The morning sun slanted across the arena in the Pope's Palace; yesterday's cracks remained, but a new battle was about to begin.
Feng Xiaotian stood at the front, his arms hanging at his sides, a clean bandage wrapped around his thumb. Behind him, six people lined up in order: Feng Lingtian, Su Mei'er, Jiang Lin, Cheng Luo, and Zhong Yue.
And Su Ran.
A low murmur arose from the audience.
Su Ran's name never appeared on the roster for the qualifiers and the qualifying rounds; everyone assumed he was just a substitute who came to watch the games with the team.
At this moment, Su Ran stood on the final stage, her expression calm and showing no signs of tension.
On the Spirit Hall's side, Xie Yue's gaze lingered on Su Ran for a moment.
Last night I spent half the night studying Lu Qing's Wind Scythe Path, only to find that the finalists included a Food System Soul Master I'd never seen before.
The faint smile on Xie Yue's lips faded slightly before returning to normal.
Hu Liena noticed her brother's momentary pause, glanced at him sideways, but didn't ask any further questions.
Su Ran walked to the middle of his teammates, the Wind Grain rustling in his palm, the ears of grain full. He activated his Soul Power, condensing several pieces of light blue grain cake, with faint wind patterns flowing on the surface, and calmly distributed them to his six teammates.
Feng Xiaotian took a piece and took a bite. His Soul Power flowed more smoothly, and his limbs felt lighter.
Su Mei'er took the two pieces and handed one to Feng Lingtian, while Jiang Lin also took one.
Without saying anything more, the group ate the grain cakes and then went to their respective places.
The referee stepped to the center of the ring, glanced to the left and right, and raised his arm. "Boys in position—the seven-on-seven team battle, the final match, is now beginning!"
The moment the words fell, both of them simultaneously released their Martial Soul.
Feng Xiaotian's Gale Twin-Headed Wolf Soul Power exploded, Su Mei'er's Nine-Tailed Fox roared and spread its wings, and Feng Lingtian's Peregrine Falcon spread its wings.
Jiang Lin's Spirit Eyes lit up, Cheng Luo 'Wind-Binding Vine spread out from the ground, and Zhong Yue's Tortoise Shell Shield condensed in front of him.
Su Ran stood at the end of the line and slowly released his Food-type Martial Soul, a soft white light enveloping his palm.
All the Soul Ring lit up at once— the Soul Ring sequences of the six Soul King on the Godwind Academy's side were clearly dazzling, and even with Su Ran's four Soul Ring (two yellow, one purple, and one black), they still made people feel breathless when they stood together.
On the Spirit Hall's side, Xie Yue, Hu Liena, and Yan simultaneously revealed five Soul Ring, with Xie Yue standing in the middle, his Moon Blade twirling between his fingers.
Xie Yue did not wait.
The Spirit Hall's formation changed the instant the battle began.
Xie Yue took a step forward, and Hu Liena simultaneously took half a step back; the two barely exchanged a word.
Xie Yue raised his right hand, revealing the Moon Blade. Hu Liena's fox Martial Soul emerged from behind her, and the two Soul Power collided and merged like two incompatible lines.
Crimson mist exploded from beneath their feet, instantly covering the arena. This was Xie Yue and Hu Liena's Martial Soul Fusion Skill – Demon Charm.
The moment the Martial Soul Fusion Skill was released, the entire arena was shrouded in thick red mist. Godwind Academy's vision was taken away, his voice became blurred, and even the flow of his Soul Power became somewhat sluggish.
Su Ran felt something envelop him, making him feel uncomfortable all over, and even his breathing became slightly pungent. He subconsciously took a step back, but then gritted his teeth and steadied himself.
Feng Xiaotian also felt the oppressive force. His vision was swallowed by the red mist, and he couldn't see anyone an arm's length away; only the oppressive, gloomy feeling grew heavier and heavier. He immediately shouted, "Be careful!"
From the depths of the crimson mist, Xie Yue's voice faintly drifted out, tinged with a lazy certainty. "Six Soul King, but unfortunately, you can't do anything in this mist."
Apart from Yan, the other four members of the Spirit Hall team quickly passed through the fog and surrounded Godwind Academy.
They had practiced their formation under the Demon Charm many times before, and could accurately identify the positions of their teammates after entering the fog, while the Godwind Academy members could see nothing.
But Xie Yue didn't know was that someone on the Godwind Academy's side could see it.
Jiang Lin's Spirit Eyes were already operating at full power the instant the red mist spread. His pupils turned a clear, pale silver, and the red mist became virtually invisible in his vision.
He could clearly see the positions, movement trajectories, and distances between the five members of the Spirit Hall.
He didn't speak, but projected the images captured by his Spirit Eyes directly into the mental perceptions of his other teammates.
A clear image suddenly flashed into Feng Xiaotian's mind: three enemies flanking from the left, two advancing from the right, Xie Yue and Hu Liena standing in the center of the misty eye maintaining the stability of the Demon Charm, and Yan poised to strike from the front.
Feng Xiaotian saw it.
The other teammates saw it too.
But they didn't move.
Feng Xiaotian spun around in the fog, as if he were blinded, and unleashed a wind blade at an empty space. Su Mei'er also threw out a flame from her spot, which struck the open ground and blasted up a pile of rubble.
Instead of diving down high in the sky, Feng Lingtian pulled up a little further, pretending to be "disoriented". Zhong Yue's sense of direction was usually quite good, but at this moment he also deliberately looked around, pretending to be anxious about the surrounding movements.
Jiang Lin wasn't naturally good at acting, so he simply kept a straight face, but he still took a few extra steps, making the people from the Spirit Hall think he was trying to locate the enemy.
Seeing this, the Spirit Hall members in the fog moved even faster. They felt that Godwind Academy had been completely suppressed by Demon Charm, and now was the best time to reap the rewards.
Four people simultaneously pressed towards the abdomen of the Godwind Academy formation from two directions, their eyes filled with enemies whose vision had been lost, their movements chaotic, and their attacks directionless.
This was the moment Godwind Academy had been waiting for.
Su Mei'er's tail suddenly lit up.
The tip of the Ultimate Fire ignited with dazzling golden flames, while the tip of the Ultimate Ice condensed into white frost.
Without making any prior movements, she released both extreme forces simultaneously.
Two beams of light, one golden and one white, exploded from Su Mei'er's body, intersecting and merging in mid-air. The shockwave from the clash of ice and fire spread outwards with a deafening roar, and the thick red mist exploded from the center outwards like torn silk.
The intense interplay of ice and fire caused the moisture in the air to instantly vaporize and condense into frost, making the arena floor suddenly hot and then rapidly cold.
The rock strata cracked under extreme temperature differences, and heat waves and cold tides, accompanied by ear-piercing howls, tore apart the entire foggy area.
The Demon Charm was forcibly dispelled.
Xie Yue and Hu Liena were both thrown back three steps by the backlash, their faces turning pale for a moment. But the four members of the Spirit Hall who were charging into the fray fared even worse.
The Soul Ancestor standing at the very front was about to unleash his Soul Skill when he was hit head-on by the Ice and Fire Shockwave. He was sent flying as if he had been hit by an invisible wall, tumbling twice before crashing onto the edge of the arena. Fortunately, he did not go out of bounds.
The second to be eliminated was a support-type Soul Master with Martial Soul —he didn't even have time to activate any amplification before being blasted off the arena by the shockwave of the Ice and Fire Impact. The light of the compass flashed briefly in mid-air before going out.
The third Soul Ancestor was severely injured by the ice and fire impact and fell to the ground. Before he could get up, Feng Lingtian had already swooped down from the sky and swept him off the arena with a claw.
The fourth Soul Ancestor struggled to steady himself, but his feet were precisely entangled by Cheng Luo's Wind-Binding Vine. With a pull and a flick of the vine, he was thrown off the edge of the arena.
From the moment the red mist was torn apart to the elimination of three members of the Spirit Hall team, only a few breaths passed.
When Xie Yue finally stood firm, only Hu Liena, Yan, and the Soul Ancestor who had luckily survived were left by his side. The Spirit Hall's seven-person formation had already lost more than half of its members in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn at the start of the game.
Looking at the clear eyes and orderly formation of the entire Godwind Academy team opposite him, Xie Yue finally realized belatedly that their disoriented appearance in the fog earlier was all an act.
Hu Liena bit her lower lip and remained silent, but her fingers gripping the Martial Soul were already white with tension. Yan's cold smile vanished, replaced by an incredulous, mocked anger.
Feng Xiaotian stepped out from the group, his hand under the bandage clenching and unclenching, his gaze calmly falling on Xie Yue.
Xie Yue looked at him, her voice extremely low. "You... were not affected at all?"
Feng Xiaotian did not answer. He merely tilted his head slightly and glanced at Su Ran beside him.
Su Ran's Wind Grain swayed again, condensing into several more grain cakes. She handed one to the person behind her, then took a piece and ate it slowly.
Xie Yue glanced at the grain cake a few times, then looked back at Feng Xiaotian's face.
"A good plan," Xie Yue said, his tone no longer languid. "But you've also expended energy, not to mention you're carrying a Food System Soul Master. It won't be easy for you to defeat the three of us."
Feng Xiaotian didn't speak, but simply took a step forward.
Behind them, Godwind Academy's formation pressed forward in unison.
A morning breeze blew across the center of the arena, stirring up a pile of broken stone chips.
Xie Yue gripped the Moon Blade tightly in his other hand. He knew that a tough battle was about to begin.