Shocking the Entire Venue: One Against Seven

On the Soul Fighting Platform, the seven members of the Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy had already taken their positions.

Any team would feel nervous when facing Shrek Academy. The seven members' legs were trembling—not because they were cowards, but because the three words "Shrek Academy" weighed upon them like an invisible mountain. However, when they saw that only one person had walked up to face them—a youth who looked no older than thirteen or fourteen—that nervousness was quickly replaced by a much more intense emotion.

"Just... just one person?" The captain of the Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy widened his eyes, staring at the opposite side in disbelief.

The teammates behind him exchanged glances, and then, uncontrollable excitement erupted in their eyes. One person. Shrek Academy had actually sent only one person to the stage! And it was a member of their reserve team, no less. No matter how strong a reserve team was, how strong could they really be?

"This, this is our chance!" The captain's voice was kept extremely low, yet it could not mask his wild joy. "One person, and a reserve team member at that! No matter how high his talent is, his soul power couldn't possibly exceed five rings! Listen up—finish this quickly, don't give him any openings. Remember, we—"

He paused, took a deep breath, and a near-scorching flame ignited in the depths of his eyes.

"We are going to be the first team to defeat Shrek!"

These words acted like a shot of adrenaline, pumping into the veins of every member. The seven quickly spread out according to their pre-match formation: three power-attack types at the front, two agility-attack types on the flanks, one control type in the center for support, and one auxiliary type at the rear. It was a standard offensive formation, 3-2-1-1; the agility-attack types on the flanks could bypass the front line at the first opportunity to strike the back row. The members' legs were still shaking, but no longer out of fear.

The referee looked at Lin Shuo, who stood alone in the center of the Soul Fighting Platform, then glanced toward the Shrek Academy waiting area. Only after confirming multiple times did he finally raise his hand.

"The match begins!"

The moment the words left his lips, Lin Shuo released his martial soul.

The instant the Seven-Colored Dragon King martial soul took shape behind him, a deep, muffled dragon roar erupted from within his body, as if piercing through time and space, echoing endlessly over the entire Soul Fighting Plaza. The phantom of the giant dragon, covered in seven-colored scales, raised its head, and seven-colored light swirled silently within its dragon eyes. Immediately after, the soul rings beneath his feet began to rise one by one.

Four jet-black, ten-thousand-year soul rings circled the youth's slender frame, rotating slowly, their dark luster casting a restrained, chilling gleam under the sunlight.

The entire Soul Fighting Plaza fell into a deathly silence at that moment.

"Im... impossible..."

Someone spoke first, and that trembling mutter was exceptionally clear in the pin-drop silence of the plaza. Four rings, all of them ten-thousand-year soul rings. How could a youth under fifteen possess four ten-thousand-year soul rings? This wasn't just the realm of a genius; this was a monster, a freak of nature!

On the Douluo Continent, even a three-year-old knew that the first soul ring could only be a hundred-year ring at most.

On the high platform, the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire stood up abruptly from his throne. The usual composure on his majestic face was replaced by sheer, disbelieving shock. He stared fixedly at the seven-colored dragon shadow on the platform, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the armrests of his throne.

"Four ten-thousand-year soul rings... How on earth did Shrek Academy manage this?"

In Xu Jiawei's subconscious, achieving such a feat must surely be the result of Shrek Academy's intensive cultivation.

He paused, then suddenly frowned and turned to the minister beside him. "What about Dai Hao's child? I recall Dai Yueheng is in the inner court of Shrek Academy; why is he not in the waiting area today?"

The minister, also immersed in shock, bowed his head to reply, his voice kept low enough for only the Emperor to hear. As the Emperor listened, his brow furrowed deeper, and his gaze returned to the platform.

Meanwhile, on the Soul Fighting Platform, Lin Shuo took a step forward, and the third soul ring at his feet lit up.

Upon seeing the four ten-thousand-year soul rings, the seven opponents had already been frozen in place.

The Seven-Colored Dragon King phantom slowly raised its head, the seven-colored light in its eyes swirling silently before converging into two distinct forces.

Light and darkness—two elements that should have been mutually exclusive merged under the dominion of the dragon bloodline, transforming into a destructive dragon breath that poured down from the void.

This strike felt like divine retribution. The torrent of white and black tore through the air, emitting a sharp, piercing hiss. Lin Shuo intentionally slowed the speed of the dragon breath—to give the referee time to react.

The referee's pupils contracted sharply. As a seven-ring Soul Saint, he could clearly sense the destructive power contained within that dragon breath. It was damage that the seven members of the Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy could never withstand. Before the breath could land, he lunged into the arena, his seven-ring Soul Saint power erupting without reservation, dragging the seven members out of the path of the dragon breath at the very last second and throwing them heavily off the stage.

BOOM—!

The dragon breath slammed into the empty Soul Fighting Platform.

The entire platform shook violently. The hard ground was plowed into a deep trench as if it were made of paper in the face of such power.

When the dragon breath dissipated, a shocking, charred scar remained in the center of the platform. A single strike had left the entire arena unrecognizable. The seven members of the Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy sat slumped off the stage, their faces as pale as paper, their eyes unfocused, as if they had just narrowly escaped the gates of death.

The referee raised his hand, his voice carrying a lingering tremor: "First round of the elimination tournament, Shrek Academy—wins!"

A thunderous roar of astonishment erupted from every corner of the stands, the sound wave nearly overturning the entire Soul Fighting Plaza. The more than two hundred thousand spectators finally found their voices, and the arena was filled with overlapping gasps and screams of disbelief.

On one side of the spectator area, the members of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy also fell into a long silence.

Xiao Hongchen stared fixedly at the figure on the platform with his blue eyes, the usual lazy smile on his face long gone. Hailed as the greatest genius in the history of the Sun Moon Empire, he was already a Soul King at only fourteen.

"Although I could also take on seven," Xiao Hongchen suddenly spoke, his voice not loud, but just enough for his teammates to hear, his tone carrying a trace of unmistakable unease, "I couldn't defeat those seven as easily as he did."

His younger sister, Meng Hongchen, didn't seem to be listening to him at all. The girl with long white hair rested her chin on her hands, staring unblinkingly at the slender figure on the stage, her lips curling into an undisguised arc.

"Brother."

Xiao Hongchen's mouth twitched, sensing what was coming.

"He's so handsome."

Xiao Hongchen took a deep breath and slowly turned his head away. He knew it.