The True Formidable Enemy Approaches

Two days later, everyone gathered in the Shrek Team's conference room. Tomorrow would be the second match of the tournament, and Wang Yan had called everyone together for a meeting to make strategic arrangements.

Once everyone had arrived, Wang Yan first asked Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, and Ling Luochen about their recovery. When he received the answer that they had returned to normal and would recover fully within half a month at most, he felt somewhat relieved.

Wang Yan said, "Yuhao's opening performance two days ago was excellent. He displayed Shrek's imposing spirit. From my observations over the past few days, the other academies still see us as powerful as ever, still synonymous with mystery and strength. That will have a certain positive effect on our matches going forward."

In Shrek's first match, the six simulated hundred-thousand-year soul rings Huo Yuhao had produced were immensely shocking. Over the past few days, the other academies had constantly been discussing him, already treating Huo Yuhao as the core and leader of their group.

Hearing Wang Yan's words, they too felt happy for themselves. They had originally feared that Shrek's glory would be ruined in their hands, but now, an intense sense of pride rose in all their hearts.

Watching them happily tease one another, Wang Yan continued, "Tomorrow marks the start of the round-robin stage after the elimination rounds. That is why I called you all here today—to make tactical arrangements for the round-robin stage ahead."

At this point, Wang Yan paused. After hesitating briefly, he continued, "Huo Yuhao, Xiao Xiao, and Wang Dong are my students, so I know something about their abilities. However, I still do not know enough about the specific circumstances of the other four of you. And Ling Mo, although you are also my student, your abilities have always been a mystery to me. I remember that your First Soul Skill is Mimicry, but its effects have been different every time you fought. My lack of understanding of you will affect my tactical planning. If possible, I hope you can tell me about your Soul Skills."

Soul Skills were extremely important to a Soul Master, but given Shrek Academy's current situation, it was only natural for Wang Yan, as their teacher, to make such a request. After Wang Yan spoke, Beibei was the first to respond. Whether as captain of the Shrek Seven Devils Reserve Team or as the Tang Sect's Senior Brother, he was well suited to begin. Jiang Nannan, He Caitou, and Xu Sanshi then revealed their Soul Skills one after another. As expected of upper-year students from Shrek Academy, all of their Soul Skills were extremely powerful. He Caitou's Soul Skills, however, came as quite a surprise. Wang Yan discovered that He Caitou was actually a genius Food System Soul Master, and the effects of his four support skills were also excellent.

After the four had all revealed their Soul Skills, everyone turned their attention to Ling Mo, eager to learn what Soul Skills he possessed after defeating seven opponents alone and emerging victorious.

Is it my turn? Ling Mo knew that under the circumstances, staying silent was no longer an option. Helplessly, he said, "My First Soul Skill is Mimicry. Yuhao and the others have seen its effects. My Second Soul Skill..."

Ling Mo paused. After hesitating for a moment, he continued, "My Second Soul Skill is a support skill. It lets me become immune to all mental negative effects while gaining an all-around enhancement, but this Soul Skill only works on me."

Ling Mo then released his martial soul. A black-and-white spear appeared in his hand, and the sight of one yellow, two purple, and one black soul rings appearing alongside it drew cries of surprise from everyone. Ling Mo looked at them, let out a long breath, and said, "My Third and Fourth Soul Skills are special forms of my martial soul. The Third Soul Skill, Creation, can be considered a healing skill to some extent. The Fourth Soul Skill is Decomposition, which can decompose all things. The degree of decomposition depends on my Soul Power." Ling Mo had no intention of revealing the skills of Heavenly Fire Sacred Judgment. Revealing Black Abyss White Flower was already enough. If Heavenly Fire were exposed as well, the true nature of the Divine Keys could no longer be hidden. Before Ling Mo had even figured out what he truly wanted to do in this world, the title of an ultimate martial soul master was already more than enough.

After hearing Ling Mo's Soul Skills, perhaps to prevent Wang Yan from misunderstanding something, Ling Mo did not give the teacher a chance to speak. He quickly said, "Teacher, I know what you want to ask, but I need to tell you that this Creation Soul Skill also only works on me."

Ling Mo was not lying this time. As a Divine Key, Black Abyss White Flower's power of Creation could only affect others when its rated output was unleashed. At present, Ling Mo was unable to use Soul Power to unleash its rated output. He could use its Second Rated Output with Honkai Energy, but if he unleashed Black Abyss White Flower using Honkai Energy, the power of Creation would likewise manifest in the form of Honkai Energy. Could Honkai Energy be used carelessly on other people? Their body might be healed, only for the person themselves to be eroded away. Thus, Ling Mo simply stated that the power of Creation only worked on himself.

Wang Yan inwardly lamented the missed opportunity and did not ask about Ling Mo's Second Martial Soul Skills. As a teacher at Shrek Academy, he understood very well how important a Second Martial Soul was to a Twin Martial Souls master. Even a Soul Master's own relatives might not know about it. Xuan Zi understood this as well, which was why he did not know exactly what Ling Mo's martial soul was.

Wang Yan said, "Now then, I will arrange our tactics for the round-robin stage. The round-robin stage consists of team battles, individual battles, and two-two-three battles. There is no need to explain team battles. For now, only your reserve team can compete, while Ling Mo will replace Xiao Xiao depending on the opponent. In individual battles, each side sends out one person. Those who surrender or lose are eliminated, while the victor may continue fighting until they are eliminated. The order for individual battles will tentatively follow your ages, with the oldest going first. I will make adjustments based on the opponent. As for the two-two-three battles, Beibei and Jiang Nannan will form the first group, Xu Sanshi and He Caitou the second, while Ling Mo, Huo Yuhao, and Wang Dong will form the third."

After arranging the tactics, Wang Yan dismissed the meeting and told everyone to return and rest well, preparing themselves for tomorrow's match.

The next day, everyone arrived at the preparation area provided by the organizers. After Beibei and the captain of their opponents, Yunluo Advanced Soul Master Academy, drew lots, the result was an individual battle.

Wang Yan sent Xu Sanshi out. A defense-type Soul Master held a certain advantage against Soul Engineers, and the opposing team was not particularly strong overall.

Xu Sanshi did not disappoint his reputation as a shameless bastard after taking the stage. He acted like a fool in every possible way, enraging the opposing captain enough to make him take the stage early.

Yunluo's captain was named Situ Yu. He said, "I know there is a gap between us, but I hope you can earn my respect with your strength."

At that, Xu Sanshi finally put away his sleazy grin. Narrowing his eyes, he said seriously, "As you wish."

"Begin." The referee quickly announced the start of the match. The instant his voice fell, large numbers of metal tubes rapidly emerged from Situ Yu's body.

Seeing this, He Caitou introduced it to Huo Yuhao. "Junior Brother, look. This is the Fortress Tactic, the strongest offensive and defensive method among us Soul Engineers." As he spoke, he explained the Fortress Tactic's strengths and weaknesses to Huo Yuhao.

"Although this tactic has immense offensive and defensive power, its mobility is severely lacking. That is why the Extreme Individual Soldier developed by our academy does not use this tactic."

Listening to He Caitou, Ling Mo thought of the various battlesuits from the Honkai World of his previous life and said, "Actually, this tactic still has its merits. As you said, to maximize the Fortress Tactic's power, a Soul Engineer's Soul Skills all need to enhance Soul Power. But high-level Soul Engineers cannot use dozens or even hundreds of Soul Tools simultaneously like low-level ones can, nor do they need to. They can choose to discard most offensive Soul Tools and instead enhance the Soul Engineer's agility and speed, while retaining some of its defensive capability. If the relationship between these aspects is properly coordinated, it can still be a powerful combat method."

Ling Mo's purpose in saying this was also to help the two create support armor like that of the Honkai World in the future. After all, he had not seen the data for Valkyrie Battlesuits in his previous life, Void Archive had not stored anything either, and he did not have the Herrscher of Reason core back then, so he could not directly analyze them. He could not possibly touch them and examine them bit by bit, could he? If he really did that, setting aside everyone else, Fu Hua definitely would not let him off—after all, Fu Hua possessed a Moonlight Battlesuit. He could Mimicry or recreate weapons based on impressions from the game in his original world, but armor was truly beyond him. Ling Mo did not expect He Caitou and Huo Yuhao to do an outstanding job, but something was better than nothing, right?

After hearing Ling Mo's words, He Caitou suddenly understood. "That's right! How did I not think of that? I never expected you to be so smart, Ling Mo. No wonder Teacher wants to take you as his disciple."

Does Fan Yu want to take me as his disciple?! He wants to turn me into a reserve Soul Tool cannonball! Ling Mo shouted inwardly.

It was not really He Caitou's fault for failing to think of it. To someone who had grown up in a civilization that had entered the universe through technology, some of Douluo World's current Soul Tool designs looked like elementary school homework to a college student. His thinking was several steps ahead.

Just as He Caitou was asking Ling Mo about some Soul Tool design ideas, Xu Sanshi finally ended the battle onstage. Situ Yu was forcibly rammed off the competition platform by Xu Sanshi's Mysterious Nether Shield.

After the match, to preserve the mysterious and powerful image of Shrek that Huo Yuhao had established at the beginning, they did not stay to watch the other battles. They got up and returned to Shrek's accommodations.

After returning to the hotel, Ling Mo sensed Beibei and the others making their way up to the rooftop one after another. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong joined them soon afterward. Curious, Ling Mo also left his room and leaped his way up to the rooftop.

Noticing Ling Mo's arrival, Beibei said to Huo Yuhao, "See? Ling Mo came too. I told you, no one who can become one of the Shrek Seven Devils is simple."

Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao, who were standing nearby, blushed slightly at Beibei's words and awkwardly turned their heads away.

At first, Ling Mo did not know what they were doing, but after seeing what Beibei and Jiang Nannan held in their hands, he understood. They were using binoculars to watch the matches in the arena.

After watching several matches, Huo Yuhao sighed. "It seems that none of the teams that made it into the round-robin stage are weak. The team we faced today might have been the weakest team in the round-robin stage. Perhaps our next match will be a hard battle."

Beibei also said, "Junior Brother is right. The matches ahead will not be easy, and our true strength will inevitably be exposed. Teacher Wang may have deceived us about one thing. There will definitely be quite a few opponents at the Soul King level in this tournament."

Huo Yuhao immediately sensed that something was off and could not help asking, "Wait, Senior Brother. Are you saying that you were hiding your strength too?"

Beibei exchanged a smile with Xu Sanshi and said to Huo Yuhao, "You could say that. If Sanshi and I had used our true strength during the selection trials, Ling Mo might not have won." As he spoke, Beibei could not help glancing at Ling Mo.

Ling Mo naturally heard Beibei's words and immediately teased, "You were hiding your strength? You make it sound like I had a hard time winning."

Beibei smiled awkwardly.

After that, no one continued watching. They believed Wang Yan would make the proper arrangements, so they returned to their rooms to rest.