Abyss vs. Shrek Academy (Part One)

Linhe City Arena, quarterfinals, opening match.

The seats in the stands had sold out half an hour ago.

The corridors were packed with excited spectators. A few wandering soul masters had even climbed onto the roof, staring fixedly at the arena below.

The seed vendor had already shouted himself hoarse.

The Shrek Seven Monsters stepped onto the stage.

The arena dome trembled faintly beneath the waves of sound.

Dai Mubai walked at the front, the golden markings of his White Tiger Martial Soul spreading from his neck to his forearms. Every step carried the oppressive aura of a beast.

Ma Hongjun spread his arms, phoenix fire feathers floating behind him as the heat distorted the air.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tower spun in Ning Rongrong's palm, its seven-colored glow flowing around it, gorgeous yet dangerous.

Tang San stood toward the rear of the formation.

This position conveyed a false signal—he did not intend to serve as the main attacker.

The Abyss Seven Generals entered.

The roaring cheers abruptly caught in their throats.

Su Chen had both hands in his pockets, looking as calm as though he were taking a stroll through his own backyard.

The six behind him spread out in a goose-wing formation, their steps so synchronized it made one's teeth ache.

There was no outward release of soul power, no Martial Soul phantoms.

They were like a row of peerless blades sheathed away.

You knew they were sharp, yet could not see where their edges pointed.

The referee stood in the middle of the stage, his voice ringing out. "Both sides, prepare—begin!"

Before the final syllable had fallen, Tang San vanished from where he stood.

Blue Silver Grass flooded the sky.

This was not an ordinary control net, but dozens of pitch-black chains compressed to the thickness of thumbs.

The chains struck simultaneously from three directions—the ground, overhead, and both flanks—locking down a single target.

Su Chen.

Dai Mubai activated his White Tiger Vajra Transformation at the same instant, his bones erupting with a barrage of crackles.

He became a golden blur and crashed into a gap in the Abyss formation.

He was not attacking. He was plowing a bloody path with his own body.

Ma Hongjun dived upward.

Phoenix Fire Rain slammed precisely into the middle of the arena, scorching out a wall of flame that ran east to west.

The fire wall brutally split the Abyss Seven Generals' formation apart.

The front and rear ranks were cut off from each other in an instant.

Xiao Wu followed half a step to Tang San's right, Soft-Boned Rabbit soul power flooding her limbs as Eight-Section Fall waited ready to erupt.

Zhu Zhuqing vanished into the shadows.

Her target was Chu Yao. The Poison Domain had to be snuffed out before it could unfold.

Ning Rongrong stood at the very back, the radiance of her glazed tower stretched to its limit.

Three buffing pillars of light—speed, strength, and soul power—precisely enveloped Tang San and Dai Mubai.

Shrek Academy had simulated this tactic seventeen times.

Decapitation.

The entire team's resources were funneled into Tang San, allowing him to cross the arena and descend before Su Chen within three seconds.

As long as they controlled Su Chen, those terrifying summons would be nothing more than masterless beasts.

The logic was flawless.

The execution was ruthless.

Tang San's Blue Silver Grass chains were less than thirty feet from Su Chen.

Dai Mubai forcibly smashed Jiang Tieyi aside.

Something was wrong.

Jiang Tieyi had not been blocking the way.

The burly six-foot-three youth shifted aside.

He had let him through.

Dai Mubai's fist struck empty air, and his body staggered half a step from the momentum.

He tried to correct his balance, but as his right foot landed, the ground changed.

Heavy.

Incomparably heavy.

The gravity field had already been laid down. Dai Mubai's knees bent into a grotesque arc.

The joints of his armor let out a piercing grind.

Jiang Tieyi had not needed to stop him, because this gravity swamp was the grave prepared especially for him.

Tang San's pupils contracted sharply.

Dark-green monsters suddenly surged from the gaps between the arena's stone slabs.

Heavenly Net Immortal Vine.

The vines did not seize Tang San. Instead, they erupted behind him.

A thirty-foot-thick wall of vines rose from the ground, completely separating Tang San, Xiao Wu, and the rear support.

Ling Shuang stood barefoot at the edge, her toes gripping the cracks in the stone.

Ten main vines spread out from beneath her feet, turning the eastern half of the arena into a thorny domain.

Su Chen stood in the center of the Blue Silver Grass encirclement without dodging.

He looked at Tang San, his tone relaxed. "Just as I thought."

Tang San reacted quickly. The Blue Silver Grass chains instantly changed direction, attempting to sever the Heavenly Net Immortal Vine beneath his feet.

The grass blades cut half an inch into the immortal vine, only to be caught by a viscous force.

Ling Shuang's fourth soul skill: Heavenly Net Myriad Forms.

These were plundering roots. Within the domain of plant-type martial souls, they were absolute superiors.

Tang San could not pull back his own Martial Soul.

The gravity beneath his feet doubled again.

Fivefold, tenfold.

Tang San's knees were pressed to their limit, and the Blue Silver Grass's extension speed was cut in half.

Su Chen took a small step back.

The tip of the Blue Silver Grass grazed his shoulder without even touching the corner of his clothes.

"You wanted to flip the table?"

Su Chen's voice was soft, yet it drilled clearly into Tang San's ears.

"Under the table are mines I buried long ago."

Tang San's right hand reached toward his sleeve.

His close-range control had failed. He would have to use hidden weapons.

The instant his fingertips touched the mechanism, a sweet fragrance slipped into his nose.

Chu Yao stood on the other side of the vine wall, having pulled the stoppers from three black bottles.

Poison mist instantly seeped through the gaps in the vines.

The poison was not lethal, but it reduced the dexterity of Tang San's fingers by forty percent within three seconds.

To a hidden weapon master, that was equivalent to losing both hands.

Tang San held his breath, circulating the inner power of the Xuantian Technique wildly to purge the poison.

He only had six seconds left.

A muffled impact came from beyond the fire wall.

Under tenfold gravity, Dai Mubai had taken a heavy punch from Jiang Tieyi head-on.

With his weight drastically increased, his own bones were also enduring a terrifying burden.

The arena's stone slabs cracked into a spiderweb pattern beneath his knees.

Ma Hongjun spotted the danger from the air.

He dived toward Ning Rongrong, attempting to burn through the vines winding toward her.

An icy-blue beam shot in from an angle, striking his right wing precisely.

Yan Wuji.

Profound Ice Dragon Breath shattered his flight balance.

Ma Hongjun's fireball veered two feet off course.

Three seconds.

In only three seconds, Shrek Academy's killing formation had been dismantled into pieces.

"Rear left, twenty-two feet."

Chu Yao softly spoke into the communicator.

Mo Qianye's figure emerged from the arena's shadows.

The dark flames of the Nine Netherworld Phoenix danced at his fingertips.

He flicked that spark toward Zhu Zhuqing's landing point.

The dark fire struck the ground, instantly evaporating the moisture from the stone.

Zhu Zhuqing's footprints became clearly visible, forcing her to reveal herself.

Su Chen surveyed the entire arena.

He had predicted every one of Tang San's moves.

This was not luck, but an exploitation of the character flaw Tang San possessed as a "leader."

A man who valued loyalty and righteousness would inevitably choose to capture the king in a desperate situation.

Su Chen raised his right hand.

The phantom of the Void Throne rose behind him.

The first black Spirit Ring slot erupted with a dim glow.

Ten Dark Golden Terrorclaw Bears stepped out of the void, and the entire arena shook violently.

The aura of ten-thousand-year savage beasts forcibly extinguished Ma Hongjun's phoenix flames.

Su Chen looked at Tang San, trapped within the vine wall.

Tang San stared back at him.

The two stood thirty feet apart, with tangled dead vines, spreading poison mist, and the shadows of giant bears between them.