The captain of the Qinglang Academy Team was caught completely off guard. Although it did not put him out of the fight outright, it left him in a sorry state.
In Ten-Year Veteran's eyes, the captain's health bar had dropped by a full third.
Ten-Year Veteran immediately attacked again. His job was to keep this captain occupied or take him down solo.
He did not need to worry about the others. The defenses of Qian Xixi's Black Tortoise Cage were reliable.
Ten-Year Veteran: "Third soul skill: Overlord Carries the Cauldron!"
After Ten-Year Veteran used Overlord Carries the Cauldron, his opponent began struggling to hold him off and could only call his teammates over to help.
Meanwhile, Qian Xixi also summoned his Taotie Divine Bull martial soul, unleashed Fearless Charge, and rammed straight into his opponent.
There was no technique to this move, just sheer force. His opponent was sent flying and slammed heavily onto the arena, his health bar instantly dropping by half.
One member of Qinglang Academy also got past Ten-Year Veteran and Qian Xixi, but his attacks landed on the defenses of the Black Tortoise Cage without having the slightest effect.
Under this protection, the other players quietly charged their Super-Concentrated Soul Guidance Cannons, even finding time to chat in the team voice channel.
Wang Zhongwang: "Charging this Super-Concentrated Soul Guidance Cannon drains health as well as mana! Good thing we stocked up on plenty of mana and health potions."
Primordial One: "I remember that guy called He Caitou in the original story passed out after using the Super-Concentrated Soul Guidance Cannon. That means it puts enormous strain on the body. Translated into game terms, wouldn't that mean draining health?"
Spirit Hall Eternal: "Now that you mention it, that really is the case. Without health and mana potions, there's no way we could use this thing with our base health and mana."
I Am an Angel: "@Qian Xixi, take down your barrier. Mine's charged."
Qian Xixi: "Okay!"
Qian Xixi withdrew the barrier, and I Am an Angel immediately fired a cannon blast.
"Defensive formation! We have to block it!"
The captain of the Qinglang Academy Team shouted urgently. Everyone on the team gathered together and did their utmost to withstand the power of the Super-Concentrated Soul Guidance Cannon.
Yet while they were blocking I Am an Angel's shot, Wang Zhongwang, Primordial One, Agile Dog in the Mountains, and Spirit Hall Eternal finished charging theirs in quick succession.
Another four Super-Concentrated Soul Guidance Cannon blasts thundered toward them. At that moment, everyone on the Qinglang Academy Team had only one thought: ...they were dead.
Fortunately, Heavenly Fiend Douluo intervened and saved the members of the Qinglang Academy Team.
The announcer then declared the New Tang Sect Academy Team victorious.
Naturally, the players were delighted to have won another match.
Over at Shrek Academy, however, He Caitou wore an expression of utter disbelief.
Seeing his expression, Bei Bei asked, "What's wrong?"
"Impossible! This is impossible! Even I would at least collapse to the ground after using a Super-Concentrated Soul Guidance Cannon. More likely, I'd pass out on the spot.
"There's absolutely no way I could be bouncing around like them as though nothing had happened. Are they really using Super-Concentrated Soul Guidance Cannons?"
He Caitou was not the only one with these doubts. The soul engineers of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy had the same questions.
Meng Hongchen asked her older brother, Xiao Hongchen, "Brother, could they have invented a Super-Concentrated Soul Guidance Cannon with no side effects?"
"I'm not sure. Judging by their appearance, the ones they're holding are ordinary Super-Concentrated Soul Guidance Cannons, and their power is about the same too.
"If they were specially made Super-Concentrated Soul Guidance Cannons with no side effects, they should be less powerful than ordinary ones."
"Then what exactly is going on?"
These soul engineers could rack their brains to pieces and still never figure it out.
The players' condition was locked. As long as they were not afflicted with a status effect, they could still bounce around even with only one health point remaining.
Just then, a game announcement also rang out in the players' voice channel.
[Congratulations to the players on winning their first round-robin match. Participating players' soul ring ages increase by 500 years. Spectating players' soul ring ages increase by 100 years. Keep up the good work.]
Wang Zhongwang: "Great! More rewards! If we keep fighting like this, we might even win the championship."
Primordial One: "It won't be that easy. Qian Xixi's defenses probably can't withstand a six-ring Soul Emperor's all-out attack."
Qian Xixi: "I can block a Soul King, but I really can't hold off a Soul Emperor for long."
Ten-Year Veteran: "Shrek Academy and the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy are the only threats to us in team battles. I'm more worried about the match format."
Spirit Hall Eternal: "Yeah, if we draw an individual match, we'll be in trouble. We can't exactly take C4 and blow ourselves up along with our opponents, can we?"
I Am an Angel: "C4 would probably be classified as a stationary soul guidance weapon, so we wouldn't be able to use it."
Wang Zhongwang: "Then we can only count on luck. Hopefully, we'll draw team battles every time."
Qian Xixi: "@Ten-Year Veteran, @I Am an Angel, if we really do draw an individual match, the three of us will have to shoulder the load."
Ten-Year Veteran: "Let's do what we can!"
Behind the scenes, Tang Yi chuckled. "Hehe, don't worry. You won't draw any individual matches."
After this battle, the New Tang Sect Academy Team also came to the attention of several favorites for the championship.
However, the regular members of the Shrek Academy team, led by Ma Xiaotao, still did not think much of the New Tang Sect Academy Team.
The Super-Concentrated Soul Guidance Cannons were indeed powerful enough to threaten a Soul Emperor like Ma Xiaotao, but she also had absolute confidence in her own strength. She could break that turtle shell before the Super-Concentrated Soul Guidance Cannons finished charging and stop them from charging.
Shrek Academy's opponent in its first round-robin match was Yunluo Academy. In the original story, Xu Sanshi had ended the battle all by himself.
With the regular team members competing now, it was naturally even easier.
Most people still felt that the championship of this Soul Master Tournament belonged to none other than Shrek Academy.
As for Huo Yuhao, the protagonist who should originally have shone brilliantly, no one paid him any attention now.
Behind the scenes, Tang Yi was thinking, With Ma Xiaotao's generation of the Shrek Seven Devils at full strength, a two-ring Soul Master like Huo Yuhao basically has very few chances to take the stage.
This way, this protagonist's early moments of glory will be completely buried.
Still, there's another opportunity in Star Luo City that originally belonged to Huo Yuhao: the Ice Jade Scorpion soul bone. Its soul bone skill is Ice Explosion.
I can't let him get it. I'll issue the players a quest in a moment and see what they can come up with.
The players, who were still celebrating their victory, heard a game announcement.
[Temporary quest issued: Treasure in the Auction House] [Quest item: Ice Jade Scorpion soul bone] [Quest requirement: Obtain the quest item before the quest timer expires] [Quest rewards: One Martial Soul Slot Card, one Martial Soul Awakening Card, one Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Bone]
Seeing these generous quest rewards, the players immediately grew excited.
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