The Peerless Tang Sect: Heavenly Heart Douluo

Chapter 80 The Attempt at the Brand of Fear: The Grim Reaper's Messenger Completes the Adjustments (5000 words)

Xuanzi interrupted him directly, saying, "I have come here for the Heart of the Ocean. It concerns His Majesty the Sea God, and I will take it away now. As for the 160 million, Shrek Academy will certainly not renege on its debt."

"I simply don't have that many gold soul coins on hand right now. You can send someone to Shrek City's Treasure Pavilion to collect them yourselves."

Emperor Xu Jiawei of Xingluo gave a helpless bitter smile and said, "This junior understands. This junior will take you to retrieve it now."

Xu Jiawei then led Xuanzi to a secret room where the Heart of the Ocean was kept. Upon closer inspection, Xuanzi's eyes lit up, as he could clearly sense that the Heart of the Ocean was similar in aura to the Sea God Lake.

He was quite certain that this item was left behind by the Sea God Tang San. He nodded in satisfaction, reached out and grabbed it, storing it in his storage soul tool. Then, his figure disappeared from the secret room.

Emperor Xu Jiawei of the Star Luo Clan sighed helplessly, but facing Xuanzi, a level 98 Super Douluo, who came to demand it in the name of Shrek Academy, there was naturally nothing he could do.

After all, they're not taking it for free; they're just taking it without paying. But given Shrek Academy's reputation, they certainly won't delay paying. However, Xuanzi's actions are truly unpleasant.

The next morning, at Xingluo Square.

Today marks the end of the round-robin stage and the beginning of the knockout rounds in the tournament. There will be four matches per day over four days. Shrek Academy, as the reigning champions, will undoubtedly be the first to take the stage. Facing their formidable opponent this round is the Douling Royal Advanced Soul Master Academy, the number one academy of the Douling Empire, boasting five Soul Kings.

The format for the Round of 16 is as follows: the first two days are team matches, and the last two days are individual matches. Today's match is the team match between Shrek Academy and Battle Spirit Royal Academy.

Huo Yuhao led the others to the rest area. Compared to before, the rest area now seemed particularly empty, but the atmosphere was becoming increasingly tense, after all, the sixteen teams were all formidable opponents.

At this moment, the referee announced loudly: "The first match of the round of 16 is between Shrek Advanced Soul Master Academy and Douling Royal Advanced Soul Master Academy. Both teams, please proceed to the waiting area to prepare for the match!"

"Both teams, please come to the stage." Huo Yuhao was the first to stand up, while the others lagged behind him by half a step. After all, Huo Yuhao's performance in the previous round-robin tournament was truly amazing, which also bought valuable rest time for the Shrek team.

Moreover, as the official captain, Ma Xiaotao had very complicated feelings when facing Huo Yuhao, so she did not try to fight for power in this matter.

Seven people file on stage.

On the other side, the members of the Douling Royal Advanced Soul Master Academy also walked onto the stage.

Huo Yuhao stood at the very front, followed by Ma Xiaotao and Wang Dong'er, with Jiang Nannan and Ling Luochen a little behind, and Ning Tian and He Caitou standing at the very back.

Because of what Huo Yuhao had said in the meeting room, He Caitou was too embarrassed to have others prepare cigars in advance to cheat.

In the Douling Royal Advanced Soul Master Academy, standing at the front was a young man of about twenty years old. He had a large frame but was very thin. He was the captain of the Douling Royal Academy, the Purple Bamboo Soul King, and the Lone Bamboo Sword.

His cheeks were somewhat sunken, but his eyes were bright and piercing. He took a few steps forward to the referee's side and said to Shrek Academy, "It is an honor to compete against Shrek Academy. Please give me your guidance."

Huo Yuhao didn't exchange any pleasantries with the other party, and looked at the referee, asking, "Can we begin?"

The referee nodded and said, "Both sides step back and prepare for the match." Today's referee looked to be over sixty years old, but compared to the previous referees, he had a calm demeanor and was clearly more skilled.

Once both sides retreated to the designated area, Shrek's formation remained unchanged, while the opposing team's leaders at the front were Terrorclaw Bear Soul King Qian Yuan and Vajra Giant Shield Soul King Chi Hengyu.

Meanwhile, the agility-type Soul Master Han Ling'er hid behind them, while the two control-type Soul Masters, Xiao Feng and Qing Feng, stood on the flanks, protecting the core position of Gu Zhu Jian and the support-type Soul Master Tang Niu Niu at the very back.

Huo Yuhao sensed the obvious mental fluctuations emanating from Xiao Feng, a control-type Soul Master, and smiled slightly. Seeing the smile on Huo Yuhao's lips, Gu Zhujian, for some reason, felt a sense of unease.

Seeing that both sides were in position, the referee gestured to their respective captains and shouted, "Start the match!" Before he finished speaking, the referee seemed to teleport away from the playing field.

Both sides' Soul Masters released their Martial Souls immediately. At this moment, Huo Yuhao coldly said, "Just unleash all offensive abilities at the enemy's camp. Don't worry about defense."

At this moment, the audience below the stage was amazed by the Soul Emperor strength that Ma Xiaotao displayed. They never expected to see a Soul Emperor who was not even twenty years old in the competition. Is this the foundation of Shrek Academy?

The Douling team seemed to be in a hurry. After releasing their martial souls, three of them immediately used their soul skills. Their soul rings flashed. On this wide arena, the two sides were a hundred meters apart.

Soul skills that can span hundreds of meters are rare at their level, and a large attack range generally means a reduction in power.

Of course, those who forcibly use mental energy to adjust, like Huo Yuhao, cannot be included in this calculation.

Huo Yuhao's three spirit rings flashed as he unleashed all of his spirit skills. The others below the stage watched this scene intently. During this time, Huo Yuhao only revealed his second spirit skill, which was a mental attack.

What are his first and second soul skills, and why is he able to activate all three soul skills simultaneously?

At that moment, everyone from the Douling Royal Academy seemed to freeze in place.

With Ning Tian's blessing, Ma Xiaotao's soul rings flashed, and she activated her third soul skill, Phoenix Wing Soaring, her fourth soul skill, Phoenix Roaring Strike, and her fifth soul skill, Phoenix Piercing Cloud Strike, simultaneously, transforming into a shooting star and flying rapidly towards her opponent.

At the same time, He Caitou's soul-guided cannon also showed its ferocity for the first time, with a continuous barrage of soul-guided weapon bullets raining down on the opponent.

However, the opposing team had a Soul King-level defensive Soul Master in the front row, Chi Hengyu, whose Martial Soul was the Vajra Giant Shield. Those familiar with the Douling Royal Academy did not believe that Shrek Academy's hasty attack could have any decisive impact, and they watched with great anticipation.

However, in the blink of an eye, Ma Xiaotao, transformed into a fire phoenix, rushed into the enemy's crowd. Chi Hengyu, who had just used his soul skill, seemed to be stunned on the spot and was kicked off the stage by Ma Xiaotao. His soul skill effect did not activate.

"What's going on?" Upon seeing this, the instructor of the Douling Royal Academy slammed his hand on the table and stood up from his seat in the rest area.

The battle ended as soon as Ma Xiaotao charged into the enemy ranks. It ended faster than anyone had imagined, with the Phoenix Meteor Shower unleashed at full power and a barrage of soul-guided cannon shells.

Before the referee could even react in shock, he quickly intervened to stop Ma Xiaotao's Phoenix Meteor Shower, preventing her from releasing her soul skill and blocking the barrage of soul tools. Shrek Academy won the team battle with an overwhelming advantage.

The Douluo Royal Academy team members who were hit were taken off the stage by the referee.

"What's going on?" Gu Zhujian, the captain of the Douling Royal Academy, who had been rescued from the stage, asked in confusion, then looked at his hand: "Where's the Thunder Cannon Core? I remember taking it out, didn't I? How come we're all on stage now???"

The other members of the Douling Royal Academy were also completely baffled. Only Xiao Feng vaguely sensed something and said, "I suspect that Huo Yuhao may possess control methods similar to mine, only far stronger than mine."

"We may have fallen for his illusion from the very beginning."

"What?" Gu Zhujian frowned. "He's just a Soul Venerable. We have five Soul Kings here. How did he manage that? Even a typical Soul Emperor couldn't do that, right?"

Xiao Feng shook his head with a wry smile: "Then I don't know. Maybe it's a secret technique of Shrek Academy? Or something else. Anyway, I can confirm it now."

"Although Huo Yuhao is said to be a power-attack type Soul Master, and he has defeated his opponents in previous battles with powerful mental attacks, I now know that his control ability is more powerful and unsolvable than other attacks. At least I can't see through it at all."

The members of the Douling Royal Academy all looked extremely frustrated. At this moment, Gu Zhujian frowned and said, "It seems that the mental defense soul tools we prepared beforehand were not triggered. Could it be that his control cannot be blocked like a mental attack?"

"What kind of spirit beast produced this spirit skill? How could it be so powerful?"

They naturally didn't know that what Huo Yuhao was displaying was the result of combining four soul skills brought by the million-year-old soul beast, the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, and it was a double illusion driven by the spiritual power of the Spirit Abyss Realm.

Unless it's a soul tool like a mental barrier helmet that's completely designed to target any type of mental ability, it won't work. Normal mental defense soul tools can't recognize mental connections and mental detection as attacks on themselves, so they won't trigger.

The stands were completely silent. This match was so unwatchable. In just a moment, the people from the Douling Royal Academy were carried off without any resistance.

If it weren't for the common knowledge that every college would go all out for the sake of their reputation in such a competition, people would probably think it was a fixed match and shout, "RNM, refund our money!"

Meanwhile, the teachers and students of the other participating teams frowned, analyzing what methods Shrek Academy had used to achieve this effect. After a thorough analysis, they focused on Huo Yuhao, who seemed to have consumed the most energy.

"Is this Shrek Academy's hidden trump card? How interesting." In the rest area of ​​the Sun Moon Royal Soul Tool Academy, Xiao Hongchen said in a deep voice. The arrogance in his eyes had completely disappeared. He now regarded Huo Yuhao, a Soul Master two years younger than him, as his greatest rival.

"Hey, Lao Lang, did you figure out what kind of ability this kid is using?" Yu Tao asked the big-headed man next to him from one of the spectator seats.

Lang Ya shook his head: "I feel that he definitely used more than three soul skills. We know that this kid's second soul skill is a mental attack, so this result must be caused by the combination of his first and third soul skills."

"But to believe that a Soul Master could control five Soul Kings and two Soul Sects with just two Soul Skills is hard to believe, after all, even the strongest Soul Master only has a hundred-year and a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring."

"I suspect he may have used some kind of secret technique or self-created soul skill, combined with his existing soul skills, to achieve this effect. At this stage of cultivation, I am far inferior to him," Lang Ya said slowly.

Yu Tao's eyes lit up: "When will the sect leader and the others arrive? We absolutely must take this kid into our Body Sect, otherwise it's such a waste to let him grow up wildly outside!"

Langya said helplessly, "The sect leader wanted to investigate the whereabouts of the Heart of the Ocean, but the investigation revealed that it was actually taken away by people from Shrek Academy."

"I think the sect leader might want to go to Shrek Academy, but I've already informed him, and he should be coming soon."

Two days later, the individual elimination rounds began on time. Failure here would mean elimination from the next round. Since Shrek Academy had won the team battle earlier, defeating three opponents in today's individual matches would guarantee a spot in the top eight.

This also means that Douling Royal Academy must defeat Shrek Academy's seven students with three students in order to qualify, so all of them are holding their breath this time.

In the first round of the individual elimination tournament, Huo Yuhao did not choose to fight. Instead, Ma Xiaotao fought against their captain, Zihuang Zhuhunwang, Guzhujian.

When facing the Soul Emperor, Gu Zhu Jian suffered a crushing defeat, utterly powerless to retaliate.

The same applies to Qian Yuan and Chi Hengyu, who went on to fight later.

Offstage, Huo Yuhao carefully observed the battle on stage. Using the runes he had previously implanted in Ma Xiaotao's body, he made Ma Xiaotao's attacks even more powerful each time, severely injuring all three members of the Douling Royal Academy.

He did this not because he had any sadistic tendencies, but because he was trying to see if he could transfer that emotional power to others by activating the fear imprint within them if someone he had feared defeated others.

After these three rounds of attempts, except for the first failure against the Guzhu Sword due to lack of proficiency, Qian Yuan and Chi Hengyu were both branded with Huo Yuhao's fear mark after being defeated by Ma Xiaotao, which Huo Yuhao could sense.

This fear imprint, like the fear imprint planted in the subconscious, will not be exposed until it is activated by one's own soul skill, and the holder will act as usual.

However, subconsciously, it also radiates a continuous stream of emotional energy to itself.

In the past few days, Hei Yuhao's adjustments to the Death Messenger have come to an end. This way, he can directly imprint fear marks on others through the Death Messenger without having to personally activate his soul skill to trigger it.

The security level is now even higher than before.

In the next quarterfinals, Huo Yuhao and his team drew a relatively weak team. It is said that they advanced because they encountered the Zheng Tian team, which Huo Yuhao had previously defeated.

Huo Yuhao didn't participate in either the individual or team competitions this time in order to help Hei Yuhao debug the Death Messenger. Now the Death Messenger has been basically debugged and can be released at any time.

However, because of Ma Xiaotao, Huo Yuhao could feel that the fear associated with his fear mark had increased even more.

After more than half a month of cultivation, Huo Yuhao's spiritual eyes and soul power have both increased by one level, and he is now not too far from becoming a Soul Master.

After these matches, the evil fire within Ma Xiaotao's body has increased considerably. However, due to the runes set up by Huo Yuhao, it has not yet manifested, but it is approaching a critical point.

Huo Yuhao didn't immediately go to watch over it for her, because when he saw the Heart of the Ocean at the auction house earlier, he couldn't help but feel a sense of unease. What exactly was Tang San planning to do? He had a feeling that Tang San was plotting something again.

Shrek Academy is now basically worthless to Huo Yuhao, except for the Golden Tree, which has a subtle appeal to him. Huo Yuhao is going to use the Grim Reaper to pull off another big stunt in this competition.

Therefore, Huo Yuhao was thinking and deducing where he would be better suited to develop after leaving Shrek Academy, and thus did not pay attention to Ma Xiaotao's problem of evil fire.

Time quickly passed and it was morning of the semi-finals. Because Huo Yuhao was usually too aloof, apart from Wang Dong'er coming to see him from time to time, no one else had come to him to discuss tactics or anything like that.

Moreover, because he had seriously injured Dai Huabin before, others had developed some estrangement towards him, but Huo Yuhao didn't care about these things.

The moment the Shrek Academy team appeared on Star Luo Square, they were met with a deafening roar of cheers.

From over a hundred teams at the beginning of the competition to the final four, the tournament has taken more than a month.

For the remaining four teams, each team has at most two more battles left. The decisive moment has arrived, and the time for them to fight with all their might has also come.

The rest area has been renovated and now only has four areas, with each team being quite far apart from the others.

With nearly half an hour to go before the start of the match, all four teams had already arrived.

Occasionally, a glance would spark a fire between the four teams. While their fighting spirit was high, the atmosphere in the rest area became solemn, tense, and even somewhat deadly.

The first day of the semifinals: team battles.

To everyone's surprise, a ten-meter-wide red carpet stretched from the direction of the imperial city gate all the way to the front of the competition stage. Ten minutes before the draw was to begin, the imperial palace gates opened wide, and Emperor Xu Jiawei of the Star Luo Empire strode out, surrounded by palace guards, heading straight for the competition stage.

Please, everyone, stop letting books grow on demand! If you must let a book grow on demand, please at least enable auto-subscription!

Finally, I'm begging for more subscriptions! I'm begging for recommendations! I'm begging for monthly tickets! I'm begging for comments! I'm begging for donations! I'm begging for everything!

Thank you so much for the generous donation from the user "Qi Shi Tou Yan Zhi Jian"!

(End of this chapter)