The two nations' border forces stationed near the Mingdou Mountain Range were alarmed by the surveillance Soul Tools. The troops led by Duke White Tiger and the Sun Moon Empire's eastern border forces immediately went on high alert, looking toward the terrifying source of Soul Power in the sky.
Then a shower of black blood rained down, and the air instantly filled with a pungent stench. They watched as the person who had just been pursued turned into a mass of bloody fragments the very next second.
At the same time, the Sun Moon forces noticed someone fall into the woods.
"Go take a look," the commander whispered to several soldiers. "If they show any sign of danger, kill them immediately."
Three Soul Ancestor soldiers went off at his command. The enormous figure in the sky also swooped down into Star Luo territory, where people immediately went up to negotiate with it. The old man who had just landed seemed quite angry. The Sun Moon patrol commander only caught a few scattered words, one of which was "Shrek Inspection Team."
"That organization that keeps interfering in the affairs of the three nations?" The commander stroked his chin. "Then the person who just fell into the woods is probably connected to Shrek too. I'd better handle this properly. It might even earn me a great merit."
While the Shrek team was suffering heavy losses, the selection trials at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy had just ended.
Huo Yuhao had shown everyone the true power of combining Soul Masters and Soul Engineers, while Chi Qiu and Wang Dong had used their own strength as Soul Masters to win over every competitor.
"Whatever the results of this tournament, next time we'll catch them off guard." As the teacher in charge of the preliminaries called the selected team members over to gather, Meng Hongchen's eyes shone brightly. "After all, our reserve team has five people with excellent Soul Master abilities!"
Huo Yuhao was a little surprised. "Could it be that Brother Xiao and Senior Meng are also skilled at fighting as Soul Masters?"
He knew, of course, that the two were the academy's top geniuses. But given the academy's circumstances, he had subconsciously thought of the Hongchen siblings as geniuses who excelled in Soul Engineering. That was why Meng Hongchen's remark surprised him.
"Of course. My title as the number one genius applies across the board." Xiao Hongchen gave his shoulder a hearty slap. "There isn't much time left before the tournament starts. We should show the others what we can do and practice working together, right, Yuhao?"
"Mm." Huo Yuhao nodded. Seeing that Xiao Hongchen seemed to have more to say, he looked at him questioningly.
"Let's split into groups and spar." Xiao Hongchen gave a couple of coughs, as if to cover something up. "With a super-genius like me around, I only need one teammate. Yuhao, come over here."
Meng Hongchen raised an eyebrow. "Brother, are you looking down on the other five of us?"
The other two reserve team members also looked indignant, though they were only half serious.
"Not at all. We're all elites selected through the academy's rigorous trials. It's just that Yuhao and I make an even more elite pairing." Xiao Hongchen laughed without a care in the world.
On the other side, Chi Qiu and Wang Dong exchanged knowing looks when they heard Xiao Hongchen pick Huo Yuhao.
"He's so cunning," Wang Dong remarked. "I don't know what his ability is, but as long as it isn't a support type with no combat power, any other type paired with Brother Huo will be pretty formidable."
"Remember to protect your head with your spiritual power," Chi Qiu reminded him earnestly.
"He can't really go all out against us, can he? Oh... At least Miss Chi, he won't go all out against you."
As they spoke, the two groups had already separated. Xiao Hongchen and Huo Yuhao were together, while the other five were led by Meng Hongchen.
"Let's not let that big-headed show-off Brother of mine look down on us!" Meng Hongchen called out. The others nodded and joined in.
Meanwhile, Xiao Hongchen watched Huo Yuhao with a smile. Yuhao was still half a head shorter than him. "Link that Soul Skill of yours to me in a moment. You won't need to do anything afterward."
"My first Soul Skill is called Spiritual Detection Sharing," Huo Yuhao patiently corrected him. "So as long as Brother Xiao has this skill, you're confident you can win outright?"
"Of course." Xiao Hongchen wore a smug smile, as though his plan had worked. "Hmph, even if you teamed up with Meng and I led the other four, Meng could beat all five of them by herself... She'd just be a little slower than me. So I decided to strike first while Meng still doesn't know what you can do. Besides, I'm the captain."
Huo Yuhao smiled helplessly. Golden ripples flowed through his eyes as he silently activated Spiritual Detection Sharing. "Then let me see how Brother Xiao plans to end the match."
Not far away, Meng Hongchen called out, "Are you two ready? Brother, make sure to protect Junior Yuhao!"
Xiao Hongchen raised a hand to his head in what he considered a very cool gesture. "All right, get started! If even a single hair on Yuhao's head gets touched, I lose."
Before he'd finished speaking, Chi Qiu had already charged in first. Her first and second Soul Rings lit up as she rushed toward Huo Yuhao at full speed.
When the five of them had shared information earlier, she and Wang Dong had deliberately kept Huo Yuhao's first Soul Skill to themselves. They had only said that his spiritual abilities were powerful. Soul Skills were a Soul Master's secret, and should only be shared when their owner was willing. Even though they were close to Huo Yuhao, they still had to ask his permission first.
But since this was a team battle, Huo Yuhao was naturally the first target for both her and Wang Dong.
"Looks like your two friends know how important you are."
Xiao Hongchen laughed heartily as four Soul Rings flew out from his body. He had been stuck at level fifty for a while, but still hadn't hunted for a fifth Soul Ring. He planned to obtain one before the tournament and officially become a Soul King. Meng Hongchen's cultivation was around the same level.
At that moment, the four Soul Rings around him lit up one after another, then blazed together. Countless golden elements rose around him and formed Soul Tools at a dizzying speed. Even Huo Yuhao was left dumbfounded by the process.
Only with Spiritual Detection Sharing active could he see how Xiao Hongchen assembled them. The five people on the other side might not even have seen what was happening.
"I see," Huo Yuhao exclaimed. "Brother Xiao, the two of us really can clear the field together! In fact, I can make it even easier for you."
"Oh?" Xiao Hongchen said as he charged up his weapons. "What else can you do?"
Huo Yuhao didn't answer. He focused all his spiritual power and marked the opponents' positions in Spiritual Detection Sharing.
Normally, people linked through Spiritual Detection Sharing received a flood of battlefield information, but still had to make their own tactical decisions, which took up some of their attention.
This time, though, Huo Yuhao directly marked the opponents' movements in the shared vision and helpfully provided Xiao Hongchen with several ideal firing trajectories for his Soul Tools.
Xiao Hongchen didn't even need to think. He could simply unleash a barrage of firepower.
"Good!" Xiao Hongchen swept out a hand, and countless Soul Tools immediately formed ranks around him, giving him a bit of a commander's air. In truth, however, the real commander was right beside him.
Chi Qiu waved her hand, and the Golden Dragon Spear appeared in it. At the same time, her third Soul Ring suddenly lit up. A Golden Dragon's head instantly took shape and shot straight toward Huo Yuhao. If they didn't take Huo Yuhao out, they had no chance of withstanding Xiao Hongchen's hundred cannons.
Right behind the Golden Dragon's head came Wang Dong's Light of the Butterfly Goddess. The two of them had the same target now. The moment she released the Light of the Butterfly Goddess, Wang Dong dipped low and glided forward at high speed. Her fifth-level Soul Guidance Thruster activated, and her third Soul Ring lit up as well.
But Huo Yuhao didn't even need to speak to Xiao Hongchen. He simply marked the flight paths of Wang Dong's two Soul Skills in their shared vision.
"Fire!" Xiao Hongchen raised one arm and shouted with theatrical fervor. The five people on the other side suddenly saw more than a hundred miniature suns flare up before them. The next moment, energy poured out from each one, threatening to sweep the entire field clear.
There were not only cannon shells to drive the others out of bounds, but also Soul Guidance Rays to block every attack Soul Skill. Even the tiny blue scale-like feather blades Wang Dong fired while flying at high speed were intercepted one by one by precisely targeted rays from Xiao Hongchen.
The Light of the Butterfly Goddess and the Golden Dragon's head were instantly swallowed by the blazing Soul Guidance Rays. Even at the same cultivation level, resisting Xiao Hongchen's attack would have been extremely difficult. Chi Qiu and Wang Dong were only at the three-ring level.
On the other side, Meng Hongchen and the other two immediately activated their Soul Guidance Barriers. Based on her estimate, her brother's usual attack could be neutralized with three barriers. But when the third one was breached, she widened her eyes. The cannonballs still had plenty of power left! Since when had her brother gotten so strong?
She had no choice but to raise her weapon to block and activate another Defensive Soul Tool on her body.
Even so, the three of them were shoved backward by the cannonballs' lingering force.
When the bombardment finally subsided, she looked down and saw that both her feet had just been pushed beyond the designated Soul Fighting area. It was so precise, as if it had been calculated.
"Brother," she said in disbelief. "Did you use some outside interference?"
Without knowing Huo Yuhao's abilities, she could only assume Xiao Hongchen had used some trick to explain this one-sided result.
Her dear older brother just grinned triumphantly and put an arm around Huo Yuhao's shoulder. "How can you slander me without proof? I used an in-bounds factor. It was perfectly fair and within the rules, right, Yuhao?"
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