In the third group-stage match, Eastsea Academy faced Heaven Dou Affiliated Soul Master Academy. This team was known for head-on positional warfare. Their martial soul lineup favored high burst damage and sustained combat ability. They had no control-type Soul Masters, but their frontal impact was even stronger than Star Luo Royal's. When Wu Changkong laid out the tactics before the match, he said only two things: "Don't clash with them head-on. Use speed and coordination to pull them apart." Tang Wulin nodded. Gu Yue had already closed her eyes, mentally simulating how to lay out the Water Mirrors. Xie Xie spun the short blade Lu Menge had given him around his left hand. The edge traced an incredibly thin, cold gleam through the air before he steadily slid it into the strap around his calf.
As soon as the match began, the Heaven Dou team displayed their signature frontal pressure—three assault-type Soul Masters advanced in a triangular formation while the two support-type Soul Masters in the rear simultaneously stacked attack boosts and Soul Power regeneration on the front line. Their tactics were simple and brutal: overwhelm the opponent's defenses with absolute firepower, leaving no chance to catch their breath.
But Class Zero did not meet them head-on. Gu Yue made the first move, spreading six Water Mirrors at once. They were not meant to reflect attacks, but to divide the entire arena into several visual blind zones. The instant Heaven Dou's front-line assault fighters charged into the Water-Mirror Matrix, they lost all coordination—they could not see one another, nor could they see Class Zero. Tang Wulin moved through Gu Yue's Water-Mirror Matrix, the Golden Dragon Head flickering in and out of sight through the Water-Mirror Reflections. He used Dragon Roar to knock away Heaven Dou's leftmost assault fighter. Before the