Shrek Wins the Finals Without Suspense!

The next morning, Wang Dong'er appeared in Shrek's rest area as usual. She had changed into her team uniform, tied up her long hair, and kept her soul power exceptionally steady. If Huo Yuhao had not known she had not slept at all last night, he might almost have believed that nothing had happened.

But she did not look at him. She merely walked to Bei Bei's side and calmly asked, "How should we arrange our lineup today?"

Something seemed to prick Huo Yuhao lightly in the chest. Last night's words—"I don't want to go on like this"—had not vanished with the dawn. They were like an incredibly fine needle, hidden within every breath he took.

In the third round of the finals bracket, Shrek's opponent was not particularly strong. At least, that was how it appeared.

Their opponents came from an academy affiliated with a sect on the Sun Moon Frontier. The seven of them did not have outstanding soul power ranks, and their soul tool configurations were nowhere near as extravagant as those of the previous round. Yet from the moment they stepped onto the stage, Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes turned faintly cold.

It was that familiar pure-white feeling again. Just like the team whose souls had been Soul-Washing and Spirit-Binding by the Holy Spirit Cult during the preliminaries, there was no genuine tension, excitement, fear, or fighting spirit on the surface of their spiritual seas. The seven of them stood there like seven blades scrubbed clean of the scent of blood.

Wang Dong'er still stood to Huo Yuhao's left and murmured to herself, "Their souls have been washed again, just as expected."

From last night until now, she had competed as usual and cooperated as usual. She was even calmer than normal. But Huo Yuhao could sense that she had drawn herself far away from him—not physically, but in her heart, where she had hidden that little bit of softness away with her own hands.

In the end, Huo Yuhao did not choose to call Qiu'er back to the team. That should have made Wang Dong'er feel better, yet she found that she was not relieved at all. Because what truly hurt her was not whether Wang Qiu'er was present, but the matter-of-fact tactical judgment in Huo Yuhao's words last night when he said, "Call Qiu'er back."

The referee announced the start of the match.

All seven opponents moved at once.

Instead of probing like an ordinary team, they immediately formed an exceptionally orderly seven-point formation. The assault-type soul masters took the front, the control-type soul masters occupied the middle, the agility-type soul masters circled behind, and three soul tool cores were hidden within the formation. They appeared to be ordinary amplification devices, but every circulation of soul power was attempting to breach Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Sharing.

Bei Bei frowned. "They want to force Yuhao to activate Spiritual Sharing again."

Xu Sanshi stepped forward with his shield. "Then we won't activate it."

Huo Yuhao raised a hand.

"Use the strategy we revised last night."

The moment he spoke, the Shrek team changed formations at once.

Wang Dong'er did not immediately take to the skies, nor did she cut in hard from the flank as she usually did. Her light wings spread halfway open as she held her position three zhang to Huo Yuhao's left. Her aura of light did not spread outward, instead flowing only along the edge of the spiritual net.

Three zhang.

Neither far nor close.

It was exactly the safest tactical position, and also just far enough that Huo Yuhao could not reach her even if he stretched out his hand.

The empty right side was where Wang Qiu'er would have been best suited. It was because of that very position that Huo Yuhao had said the wrong thing last night. He compressed his Spirit Detection further, spreading it over the arena floor like an ice-blue net. Since there was no auspicious beast aura to break apart the false golden fluctuations, he would dismantle them with his own Spirit Eyes.

Ma Xiaotao stood at the edge of the arena watching, unable to intervene, but one brow rose slightly.

"This kid has really been pushed to the limit."

Ye Guyi was also in the stands. She gripped her sword, her gaze resting on the opposing seven as her brows furrowed slightly. "The evil soul aura isn't strong, but their souls really have been washed."

In the arena, the opposing control-type soul master suddenly raised a hand, and all three soul tool cores lit up at the same time. A nearly transparent spiritual echo spread toward Huo Yuhao. If he pressed his Spirit Detection deeper like he had in the preliminaries, that echo would trap him in turn.

But Huo Yuhao did not. He released only a shallow layer of spiritual perception.

Like bait.

The opposing captain's gaze was vacant, yet he instinctively seized upon that layer of perception and attempted to trace it back to lock onto Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea.

The next instant, Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes lit up. That shallow perception was not Spiritual Sharing, but an empty shell wrapped in Ultimate Ice. The moment they bit down on it, ice-blue cold flooded back through the spiritual echo.

All seven of their movements slowed by half a beat.

"Dong'er, seal the left flank."

Wang Dong'er's light wings abruptly spread wide, and blue-golden radiance pressed down from the left. It did not attack anyone; it merely severed the amplification links between the opposing three soul tool cores.

"Senior Brother Bei Bei, center route!"

Bei Bei took a step forward, and his dragon claw crashed down, forcing the opposing assault-type soul masters back.

"Senior Brother Sanshi, don't switch with me. Switch with Xiao Xiao."

Xu Sanshi paused, then grinned. "Got it."

Black Tortoise Transposition activated, swapping Xiao Xiao's Three Lives Soul-Suppressing Cauldron to the rear of the enemy formation. The cauldron's chime rang out, harming no one but shattering the second layer of spiritual echoes hidden within the rear soul tool cores.

The opposing captain finally raised his head. A brief flash of confusion crossed his vacant eyes. Their washed souls possessed no true judgment in battle; they could only carry out prearranged commands. Once Huo Yuhao did not react according to the preliminary-round pattern, they no longer knew how to adapt.

That was the opening.

Huo Yuhao's voice was steady.

"Senior Brother He, the third soul tool core on the right. Break the shell, not the inner core."

He Caitou had been waiting for those words. The soul tool cannon platform hummed low, and a compressed soul tool beam skimmed across the arena floor, striking the outer casing of the core on the right with precision. A wisp of golden residual fluctuation from the false auspicious beast aura immediately leaked out.

The moment that residual fluctuation appeared, Huo Yuhao's gaze turned completely cold.

"As expected."

Huo Yuhao raised a hand, and Ultimate Ice froze backward along that trace of false golden fluctuation, forcing the hidden guiding patterns out inch by inch from inside the core.

A wave of shocked cries erupted from the spectators' stands.

"He's dismantling the soul tool core?"

"He's dismantling it in the middle of a match?"

"This isn't a soul master battle. It's a soul engineer battle!"

Huo Yuhao ignored them.

Having been wounded once, he would not let the same blade stab him a second time.

The opposing formation had been broken, yet the seven did not collapse immediately. The commands left behind by Soul-Washing and Spirit-Binding began to backfire. Dark-red lines surfaced in their eyes as though they were about to forcibly burn their spiritual origins and launch one final attack.

Wang Dong'er's expression changed slightly. "They're going to destroy their spiritual seas!"

Huo Yuhao's gaze darkened.

"Ye Guyi!"

In the stands, Ye Guyi drew her sword almost simultaneously.

She could not interfere with the outcome of the match, but with the referee's permission, she could purify the remnants of evil souls. The referee was no fool. Seeing the dark-red evil markings emerge, he immediately raised a hand. "Holy light purification permitted! It will not count as combat interference!"

Holy light descended from the stands.

At that same moment, Huo Yuhao's Spirit Shock split into seven streams. It did not attack their souls; it merely struck open the cracks in the outer layers of their consciousness, which had been sealed by evil arts. Wang Dong'er's light suppressed the turmoil, Xiao Xiao's cauldron chime steadied the arena floor, He Caitou locked down the false auspicious beast core, and Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi guarded both flanks.

"Wake up."

Huo Yuhao spoke softly.

All seven opponents dropped to their knees at once.

They had not been sent flying, nor had they been badly injured. It was simply as though they had awakened from a long nightmare, true fear and confusion gradually returning to their eyes.

The referee stood stunned for several breaths before loudly announcing:

"Shrek wins!"

The entire arena erupted.

Huo Yuhao stood at the center of the stage, using the experience that had nearly gotten him killed in the previous match to dismantle the enemy's second trap in reverse. Wang Dong'er walked to his left and reached out to steady him. Just once. After confirming that he was unharmed, she let go.

Huo Yuhao felt an emptiness in his chest. He had won, yet he did not feel relieved, because he knew this victory proved that Shrek did not necessarily need Wang Qiu'er to return—and it could not make Wang Dong'er willing to remain by his side.

She would still fight alongside him, but that did not mean she was still willing to give herself to him.

At the edge of the arena, Ma Xiaotao leaned against the railing and smiled.

"Little Junior Brother won beautifully this time."

Ye Guyi sheathed her sword, but her expression was more complicated than before. She had originally come to watch the match and to be ready to purify any evil soul remnants. But now she had to admit that Huo Yuhao could not only break evil arts, but also save those worn thin by them. Such a person was indeed not an evil soul master. He stood above evil soul masters, a blade capable of forcing them to spit out the truth even in darkness.

In the distance, an orange carrier pigeon flew over the arena.

Huo Yuhao looked up.

He had a premonition.

The next letter would lead them to the Sun Moon Empire's military camp, and toward an even more chaotic, more heated, and more irreversible battlefield.