Chapter 121: The Tang Sect's Secret Techniques

“Will the fourth contestant from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, Meng Hongchen, please step forth.”

Meng Hongchen sauntered onto the competition stage. Her looks couldn’t compare to Jiang Nannan’s, but she was still a charming and good-looking young girl, and was about Jiang Nannan’s age as well. Her flowing locks were a rare wine-red color. It was a deeper hue than Ma Xiaotao’s, and resembled mellow wine flecked with pale hues. However, her eyes weren’t red, but were blue. This characteristic was different from her brother, Xiao Hongchen.

She was the fourth contestant from the Sun Moon Empire’s team to participate in the single-elimination round. The Sun Moon Empire’s team only had four individuals left who could still participate, including her and her severely injured elder brother.

The Sun Moon Empire’s team had won the group battle, but everything was still going according to Wang Yan’s plan and arrangement. Shrek Academy’s team could be said to have obtained an overwhelming victory in terms of battle strategy and tactics; all their patience in terms of battle strategy in the competition before this had been worth it at this moment.

Who else did Shrek Academy have to send out in this single-elimination round? Other than Bei Bei, Shrek was able to send out the control-type Soul King, Ling Luochen. After that, there was still the White Tiger Soul Emperor, Dai Yueheng, as well as the Evil Phoenix Soul Emperor, Ma Xiaotao. As for the Sun Moon?

Besides Meng Hongchen, they only had a food-type Class 5 soul engineer, Xiao Xiafeng, their team leader, Ma Rulong, and the heavily wounded Xiao Hongchen.

Soul engineers should generally have an advantage over soul masters of the same level. However, which of the contestants from Shrek Academy wasn’t a monster?

Why had Michael lost? Because he hadn’t expect Bei Bei’s battle tactics. According to their research, Bei Bei’s greatest strength was his martial soul mutation on the battlefield—a cross between the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon and the Golden Holy Dragon. He’d been on guard against this the whole time, which was why he hadn’t used his strongest offensive move. He’d unwittingly lost the battle due to that single Clustered Soulchasing Ball without even getting to unleash his full potential.

The battlefield could have a myriad of changes in an instant, but every single one of Shrek’s team members were pervertedly strong.

Two Soul Ancestors had stepped onto the battlefield and defeated three Soul Kings that were also Class 5 soul engineers! How powerful would their Soul Kings and Soul Emperors be?

Even if one didn’t mention Dai Yueheng, the dominance that Ma Xiaotao had displayed in the competition thus far meant that she would be Shrek’s cornerstone and pillar of strength in the subsequent battles.

How would the Sun Moon Empire’s team stand a chance in the single-elimination rounds? How would they stand a chance in the following 2-2-3 battle?

The finals’ situation was quickly unfurling after this abrupt turn, with the scales of victory slanting in Shrek Academy’s favor. This was Shrek, the monster academy with over than ten thousand years of history.

Meng Hongchen stepped onto the competition stage under such circumstances, and faced her opponent: The Soul Ancestor with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, Bei Bei.

“Begin!” The round that the Sun Moon Empire’s team couldn’t lose began following the Heavenfiend Douluo’s bellow.

Bei Bei growled as his feet slid forward, and his entire body rocketed towards his opponent at the fastest speed possible. He’d already completed his original task once he’d achieved victory against Michael. He knew that he couldn’t use the same tactic to attain victory a second time. But despite this, and even if he lost, he wanted to whittle down Meng Hongchen’s power as much as possible in order to lay down a solid foundation for Ling Luochen, who would be the next to come on stage.

Wang Yan’s current emotions weren’t relaxed at all as he stood below the stage, despite their recent victory. His eyes were fixed upon Meng Hongchen, who’d just stepped on stage, but he couldn’t explain the sudden ominous feeling that had surfaced in his heart.

A profuse number of talents and prodigies had come from Shrek Academy. Xu Sanshi and Bei Bei had already sufficiently proven their status as the current outer courtyard’s stars, as well as the future inner courtyard’s pillars with their background and prowess. But what about their opponents? The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy wouldn’t have become Shrek Academy’s nemesis over the past few thousand years if they were that easy to deal with.

Xiao Hongchen’s abilities were enough to attract Wang Yan’s attention. Xiao Hongchen would’ve probably caused great trouble and danger for the Shrek Academy team if not for Jiang Nannan’s sudden outburst of strength—which had stopped her opponent in his tracks—followed by Dai Yueheng’s all-out strike, who wasn’t even fifteen years of age.

Then, what about Meng Hongchen?

Xiao Hongchen was the Sun Moon Empire’s trump card, and his ability had been to control metal. What was Meng Hongchen’s ability? This befuddling question mark had been in Wang Yan’s mind this whole time, and still remained unanswered.

Meng Hongchen’s expression remained as calm as ever as Bei Bei lunged towards her. She wasn’t like her comrades, who’d released their soul tools or engaged in long-range combat right from the start. Her feet shifted from beneath her body and she traipsed forward—right towards Bei Bei. At the same time, conspicuous changes began to occur all over her body.

Her flowing wine-red hair turned snowy white, while her icy blue eyes instantly turned bright red—the kind of color that made it seem like her eyes were dripping with blood.

Whoever witnessed the sudden change in her eyes would definitely be shaken by the sight; some would even feel terror.

Bei Bei had a sensation similar to when he’d faced off against the evil soul master, the Envoy of the Death God, when he saw her, and an inexplicable chill instantly ran up his spine.

It was just at this moment that the sky rang out with the crackling sounds of a lightning strike, and a thin drizzle flitted down from the sky.

Meng Hongchen raised both of her hands into the air and suddenly pushed forwards. Every part of her skin that was visible became a snowy-white color, and appeared sparkling and translucent. However, her eyes still seemed extremely out of place. They were incredibly breathtaking and electrifying.

Her palms seemed to faintly flicker with a pale green luster as well.

Meng Hongchen didn’t look like a soul engineer at all. Instead, she appeared much more like a soul master.

However, not a single person from Shrek could tell what her martial soul was; not even the Taotie Douluo Elder Xuan or Wang Yan.

Elder Xuan’s eyes narrowed into a squint, and his eyes sparkled with astonishment. Even though he still couldn’t tell what Meng Hongchen’s martial soul was, he postulated that her martial soul couldn’t be as weak as a typical soul master’s, and even if she couldn’t compare to Xiao Hongchen, they wouldn’t be too far apart.

Xiao Hongchen’s metal-type martial soul was compatible with his status as a soul engineer. His potential in the future was boundless, and he was already a Soul King even though he was still so young; one could only imagine what kind of power he would possess when he grew up.

It was apparent that Meng Hongchen had chosen a different path from her elder brother.

While everyone was flabbergasted by Meng Hongchen’s martial soul, both parties were headed straight at each other with dazzling speed. The distance between them was quickly reduced to less than thirty meters.

The first one to attack was Meng Hongchen. She raised her hands and drew two semicircles outwards, then pushed them in Bei Bei’s direction.

Her soul rings began to sparkle brilliantly on her body—two yellow, two purple and one black. This was the standard and most optimal soul ring combination. At the same time, a light projection gradually drifted into view behind her.

It was a toad, spotlessly white like a piece of jade, and with eyes the same blood-red color as hers. However, the martial soul beast transformation that had appeared on Xiao Hongchen’s body didn’t appear on Meng Hongchen.

“This is…” Wang Yan’s eyes instantly widened. He’d perused and scrutinized all sorts of encyclopedias and archives from the academy about martial souls from the moment he’d joined Shrek. He had a strangely familiar feeling about the white jade-like toad before him, and knew that he’d seen this in some ancient record before.

A beam of white energy that was a foot long in diameter surged towards Bei Bei from Meng Hongchen’s palms when she pushed them out, and her first soul ring lit up along with it.

The reason why she’d released a beam of energy and not radiance was the fact that this beam didn’t seem quick at all. There were tinges of green throughout the whiteness, and the whole thing seemed like a luminous patch of mist.

What was even more sinister was that the tiny raindrops drifting down from the sky naturally infused themselves naturally into the beam of energy, which made it look like a whirlpool.

Bei Bei naturally wouldn’t underestimate an unknown martial soul. His personality was a lot calmer and more stable than Xu Sanshi’s, thus he abruptly halted in his tracks. His third soul ring, the Thunderous Fury, lit up first, followed immediately by his fourth soul ring. He’d actually used his most powerful offensive move, the Thunderous Dragon Head, at the very beginning of the battle.

Bei Bei knew just by looking at Meng Hongchen’s appearance that it would be extremely difficult for him to emerge victorious. Meng Hongchen seemed to exude an air of mystery in whatever she did. Thus he’d assigned himself a simple target: he would grind his opponent down as much as he could.

An uncountable number of streaks of lightning accompanied the Thunderous Fury and crackled all around him. Their radiant light reflected off of the dragon scales on the right half of Bei Bei’s body, causing them to gleamed with a bluish-purple brilliance. At the same time, his fearsome draconic aura was completely unleashed amidst the drizzle around him, and a crisp draconic roar could be heard as the colossal Thunderous Dragon Head ferociously boomed out. Under the Thunderous Fury’s amplification, the force of this strike wasn’t one whit inferior to the strike of a powerful Soul King.

Lightning and thunder were rolling in the skies, causing the Thunderous Dragon Head tp appear even more ruthless than before. The enormous dragon head had a diameter of over one meter, and pierced through the miniscule raindrops falling from the sky as it slammed into the dense white whirlpool coming towards him.

Right at this moment, Meng Hongchen made a decision that was completely beyond everyone’s expectations. She didn’t intend to fight fire with fire, and neither did she push forward—instead, she stood up on her tiptoes, and her body sprung into the sky like a bolt of lightning as she flew backwards with bedazzling speed.

The Thunderous Dragon Head barreled forward and blew the white mist energy that she’d unleashed into smithereens, then proceeded to chase after her with the sounds of thunderous howls and dragon-like roars.

Meng Hongchen displayed astonishing agility as she arrived on the competition stage’s edge with two flips before she abruptly leapt to the side.

The Thunderous Dragon Head was able to lock onto its target. However, instead of chasing after her, it proceeded to crash into the protective barrier surrounding the competition stage with a loud boom.

Innumerable streaks of lightning erupted when it struck the protective barrier, causing a sphere of lightning that was over three meters in diameter to appear. Several seconds passed before it gradually dissipated.

Meng Hongchen didn’t move an inch as she dropped back onto the ground. She didn’t take the initiative to launch another attack, nor did she do anything else; she just watched Bei Bei on the other end of the stage.

Bei Bei just stood there, his gaze a little lackadaisical. There was a trace of disbelief in his eyes, but the twinkling glow in his eyes was dwindling with tremendous speed.

Boom. Bei Bei’s body collapsed backwards onto the competition stage just like that. He didn’t move an inch after the initial bounce when his body first crashed onto the stage.

The audience looked on with bewilderment, while everybody from team Shrek stood up in unison, their expressions that of intense disbelief.

How could this be? It was clearly Bei Bei’s Thunderous Dragon Head that had broken through his opponent’s attack. How could he just crumple onto the ground, unconscious, when he hadn’t even touched his opponent?

What exactly had happened?

Even the Heavenfiend Douluo looked a little dazed, as not even he knew the reason why Bei Bei had fainted on the spot. There was no reason for him to collapse, no matter which perspective he looked at it from.

However, the truth was that he’d gone down, which meant that the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy was victorious this round.

The Heavenfiend Douluo used a strand of gentle soul energy to carry Bei Bei’s unconscious body towards Shrek Academy’s team members. Huo Yuhao hurriedly came forward and grab his senior brother, and realized that Bei Bei’s face was extremely pale. All it took was that tiny moment before his breathing became extremely weak. It felt as if his vitality had been frozen, but the more frightening fact was that Bei Bei’s skin color had become as white as Meng Hongchen’s skin, except that he didn’t have her crystal-like translucence.

Meng Hongchen gradually stepped into the stage’s center, then she glanced at the other team members from Shrek with a pair of chilly eyes. She raised her right hand and pointed at the troupe in the waiting area and coldly said, “Next.”

Ling Luochen slowly straightened her back. The third contestant from Shrek Academy’s team was her.

Suddenly, Wang Yan and Huo Yuhao exclaimed at practically the same time.

“I know what her martial soul is!”

“I finally remember!”

The first sentence belonged to Huo Yuhao’s, while the latter was Wang Yan’s. Huo Yuhao’s judgment came from the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, who’d just been abruptly shaken awake inside his mind, while Wang Yan’s determination came from his accrued knowledge from reading a myriad of materials.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Yan exchanged a look, then shouted at the same time. “Her martial soul is the Vermillion Ice Toad! It’s extremely poisonous.”

The Ice Empress was in a deep slumber inside his spiritual sea, but she’d been awakened the moment Huo Yuhao caught Bei Bei and had said the Vermillion Ice Toad’s name.

Huo Yuhao quickly probed for information about the Vermillion Ice Toad. The Ice Empress told him that it was an ice-type soul beast that possessed extremely strong poison, and was known in the Extreme North as the ‘King Within the Crevice’. The reason for this was because its territory was in the Extreme North’s outer regions, along the border to the human world. There were very few of them around, and their whereabouts were unpredictable, as they always moved from place to place. As such, they were rarely-seen and exotic. The Vermillion Ice Toad’s forte was poison, and they absorbed the coldest air and energies between heaven and earth to forge their poisons. The two reasons that they hadn’t moved deeper into the Extreme North was because the Three Heavenly Kings were holding down the fort, and the Vermillion Ice Toad’s body was an ice-type soul beast, while its eyes were fire-type—an extremely peculiar combination. Thus, places of extreme cold weren’t suitable for them to inhabit. They intertwined both their fire and ice abilities to produce their special icy poison.

The Vermillion Ice Toad would leave a trail of acute poison wherever it went, which would remain there almost indefinitely. Even soul beasts more powerful than it found it challenging to harm the Ice Toad. There had been records of soul masters with this martial soul on the continent, but they were extremely rare. The reason for this was because the Vermillion Ice Toad’s situation was similar to Ma Xiaotao’s Evil Phoenix; the icy poison within it would cause a toxic backlash to its owner. One misstep, and the soul master would perish from the icy poison entering his or her heart. This was the main reason why there were very few of such soul masters who could cultivate to an extremely high level.

However, there were two sides to everything. The stronger the toxic backlash, the more formidable its power, and the stronger the poison in battle.

There was no question that the sphere of white mist that she’d released was charged with the Vermillion Ice Toad’s intense poison. Bei Bei had been unwittingly poisoned, thus he had no longer been able to control the Thunderous Dragon Head, which naturally meant the latter wouldn’t be able to lock onto its target anymore. Meng Hongchen wasn’t only powerful and unique—her calculations were accurate and impeccable. She’d defeated Bei Bei practically without breaking a sweat, and it was apparent that she could control the Vermillion Ice Toad’s intense poison at a whim, as the Heavenfiend Douluo would’ve been affected otherwise. Whether she’d suffer from a toxic backlash was hard to say.

Bei Bei hadn’t let Michael unleash his full potential, and he ended up with the same fate. The Golden Holy Dragon’s radiance would no longer shine in this season’s grand competition.

Huo Yuhao and Wang Yan’s unified exclamation was so loud that even Meng Hongchen heard it from the competition stage. She glanced towards Shrek Academy’s waiting area, then grunted and said, “You guys are from Shrek after all. Looks like you do know some things.”

The competition carried on, as the single-elimination rounds couldn’t be stopped halfway. Huo Yuhao and Wang Yan’s words were clearly meant to remind Ling Luochen as she stepped onto the competition stage.

However, both of their faces were full of worry and anxiety.

The rain was becoming even finer. There was no doubt that Ling Luochen’s ice-type control abilities would receive a great boost under such a deluge. However, wouldn’t the downpour also create many perfect avenues for poison to spread?

Someone with Bei Bei’s cultivation, and with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon’s natural resistance, had lost the ability to battle in just a few gasps of breath. One could only imagine how intense the Vermillion Ice Toad’s poison was, and Meng Hongchen was already a Class 5 soul engineer.

Ling Luochen walked on stage with a calm look in her eyes and stood before the judge. Shrek still had the advantage in the single-elimination round for now, as she was the third contestant, while Meng Hongchen was the fourth.

The light drizzle continued as both parties gradually retreated to their respective corners. Meng Hongchen’s expression at this moment was like an arrogant and aloof peacock.

Ling Luochen moved back to the edge as she breathed out lightly. The raindrops around her body drifted away and couldn’t touch her body at all.

“Begin.”

Ling Luochen immediately made an extremely magnificent and gorgeous move.

She released her martial soul, her soul rings naturally appearing as well. The moment they came into view, all five of her soul rings started to sparkle alternately.

Ling Luochen had actually used all five soul skills one after another within a span of three breaths. Everybody could see that all five circles of light were flickering alternately, from her first hundred year soul ring, to her last ten thousand year soul ring.

This was no longer about simple tactics or tricks, it was more about her personal understanding of ice.

Soul masters couldn’t possibly unleash so many soul skills with such dazzling speed under normal circumstances, yet Ling Luochen had managed to do so. She had complete control over ice, and had thus made use of the connection between her soul skills and exploited their relationships. Not only had she unleashed five soul skills within such a short period of time, but she’d also managed to reduce their consumption by about thirty percent.

Every single disciple from Shrek Academy that could enter the inner courtyard could be described as both talented and prodigious.

Following her five soul rings’ alternate sparkling, the first thing that appeared in her palm was naturally her Ice Staff. She raised her Ice Staff into the air as her soul rings continued to flicker, and a crystal-like Ice Armor covered her entire body; even her mouth and nose were completely protected. At the same time, an icy prison descended upon Meng Hongchen and trapped her inside. The sprawling Icemist erupted with Ling Luochen at the center, followed by her Icebrilliant Halo.

The temperature on the competition stage instantly dropped to fifty degrees below zero, the Icemist’s extreme coldness permeating and wreaking havoc within the stage’s protective barriers at lightning speed.

As Ling Luochen didn’t have the Ultimate Ice’s power, the lowest temperature that she could reach with her current level of control was only about eighty degrees below zero. In comparison, Huo Yuhao’s level of cultivation wasn’t that high, but he could reduce the temperature in his immediate vicinity to more than two hundred degrees below zero if he wanted to because he had Ultimate Ice. This was the distinction between their two different kinds of ice, and this was also the reason why Huo Yuhao was recognized.

The lack of Ultimate Ice didn’t mean that Ling Luochen wasn’t powerful, however. She was strong enough to be chosen as Shrek’s official team’s main control-type soul master, and her control of the ice element had long reached nearly complete freedom.

She was uncertain whether she would be affected by the acute poison. Therefore, she had to use her most powerful abilities in the face of such danger. She needed to use her strongest defensive abilities while simultaneously controlling both the stage and her opponent.

What made her a little surprised was that Meng Hongchen didn’t do anything to stop herself from being entrapped by the icy prison after Ling Luochen’s multi-pronged release and her elegant unleashing of five different soul skills. She didn’t even seem like she wanted to break out from the inside. In fact, there was a tinge of indifference at the corner of her mouth.

The Icemist and the Icebrilliant Halo’s effects reduced the temperature to an extremely low level and spread around with dazzling speed; both had permeated the entire stage in the blink of an eye.

Most of the audience didn’t really appreciate soul masters like Ling Luochen, as she would greatly affect the competition’s visibility the moment she made a move.

The Icemist swiftly blanketed the entire competition stage, making it so that nothing else could be seen on stage.

Both Shrek Academy’s team members and the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy’s team members were as nervous as ever inside of their respective waiting areas. Victory was imperative to Shrek Academy in this round, as a loss would mean that their advantage would disappear. Even though they still had two powerful Soul emperors, their opponents’ team leader had yet to step out either.

A minute passed, and then two minutes passed… Soon, five minutes had passed in the midst of everyone’s agonizing anxiety.

The Icemist covering the entire stage gradually dissipated. When everything that was on stage became visible, everybody could see that Meng Hongchen was still standing inside the icy prison. Her pale white skin seemed to be even more pale at this point, as it was covered in a layer of frost.

Ling Luochen also remained in her original spot on the other side, as her Ice Staff was raised high above her head, while her entire body was covered in her Ice Armor.

Was it over? Who’d won the round?

The Heavenfiend Douluo, Huang Jinxu, stood at the center of the stage, as he was the judge. A layer of starlight had condensed into a protective barrier that enveloped his body within it. It was obvious that he was rather fearful of the battle that had transpired before him.

At that moment, piece after piece of thin ice drifted down from Meng Hongchen’s body following a series of crisp crackling sounds, which shattered into dust as they fell to the ground. There was still a look of disdain paired with a faint smile on her face.

“Did you think that ice could block off my poison? It’s a pity for you, as my martial soul is an ice-type one as well. Passing venom through ice is my forte, thus your loss is not unjustified.”

Blue light flashed through her right hand as she spoke, a blue longsword appearing in her hand. She slashed it in front of her body, and a chilly and sinister blue light flickered as she cut open the ice prison, which Ling Luochen no longer had control over. She then elegantly sauntered out from inside.

“The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy is victorious. Shrek Academy, send forth your next contestant.” The Heavenfiend Douluo waved his arm in the air, and a sphere of light enveloped Ling Luochen and sent her off the competition stage. Ling Luochen was like an ice statue.

Huo Yuhao was the one who caught her yet again. He tapped her and instantly dispelled the ice armor that was enveloping her body.

Ling Luochen had completely lost consciousness like Bei Bei before her; even the color of their faces was identical. Such powerful poison!

Wang Yan was also overcome with a haze of terror.

No matter how intelligent he was, and no matter how well he could arrange battle strategies, he was at his wits’ end, and could only look on helplessly in the face of such a situation. Who would have thought that such a formidable poison soul master would emerge from their opponents’ camp? Both Bei Bei and Ling Luochen had been defeated in battle without even having a chance to directly clash with their opponent.

Huo Yuhao would be able to get rid of a pure ice poison. However, even though Meng Hongchen’s dual-type venom origin was ice-based it also contained traces of fire inside of it as well. The moment the outer layer of ice-type venom was removed, the fire-type poison inside was likely to be unleashed. One misstep could cost Ling Luochen her life; how could Huo Yuhao dare to take this risk?

“Next.” Meng Hongchen’s voice—akin to the harbinger of death—could be heard once more. Her expression was still condescending and extremely arrogant, but this single word caused an immense pressure to fall onto team Shrek inside of the waiting area.

She’d defeated two people in a row, both of which could be described as effortless victories. Meng Hongchen was the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy’s cornerstone at this point, as both parties had now been pulled back onto the same footing in terms of able-bodied contestants.

Dai Yueheng gradually rose to his feet, his brows furrowed. Wang Yan had explained the Vermillion Ice Toad’s situation to the best of his ability to the rest of Shrek’s team while Ling Luochen was battling with her opponent.

The White Tiger was ferocious enough, but it still belonged to the same category as Bei Bei’s Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. Bei Bei hadn’t been able to resist Meng Hongchen’s poison; would he be able to as a Soul Emperor? Dai Yueheng didn’t know the answer to this question.

Yet, even if he knew he wouldn’t be able to resist it, how could he just chicken out? Both the emperor and his own father, the White Tiger Duke, were watching.

The despondence and exasperation that Dai Yueheng felt in his heart was already at the highest possible level, causing veins to pop out all over his forehead. He’d rather challenge a Soul Sage than fight someone like Meng Hongchen. It wouldn’t be much if he won, but it would be an embarrassment if he lost, and he’d be humiliated in front of the vast audience.

The list was fixed and couldn’t be changed, however, so he could only gather his courage and prepare to engage in battle.

“Dai Yueheng.” A deep voice rang out from beside his ear.

“Eh?” Dai Yueheng turned around. Ma Xiaotao was the one who’d just called his name.

Ma Xiaotao had completely suppressed the evil fire in her body during their period of adjustment and recovery before this, and she’d even regained much of her soul power through a Milk Bottle.

Ma Xiaotao gazed at him, and a serious look flashed across her eyes. She lowered her voice and said, “Her venom is powerful, but she’s ultimately still a level below us. Your three powerful transformations that are meant to amplify your powers will grant you a great boost to your resistance. Rain hell upon her in the time that she tries to take you down with poison!”

All of them were intelligent; this single pointer was enough. Dai Yueheng immediately understood the meaning in her words, and his eyes squinted a little as he nodded his head. He gave Ma Xiaotao a thumbs-up, then leapt into the sky and landed on the competition stage.

As the onlooker, he could see more of the game, and immediately understood what he had to do with Ma Xiaotao’s timely reminder. He possessed a powerful martial soul and was a Soul Emperor over Rank 60. The amplifications that his martial soul could apply onto his body were extremely formidable. Under such circumstances, a certain duration of time was needed for poison to take effect on his body no matter how acute his opponent’s venom was.

Bei Bei’s level of cultivation was inferior to his opponent, plus he’d been caught off guard.

As for Ling Luochen? Their round had only concluded ten minutes after her Icemist had permeated throughout the entire competition stage. Meng Hongchen had mentioned afterwards that ice was ineffective in blocking her from spreading poison, but it was clear that she’d needed a certain amount of time to deal with Ling Luochen. Ling Luochen was a control-type soul master, and thus was more adept at controlling the battle rather than using brute force. He, on the other hand, was different.

Meng Hongchen looked back over her shoulder at her own camp’s waiting area as Dai Yueheng stepped onto the competition stage. The Sun Moon Empire’s teacher-in-charge made a few gestures towards her, and Meng Hongchen rolled her eyes, then she nodded her head slightly to show that she understood. An added tinge of self-confidence instantly appeared in her eyes.

“Step back,” the Heavenfiend Douluo habitually said.

Dai Yueheng squinted slightly as he stared at Meng Hongchen with a chilly gaze.

Meng Hongchen felt her body tighten up and a chill ran down her spine. She felt as if she was actually facing off against a ferocious tiger. He was a Soul Emperor from Shrek Academy, and his intimidating aura was cause her stomach to freeze.

She quickly recovered, however, as her two previous victories had built up her confidence.

Dai Yueheng’s disposition seemed to change delicately when he reached his corner. He didn’t move very fast, but the distance between every step that he took was extremely balanced and even. His aura kept becoming denser and more stable, as if he were a mountain that was gradually taking shape.

On top of the royal city wall.

The Star Luo Emperor grinned and said, “My friend, do you think that Dai Yueheng will be able to defeat the Sun Moon Empire’s rare poison soul master?”

The White Tiger Duke frowned faintly and replied, “He can win if he plays it smart. However, he will still probably end up hurting himself even if he does emerge victorious, as poison soul masters are troublesome—especially those from the Sun Moon Empire. Your Majesty, you need to start taking that girl seriously.”

“Indeed, the Sun Moon Empire is getting more out of control. The messenger that I sent to Shrek Academy returned yesterday.”

“Oh? What did Shrek Academy say?” It was apparent that the White Tiger Duke knew about the Star Luo Empire’s efforts to form a rapport with Shrek Academy.

The Star Luo Emperor laughed and replied, “What else? Those cunning foxes! They politely declined my offer. The Martial Soul Department’s dean, Yan Shaozhe, sent a message: Shrek will never fall in. They will only nurture, and they will only protect. Shrek’s influence will never leave Shrek City.”

The White Tiger Duke grunted and said, “They’ve already become the Continental Guardians, yet they’re still not coming out of the city? They’re just not going to expand outwards.”

The Star Luo Emperor sighed and said, “We still have to admit that it’s only because of the Shrek Academy’s steadfast belief in their principles that they’ve remained as the neutral party between the Douluo Continent’s three original empires. We might’ve had the opportunity if not for the Sun Moon Empire’s existence, and it would’ve been our chance to unify the continent. However, Shrek will never allow any form of infighting, and we don’t have the strength to contest anything under the current political circumstances.”

The White Tiger Duke replied, “The Sun Moon Empire has been relatively quiet recently; I imagine they won’t cause much disturbance in the near future.”

The Star Luo Emperor waved his hand and said, “The competition has begun. Let’s watch.”

Dai Yueheng and Meng Hongchen’s contest had begun while the ruler and his minister were discussing the great throes of politics.

Dai Yueheng roared like a tiger as soon as the judge gave the green light, and his entire body shot forward like an arrow. His first, third and fifth soul ring immediately began to sparkle sequentially as he flew through the air, and he transformed as fast as he could.

Golden fur and golden claws appeared as he used the White Tiger’s Shield, the White Tiger’s Vajra Transformation, and the White Tiger’s Devilgod Transformation. These three powerful amplification skills could raise his power to the highest possible level in a matter of seconds.

He’d already reached the center of competition’s stage by the time his third soul ring had been completely released, and it was obvious how frighteningly quick his movements were. It felt as if his fearsome aura was going to tear everything before him to pieces.

Below the competition stage, Ma Rulong’s expression changed again and again. He was also a Soul Emperor, but the rift between him and Dai Yueheng was simply too vast in terms of their martial soul and cultivation. He only had a fifty percent chance of defeating Dai Yueheng at best, even if he unleashed his soul tools with all his might. He had to admit that Shrek was superior in single combat at the same age and the same level of cultivation. He knew that he wouldn’t even have a thirty percent chance of victory if he were to go up against Ma Xiaotao in a one-versus-one matchup.

Meng Hongchen finally released her soul tools as she faced off against Dai Yueheng.

An icy blue radiance glowed from thirteen spots on her body—these thirteen spots were her forehead, shoulders, chest, elbows, abdomen, hips, knees, and both of her hands.

Thirteen spheres of chilly blue light formed from, then swiftly transformed into an exquisite blue armor that protected Meng Hongchen’s body.

Even though her armor covered her entire body, there didn’t appear to be any redundancies in it. The entire set of armor seemed extremely delicate and fine, and was even engraved with magnificent bluish-gold floral patterns. Meng Hongchen was already enchanting, but this body armor made her appear even more valiant and formidable.

She also held a pair of icy-blue longswords in both of her hands. The swords were thin, and were each three feet long. Three pairs of folded wings that were roughly a foot long extended from behind her body. The body armor in and of itself was enough for her to release a dense, chilly aura.

He Caitou’s ability to distinguish soul tools was relatively advanced, thus he immediately gave his opinion. This was a Class 6 soul tool; a full-body armor with attached weapons and a flying-type soul tool. Furthermore, a Class 5 soul engineer would be able to use this Class 6 soul tool. He was also positive that Meng Hongchen couldn’t possibly have made this; this soul tool had definitely come from the hands of some expert.