Canghui Academy Defeated, Three Element Academies Forfeit

On Shrek Academy's side, Dai Mubai stood in front of Tang San, with Tai Long and Huang Yuan positioned on either side of him. Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing stood beside Tang San, while Jing Ling held the rear.

"Contestants from both sides, begin the match." The referee's voice rang out.

As the match began, it was not the Shrek Academy Team that made the first move, but the Canghui Academy Team.

The seven Canghui Academy members simultaneously raised their right hands. At that moment, all of their martial souls appeared before everyone. A gemstone appeared in each of their right hands.

The gemstones in their palms differed in both color and shape. Some were round, some diamond-shaped, some triangular, and some shaped like teardrops. Their colors spanned the seven colors of the rainbow. Yet the instant all seven gemstones appeared, a dreamlike rainbow glow rose from the seven people, completely enveloping their bodies.

Seven Soul Masters with gemstone martial souls had suddenly appeared on the arena stage, leaving everyone astonished.

Standing in the stands, Huo Lei was likewise moved by the dazzling gemstone light, and he could not help sighing inwardly. "I have to admit, the Canghui Academy Team really has something. If a team doesn't have a powerful spiritual-type Soul Master, defeat is inevitable against them. Unfortunately, Canghui Academy ran into Shrek Academy. Tang San turned them all into idiots and solved a huge problem for Blazing Fire Academy as well. Otherwise, I would have had to deal with them myself. This time, Canghui Academy suffered a major loss at the hands of the Shrek Academy Team. They not only lost their team leader, Shi Nian, but also seven elite members. It seems that after the Soul Master Tournament ends, I should pay Canghui Academy a visit."

Huo Lei collected his thoughts and turned his gaze back to the central arena.

At this moment, the Canghui Academy Team captain moved. He slowly raised his right hand, lifting the silver-white gemstone in his palm high into the air. At the same time, his fourth Soul Ring lit up. He was also the only Soul Ancestor on the Canghui Academy Team to possess a fourth Soul Ring.

The other six team members likewise raised the gemstones in their hands, but the Soul Rings lighting up on their bodies were all their third ones.

The Shrek Academy Team still did not move, as though they were waiting for something.

A faint smile appeared on Huo Lei's face as a thought flashed through his mind. Looks like Canghui Academy is about to use the Seven-in-One Fusion Technique.

In an instant, only that dazzling, immense radiance remained on the central arena. The seven Canghui Academy members vanished simultaneously.

An uproar broke out across the VIP platform, the audience stands, and the viewing areas of the various academies.

Jin Shan, seated among the spectators, could not help exclaiming, "All seven members of the Canghui Academy Team are control-type Soul Masters. Seven controllers in one team—this is the first time such a thing has appeared in the history of the Soul Master Tournament. Interesting! Interesting!"

The seven members of the Shrek Academy Team still did not move, but some changes had occurred. Other than Tang San, the remaining six all closed their eyes. Their formation shifted as well. Tang San stood in the middle of the team, while the other six formed a circle around him.

The rainbow glow emitted by the Canghui Academy Team began to spread toward the Shrek Academy Team.

The Canghui Academy Team captain's voice came from within the rainbow light. "You fools from Shrek Academy, you should feel honored, because you are the first opponents to taste our Seven Asura Illusion. You will perish amid your own pain. Farewell!"

The rainbow light instantly expanded, spreading across the entire arena in the blink of an eye and engulfing all seven members of the Shrek Academy Team.

At that moment, it was as though the audience's thoughts had suddenly reversed. Spectators who had originally supported the Shrek Academy Team began shouting Canghui Academy's name instead.

Huo Lei circulated a trace of Soul Power into his golden eyes, allowing him to see the situation inside the arena clearly despite the rainbow light obscuring it.

Huo Lei shifted his gaze to Shrek Academy's viewing area and discovered that Flender, wearing his glasses, had already become anxiously agitated. A short-haired middle-aged man held him down with an arm, seemingly trying to persuade him, while the middle-aged woman beside them remained relatively calm.

"So this is the Golden Iron Triangle. It looks like they're arguing." Huo Lei watched the spectacle with a smile.

A moment later, Huo Lei's gaze returned to the central arena. "The three of them are far less interesting than what's happening on the stage."

Within the hazy rainbow light, Tang San suddenly moved. He shot into the air and delivered six consecutive kicks, each one striking one of his own teammates.

The six Shrek Academy Team members were sent flying in six different directions, each spitting out a mouthful of blood. Meanwhile, Tang San's eyes had already turned purple in midair. Purple light more than three feet long shot from them, sweeping toward the seven members of Canghui Academy.

Screams rang out almost simultaneously. As Tang San fell from the air, he struck his own chest with a palm. Blood immediately flowed from the corner of his mouth.

The rainbow light receded, and the scene on the arena gradually became clear. The seven-colored glow vanished in an instant. Of the original fourteen people on the stage, only Tang San remained standing.

The sight of the six Shrek Academy members vomiting blood was caught by the audience at the exact instant the rainbow light vanished. Each of them looked listless, clearly no longer capable of fighting.

The seven Canghui Academy members had long since left their original positions and lay scattered across seven directions of the arena. They too had fallen to the ground, but unlike the Shrek Academy members, the seven were convulsing, foaming at the mouth, and rolling their eyes back, as if they were suffering an epileptic seizure.

An uproar erupted. Both the VIP platform and the spectator stands descended into chaos.

"Brilliant! Brilliant! Tang San really pulled off a slick move there. He actually created such a convincing illusion." Huo Lei sighed sincerely.

The referee announced the result of the match, but his body trembled. No one knew why; perhaps excitement was the cause. At least, that was Huo Lei's guess.

After several experts from the Soul Master world examined and assessed Canghui Academy's competing members, their conclusion was that they had suffered backlash from their soul skill.

The other Canghui Academy members carried their teammates away. On Shrek Academy's side, Oscar, Ning Rongrong, and Ma Hongjun ran onto the arena and, together with Tang San, barely managed to help the six injured members off the stage.

"Tang San is ruthless enough. No wonder he can achieve great things. Looks like I should learn from him as well." Huo Lei silently made up his mind.

After the match ended, the spectators gradually dispersed, and the Blazing Fire Academy group returned to the hotel.

The next day, Xie Chong brought everyone some news. All seven Canghui Academy members had lost the ability to think and become idiots. Canghui Academy had requested that the organizing committee conduct separate investigations into Shrek Academy and demanded that Shrek Academy be severely punished. At the same time, Shrek Academy announced that it would forfeit its next two matches, claiming that its team members needed time to recover from their injuries and receive more adequate rest.

Huo Lei did not care about this news, because he knew that Shrek Academy would not be punished in the end.

In the following matches, Blazing Fire Academy encountered Godwind Academy, Skywater Academy, and Thunderclap Academy in succession. Yet those three academies seemed to have made an agreement, all forfeiting their matches. The reason they gave was surprisingly identical: Huo Lei's presence.

The Preliminary Round continued in full swing every day, while Blazing Fire Academy had become an opponent all the other academies avoided. Up to this point, not a single academy was willing to face them again.

Before long, the twenty-seven rounds of the Preliminary Round were nearing their end. Only the final round remained.

In Blazing Fire Academy's final Preliminary Round match, they would face Cullen Academy. Shrek Academy, meanwhile, would face Skywater Academy.