Douluo: Wuhun Qimen Formation, control everything!

Chapter 135 Lost again
"The next test will be between Zhou Xuan and Meng Hongchen!" The referee's voice rang in everyone's ears.

The people who were chatting all turned their attention to the assessment area.

"It's Zhou Xuan? I didn't expect him to participate in this assessment too!"

"What are you saying? No matter how powerful Zhou Xuan is, he's still an outer court disciple. Does that mean he can skip the assessment?"

"I really didn't expect it to be them again."

"What happened? Did they have something to say to each other?"

"Don't you know? They fought a year ago, but Meng Hongchen suffered a crushing defeat. I don't think this time will end much worse."

"Tsk tsk tsk, that's not necessarily true. You don't know, I have a friend who's a Soul Guidance Department student. He told me that Zhou Xuan has spent most of his time researching Soul Guidance Devices this past year, so his Martial Soul cultivation has definitely fallen behind."

Meng Hongchen, on the other hand, has been putting in tremendous effort this year, cultivating with incredible dedication. I heard he even advanced to Soul Emperor a few days ago!

"Holy crap! A Soul Emperor?! Really? How old is she?"

"Why would I lie to you? After all, he is a genius from the Sun Moon Empire. Don't underestimate him."

"That's why I said Zhou Xuan might not win this time."

"Hmph! Stop talking nonsense! Zhou Xuan will definitely win!" Xiao Xiao said angrily, arms crossed.

The group looked back, initially wondering who had been so rude as to interrupt them, only to find it was Xiao Xiao.

Although Xiao Xiao is not as famous as Zhou Xuan, her cultivation has been rising rapidly since she became Elder Xuan's disciple. She is now a four-ring Soul Master, and she is not someone that ordinary students like them can afford to offend.

He could only give an awkward smile and nod in agreement: "Yes, yes, you're right."

Looking at their expressions, Xiao Xiao could tell that they didn't think Zhou Xuan could win the match. She gritted her teeth and said, "Just you wait and see, Zhou Xuan will definitely win!"

After saying that, she turned and left.

Seeing Xiao Xiao leave, the others breathed a sigh of relief: "Why was it her? Are she and Zhou Xuan close? They only exchanged a few words, was it really necessary to make such a fuss?"

"Keep your voice down. They were teammates in previous competitions, so their relationship is naturally special."

"But no matter what, Zhou Xuan's chances of winning this time are slim."

"Stop worrying about it. What the big shots are doing has nothing to do with us. You should just pray that the opponent is weaker and that you don't get forced to back down."

That's a bit harsh to say.

On the high platform in the assessment area, Du Weilun was marking up the roster, while Wang Yan stood beside him.

He frowned when he heard the names Zhou Xuan and Meng Hongchen.

"How come those two were assigned to the same assessment?" He squinted and looked up at Wang Yan beside him.

"This is what Xiao Hongchen requested."

"You just do whatever he asks?" Du Weiren scoffed. "He's not even one of Shrek's people."

"Let me explain. Actually, we didn't agree at first, but Dean Yan came over personally and made us agree to Meng Hongchen's request, so we complied."

Upon hearing this, Du Weilin's lips twitched.

"Since that's the case, let's just let it go." He had originally intended to criticize him, but he didn't expect Yan Shaozhe to personally step in.

"Is Meng Hongchen already a Soul Emperor?"

Wang Yan nodded: "Yes, and her sixth spirit ring is quite extraordinary. According to her teacher at the time, this sixth spirit skill could probably even injure a Soul Douluo."

"Oh? Is that so? Then this competition seems interesting. Meng Hongchen came fiercely this time. Zhou Xuan is probably in grave danger."

"That's not necessarily true. Although Zhou Xuan has been researching soul tools for the past year, I have witnessed his talent. In my opinion, Zhou Xuan will most likely win this time."

"You think so highly of him?"

Wang Yan smiled and shook his head: "If you had witnessed the Soul Master Competition a year ago, you would definitely have the same thought as me. You know, Zhou Xuan has never tasted defeat."

Du Weiren raised an eyebrow: "It seems I don't know enough about the geniuses at Shrek Academy. Let's wait and see."

At this moment, Zhou Xuan and Meng Hongchen were already in place.

"Zhou Xuan, I hope we can have a fair fight this time. I hope you won't make things difficult for my brother." Meng Hongchen stood opposite Zhou Xuan and spoke in a cold voice.

"You think you'll lose before the fight even starts? Being cowardly before the battle is not a good mindset."

"Hmph! I just want to say that this is between the two of us. Don't make things difficult for my brother. After this, no matter who wins or loses, I will never come looking for you or Jiang Nannan again."

Zhou Xuan looked at her with some surprise: "Oh ho, you actually changed your mind? Okay! I agree!"

As long as this person stops bothering him, that's fine.

"But I hope you keep your word, otherwise, you know what will happen."

"Don't worry, I won't break my promise."

The referee coughed once after seeing that both sides had finished talking.

"Both sides, please prepare for the start of the match!"

Meng Hongchen made the first move, raising his hand to condense a pair of ice swords. These were not soul tools, but ordinary ice swords formed by condensing water vapor with ice-attribute soul power.

There was not a trace of fluctuation from his soul tool.

Zhou Xuan glanced at it and a smile crept onto his lips: "Looks like he's really changed his ways. I'll have to show him my true skills then."

With one hand behind your back, step out with your right foot and extend your right hand.

"Kan Zhen - Frozen Lightning Tribulation!"

Four bolts of lightning struck around Meng Hongchen, whose expression changed. He raised his hands and unleashed sword energy to disperse the lightning.

The lightning struck the ground, creating ice crystals that formed a huge ice net that enveloped Meng Hongchen.

"Xun Li - The Burning Wind Extinguished!"

A fierce wind suddenly rose from the ground, and the ice crystals were ignited in the wind, forming a huge fire tornado.

The crowd in the stands widened their eyes in disbelief: "Not a buddy? Does this make sense?"

The ice was ignited by fire?

This is unreasonable!
However, Zhou Xuan wanted to say that this was perfectly reasonable!
In his hands, the mutual generation and restraint of the five elements are all determined by him.

Meng Hongchen's expression changed, and the soul rings on his body lit up.

A giant phantom of an ice toad appeared behind her, first exhaling a cloud of icy mist.

However, instead of weakening the fire tornado, the icy mist seemed to add fuel to the fire, making the flames even larger.

"not good!"

Meng Hongchen quickly withdrew the ice mist; it seemed the ice was no longer usable.

Then she had no choice but to use poison.

"Sixth Soul Skill - Corrosive Ice!"

Countless streams of soul power surged from Meng Hongchen's body, continuously converging in front of him. Finally, they condensed into an ice cone in front of him, and if one looked closely, one could see a stream of red and blue liquid hidden in the center of the ice cone.

Just a tiny drop of this corrosive ice is enough to kill a ten-thousand-year-old soul beast.

As for people, even an eight-ring Soul Douluo-level expert might not be able to withstand a single hit. As for five-ring and six-ring Soul Masters, even if they use an invincible shield, they will be instantly corroded.

Not to mention a four-ring Soul Master like Zhou Xuan.

Sensing the dangerous aura, Du Weiren's expression changed on the high platform: "Such potent poison! Is this the soul skill you mentioned that can injure an eighth-ringed being?"

Wang Yan nodded solemnly: "Yes, this is her sixth soul skill."

"I'm actually a little glad that Meng Hongchen got his sixth spirit ring at Shrek Academy. If he had kept this trick hidden until the next Spirit Master Competition, he might have really caught us off guard."

"Yes, but now that we know, we can take precautions in advance."

Below the stage, Zhou Xuan also sensed the terrifying aura within the ice cone. He first tried to control it to fly out using his mental power, but the moment his mental power touched the venom, he felt a sizzling sound in the void.

"It's a bit troublesome."

After the ice cones completely solidified, Meng Hongchen's face visibly paled.

"If you can block this move, then I'll admit defeat." Meng Hongchen used her sword to support herself on the ground with one hand to keep from falling.

This move was powerful, but it also consumed a great deal of energy; just this small drop of venom had drained all of his soul power.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to injure an eight-ring Soul Douluo with only a six-ring cultivation level.

Zhou Xuan nodded: "Then so be it!" He drew a semi-circle with his right foot.

With eyes gently closed, a phantom Tai Chi symbol appears beneath one's feet.

To be honest, even he found the lethality of that drop of venom terrifying, so a direct confrontation was definitely not an option. Fortunately, he had recently been learning Tai Chi, and now he was putting his knowledge to good use.

"Although it is very powerful, it is ultimately useless if it cannot hit people."

Make a circle with both hands in mid-air.

The ice spike circled around Zhou Xuan once before being violently thrown to the ground.

The ice spike shattered, and the venom instantly corroded a small pit in the ground, which kept getting deeper.

Seeing this, Meng Hongchen gave a bitter smile: "In the end, we still lost."

In fact, she knew that Zhou Xuan was actually holding back, since he hadn't used the move that had defeated her last time.

The ice sword in her hand turned into specks of blue light and disappeared into the air, causing Meng Hongchen to fall to the side.

"Clap clap clap!"

A round of enthusiastic applause erupted from the stands.

"See! I knew Zhou Xuan would win!" The one who spoke was the one who had doubted Zhou Xuan earlier.

His companion rolled his eyes and lightly patted his face: "Have you no shame? Have you forgotten what you just said?"

"Ahem, what I just said doesn't count. Zhou Xuan is still the same Zhou Xuan, he's just as amazing!"

"Tsk, too lazy to criticize."

In the stands, Du Weiren laughed heartily: "That kid Zhou Xuan always manages to come up with something new for me."

"Doesn't Director Du like this kind of style?"

The two looked at each other and smiled.

"Hahaha! I like it. I hope there will be more of these kinds of creative ideas."

Xiao Hongchen sighed, carried Meng Hongchen off the stage, and gave Zhou Xuan a somewhat resentful look.

Why does his sister always faint every time he fights Zhou Xuan?
Zhou Xuan felt somewhat puzzled by his look, but still said, "Xiao Hongchen, I hope your sister will keep her promise and stop bothering me."

"Don't worry, we'll never see each other again!" Xiao Hongchen said, then left the assessment area with Meng Hongchen.

He only got this opportunity to compete because he asked Yan Shaozhe for help, and he paid a considerable price for it.

Looking back now, wasn't this just a waste of money to suffer?
At the exit, Xiao Xiao reappeared beside Zhou Xuan.

"I knew you could win!" Xiao Xiao raised her head slightly, as if she were the one who had won.

"It was expected." Zhou Xuan's emotions were not fluctuating much. He might have been a little excited about this victory at first, but now it was just a small matter.

"Can you tell me how you cultivate? We're all the same age, so how can you do so many things at the same time without falling behind in cultivation? If I wasn't mistaken, you should already be level 40, right?"

Zhou Xuan glanced at her in surprise: "Oh? You figured it out?"

Xiao Xiao raised her little head and nodded: "Of course, I've also been diligently cultivating with my master."

"You don't need to follow me. I have something to do back home. I'm leaving now!"

"Sigh~ I can come with you too."

Before she could catch up, she sensed a presence behind her, causing her to freeze.

Zhou Xuan's lips curled into a smile, clearly indicating that he already knew who the newcomer was.

Only after Zhou Xuan had walked far away did Xiao Xiao slowly turn her head back.

"Teacher?" Xiao Xiao tilted her head, smiled, and greeted him, trying to get away with it by being cute.

Elder Xuan grinned: "You still remember I'm your master? Didn't I tell you to wait for me to come back? Why did you sneak out again?"

Xiao Xiao smiled awkwardly: "Teacher, I'm about to go back now, aren't I?"

Old Master Xuan blew on his beard: "Hmph! I knew you were coming to see that brat Zhou Xuan again. Don't you know he already has Jiang Nannan?"

He had no children in his life, and he truly treated Xiao Xiao, his disciple, as his own daughter, in addition to passing on his mantle.

So seeing her always chasing after Zhou Xuan like that always gave me the feeling that my own cabbage had been eaten by a pig.

"I know that it's not uncommon for men to have multiple wives and concubines these days. Besides, Zhou Xuan hasn't been involved with any other women besides Jiang Nannan. Doesn't that prove he's a good man?"

Old Master Xuan glared at him: "You child! Why can't you understand?"

Xiao Xiao shook Xuan Lao's hand: "Oh, I understand, but Master, you've never been in love, so you don't know what that feels like."

As she spoke, Xiao Xiao's eyes seemed to sparkle with stars.

Elder Xuan sighed upon seeing this: "Never mind, I can't interfere in the affairs of you young people. But you must always remember that if Zhou Xuan bullies you, even if he is the sect leader's disciple, I will teach him a lesson for you!"

"I knew you were the best, Master!"

Zhou Xuan had just stepped out of the gate of Shrek Academy.

I was walking towards home when Uncle Wang sent me a message a couple of days ago, saying that the matter at the college had been settled.

He bought a near-bankrupt junior academy in the neighboring city, but Zhou Xuan still needs to make the final decision, and he also needs to make arrangements for the academy.

(End of this chapter)