Distraction Control?

After the previous few matches, the opponents on the field had long since figured out the fighting style of Yue Ling's team.

Everyone understood one thing: he was an assault-type soul master, not a control-type, which was why his moves were particularly tricky.

He excelled at using Flower Blade petals to sneak-attack the back row. From the front, he looked unremarkable, but once the back row was neglected, the support-type soul master could easily be taken down in an instant.

As this match began, the opposing team's tactics were clearly highly targeted.

One assault-type soul master from the opposing team charged straight at Yue Ling, pinning him down tightly. Another team member stayed by their own support, guarding against Yue Ling's Flower Blade sneak attacks while seizing every moment to recover soul power.

By the time the Freshman Round-Robin Tournament reached this stage, every team's consumption was immense. With several matches still ahead, no one wanted to waste soul power unnecessarily; everyone was trying their best to conserve stamina and maintain their condition.

Yue Ling felt a surge of alarm.

The sneak-attack tactics he had relied on previously were now completely ineffective.

He had used them too many times, and his opponents were all prepared.

But he was not panicked in the slightest.

At the end of the day, tactics were merely an aid; the true gap lay in raw strength.

Furthermore, with Ma Xiaotao and Gongyang Mo watching from the sidelines, he felt completely confident.

The opposing assault-type soul master had already charged to close range, raising his hands to engage Yue Ling in close-quarters combat.

Others only knew he relied on Flower Blades to strike from a distance, but they did not know his close-quarters martial arts were equally solid.

The opponent grew more alarmed the longer they fought, feeling more and more how difficult Yue Ling was to handle, especially with many Flower Blades swirling around to harass him.

After dodging a palm strike from Yue Ling, a ruthless glint flashed in the opponent's eyes; he no longer insisted on a direct confrontation.

Since he couldn't break through from the front, he would sneak-attack the back row!

He released his first soul skill instantly, his soul power surging directly toward Gongyang Mo, who was watching from the sidelines.

The plan was perfect, but reality gave him no chance at all.

Every move he made had long been under the watchful eye of Ma Xiaotao.

Before the soul skill could get close, Ma Xiaotao suddenly released her first soul skill. A crimson Phoenix Fireline erupted instantly, precisely neutralizing the opponent's attack.

The sneak attack was completely exposed.

The assault soul master's expression changed. Daring not to linger, he retreated rapidly, trying to find another opening.

How could Yue Ling give him a chance to breathe?

"Second soul skill, Falling Blossom Storm!"

Hundreds of sharp golden Flower Blades instantly left his body, splitting into two. Two streams of blades attacked separately: one pursued the retreating assault soul master, while the other bore down on the support soul master in the back row.

But the opponents were prepared.

The remaining team member immediately blocked in front of the support, shielding the back row tightly. The assault soul master in front, bolstered by his soul skill, charged forward once again.

The three of them coordinated perfectly; they had clearly studied his fighting style in advance.

Throughout the entire skirmish, Yue Ling's soul power consumption was not high.

His second soul skill was flexible and versatile, allowing him to pull back and forth with the petal blades, suppressing both lines.

What was truly being consumed was his mental energy.

But for him, this was actually a good thing; he could use the high-intensity combat to train his mental control.

In his current state, attempting to release Monarch Descends Upon the World steadily was still a stretch.

If he was lucky, he might barely succeed; if he was unlucky, he would not only fail but also waste soul power and timing.

To achieve a one-hundred-percent precise release, he had to hone his mental control to perfection.

Therefore, he intended to use this tournament to explore the techniques of distraction control.

He knew that the Seven Treasures Glazed Sect's distraction control was a sect secret that outsiders could never learn.

So, he had to explore and practice it on his own.

During his daily rest, he repeatedly practiced uncoordinated movements with his left and right hands—one rotating clockwise, the other counter-clockwise—forcibly training his brain's ability to handle two tasks at once.

This strange behavior had once piqued Gongyang Mo's curiosity, but Gongyang Mo only found it novel for a moment; after trying it a few times and finding it boring, he turned back to his books.

With no one to help and no one to guide him, Yue Ling had to polish his skills bit by bit.

And today's arena was the best training ground.

At this moment, he was controlling two streams of Flower Blades simultaneously, constantly harassing the enemy in front while slowly tightening the encirclement to restrict the movement of the support in the back.

Dual-line control was extremely difficult, and his mental energy was depleting rapidly, but it was genuinely improving his control.

Gongyang Mo, watching from the sidelines, seized the right moment to apply his first soul skill to Yue Ling, further boosting his combat power.

Even so, the pressure of fighting three people at once remained significant.

The opponents gradually grew accustomed to his attack rhythm, and after stabilizing their formation, they launched a second wave of encirclement.

Yue Ling immediately adjusted his tactics, gathering the vast majority of his Flower Blades to focus on suppressing the assault soul master charging from the front.

Seeing this, the back-row member immediately stepped forward to provide support, but was blocked by the Phoenix Firelines spat out by Ma Xiaotao, unable to advance even half a step.

The advantage in the battle began to tilt, little by little, toward Yue Ling's side.

The continuous dual-line harassment and encirclement suppression left the front-line assault soul master unable to hold on any longer.

His soul power was more than half depleted, and his stamina was nearing exhaustion.

Considering there were more matches ahead, he couldn't risk everything here. Finally, he gritted his teeth and reluctantly chose to concede.

Seeing that their captain, who had been bearing the brunt of the pressure, had already conceded, the remaining two members had no desire to continue fighting.

Having to guard against sneak attacks while struggling to resist was a waste of effort; continuing would only lead to pointless injuries.

They simply followed suit and conceded.

After winning this match, the subsequent schedule entered a state of total domination.

All the teams had figured out the strength of the three of them, and no one wanted to clash head-on with them.

After all, the gap in soul power was clear. If it weren't for the tournament, they would have been very willing to test their mettle against strong opponents.

Therefore, upon encountering Yue Ling's team, they all deliberately conserved soul power, seeking only to end the match quickly to save their stamina for the opponents that followed.

They won the next three matches with exceptional ease.

By the time the fourth match began, Ma Xiaotao's soul power had fully recovered.

As the match started, the moment her four purple soul rings lit up, the aura unique to a Soul Elder suppressed the opponents so thoroughly they dared not resist. They offered only symbolic resistance before directly conceding and surrendering.

Throughout the entire Freshman Round-Robin Tournament, Yue Ling's team achieved a perfect record of total victory.

Under Zhou Yi's approving gaze, the three of them bid her farewell and left the competition grounds.

Although the tournament hadn't completely ended, they at least had some time to relax over the next few days.

The group went to their usual barbecue restaurant as always.

The only difference this time was that they brought Ma Xiaotao along.

"To celebrate our perfect record, cheers!"

"Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

The three of them poured some drinks and toasted [minors are prohibited from drinking alcohol].

"Ha, that's refreshing. Thanks to you guys, we managed to get this perfect record."

"Not at all."

"Oh, stop being so polite. Eat up, it'll get cold if you don't!"

In the barbecue restaurant, Yue Ling, Gongyang Mo, and Ma Xiaotao chatted and feasted, rewarding themselves well after days of hard fighting.