The moment the referee called, "Begin," the atmosphere on the arena tightened to the breaking point!
On Shrek Academy's side, Ning Rongrong, the auxiliary-type Soul Master, quickly retreated, scattering the amplification light of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda over her teammates. The other six shot forward like arrows loosed from a bow, charging with long-suppressed fury and the resolve to burn their boats!
Dai Mubai activated White Tiger Vajra Transformation and led the charge; Tang San's Blue Silver Grass waited for its chance, while his Eight Spider Lances were poised to strike; Ma Hongjun's Phoenix Flame surged; Tailong and another substitute followed close behind.
However, faced with Shrek's surging assault, the formation of Heaven Dou Royal Academy looked rather... strange.
Lin Yi, the team's core controller and strongest fighter, wasn't standing at the front. Instead, he had taken Ye Lingling's place at the very back of the formation. Ye Lingling, the team's original support, had temporarily withdrawn to the sidelines.
Just as Shrek's members were about to crash into Heaven Dou Royal Academy's formation, the deep black Sixth Soul Ring beneath Lin Yi's feet quietly glimmered.
Sixth Soul Skill, Ice Lotus Blessing!
A cool yet surging aura spread from Lin Yi like ripples, instantly enveloping his six teammates and only his teammates: Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan, Shi Mo, Shi Mo, Osler, and Yu Feng!
In an instant, the six felt their bodies lighten, as if a thousand-pound burden had been lifted from them. Their speed suddenly surged by forty percent! The circulation and recovery of their Soul Power also increased by an astonishing fifty percent! A sense of strength and swiftness unlike anything they had ever felt coursed through them!
"So fast!" Yu Tianheng's eyes flashed. He felt as if his Thunder Dragon Claw could tear through the air!
"This feeling... is incredible!" Osler and Yu Feng's figures almost became two afterimages!
Even the defensive-type Shi Mo brothers moved and turned far faster than before!
With Shrek's momentum and Heaven Dou Royal Academy's speed now worlds apart, Shrek's charge seemed clumsy and sluggish!
"Spread out! Keep moving! Take out their support first!" Tang San immediately changed tactics. He knew they had to break Lin Yi's support as quickly as possible, or this battle was as good as lost!
Dai Mubai roared as he charged Yu Tianheng, trying to force his way through.
Ma Hongjun tried to suppress Dugu Yan from a distance with Phoenix Fire Line.
Tang San worked with Tailong, sending Blue Silver Grass to Entangle the fastest members, Osler and Yu Feng. The cold light of his Eight Spider Lances flashed as he searched for a chance to kill them in one strike.
But with their speed boosted by forty percent, the Imperial Fighting Team was far more agile than Shrek had expected!
Yu Tianheng didn't meet Dai Mubai head-on. Using his explosively increased speed, he circled around Dai Mubai's frontal assault like a ghost and sent his Thunder Dragon Claw straight for Ma Hongjun's flank! Ma Hongjun hastily cut off his stream of fire and dodged in a panic.
Osler and Yu Feng pushed their speed to the limit, weaving freely through gaps in Tang San's Blue Silver Grass. Their sharp claws and wind blades repeatedly struck at Shrek's rear line, forcing Ning Rongrong to move constantly. The amplification from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda became intermittent.
The Shi Mo brothers were like two moving fortresses, firmly guarding the space in front of Lin Yi and blocking every attack that tried to break through.
Lin Yi himself didn't even take a step. He merely raised a hand now and then, and the Second Soul Ring beneath his feet would flicker. Translucent ice-lotus petals appeared precisely in front of one of his teammates, perfectly blocking Dai Mubai's White Tiger Intense Light Wave or Ma Hongjun's Phoenix Fire Line. It was his Second Soul Skill, Ice Lotus Protection!
Even more despairingly, after Ice Lotus Protection absorbed an attack, it could convert part of the impact into gentle healing energy and feed it back to the person it protected. The Imperial Fighting Team's members thus remained in peak condition!
This wasn't a battle at all. It was more like a one-sided performance and crushing defeat!
With his terrifying support and control abilities, Lin Yi had multiplied the Imperial Fighting Team's strength several times over. Shrek's vaunted teamwork and individual power looked utterly feeble beside their overwhelming advantages in speed, endurance, and defense!
Less than five minutes into the battle, Shrek had already lost several members!
Tailong was the first to expose an opening. Yu Tianheng caught it, and a Thunderbolt combined with Osler's ambush left him badly injured and sprawled on the ground.
Next, the defensive-type substitute was sent flying, shield broken, by the combined collision of Shi Mo and Shi Mo and Yu Feng's harassment.
Ma Hongjun had spent a tremendous amount of Soul Power, and Dugu Yan's Jade Phosphorous Serpent Poison had left him teetering on the brink. In the end, Yu Tianheng paralyzed him with a bolt of lightning, and Osler easily "sent" him off the arena.
Only Tang San, Dai Mubai, and Ning Rongrong remained on Shrek's side. Ning Rongrong stood at the rear, her face pale.
Dai Mubai's eyes were bloodshot. He activated White Tiger Meteor Shower, heedless of the consequences, hoping to make one last stand. But Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan, their speed greatly increased, pinned him down between them. At last, struck by both thunder and serpent poison, he let out an unwilling roar and fell heavily.
Now only Tang San and Ning Rongrong remained.
The Imperial Fighting Team members looked at Ning Rongrong, then at Lin Yi. Lin Yi gave a slight shake of his head and said calmly, "Don't touch her."
They understood and immediately focused all their attention on Tang San, alone against them.
Ning Rongrong was the young lady of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and Lin Yi's fiancée in name. Ning Fengzhi was watching from the stands, after all. Naturally, they couldn't touch her.
Ning Rongrong watched all her companions fall in an instant and Tang San get surrounded. Her hand trembled violently around the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. Tears blurred her vision, but she was powerless to help.
Tang San looked at his fallen teammates, then at Lin Yi in the distance, who had barely moved from his spot since the beginning. Unprecedented humiliation and madness surged within him! It was all because of Lin Yi! He had taken Xiao Wu away, stolen Zhu Zhuqing from him, and now he was going to crush even their final chance at victory!
"Lin—Yi—!" Tang San let out a heart-wrenching roar, and his eyes turned bloodred!
He ignored Yu Tianheng and the others closing in. All his hatred and Soul Power, along with his overwhelming killing intent, locked onto Lin Yi!
The purplish-black light of his Eight Spider Lances blazed to its limit, radiating an ominous aura! At the same time, black light surged from his right hand, and the heavy Clear Sky Hammer appeared once more! He didn't throw it. Instead, gripping it in both hands, he poured all his strength and the inner force of the Mysterious Heaven Skill into it. Like a man possessed, he charged at Lin Yi without a care for anything else! This was the final strike, infused with all his will and strength!
"Watch out!" Yu Tianheng and the others cried, trying to stop him.
Yet faced with this final attack, charged with the force of a mad tiger, Lin Yi's gaze remained utterly still.
Just as Tang San reached him and the Clear Sky Hammer was about to crash down with a mournful whistle, the Fourth Soul Ring beneath Lin Yi's feet lit up faintly.
Fourth Soul Skill, Breath of Ice Sealing!
A bone-chilling aura spread silently, instantly shrouding the path of Tang San's charge!
Tang San felt a bone-deep chill invade his body in an instant. His blood seemed ready to freeze, his Soul Power became impossibly sluggish, and even his thoughts seemed to slow! His charge involuntarily faltered. The strike into which he had poured all his strength developed a tiny opening because of that momentary stiffness—an opening so small it was almost insignificant, yet fatal.
For an ordinary person, that opening would have vanished in the blink of an eye. But for Yu Tianheng, whose speed had increased by forty percent and whom Lin Yi had kept locked onto with Spirit Detection, it was more than enough!
"Third Soul Skill, Thunder Fury!"
"First Soul Skill, Thunder Dragon Claw!"
Yu Tianheng became a streak of blue lightning. His dragon claw, wrapped in violent thunder, arrived before Tang San could react and struck the opening with pinpoint precision, slamming into the chest he had left wide open as he put his strength behind the attack!
"Pfft—!"
Tang San's body shuddered violently. He spewed a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of his organs, and the clear sound of his ribs breaking rang out! His charge was forcibly halted, and he flew backward like a rag doll. The Clear Sky Hammer vanished from his hands in an instant, and his Eight Spider Lances drooped limply. He crashed down near the edge of the arena and struggled a few times, but couldn't get back up. All he could do was lift blood-red eyes filled with boundless hatred and unwillingness and stare fixedly at Lin Yi.
The referee froze for a moment before recovering and announcing loudly, "All members of Shrek Academy have lost the ability to fight! Heaven Dou Royal Academy wins!"
The arena fell silent for a moment, then erupted in deafening cheers and excited discussion!
They had won!
Heaven Dou Royal Academy had defeated the dark horse Shrek Academy in an almost crushing victory and stormed into the finals!
And there was no doubt about the heart of this victory: the fifteen-year-old youth in green robes who hadn't even used his full strength, yet had dominated the entire battle with just a few support and control Soul Skills—Lin Yi!
Shrek Academy had lost.
Their miraculous run ended in the semifinals. And at that moment, it seemed all their grudges and hatred had turned into the lingering, bone-deep venom in Tang San's eyes.
Lin Yi calmly withdrew his gaze, as if he had just done something trivial.
His eyes were already fixed on their opponent in the finals: Spirit Hall Academy, with its Golden Generation.
How will you face me?
Before you continue