Slaughtering into the Top Four

No matter how great the Soul Power fluctuations stirred up by Xiao Jinchen and his opponent were, they would dissipate on their own without leaving a trace whenever they spread to the stone pillars entwined with Exotic Flame in the Exotic Flame Plaza.

The more they fought, the more profound the shock in the Snow Empress's heart became. She discovered that she could not suppress Xiao Jinchen at all; instead, she was being suppressed by him. Furthermore, that terrifying seven-colored flame of his truly surpassed the level of Ultimate Attributes, just as Bing'er had said.

Just then, the Snow Empress withdrew her Emperor Sword, extended her slender, delicate hand, and struck out a palm toward Xiao Jinchen.

"Emperor Palm! Great Cold Without Snow!"

Accompanied by the Snow Empress's sharp cry, ice-blue Soul Power surged out along her slender hand, transforming in the blink of an eye into a giant ice-blue palm, from which terrifying cold air continuously overflowed.

With a gentle push from the Snow Empress, the giant ice-blue palm she had condensed whistled through the air, suppressing downward toward Xiao Jinchen.

The giant ice-blue palm, carrying terrifying Soul Power fluctuations, directly covered the spot where Xiao Jinchen was standing.

"Boom!"

An earth-shattering roar suddenly exploded. The ground where Xiao Jinchen had been standing was covered in a layer of frost, and the terrifying cold air swept out in all directions. The originally scorching temperature within the Exotic Flame Space dropped by several degrees because of this palm strike from the Snow Empress.

Looking at the figure below that she had struck, the Snow Empress felt no joy in her heart; instead, a trace of an ominous premonition sprouted.

Just a moment ago, when she unleashed the Emperor Palm, she had secretly held back some of her strength. She only wanted to teach Xiao Jinchen a lesson and had no intention of killing him.

When the Snow Empress looked at the figure hit by her Emperor Palm, her pupils suddenly constricted, for Xiao Jinchen's original form had actually dissipated into specks of blue light.

"An afterimage?!" The Snow Empress could not help but cry out in alarm. She had clearly seen Xiao Jinchen struck by her Emperor Palm just now, yet he had vanished right under her nose.

"Snow Empress, you really show no mercy when you strike." A smiling voice sounded right behind the Snow Empress's ear without warning, and the tips of her ears instantly flushed a shade of pink.

The Snow Empress had no time to turn around; her body instinctively tried to mobilize her Soul Power to defend, but it was already too late.

Xiao Jinchen had appeared behind the Snow Empress like lightning before she even knew it.

He did not use any powerful combat skills; he simply extended a finger and lightly tapped her slender, supple waist.

Xiao Jinchen's tap seemed to do nothing, but in reality, it did everything, for a wisp of the Emperor Flame's sub-flame had silently burrowed into the Snow Empress's dantian. Now, with just a single thought from him, her connection to her Soul Power would be severed instantly.

"Unh~"

The Snow Empress could not help but let out a muffled groan at Xiao Jinchen's touch. She could clearly feel a stream of heat burrowing into her body, rampaging within her.

The Snow Empress's delicate body swayed, and she stumbled a few steps, nearly falling to the ground, while the terrifying Soul Power fluctuations on her body dissipated completely.

"You lecher! What did you do to me!" The Snow Empress glared at Xiao Jinchen and snapped.

"Heh, that'll teach you to be arrogant." Xiao Jinchen deactivated the amplification state of the Heavenly Fire Three Mysterious Transformations and hid directly behind the Ice Empress, looking at the Snow Empress with a provocative expression.

"Bastard!" The Snow Empress tried to mobilize the Soul Power in her body, but every time she tried to draw it out from her dantian, the Emperor Flame sub-flame Xiao Jinchen had planted would directly cut off her connection to it, making her so angry she cursed out loud.

"Xue'er, that's enough." The Ice Empress's voice sounded at the right moment. "A-Chen didn't mean it, don't be angry."

"Exactly, exactly." Xiao Jinchen nodded in agreement. "I helped you break free from the shackles of the Heavenly Tribulation; you don't even thank me, and the first thing you do is try to hit me."

"You!" The Snow Empress opened her mouth to retort, only to find there was nothing she could argue against.

Although Xiao Jinchen was indeed a bit of a rogue and could even be said to have taken a huge advantage—her entire body had been seen by him... yet he had truly helped her break free from the shackles of the Heavenly Tribulation. Moreover, he hadn't really done anything to her in the end, just tapped her waist, even if that spot was truly sensitive.

The Snow Empress bit her lower lip, the blush on her face spreading from her neck all the way to her earlobes. She glared fiercely at Xiao Jinchen, her ice-blue eyes filled with both shame and an indescribable complexity.

"Alright, alright." Xiao Jinchen shrugged nonchalantly and said, "It's all my fault, okay? I shouldn't have looked at your body... uh... though it was indeed quite fair..."

"How dare you still say it!" The Snow Empress was truly dying of shame and indignation. Her originally jade-white skin was now so red it looked like it might bleed. She glared at Xiao Jinchen again; if looks could kill, Xiao Jinchen would have been shredded to pieces by now.

"Enough, A-Chen, you say one less word too." The Ice Empress slowly placed her hand on the soft flesh of Xiao Jinchen's waist and pinched hard.

"Hiss!"

Feeling the pain from his waist, Xiao Jinchen couldn't help but gasp.

"Bing'er, take it easy." Xiao Jinchen hurriedly grabbed the small hand on his waist.

"Hmph!" The Ice Empress snorted lightly. "That's for teasing Xue'er."

"Uh... I almost forgot, you two seem to be in cahoots."

Then, the Ice Empress increased the pressure on her hand.

"Hiss!"

As the morning light broke, the Soul Fighting Tournament at Star Luo Plaza reignited its flames, and the clamor from the stands nearly blew the roof off.

Zhengtian Academy was unstoppable. In the face of Xiao Jinchen's near-crushing, terrifying strength, whether it was the Round of 16 or the Quarterfinals, they swept through everything like withered branches and rotten wood, advancing to the final four without any suspense.

As for Shrek Academy, the atmosphere was heavy to the extreme. Because Ma Xiaotao had been ruthlessly slain by Xiao Jinchen earlier, Shrek had lost a core commander, and the morale of the entire team had plummeted, shrouded in an inescapable gloom.

In the Quarterfinals, they faced Di'ao Academy, a veteran powerhouse that had clashed with the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy in the original timeline.

It was an extremely tragic tug-of-war. The Di'ao captain, with the status of a high-level Soul Emperor, went head-to-head with Dai Yueheng, relying on the fierce offensive of his Heaven-Shaking Axe martial soul. Both sides exhausted their trump cards, and the battle was a gruesome sight.

However, having lost their backbone, Shrek was ultimately unable to turn the tide. After exhausting their last ounce of strength, they were regretfully eliminated, stopping at the Quarterfinals. This was the most painful tournament in the ten thousand years of Shrek Academy, where they hadn't even managed to reach the final four. Countless supporters of Shrek Academy in the stands were heartbroken.

With this, the final four of this tournament were settled: Zhengtian Academy, Di'ao Academy, Star Luo Royal Academy, and the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy.