Douluo Phoenix

Chapter 31 The Pope

At the referee's signal, the match officially began.

Each of the three academies sent out its first player. Blazing Fire Academy sent out Wang Xiaofei, while Spirit Hall Academy sent out a level 46 Soul Master. Shrek Academy, on the other hand, sent out Huang Yuan as their first player.

The draw was conducted by these three people to determine which two academies would compete in the first match, with the winners continuing the battle, and so on.

Shrek Academy was incredibly lucky; Huang Yuan drew a bye right from the start. A bye in the first round meant that Shrek Academy's players could play later, allowing them to rest and prepare for the first round, and also giving them a better chance to assess the strength of their opponents. This was undoubtedly a very favorable draw. Xiao Fei grumbled.

Xiao Fei and the Spirit Hall students stepped onto the arena together. The opponent's spirit was a black bear, clearly a power-type spirit. Xiao Fei used his incredible speed to attack him, but this black bear spirit master was far weaker than Xiao Fei, unable to catch up or hit him, and finally had to admit defeat. Xiao Fei didn't even use a single spirit skill.

Next up was Shrek's Huang Yuan, who was about to go on stage. Suddenly, Yu Xiaogang stopped Huang Yuan from going on stage and said, "Please wait a moment for the match!" The referee was so angry that he almost kicked Yu Xiaogang out of the arena.

The Pope raised his hand and said, "Please state your reasons?"

Yu Xiaogang said calmly, "Our Shrek Academy is willing to concede defeat and voluntarily enter the loser's bracket this afternoon."

Bibi Dong asked calmly, "Why?"

Yu Xiaogang said directly, "There's no reason. I think it's our right to admit defeat."

But what was even more unexpected was that Pope Bibi Dong slowly stood up, nodded to the master, and said, "You're right, it's your right. I apologize for asking. Elder Yu."

After hearing these words, Xiao Fei was clearly speechless. What were these two doing in this situation? After the Pope's words, Yu Xiaogang was now confirmed as an official elder of the Spirit Hall. Who would dare to provoke him now?

Xiao Fei thought about it carefully, then gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it, you two bastards, believe me or not, I'll make you regret it."

At this point, the referee asked Xiaofei, "Do you want to continue?"

Xiao Fei glanced around and said, "Of course we'll continue!"

So the Spirit Hall sent out another Soul Master, this one at level 48, very close in level to Xiao Fei. However, in a direct fight with Xiao Fei, this Soul Master was clearly inferior. Both in strength and speed, they were far inferior, and in no time, Xiao Fei had defeated him. At this point, the Pope's face showed some displeasure.

Next up was Yan. As a Soul King, Yan was clearly much stronger than the previous participants. Xiao Fei and Yan clashed fists. Yan, as expected of a top-tier Soul Master with both fire and earth attributes, had an incredibly high defense, causing Xiao Fei to feel a sharp pain. Yan's Soul Skills were quite good, being area-of-effect attacks, but they were not very effective against Xiao Fei, who could fly.

In the end, Xiao Fei also used his third soul skill, "Phoenix Flame Claw," in the Soul Master Competition. Xiao Fei's entire left arm transformed into a phoenix's arm, with his five fingers becoming sharp claws. His entire arm was covered with high-purity phoenix flames, and the power and speed of his claws were significantly increased. He continuously clawed at Yan, and eventually, several huge claw marks appeared on Yan's body, sending him flying off the stage.

At this point, Xiao Fei had completed his solo run against three opponents. Of course, Xiao Fei looked extremely tired, almost as if he were collapsing. However, he hadn't used his soul bone for healing, nor had he suffered any serious injuries; he was simply feigning exhaustion of his soul power. The people around him quickly pulled Yan away to receive treatment.

Yu Tianheng, Yu Xiaogang, and some other high-ranking members of the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Clan all paled upon seeing Xiao Fei's soul skill. Xiao Fei had unleashed the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Clan's Dragon Transformation. Some of the higher-ups, especially those at the Title Douluo level, understood exactly what Dragon Transformation meant.

Many members of the Spirit Hall had turned pale. The referee asked Xiao Fei, "Team member, do you want to continue?" Xiao Fei nodded. Let's continue.

Hu Liena is next for the Spirit Hall. At this point, the Spirit Hall can't afford to lose. After all, they've already lost three players, and a loss now would make the afternoon's matches much more difficult.

After Hu Liena entered the ring, she launched a series of attacks on Xiao Fei. Xiao Fei was struggling to defend himself. Suddenly, Xiao Fei felt his vision blurring, and he instantly realized what was happening. He guessed it was Hu Liena's charm. Finally, as Hu Liena attacked, Xiao Fei, injured, delivered a heavy blow to her, and both of them fell off the ring. Xiao Fei was bleeding profusely.

At this point, Xiao Fei had completed a one-versus-four victory. Everyone present was stunned, marveling at Xiao Fei's formidable fighting prowess. The Spirit Hall members, however, were ashen-faced.

At this point, Blazing Fire Academy still had 6 members, all of whom were Soul Masters, while Spirit Hall only had 3 members, their only advantage being Xie Yue, a Soul King. Pope Bibi Dong observed the scene, thought carefully for a moment, and suddenly spoke, "The Spirit Hall team voluntarily concedes defeat and enters the loser's bracket this afternoon."

The two teams for the afternoon's match have been decided: the Spirit Hall team and the Shrek Academy team. The Shrek Academy team conceded defeat first, finally gaining an advantage. Regardless, the Spirit Hall team will have at least two injured Soul Kings who won't fully recover this afternoon.

As for Wang Xiaofei of Blazing Fire, although he looked like he had lost a lot of blood, he was not seriously injured.

After the match, four Soul Saint-level healing Soul Masters continuously treated Hu Liena and Yan. However, it was estimated that they would have difficulty returning to their peak condition before the afternoon's match. Xiao Fei, on the other hand, was already lively and energetic after his treatment. This led Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang to call Xiao Fei a monster.

Before they knew it, it was time for the afternoon match. Shrek Academy was fielding its full-strength lineup, while Spirit Hall Academy continued with its three-Soul King lineup. Hu Lina and Yan were clearly not in good shape; Xiao Fei estimated they were only at 70-80% recovered. However, the two teams had roughly the same Soul Power, differing by ten levels—a gap that wasn't easy to overcome.

As soon as the match began, Tang San immediately activated his fourth spirit skill, "Blue Silver Cage." Seven giant Blue Silver Grasses surrounded the seven members of the Spirit Hall Academy. The seven then lined up in a row, in the following order: Oscar, Ning Rongrong, Ma Hongjun, Zhu Zhuqing, Xiao Wu, Dai Mubai, and Tang San.

Oscar placed his hands close to Ning Rongrong's back, and all of Oscar's soul power surged into Ning Rongrong's body. Then, Ning Rongrong summoned a huge Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. The three soul rings on the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda merged into one, which was Huo Wu's ultimate move, Fusion Ring.

Then, all of Ning Rongrong's soul power surged into Zhu Zhuqing's body, followed by Xiao Wu and Dai Mubai, and finally, everyone's soul power merged into Tang San's body. Suddenly, Tang San's soul power surged, seemingly about to burst his body. Suddenly, a black-gold hammer appeared in Tang San's hand. The surging soul power within Tang San seemed to merge into this hammer, which gradually grew larger and solidified after receiving the soul power, becoming the size of a water vat, with a handle as thick as a normal person's thigh.

Upon witnessing this, some high-level Soul Masters, especially some Soul Douluos and Title Douluos, murmured, "The Clear Sky Hammer, the true form of its weapon spirit?"

In the distance, the Spirit Hall personnel had already noticed something was wrong. Yan immediately activated his fourth spirit skill, "Magma Rising," while Xie Yue desperately slashed at the Blue Silver Grass with his Moon Blade.

By the time they broke through the Blue Silver Cage, the Clear Sky Hammer's true spirit form had been successfully formed. Xie Yue and Hu Liena instantly completed their spirit fusion skill, Enchanting Charm. Then, he flew behind Tang San like a blur. It seems that the Spirit Hall personnel also knew that Tang San's current weakness was his teammates behind him. After all, Tang San's spirit power came from the transfer of his teammates, especially Ning Rongrong. The fusion and amplification of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda were the key to the entire lineup.

However, Tang San activated his Purple Demon Eye and struck Yao Mei with his hammer, sending her flying off the field like a baseball. The guards brought them back, but both were unconscious, suffering from multiple broken bones and tendons, their injuries estimated to be very serious.

The other five members of the Spirit Hall rushed towards the people behind Tang San from different directions. But Tang San gritted his teeth and used both the Purple Demon Child and the Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique simultaneously, knocking all five members of the Spirit Hall out of the arena. After Tang San deactivated his Spirit Body, everyone also deactivated their Seven-in-One Fusion Technique.

Shrek Academy ultimately emerged victorious in the match. The Pope looked at Yu Xiaogang with a solemn expression before leaving the arena.

Xiao Fei observed Tang San carefully from beginning to end. When Tang San used his weapon spirit true form, it wasn't as easy as in the original story, and a trace of pain even appeared in the corner of his eye.

Xiao Fei shook his head and left the arena. In Xiao Fei's understanding, the true form of a weapon spirit requires the complete fusion of martial spirit and spiritual power. Even Soul Saints find it somewhat difficult to use, and there is always a period of weakness after use.

Tang San's mental strength clearly doesn't reach the Soul Saint realm; it's estimated that his mental strength has already suffered some damage. If he uses his Soul Body repeatedly, he might become an idiot without anyone's intervention. Yu Xiaogang, after all, is a low-level Soul Master and doesn't yet fully understand some aspects of high-level Soul Masters.

(End of this chapter)