On the elevated platform outside the Competition Platform where the teachers watched the matches, Mu Jin walked cheerfully over to Zhou Yi and said with a smug air,
"Teacher Zhou, I hear only three of your teams made it into the elimination rounds this time. At this stage, you've only got one team left, and you're still watching?"
Zhou Yi looked at Mu Jin, rolled her eyes, and said,
"Quality matters, not quantity. Your seeded team, on the other hand, is destined to stop at the quarterfinals now that it's facing mine."
Mu Jin snorted, then said to Zhou Yi,
"I don't care anymore. I've already gotten word that even if they win the championship, this will be your last time teaching freshmen. Once the elimination rounds are over, get ready to report to the Soul Tool Department. With your paltry knowledge of soul tools, you'll probably be stuck managing a warehouse."
For the first time, a flicker of surprise appeared in Zhou Yi's eyes at Mu Jin's taunting words. After all, she herself had only just learned about the transfer order, yet Mu Jin already knew.
Mu Jin smiled, then said to Zhou Yi,
"We both teach students on the front lines. You're not the only one with connections. A lunatic with a few screws loose like you has offended too many people. The moment an opening appears, ten thousand hands beat the broken drum."
Zhou Yi snorted and ignored her further taunts. She simply watched the Competition Platform ahead and said to Mu Jin,
"Care to bet on whose seeded team will win?"
Mu Jin merely sneered at that and said,
"If you could keep working in the Outer Court Martial Soul Department, I'd have a reason to bet with you. But now? There's no point. And have some shame. You picked up a cultivation genius from an aristocratic family, got yourself a Soul Ancestor-level freshman for free, and now you really think you trained him?"
"If that counts, then since his Soul Power hasn't improved noticeably in the three months since he enrolled, doesn't that mean your teaching methods are wrong and you've held back his talent?"
Left speechless by his retort, Zhou Yi could only put on a fierce front and say,
"I think you're just afraid."
Faced with Zhou Yi's provocation, Mu Jin merely watched the Competition Platform and spoke in a relaxed tone.
Zhou Yi said in considerable surprise,
"Who? Huo Yuhao? Isn't his surname Huo? How could he be a member of the Dai Family?"
Mu Jin looked at Zhou Yi and said,
"If this is the best you can do as a teacher, I suggest you find a block of tofu and smash your head against it. He isn't a legitimate son. Although his talent has earned him special training, Dai Hao doesn't see him as the one who will carry on the family name. His surname isn't that important. Huo is his birth mother's surname, so Dai Hao has tacitly accepted it. At least until he graduates from Shrek Academy, Dai Hao has given him the freedom to decide his own surname."
Zhou Yi narrowed her eyes and said,
"So this time, the Dai Family plans to separate military and political affairs? The eldest son will inherit the title and enter politics, while Huo Yuhao goes into the military to uphold the White Tiger Family's prestige?"
On this subject, Mu Jin showed a rare measure of patience with Zhou Yi, as though he had triggered the underlying code that made people especially talkative when gossiping. He said to her,
"Not necessarily the eldest son. He has a second legitimate son, too."
Just after Mu Jin finished speaking, the referee announced the start of the match, ending the two teachers' conversation.
The moment Ning Tian and the other two girls released their martial souls, Huo Yuhao spoke quietly to Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao.
"I'll take out their Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Master in a moment. You two just need to hold off the other two."
Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong nodded. Power attack and control against power attack and agility attack—on paper alone, Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong had the advantage.
Huo Yuhao pushed off hard and shot forward in an instant. In midair, his muscles suddenly swelled, glossy black Soul Power suffused his flesh, and a phantom Qiongqi appeared behind him.
With his Qiongqi's Martial Soul Possession, a pair of black wings spread from Huo Yuhao's back, carrying him past Wu Feng and Nanmen Yun'er. Both cried out in alarm. Huo Yuhao had hidden his ability to fly far too well; they had been caught completely off guard by the information gap.
Nanmen Yun'er immediately turned to intercept Huo Yuhao, only for a great cauldron to block her path.
Meanwhile, Wang Dong, who could also fly, rushed up to Wu Feng and whipped a high roundhouse kick toward her face. Wu Feng had no choice but to raise her arms to block it first.
Xiao Xiao's control was brutally direct. She surrounded Nanmen Yun'er with three Soul-Calming Cauldrons and sent them spinning rapidly, leaving her with no way to break free for the moment.
Ning Tian was no idle spectator either. Seeing that Nanmen Yun'er and Wu Feng could not win on their own for the moment, she hurriedly sent out the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's boosts.
Every additional Soul Ring on the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda increased the effects of all its Soul Skills proportionally. Combined with its rare percentage-based boosts and ability to multitask, even an ordinary Soul Ancestor-level support Soul Master could not hold a candle to Ning Tian at the Soul Elder level.
Even the Nine Heart Begonia could only rival an ordinary Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda by relying on its two extra Soul Ring slots. The Nine Treasures would instantly put it in its place.
That was why Ning Tian was so confident in her support abilities. Their team, despite its less-than-ideal composition, had already survived several tough battles thanks to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's support.
This time will be no different!
With that thought, Ning Tian sent out two boosts, one for speed and one for strength. Then she saw Huo Yuhao still charging toward her, seemingly paying no attention to the two girls' sudden resurgence.
"Third Soul Skill, Mist Arena!"
Huo Yuhao reached out as though grasping something. The next moment, mist spread beneath his hand, enveloping both him and Ning Tian.
As Ning Tian was dragged into the Mist Arena, Wu Feng and Nanmen Yun'er both froze.
The boosts Ning Tian had placed on them vanished instantly. Wu Feng, who had held a slight advantage while grappling with Wang Dong, was immediately hoisted into the air by her.
The Mist Arena, Huo Yuhao's third Soul Skill, had come from an eight-thousand-year-old Dark Demon Scorpion-Tailed Tiger. In Douluo II, the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger had already gone extinct, but its close relatives still existed.
Under the influence of Qiongqi's power, he had also extracted an ability belonging to that higher-order being.
Although it could not reverse an opponent's time like the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's Life and Death Arena, it could sever every connection between the opponent and the outside world. And within the Mist Arena, Huo Yuhao could rule over everything.
Against opponents no more than two major ranks above him, Huo Yuhao did not even need to act personally within the arena. The mist's erosion alone could claim their lives.
It silently and continuously stole the opponent's Soul Power to sustain the arena. That was why Zhou Yi had lost so quickly inside it.
Ning Tian now sensed that something was wrong as well. She raised her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, preparing to use "Dispel" on herself, only to discover that the pagoda had gone dull and lightless, as though it were no treasured pagoda at all, but merely an ordinary ornament...
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