"What?" Outside, Xuan Zi's eyes flew wide, and he even forgot to bite into the chicken drumstick in his hand. "This... this is a Self-Created Soul Skill? What exquisite penetrating force! He concentrates his power to an extreme, piercing through defenses to strike the body directly? This boy really is a genius! Against the vast majority of defensive Soul Masters, this move is practically their natural nemesis!"
Qian Duoduo and the others also looked astonished. Clearly, they had never expected Dai Youheng to master such a tricky, terrifying technique.
Xu Sanshi was both shocked and furious. He discovered that the defense he had built his reputation on was far less effective against his opponent's bizarre palm strikes. Moreover, with two enhancement Soul Skills active, his opponent's speed and strength were actually no weaker than his own as a Soul Ancestor! Instead, he was being suppressed so badly that he was scrambling to keep up!
"Bastard!" Overwhelming rage and humiliation robbed Xu Sanshi of his reason. "You forced my hand! Black Tortoise Awakening!"
He frantically drove his soul power, trying to forcibly draw out the power deep within his bloodline that had yet to fully awaken. He intended to temporarily elevate his Xuanming Shield into a true Black Tortoise Shield and unleash the forbidden move, Black Tortoise Descent, which possessed tremendous power but equally tremendous side effects.
An immense amount of water element began gathering around him, and his aura became extremely unstable and dangerous.
Unfortunately, to Dai Youheng, this windup was far too long-and extremely unstable!
Dai Youheng was currently in his Shadow Surge state. This state not only enhanced his attributes but also granted him the ability to use Shadow Stealth over short distances!
Inside the maze, sunlight streamed through gaps in the stone walls, casting streaks of shadow.
Dai Youheng instantly melted into one of those shadows and vanished. The next moment, he slipped silently out of another patch of shadow behind Xu Sanshi's flank, like a ghost.
Xu Sanshi was still struggling to gather his power for that dangerous awakening. He had no time to react!
"It's over." Dai Youheng's icy voice rang out beside his ear.
A palm strike carrying all his strength, once again incorporating the Emperor's Palm's method of exerting force, landed squarely between Xu Sanshi's shoulder blades!
Not only did this strike pack tremendous physical force, but its penetrating shadow energy also instantly shattered the already unstable soul power Xu Sanshi had forcibly gathered.
"Pfft-!" Xu Sanshi spat out a mouthful of blood. His forced awakening was violently interrupted, inflicting a severe backlash. His vision went black, and he collapsed limply to the ground, unconscious.
The announcement soon echoed throughout the arena. "Xu Sanshi has been eliminated by Dai Youheng."
For a moment, an uproar erupted both inside and outside the maze!
Bei Bei, Jiang Nannan, Huo Yuhao, and the others could hardly believe it! Xu Sanshi, a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor, had actually been defeated head-on by Dai Youheng, a three-ring Soul Elder?
Yet the instant the announcement ended, Dai Youheng, who had just accomplished the feat of defeating a stronger opponent, swayed with "perfect timing." He dropped to one knee, bracing himself with one hand against the ground as he began panting heavily. His face also turned pale, making him look like a spent arrow at the end of its flight, utterly drained of both soul power and stamina.
The bait had been cast. Now it was time for the fish to bite.
Sure enough, the very next second after he displayed his extreme "weakness"-
"Now!"
Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu, who had long been lying in ambush in the passages to either side, shot out like two bolts of lightning. White Tiger Fierce Light Wave and Hell Stab struck simultaneously at Dai Youheng, who seemed utterly incapable of resisting.
Shock and unwillingness appeared on Dai Youheng's face. He seemed to struggle to rise and defend himself, but his "overdrawn" body could not respond effectively.
"Bang!" "Shhk!"
Both attacks struck him squarely!
He gave a muffled grunt as his body was sent flying into a wall, then slid limply down and "passed out."
Less than half a minute later, another announcement sounded. "Dai Youheng has been eliminated by Dai Huabin."
Xu Sanshi, who had just been revived by a healing Soul Master and was feeling utterly humiliated, froze when he heard the announcement. Then, disregarding his injuries, he burst into smug laughter. "Hahaha! Dai Youheng, that's what you get for eliminating me! Serves you right!"
Although he had lost, seeing Dai Youheng get eliminated immediately afterward made him feel considerably better.
Inside the maze, anger surged in Huo Yuhao's heart as he heard the two consecutive announcements. Although he had not witnessed what happened, he could guess the gist of it. His brother Dai Youheng must have fought with everything he had to defeat the powerful senior Xu Sanshi despite the difference in their ranks. But that had drained him too much, allowing Dai Huabin, who had been lurking all along, to launch a shameless sneak attack!
"Dai Huabin!" A cold gleam flickered in Huo Yuhao's eyes. "Brother, don't worry. I'll definitely avenge you!"
Outside the Soul Fighting Zone, Xu Sanshi and Dai Youheng were teleported out one after the other. Healing Soul Masters were already waiting to step forward and treat them.
Several teachers from the Martial Soul Department looked rather grim as they watched this unfold.
Although this assessment supposedly had no rules and allowed all the students to fight indiscriminately,
they still hoped to select the seven most outstanding students in the end.
Originally, Xu Sanshi had undoubtedly been one of the best among them, yet he had been knocked out of the competition.
That alone was not a problem. Dai Youheng had defeated him fair and square, proving that he was even more outstanding than Xu Sanshi.
The problem was that afterward, Dai Huabin had taken advantage of his exhaustion to knock him out as well.
Dai Huabin had clearly just swooped in to reap the spoils.
As a result, two outstanding students had been eliminated in succession, while Dai Huabin, who was inferior to both, remained.
Vice Dean Cai Mei'er could not help saying to Xuan Zi, "Xuan Zi, although this free-for-all selection method is simple and direct, it really does make it easy for bad money to drive out good. Truly powerful students are eliminated because they exhaust themselves or are surrounded, while slightly weaker students who excel at biding their time and reaping the spoils advance instead. Should we consider changing the selection system in the future?"
Naturally, Xuan Zi knew he had chosen this method simply to save himself trouble, but being questioned to his face still left him feeling somewhat embarrassed. He bit into his chicken drumstick and said indistinctly, "I don't think there's any major problem with the method. Is Xu Sanshi outstanding? Yes! But he let his emotions rule him and fought over a girl, resulting in his defeat by Dai Youheng despite his higher rank. That's a flaw in his temperament! Is Dai Youheng outstanding? He is too! Challenging someone of a higher rank, creating his own Soul Skill-his talent is dazzling! But he focused only on the enemy before him and forgot that this was a free-for-all. He lacked awareness of the overall situation and vigilance.
"By contrast, Dai Huabin might be slightly weaker than those two individually, but he knows how to judge the situation and seize an opportunity. Isn't that another form of excellence?"
He waved a hand, settling the matter with a single stroke. "Rules are rules. Once you're eliminated, you're eliminated. Even if we change them, that'll be next year."
"Yes, Xuan Zi." Seeing that he had said his piece, Cai Mei'er did not dare say anything more. At Shrek Academy, no one except Mu En could change Xuan Zi's decision.
Lying "unconscious" in the treatment area, Dai Youheng listened to Xuan Zi's lofty pronouncements and final ruling, thinking, The plan worked.
He had been eliminated fair and square, achieving his goal. Along the way, he had also dealt
Xu Sanshi and Dai Huabin a vicious blow.
Xu Sanshi had lost his eligibility to become a reserve member, as well as the important opportunity from the original story to protect Jiang Nannan during the tournament and thereby improve their relationship. This could count as a little payback for the way that fellow targeted him day in and day out.
As for Dai Huabin, didn't he desperately want to become one of the Shrek Seven Devils? Dai Youheng had helped him clear away a major obstacle.
But was joining the Reserve Team really a good thing for Dai Huabin?
Before long, under Xuan Zi's "wise" leadership, the Shrek Reserve Team would set out to wipe out the Death Messenger... With Dai Huabin's impulsive, brainless disposition, who knew whether he might lose an arm or a leg under the "protection" of this supreme elder of the Holy Spirit Cult?
At that thought, he actually felt a little eager to see what would happen.
Before you continue