Can't Keep Them? Flowers Leave the Trees?

The fifth day of the elimination rounds—the semifinals.

The spectator stands around the central arena were nearly packed to capacity.

After all, the teams that had made it to the semifinals were all among the strongest freshmen of this class.

Teachers with no classes, along with old and new students who loved a good spectacle, were all unwilling to miss this showdown.

Jiang Ziming's team would be facing Zhou Sichen, Cao Jinxuan, and Long Xiangyue from Freshman Class 10 today.

Zhou Sichen's martial soul was the "Codex," and he was a level 25 assault-type Battle Soul Master.

His martial soul was highly unusual. He could freely choose his soul skills and cultivation direction based on the soul beasts he hunted. In the previous elimination rounds, he had summoned a yellow bear and a flame tiger, stumping several groups of opponents.

Cao Jinxuan's martial soul, the "Passing Time Bell," was also distinctive. It could even imprison an opponent's "time," making him a control-type soul master who caught people off guard.

By comparison, Long Xiangyue seemed relatively ordinary. His martial soul was simply a "boomerang," and he was a level 23 agility-attack-type Battle Soul Master.

In terms of raw strength, this trio was actually inferior to Xie Huanyue's team from before. They were not particularly formidable among the freshmen, which was why they had been extremely cautious in every match.

However, when Zhou Sichen saw the three words "Jiang Ziming" on the draw results, his face still darkened for an instant.

"It's okay, brother."

Long Xiangyue patted him on the shoulder and consoled him.

"From what I know, this Jiang Ziming is strong, handsome, and loves showing off, but he doesn't instantly defeat his opponents every single time. Sometimes he sits in the back and watches, or hands out candy, feeding carrots to his two female teammates and pretending to be an auxiliary-type soul master."

Cao Jinxuan nodded as well.

"As long as he doesn't draw that sword, we can still struggle a little. We'll just do our best. This matchmaking system is too disgusting—there's nothing we can do about it."

Zhou Sichen took a deep breath and nodded.

Before long, the match began.

Both sides entered the arena. Jiang Ziming stood at the front of his team, calmly sweeping his gaze over the three opponents before turning back to Wang Donger and Xiao Xiao.

"They look a bit ordinary. I'll let you two have some fun this round."

Wang Donger gave a haughty snort.

"That's more like it."

Xiao Xiao nodded as well, fighting spirit blazing in her emerald-green eyes.

Across from them, Zhou Sichen saw Jiang Ziming retreat to the rear, clearly with no intention of fighting personally.

He secretly let out a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, this meant they would not have to surrender as soon as the match started like the previous teams.

"Attack!"

Zhou Sichen struck first. An ancient codex opened before him, its pages fluttering loudly as soul power summoned a massive yellow bear and flame tiger that lunged at Wang Donger and Xiao Xiao.

Long Xiangyue followed right behind him. A silver boomerang flew from his hand, tracing a strange arc through the air as it attacked Wang Donger from the flank.

As for Cao Jinxuan in the back row, he stood at the very rear with his hands held in a loose embrace. The phantom of an ancient bronze bell emerged before him.

He gave it a light strike. The bell's chime rang out long and clear, and circles of invisible sound waves spread outward, disrupting Wang Donger's and Xiao Xiao's senses.

Three against two, with seamless coordination—they appeared to hold the clear advantage.

Though Wang Donger's Radiant Goddess Butterfly was dazzling and powerful, under the interference of Zhou Sichen's summoned soul skills and Cao Jinxuan's bell chimes, her attacks inevitably slowed by half a beat. Several blasts of Butterfly Goddess's Light even veered slightly to the left.

Xiao Xiao's Three Lives Soul-Calming Cauldron was also restrained by Long Xiangyue's boomerang. Whenever she tried to suppress Zhou Sichen, that boomerang would interrupt her from some tricky angle.

For a time, the battle reached a stalemate.

In the spectator stands, quite a few people worried for Wang Donger and Xiao Xiao.

"Their teamwork is too good... They didn't make the top four for nothing."

"Zhou Sichen's team is still Class 10's seeded team, after all. They won't be taken down so easily."

"If Jiang Ziming were willing to use his sword, it would definitely be over in an instant. But he doesn't seem to be planning to act? He's handing out candy again!"

"I think this is how it is: showing off through reasonable teamwork is within the elimination round rules, but this isn't how it should be! It would be one thing if it were another soul master, but Jiang Ziming is a team captain too! He's defeated so many opponents on this stage, shown off so many times! The meaning of soul fighting should be charging forward and giving it your all—you take down whoever you face, instead of acting like this! Making two cute girls carry the burden? What the world cannot keep is rosy faces leaving mirrors, flowers leaving trees! If this keeps going, he'll ruin his reputation in his later years!"

Naturally, Jiang Ziming had no idea what the spectators were saying. He stood in the back and watched for a while. Seeing that the two girls did seem to be struggling somewhat, he raised a hand slightly.

The gleaming "Excitement Carrot" slowly appeared.

The next second, two carrots traced arcs through the air and landed accurately in Wang Donger's and Xiao Xiao's hands.

The girls did not hesitate, finishing them in a few bites.

The very next instant.

Blue-gold light suddenly surged from Wang Donger's Radiant Goddess Butterfly wings!

She did not even charge up before firing a blast of Butterfly Goddess's Light. The beam was a full circle thicker than before, carrying overwhelming force as it sliced Zhou Sichen's golden chains apart down the middle!

"What the—?!"

Zhou Sichen's pupils constricted. Before he could react, Wang Donger's second blast of Butterfly Goddess's Light had already slammed toward him.

He hurriedly flipped through the Codex and condensed another massive yellow bear in front of himself.

Boom!!!

The beam struck the bear in the chest, erupting in a blinding flash. Zhou Sichen was thrown back seven or eight steps, and the Codex in his hand nearly flew away.

"Is that carrot a stimulant? Why are their ultimate moves coming out like they don't need soul power or cooldowns?!"

He could not help but curse.

On the other side, Xiao Xiao's transformation was even more startling.

After swallowing the carrot, the Three Lives Soul-Calming Cauldron seemed to expand by a full size. The ancient patterns on its surface became clearer and more profound.

With a wave of one hand, the massive cauldron shot out with a roar, directly smashing Long Xiangyue's boomerang out of the air!

"My weapon shield!"

Long Xiangyue watched helplessly as his martial soul was knocked away, tracing an arc through the air before landing on the ground with a clatter. The corners of his mouth twitched in pain.

Before he could recover, Xiao Xiao's second wave of attacks had already arrived.

She recalled the Three Lives Soul-Calming Cauldron, then drew out a jade-green bamboo flute and gently placed it against her pink lips.

A melodious flute melody sounded. Soul power blossomed as it collided in the air with the chimes of Cao Jinxuan's Passing Time Bell.

Cao Jinxuan's expression changed instantly.

He felt as though his bell chimes had crashed into an invisible wall. Not only could they not pierce through, they were instead forced back by the flute melody.

His spacetime disruption effect was like a little girl facing a grown, muscular man before that flute melody—so weak it could not withstand a single blow!

"Th-this... this isn't fair!"

Cao Jinxuan cried out indignantly.

Yet no one paid any attention to his protest.

Wang Donger and Xiao Xiao pressed their advantage, coordinating perfectly. One launched a frontal assault while the other suppressed from the side, directly forcing Zhou Sichen's trio to the edge of the arena.