In the battle against the Zhengtian Academy, while others were focused on Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen, Huo Yuhao was actually paying attention to Xu Zhengyang at the back of the group.
As Control Department Soul Master, Xu Zhengyang always stayed at the back of the team, using his keen combat sense to command the entire team. At the same time, he used Paralysis Ray, Ice Ray, and other techniques to effectively control the enemy. The key to all of this was that Xu Zhengyang could always find the opponent's weakness at the first moment and predict the opponent's actions.
Compared to other matches, the battle against the Zhengtian Academy was the first time Xu Zhengyang used the Tiger-Head Zhan Gold Spear. With just one spear thrust, he blocked Tang Xiaolei's ranged attack and also blocked Shangguan Can Can's Soul-Capturing Bell mental Soul Skill attack.
Others might not be able to see Shangguan Can's mental attack, but Huo Yuhao could clearly feel it. Shangguan Can used the Soul-Capturing Bell's Soul Skill: Soul Pierce. Unfortunately, this move backfired after encountering Xu Zhengyang, and he himself collapsed, which was simply unbelievable.
Huo Yuhao asked, " Brother Sky Dream, what's going on? Why is it that after Xu Zhengyang was mentally attacked, it was Shangguan Can?"
A voice instantly echoed in Huo Yuhao's mind, "There's nothing strange about it. This kind of mental attack is indeed difficult to defend against and extremely powerful, but it also has a drawback: if the opponent's mental strength is many times stronger than yours, the mental attack is prone to backlash."
"Just like you, you're only a Grand Soul Master right now. If you use mental attacks to attack Soul Emperor or even Soul Sage, the result will be the same as Shangguan Can's."
"Of course, you are different from Shangguan Can. Your Martial Soul is your eyes, which are also your own head. Your mental resilience will be stronger than others, and you also have my protection, so the backlash effect will be relatively weaker."
This voice was the Skydream Iceworm in Huo Yuhao's mind, the ability he gained when Huo Yuhao First Soul Ring. Huo Yuhao's First Soul Ring was Million-Year Soul Ring, just like in the original story. However, to outsiders, it was just an ordinary white one, and no one would have thought that it would be a platinum Soul Ring.
However, although Huo Yuhao possessed the Soul Ring of the Skydream Iceworm, he did not obtain the third Martial Soul, Electrolux, the Holy Necromancer, as in the original story. Last time, when he was ambushed by Evil Soul Master, he used the Ice Empress to possess his body at the last moment and used the Ice Empress to control his body to escape the clutches of the Evil Soul Master. However, the Ice Empress was too strong, so Huo Yuhao himself suffered some mental trauma and only gradually recovered after so many matches.
If it weren't for the help of Ice Empress and Skydream Iceworm, the seven Shrek Academy members would not have been able to escape unscathed when they encountered the Death Messenger.
Huo Yuhao became even more confused by Skydream Iceworm's explanation.
" Brother Sky Dream, this isn't right. This Xu Zhengyang doesn't have an intelligent Beast Martial Soul like Ma Rulong, nor does he have Body Martial Soul like me, and he doesn't have the Tang Sect Secret Arts, the Purple Demon Eye. How can his mental power be so strong? What's going on with him?"
Skydream Iceworm couldn't help but complain, " Yuhao, you've observed Xu Zhengyang several times already, don't you know anything about him? His Martial Soul is just the long spear on his back, it's not a Body Martial Soul at all."
As for why his mental strength is so strong, I estimate that he should have a Head Soul Bone, and the quality of this Head Soul Bone is not low, at least close to the ten-thousand-year level.
Huo Yuhao was even more puzzled upon hearing this. "How is this possible? I've never seen a Soul Master condense their Martial Soul for such a long time. That would consume a lot of Soul Power. Xu Zhengyang is only Soul Ancestor now. What exactly is he trying to do?"
Skydream Iceworm said, "I don't know about that. Perhaps it's a unique method of the Sun Moon Empire. I feel that there's something wrong with the spear in Xu Zhengyang's hand. It looks like it's been forged, and there are even traces of casting on its surface."
"Moreover, I sensed a very unpleasant aura emanating from that spear, as if it were inherently incompatible with my ice attribute. I even sensed a strange aura of death. Yuhao, you'd better stay away from Xu Zhengyang in the future. I have a feeling that he's also secretly observing you."
Huo Yuhao's expression changed. "A strange aura of death? Could it be related to those Evil Soul Master in the Ming Dou Mountain Range?"
Skydream Iceworm sighed, "I don't know either, but his spear seems to be shrouded in a dark energy. This dark energy is extremely evil, as if it wants to corrupt his spear. If a normal person had this situation, they would probably either go mad or fall into depravity, but Xu Zhengyang doesn't seem to have any problems. This is completely illogical."
"Furthermore, I tried to sense the inside of Xu Zhengyang's spear, but an extremely hot aura emanated from within, completely blocking my probe. This is the first time I've encountered such a phenomenon. This Xu Zhengyang is no ordinary person."
"Especially since he had an inexplicable aura about him, as if he were a long spear, even I almost mistook it for an ordinary melee Soul Tool."
Huo Yuhao pondered, "Ice attribute is incompatible with him, he has strange dark energy, a special method of condensing and using his Martial Soul, powerful mental strength, and he also comes from the Sun Moon Empire. No matter how you look at it, he will probably be a formidable enemy in the future."
Xu Zhengyang was unaware that Huo Yuhao was using his mental power to probe him, nor did he know about the conversation between Huo Yuhao and Skydream Iceworm. Instead, he continued with his battle planning.
The Sun Moon Team entered the semifinals without much effort, demonstrating some of their strength, but they also showed some hidden abilities. At least in the eyes of outsiders, the Sun Moon Team is now extremely powerful, crushing any other team.
The teams that made it to the semifinals are all formidable: Shrek Team, Star Luo Royal Academy Team, Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy Team, and Heaven Soul Empire Di'ao Academy. These are basically the favorites to win the championship in recent years, and they have made it to the quarterfinals or even the semifinals in each edition.
After entering the semifinals, all teams were re-drawn, and two teams competed in a knockout tournament. The knockout tournament consisted of three matches: a team battle, a 2-2-3 strategy battle, and an individual battle. All three matches were best-of-three and were completed in one day, unlike the previous matches which had rest periods.
As the semi-finals began, this time it was actually presided over by Emperor Xu Jiawei of the Star Luo Empire, with Heavenly Fiend Douluo serving as the referee, which shows how much importance the Star Luo Empire attaches to this competition.
After Xu Jiawei gave a generous introduction, he announced the start of the semi-finals. The captains of the four teams stepped forward to draw lots. The captain of the Shrek Team was Ma Xiaotao, the Di'ao Team was a very strong-looking young man, and the Sun Moon Team was Ma Rulong.
To everyone's surprise, when the Star Luo Royal Academy Team stepped forward to draw lots, it turned out to be a woman in palace attire, who was none other than Princess Jiujiu, whom they had seen at the auction.
However, when the draw results came out, Xu Zhengyang's expression changed slightly, because this draw was different from the original story. This time, it was Shrek Team vs. Di'ao Team, Sun Moon Team vs. Star Luo Royal Academy Team, and Shrek Team went first.
Shrek's first match was a team battle, with Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, Ling Luochеn, Xu Sanshi, Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, He Caitou participating. It can be said that they fielded their strongest lineup in the first match. Now that they have reached the semi-finals, every match is crucial, and no team can hide their strength anymore, especially when the opponent is very strong.
The Di'ao Team also fielded its strongest lineup, with captain Jiang Peng, a level 62 Power Attack System Soul Emperor, whose Martial Soul is the Heaven-Shaking Axe, an extremely powerful and domineering Tool Martial Soul. Apart from Jiang Peng, all the other members are Soul King, and their Martial Soul are all very good, making their strength very well-balanced.
From the very beginning, the Shrek Team dominated the battle, with Dai Yueheng taking the lead and holding his own against the opposing captain Jiang Peng.
Although Jiang Pengpeng is powerful, he is still somewhat inferior to Dai Yueheng in terms of combat experience, practical skills, and Soul Skill.
With Jiang Pengpeng tied down, the Di'ao Team's formation was instantly disrupted, not to mention the even stronger Ma Xiaotao.
Ma Xiaotao transformed into a giant Fire Phoenix, moving freely among the Di'ao Team with her flying ability and powerful combat strength. Even though the Di'ao Team sent out three Soul King and even though they had prepared Soul Tool with limiting effects in advance, they were still defeated by Ma Xiaotao alone.
Xu Sanshi used Xuanming Displacement again, directly replacing the opposing Control Department Soul Master. Even though he was surrounded by three people, he still managed to hold on.
He Caitou used the Soul Tool Turret Tactics to launch long-range attacks across the entire arena, coordinating with others to keep the Di'ao Team busy.
As for Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, the two of them were always at the back of the group. They seemed to be doing nothing, but in reality, Huo Yuhao used Spiritual Sharing to let everyone know the whole battle situation, making the cooperation between everyone closer and without any loopholes.
Ultimately, thanks to the outstanding performances of Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng, the Shrek Team defeated the Di'ao Team, securing victory in the team battle.
In the individual battles that followed, the Shrek team performed even better. With just Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng appearing, they defeated all seven opponents, and even Jiang Peng was easily defeated by Ma Xiaotao.
With this victory, the Shrek Team defeated the Di'ao Team in two consecutive matches, becoming the first team to advance to the finals.
It was in this battle that all the teams realized the strength of the Shrek Team. The Shrek Team had two Soul Emperor, the most of any team. Ma Xiaotao was even recognized as the strongest in this Soul Master Tournament, and her popularity even overshadowed Huo Yuhao, who was at his peak in the first battle.
Of course, this was mainly because after the first battle at Shrek, Huo Yuhao was stunned by Ma Rufeng's aura Titled Douluo. After that, although Huo Yuhao performed well, he did not show any Soul Emperor level strength, let alone the strength of Soul Emperor with six Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.
It is precisely because of this that Huo Yuhao's performance was relatively mediocre after Ling Luochеn recovered, and he did not attract much attention from his opponents. To this day, Huo Yuhao's strength remains a mystery.