Unlike You Jie's swift battle, the fight between Wang Dong and Ning Tian's team was far more evenly matched.
Though Ning Tian's boosts gave Wu Feng and Nanmen Yun'er fighting strength comparable to Soul Elders, Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao were no ordinary Soul Grandmasters either.
Wang Dong might have been a lazy bum, but her Martial Soul, the Light Goddess Butterfly, was top-tier. It excelled at both long-range attacks and close combat, and, most importantly, she could fly.
Neither of Ning Tian's teammates—Wu Feng nor Nanmen Yun'er—could fly yet, and neither had much in the way of effective long-range attacks. Naturally, that put them at a disadvantage against Wang Dong.
Xiao Xiao's Three-Life Soul-Suppressing Cauldron, meanwhile, was a Martial Soul capable of both offense and defense, as well as control. Even with Ning Tian's boost, Nanmen Yun'er couldn't break through the cauldron's defenses to attack Xiao Xiao herself.
However, Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao couldn't defeat Ning Tian's team either. If Wang Dong tried to charge up a powerful move, Wu Feng and Nanmen Yun'er could both interrupt her. And Xiao Xiao's control abilities, though formidable, wouldn't let her help Wang Dong finish them off unless she could control both of Ning Tian's teammates at once.
So their fight turned into a long, drawn-out war of attrition.
As time passed, though, Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao were visibly falling behind.
Maintaining their advantages took a lot of stamina and Soul Power. And Ning Tian, who had started learning Heart Separation Control ahead of time on You Jie's advice, could catch them off guard by boosting her teammates, making Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao even more exhausted.
As for Wang Dong's idea of sneaking around to attack the back line... well, they shouldn't count on the Light Goddess Butterfly's flying speed. Unless she accelerated into a dive, she wasn't even faster than Wu Feng on foot.
Besides, Ning Tian could also boost their speed, making the entire team much faster and leaving Wang Dong with even less chance of taking her out before Wu Feng and Nanmen Yun'er could come to her aid.
Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao could feel that they were at a disadvantage. They were sweating with anxiety, but there was nothing they could do.
They could also feel the pressure of a powerful gaze from the stands. It came from their homeroom teacher, Zhou Yi.
For some reason, Zhou Yi cared a great deal about this match. Even though their other teammate, Chun Sanxiang, had been hospitalized with multiple broken bones, Zhou Yi had still demanded that they defeat today's opponents.
Right now, Zhou Yi's expression was downright ugly. Even without the old woman mask she usually wore, she could have scared several children half to death.
But smiles didn't simply vanish. They just moved elsewhere.
Mu Jin, standing beside Zhou Yi, was on the verge of bursting into laughter.
If she hadn't heard that celebrating at halftime was bad luck, she would have laughed her heart out by now, mocking that bitch Zhou Yi for kicking her brother out when she had nothing better to do.
"Hmph! Don't think your students have already won!"
Zhou Yi knew exactly what Mu Jin was feeling, but all she could do now was keep up her bluster.
Anyone could hear how little conviction was left in her voice.
Just then, Wang Dong tried once again to launch a sneak attack on Ning Tian. She adjusted her angle in midair, then dived as she unleashed her first Soul Skill, Butterfly God Slash.
"Hmph! I won't let you get away with that!"
Wu Feng had long since seen through Wang Dong's pattern. The moment Wang Dong adjusted her posture, Wu Feng was already preparing to attack.
But this time, Ning Tian's order was a little different.
The secret signal the two had agreed on told Wu Feng that Ning Tian wanted her to attack with everything she had and ignore everything else.
Wu Feng was puzzled, but she chose to trust Ning Tian. She charged up for a little longer and shifted her stance, changing from intercepting Wang Dong to pursuing her.
Ning Tian simply watched Wang Dong dive toward her, calm as could be, and slowly moved the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda she held aloft to her side.
"Got you!"
Seeing Ning Tian's seemingly senseless move, Wang Dong's lips curled into a smug smile.
But in the next instant, as a phrase she had never heard before rang out, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda in Ning Tian's hand seemed to grow larger and larger in Wang Dong's vision...
"Nine Treasures Have Names, Zero Says Smash!"
With a dull thud, Ning Tian hurled the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda in her hand and struck Wang Dong squarely in the face.
Ning Tian immediately sprang sideways, neatly dodging Wang Dong's dive. At the same time, Wu Feng caught up and smacked Wang Dong's backside with a Dragon Claw, sending her flying.
Wang Dong landed in a heap. One hand covered her face while the other braced against the ground, barely propping up her upper body. As she watched Wu Feng charge toward her again, she was filled with frustration.
I don't want to lose! How could I, Wang Dong'er, fall here?
The next instant, a golden trident-shaped mark lit up at the very center of Wang Dong'er's forehead, hidden beneath her bangs. A beam of golden light shot out, heading straight for Wu Feng.
But just then, the figure of a white-robed old man with gray hair suddenly appeared in front of Wang Dong. He raised a hand and dispelled the beam of light.
At the same time, You Jie's angry cursing rang out, drawing almost everyone's attention in the Assessment Zone.
"You Jie, your instincts were right. I saw it very clearly just now: the mark of the Seagod Trident really did appear on Wang Dong's forehead."
As Zhang Lexuan hurried with You Jie toward the statues of the First Generation Shrek Seven Devils at the academy entrance, she told him what she had just seen.
Wang Dong's bangs had hidden the mark, so most people hadn't seen its precise shape. But Zhang Lexuan's angle had given her a clear view.
As for the semifinal's result, Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao had naturally been defeated.
The power Wang Dong had suddenly unleashed couldn't be explained by anything they knew about Martial Souls, and Wang Dong herself couldn't explain what it was.
And since You Jie, a former victim, had personally testified against her, Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao had been disqualified.
Now they had come before the statues of the First Generation Shrek Seven Devils to compare their appearances.
The statues at Shrek Academy had been commissioned by His Majesty Xue Beng, the reigning emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, after Tang San destroyed the evil plot of Spirit Hall. Tang San had even personally overseen their construction to "prevent" excessive beautification.
So compared with the many portraits circulating across the continent, these statues were naturally more accurate.
"Yikes..." Zhang Lexuan's gaze darted between the statues of Tang San and Xiao Wu. After picturing them together in her mind, she couldn't help sucking in a sharp breath.
They looked alike!
They looked so damn alike!
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