Ever since the overwhelming victory of the Snow Demon Sect over the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy two days ago, all members and leaders of the four remaining teams in this tournament had already made their appearances.
However, the leader of the Clear Sky Sect team today had been replaced by an extremely burly middle-aged man. The man had hair as dense and short as steel needles. His appearance was imposing and dignified, his resolute face as if chiseled by knives and axes.
His eyes were a very rare brownish-yellow, faintly flickering with golden light. The simple gray robe he wore could not conceal the bulging, powerful muscles beneath.
This burly man did not display an obvious aura, but because of his formidable spiritual power, Xu Zihuang felt a terrifying, oppressive pressure rushing toward him.
Entering the Shrek Academy team's rest area, he appeared to be meditating with closed eyes on the surface, but in reality, he was carefully observing the burly man through the innate ability of his Void Pupil.
If his judgment was correct, this Clear Sky Sect leader should be none other than Titan, whose true form was the Titan Giant Ape.
At that moment, Xu Zihuang slowly opened his eyes. The golden eye shadow hidden within the void rift also dissipated. No one in the entire venue noticed anything unusual.
His soul power cultivation might still be lacking, but when it came to mastery over spatial power, even Limit Douluo-level powerhouses might not necessarily surpass him. This was an innate talent of his Golden Pupil martial soul, something he was born with and exceptionally gifted in.
The members of the Shrek Academy team subconsciously followed Xu Zihuang's gaze.
With an indifferent expression and eyes filled with an arrogance that seemed to disregard everything in the world, Tang Wutong walked alone into the Shrek Academy rest area. More precisely, she stopped right in front of Xu Zihuang.
Though the team uniforms of the two squads were completely different in color, the faces and figures of Tang Wutong and Wang Qiu'er, who looked almost identical, gave the illusion of looking into a mirror.
The eyes of the entire audience, including Emperor Xu, naturally and the civil and military officials on the main platform, all converged here.
Finally, some emotional fluctuation appeared in Tang Wutong's pink-blue eyes as she stared intently at Xu Zihuang.
"One-on-one duel to decide the outcome of this match. Do you dare?"
Xu Zihuang gave a calm, light smile without speaking. He simply stood up, walked past Tang Wutong, and headed toward the competition stage, answering affirmatively with his actions.
No matter what schemes that impartial God King had in store for him this time, at least he wouldn't act against him openly.
So what if Titan himself had come? With his current abilities, even if he couldn't defeat Titan, he could still retreat unscathed.
If Titan truly dared to make a move against him, once his strength was sufficient, he wouldn't mind personally paying a visit to the Clear Sky Sect and taking the soul rings and soul bones of those two beasts, Niu Tian and Titan.
Niu Tian's true form was the Azure Bull Python, now evolved into the Azure Divine Dragon, which perfectly matched his second martial soul in attributes.
The greatest gain from Xu Zihuang's recent seclusion wasn't the million-year soul ring from the Sky Dream Iceworm, nor the soul ring and soul bone from the Thunder Beast, but truly touching the divine domain, giving him complete confidence to face Tang San's schemes without fear.
It was precisely because of this opportunity that the true potential of his Golden Pupil martial soul had been fully awakened.
In the eyes of outsiders, deciding the semifinal with a single one-on-one battle might seem irrational. But no member from either team raised any objection; they all remained extremely calm. Because both Xu Zihuang and Tang Wutong held absolute authority within their respective teams.
Staff immediately went to report the matter to the higher-ups.
On the main platform, upon hearing the news, Xu Tianran's expression became slightly solemn.
The fiercer the conflicts among these teams from the original Douluo Continent, the more advantageous it would be for his subsequent plan to wipe them all out at once. A single battle deciding the winner was not the outcome he wished to see.
But unfortunately, even with the Sun Moon Empire's dominance, it was impossible to force Shrek Academy and the Clear Sky Sect into a head-on clash.
At that moment, an aged voice suddenly rang in Xu Tianran's ear.
Xu Tianran's expression changed slightly as he involuntarily looked toward Titan sitting in the Clear Sky Sect team's rest area, a shadow instantly falling over his heart. He sighed inwardly.
"The original Douluo Continent truly cannot be underestimated. I never expected that just this one hidden sect, the Clear Sky Sect, would possess such profound foundations."
But no matter what, his determination would not waver. At worst, he could let the Clear Sky Sect leave safely.
Once war broke out, he believed most of these ancient hidden sects would choose to preserve themselves. Only a very small number would truly spare no effort to help the three original Douluo Continent empires resist the Sun Moon Empire's invasion.
By now, Xu Zihuang and Tang Wutong had already arrived at the center of the competition stage.
As the referee for this match, Jing Hongchen stood to the side with his round belly. His voice spread throughout the venue through the portable amplification soul tool he carried.
"Due to mutual agreement between both sides, the first semifinal match between Shrek Academy and the Clear Sky Sect will be decided by a one-on-one duel. The participants are Shrek Academy team captain Yu Tianhuang and Clear Sky Sect team captain Tang Wutong."
Far from diminishing the audience's enthusiasm, this announcement only heightened it further.
Yu Tianhuang had previously annihilated the remaining members of the Holy Spirit team single-handedly, and his might still lingered. Tang Wutong also possessed an extremely shocking soul ring configuration. It was truly a clash of titans.
Most importantly, both Yu Tianhuang and Tang Wutong possessed top-tier appearances and temperaments, with countless admirers. Some gossip-loving spectators had already imagined countless melodramatic plots from the brief exchange between Tang Wutong and Yu Tianhuang earlier. The topic was explosive.
Everyone was eagerly anticipating what kind of spectacular sparks this match would produce.
"Both sides, prepare." Jing Hongchen slowly raised his right hand.
Xu Zihuang and Tang Wutong turned simultaneously and walked to the edges of the competition stage.
A pale yellow transparent soul guide barrier slowly rose, isolating external sounds. The competition stage instantly fell into silence, with only the echoes of their footsteps resounding.
It was somewhat pitiful to say, but this competition stage had been rebuilt countless times since the start of the tournament. Each reconstruction included reinforcements. One could clearly feel that the energy fluctuations of this soul guide barrier were significantly stronger than before.
Reaching the edges, Xu Zihuang and Tang Wutong stopped in unison and turned around.
In that instant, Tang Wutong's gaze sharpened, an astonishing battle intent surging forth like a mountain.
The soul guide barrier around the entire competition stage brightened noticeably.
Jing Hongchen, standing at the center, raised an eyebrow in surprise, his eyes filled with shock. Though his soul power was only at rank 93, he was still a Titled Douluo-level powerhouse with keen judgment.
From here, he could tell that Tang Wutong's strength was at least on the same level as Long Aotian's.
What a great era of contention.
Jing Hongchen sighed with emotion.
His own grandson was indeed a rare genius in the Sun Moon Empire over thousands of years, but unfortunately, he was born in this era. His brilliance was destined to be overshadowed by a few even more dazzling figures.
Moments later, Jing Hongchen set aside his sentiments and sharply swung down his raised right hand.
This highly anticipated showdown began in an instant.
Tang Wutong moved first. Raising her right hand to her side, a pitch-black light appeared, accompanied by six black soul rings rising. This was precisely her second martial soul, the Clear Sky Hammer.
The aura-heavy Clear Sky Hammer instantly transformed into a long-handled war hammer, with six profound black soul rings rapidly pulsing around her.
Tang Wutong stomped her right foot, charging forward while her delicate body suddenly half-turned. Both hands gripped the Clear Sky Hammer and swung it backward. Then, her entire body twisted around, the Clear Sky Hammer whipping through the air in a circle, carrying terrifying gusts of wind as it smashed ruthlessly toward Xu Zihuang.
Tang Wutong's hammer mobilized her entire body's strength and soul power, showing no mercy whatsoever. A cold snort escaped her lips.
As the noble daughter of a God King, how could she possibly be inferior to a mere mortal from the lower realm? Today, she would prove in this match that sometimes soul power rank did not determine everything.
Unlike Tang Wutong, Xu Zihuang remained extremely calm throughout. Golden light flickered in his deep purple eyes, and obscure, strange golden patterns extended around his pupils, instantly transforming his demeanor. It was a detached divinity as if overlooking all beings from the clouds.
Black! Black! Black! Black! Black! Red! Gold!
Seven soul rings capable of shocking anyone emerged successively from beneath his feet.
In terms of soul ring configuration, Xu Zihuang completely crushed Tang Wutong in every aspect.
However, compared to when he had provoked Zhong Liwu earlier, subtle changes had occurred in the seven soul rings around him.
They were still black ten-thousand-year soul rings, but his first three soul rings were now so profoundly dark that they seemed to continuously devour the surrounding light. The fourth and fifth soul rings displayed a strange black tinged with red.
That's right, in the two days before the semifinals began, Xu Zihuang had successfully absorbed the remaining two clusters of mental origin from the Sky Dream Iceworm.
Those two clusters of mental origin were equivalent to the energy of two hundred-thousand-year soul rings.
His first three soul rings had been around forty-thousand years each; the fourth and fifth were fifty-thousand years.
On average, his first three soul rings had now reached the eighty-thousand-year level, while the fourth and fifth had reached ninety-thousand years. In the near future, once the Sky Dream Iceworm absorbed the energy of the Ten-thousand-year Profound Ice Marrow, he might even achieve an all-hundred-thousand-year-plus soul ring configuration.
By now, Tang Wutong, who had reached Xu Zihuang, noticed this, and her gaze instantly sharpened. Then, in her line of sight, Xu Zihuang's second soul ring suddenly shone brightly.
Purple-golden lightning crackled in his palm, extending and spreading outward. One could see translucent purple-golden vines; this was precisely the Thunder Prison Vine that had fused with Xu Zihuang and transformed into an energy form.
With these purple-golden Thunder Prison Vines as the framework, a dark red war hammer identical in shape to Tang Wutong's Clear Sky Hammer appeared in Xu Zihuang's right hand. Lightning coiled around the warhammer. Through the transparent dark red crystal, the internal purple-golden Thunder Prison Vine could be clearly seen, resembling extraordinary divine patterns.
Hammer following body, Xu Zihuang raised his right hand, and the dark red crystal war hammer collided heavily with Tang Wutong's Clear Sky Hammer.
"Bang—" A low, terrifying boom erupted, causing the entire competition stage to tremble. This was a pure clash of power against power.
Black light waves rippled from Tang Wutong's Clear Sky Hammer, causing the surrounding space to distort and shake.
Clear Sky Nine Absolutes, Shock Character Technique.
The Clear Sky Nine Absolutes were not nine skills or moves but nine ways of exerting force with the Clear Sky Hammer, each with its own characteristics. This was the true ultimate technique of the Clear Sky Sect, the combat skill most suited to the Clear Sky Hammer.
However, these black light waves were instantly swept up and devoured by the black-purple lightning erupting from Xu Zihuang's dark red crystal war hammer.
Tang Wutong had the Clear Sky Nine Absolutes, and Xu Zihuang had recently learned the Heavenly Dragon Sect's secret technique from Yu Tianlong, a combat skill that combined soul power, spiritual power, and lightning force, similar to a Lightning Dragon Gang.
Though the dark red crystal war hammer condensed from Xu Zihuang's solidified soul power using his eighty-thousand-year soul skill Mirror of Annihilation naturally fell somewhat short of a true top-tier tool martial soul like the Clear Sky Hammer, the gap was far from as large as imagined. With the reinforcement of the Thunder Prison Vine, this dark red crystal war hammer matched the Clear Sky Hammer in both weight and hardness, and possessed lightning attributes.
The difference in soul power cultivation and strength became evident in the clash.
The Clear Sky Hammer was forcefully repelled, and part of the lightning even spread onto the Clear Sky Hammer's body. At that moment, a layer of noble blue-purple appeared within Tang Wutong's originally golden soul power, instantly dispelling the encroaching black-purple lightning.
Tang Wutong's body was carried backward more than ten meters by the tremendous force from the Clear Sky Hammer. She then gritted her silver teeth to steady herself, her left foot tapping the ground, right foot stepping onto her left, her delicate body spinning rapidly in midair. The repelled Clear Sky Hammer actually came smashing toward Xu Zihuang again with even greater momentum than before.
But before she could secretly feel pleased, Tang Wutong witnessed a scene that left her astonished and uncertain.
Xu Zihuang used the same borrowing-force method, his body also spinning once as he met her Clear Sky Hammer.
"Bang—" Another violent roar rang out. The shockwave from this collision caused ripples to spread across the soul guide barrier at the edges of the competition stage.
The result was no different from before; Tang Wutong was once again repelled. But during her retreat, her body continued rotating, her hands seemingly glued to the Clear Sky Hammer as they alternated swings, borrowing momentum to spin.
The same outcome again. When Tang Wutong's third hammer fell, Xu Zihuang had also completed his borrowing of force and swung his third hammer.
Both sides on the competition stage entered a strange state.
Fourth hammer, fifth hammer, whistling forth. Xu Zihuang and Tang Wutong's speed grew faster and faster, their power growing stronger and stronger.
"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang…"
The Clear Sky Hammer and the dark red crystal war hammer collided continuously, each impact producing a deafening roar, each one louder than the last.
Huge deep craters began appearing in the hard metal floor of the competition stage. Lightning coiled, black waves surged.
The entire audience's gaze had gone blank. This match had none of the dazzling soul skill clashes they had imagined, only pure collisions of power.
When Xu Zihuang swung his thirty-second hammer, Tang Wutong's feet plowed two deep furrows into the ground. She was shaken back, half-bowing as fresh blood sprayed from her mouth, her eyes filled with disbelief.
Xu Zihuang looked down at Tang Wutong from afar and gave a faint smile.
"The Disorderly Wind Splitting Hammer Technique is nothing more than this."
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