Chapter 117: Xiao Hongchen’s Three-Legged Golden Toad

Chapter 117.1: Xiao Hongchen's Three-Legged Golden Toad

Chen Fei moved with lightning speed as a ball of bright golden light blasted towards Ma Xiaotao with undeniable accuracy. His movements were blindingly quick, and he even left an afterimage in his wake.

Ma Xiaotao grunted coldly. She wasn’t the kind that liked to kill people, but wouldn’t hesitate if it was required. Red light flashed in her eyes, and a Phoenix Fireline poured out and clashed with the sphere of golden light rocketing through the air.

What was strange was that there wasn’t any violent explosion or anything like that. The light circle expanded instantly after being triggered, and transformed into an enormous golden net that bore down on Ma Xiaotao.

She had already suffered a loss under trap-type soul tools such as this, and she had been on guard this whole time. She watched the various red-eyed members of the Sun Moon Empire’s camp as she tapped on the floor with the tips of her feet and immediately flew backwards. Two streaks of red light spurted out from beneath her as she surged into the distance. However, she wasn’t retreating without a plan in mind, and she flew towards the position where Xu Sanshi had just been sent flying.

Their battle continued to rage. On the other side, Xiao Hongchen faced the Shrek team’s siege as well.

Xiao Hongchen had relied on his auto-activated advanced invincible barrier to block Ma Rulong’s strike within the lightning cage, but the protective barrier that flickered with golden light had been greatly weakened.

The protective layer of golden light on his body was called the Impregnable Wall, and it was a Class 6 soul tool. This soul tool had to be activated by a soul master’s own soul power, or maintained through a continual injection of soul power.

The reasons why invincible barriers were so precious was because their defensive capabilities were sufficiently powerful, and also because they could be activated with a fixed amount of soul power. Afterwards, the special jewel contained within the soul tool would provide enough energy to maintain the protective barrier for three seconds, and it would have the defensive power of an eight-ringed soul douluo. The only problem was that it was a disposable item, and thus was a little wasteful and extravagant by nature.

However, the Impregnable Wall on Xiao Hongchen’s body was far more advanced. Its defensive powers were slightly inferior to invincible barriers, but it was just enough to fend off attacks from Class 7 soul tools. Furthermore, it wasn’t a disposable item. This soul tool had two salient features: it could be used repeatedly, and it could automatically activate itself. That meant that if Xiao Hongchen came under attack and wasn’t able to react, the Impregnable Wall would deploy its mechanisms automatically, which made it a lot more useful than the Invincible Barrier.

Of course, there were pros and cons to everything – the problem was that the Impregnable Wall absorbed Xiao Hongchen’s soul power automatically after activating itself in order to provide protection.

Ma Rulong’s golden Class 7 soul tool was only a single attack, but it possessed formidable destructive powers. The Impregnable Wall did block the strike, but, as he was a Soul King, Xiao Hongchen’s soul power was immediately consumed by more than fifty percent, which caused his expression to change to one of immense fear.

Furthermore, as long as that cage called the Net of Lightning was around, the members of Shrek’s team were not the only ones caught inside – he was trapped within as well.

This proud young man displayed a battle prowess worthy of his high and respected status within the Sun Moon Empire’s team at this critical moment.

The Impregnable Wall’s appearance was too similar to the Invincible Barrier, thus Shrek’s team didn’t continue their assault at the first possible moment. Instead, they waited for the “Invincible Barrier’s” time to naturally run out.

Xiao Hongchen took advantage of this grace period and unleashed his own martial soul.

A flash of golden light flickered, and a leg grew out from his buttocks behind him. This leg was completely golden, and a layer of blinding gold blanketed his entire body.

The three-legged Xiao Hongchen crouched a little, and three of his two yellow, two purple and one black soul rings radiated. He arched his back faintly, and little humps protruded from his clothes, each one exuding a bright golden hue. His first and third soul rings lit up at the same time before he waved both of his hands and hurled out several hundred metal balls.

These metal balls instantly hovered in midair and encircled his entire body.

A strange scene then occurred; row after row of metal cannon barrels grew out just like that, with the metal balls as the core.

It wasn’t wrong to describe them as things that simply just grew out. Those metal cannons just came into existence, and Xiao Hongchen wasn’t the one that released them. His whole body became like a giant porcupine in just a moment.

“Oh… Shit…” Bei Bei was never one to curse and swear, but he couldn’t help but speak what was on the Shrek team’s minds.

He Caitou was most familiar with soul tools. He thought to himself, “Can he rely on his own soul power to fire so many metal cannons?”

It wasn’t just the number of soul cannons that were out there. The most important thing was that his personal mastery must be able to handle that number of soul cannons. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be functional, and would be for display.

Xiao Hongchen showed everyone whether his soul cannons were simply decorative or not.

His second and fourth soul rings replaced his first and third soul rings. One could see with clarity that uncountable numbers of golden specks of light appeared in the sky and surged towards Xiao Hongchen with unstoppable force. Every light speck released a circle of pale-golden light as they came close to his body, as if they were burning up, and the poignant smell of metal immediately permeated the whole area.

The rows of metal cannons began to burst with blinding brilliance as the specks of golden light fused into them, and this fearsome aura cast a haze of terror over the Shrek team.

There were a total of one hundred and twenty-eight soul cannons that appeared on Xiao Hongchen’s body, and every single one was a Class 5 soul tool. The sonorous soul cannons actually turned towards their targets automatically, and every single one was pointed at the Shrek team members. Even the soul cannons behind Xiao Hongchen’s back curved forward, and this wasn’t something that could be explained with the handling of soul tools.

The next moment, a terrifying hurricane of soul power exploded the moment the Impregnable Wall was withdrawn.

The Shrek team members naturally didn’t just stand around to watch. Dai Yueheng stood in front of everyone the moment Xiao Hongchen erupted and used the White Tiger’s Shield, the White Tiger’s Vajra Transformation and the White Tiger’s Devilgod Transformation at the same time. All three were powerful amplifying soul skills, and boosted his defensive powers to the highest possible level. He was the vice-captain, and also a Soul Emperor – and he was under the audience’s watchful eye and his own father’s scrutiny. There was no way he was going to back off.

A searing ball of white light suddenly flew out from beside Dai Yueheng. He Caitou had started channeling power inside the super energy-gathering soul cannon from the start of the battle, and released his own attack at this moment.

However, he was also a soul engineer, and he was being suppressed far too much. His super energy-gathering soul cannon possessed power greater than normal Class 5 soul tools, but faced with Xiao Hongchen’s one hundred and twenty-eight soul cannons’ unified assault, his super energy-gathering soul cannon was instantly dispelled by that frightening blanket of light. He only managed to obstruct it momentarily as the petrifying layer of light bore down upon them once more.

Ling Luochen did all she could as well. She used her Icy Staff to release wall after wall of ice and launched an Icebrilliant Halo at Xiao Hongchen at the same time.

However, those ice walls were simply unable to resist the coordinated assault from Xiao Hongchen’s Class 5 soul tools, and every single layer was shattered in an instant.

Dai Yueheng’s face grew solemn and serious. His buddies were right behind him, and he couldn’t dodge this attack no matter how much he wanted to. He took a deep breath, and vigorous streaks of white light flickered while he raised his Soul Emperor-level soul power to the highest possible level; he needed to withstand this strike no matter what.

Before Xiao Hongchen was swapped over with the Mysterious Netherworld Displacement, who would have thought that this Soul King was actually this powerful? He was able to activate so many Class 5 soul tools at the same time, and this was clearly beyond a Soul King’s limits. Even Class 6 soul masters would have probably failed at this endeavor! Ma Rulong had never controlled so many soul cannons at the same time.

A smile broke out across Xiao Hongchen’s face. This was the first time he had put his maximum power on full display, even though this strike was a powerful as it could get. However, he had absolute confidence that Dai Yueheng wouldn’t be able to withstand his attack, and he would be severely injured even if he did. His own soul power would be almost completely exhausted after this strike, but he would be satisfied if he could eliminate a Soul Emperor from his opponents’ camp, and better still if he could even wound the others – furthermore, he still had the strength to retreat safely.

He was the reserve team leader. Not only was he adept with soul tools, but his martial soul wasn’t weak like other normal soul engineers. He was only fourteen years old, but had managed to become a Soul King via various methods and without using too many sequela. The reason for that was because his martial soul was powerful enough. More importantly, his martial soul could be said to be the one most suitable for soul engineers in the entire world, yet was sufficiently powerful by itself.

This was Xiao Hongchen’s martial soul: the Three-legged Golden Toad. This rare beast soul possessed a special ability: it could manipulate metal.

He could control any type of metal. He could even absorb the energy from certain exotic metals to support and enhance his personal cultivation. Otherwise, how could he become a Soul King at such a young age? If the Sun Moon Empire lacked anything, it wouldn’t be metal.

Before this, out of the four soul skills that he had just used, the first and third soul skill that he had released at the same time were called Metal Manipulation and Golden Coagulation. The metal balls that he had thrown out were the soul cannons’ formation arrays, while the cannon barrels were formed entirely from his ability to control metal on the spot. He always carried voluminous amounts of metal powder on his body, and the metal powder could solidify into any form under his manipulation.

The second and fourth soul skills after that were called Golden Surge and Golden Sacrifice.

Golden Surge was used to greatly boost his Three-Legged Golden Toad’s metal soul power activity, and exponentially increase his ability to control metal for a short period of time, while absorbing the metal elements contained in the air in vast amounts for his own use at the same time.

Chapter 117.2: Xiao Hongchen's Three-Legged Golden Toad

The Golden Sacrifice filled the metal elements that had come together with fire to produce formidable power. Using these two soul skills at the same time gave him the energy to fire so many soul cannons at the same time. The toll on his soul power was only present on the soul skill, and the energy used to support the soul cannons all came from the metal elements.

He was known as the Sun Moon Empire’s number-one prodigy since the beginning of its history for his impressive ability to control metal. His overall battle prowess wasn’t inferior to Ma Rulong by much. If his level of mastery caught up with Ma Rulong, his abilities would irrevocably overtake his team leader’s.

However, a person that nobody expected suddenly stepped in front of Dai Yueheng just as Xiao Hongchen thought he had it.

Her figure was tall and slim, but appeared young and immature. Yet, there was a tinge of unwavering determination on her pretty face. Thick and vigorous golden light rose from her body and formed a light barrier that protected her inside.

Who was she? When Xiao Hongchen clearly saw the young girl that was far more good-looking than his younger sister, Meng Hongchen, his actions became a little sluggish, as he couldn’t bear to hurt her.

However, his assault had already been fully unleashed; withdrawing it now was impossible even if he wanted to.

Who was she? She was the number-one beauty in Shrek Academy’s outer courtyard, and could be said to be the one with the least salient features in this competition from Shrek Academy’s team—Jiang Nannan.

Just as that terrifying strike was about to land, Jiang Nannan went beyond everyone’s expectations and stepped in front of Dai Yueheng. In the next moment, her figure was swallowed by the soul cannons that loomed over everyone.

“No, Nannan…” Xu Sanshi looked on from far away. His pupils widened in an instant as the blood in his face receded, and a petrifying aura was immediately unleashed from within his body. His Strength of the Xuanwu was finally triggered once more in the moment Jiang Nannan placed herself in danger.

Ma Xiaotao was standing beside him. At this very moment, she raised her hand without warning and chopped down on his neck.

Xu Sanshi’s Strength of the Xuanwu had yet to erupt when he was knocked unconscious. Ma Xiaotao raised her leg and kicked him off the competition stage.

Wang Yan stood up abruptly below the stage when he saw Ma Xiaotao’s actions, and his eyes sparkled as he muttered under his breath, “She’s finally a qualified team leader.”

Just as Ma Xiaotao kicked Xu Sanshi off the stage, Ma Rulong’s dark red monkey had arrived before her. The monkey cooed in front of her, and its originally scrawny and tiny frame suddenly exploded in size – it had become an enormous ape that was over four meters long in the blink of an eye. It raised its giant fists and hammered them down on Ma Xiaotao’s head as the dark red fur all over its body stood on end, resembling a layer of iron needles.

This wasn’t a skill. It was a real soul beast, and its cultivation was definitely over ten thousand years judging by its aura. Who would have thought that Ma Rulong could release a soul beast to fight for him during the competition?

The monkey wasn’t the only one on the offensive. Thirty-six lightning balls had already caught up to Ma Xiaotao when she retreated before this, and it came from the Sun Moon Empire’s Michael.

All the lightning balls transformed into a large net that didn’t have a single loophole as it bore down on her.

Chen Fei, the Lightning Bird Soul King, pounced forward beside the enormous dark red demonic ape as he repeatedly fired spheres of golden light from his hands much like before. These spheres of golden light followed closely behind the lightning balls and sealed off every possible spot that Ma Xiaotao could dodge towards.

Yet, this wasn’t the greatest threat that Ma Xiaotao faced. The greatest and most conspicuous threat she was facing right now was still Ma Rulong, the Sun Moon Empire’s team leader.

The golden cannon was on his shoulder once more. Ma Rulong’s emotions appeared entirely unaffected by the death of his comrade, and his hands were still as stable as ever as he gazed at Ma Xiaotao with cold and sparkling eyes. Even if he was only locked on to her, it would consume at least half of Ma Xiaotao’s concentration.

The only person that didn’t make a move from the Sun Moon Empire’s camp was Meng Hongchen. She stood behind Ma Rulong as if she didn’t exist at all. Xiao Xiafeng rushed to Ma Rulong’s side and stuffed a ball of something round, white and soft into Ma Rulong’s mouth while the latter began chewing without hesitation.

A steamed bun… Xiao Xiafeng was actually a food-type soul master. There was no question that the steamed bun he had stuffed into Ma Rulong’s mouth served to amplify his soul power.

He rooted himself to the ground the moment he finished shoving the steamed bun into Ma Rulong’s mouth. There was a steamed bun in his mouth as well, while a cacophony of metal clanging sounds rang out from his body. Eighty-one cannon barrels appeared one after another, and a circular pedestal swivelled beneath him as he turned towards Ma Xiaotao and locked onto his target. This was the Soul Tool Fortress battle tactic.

Soul power was already starting to condense in the black cannons’ openings. Xiao Xiafeng was a food-type soul master, and he was able to maintain the Soul Tool Fortress battle tactic for a longer period of time than normal soul masters because of that.

Ma Xiaotao had already been in a corner when she had moved to a spot beside Xu Sanshi. At this moment, she was under pressure from four people and a soul beast, and she had no hope of evading this onslaught. Her opponents’ strategy was obvious – they wanted to negate Shrek Academy’s team leader’s strength at once before they targeted anyone else.

Just as Ma Xiaotao was entering a perilous situation, the circumstances on the other side also began to change drastically.

Xiao Hongchen’s face was full of proud smiles when all his soul cannons hit their targets. Xu Sanshi had swapped him over with the Mysterious Netherworld Displacement, but had given him a shot at fame and glory instead of helping his team. He even had the thought that he’d become his own academy’s hero if he could wipe out Shrek Academy’s remaining five members with his epic strike; he would even become a national hero! It was just too bad for that little beauty.

However, the smile on his face was quickly replaced with a haze of terror. The reason was because a sphere of golden light burst forth as if it were riding the waves after it blocked his one hundred and twenty-eight soul cannons, and arrived right before his eyes. Subsequently, he felt as if the soul cannons on his body had grown ten times heavier, as if they were going to drag his entire body into hell. He was afraid that this terrifying weight would tear open his own physical body.

Even though he had the ability to control metal, his body was ultimately the one holding everything up, and that was flesh! He almost instantaneously severed his connections with his soul cannons, and let the dozens and dozens of soul cannons fall to the ground. The golden shadow dashed next to him in a flash and kicked him in the chest.

The golden luster receded. Xiao Hongchen could clearly see the person that had just kicked him in the chest. Wasn’t it the charmer with unrivaled beauty that he’d just felt bad for hurting?

What, what’s this? Xiao Hongchen’s eyes widened as he couldn’t believe that such a tender-looking young girl with only four soul rings could forcibly stop his one hundred and twenty-eight soul cannons. He wanted to exclaim, Is this reality?

Jiang Nannan’s kick was quite heavy, and knocked him over as he stumbled backwards. Xiao Hongchen’s soul power had been heavily expended at this point, and his body weight had seemingly increased exponentially, which meant he didn’t even have the means to dodge this attack.

Jiang Nannan leapt up the moment her kick landed on her target before she trapped his neck in between her legs. Before Xiao Hongchen could struggle or retaliate, he felt his body weight decrease by multiple times from the previous density, and a force traveled from his neck as he was tossed away as if he were being thrown into the clouds.

Subsequently, he saw a sharp edge flickering with golden light – it belonged to Dai Yueheng, the White Tiger Soul Emperor. The sharp edge was his shimmering golden tiger claw.

Xiao Hongchen wanted to curse and swear. He wanted to curse at Shrek Academy’s members. Why were they so perverted? Were they still people? What he didn’t see was that Jiang Nannan vomited blood and collapsed the moment she tossed him away.

Jiang Nannan didn’t have many flash points during this season’s competition. However, did that mean she wasn’t powerful? No, she was only low-profile by nature.

She was chosen by Elder Xuan to become one of the reserve team members, and shared the same status with Xu Sanshi. Could it be because she was pretty? One should take a look at her four soul skills.

Jiang Nannan’s four soul skills were: Waist Bow, Gravity Control, Instant Teleportation, and Invincible Golden Body.

The Waist Bow was a relatively normal soul skill, but the other three remaining soul skills rivaled even the Mysterious Netherworld Displacement, and could achieve miraculous effects when used appropriately.

What was the Invincible Golden Body about? Xiao Wu from the first generation of Shrek’s Seven Monsters had used this soul skill before. Jiang Nannan’s martial soul was similar to hers, and even some of her soul skills were no different either.

The Invincible Barriers used by soul engineers were created after they drew inspiration from this rare and powerful soul skill, the Invincible Golden Body. The Invincible Golden Body’s defensive capability was the ultimate form of absolute protection. Nobody would be able to break through the Invincible Golden Body during its execution unless they possessed divine power.

Jiang Nannan had used her Invincible Golden Body to block Xiao Hongchen’s strongest attack. She had then used Instant Teleportation and Gravity Control to unleash multiple-pronged pressure on Xiao Hongchen and finally used the Waist Bow to toss him out.

Xiao Hongchen’s disbelief and bewilderment came from the concordant combination of these four soul skills. Jiang Nannan vomited blood and crashed to the ground as she gave her all to maintain the Invincible Golden Body for just a moment longer, which took a heavy toll on her body.

She didn’t have Bei Bei or Xu Sanshi’s incredible potential. However, she had her own repertoire of sufficiently powerful soul skills. She was the number-one short range combatant in Shrek Academy’s team under particular circumstances, and it was her that gave Dai Yueheng an opportunity.

Chapter 117.3: Xiao Hongchen's Three-Legged Golden Toad

The dazzling blade radiated frightening hues as the White Tiger Soul King’s sixth soul skill, the White Tiger’s Extermination, appeared in the blink of an eye.

The referee of the competition, the Heavenfiend Douluo, appeared next to the two of them in a flash, but hesitated momentarily, as he wasn’t sure whether he should interfere. This was ultimately the finals of the competition, and his interference would very likely affect how the competition would unfold. However, someone had already perished, and if someone else were to meet his or her unfortunate demise, there would be a lot of pressure on him as the judge. The respective team members from the Sun Moon Empire and Shrek could all be described as extraordinary prodigies, after all.

Dai Yueheng’s strike crashed downwards within that moment of hesitation.

How could Dai Yueheng not be despondent? There had already been two important rounds in the competition. It was Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’s sudden explosion that had broke the impasse and forcibly turned the tides. It was Jiang Nannan who had appeared in front of him in a split second in this round and blocked his opponent’s fatal strike. Furthermore, both his father and the emperor were watching from the top of the city wall, and this was the finals. He was a Soul Emperor, and he let a Soul Ancestor step in in front of him, and this intense stifling sensation that he felt was better off not mentioned. Yet, he also understood that he would have been severely injured if not for Jiang Nannan.

He swallowed all of this, and this was the reason why his White Tiger’s Extermination could be said to be his best effort. The judge was there anyway, and he never even considered whether he might end up murdering his opponent.

Xiao Hongchen’s fifth soul ring sparkled as the terrifying soul skill was about to hit him. At this point, He no longer dared to use his Impregnable Wall, which was much more practical than the Invincible Barrier, as he could clearly feel from the petrifying aura looming over him that he wouldn’t be able to maintain the Impregnable Wall to fend off his opponent’s assault even if he emptied the rest of his soul power.

Therefore, even as a soul engineer, he still resorted to soul skills at this crucial moment.

The White Tiger’s claws flashed by, while Xiao Hongchen’s body seemed to instantly melt; he simply transformed into a sphere of dark golden liquid, then slid down to the ground.

The White Tiger’s Extermination also instantly landed on this sphere of liquid.

Dai Yueheng’s strike was formidable, and his maniacal and devastating aura reached the highest possible level in an instant, and the liquid that Xiao Hongchen had transformed into was slashed apart into pieces as it exploded in all directions like fine powder.

However, just as the liquid touched the ground, it spread out in all directions with bedazzling speed, and the dark golden liquid merely looked a little singed when it came out of the Prison of Lightning.

“Brother—!”

Meng Hongchen screamed in shock, and she finally made her move after holding herself back since the start as she rushed towards the dark golden liquid that was flowing out.

The liquid began to solidify and when Xiao Hongchen reappeared in front of everyone’s eyes, his entire body was full of wounds, and there were dozens of gashes all over. He coughed out mouthful after mouthful of blood, and collapsed into Meng Hongchen’s arms. However, he was still conscious, and muttered a single sentence. “Such bad luck… I’ve been severely wounded.”

The soul skill that Xiao Hongchen displayed during the most crucial moment was called Golden Yearning. This was an extremely powerful ten thousand-year soul skill, and the Illustrious Virtue Hall had to send three Class 8 soul engineers to complete the task of killing the ten thousand year soul beast for this skill. They had then used special medicines to amplify Xiao Hongchen’s body so that the absorption would be successful, and so that he could have this thirty thousand year soul beast’s impressive soul skill.

Xiao Hongchen was able to instantly liquefy himself, and convert his entire body into liquid metal using the Golden Yearning. It gave him the ability to negate about eighty percent of material attacks. However, his cultivation was still low, and his control of this soul skill was not completely smooth. Otherwise, he would become much more frightening if he paired it with his Golden Coagulation. He used the Golden Yearning to escape impending demise.

However, the White Tiger’s Extermination was simply too brutal. Metal conducted electricity, and this property brought insufferable pain to his entire body as he escaped from the Prison of Lightning, and he had lost his ability to continue in this group battle. He had never expected to end up like this in his first appearance, and even his hair had been charred a charcoal black color. This wasn’t anything comfortable at all.

While Xiao Hongchen was seriously wounded, Ma Xiaotao made an unexpected decision on the other side. Shrek Academy’s team leader chose to go on the offensive instead of defending herself under her opponents’ barrage of attacks.

She flew backwards like a bolt of lightning as she raised her right arm, and a searing ball of dark red flame congregated and transformed into a black phoenix before it shot out. At the same time, she leapt down from the competition stage in the nick of time in the face of her opponents’ attacks.

The black phoenix’s target of choice wasn’t the enormous ape, and neither was it the strongest of them all, Ma Rulong. The black phoenix’s speed wasn’t fast at all, but Michael’s lightning pearls strangely disappeared the moment the black phoenix collided with them. When the black phoenix clashed against Chen Fei’s metal balls, they dissipated into nothingness as well, and these soul tools weren’t able to unleash their full potential before they were vaporized entirely.

The fiery black phoenix’s aura was just too frightening, and its first target was Chen Fei. Chen Fei just launched his attack and was standing next to the Bloodthirsty Demon Ape, and he never thought that Ma Xiaotao would go after him. His body flickered as he attempted to dodge the assault from the black phoenix.

The flaming black phoenix’s surface area wasn’t big, and neither was it fast from his perspective. His Lightning Bird’s speed wasn’t something that could be threatened by the black phoenix.

It was a pity that his judgement was erroneous.

The black phoenix wasn’t that large, and it wasn’t that fast either. However, just as it Chen Fei was in the midst of evading it, the scorching black flames suddenly exploded outwards.

This speed of expansion was simply too fast, and too quick to be registered by the naked eye. Chen Fei’s body was swiftly swallowed inside this abrupt expansion.

Not all members from the Sun Moon Academy had the status to use automated soul tools like the Impregnable Wall. The resources required to make that particular soul tool were simply too great.

Chen Fei did have the Invincible Barrier in his possession, but the Invincible Barrier was a single-instance soul tool, and it was far too valuable. He was confident that he could avoid the attack, and wanted to save it for future use, thus he naturally hadn’t unleashed its power. However, by the time he realized something was wrong, it was too late.

Ma Rulong exclaimed, “Judge!”

If the Heavenfiend Douluo had been paying attention to their side, he could have reached out in time, but it was a pity that the Heavenfiend Douluo was occupied with Dai Yueheng’s strike against Xiao Hongchen. When he heard Ma Rulong’s voice and wanted to make a move, it was too late.

The crisp and shrill cooing sounds from the phoenix rang out as Chen Fei’s fast-moving body was barely scraped by the expanding black flames before the black flames sped up and surged towards Michael the next moment.

Chen Fei’s body was still surging forward into the sky, but half his body had disappeared, and his corpse crashed down onto the stage.

Michael didn’t dare to hold back as he witnessed Chen Fei’s tragedy. He threw out the Invincible Barrier in the first possible moment and attempted to block the black phoenix’s strike. What he didn't expect was that the black phoenix swerved, and finally lunged towards Ma Rulong.

Ma Rulong’s eyes were flushed red from his fury and hatred, but he had no choice but to use his own Invincible Barrier. Even though he was also a Soul Emperor, he knew that there was no other soul tool in his arsenal besides the Invincible Barrier that could defend him against Ma Xiaotao’s attack.

“Boom –” The blistering red flames detonated in the sky, and a dark red mushroom-shaped cloud burst into the air from the collision.

Michael initially felt as if using his Invincible Barrier was wasted when the black phoenix turned away, but he knew he was fortunate as even the aftershocks of the black phoenix’s detonation turned the stage’s surface into molten lava.

The Sun Moon Empire's team had already placed Ma Xiaotao in high regard by arranging four people to besiege her at the same time. However, Ma Xiaotao’s explosive power was still almost too much for them to take.

Lin Xi and Chen Fei perished in battle, while Ma Rulong and Michael’s Invincible Barriers were no longer operational. Even though they were students from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, they had all been equipped with only one Invincible Barrier, as this item’s value was simply too lofty. Ma Xiaotao jumped down from the stage, and this meant that she was no longer able to participate in the battle, but this also meant that she managed to reserve her strength and wasn’t injured.

Ma Xiaotao didn’t glance back at the stage to see the consequences as she leapt off. She grabbed Xu Sanshi and swiftly returned to the waiting area.

Huo Yuhao jumped up from his seat and gave it to her at once. Her seat was immediately vaporized the moment Ma Xiaotao sat down, and Wang Yan hurriedly shifted to the side fearfully. It appeared as if anybody who touched this Phoenix Soul Emperor would be done for.

If a term could be used to describe this battle, then “cataclysmic” would be perfect.

Only in the initial elimination rounds had people died in this season’s Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. There were individuals who were grievously injured in the subsequent rounds, but there had been no other casualties under the judges’ watchful eyes – yet, there had been two participants from the Sun Moon Empire’s team who perished in battle during today’s battle even though it was refereed by a titled Douluo. Lin Xi’s situation could still be counted as an accident, but the Heavenfiend Douluo truly couldn’t save Chen Fei in time. The vigor and intensity of this battle only went to show how ferocious both parties could be in their attacks.

Ma Xiaotao tossed Xu Sanshi aside, and Wang Yan supported him as he shifted him to the side without attempting to wake him up.

Huo Yuhao quickly placed both of his hands onto Ma Xiaotao’s back. He activated the Ice Empress’ Pincer and his Mysterious Jade Hands to amplify his powers as he pressed his hands onto her back, and two streams of steam erupted as they crackled loudly. Ma Xiaotao’s clothes instantly vaporized in the shape of two palm prints where Huo Yuhao came into contact with them.