Nine Stars Team

Moro, convinced he had already figured out his opponents' true level, swiftly unleashed his First and Second Spirit Skills. His body rapidly expanded, and his speed actually increased by several degrees as he charged headlong into the Nine Stars Team's formation, ready to display his might and slaughter everyone in his path.

But at that moment, Miyi Mei's purple thousand-year spirit ring lit up in the rear.

Deprivation!

Purple light instantly fell upon Moro. His expression changed drastically as he felt the enhancement effects granted by his team's support spirit master vanish.

At that moment, Zilong, who had originally been defeated and forced back, unexpectedly charged forward again. The two exchanged another face-to-face blow.

This time, Zilong did not retreat in defeat as he had before. Instead, Moro panicked after losing his enhancement and struck hastily, allowing Zilong to knock him back three steps with a punch.

I've been tricked!

Having fought in the Soul Arena for so many years, Moro immediately understood that Zilong's easy defeat earlier had been intended to make him lower his guard and lure him deeper in.

"Support me! Now!"

Moro let out a roar and quickly retreated, intending to regroup with his teammates.

"Second Spirit Skill, Phoenix Fire Line!"

Yi Hui's Second Spirit Skill was the same as Ma Hongjun's from the Shrek Seven Devils. Without the influence of evil fire, Yi Hui's Fire Phoenix Martial Soul possessed true Ultimate Fire, and the flames he spewed were several degrees stronger than Ma Hongjun's.

Blazing flames formed an impassable wall of fire, separating Moro from his teammates.

Seeing this, a triumphant smile appeared at the corner of Xiao Yu's lips. Just as the Moro Team could obtain information on the Nine Stars Team, the Nine Stars Team could also view the Moro Team's roster information. Based on that intelligence, Xiao Yu had concluded that Captain Moro was the strongest member of the team and its spiritual pillar. As long as Moro was defeated, the Moro Team would collapse without needing to be attacked.

"Twenty seconds. Take down Moro!"

Although Yi Hui's flames were powerful, they could not burn forever. They had to gather the entire team's strength and defeat Moro before his teammates broke through the wall of fire.

"Third Spirit Skill, Lightning Shackles!"

As the control-type spirit master overseeing the entire battlefield, Eden was the first to act. His Third Spirit Skill was unleashed, and lightning imbued with a paralyzing effect firmly bound Moro.

"Third Spirit Skill, Rising Dragon Overlord!"

Zilong also attacked with all his strength. A wave of light transformed into a soaring azure dragon and shot forth with a howl.

Seeing this, Moro also used his strongest Third Spirit Skill. The golden lion radiated dazzling light as it broke free from its cage.

The lion and azure dragon collided with a thunderous crash, erupting in intense light. After a fierce struggle, the azure dragon ultimately proved superior and shattered the golden lion's phantom.

Although Moro's Soul Power was nearly five levels higher than Zilong's, this was a team soul duel, not a one-on-one fight. First, Zilong had Miyi Mei's support behind him, while Moro's support had been forcefully stripped away by Miyi Mei. Furthermore, although Moro had forcibly broken free from Eden's restraints with his Third Spirit Skill, the paralyzing effect of Eden's Third Spirit Skill had not disappeared. Added to that, Zilong's Martial Soul was of a higher quality than Moro's. This outcome was not particularly surprising.

Just then, the power of Yi Hui's flames weakened. Moro's massive body flew backward through the wall of fire and landed right in the middle of his teammates.

Seeing their captain already unconscious, the remaining members of the Moro Team panicked. Moro was their leader and backbone. Without him, they had no idea what to do.

"Surrender."

Xiao Yu looked at the Moro Team members, who had lost their fighting spirit and whose eyes no longer held any light, and said calmly, "Without your captain, your team's strength has been reduced by at least half. There's no point in the few of you fighting us. There's no need to increase the casualties. Hurry and find a healing-type spirit master to treat your captain. We held back, but we can't guarantee there won't be any aftereffects if he remains unconscious for too long!"

"S-Surrender!"

The few of them looked at Xiao Yu. Though their hearts were filled with unwillingness, they had no choice but to admit that he was telling the truth. In the end, the vice-captain raised his hand and announced their surrender.

"In the team soul duel, the Nine Stars Team wins."

Upon hearing the Moro Team declare surrender, the host immediately announced the result.

"Nine Stars Team! Nine Stars Team!"

The Nine Stars Team had used an exceptionally ingenious strategy to instantly defeat Moro, who was fairly well-known in the Soul Arena, and force the Moro Team to surrender in less than a minute. The audience immediately erupted in excitement.

Xiao Yu and the others remained composed as they stepped down from the Soul Duel Stage amid the cheers of the crowd. They returned to the registration counter, collected their points, and left the Great Soul Arena. Their greatest purpose in coming here was to train and develop teamwork, not to please the audience.

In the days that followed, the Nine Stars Team rose like a superstar appearing out of nowhere. They defeated multiple powerful teams in the Soul Arena with overwhelming force and rapidly claimed the top spot on the Silvia Soul Arena rankings with an unbroken winning streak, becoming a star team in the eyes of Silvia City's spectators.

In order to curb the Nine Stars Team's winning streak, the Silvia Soul Arena urgently sought assistance from Soul Arena headquarters.

Now, whenever spectators learned that the Nine Stars Team would be competing, they would bet on them without hesitation. Although the Silvia Soul Arena lowered the Nine Stars Team's odds to the minimum, there were simply too many people placing bets. Even tiny streams could eventually gather into a vast ocean.

Although Soul Arena headquarters spent heavily to transfer several powerful Soul Elder-level teams from Soul Arenas across different regions, no matter what kind of team they sent, none could stop the Nine Stars Team's advance.

The Soul Arenas had existed on the Douluo Continent for over a thousand years and had their own rules. At least on the surface, they could not break rules that had remained unbroken for a millennium just because of one Nine Stars Team.

Privately, the Silvia Soul Arena had considered contacting the Nine Stars Team and asking them to do the Soul Arena a favor, such as throwing a match.

However, when the person in charge of the Soul Arena saw the eight spirit rings on Hui Huo, who had appeared as the Nine Stars Team's representative, he wisely shut his mouth.

But businesspeople were businesspeople. Although the Soul Arena could not target the Nine Stars Team directly, that did not mean they could not make use of the team's immense popularity. For example, they could arrange for the Nine Stars Team to compete at the Central Soul Duel Stage and raise ticket prices there. Or they could produce and sell Nine Stars Team fan clothing and masks.

And so, more than seven months, nearly eight months, passed. Then the Nine Stars Team, which had shone brilliantly in the Soul Arena, suddenly vanished from sight. Their fans discovered that they had not seen them compete for half a month.

This made the Silvia Soul Arena secretly breathe a sigh of relief. Though they had come up with many ways to make up for their losses, the number of people betting on the Nine Stars Team increased every day, and they could now barely maintain a balance between income and expenses. The Nine Stars Team's sudden disappearance delighted them immensely.

The reason the Nine Stars Team had stopped participating in soul duels was actually very simple.

Xiao Yu had reached level forty!