Heaven Dou City Great Soul Arena, Academy Rest Area.
A tournament staff member was announcing the list of academies for the next round of matches.
"The twenty-third round, third match is about to begin. Please have the following academies prepare early and proceed to the registration area to complete pre-match check-in."
"Empire Academy, Blazing Academy, Godwind Academy, Blue Tyrant Academy, Blue Sunshine Academy."
Twenty-two days had passed since the opening of the tournament. During this time, the Empire Team had been sweeping through all the academies in the Heaven Dou Division with unstoppable momentum. Not to mention the various small-fry academies, four of the five element academies in Heaven Dou had already been defeated by the Empire Team.
Elephant Armored Academy had collapsed at the first touch before the sharpness of Yang Yi's Soul Breaking Spear and the dragon poison of Dugu Yan; Godwind Academy had been left completely without a counterattack against the Wolf Claw of Feng Xiaotian and the Bow and Arrow of Gong Ming; Skywater Academy had fallen to the dragon poison of Dugu Yan, which could be conducted through ice (an additional ability gained from the Ice and Fire Immortal Herb during her Martial Soul Evolution), and the aerial prowess of Feng Xiaotian.
Thunder Academy was the strongest, yet they hadn't posed much of an obstacle to the Empire Team. They excelled in frontal assaults, and the Empire Team excelled in the same; when the two teams clashed head-on, the Thunder members led by Yu Tianxin were directly broken through and crushed by the combined force of Feng Xiaotian, Yang Yi, and Niu Bi.
Today, they would face the last of the five element academies: Blazing Academy.
There was an old acquaintance in the Blazing Academy team today whom Yun Ming hadn't seen for a long time: Ma Hongjun. Compared to over a year ago, Ma Hongjun's figure was more balanced; rather than fat, he now appeared robust.
As the Blazing Academy team stood up and walked toward the tunnel, passing by the Empire Team, Ma Hongjun spoke to Yun Ming with a complex expression.
"I can't beat you right now, but in the future, I will catch up to your pace and fulfill my teacher's long-cherished wish."
Hearing Ma Hongjun's words, Yun Ming opened his eyes, looked straight at him, and said indifferently.
"I'll be waiting for you to defeat me."
Seeing Yun Ming's calm demeanor, Ma Hongjun didn't get fired up, because after seeing Yun Ming in action on the opening day, he had confirmed that he truly couldn't beat him. After the dissolution of Shrek Academy and the pain of parting with his teacher, coupled with the soul master education he had received at Blazing Academy for over a year—and the fact that he was still a youth—his personality was no longer as impulsive as before, and many of the bad habits inherited from Shrek had changed. His current personality was more like a neutralized version of his future self from the original timeline.
Ma Hongjun nodded, said nothing more, and followed the others from Blazing into the tunnel.
After seeing Blazing off, Yun Ming turned back to look at the Gale Twin-Headed 'Dog' that had been lingering in the Blazing area and only returned once they had left. Shaking his head helplessly, he gave instructions to the rest of the Empire Team.
"Oscar and Feng Xiaotian will not participate today. The other six of you go."
The others signaled their understanding upon hearing Yun Ming's arrangement, but Feng Xiaotian, the one directly affected, became slightly anxious and pleaded with Yun Ming.
"Captain, don't do this!"
"I even said today that I wanted to show off my prowess in front of Little Sister Huo Wu. You can't do this to me."
Yun Ming glanced at Feng Xiaotian gloomily and rejected him.
"No. I'm afraid of losing face."
Feng Xiaotian wanted to say more, but Oscar, the resident prankster, chimed in with a teasing laugh.
"Brother Feng, just stop talking. The boss is afraid that you'll find it 'hard to act' once you're on stage."
"Just stay put."
Hearing Oscar's veiled insinuation, Feng Xiaotian felt his reputation was being slandered and retorted loudly.
"Little Oscar, how can you say that!"
"Am I, Feng Xiaotian, the kind of person who forgets righteousness for beauty, or forgets his friends for a lover!"
Hearing Feng Xiaotian's self-incriminating rebuttal, Ning Rongrong spoke up bluntly.
"Brother Feng, you have a very clear self-awareness!"
The group couldn't hold it in anymore upon hearing Ning Rongrong's words and burst into laughter; even the corners of Yun Ming's mouth twitched, revealing a smile.
"Pfft~"
"Hahaha~"
"Haha~"
"..."
Seeing his companions not believing him, Feng Xiaotian's face turned red with anger, and he became even more determined to prove himself. He blustered, "She's slandering me! She's slandering me!"
"I'm not! I didn't!"
"Captain, let me go. If I hold back in the soul fight against Blazing Academy, I'm a dog, alright!"
Hearing Feng Xiaotian make such a solemn vow, the group stopped laughing; could it be they had really misjudged him? Even Yun Ming was swayed by the kid for a moment. Could he have really misjudged him? Seeing his serious expression, Yun Ming finally decided to trust him once.
Ten minutes later, Feng Xiaotian proved to Yun Ming that his judgment of people was indeed accurate.
Yun Ming watched Feng Xiaotian on the Soul Fight Stage, being single-handedly defended by Huo Wu and acting completely restricted. Black lines appeared on his forehead; he shouldn't have trusted Feng Xiaotian.
However, the match eventually ended in a victory for the Empire Academy.
Although Feng Xiaotian was quite ridiculous, he did manage to neutralize Huo Wu. On the main battlefield, Yang Yi suppressed Huo Wushuang, Ye Qingyin unleashed her full abilities to soft-control the entire Blazing team, and Ma Hongjun and the Huo brothers attempted to use their flight abilities to rain fire from high altitude to take down Ye Qingyin. But Gong Ming performed at his peak, shooting them so relentlessly that they could only scramble in the sky, barely launching any effective attacks. The few flames that drifted toward Ye Qingyin were all blocked by Niu Bi.
As time passed, the Blazing Academy team became extremely drowsy under the Flute Sound of Ye Qingyin and were swept away by the Empire Team in one wave.
After the Empire Team returned to the spectator area, Yun Ming asked Feng Xiaotian.
"Is this what you meant by not holding back?! Can you give me a reasonable excuse for why you were single-handedly defended by Huo Wu!"
The rest of the Empire team also looked at Feng Xiaotian with smiles, waiting to see how he would answer. Then, Feng Xiaotian gave them a werewolf-like response.
Feng Xiaotian: "Woof woof woof."
Yun Ming, Empire Team: "..."
Seeing Feng Xiaotian's reaction, the members of the Empire Team were left speechless; one moment he was swearing to act like a dog, and the next he was fulfilling that promise. Everyone thought to themselves, You really are both a wolf and a dog! No wonder your mutated Martial Soul has two heads!
Even Yun Ming was amused by Feng Xiaotian's outrageous antics. Since Feng Xiaotian had already accepted his role as a dog, there was nothing left to say, so he could only give him a warning that his training would be doubled.
Just as Feng Xiaotian was being "mocked by the crowd," the gasps from the spectator stands pulled them back to the Soul Fight currently underway.
What was happening right now was the match between Blue Tyrant Academy and Blue Sunshine Academy.
Compared to the undefeated streak the Empire Team had maintained during this time, the Preliminary Round journey for Blue Tyrant Academy had been much rougher.
More than twenty days ago, after Tang San was injured by Yun Ming, the tight schedule meant that with Dai Mubai being the only Soul Ancestor on the current Blue Tyrant Team, he had to fight while injured to secure a qualifying spot and a chance to compete for the final victory.
The first five days of matches were fine as the opponents weren't strong; he only needed one hand to control the field with his Blue Silver Grass. However, the subsequent consecutive encounters with Skywater Academy and Blazing Academy made things quite difficult for Tang San.
Compared to the original timeline, Tang San faced Skywater much earlier now, and without his ice immunity, he still ended up defeated after a bitter struggle. As for the battle against Blazing, Tang San relied on the only benefit he gained from the "danger of the Blood Fire Force" and the exhausted medicinal power of the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng—a "defective version of fire immunity"—and managed to win, though it was a very difficult victory.
In the end, although he had the Spirit Bone and the medicine he concocted himself to assist him, the fighting ultimately affected his recovery. The injuries that should have healed in a week took an extra four days to fully recover. It was fortunate they didn't encounter any strong teams in the following days, otherwise, they would have lost again. As it stood, their record was two losses.
Yun Ming looked at the members of Blue Sunshine on the Soul Fight Stage as they released their Martial Souls, a flash of light appearing in his eyes.
This is interesting!
ps: Seeking monthly tickets and recommendations.
───────────────
Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: DaoistReader