Douluo Continent: The Eye of Truth

Chapter 57 Battle against Thousand Spirits Academy

Huo Yuhao rested for a while, and it was already the morning of the next day.

Today is Shrek Academy's second match in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament.

In the morning, after distributing the soul tools he had purchased at yesterday's auction to everyone, Wang Yan led the reserve team to Xingluo Square early in the morning.

The other four members of the main team were still recovering at the Star Emperor Hotel, but Ma Xiaotao, the only one who was not injured, had disappeared early in the morning.

Fortunately, today's opponent was already matched after yesterday's round-robin tournament, so Wang Yan was able to discuss tactical plans with Bei Bei in advance before the match.

However, their opponent this time, the Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Master Academy team, possesses a Soul King-level combat power, which is not very friendly to Shrek Academy, whose strongest member in the reserve team is only a Soul Master.

After experiencing the same wave of cheers from the audience that accompanied them every time they attended before, the Shrek Academy members entered the contestant passage.

On the competition stage, the referee announced loudly through the megaphone: "Both sides enter the waiting area. Please invite the captains of both sides to come up to the stage to draw lots."

Following the previous draw, the captains of both teams quickly decided on the battle format for this match.

"In this competition, Shrek Academy will face off against the Battle Spirit Empire's Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Master Academy. The competition format is team battle!"

Upon hearing this, the cheers from the audience in the stadium erupted even more enthusiastically.

After all, team battles are the most intense and entertaining type of competition in all events.

Then, under the referee's instructions, the players from both sides entered the arena through the passages on either side of the platform.

Previously, the students from Shrek Academy had also watched the matches of Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Master Academy.

In the previous elimination rounds, although Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Master Academy did not participate in any team battles, the opposing team's composition was quite interesting.

Apart from the fact that their captain, a Soul King, is an offensive type, their main team consists of two control-type Soul Masters and four defensive-type Soul Masters.

Without a doubt, the opposing team's captain is the core of this team, while the others exist only to protect and assist this Soul King powerhouse.

Before going on stage, Wang Yan instructed Bei Bei, "Be careful in the upcoming match. The two opponents are special, one ice and one fire, and they use a martial soul mimicry fighting style."

"Although his physical combat strength is far weaker than that of a typical Soul Master, his fighting style has become more flexible and varied."

Upon hearing this, Bei Bei nodded. He had spent several days with Wang Yan in the spectator area, gathering information on the students who might become their opponents.

He also knew something about the Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Master Academy. Apart from the three who Wang Yan had specifically instructed him to be the most powerful, the other four defensive soul masters were also quite extraordinary.

All four of them are Soul Masters from the same family or sect, and their Martial Soul is the Spirit Rhinoceros Shield, which is inherited from the bloodline of their family or sect.

Although the Spirit Shield isn't exactly a top-tier or powerful defensive spirit, it has the advantage of numbers. With all members having the same spirit and spirit ring configuration, their teamwork is excellent in terms of both synergy and coordination.

Moreover, their soul skills and martial souls can resonate with each other. Although it cannot reach the level of martial souls, it can still achieve the tactical goal of being immovable and unbreakable.

"This battle will be tough. Everyone, listen carefully to my instructions once you're on the field." Although Beibei still had his usual smile on his face, it was clear that he wasn't as relaxed as he seemed.

The good news is that Qianling Advanced Soul Master Academy doesn't seem to be equipped with soul tools, or perhaps they were just holding back in previous competitions.

When both sides took to the field, Shrek Academy's formation remained the same as in the knockout stage, while the four at the front of Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Master Academy were, unsurprisingly, the four Spirit Shield Soul Masters.

The four tall figures stood side by side in front, forming a human wall that completely blocked the captain of the Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Master Academy and the two control-type girls behind them.

"The match begins!" the referee shouted. Immediately afterward, both sides released their martial souls, and the Shrek Academy students quickly charged towards the formation set up by the seven students from the Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Master Academy.

For the Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Master Academy and others, their core tactic is to defend and wait for the enemy to attack. Moreover, it is not shameful to wait for the enemy to tire themselves out when fighting Shrek Academy. If Shrek Academy cannot defeat them, it will only be Shrek Academy that loses face.

After the four people at the forefront of the Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Master Academy had their martial souls possessed, their skin changed and became covered with a layer of dark yellow earthy sheen.

At the same time, their skin became rough and thick, and the muscles on their already strong and muscular right arms twisted and deformed violently, growing keratinous structures like shields.

Interestingly, the predecessor of the Spirit Rhinoceros Shield was a rhinoceros-type martial soul, belonging to the category of beast martial souls. However, it seems that the sect that inherited this martial soul tended to configure defensive transformation-type soul skills in its soul rings over the years.

This led to a large number of martial souls in the sect mutating into weapon martial souls in a certain generation. The Spirit Rhinoceros Shield, after mutating into a weapon martial soul, was actually superior to the original rhinoceros-type beast martial soul in terms of martial soul quality and defensive capabilities.

After these Soul Masters with mutated Martial Souls intermarried and reproduced, the Spirit Rhinoceros Shield replaced the original Rhinoceros Martial Soul and became the sect's inherited Martial Soul.

This origin is quite similar to the Xuanming Tortoise Shell Shield of the Xuanming Sect.

As the first spirit rings beneath the four opponents lit up, the shield formed from layers of keratin rapidly enlarged, and a dark yellow light emerged from it, transforming into a shield wall that completely blocked the area in front of them.

Although he was still sprinting, Xu Sanshi's mouth didn't stop either: "No, if I do this, my Xuanming Replacement won't be able to target the opposing captain. Plan A won't work. Let's do Plan B, Beibei. Let's stall them first and then look for an opportunity."

Beibei nodded, but the distance between her and Xu Sanshi seemed to be gradually increasing, and she was subtly flanking the right side of the Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Master Academy team.

Jiang Nannan did the same, moving away from Xu Sanshi and flanking the Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Master Academy team from the left.

Xu Sanshi held the midfield alone, while behind everyone, the dazzling light from Ning Tian's Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda never stopped from the start of the match.

She was rapidly applying buffs to everyone except Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao, on the other hand, was hanging at the very back of the group, just a short distance in front of Ning Tian.

They did not join Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao, but instead used all their strength to approach the other party together with Bei Bei.

Following the four Spirit Shield Soul Masters, Shen Ce, the captain of Thousand Spirit Advanced Soul Master Academy, also summoned his Martial Soul, Thousand Strike Spear.

It is sharpened at both ends, extremely sharp, and has a bright silver body with faint inscriptions engraved on it.

The Thousand-Strike Spear hovered in front of Shen Ce, not shooting out directly, but waiting for an opportunity, an opportunity to achieve a great victory.

Beside Shen Ce, the two girls, one red and one blue, whose martial souls were the Frost Bear and the Blazing Tiger respectively, had their martial souls transformed into beast-shaped mimicry.

The Frost Bear charged toward the four members of the Spirit Shield standing side by side in front of it, and then released its soul skill. The shield wall soul skill released by the four members of the Spirit Shield in front of it was covered with a layer of ice crystals. First soul skill: Frost Shield.

Although it's only a century-old soul skill, as a support skill, it still increases the defensive capabilities of the shield wall by at least 30%.

Next up is the second soul skill: Ice Seal.

The Frost Bear, formed from the spirit's mimicry, stomped its foot, and a layer of ice crystals bypassed the four people covered by the Frost Shield and covered the direction from which the Shrek group was charging.

Immediately, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan, who were rushing the fastest, felt a chill and freezing air enter their bodies, and their speed inevitably slowed down a lot.

However, with Ning Tian providing support from behind, and with the repeated release of control-removing and speed-up soul skills, the control effects on the three were quickly removed.

However, apart from An Lengye, whose martial soul is the Frost Bear, there is more than one control-type soul master in the opposing team.

Then, the Soul Master girl named Fei Yu Yan, whose Martial Soul was the Blazing Tiger, activated her Soul Skill.

The first, second, and third spirit rings flashed in turn, the technique was skillful, and it was clear that the person had been trained for a long time.

A pair of fiery wings grew from the back of the Blazing Tiger formed by the Martial Soul's mimicry, and the color of the flames burning on its body began to change to bluish-white. Under the amplification of the second Soul Skill, Blazing Wings, the fire element power controlled by the Blazing Tiger suddenly surged.

A flame also spewed from the mouth of the Fiery Tiger, surrounding Shen Ce who was holding the Thousand-Strike Spear, and the fiery red halo draped Shen Ce in a layer of flame.

With the amplification of this soul skill called Ring of Blaze, Shen Ce's martial soul temporarily gained the ability to influence fire elements, and at the same time greatly increased the Thousand Strike Spear's upper limit for withstanding fire element energy.

Next came the third soul skill. A phantom figure separated from the body of the Blazing Tiger, formed from bluish-white flames. As this light and shadow separated, the Blazing Tiger's main body dimmed considerably.

The beam of light leaped directly towards the Thousand-Strike Spear, then merged into it, while the Thousand-Strike Spear faintly emitted the sound of a tiger's roar, and at the same time became even hotter.

With the blessing of the Ring of Flames, the Thousand-Strike Spear barely withstood the additional external energy.

However, aside from Fei Yu Yan's assistance, Shen Ce himself is also a Soul King powerhouse.

The soul rings on the Thousand Strike Spear flashed, and with the activation of the third soul skill, the originally restless Thousand Strike Spear immediately stabilized and was covered by a layer of light flame, suppressing the restless fire element.

With the triple amplification, Shen Ce's attack was not to be underestimated, and Huo Yuhao, through the Eye of Truth and mental detection, was naturally able to see the offensive that the opponent had set up.

However, the other Shrek members who were not included in the mental detection were unaware of this. The strongest among them could only sense Shen Ce's increasingly sharp aura behind the Spirit Rhinoceros Shield.

Beibei frowned, sensing that something was wrong.

Huo Yuhao, on the other hand, recorded the opponent's tactics and methods throughout the entire event using his Eye of Truth, since it involved a combination of different martial souls and soul skills.

Once the patterns are figured out, Huo Yuhao's soul power circulation techniques will be able to take on several more variations in actual combat.

Although Huo Yuhao could conduct his own research very quickly, why not use the data that others had already researched, which could save him time?

"Go!" Shen Ce roared, no longer suppressing the Thousand Strike Spear in his hand that he could no longer hold back.

Upon hearing this word, the formation of the four Spirit Shield Soul Masters suddenly changed, with the two shield walls in the middle shifting to the side, revealing a small gap.

At this moment, Xu Sanshi, who was charging forward with his shield raised, vaguely sensed something was wrong. He looked at the gap between the Spirit Shields and saw a blazing white light flashing out from it. At the same time, a white cross-shaped mark appeared in the center of Xu Sanshi's chest.

This is Shen Ce's fourth soul skill, which has the effects of locking and breaking through.

Xu Sanshi's nonchalant smile froze, and the spirit rings beneath his feet flashed wildly. Although caught off guard, Xu Sanshi's qualities as a defensive spirit master were still quite impressive.

Xuanming Power, Xuanming Shield Array, Xuanming Tremor.

With the triple blessing, the deep black light and shadow on the Xuanming Tortoise Shell Shield radiated outwards like ripples, creating layers of soul power vibrations.

At the same time, layers of illusory tortoise shells, seemingly solid, were superimposed on the Xuanming Tortoise Shell Shield, making it even larger.

As the Thousand-Strike Spear was fired, layers of deep black soul power vibrations and tortoise shell phantoms were shattered. This full-force attack from Shen Ce at his peak was not so easy to deal with.

Not to mention that, without any preparation, as the structure's defenses were breached layer by layer, the Thousand-Strike Spear landed squarely on the Xuanming Tortoise Shell Shield.

Xu Sanshi was sent flying ten meters away and fell to the ground. Although the Xuanming Tortoise Shell Shield was not broken, some cracks appeared in the part that was hit by the Thousand-Strike Spear.

Seeing this, Shen Ce's expression changed slightly. He hadn't expected that his strongest attack, which he had prepared in a state of rest and preparation, would be taken by a Soul Master whose Soul Power was a whole realm lower than his.

While it cannot be said that they were unharmed, it was far from their intended strategic objective. Moreover, with the opening and closing of the Spirit Shield Formation, weaknesses had already emerged.

"Not good!" a Spirit Shield Master shouted, trying to reassemble the shield array, but it was too late.

After being knocked away, before he could even get up from the ground, Xu Sanshi gritted his teeth and endured his injuries to activate his fourth soul skill, Xuanming Displacement.

In an instant, his figure disappeared from the ground, and Shen Ce appeared in the spot where Xu Sanshi had fallen.

Immediately afterward, Shen Ce's mind went blank, and Huo Yuhao's second spirit ring lit up.

Bei Bei and Jiang Nannan, who had initially distanced themselves from Xu Sanshi, both activated their propulsion soul tools and immediately turned back to surround and attack Shen Ce, who had temporarily lost his ability to move.

(End of this chapter)