Battle Through the Heavens: Xiao Yan, who was kidnapped to another world

"Forget it, what's meant to be will be, and what's not meant to be shouldn't be forced." Hearing Xiao Yan's words, Qian Renxue was slightly startled, but she didn't show it. She just waved her hand casually. "Perhaps it's my fate that my martial soul hasn't evolved."

On the surface, she sighed and complained, but in her heart, Qian Renxue hoped that Xiao Yan would stop investigating. It was fine to simulate a swan martial soul that was not very useful, but if Xiao Yan really refined a martial soul pill that was unique to the swan martial soul... she was not confident that she could simulate the possible evolution of the swan martial soul.

"There's no need for you to trouble yourself, Xiao Yan." Qian Renxue, fearing that Xiao Yan might have a moment of madness and disregard her objections to refine a Martial Soul Pill unique to the Swan Martial Soul, emphasized again after saying this.

"Actually... I'd be embarrassed if you agreed, Brother Xue," Xiao Yan said hesitantly. "In fact, just refining those three Martial Soul Pills basically exhausted most of the medicinal herbs that Teacher Dugu had collected."

Upon hearing Xiao Yan's words, Qian Renxue's expression froze. Had she known this would happen, why had she pretended not to care about the strength of her martial soul? Changing the weakness of the Swan Martial Soul was a matter of great concern to all members of the Heavenly Dou Royal Family! Would Ning Fengzhi doubt her statement that "what is not destined cannot be forced"?

“That’s right,” Dugu Bo’s acting skills have improved under Xiao Yan’s guidance. At this moment, he was staring at Xiao Yan with a displeased expression. “If he hadn’t known to leave seeds, and if my herb garden hadn’t been able to accelerate the growth of medicinal herbs, I would have punched him long ago.”

"However, you don't need to be too sad. Those medicinal herbs will grow to the right age in about ten years. If you want them then, you can ask Xiao Yan to refine Martial Soul Pills for you."

While performing, Dugu Bo misunderstood the meaning of Qian Renxue's frozen expression and kindly offered an explanation.

'Well, thank you so much!' Qian Renxue thought to herself.

"However, since you, Zhu Zhuqing, are the daughter of the Duke of Youming, why did you join Shrek Academy and even compete as a formal Shrek Academy player?" After giving Dugu Bo an extremely awkward smile, Qian Renxue quickly changed the subject.

"...I don't want to accept the life my father has arranged for me." After a moment of silence, Zhu Zhuqing said softly.

"Becoming the Third Prince's vassal and living and dying with him is not the life I want. Only by escaping the Star Luo Empire can I take control of my own life."

As she spoke, Zhu Zhuqing glanced at Xiao Yan beside her. If it weren't for the pill that Xiao Yan provided, even if she had escaped, her fate would not have changed in the slightest.

"But if you just want to escape the fate of being a woman of the Zhu family, wouldn't living in anonymity be the best course of action?" Qian Renxue was completely unmoved by Zhu Zhuqing's words, and simply asked calmly, "Joining Shrek Academy, and now becoming the person with the highest soul power in Shrek Academy besides Xiao Yan, and even one of the few Soul Kings in the Heaven Dou Region..."

"Under these circumstances, would the Star Luo Empire really let you go?"

"Therefore, I joined the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School." Zhu Zhuqing remained calm and composed in the face of Qian Renxue's question.

"Joined... the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School?" Qian Renxue was stunned for a moment, then turned to look at Ning Fengzhi, who was sitting on the side with Chen Xin but had not spoken.

“Zhu Qing and Rong Rong are very good friends. With Rong Rong’s encouragement, Zhu Qing joined the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School,” Ning Fengzhi nodded in response to Qian Renxue’s gaze and explained, “However, it was only agreed upon after the promotion competition, so Qinghe, you don’t know about this yet.”

“Is that so?” Qian Renxue nodded, completely disbelieving Ning Fengzhi’s words. “With the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School as a backing, even if the Star Luo Empire wanted to forcibly take you back, they would have to consider the existence of Sword Douluo and Bone Douluo. It is indeed a very good choice…”

"Alright, let's leave Zhu Qing's matter here," Xiao Yan interrupted Qian Renxue. "Brother Xue, those bandits just now arranged for two Soul Kings to restrain me..."

Next, Xiao Yan described in detail the characteristics of the two Soul Kings, including but not limited to their scimitar-shaped weapon spirits and their soul skills that controlled magma.

"...Moreover, when they realized something was wrong and chose to flee, a Soul Douluo appeared and took the hit from Tang San's hidden weapon," Xiao Yan continued after a slight pause, "Those bandits, if I'm not mistaken, were from the Spirit Hall, right?"

Without waiting for Qian Renxue and Ning Fengzhi to nod, Xiao Yan continued.

"So, does the Spirit Hall have any Soul Kings who can get a Soul Douluo to cover their retreat?" Xiao Yan stared intently at Qian Renxue.

'They actually managed to get those two... no, all three of them to come, right? It's just that Xie Yue and Yan were testing Xiao Yan, while Hu Liena was testing Lin Dong's strength, right?' Qian Renxue frowned. Although Xiao Yan only mentioned the characteristics of two people, she was certain, knowing the relationship between Xie Yue and Hu Liena, that the three people known as the Golden Generation of the Spirit Hall were definitely at the scene of the chaotic battle just now.

Qian Renxue wanted to keep it a secret, but Ning Fengzhi was right beside her, and he also knew about the three people. It made no difference whether she concealed it or not, not to mention that she had recently revealed top-secret information that even Ning Fengzhi didn't know—

In the Spirit Hall's team, one person was replaced by a level 59 Soul King.

“Of course, if nothing unexpected happens, those two people who attacked you are the three geniuses known as the Golden Generation of the Spirit Hall,” Qian Renxue said with a smile, explaining the situation of Xie Yue and Yan. “The one with the curved blade spirit should be Xie Yue, a level 52 power-attack type Spirit King, whose spirit is called Moon Blade. The other one is Yan, also level 52, whose spirit is Flame Lord…”

"The Golden Generation?" Xiao Yan asked 'naively,' "Then, is that level 59 Soul King the third member of the Golden Generation?"

"...No, the third member of the Golden Generation is Xie Yue's sister, a level 51 control-type Soul King, whose martial soul is a fox, and her name is Hu Liena..." After being stabbed in the back by the 'completely unaware' Xiao Yan, Qian Renxue paused for a moment before explaining.

"Level 51?" Xiao Yan's eyes were full of doubt. "Then, what is that Level 59 Soul King called? He can't be inferior to the Golden Generation, can he?"

"I don't know. Perhaps that Soul King is the Spirit Hall's secret weapon..."

Qian Renxue's smile became increasingly strained.

Chapter 121 Dark Holy Tiger?

The elimination stage of the Soul Master Tournament has a total of 33 teams. In addition to the 15 teams selected by the two empires, there are 3 teams recommended by the two empires and the Spirit Hall, which are also called seeded teams.

Based solely on paper strength, among the thirty-three teams, the Spirit Hall's team with four Soul Kings is the strongest, followed by Shrek Academy's team with two Soul Kings. Then come the teams from Canghui Academy and Heaven Dou Royal Academy, each with one Soul King. The Star Luo Royal Academy's team, due to its well-known Soul Fusion Technique, is considered by most to be second only to the aforementioned four academies in strength.

However, the elimination rounds of the Soul Master Tournament held in Wuhun City are not based solely on paper strength. Therefore, although the three teams were guaranteed to pass the first round, if they are unlucky in the draw, they may still encounter strong teams in the second round, such as Canghui Academy and Shrek Academy, which have Soul Kings, and then be eliminated.

Of course, it's only a possibility. In any case, all three teams were very lucky to make it to the fourth round. The other three teams that made it to the fourth round were Shrek Academy, Canghui Academy, and Shenfeng Academy, which was formed by the merger of students from Shenfeng Academy and Chihuo Academy.

Many students from the Heaven Dou Empire protested the merger of the two academies, but the Spirit Hall's final response was only one sentence: those who do not wish to participate can withdraw, and the organizing committee will absolutely not force them.

Xue Qinghe did not respond to this. After all, the merged Shenfeng Academy still belonged to the Tiandou Empire. If they could achieve final victory, it would naturally be a happy ending for everyone.

After learning about this, the officials of the Star Luo Empire reported the situation directly to Davis, who was basically guaranteed to take the next throne. However, Davis did not react much after learning about this, perhaps because he planned to use it against Davis later.

In short, after three rounds of competition, we have finally arrived at the fourth round of the knockout stage, which is the fourth round of matches to determine the final three teams that can participate in the finals.

Just like in the previous rounds, as soon as he arrived at the competition venue, Flanders was called away to draw lots.

The draw was over quickly, and Flander returned with a wide smile on his face. Judging from his smug look, it was obvious that his opponent in the fourth round would be either Shenfeng Academy or Xingluo Royal Academy. The last time he had this expression was when he faced Chihuo Academy, and Chihuo Academy had forfeited in the first round of the elimination tournament.

"Who did the Spirit Hall's team encounter?" Before Flander could tease them again, Xiao Yan asked first.

"Yes, and which team did Canghui Academy encounter?" Ma Hongjun hurriedly asked.

The betrayal from Xiao Yan and his disciple caused Flander's expression to freeze for a moment. Then, he looked at the two of them with extreme displeasure, "Tsk, what are you doing? Can't you make your dean happy?"

"If Dean's happiness isn't based on our dilemma," Tang San shrugged helplessly, "then whatever you plan to do, we have no objection."

The others nodded in agreement.

"Alright," Yu Xiaogang said, watching Flander and the students fooling around, and surprisingly did something decent. "Flander, who is our opponent?"

“Star Luo Royal Academy is currently the weakest team among the remaining teams.” Upon hearing Yu Xiaogang’s words, Flander coughed, straightened his expression, and said seriously.

“Star Luo Royal Academy…” Ma Hongjun glanced at Xiao Yan, “Boss Xiao, you have to leave a few people for us, right?”

It seemed certain that Xiao Yan would directly take all seven members of the Star Luo Royal Academy, leaving none for them.

"Huh? You want me to go on stage?" Xiao Yan looked surprised. "Normally, isn't it only when we encounter Lin Dong and the Spirit Hall's team that I need to go on stage?"

In the first round of the elimination tournament, they encountered Blazing Fire Academy, but Blazing Fire Academy forfeited, allowing them to advance directly. In the second round, they received a bye because they had the privilege of being the first to advance. In the third round, they finally encountered a decent team, but Xiao Yan was boycotted by all the students and suspended for one match, which made Xiao Yan a little resentful.

"Why would we need you to play in the third round against such a rookie?" Oscar said shamelessly, sidling up to Xiao Yan. "We have to give everyone a chance to perform, right? It's not easy for us to compete in the Spirit Hall, we can't just not play a single time, can we?"

Looking back, Oscar frantically gave winks to the substitutes who occupied four positions in the third round of the competition.

"Well... that's right, it's all about bringing honor to one's ancestors..." Jing Ling chuckled dryly, though she was terrible at trying to please others.

"Moreover, the Star Luo Royal Academy has a Martial Soul Fusion Technique. Junior Sister Zhu might not be able to withstand it, right?" Huang Yuan chuckled dryly. He was the one who suggested banning Xiao Yan during the third round.

"Um... how about I go up and take the hits? I can withstand the Netherworld White Tiger's attacks, and after you guys deal with the others, we can all take the Netherworld White Tiger off the stage together?" Tyrone looked around and, seeing that everyone seemed to be waiting for him to speak, he chuckled and said.

"Junior Brother Xiao Yan, we've all come this far, we can't just turn back now, can we?" Jiang Zhu said resentfully after Tai Long finished speaking.

"Since you all insist, I'll reluctantly go on stage!"

Xiao Yan put on an expression that said, "I really can't do anything with you guys."

"Remember to save one for me!" Ma Hongjun shouted.

"Give me one too, the one with the weakest soul power will do," Oscar said with a lewd grin. "Let them see the power of a food-type soul master..."

While they were fooling around, the contestants from Shenfeng Academy and Tiandou Royal Academy, who had drawn bad lots, all wore masks of pain on their faces.

The Divine Wind Academy is in a slightly better position, since they have joined forces with the Blazing Fire Academy. Moreover, the only real threat from the Azure Radiance Academy is Lin Dong. Although all seven of them together might not be a match for Lin Dong, at least they know Lin Dong's methods and understand why they lost.

As for the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy...

Although they have one Soul King, the Spirit Hall has a total of four Soul Kings. Moreover, in the two matches they have participated in so far, only the Soul King with the control-type spirit has made a move, and each time it was an instant kill—one person against seven people, instantly killing all seven...

Under these circumstances, the students of the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy were actually prepared for failure... no, they were prepared for a crushing defeat.

Indeed, this was the case. Even though Dugu Yan's martial soul had evolved under the influence of the martial soul pill and was now a true dragon martial soul that was no weaker than the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex, it only managed to restrain two people. And coincidentally, these two people were siblings and had a martial soul fusion skill.

With Dugu Yan completely unable to lend a hand, Yan's battle against the rest of the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy students was a one-sided crushing defeat, and the Nine Heart Begonia seemed to only prolong the time he was being beaten.

Until the end of the match, most viewers only gained two useful pieces of information—

First, Xie Yue and Hu Liena have a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. After it is used, a red mist will appear on the field, and people outside the red mist cannot see what is happening inside.

Secondly, Yan's martial soul is an extremely powerful beast martial soul with the ability to control flames.

Besides that, all we know is that the Soul King standing in the center of the crowd who hasn't made a move yet is the highest-ranking person in the Martial Soul Team. At least, the Soul Saint who acts as the referee is far inferior to her.

Of course, this only applies to other people. As for Xiao Yan and Lin Dong... even if all three Soul Kings were tied together, it wouldn't be enough to warm them up.

After the match between the Heaven Dou Royal Academy and the Spirit Hall team ended, it was the turn of the Shrek Academy team and the seven members of the Star Luo Royal Academy team.

Led by Xiao Yan, the seven members of Shrek Academy stood in a line on the arena, quietly watching the seven people opposite them.

"Xiao Yan..."

Davis, the captain of the Star Luo Royal Academy with long golden hair, kept his gaze fixed on Xiao Yan after he came on stage, while muttering Xiao Yan's name under his breath.

"Long time no see."

Just when the audience and the Shrek Academy students thought Davis was about to say something provocative, the words "Long time no see" hit everyone like a hammer blow.

"It's been so long..."

"……not see?"

Oscar and Ma Hongjun each took half a sentence and repeated Davis's words, then their incredulous gazes fell on Xiao Yan, who was standing in the center.

Of course, it wasn't just the two of them who were staring at Xiao Yan with such disbelief; even Zhu Zhuqing, the blood relative of the girl beside Davis, looked completely bewildered.

In Zhu Zhuqing's mind, this meeting should have been tense, or at least Davis trying to recruit Xiao Yan. What was the meaning of "long time no see"?

"You dare to call me by my name this time?" Xiao Yan's lips curled up slightly.

"Who could have known that the person following the Duke of Youming would be Xiao Yan, who was wanted at the time?"

Davis shook his head with a wry smile, "If we hadn't had intelligence that you displayed your martial spirit in the match against Canghui Academy, a giant ruler over two meters long, we would have thought it was just a coincidence of names."

"Let's leave the reminiscing here," Xiao Yan said, glancing at the referee who had announced the start of the match. He then looked at Davis with a smile. "So, how about it, as agreed before?"

“We don’t mind if you get involved,” Davis said, grasping Zhu Zhuyun’s hand as she stood beside him. “With only Zhu Qing by herself… it’s impossible to win…”

An extremely strong energy fluctuation emanated from the arena, but none of the spectators showed any surprise. Some of the older teachers even had an expression of "Ah, if that's the case."

Davis and Zhu Zhuyun's bodies disappeared the instant the energy fluctuations were emitted. In their place was a huge white tiger, which was completely transparent, ten meters long and three meters tall at the shoulder, like a war beast.

"Let's talk after Zhu Qing loses," Xiao Yan said noncommittally. "Zhu Qing, go for it. As long as you beat them, you'll win this competition... and along with them, you'll also gain your freedom."

'The right to freedom...?' A hint of confusion flashed in Zhu Zhuqing's eyes.

However, the confusion in her eyes was quickly replaced by determination. She possessed the Netherworld Tiger Martial Soul, which had already surpassed the Netherworld White Tiger. All five soul rings lit up at the same time, and Zhu Zhuqing transformed directly into a giant tiger with a body length of eight meters and a shoulder height of two meters.

Unlike Davis and Zhu Zhuyun's Netherworld White Tiger, the giant tiger that Zhu Zhuqing transformed into had an extremely pure black and white body, looking as if it were discussing the rise and fall of Yin and Yang. On its back, there was a pair of giant wings, one black and one white.