Clash of Strength, Battle of Minds

The joy Lu Yi's team felt after defeating Xie Huanyue's team did not last long. On the other stage, Dai Huabin's team crushed a team whose members all had one soul ring. The match took less than twenty seconds.

On the stage, Dai Huabin casually brushed nonexistent dust from his clothes, like a king looking down on everyone.

His aggressive gaze swept over Zhou Sichen and the others before settling on Lu Yi.

But just as Dai Huabin raised his hand to give a thumbs-down, Lu Yi closed his eyes and pretended to doze off, as though he had seen it coming.

Dai Huabin's right hand froze in midair. It felt like a full-strength punch landing on cotton.

"Hmph. Let's see how long you can keep that up."

Dai Huabin withdrew his hand resentfully, only to see Cui Yajie swaying beside him and beaming as she greeted the male students below the stage. She basked in their attention like a star among her fans.

A nameless anger shot through Dai Huabin.

His puffed-out chest sank a little. Ignoring Zhu Lu as she approached him, Dai Huabin hunched over and jumped down from the stage.

Dai Huabin had nothing against Zhu Lu, the fiancée his family had chosen for him.

By tradition, since he and Zhu Lu could wield the powerful Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Hell White Tiger, the two of them were bound together for life.

In that respect, he was clearly far luckier than his elder brother, Dai Yueheng.

And Zhu Lu was a good match. She was strong, gave outsiders the cold shoulder, and was devoted and considerate toward him.

Yet for some reason, he found everything about her dull. Deep down, he could not bring himself to love her.

Perhaps what she lacked was precisely that tantalizing quality Cui Yajie had?

The little incident did not affect the matches that followed.

After the first two matches, the remaining teams put up little resistance against Lu Yi's or Dai Huabin's team. After a brief test of strength, they promptly conceded.

Against Xie Huanyue's depleted team, however, things were different.

All the strength those teams had saved by conceding earlier was now poured into fighting those two. Xie Huanyue suffered for it.

And the later the matches went, the more frenzied the three teams became. Like sharks that had caught the scent of blood, each wanted to tear a piece from the pair and snatch precious points.

If Xie Huanyue had not conceded earlier to conserve his strength, even as a Soul Elder, he might not have come through three victories in one piece.

With only the final match of the fifth round remaining, the standings were clear.

Zhou Sichen's Class Nine team had four wins and no losses, tied for first with Dai Huabin's Class Five team. Their final match would decide the group winner.

Xie Huanyue's Class Two team had three wins and two losses, placing third.

Zi Hao's Class One team had two wins and three losses, placing fourth.

Next came Zihan's Class Six team with one win and four losses, followed by Jiahao's Class Four team, which had yet to win a match.

"I'm sorry, Jiahao's team, but your time at Shrek has come to an end. You may stay and watch or leave now, but you must not disrupt order in the assessment area."

Two of the three immediately ran off. No one paid them any attention.

"The final match of round five: Dai Huabin's Class Five team versus Zhou Sichen's Class Nine team."

The six contestants stepped onto the stage together, brimming with fighting spirit.

This time, seeing that Lu Yi was no longer pretending to sleep, Dai Huabin drew a finger across his throat in warning. Lu Yi ignored him again.

Cui Yajie, on the other hand, looked at Lu Yi and his teammates with eyes full of flirtation. Lowering her head slightly as if yielding, she said in a coy voice, "You three handsome boys, be gentle with me, okay? I'm scared of getting hurt!"

Zhou Sichen shuddered. He felt his bones go weak.

"If you're scared of getting hurt, get off the stage!"

Lu Yi was completely unmoved. His cold reply stiffened Zhou Sichen's backbone again.

"Hmph. How boring!"

Cui Yajie withdrew the faint influence of her spiritual power and turned toward the edge of the stage.

Once he felt the foreign spiritual power stop probing his mind, Lu Yi dropped his still-unpracticed Occlumency.

Ever since he had learned the Confundus Charm, his ability to use spiritual power had risen to another level.

After that, the first things he had studied were Occlumency and Legilimency, two opposing yet closely linked abilities.

Legilimency could directly read another person's thoughts and memories. It was a powerful form of mind reading.

Occlumency's main purpose was to prevent others from using Legilimency to read his thoughts or the Confundus Charm to influence them.

Compared with Legilimency, though, Occlumency was much simpler.

Even clearing his mind at will and thinking of nothing would count as taking his first steps.

With Electrolux's guidance, Lu Yi had reached that stage. But a fight was about to begin, and he could not truly think of nothing.

Mental-type Soul Masters and Soul Beasts were rare in Douluo. Most wielded spiritual power as a weapon; few could use it with a wizard's precision without harming their target.

As far as Lu Yi knew, the only person who seemed capable of that was the Sea Maiden Douluo of Sea God Island ten thousand years ago.

In the three months since Lu Yi had arrived at Shrek, Cui Yajie was the first Soul Master besides Huo Yuhao whom he had seen influence others with spiritual power.

Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Sharing was a support ability, while Mental Interference disrupted thought much like the Confundus Charm.

As for Soul Shock, Lu Yi had never experienced it himself, but he imagined it turned spiritual power into a blunt weapon and violently battered an opponent's Sea of Consciousness.

Cui Yajie's ability was pure charm, meant to weaken an opponent's fighting strength. Fortunately, its effect was limited, far weaker than the charm she could unleash through a Soul Skill.

In sheer versatility, Cui Yajie's ability fell far short of his own power of suggestion.

The coming fight would not only be a contest of strength. It might also be his first battle of mental attack and defense.

Lu Yi was fully alert. Now he would see whose ability was stronger: his or Cui Yajie's.

"State your names!"

"Dai Huabin, level thirty-four Power Attack System Battle Soul Elder."

This time, Dai Huabin did not even conceal his level. He wanted to proclaim his strength and intimidate his opponents.

The spectators below reacted differently. Some gasped in admiration; others were unimpressed.

They had already lost, and they were not the ones onstage now. What the hell did they have to fear?

But when Zhou Sichen and Cao Jinxuan realized Dai Huabin was nearly ten levels above them, the pressure weighed on them. Their confidence faltered.

Lu Yi did not care in the slightest. Instead, he smiled and reassured his teammates in a low voice. "Don't be afraid. So what if his level's higher? If he wins, it's nothing to brag about. If he loses, it'll be even more embarrassing."

"Holy shit, you're right!"

Zhou Sichen exclaimed. He and Cao Jinxuan immediately saw it in a new light, and much of the pressure fell away.

Seeing his teammates' spirits recover, Lu Yi nodded in satisfaction.

The three gave their names as usual and waited for the referee's signal.

"Begin!"