In Douluo Continent, Tang San raids my base right from the start.

Chapter 198 Xiao Wu, Safety First

In the afternoon, the sun was shining brightly.

"Second round of the qualifying tournament, sixth match: Shrek Academy versus Plant Academy." The announcer's voice rang out in the training ground.

Tang San calmly stood up from his seat and strode into the arena.

The teacher originally wanted Ma Hongjun to go first, but he refused. His reason was simple: his own martial soul was also plant-type, and fighting against a soul master who also had a plant-type martial soul would provide a good comparison and perhaps lead to new insights.

The result was obvious: the teacher agreed.

Perfect, let everyone see that even though my Blue Silver Grass martial soul is a useless one, it can still reign supreme among plant-type martial souls. The reason I couldn't defeat Long Yingtian and the others wasn't because I'm useless, but simply because my martial soul was countered. I thought to myself.

"It seems Tang San really wants to prove himself." Zhu Wu could easily guess Tang San's little scheme.

It's just too obvious.

When it comes to fighting against plant-type martial souls, Ma Hongjun, with his fire attack abilities, is undoubtedly more suitable, which is also part of the original story. Ma Hongjun did stand up when the roster was submitted before the match, but sat down again after Tang San said a few words to Yu Xiaogang.

Without a doubt, it was Tang San who suggested going first.

"Speaking of which, Ma Hongjun doesn't seem to have played much since the qualifiers started," Xiao Chenyu couldn't help but chime in. "On the other hand, Tang San is in every match as long as he's not injured, even when he encounters opponents who counter him, like Chi Huo and Tian Shui."

"It's simple, because he's Yu Xiaogang's disciple." Ning Rongrong pursed her lips.

"As far as I know, Yu Xiaogang's greatest wish is to prove his theory of Soul Masters through Tang San."

"So, in his eyes, the other students in the team are nothing more than tools to help his disciple gain fame," Dugu Bo said with a rare sneer.

"The more inadequate a person feels, the more they want to prove themselves to the outside world, especially those with physical disabilities."

"Because only in this way can they have a reason to deceive themselves and cover up their inner inferiority complex."

Several people nodded in agreement. Xiao Chenyu pondered for a moment and then added with understanding, "It's like how good-looking people rarely care if others talk about how ugly they are, because they look in the mirror and know they're not bad-looking, so they're confident in themselves. But if someone even prettier comes along, they get anxious. Because it's a fact that the other person is prettier than them, they just don't want to admit it."

That's why there's a saying: "Ugly people often cause trouble."

"If the facts cannot be changed, then one can only prove oneself in other ways to cover up one's inner inferiority complex regarding self-image."

"That makes sense." Dugu Bo nodded slightly, looking at Xiao Chenyu with newfound respect.

"Tang San is trying to use the Botanical Academy as a stepping stone for himself," Dugu Yan sneered.

"He's trying to prove to outsiders that his previous loss wasn't due to his own people's incompetence, but rather the weakness of his martial soul. He believes that if both of them had plant-type martial souls, he wouldn't have lost."

"The match begins!" the referee's voice suddenly rang out.

"Second Soul Skill, Thorn Binding." Yao Zi, the captain of the Plant Academy with a Soul Power of Level 44, raised her hand and flung out purplish-red vines.

"Ghostly Shadow!" Tang San moved like a shadow, easily dodging the attack, and accelerated towards his opponent.

"Fourth Soul Skill, Thorn Rain!" Yao Zi raised her hands, and countless vines rose from the ground like spears, then turned and stabbed at Tang San.

"Fourth Soul Skill, Blue Silver Thousand-Pound Entangling Armor." Tang San not only did not retreat but accelerated, and vines suddenly grew from all parts of his body, wrapping around his body at an extremely fast speed, and then hardening into a dark gold color. "Clang clang clang" His body grazed past the gaps in the flying vines, each impact producing a metallic scraping sound and leaving fine scratches, but without causing any substantial damage to the vine armor.

"Mysterious Jade Hand!" Tang Thirty's fingers lashed out at the surface of the vines, displaying impressive arm strength as he swept away a bunch of sharp thorns.

Then, using the rain of thorns as cover, he suddenly threw it out, shooting it at his opponent through the gap at a tricky angle.

"Pfft pfft pfft ah ah ah." Yao Zi was caught off guard and was hit in all four limbs in succession. She let out a painful groan and knelt down.

"You've lost." Tang San came up to him, his expression indifferent, and reached out to release a thorny vine at the tip, pressing it against his opponent's throat.

"This doesn't really count as winning because of the Blue Silver Grass," Xiao Chenyu muttered. He had only defended, and the real victory came from a combination of other special techniques. He genuinely couldn't see that Tang San relied on the Blue Silver Grass martial soul to suppress his opponent and achieve victory; the comparison wasn't obvious.

"There are some; at least Tang San's fourth soul skill showed decent defensive capabilities," Ning Rongrong said.

"Their defensive capabilities are indeed quite good." Xiao Chenyu nodded.

"Not the best, but not the worst either, it's just average." Zhu Wu nodded slightly.

"If I'm not mistaken, Tang San's fourth spirit ring should come from some kind of spirit beast that excels at defense. If he himself possesses a beast spirit that is also good at defense, even if it's some kind of offensive beast spirit, the defensive power he displays will definitely be more than this."

"Unfortunately, he used the Blue Silver Grass martial soul to enhance it, so the effect was naturally greatly reduced."

"The Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul's characteristic is tenacious vitality, but its defensive capabilities are ultimately somewhat weak. Moreover, his first three spirit rings were not designed to enhance the Martial Soul's defensive abilities, so they did not create a cumulative effect."

"Therefore, in terms of defense alone, the final result can only be that it is neither the best nor the worst."

One minute it's adding poison, the next it's adding defense, then it's adding resilience, and it wants to excel in everything? There's no such thing as a free lunch.

Do you think you have some kind of magic herb to give you a cheat code?

"I only need one punch to pierce his rattan armor," Long Ling'er said calmly.

"It's just that we can't withstand attacks from strong opponents, so we can only bully weaker ones." Xiao Chenyu nodded in understanding.

In sight, the second contestant from the Plant Academy took the stage. He was also a Soul Master with the Martial Soul Green Vine, but his Soul Power was only level 41.

Their strength was even weaker than the previous captain, Yao Zi, and their spirit quality was also inferior. The result was predictable: they were easily defeated by Tang San. The subsequent contestants were all Soul Masters, so their performance was even worse. In no time at all, Tang San had swept all seven members of the Plant Academy in a single victory.

Throughout the entire process, Tang San remained calm, and after the referee announced his victory, he walked straight off the field.

A seven-game winning streak is indeed exhilarating, but it also offends people. And, it really doesn't give the team members any chance to gain experience, Xiao Chenyu thought to himself. He was secretly glad he joined the team after Long Yingtian took over; if Yu Xiaogang and the others were still there, he wouldn't even have made it onto the team, let alone had a chance to play. He could only say he was grateful the master had left, making room for him.

On the other side, Feng Xiaotian also shook his head at Tang San.

The contestants who made it to the qualifying rounds were undoubtedly the best of the younger generation, and their respective Soul Master academies were local Soul Master forces with considerable strength.

In his view, having more friends means having more options, and even if you don't value them, there's no need to offend them too much.

Tang San, however, clearly hadn't considered this.

Looking around, everyone from the Plant Academy had a grim expression, and the instructor leading the group was giving Tang San a very unfriendly look.

Being defeated seven times in a row in full view of everyone is undoubtedly a blow to the reputation of the academy and a slap in the face to the team leader.

"Wow, you're something else, little mistress!" Ma Hongjun said with a smile in the Shrek Academy rest area.

The other team members also had smiles on their faces, only Flander and Yufeng, who were sitting at the back, had a hint of worry in their eyes.

"Brother Flander, what's wrong?" Liu Erlong, an old teammate, noticed that something was wrong with Flander and couldn't help but ask.

"Making enemies rashly is never a good idea," Flander sighed. "Winning is good, but a seven-game winning streak is a bit offensive."

Yu Xiaogang and Tang San frowned slightly. The former said calmly, "Flander, you're overthinking it."

Why bother with people who are destined to never cross paths?

"Besides, in this world, strength ultimately speaks. If you're strong enough, you'll naturally earn respect. And this is a competition arena. If you can't even accept defeat on the field, how will you face the world after graduation?"

"Then how can we talk about taking another step forward on the path of a Soul Master?"

"Exactly! If the other side is capable enough to defeat seven of us in a row, I will have no complaints!" Liu Erlong chimed in.

Seeing the two say this, Flanders nodded slightly and said nothing more.

"Let's continue watching the game." After saying that, Yu Xiaogang turned to look at the arena, his face indifferent.

Half an hour later, the last match of the day was over.

Zhu Wu led his team away immediately.

"..." Huo Wu stared at the retreating figure, her fists clenched tightly, biting her lip slightly. Although she admitted to herself that biting someone was somewhat impulsive, the thought of being publicly made to do a split, getting her butt kicked, and then making a fool of herself when she walked later made her furious.

"Ahem." Huo Wushuang coughed lightly. "Sister, it's time to go back."

"Fire Dance Sister." Seeing that Fire Dance was in a bad mood, Feng Xiaotian came running over excitedly.

Huo Wu withdrew her gaze from Zhu Wu and turned to leave.

Evening, in the living room.

Assistant Coach Ma brought back the draw results: "Our first match tomorrow is against Tianshui Academy. Shrek Academy will play against Blazing Fire Academy."

Zhu Wu nodded slightly, then turned to look at Long Ling'er, "Ling'er, you'll be the fourth to go on stage tomorrow."

"Okay." Long Ling'er smiled and nodded. "It's a good opportunity to stretch my muscles."

"Sigh, I hope Shui Bing'er won't be the first one to go on stage tomorrow." Xiao Chenyu's face was bitter. What he feared most was being forced into a difficult position.

"It's fine, just consider it cooling off." Oslo said nonchalantly.

The following morning.

"The first match of the third round of the qualifying tournament: Tiandou Royal Academy versus Tianshui Academy." The announcer's voice rang out in the training ground.

Xiao Chenyu stood up and stepped onto the field, his eyes fixed on the front. The Tianshui Academy's representative was Shen Liuyu, a level 37 offensive-type battle spirit master with a water-attribute martial soul, the Falcon Crocodile, and decent defense. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief, his face flushed, and strode forward with his chest out.

All seven students at Tianshui Academy are stunning beauties, so naturally, one has to perform well in front of them.

"Please guide me." Upon arriving at the designated location, he bowed politely.

"Please enlighten me." Shen Liuyu smiled and bowed politely.

Xiao Chenyu felt a shiver run down his spine, his chest straightened a little more, and then he heard the referee's voice.

"The match begins!"

Without the slightest hesitation, they raised their shields and stood by.

Shen Liuyu didn't hesitate either, launching an attack with a serious expression. Then, he experienced the same frustration as the students from the Beast Academy back then—he couldn't break through their defenses, he really couldn't. His opponent was quick to react and couldn't dodge the shield. He had no choice but to resort to feints, trying to wear each other down.

"I concede." In the end, Shen Liuyu was the first to give up, panting as she stopped and admitted defeat.

The second to take the stage was Shui Yue'er, who immediately adopted guerrilla tactics. However, it was to no avail, and due to insufficient attack power, Xiao Chenyu seized the opportunity to launch a defensive counterattack, sending her flying during the collision of their soul skills.

"Damn it, I used too much force!" Xiao Chenyu was startled and threw the shield away.

He landed safely and caught Shuiyue'er.

"I admit defeat." The latter stood up, glanced resentfully at Xiao Chenyu who had knocked him away, and decisively admitted defeat.

Yu Hairou, a level 41 offensive-type Battle Soul Master, took the stage immediately. Relying on her raw strength, she launched a fierce attack and finally exhausted Xiao Chenyu.

This girl is really short-tempered. I absolutely cannot marry someone like Xiao Chenyu. He thought to himself as he gave up.

Oslo entered the fray next, using his speed advantage to defeat Yu Hairou, who had already exhausted some stamina. However, due to his own depletion, he was then defeated by Gu Qingbo, a level 38 agility-type battle spirit master. Next, Dugu Yan entered the fray, using her poison mist to steadily counter Gu Qingbo and the subsequent attack-type battle spirit master Qiu Ruoshui. However, she was then defeated by Shui Bing'er's powerful ice-sealing control.

After that, unsurprisingly, he was easily defeated by Long Ling'er, whose ice control melted as soon as it was burned.

"Long Ling'er's fire attribute strength far surpasses my ice attribute." Shui Bing'er understood this and had no choice but to admit defeat.

Xue Wu is positioned as a support type, but her soul skill has a long wind-up. Knowing that she is no match for Xue Wu, she immediately conceded defeat.

From then on, both sides ended the match in a friendly and interactive atmosphere and returned to their seats to watch the next round.

Then the host announced the familiar team's voice, "The third round of the qualifying tournament, the third match, Shrek Academy versus Blazing Academy."

Graphite immediately stood up from his seat.

Tang San's eyes flashed with a hint of helplessness. He had originally wanted to be the first to go on stage and settle old scores.

However, the teacher stopped him, fearing he would be targeted. For example, Blazing Fire Academy would send out flying-type Soul Masters first, and although he could fly now, his speed was still lacking compared to true agility-type Soul Masters. His Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul was countered, and coupled with the wide range of the opponent's fire-attribute attacks, his Thousand-Pound Ant external Soul Bone might be burned through in the air.

Moreover, the Thousand-Pound Ant's external soul bone is one of his major trump cards, and it cannot be used lightly.

In addition, Xiao Chenyu's fighting style also gave the teacher some inspiration, and this is a good opportunity to try it out.

After careful consideration, the teacher decided to let Shimo go first. As for him, he would go last as a backup.

Huo Wushuang strode into view.

Yu Xiaogang frowned immediately; it wouldn't be easy for Shi Mo to defeat Huo Wushuang.

"A failed tactical arrangement," Zhu Wu thought to himself.

As expected, Huo Wushuang exploited Graphite's lack of agility, barely even using his soul skills. He relied solely on his control of fire energy to continuously condense flames that burned his feet, engulfing the ground around Graphite and forcing him to relocate. Finally, Huo Wushuang seized the opportunity to leap into Graphite's face, delivering a powerful, explosive fire fist to his abdomen, instantly causing him to vomit blood.

"Damn it!" Xiao Wu's eyes blazed with fury. "That Huo Wushuang is really cunning."

"Let me handle him." Tyrone stood up from his seat and went straight into the arena.

"Third Soul Skill, Fourth Soul Skill, Unicorn Fire Dragon." As the battle began, Huo Wushuang knew that his opponent was a Soul Master known for his strength, and that he would probably be no match for him in terms of physical strength alone. Therefore, he immediately used his self-amplification skill, followed by his fourth Soul Skill.

As he ran, his right fist glowed red and flames gathered.

"Not bad, you've improved." Zhu Wu nodded slightly.

"It seems that Talon on the other side hasn't noticed anything different," Long Ling'er said with a smile.

"What's the difference?" Xiao Chenyu asked, looking rather clueless.

"Huo Wushuang has compressed his soul power," Long Ling'er explained softly. "He must have found some inspiration during his previous battle with Brother Tian. Judging from his current performance, the power of Huo Wushuang's fourth soul skill has at least doubled compared to before."

"Because the flames he condensed also contained explosive properties, the compression and explosion created a superposition effect."

"Double." Xiao Chenyu was taken aback.

Long Ling'er nodded, "If he can infuse more soul power, its power can be further enhanced."

"However, he probably can't control the energy to compress too much right now, so the degree of compression isn't very high, which is why the visual change isn't significant."

But people like her and Brother Tian, ​​who have an extremely high affinity for fire-attribute energy, can clearly sense it.

"Good timing!" Seeing Huo Wushuang rushing over, Tailong neither dodged nor avoided, and his third and fourth spirit rings lit up one after another.

With a step forward of his right foot, his entire body was covered by the phantom of a tall, golden giant ape, and he threw a punch.

"Boom!" The bucket-sized fist slammed into the unicorn fire dragon, creating a loud explosion in the air, and the flames bounced back.

"Crack! Ah!" The sound of bone breaking rang out, followed by a high-pitched scream.

Talon flew backwards from the flames, thick smoke and the smell of meat rising from his chest. His right wrist was slightly twisted, clearly broken.

He landed with a thud, rolled around repeatedly, and immediately fainted.

"They lost in just one move?" All the academy contestants were shocked.

The Shrek Academy students looked grim, angry, and incredulous.

"He insisted on taking the hit himself, so you can't blame me." Huo Wushuang's face also showed disbelief as he withdrew his fist and explained.

He genuinely didn't expect it to have this effect in actual combat.

Liu Erlong gritted his teeth, but he was helpless because what the other party said was true.

Tap tap tap, Qin Ming led Jiang Zhu and Oscar onto the field quickly.

After carefully investigating, Qin Ming's expression grew increasingly grim. He glanced at Huo Wushuang, then silently carried Tailong off the field.

Yu Tianheng, who arrived later, remained inside the venue.

"How is it!" Flander asked hurriedly when he saw the person being carried back.

"My right arm has been comminuted fractured and my sternum is broken. I'm afraid I'll have to miss the next qualifying rounds," Qin Ming sighed.

"Damn it!" Liu Erlong and Xiao Wu both clenched their fists, and veins bulged on their foreheads.

Tang San, standing to the side, had a gloomy expression. He looked up at Huo Wushuang with a chilling gaze in his eyes.

"Huo Wushuang's strength has increased again." The other academy contestants remarked.

"The match begins!" came the referee's voice.

Returning to the scene, Yu Tianheng and Huo Wushuang are engaged in a fierce battle. Undoubtedly, Huo Wushuang, having already exhausted himself in two consecutive battles, is no match for Yu Tianheng. After using up one of Yu Tianheng's fourth soul skills in the fight, he decisively conceded defeat to avoid further loss and injury.

When Huo Lie entered the fray, as a Soul Master, he was clearly no match for Yu Tianheng and was ultimately defeated.

Then Huo Yu took over, relying on the absolute air superiority brought by his flight ability, and relentlessly pursued and attacked Yu Tianheng, who was already exhausted.

"We concede defeat in this match." Worried that Yu Tianheng, a key member of the team, might get injured again, Yu Xiaogang said coldly.

Ma Hongjun took a deep breath and strode into the arena.

He had the opportunity to play, originally intended to target the opposing land-based Soul Masters, but now he has no choice but to bite the bullet and go on.

The result was obvious: his soul power was only level 34, while his opponent was several levels higher and was no match for him.

Ma Hongjun only lasted a short while before being defeated. Fortunately, his opponent didn't take advantage of his misfortune, and he wasn't seriously injured.

"I'm going up." Yu Feng stood up from his seat and strode into the arena.

"I concede." After a while, Huo Yu knew that his soul power was about to run out, so he directly conceded defeat.

Huo Yun immediately took over, and as a Soul Master against a Soul Venerable, he undoubtedly dominated, and Yu Feng was quickly defeated.

"Xiao Wu, safety is the most important thing." Tang San turned to look at Xiao Wu, who had just stood up.

"Your opponent is a flying Soul Master, and an agility-type one at that, giving them an advantage over you. If you can't find an opening, just admit defeat. Don't worry, I'm here for you."

"Okay." Xiao Wu nodded and strode into the arena.

It's all water, but there's no other way but to condense and rewrite the past.

(End of this chapter)