal limits.

Below the stage, the spectators and every academy team were dumbfounded. As Ye Qingchen passed by the unfortunate referee, the ice shattered, and the referee finally broke free. However, his body immediately shook with a series of violent shivers. He wanted to say something, but ultimately swallowed the words, "No attacking the referee."

Ye Qingchen passed the referee and kicked the seven ice sculptures of Changning Academy off the stage. Their team teacher, afraid his students would be injured by the fall, hurriedly caught them one by one below. Yet Ye Qingchen was hardly so kind—he kicked them down individually, and did so with great speed.

"Keep your mouths clean next time. You should be grateful it wasn't me who attacked. Otherwise, every last one of you would be dead!" As Ye Qingchen spoke, a red glow flickered in his eyes...

The referee had recovered from his shivering by then. He looked at Ling Luochen, who had already withdrawn her martial soul, with shock and declared, "Shrek Academy wins."

Boom— The entire arena erupted.

Just when everyone believed Shrek Academy had fallen, Ling Luochen used her formidable ice control to tell them that Shrek Academy was still the number one academy on the continent.

No matter how outstanding Shrek Academy's reserve team had been in the earlier matches, nor how tenacious their fighting spirit was, people had felt more admiration than anything else. Even Ma Rulong, their captain, believed that the championship of this tournament was already theirs for the taking.

As Ling Luochen and Ye Qingchen walked off the stage, the other members of Shrek Academy exchanged looks. Wang Yan let out a long breath, feeling so relieved that he nearly collapsed. Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng would soon return as well, and the later Round-Robin Tournament would become much easier.

As usual, the Shrek Academy delegation did not linger. They left the arena immediately after the match and returned to their hotel. By the fourth round, the Round-Robin Tournament had entered its middle stage. Group One, where Shrek Academy was placed, had only eight teams, and each team needed to play seven matches to complete one full round.

Over the next three matches, Shrek Academy did not encounter any opponents capable of threatening them, and they continued their winning streak. Through two one-on-one knockout matches and one team battle, they defeated their opponents in succession. At last, with a perfect record of seven wins in seven matches, they claimed first place in their group and advanced into the brutal Knockout Tournament.

Since the other groups each had nine teams, Shrek Academy received three days of rest after finishing their matches. Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng had both fully recovered from their injuries.

Over those days, the Shrek Team received one piece of good news after another. With Ye Qingchen's help, Xiao Xiao's body had basically recovered. After their consecutive hard-fought battles, Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had each unexpectedly raised their Soul Power by one rank in a short time. The three of them had all reached the level of Soul Elder; all they lacked was a soul ring.