Taotie Swallows the Heavens

Once all her teammates had returned to her side, Qian Xixi immediately unleashed her soul skill.

Qian Xixi: "Black Tortoise Cage!"

Seeing the Players hide inside the Turtle Shell, Ma Xiaotao immediately said, "They must be preparing another devastating move in there. Everyone, attack with everything you've got! We have to shatter this Turtle Shell."

"Yes, Captain!"

With that, Ma Xiaotao took the lead. "Fifth soul skill: Phoenix Cloud-Piercing Strike!"

It was an extremely powerful single-target attack skill. A crimson pillar of light slammed straight into the Turtle Shell, leaving a crack across it.

At the sight, a smile appeared on Ma Xiaotao's face.

"Everyone, attack the spot I just hit. Concentrate all your attacks on one point."

Ma Xiaotao's teammates immediately understood.

"Soul-Chasing Sword: Annihilation!"

"Sixth soul skill: White Tiger Annihilation Kill!"

Gongyang Mo, Ling Luocheng, and Yao Haoxuan had no suitable power-attack soul skills, but they sent normal attacks at it as well.

Crack! Breaking through a surface at a single point truly was effective. Once one spot on the Turtle Shell broke, its overall defense would weaken greatly.

"Good, keep going! I want to leave them absolutely no chance of turning this around."

In Shrek Academy's section of the spectator stands, Bei Bei and the others all thought this match was in the bag, but Huo Yuhao had a bad feeling.

"Yuhao, what's wrong? Is it because you haven't had a chance to show what you can do in the tournament?

"It's all right. The next Soul Master Tournament will be our stage. You'll definitely have a chance to shine then."

Bei Bei patted Huo Yuhao on the shoulder, looking encouraging.

"No, eldest senior brother. I just don't think it's that simple. If they really had some devastating weapon ready, shouldn't they have started preparing it from the beginning of the match? Just like their previous approach.

"Suddenly holing up in a shell halfway through the match just feels wrong."

"Oh, you're overthinking it. The way I see it, they realized they couldn't win, so they decided to hole up and make one last desperate struggle.

"But their Turtle Shell still isn't hard enough to withstand our seniors' attacks."

Xu Sanshi looked as though he had seen through everything, and most of the spectators shared his view.

But what happened the very next second slapped Xu Sanshi squarely in the face.

Spirit Hall Eternal: "@Qian Xixi, ready. They've all gathered over there. You can start."

Qian Xixi: "Understood!"

Qian Xixi abruptly withdrew the Turtle Shell and instantly activated her Twin Martial Soul Fusion Skill.

Qian Xixi: "Taotie Swallows the Heavens!"

An enormous pale-gold phantom of a taotie appeared directly behind Qian Xixi.

The taotie phantom opened its blood-basin maw and sucked in a mighty breath. All the soul power around Qian Xixi-whether in people's bodies, in the air, or stored in soul tools-was completely drained in an instant.

With her soul power drained in an instant, Ma Xiaotao fell straight out of the sky.

The other members of Shrek Academy's team also collapsed to the ground, unable to adjust to the sudden loss of their soul power.

The Players were actually in the same situation. Their mana bars had been drained too, but an empty mana bar wasn't enough to leave them like the Shrek Academy group.

Once Qian Xixi's Taotie Swallows the Heavens ended, the Players immediately used mana potions to restore their mana.

When I Am an Angel's mana bar had recovered enough to use her Twin Martial Soul Fusion Skill, she flew into the air again.

I Am an Angel: "Solar Judgment!"

She summoned a huge, blazing fireball and sent it crashing straight toward the members of Shrek Academy on the ground, their soul power drained dry.

None of the spectators had expected the reversal to come so swiftly.

On the field, Ma Xiaotao watched the enormous fireball descend rapidly, her heart filled with bitterness and helplessness.

At that moment, Xuan Zi, showing no sense of fair play, rushed straight onto the platform and blocked Solar Judgment for the Shrek Academy group.

This was an obvious violation of the rules. Even if someone had to intervene, it wasn't Xuan Zi's place. That should have been Heavenly Fiend Douluo, the referee.

"Senior Xuan Zi, interfering in the match like this is against the rules, isn't it?"

Heavenly Fiend Douluo stepped forward to challenge him, but Xuan Zi looked utterly unconcerned.

"We at Shrek Academy have lost the team battle, but I can't stand by and watch my own students get hurt. What's wrong with acting in an emergency? Or would you like to exchange a few pointers with me?"

Xuan Zi simply revealed his soul rings. He was blatantly relying on his strength to bully others, yet there was nothing anyone could do about him.

The Douluo Continent had developed for tens of thousands of years, but one thing never changed: this was a world where strength reigned supreme.

Meanwhile, the Players' team voice chat had long since burst into chatter.

Invincible Tyrannosaurus Warrior: "That's just shameless. Shameless's mother opened the door for Shameless-shamelessness has come all the way home."

Spirit Hall Eternal: "Hasn't Shrek Academy always been like this? What's so surprising? If that attack had landed in full, Shrek Academy wouldn't even have been able to compete in the individual matches or the two-two-three rounds afterward."

Primordial One: "It was the same in the original novel. Shrek Academy has held the Soul Master Tournament championship for so many years that it's become an obsession. As long as they can keep that honor going, there's nothing Shrek Academy won't dare to do."

Wang Zhongwang: "I remember there being a scene in either the first or second Soul Master Tournament where Huo Yuhao openly helped his teammates cheat."

I Am an Angel: "When we were getting along with the people from Shrek Academy before, I thought we'd misunderstood them, and they weren't as awful as the book made them out to be. Now it looks like they just hadn't reached the moment to show it."

Qian Xixi: "This is the Star Luo Empire's home turf, after all. They can't let Shrek Academy do whatever it pleases. Recovering the soul power my Taotie Swallows the Heavens drained won't be that easy. They don't have our mana potions."

Agile Dog in the Mountains: "Wait, you mean that besides keeping them from getting hurt, Xuan Zi is also doing this to stall for time so they can recover their soul power!?"

Ten-Year Veteran: "What else did you think?"

Agile Dog in the Mountains: "Are the NPCs in this game that smart? Are we really playing a game, rather than having transmigrated?"

Wang Zhongwang: "Wouldn't transmigrating be perfect? There's nothing much worth missing in the real world anyway."

I Am an Angel: "You don't have to be so pessimistic. Find a girlfriend and give yourself a sense of belonging."

Wang Zhongwang: "My ex-girlfriend screwed me over so badly that I nearly lost everything. That's why I got so depressed and threw myself into gaming."

I Am an Angel: "..."

At this point, Star Luo Emperor Xu Jiawei finally stepped forward, interrupting Xuan Zi's time-wasting argument.

"Since the team battle has already been decided, both teams should leave the field and prepare for the next individual match."

With even the Star Luo Emperor speaking up, Xuan Zi couldn't take things too far. He took the opportunity to lead Ma Xiaotao and the others off the field.

Zhou Yi, Huo Yuhao, and the other reserve team members also hurried forward to ask how they were doing.