Semifinals, Battle Against Huo Yuhao's Team

Upon hearing the examiner announce the start of the match, Zhou Sichen summoned his Treasure Book martial soul, instantly unleashing his first and second soul skills to summon an Earth Violent Bear and a Blazing Tiger.

At the same time, he cast his gaze toward Song Mu and his two teammates, eager to identify their martial souls.

Ning Tian and Wu Feng's martial souls were too recognizable and were identified immediately, but the two blue-and-white spheres in Song Mu's hands left him feeling perplexed.

To his utter disbelief, the two spheres Song Mu tossed out actually summoned two soul beasts!

"Old Zhou, that's a martial soul of the same type as yours!" Cao Jinxuan remarked from the side, sounding astonished.

Although Zhou Sichen was shocked that Song Mu could also summon soul beasts, he remained confident that his own martial soul was superior.

A martial soul of the same type? Then let's see whose is better!

Zhou Sichen commanded the Earth Violent Bear and the Blazing Lion to charge head-on toward Song Mu's soul beasts.

However, the moment his soul beasts collided with Song Mu's, they couldn't even withstand a single blow before being shattered into nothingness.

Seeing this, Zhou Sichen was instantly stunned. How could this be? How could the gap be so massive!

While he stood there in a daze, Wu Feng and the two soul beasts had already charged right in front of them, knocking all three of them off the competition platform.

The examiner announced, "The winner is Team Song Mu!"

As soon as the words fell, heated discussions erupted beneath the platform.

Cao Jinxuan's team consisted entirely of Great Soul Masters! Some of the other teams didn't even have a single Great Soul Master, yet a team like that had been defeated so quickly!

Of course, this was also because Team Song Mu was simply too strong.

Not only did Team Song Mu have a Soul Venerable with the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda—hailed as the strongest support martial soul—but their captain could also summon soul beasts. With such strength, their victory in the tournament seemed like a foregone conclusion.

On the platform, Song Mu recalled his two soul beasts.

He had originally assumed his opponents wouldn't be very strong, so he had planned for the two soul beasts to charge forward alongside Wu Feng to knock the opposition off the stage immediately.

He hadn't expected to encounter Cao Jinxuan's team—which had reached the semi-finals in the original story—in the very first round. However, with the buffs from Ning Tian, a Soul Venerable, Wu Feng and the two soul beasts were effectively equivalent to three assault-type Soul Venerables; Cao Jinxuan and his teammates stood no chance of resisting them.

There was only one match today, so after walking out of District 23, Song Mu parted ways with Ning Tian and the others.

In the matches over the following days, opponents surrendered the moment they met them. By the time they reached the knockout stages, they continued to steamroll their way through, only encountering a team capable of putting up a fight once they reached the semi-finals.

The assessment area, semi-final venue.

The teams that made it to the semi-finals were: Team Song Mu, Team Dai Huabin, Team Huo Yuhao, and Team Zhou Sichen.

According to the draw, Team Song Mu would face Team Huo Yuhao, while Team Dai Huabin would face Team Zhou Sichen.

The four teams stood ready on the soul-fighting platform, waiting for the match to begin.

There were no students in the audience for this match, but the teachers who were off-duty, as well as the Dean of Academics, Du Weilun, were present in the viewing stands.

Zhou Yi, the homeroom teacher of Class One, looked at Song Mu and his group, realizing this team was the seed team from her old rival Mu Jin's class.

A plan immediately formed in her mind; she walked over to Mu Jin and cast a provocative glance at her.

Years ago, Mu Jin had lost to Zhou Yi in the pursuit of Fan Yu, which had already bred deep resentment. Seeing the provocative look now, her anger flared instantly.

"Teacher Zhou Yi, how about we make a wager?"

Seeing her take the bait, Zhou Yi sneered inwardly while feigning indifference. "Oh? What are we betting?"

"Let's bet on whose seed team wins. If you lose, you make Fan Yu customize a set of soul guidance devices for me. If I lose, I'll give you a soul bone."

Zhou Yi replied disdainfully, "Since you're asking for trouble, I'm happy to oblige."

Mu Jin snorted coldly, "With a team that doesn't even have a single Soul Venerable, let's see how you plan to beat me."

Hearing this, Zhou Yi nearly failed to suppress a laugh. Mu Jin, you probably don't know, but my team possesses a martial soul fusion skill with a one-hundred-percent compatibility rate. Even if you have a Soul Venerable, so what? I'll be taking that soul bone of yours.

"The match begins!" the referee at the edge of the platform announced.

Upon hearing this, Huo Yuhao released his Spirit Eye martial soul, instantly activating his spiritual detection soul skill and sharing it with Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao.

His detection skill was enough to cover most of the platform. He could clearly see the golden-haired boy on the opposite side conjure two blue-and-white spheres out of thin air. The boy tossed the spheres onto the ground, and where they landed, two soul beasts appeared: a pig clad in rock armor and a wolf wreathed in flames.

Summoning soul beasts to fight—what an incredible martial soul!

The red-haired girl on the opposite side also activated her martial soul possession and charged over, following the two soul beasts.

"Wang Dong, you handle that girl and one of the soul beasts. Xiao Xiao, use the Soul-Suppressing Cauldron to hold back the other one."

Huo Yuhao looked at Wang Dong, who nodded in response.

Ever since the incident by the Sea God's Lake where Wang Dong had helped him dodge an attack, Huo Yuhao's favorability toward his roommate had only grown.

It wasn't just because of their martial soul fusion skill; Wang Dong's attitude toward him had improved significantly since that day, and whenever he invited Wang Dong to cultivate together, Wang Dong never refused.

Boom—

On the main front, Wang Dong was already clashing with Wu Feng and the Mountain-Ramming Pig, while Xiao Xiao's Soul-Suppressing Cauldron was temporarily restraining the Blazing Swift Wolf.

However, this situation couldn't be sustained for long.

The combat power of this human and two beasts was simply too overwhelming; Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao wouldn't be able to hold out for much longer.

Only by focusing their fire to take one of them out first would they have a chance at victory.

Huo Yuhao's gaze fell upon the golden-haired youth opposite him, and an idea immediately took shape.

Using Spirit Sharing to convey the information, he signaled, "Wang Dong, use your second soul skill to attack that girl with everything you've got."

Upon receiving the message, Wang Dong locked onto Wu Feng and instantly unleashed his second soul skill.

"Second soul skill, Butterfly Goddess Light!"

Simultaneously, Huo Yuhao unleashed a Spirit Shock to stun Song Mu.

It worked! According to his plan, by temporarily preventing Song Mu from controlling his soul beast, Wang Dong would be able to bypass the highly defensive Mountain-Ramming Pig and defeat Wu Feng directly.

The Butterfly Goddess Light slammed into Wu Feng, kicking up a cloud of dust.

As the dust settled, Huo Yuhao saw the Mountain-Ramming Pig standing in front of Wu Feng. Its rock armor had been shattered and it had sustained some injuries, but Wu Feng, who was behind it, remained completely unscathed.

How is this possible! Didn't I stun him?

"Yuhao, I can't hold them off much longer!" Xiao Xiao's voice came from the side.

Hearing this, Huo Yuhao decided to reveal their trump card. He had originally intended to save it for the finals, but if they didn't use it now, they would lose.

"Wang Dong! Use that move!"

Wang Dong, who was circling Wu Feng, heard the command and immediately flew back to embrace Huo Yuhao.

A phantom of a butterfly and a phantom of an eye coalesced above the two of them, slowly drawing closer and merging to form a much larger eye phantom.

"Wither in Brilliance, Golden Road!"

A beam of blue, purple, and gold light shot out from the eye phantom, passing through Wu Feng and Song Mu and turning both of them into golden statues.

Because Ning Tian was standing further back, she was not hit, but as a support-type soul master, she possessed no combat power.

A smile tugged at the corners of Huo Yuhao's mouth as he cheered, embracing Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao.

They had won this match!

"The match isn't over yet; it's a bit too early to celebrate."

Huo Yuhao looked toward the speaker and realized it was Ning Tian, the support-type soul master.