The Final

After this victory, they would have a relatively long break—in other words, time to prepare. The battle had been far easier than Huo Yuhao expected. Their opponents had simply surrendered, leaving him unsure what to do with all the preparations he had made.

They couldn't have only those two moves, could they? After two attacks, they'd have nothing left? That was far too extreme. The reason they hadn't used anything else was that no one had been able to withstand their routine. But Huo Yuhao had a feeling that Dai Huabin and the others had a way to deal with a team like theirs: the Martial Soul Fusion Skill he'd guessed they had.

There were two possible strategies. One was to deal with them before they could fuse; the other was to hold out until the fusion wore off. They were too weak to control that kind of power, so it definitely wouldn't last long. But could they hold out? Even if you hadn't seen a Martial Soul Fusion Skill, you'd have heard of its power.

It could bring about a qualitative change in strength. Leaping two Soul Ring levels wasn't out of the question: two-ring Soul Masters could unleash the power of a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor through cooperation. Even Bei Bei would have to avoid its full force. They'd already proven that the two of them couldn't withstand Bei Bei's attacks, so naturally, they couldn't stop the Hell White Tiger from forming, either.

Whether they could interrupt the fusion was another question. In theory, a Mental Attack could disrupt it, but Huo Yuhao had never tested that in a match. So they had to be prepared. It would be best to act early; making more plans was always a good idea. That way, they wouldn't be caught off guard when things changed.

Of course, some of those plans would inevitably prove useless. They might all prove useless. Your opponents wouldn't act as you wished; they might even do exactly what you least wanted. And that was Huo Yuhao's biggest problem. Right now, he had too few skills—far too few. His mental abilities fell into only two categories: attack and protection.

No matter how talented you were, you couldn't escape the limits of your nature. Right now, he could only support Xiao Xiao's attacks, and Xiao Xiao was also a two-ring Soul Master without enough offensive skills. That left them with a shortage of tactics. They were in danger when they faced aggressive teams, and the only way to solve that problem was to return to the basics: Soul Power Level.

There was nothing more to say. That was simply how things stood. Unless they added another member, the team couldn't become more flexible.

Huo Yuhao let out a breath. We'll take things one step at a time. They'd had to surrender just to find a chance to beat them, so what was there to fear? Facing difficulties head-on was the best way to deal with them. As for those times when he got chased all over the arena, that was another matter. That was called tactics.

If you couldn't win, you couldn't win. You couldn't use your weakness to attack your enemy's strength. That was how it was. And so Huo Yuhao learned to comfort himself—in other words, he learned one of the finer points of shamelessness.

The competition was still underway. The loser's bracket had yet to produce a winner, so this was a great opportunity to observe their opponents. Anyone still in the running could make it to the final. Huo Yuhao was sure Dai Huabin and the others would fight their way back, but nothing was certain. Shrek was full of hidden talents. Maybe someone would manage to upset them.

But Huo Yuhao's concern soon faded. Thanks to their teamwork and how well their abilities meshed, they won a place in the final despite a few twists and turns. Of course, it also helped that not everyone had gone all out. Some people had no need to risk their lives for a year-level championship. They had no shortage of such things. Those who fought as desperately as Dai Huabin were rare; that sort of thing was more common among the common-born students.

They were more short of money and opportunities. A chance like this might come only a few times in a person's life, so they had to seize it and give it everything they had.

Zhou Yi told them the news. They hadn't gone to watch the match because there was no point. If Dai Huabin and the others made it to the final, they would definitely use different tactics. Watching them now would only mislead them and box them into the framework their opponents had set. The best approach was to stay still and respond to whatever came.

Lately, Huo Yuhao had been thinking about his next Soul Ring. He'd originally trusted the people in his mind, but their actions had been so unreliable that he'd begun to doubt their plans. To put his mind at ease, he'd started researching Spirit Beasts suitable for his next Soul Ring on his own. But there were far too few mental-type Spirit Beasts.

The only place on record was a Spirit Beast gathering place in the Sun Moon Empire. But there wasn't enough time. If he went to the Far North and then on to the Sun Moon Empire, he wouldn't make it. Even so, Huo Yuhao kept at it. When people felt insecure, it was only natural to find something to occupy themselves with.

Besides, he couldn't get in touch with Wang Yi or Tian Meng. They'd said they had something to do and then disappeared. Who knew those two mental spirits could have so much enthusiasm and so many plans? They hadn't even told Huo Yuhao, making everything seem so mysterious. At first, Tian Meng hadn't seemed willing to join in, but Wang Yi had apparently managed to persuade him. Huo Yuhao guessed he wasn't far from learning the whole story.

The long-awaited final had arrived. It was the event that mattered most to the students in that year group at this stage, and the other year groups were holding similar competitions. Most of the Shrek Seven Devils were among the competitors. A few couldn't show what they were capable of because their abilities were special; they would only have an extreme impact once they joined a larger team. At that point, some of the Seven Devils wouldn't be champions.

Although the two sides had already fought once, everyone could see that one side hadn't gone all out. So there were still plenty of unanswered questions. It wouldn't be a foregone conclusion, with one side crushing the other and ending the match at once. Where was the fun in that? There still weren't any large fan groups yet.

Most people were just there for the spectacle. After this match, though, the competitors would start to gain fans. Their numbers would grow as the years went by. Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi already had fans of their own, even if they might not have wanted them.

Amid the cheers, both sides stepped onto the arena. After a tense wait, the match began.

Both sides revealed their Martial Souls and Soul Rings. The crowd was stunned when a purple Soul Ring appeared. A three-ring Soul Elder! One had appeared among the first-year students. Bei Bei and the others hadn't reached the three-ring level at this stage, either. Rushing one's growth did no good in the long run, and they were all geniuses. They had no need to take that risk just to advance.

Sacrificing their futures for a little pride was going too far. Those who didn't know the circumstances thought a genius had emerged; those who did know could only shake their heads. This person would find it hard to make any earth-shaking achievements in the future.

Huo Yuhao was shocked, too. Regardless of what happened in the future, he now had to face a Soul Elder—and one from the Power Attack System at that—along with a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Their chances of winning were extremely low, even with Bei Bei on their side. Once he reached the four-ring level, they might have a chance.

For now, they could only strike first. Even though he was a three-ring Soul Master, if he took their full combination of attacks, he'd still be knocked out. Even Xu Sanshi couldn't take it. But their opponent didn't give Huo Yuhao the chance. He went straight into the fusion.

The Hell White Tiger appeared.