After leaving Field No. 3, Feng Xiaotian went to the registration desk to record his score. The receptionist took the match card, found the " Nameless Team " column in the register, and wrote down: First match, win, one point.
The receptionist put down her pen and looked up at Feng Xiaotian, who hadn't left.
Feng Xiaotian said, "Let's arrange two more group performances."
The receptionist nodded, asked no further questions, and glanced at the stone slab. "The second match, Class B, Number 5, is scheduled for fifteen minutes from now. Their opponent is the Black Edge Team —they're here for the first time today and have no prior match history. This is their basic information." The receptionist pushed over a piece of paper along with the match cards. The paper listed the names, ranks, and Martial Soul of the seven members of the Black Edge Team.
Feng Xiaotian took the document and glanced at it. Captain Heiya, level 33, Power Attack System, Martial Soul: black short-handled axe. Vice Captain Wu Sheng, level 33, Control System, Martial Soul: dumbbell, sonic control. The remaining five: Defense System: Tortoise Shell Shield Chen Zhong, Agility Attack System: Shadow Bat Ding Ying, Support System: white banner He Su, Food System: grain Tian Man, Power Attack System: iron spike whip Wei Feng.
Feng Xiaotian folded the paper and returned to the corridor with the battle card. The whole team waited in place. Su Ran hadn't been idle while on the sidelines; she had prepared a batch of Wind Grain Ears in advance using her Soul Skill. Now, she took out a handful from her Storage Soul Tool and handed them to the teammates who had just played to restore their Soul Power. Shi Yan took the ear of wind ear, put it in his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and although there was still sweat on his forehead from the previous match, his breathing had clearly stabilized.
"This is the information about the team we'll be facing later, called Black Edge Team. They're a new team." Feng Xiaotian flipped the paper over for everyone to see. "The average level is 33. Their setup is very comprehensive—offensive, control, defense, agile, support, a Food System, and an offensive character. Each of the seven members has a specific role; they're a typical academic team."
Feng Lingtian leaned over for a look. "The setup is pretty complete. Who should we assign to play?"
Feng Xiaotian leaned against the corridor wall and went through the opponent's Martial Soul configuration in his mind.
"Captain Heiya is a close-combat powerhouse. His short-handled axe has a short attack range, but strong close-range burst damage. Vice-Captain Wu Sheng is a sonic Control System —a dumbbell-type Martial Soul. These Soul Master usually disrupt the opponent's Soul Power circulation with silent vibrations. The range is large, but there is a cast time." Feng Xiaotian and continued, " Defense System Chen Zhong is Tortoise Shell Shield, a standard frontal shield, which should be very effective at blocking ranged attacks and frontal assaults. Agility Attack System Ding Ying is Shadow Bat. Judging from the name, he should follow a stealth approach. His speed won't be too fast, but he's difficult to defend against in blind spots."
Su Mei'er, leaning against the wall, interjected, "If we let them deploy Sonic Control with Shadow Bat, the Control System can use their first move to disrupt a wide area, the Defense System can hold the front, and the Agility Attack System can flank from behind in the chaos—our rhythm will be completely disrupted."
"Yes." Feng Xiaotian nodded. "The key lies with Wu Sheng. His sonic control is a wide-range, indiscriminate interference. The layered advance of the Defensive Counterattack Formation will give him too much time to deploy. Once he starts shaking the dumbbells, we'll all be tied down, the Tortoise Shell Shield can hold the front, and Heiya can free up his hands to reap the rewards."
"So we can't let him unleash his full potential." Feng Xiaotian glanced at everyone present. "We need to fight at the fastest pace, the first strike directly targeting Control System. So Falcon will make the first strike, targeting Wu Sheng's dumbbell—we must interrupt him before the bell rings. Fox's control will follow Falcon—if Falcon fails to interrupt, you fill in, using chains to entangle the dumbbell or his wrist, preventing Wu Sheng from using his Soul Skill. Owl will follow up to Ding Ying, and Ying will circle around to cut He Su. Qin's range amplification will be deployed in advance, and Ling's precise enhancement will target Owl, with Yue Dian providing support from behind."
Feng Lingtian clenched his fist. "I guarantee I'll complete the mission."
Feng Xiaotian glanced at him. "If this strategy works, we'll use it against teams with sonic Control System in the future."
Arena B, number five, was smaller than Arena A, number three, with only about three hundred seats and fewer spectators. After the referee introduced both teams, Black Fang, the captain of the Heiya Black Edge Team, kept his gaze fixed on Feng Lingtian —not because he recognized him, but because Feng Lingtian was positioned at the very front. In conventional team Soul Fighting formations, those at the front are usually Defense System or Power Attack System. But Feng Lingtian wasn't. He was Agility Attack System, and there was only one reason he was at the front—he was preparing to strike first.
The referee raised his flag.
"Start!"
Feng Lingtian's Soul Ring lit up, and he transformed into a straight line, cutting in from the front. His speed was so fast that someone in the stands gasped. Heiya instinctively raised his short-handled axe to block, but Feng Lingtian didn't hit him. At the last moment, his dive trajectory changed direction, grazing Heiya's shoulder and heading straight for Wu Sheng behind him.
Just as Wu Sheng's fingers touched the edge of the bell, Feng Lingtian arrived. His hand chopped precisely at Wu Sheng's wrist joint. Wu Sheng's wrist went numb, and the dumbbell almost slipped from his grasp.
But Wu Sheng didn't let go. He gritted his teeth and endured the blow, while grabbing the bell with his other hand and starting to shake it.
Just then, Su Mei'er's chains arrived. The Wind Lightning Chain flew from the side and directly wrapped around the dumbbell itself. The chains tightened, and arcs of lightning exploded on the surface of the bell. The dumbbell was tightly bound by the chains and could not be shaken.
But Wu Sheng wasn't just limited to bells. He opened his mouth directly— his Second Soul Skill —emitting a silent wave.
After Feng Lingtian struck, he was about to turn towards Chen Zhong, already half a body length away from Wu Sheng.
"Owl!" Feng Lingtian shouted from the air.
Lu Hanxiao was chasing Shadow Bat Ding Ying when he heard the code name. Bai Yu's bell had already landed on his flight path the moment he heard it—precision enhancement greatly increased his speed. He almost turned a corner, swept past Ding Ying, and rushed straight at Wu Sheng. His Second Soul Ring lit up, and several ice crystal feathers shot out into the air.
The sound waves had barely escaped Wu Sheng's throat and hadn't even had a chance to spread when the ice crystal feather pressed against it. The cold air rushed down his throat, freezing the sound waves inside.
From the Feng Lingtian made his move to the moment Wu Sheng was frozen, the entire process took less than five seconds.
Heiya glanced up at his teammates— Wu Sheng had an ice crystal feather pressed against his throat, Chen Zhong was clutching his wrist and retreating to the edge of the field, and Ding Ying, having been shaken off by Lu Hanxiao's change of direction, hadn't found a new angle to attack. Three out of seven positions had been breached, and their formation was crumbling.
"We concede." Heiya dejectedly put down his axe.
The referee blows the whistle. " Nameless Team wins!"
From start to finish, it took less than ten seconds. The spectators in the stands looked at each other in disbelief—they hadn't even seen what happened before the fight was over.
Everyone on the field was walking off, but Bai Yu stood still. She lowered her wrist, and the Wind Chime swayed gently on her wrist, making two soft tinkling sounds.
Bai Yu felt something was strange. When Lu Hanxiao changed his target at the last minute, her ringtone was faster than Lu Hanxiao's movements. She could feel it; it wasn't that she reacted quickly, but that she had anticipated which way Lu Hanxiao was going to turn. She had felt this way before, but never as strongly as today.
Bai Yu opened her mouth, wanting to say something to Ye Qingyu, but didn't know what to say. In the end, she just stroked the Wind Chime on her wrist again and stopped thinking about it.
When Feng Lingtian walked off the court, he deliberately turned back to look at Bai Yu. Just now on the court— Wu Sheng's dumbbell was locked, and the sound wave from his mouth was about to be released; Lu Hanxiao changed direction at the last minute—among so many things that happened at the same time, the first person to make the correct judgment was not him, not Su Mei'er, but Bai Yu.
Bai Yu's bell rang faster than Lu Hanxiao else's reaction. Feng Lingtian thought to himself: I'll ask Bai Yu how she did it when I get back.
In the uppermost corner of the stands, two people dressed in dark cloaks kept their eyes following the masked group.
"Did you see clearly?" The voice of the person on the left was deeper, his cloak brim pulled low, obscuring most of his face.
"Three agile attackers simultaneously, the timing of the Control System combo is impeccable." The person on the right glanced at his companion, "Same tactic as the last group."
"But their Martial Soul have completely changed." The person on the left paused, his gaze falling on the sidelines— Feng Xiaotian was walking towards the registration desk, seemingly heading to line up for his third match. "They still have one more match today."
"No rush. Let's observe further."