"Xinglan, are you sure you can do this?"
As the starting point for Shrek Academy's hidden trump card—the multi-person fusion—Xu Lizhi didn't immediately transmit his Soul Power to the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda Soul Elder in front of him. His first concern was Ye Xinglan's condition.
After all, although she didn't look like Yu Tianlin, who had been KO'd by a single move from Lan Kai, she had taken a roundhouse kick head-on. Surely she couldn't be feeling well.
"I'm fine, Xu Lizhi. Hurry and start the Six-in-One."
Ye Xinglan's gaze grew more resolute. She took the lead and stood at the front of the six, holding the Stargod Sword in both hands as she entered the state of unity between human and sword.
"Ah..." Xu Lizhi sighed. But there was nothing he could do now, so he could only silently pour all his firepower into the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda Soul Elder in front of him.
The others from Shrek Academy followed suit, transmitting their Soul Power forward one by one. Soon, all the Soul Power of the five people behind her had poured into Ye Xinglan's body.
Ye Xinglan grunted, a trace of blood appearing at the corner of her mouth, but she still struggled to control her Stargod Sword.
With the Soul Power of six people, including herself, bolstering it, the Stargod Sword in Ye Xinglan's hands grew a little larger, and its glow became even more brilliant.
The next moment, a beam of light shot straight into the sky, shattering the few clouds overhead. The sun itself briefly dimmed, revealing the brilliant stars that could normally only be seen at night.
"Although they don't have enough people to enter the Martial Soul Avatar state, even in this form, it's a considerable burden for her..."
"Perhaps Yu Xiaogang, who first devised a method to fuse the strength of multiple people, never imagined that the later generations of Shrek Academy would turn one of the few techniques he could barely claim to have researched himself into this mess, did he?"
"Compared with the methods used by those in the Land of Light to transfer and combine power between Ultra Warriors, this is miles behind. Even setting aside Ultraman Mebius's Infinity Form, it doesn't come close to Ultraman Taro's Cosmo Miracle Ray or Ultraman Ace's Space Q Ray."
Lan Kai grumbled inwardly. Seeing Ye Xinglan forcibly activate this ability, which came close to a Martial Soul Avatar, he immediately raised a hand to signal the people behind him.
Gu Yue and the others immediately understood what Lan Kai meant. They each raised their right hand and poured half of their Soul Power into him.
"The time's about right... Since Shrek Academy has gone so far as to barely reproduce a long-lost technique like multi-person fusion just to win, I should show you what a higher-level multi-person fusion technique looks like."
Seeing Ye Xinglan raise her brilliantly glowing Stargod Sword like some famous Saber-faced King, enduring the blood at the corner of her mouth without a word, Lan Kai immediately lifted both arms in front of him, then spread them diagonally upward. He turned to the left, seemingly gathering his strength for one last moment, then turned slightly sideways and raised his right arm toward Ye Xinglan.
"Cosmo Miracle Ray—Douluo Continent Youth Mini Version!"
In the next instant, a beam of light erupted across a broad area, stretching from Lan Kai's right arm to his entire right side. It collided with the Stargod Sword Ye Xinglan had swung down.
Cai Yue'er clenched her fists excitedly as she watched Ye Xinglan in the center of the arena, seemingly certain that victory was already theirs.
Juggler, seated in the stands, wore a meaningful expression, as if something had come to mind.
But the clash that everyone had been waiting for—the two sides' skills locked in a beam struggle in the center of the arena—never happened. The glow of Ye Xinglan's Stargod Sword seemed not to exist at all. It was utterly helpless against the Cosmo Miracle Ray Lan Kai fired.
Ye Xinglan stared at it all in despair. She even wanted to run, but there was no escape. The six of them, still maintaining their Six-in-One formation, had become perfect stationary targets.
Lan Kai didn't even need to use such a powerful beam. He could have fired a Speperion Ray or another beam at reduced power, holding off Ye Xinglan's attack head-on while Tang Wulin and Wang Jinxi went around to the side of their formation and slapped each member of the Shrek Academy team across the face. That alone would have had a good chance of breaking this inferior version of the Six-in-One.
Now, all the Shrek Academy team could do was watch in despair as the Cosmo Miracle Ray swallowed them whole.
Then, with an explosion, all six members of Shrek Academy were sent flying. The referee hurriedly caught them in midair and announced the final outcome of the match.
As the huge screen at the edge of the arena displayed the match time and the Soul Power remaining to Lan Kai and the others in real time, the entire venue erupted.
Because...
"With one-tenth of our Soul Power, we'll defeat Shrek in half a quarter-hour—and leave no heads behind!"
Lan Kai raised his right hand and pointed toward the direction from which the Shrek Academy team had entered the arena. He repeated to everyone present the declaration he had made before the match, in a video released through the Tianhai Alliance Grand Competition's official channels.
This time, he announced his victory as the victor!
In the past, Jia Xu, one of the Three Wonders of Water Mirror, had used the Dark Art of War, "The Young Lord Offers His Head," to defeat the arrogant Lu Bu.
Now, Lan Kai had led Class Zero of Eastsea Academy in publicly shattering the undefeated legend of the arrogant Shrek Academy.
"Though it wasn't the original Cosmo Miracle Ray, they managed to fuse everyone's Soul Power and unleash even greater power..."
"So this is how Warriors of Light fight? Interesting."
Juggler laughed again, then stood and looked toward a box not far away.
Inside the box, that Silver Moon Dog Donkey, Cai Yue'er, had already smashed the chair she'd been sitting on to pieces in her fury.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!
"Eastsea Academy dares to insult the honor of Shrek Academy like this!
"I'll get rid of those damnable fools today, then go to Eastsea City and make Eastsea Academy disappear from the face of the earth!
"And that Juggler—he has to die too!"
As she spoke, Cai Yue'er smashed through the transparent glass in front of the box and shot straight above the exhibition match arena. She released her Martial Soul and Soul Rings, and the pressure of a Super Douluo covered the entire venue in an instant.
"Oh? You want to kill me? What on earth gives you that kind of confidence?"
Juggler rose into the air. With a casual slash of the Snake Heart Sword in his hand, he dispelled all the pressure Cai Yue'er had cast over the arena, then fixed his eyes on her with an amused smile.
The next moment, when Cai Yue'er pulled a certain familiar-looking object from her Storage Soul Tool, Juggler seemed to hear the Song of Guan Yu. A look of understanding immediately came over his face.
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