In the first quarterfinal match, Bai Yuan's overwhelming victory over Dai Yueyan was like a bucket of ice water, dousing the enthusiasm that Star Luo spectators had just kindled with their "four against four" hopes.
The atmosphere in the arena became somewhat oppressive and heavy. The small glimpse of Shrek Academy's strength had already made everyone feel immense pressure.
Amidst the commotion, the referee's voice rang out again, this time tinged with excitement:
"Quarterfinals, Second Match!"
"Monster Academy, Long Yue!"
"Versus Shrek Academy, Gu Yue."
As soon as Long Yue's name was announced, the stands erupted. As citizens of Star Luo, who didn't know the name of the "Dragon King"? This match, they were certain to win!
Two figures stepped onto the stage.
On one side was Long Yue, the "Dragon King," fresh from a crushing defeat, still bearing untreated wounds, but his eyes burned with even stronger fighting spirit and suppressed madness. On the other side stood Gu Yue, dressed in white, her demeanor as cool as the moon, silver hair dancing lightly in the breeze.
Long Yue glared at Gu Yue, as if he intended to vent all the humiliation and anger accumulated from his losses to Bo Xi and Bai Yuan on this opponent. However, he had his pride and wasn't inclined to bully women.
In the Star Luo Continent, where beast martial souls were the mainstream, it was his habit to unleash the Mountain Dragon King's overwhelming bloodline pressure at the start of battle, seeking to subdue his opponent without fighting, like an invisible mountain crashing down, attempting to crush the opponent mentally and seize the initiative.
The terrifying dragon majesty swept across the entire platform like a tangible storm. Many soul masters with beast martial souls in the stands felt a chill, as if they were being targeted by a primordial beast.
However, at the center of the storm, Gu Yue stood firm like a rock amidst raging waves. Her exquisite face showed no ripple, and her silver eyes calmly gazed at Long Yue, with a hint of… faint indifference?
It was as if the Mountain Dragon King's majesty, which could make ordinary dragon martial souls submit, was nothing more than a gentle breeze to her.
But Gu Yue was not as calm as she appeared. She could sense the Mountain Dragon King's complaint against the Dragon God, which to her was a great disrespect. Her two-word battle armor, "Dragon Moon," attached itself to her body, adding hints of heroic bearing.
As Gu La's biggest benefactor, Gu Yue's two-word battle armor was completed first. Equipping it meant she wasn't just playing around but was seriously preparing for a fight.
Yet that indifferent calmness stung Long Yue more than any insult. How dare a mere four-ring Soul Ancestor ignore his majesty so blatantly?!
He didn't pay attention to whether Gu Yue's battle armor was two-word, after all, for a Soul Ancestor to have a complete one-word battle armor was already extraordinary; how could it possibly be two-word? It defied common sense, so he didn't think much of it.
But among the audience, there were always those with discerning eyes. As they began explaining, Gu Yue attracted many astonished gazes.
"Roar—!" Long Yue was thoroughly enraged, his few remaining shreds of reason ignited. No longer caring whether Gu Yue was male or female, his eyes turned blood red.
New grievances and old hatred surged in his heart. He held nothing back, his first soul ring shining brightly, "Mountains!"
The ground rose, a massive rock fist smashing towards Gu Yue. His second soul ring lit up immediately afterward, "Rivers!" A torrent of muddy stone rushed forth, blocking Gu Yue's retreat.
Facing Long Yue's wrathful strike, Gu Yue finally moved. She did not release her true martial soul form but elegantly raised her right hand. A faint seven-colored aura swirled around her fingertips.
"Wind." She whispered softly.
A razor-sharp green wind blade condensed to its utmost appeared out of nowhere, slicing through space with a piercing shriek, precisely cutting into the weakest structural node of the giant rock fist.
Any element-based soul master facing Gu Yue would feel the despair of confronting the control of seven elements. It was a comprehensive mastery; each step of attack in Gu Yue's eyes seemed childish.
"Swish!"
Though earth elements normally counter wind, the giant rock fist now split apart like butter under a hot knife, instantly crumbling into countless fragments.
"Fire." Gu Yue's fingertip aura shifted.
A wall of crimson fire sprang up before the mudslide. Upon contact with the fire wall, the water in the surge evaporated instantly, the mud hardened into tough ceramic blocks, drastically reducing the impact, dispersing like waves crashing against a reef.
Long Yue's pupils contracted. His combat wisdom told him that Gu Yue was humiliating him, using counter-elemental defenses. Wasn't this humiliation personified!?
His third soul ring immediately lit up, "Swamp!" The ground beneath Gu Yue instantly turned into a quagmire swallowing everything!
"Earth." Gu Yue lightly tapped her foot.
The muddy ground instantly solidified and hardened, becoming firmer than steel! She stood as if on flat ground, her figure unmoving.
"Fourth Soul Skill—Earth!" Long Yue roared, his fourth soul ring bursting with black light.
Thick rock armor covered his entire body, defense skyrocketing. Simultaneously, he stomped hard, countless sharp spikes erupting like a forest from around Gu Yue, wildly stabbing!
"Ice." Gu Yue's surrounding temperature plummeted!
A layer of crystal-clear, extreme cold-resistant ice instantly enveloped all the spikes, freezing them in place like icy sculptures.
"Fifth Soul Skill—Mountain Suppression!" Long Yue's fifth soul ring lit up, a colossal mountain phantom descending with tremendous force. He charged forward but was dodged by Gu Yue teleporting away.
"Light." Gu Yue raised her left hand.
A pure, condensed beam of light, seemingly able to purify all darkness, shot skyward like a divine spear piercing the heavens, accurately striking the energy core of the mountain phantom!
"Poof!" The seemingly massive mountain phantom burst like a popped balloon, instantly scattering into myriad points of light.
Long Yue's attacks were effortlessly countered by Gu Yue with almost artistic ease.
She stood in place, barely moving a few steps, merely manipulating the elements of wind, fire, earth, ice, and light with her fingertips, playing with Long Yue's soul skills like toys.
What was displayed was element control and combat wisdom far beyond the level of a four-ring Soul Ancestor. Their understanding of elements was simply on entirely different dimensions!
The stands fell deathly silent. Everyone was dumbfounded. This… this was something a Soul Ancestor could do?
Each element she controlled was incredibly pure, switching seamlessly, as if plucked effortlessly. Long Yue's ferocious attacks seemed like props coordinating her performance.
Long Yue's eyes nearly burst with rage. He felt like a beast being toyed with.
Though her soul power level was far below his, he felt utterly stifled, unable to land a blow. His proud strength and destructive power couldn't even graze her, completely suppressed by her exquisitely precise elemental control!
"Sixth Soul Skill—Wrath of the Mountain Dragon King!!"
Long Yue held nothing back, his sixth soul ring bursting with destructive black light, intent on tearing this hateful woman apart.
However, just as he was about to explode, Gu Yue suddenly retracted all her soul power fluctuations. The four purple soul rings symbolizing a Soul Ancestor also quietly vanished.
She calmly watched Long Yue teetering on the brink of madness, a slight curve appearing on her lips. Her cool voice rang out:
"Soul power depleted, I concede."
After speaking, she turned and gracefully walked off the stage.
With a Soul Ancestor using two-word battle armor enhancement, her soul power should indeed have been "exhausted."
Only Long Yue remained on the platform, poised to explode, yet all his power felt like hitting cotton, with nowhere to vent.
"Uh…" Even the referee was stunned, taking a while to react, "Sh... Shrek Academy's Gu Yue concedes. Winner—Monster Academy, Long Yue!"
The declaration of victory echoed, but there was no cheer.
Everyone could see that Gu Yue hadn't put in her full effort. With only the soul power equivalent to a four-ring Soul Ancestor, she perfectly neutralized all of Long Yue's attacks as a six-ring Soul Emperor.
Her concession at the end was purely due to the disparity in soul power cultivation. If her soul power level were higher, even just reaching the Soul King level, the outcome of this battle might have been vastly different.
Moreover, what the general audience didn't know, but most soul masters could roughly tell, was that Gu Yue was four or five years younger than Long Yue.
This realization suffocated and despaired the Star Luo spectators even more than Bai Yuan's overwhelming victory.
Shrek Academy… could it really be this powerful? A mere Soul Ancestor could push their First Heavenly King to such an extent.
Long Yue stood on the platform, his blood-red eyes fixed on Gu Yue's retreating figure. His body trembled violently with extreme anger and humiliation.
He won… but he felt utterly defeated. Even the madness brought by his bloodline instinct was suppressed by the heavy blow, leaving only endless despondency and self-doubt.
He staggered off the platform, his back appearing infinitely lonely and desolate.
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