The Peerless Tang Sect: Heavenly Heart Douluo

Chapter 81 Semi-finals, Battle against Star Luo National Academy (5000 words)

"Long live! Long live! Long live!" All the soldiers responsible for maintaining order raised their weapons and shouted "Long live!"

The people immediately noticed the emperor's appearance and shouted "Long live the emperor!"

Upon seeing this, the members of the four teams all stood up and paid their respects to His Majesty the Emperor.

Huo Yuhao saw four Title Douluos subtly protecting Emperor Xu Jiawei of the Star Luo Empire.

The 108 Soul Masters responsible for protecting the arena bowed to the Emperor at the same time.

Surrounded by four Title Douluos, Xu Jiawei stepped onto the arena, facing the direction of Star Luo Square, and said with a smile, "My people, rise."

Huo Yuhao watched this scene with boredom. As usual, His Majesty the Emperor delivered a series of speeches before finally getting to the point.

Of the four Title Douluos who followed him onto the stage, the one on the left front took two steps forward, facing the rest area, and said in a deep voice: "Please invite the captains of the four teams to come up on stage to draw lots."

An indescribable powerful aura suddenly erupted from the old man, and the astonishing pressure made everyone in Star Luo Square feel as if the sky had darkened.

Emperor Xingluo smiled and said, "In order to ensure the safety of both teams in the semi-finals and finals, I have decided that the Imperial Guardian Douluo will serve as the referee and preside over the matches in every match from now on."

"Today's draw and the first match will be hosted by senior Huang Jinxu, whose nickname is Tian Sha."

As Huo Yuhao walked onto the stage, the captains of the other three teams around him also went up on stage. One of them was very familiar to him; it was the auctioneer he had met before, Jiu Jiu, who was also the princess of the Star Luo Empire.

The other two are Ma Rulong from the Sun Moon Empire and Jiang Peng from the Imperial Academy.

Huo Yuhao did not intentionally tamper with anything this time, but he could sense that there seemed to be something wrong with the draw. In the end, the Sun Moon Royal Soul Guidance Academy was matched against the Imperial Academy, while Shrek Academy was matched against the Star Luo National Academy.

[Are you trying to bully the weak?] Huo Yuhao could feel that his mental probe was blocked by something when it landed on Xu Jiujiu. Huo Yuhao did not choose to continue to probe, and it was enough to stop the probe here.

Wang Yan explained the effects of the Star Crown, the inherited martial soul of the Star Luo Empire's royal family, to everyone, and reminded them that Xu Jiujiu had a high probability of inheriting this martial soul, which was the core of the Star Luo National Academy.

Everyone became more vigilant, and Wang Yan then dispatched seven people, excluding Xiao Xiao, according to their strength.

"Shrek Academy, Star Luo National Academy, team battle members, enter the arena." The referee in charge of today's team battle was none other than the Heavenly Fiend Douluo from before.

The Star Luo Emperor, protected by the other three Title Douluos, has returned to the imperial city and ascended the city wall to watch the battle.

Huo Yuhao walked in front, followed by Ma Xiaotao, Ling Luochen, Jiang Nannan, He Caitou, Wang Dong'er, and Ning Tian. The opposing team was led by Xu Jiujiu. The two teams stepped onto the competition stage at the same time.

Even before the semi-finals began, the tension between the two teams was palpable as they watched each other intently.

At this moment, Xu Jiujiu's gaze also changed. Her bright azure eyes emitted a faint golden luster, and if you looked closely, you would feel that they were as vast as the sea.

Ma Xiaotao's eyes were like two blazing flames, and that intense aura brought great pressure to her opponent.

The Heavenly Fiend Douluo said coldly, "Both sides step back. No one may release their Martial Soul before I announce the start of the match."

Both teams retreated simultaneously, but their eyes remained fixed on each other, and their formations changed rapidly during the retreat.

Huo Yuhao's team continued with the previous formation, with Huo Yuhao, Ma Xiaotao, and Wang Dong'er leading the charge, Ling Luochen and Jiang Nannan providing support, and He Caitou and Ning Tian standing at the rear.

The other six opponents formed a 3-2-1 formation, with three in the front row, two in the middle row, and two in the back row, protecting Xu Jiujiu at the very back.

"The match begins." Just as both sides were closely watching their opponent, Tian Sha Douluo shouted, and a golden light flashed across the arena. This powerful titled Douluo disappeared without a trace.

Huo Yuhao could sense that Xu Jiujiu was carrying a high-quality treasure that could effectively isolate the detection and interference of soul power and mental power. However, what use was it?

Both sides released their martial souls immediately, and as the martial souls unfolded, Huo Yuhao pulled everyone on the opposing side except for Xu Jiujiu into the illusion.

A golden light shone from Xu Jiujiu's forehead. It was a rhombus-shaped golden gem. As soon as the golden rhombus appeared, it burst out with dazzling golden light, and then it separated from her forehead. It slowly floated upwards, surrounded by golden light, and a magnificent crown appeared above her head. Then it slowly fell down and landed on her head.

The crown appeared to be composed of countless stars, all of them a pale gold. Centered on the diamond-shaped gemstone, the stars rapidly converged backward, with a total of eighteen larger stars protruding upward to form a beautiful ring of apex.

Two yellow, two purple, and one black spirit rings appeared simultaneously on this princess. She was clearly a Soul King level expert, and the rest of her team also had the same configuration of two yellow, two purple, and one black spirit rings, making them all Soul Kings.

The star crown shone brightly, and Xu Jiujiu's third soul ring lit up, with a strong golden beam shooting into the sky.

The interior of this golden beam of light is completely presented as a golden mist, with dots of starlight hovering and rising in it, which looks extremely strange.

Then they saw the rising golden mist quickly spread out and envelop the other six students from the Star Luo National Academy.

Instantly, every member of the Star Luo National Team was enveloped in a layer of gold, and the golden halo around her body did not dissipate for a long time, with starlight still surging out from her star crown.

This is Xu Jiujiu's third soul skill, Star Radiance Technique, which amplifies the soul power level of others by using his own soul power and starlight power, even more powerfully than the amplification of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda of the same level.

Huang Heyun, the vice-captain of Xingluo National Academy, shouted loudly, his whole body covered with a layer of black tiger skin. His martial soul was the Dark Demon Tiger, which was completely opposite to the Evil Eye White Tiger martial soul. It was also an extremely powerful offensive martial soul.

His jet-black soul power, enhanced by the Starry Night Technique, transformed into a strange dark golden luster. His third soul skill was activated, and soul power shining with dark golden starlight surged forth with a loud tiger roar, transforming into a tiger shape and attacking Xu Jiujiu.

Seeing this, the giant eagle spirit beast Saint Wing quickly used its defensive spirit skill to withstand Huang Heyun's attack.

Beside Huang Heyun, Lightning Falcon Soul King Chen Xiaojie and Netherworld Lion Soul King Dugu Shangshan exclaimed incredulously upon seeing this, "Vice Captain, what are you doing?!"

However, at the same time, the two female Soul Masters standing in the middle row also activated their abilities. Their Martial Souls were similar to Ling Luochen's, both being pure elemental Martial Souls. One was fire, and the other was wind. They simultaneously activated their third Soul Skills.

Two halos, one blue and one red, lit up beneath Xu Jiujiu's feet. Accompanied by intense heat, they pulled Xu Jiujiu into the halos. At the same time, a green whirlwind was generated, and the wind fueled the fire. The red halo gradually climbed up the green whirlwind, separating Xu Jiujiu from the others.

Seeing this, Xu Jiujiu gritted her teeth, and her fourth soul ring lit up. Centered on her body, a burst of intense starlight burst forth. This time, the starlight was as dazzling as the sun, forming a light shield that directly shattered the three soul skills that were attacking her.

At the same time, a golden light enveloped all the members of the Star Luo National Academy, and eighteen stars appeared on the surface of this light, shining brightly.

At the same time, Huo Yuhao narrowed his eyes, and his first and third spirit rings returned to their dim state, as if the spirit skills he was about to use had been canceled.

At this moment, the Shrek Academy students rushed to the front of the Star Luo students. The hot-tempered Ma Xiaotao attacked the Star Guardian with terrifying flames, but even with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda's blessing, her attacks could not produce any significant effect, and the starlight could only be seen to dim slightly.

"Princess, what's going on?" Huang Heyun's memory was becoming somewhat disordered.

Xu Jiujiu frowned slightly and said to the others, "Be careful of Huo Yuhao. His soul skills are very troublesome. Don't leave the range of Star Guardian."

Just as Xu Jiujiu was about to say something, Chen Xiaojie, the agility-type Soul King who was originally in the front row of the Star Luo group and whose martial soul was the Lightning Falcon, activated his third and fifth soul rings at the same time. His figure transformed into a bolt of lightning that was difficult to catch with the naked eye and directly stabbed towards Xu Jiujiu.

The defensive Soul King Saint Wing in front of Xu Jiujiu seemed to be in a daze, letting Chen Xiaojie pass by him and rush to Xu Jiujiu's side.

The others realized something was wrong when they saw this. Looking at Huo Yuhao's spirit rings, they noticed that his first and third spirit rings had lit up at the same time.

For Huo Yuhao, whether his spirit rings light up or not, given his ability to mimic reality, is entirely up to him. However, to others, the spirit rings will inevitably light up when using spirit skills—this is an unchangeable law. At most, the timing of the spirit skill's execution and the spirit rings' lighting up can be shortened through training.

Because she had activated Star Guardian, Xu Jiujiu felt a little more relaxed. But at that moment, Chen Xiaojie was suddenly controlled, catching her completely off guard.

With the blessing of the Starry Sky Technique, his right hand was covered with a layer of lightning, and he stabbed straight into Xu Jiujiu's abdomen. Lightning flashed at the wound, and Xu Jiujiu coughed up a mouthful of blood. However, although most of the effects of Star Guardian are concentrated on the outer protective shield.

However, Xu Jiujiu, who was the source of the soul skill, also had a layer of this protection. Although the effect of this defense would be greatly reduced for Chen Xiaojie, who was empowered by the Starry Sky Technique, it was because of this that she withstood the attack. Otherwise, she would probably have lost her fighting ability directly from this attack.

After a long pause, he gritted his teeth and threw out a ball of golden light from his arms, which directly separated himself from Chen Xiaojie. This was the absolute defensive shield of a level 7 one-time consumable soul tool, which had the defensive strength of an eighth-order Soul Douluo-level defensive soul master, both internally and externally.

Xu Jiujiu quickly used her soul power to temporarily seal her injured area to avoid affecting her movements.

At the same time, Huang Heyun, who seemed to have broken free from control, roared and unleashed his strongest fifth soul skill, Dark Whirlwind. Centered on him, powerful dark attribute soul power transformed into a whirlwind, wantonly attacking everything around him, with the Netherworld Lion Dugu Shangshan bearing the brunt.

The Netherworld Lion Martial Soul possesses the characteristic of reducing physical damage, but it is of little use against pure soul power damage. Moreover, once again caught off guard, he was directly and severely injured by this attack.

The two female control-type soul masters' wind and fire control techniques landed directly on Huang Heyun after his fifth soul skill ended. With their combined force, Huang Heyun, whose soul power was already greatly depleted after using his fifth soul skill, also collapsed to the ground.

A flash of golden light, and the Heavenly Fiend Douluo rescued the two of them. At this moment, the two female soul masters immediately confronted Chen Xiaojie and Saint Wing, who stood with him without making any move.

One person shouted, "Chen Xiaojie, wake up! What are you doing?!"

Another person asked, "Princess Jiu Jiu, are you alright? Damn it, even the Star Guardian couldn't stop that guy's soul skill?"

They then launched an attack on Chen Xiaojie, and finally, after Chen Xiaojie's desperate resistance, they took away Yi Chen, who was in charge of fire control.

With Tian Sha Douluo rescuing Chen Xiaojie and Yi Chen, only the defensive Soul King Sheng Yi, the wind control Soul King Wang Shiying, and Xu Jiujiu, who was in an absolute defensive shield, remained on the field.

However, now Xu Jiujiu can no longer distinguish who is controlled by Huo Yuhao and who is not. If Xu Jiujiu had activated Star Guardian immediately, Huo Yuhao's mental connection might have been interrupted.

However, Huo Yuhao's mental connection had linked everyone except Xu Jiujiu to his mental avatar from the very beginning. Even with the Star Guardian activated, it was impossible to distinguish them precisely, since the essential function of the mental connection was merely an auxiliary link.

The Star Emperor on the city wall also looked very grim. You must know that the Star Guardian is the most powerful and proud ability of their Star Crown lineage, known as an absolute defense that isolates attributes.

Unexpectedly, its effectiveness against outsiders was not due to the severe and harsh restrictions imposed on it by other members of the team, which made its powerful defense seem so ridiculous and laughable.

"The fortress is most easily breached from the inside. Princess Jiujiu, admit defeat. The absolute defense shield can only last for a quarter of an hour. There are only three of you left now. Your defeat is inevitable," Huo Yuhao said coldly.

Xu Jiujiu covered her wound with a grim expression. Although she believed that with Huo Yuhao and the others' strength, it was impossible to break through the Star Guardian in a short time, and she did not believe that Huo Yuhao's control ability could be abused unconditionally, such a powerful effect must have extremely strict restrictions (such as four million-year soul skills).

However, now they only have the defensive Soul King Saint Wing and the control Soul King Wang Shiying left on the field. This lineup also means that they cannot break through Shrek Academy's formation. At this moment, Saint Wing and Wang Shiying jumped off the stage on their own under Huo Yuhao's control.

At this moment, only Xu Jiujiu remained from the Star Luo National Academy on the field. However, her pride as a princess and the holder of the Star Crown Martial Soul did not allow her to admit that she had lost to her opponent. Xu Jiujiu gritted her teeth and remained silent.

Meanwhile, Ma Xiaotao frowned slightly. In her estimation, it would take a long time for her to forcefully break through this Star Guardian with her attack power, as its defense was simply too strong.

Huo Yuhao shook his head: "The so-called Star Guardian is actually quite vulnerable in my opinion. Let me prove it to you."

The spirit rings beneath Huo Yuhao's feet disappeared, and his spiritual eyes dimmed, returning to their blue color. At the same time, Huo Yuhao stepped towards the protective shield of the Star Guardian, as if he were draped in a golden veil, with golden light slowly emerging from his body.

The golden light made him appear incredibly sacred and noble. The golden light grew stronger and brighter, making him seem like a human-shaped sun. Just his presence on the field caused ordinary people and some first- or second-ring Soul Masters to feel a stinging pain in their eyes, and they dared not look directly at his true appearance.

Huo Yuhao was draped in a layer of armor formed of light; no, it should be said that at this moment he was like a materialized form of light.

This is the effect achieved by Huo Yuhao's simulation. He is now simulating Ilex, but not the Ilex who is the Holy God of the Undead, but the image of the former Son of Light, who is holy and noble.

Huo Yuhao strode directly toward the starlight shield, and an invisible wall of the heart unfolded around him. He firmly believed that his wall of the heart was the hardest and most unique existence in the world, and that even the so-called absolute attribute isolation of the star guardian could not block or isolate the power of the wall of the heart.

As Huo Yuhao advanced, the starlight shield crumbled inch by inch. With each step Huo Yuhao took, one of the eighteen gems on it shattered, and with each step, the light emanating from Huo Yuhao grew stronger.

After taking eighteen steps, Huo Yuhao stood in front of the absolute defensive shield, looking down at Xu Jiujiu, who had turned pale and was kneeling on one knee with an incredulous expression.

"How is this possible?" She stammered weakly, her pale words failing to describe the shock she felt. Huo Yuhao hadn't used any soul skills, yet her Star Guardian had crumbled without a trace. Was it really as he said, that in his eyes, Star Guardian was so utterly vulnerable?

Although he didn't say anything for a long time, Huo Yuhao felt that a deep and unforgettable fear had been imprinted on the other person's heart.

At the same time, Huo Yuhao felt a wave of fear surging towards him. As a Star Crown Martial Soul, its legend of absolute attribute isolation through Star Guardian was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people of the Star Luo Empire. But now, this immortal myth had been broken by a Soul Master whose soul power was far inferior to his own.

Many ordinary people and soul masters who revered the Star Crown Martial Soul as a god felt the collapse of their faith, while the sacred figure that Huo Yuhao embodied left a deep imprint on their hearts.

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(End of this chapter)