20demayo Chapter 176 I'll Help You
Chapter 176 I'll Help You
Chapter 176 I'll Help You
According to the original plan, Ma Xiaotao was supposed to take advantage of the opportunity of Liehuo Xingjiaoshu's first appearance to show off her power and use a single soul skill to cleanly and efficiently send all the people from Qianling Academy off the stage.
This approach allows for an easy victory while also showcasing the power of this entirely new concept of spirits to the audience at the perfect moment, taking a solid first step towards promoting and developing spirits in the future.
With this beginning, and after five years of development and preparation, the next Soul Battle Tournament will be the true stage for all kinds of souls to shine.
But who could have imagined that the script would go completely off track right from the very first step?
"Yuhao, don't worry." Ling Luochen's cold voice rang out, "Senior Ajiao said that Qianling Academy is too weak and is not qualified to use them for publicity."
This was something Ma Xiaotao and I had discussed beforehand, to ensure that the play would not only allow the audience to witness the special nature of spirits, but also make it clear to them that I, Ling Luochen, am by no means inferior to Ma Xiaotao.
Huo Yuhao's eyebrows twitched uncontrollably.
It's that troublemaker, Liehuo Xingjiaoshu, again.
And it was all pre-arranged?
Looking at Ma Xiaotao, who was full of fighting spirit in mid-air, and then at Ling Luochen, who was not giving an inch, he understood immediately.
What kind of propaganda is this about spirits?
Their true purpose was to put an end to last night's undecided duel and to determine the winner through a real battle.
Although Huo Yuhao is currently only at the Soul Venerable level, the level of his soul power condensation is no less than that of a Soul King.
After merging their soul power with Ling Luochen's, the total soul power of the two of them was approaching that of a Soul Emperor.
Not to mention that his Ice Dragon King Martial Soul is essentially a god-level Martial Soul, which has the power to suppress even the most extreme attributes.
The outcome of a battle between Ma Xiaotao, a Soul Saint-level expert in ultimate fire, and Ling Luochen, who is fully empowered by her, is indeed unpredictable.
Compared to the two players on the field who were locked in a tense standoff, Ning Tian, who was also a contestant, wisely grabbed Wu Feng by the back of her collar and dragged her toward the edge of the competition stage.
"Hey, young master." Wu Feng was dragged a couple of steps before he realized what was going on. "Aren't we supposed to be playing a match? What are you doing?!"
"What, do you want to stay and fight Sister Xiaotao, or do you want to challenge Sister Luochen?" Ning Tian said without turning his head. "Listen to me, the wisest choice is to obediently go down and watch the show."
Zhu Lu and Cui Yajie exchanged a glance, immediately understood, and obediently followed Ning Tian's steps.
Inside the Shrek Academy rest area.
Xian Lin'er was completely stunned by the sudden turn of events on the field.
What's going on? How come Ma Xiaotao is already level 70, and her seventh spirit ring is already at the 100,000-year level?
And what's wrong with those girls from the reserve team? They left the stage as soon as the match started. Are they planning to forfeit the match?
Xian Lin'er's tone was full of dissatisfaction and confusion: "Le Xuan, what are those little girls up to again? It's a rare opportunity to compete on stage. Even if the opponents are a bit weak, they don't have to give up the competition, do they?"
And what are Ma Xiaotao and Ling Luochen up to? Are they planning to stage a scene of fighting over Huo Yuhao in front of 200,000 people?
As she finished speaking, Xianlin'er's tone became somewhat incredulous.
She never expected that young people these days could be so bold.
Or is it that I'm just getting old and can't keep up with the times?
Zhang Lexuan, standing to the side, shook her head, her tone tinged with a hint of envy: "Dean Xian, don't worry. Xiao Tao and Luo Chen know what they're doing. They're just putting on a show to promote Soul Spirit."
"A soul?"
Hearing this thing she had never heard of before, Xianlin'er became even more confused.
However, considering that her precious disciple was always so mysterious, she had long been used to it.
Anyway, as a teacher, she was no match for her disciple in making soul tools, and in terms of cultivation, she was completely crushed by Gu Yuena. She was already utterly useless.
Xian Lin'er subconsciously touched her chest, as if she could still feel the lingering excitement from witnessing Huo Yuhao's golden dragon body last time.
……
The referee on the competition stage had retreated to the vicinity of the Thousand Spirits Academy team, fully focused, waiting for Shrek Academy to launch an attack so he could intervene and save them immediately.
A Soul Master with a top-tier Martial Soul is enough to rival an ordinary Soul Douluo at the Soul Saint stage, not to mention that the seventh Soul Ring of the person in front of him is a 100,000-year Soul Ring.
The referee, whose skill level was only that of a Contra-level player, said that this was really too difficult for him.
Seeing Ma Xiaotao's ready gesture in mid-air, Ling Luochen hugged Huo Yuhao tighter and whispered:
"Yuhao, let's begin. Just stay quietly in your sister's arms and don't move around."
At this point, Ling Luochen paused, then changed the subject.
"But before we begin, let's lock up those people from Qianling Academy first, so they don't just forfeit the match and disrupt our plans."
Before she finished speaking, she lightly tapped the ground with the ice staff in her hand, and her third spirit ring instantly shone.
A beam of icy blue light precisely locked onto the group of students from Thousand Spirits Academy. In the blink of an eye, the blue light cascaded down, instantly transforming into an ice prison radiating bone-chilling cold.
The prison cell landed with a thud, completely enveloping the Thousand Spirits Academy, which was already shrouded by the Spirit Shield Wall.
Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow.
With the aid of his soul power, Ling Luochen's third soul skill, "Ice Prison," can be said to have undergone a complete transformation.
Not only is it entirely composed of the finest ice, but the completely sealed ice cage also boasts an ice layer a full meter thick.
As Ling Luochen said, this move not only completely severed the connection between Qianling Academy and the outside world, eliminating the possibility of them directly forfeiting the competition, but more importantly, it also protected them and prevented them from being affected in the following battles.
This is why the referees cannot independently determine whether Qianling Academy has lost its ability to compete.
After his senses painstakingly penetrated the barrier of extreme ice, he was even able to perceive the situation of the Thousand Spirits Academy members, which was much better than when he faced the ice and fire aura directly.
Inside the ice prison, compared to the burning sensation under her buttocks before, An Lengye now felt much more comfortable, even though the extreme cold emanating from the ice still made her shiver.
"Captain, we're all locked up. Is there... any chance left?"
Hearing An Lengye's question, Shen Ce, wielding the Thousand-Strike Spear, turned pale and then flushed. Finally, unable to contain himself, he muttered angrily:
"Shrek Academy is really going too far! If they want to eliminate us, they should just do it. What's the point of locking us up here?"
Hearing the captain's complaint, An Lengye rolled his eyes in annoyance, and then slapped Fei Yuyan, who was trembling beside him, on the back.
"You haven't been frozen stiff yet? Looks like you've made quite a bit of progress."
Fei Yuyan was shrinking her body. As a fire-attribute control-type soul master, her body could not withstand such low temperatures. At this moment, she could not even maintain the Fiery Tiger that her martial soul had mimicked.
She sneezed suddenly and snapped, "An Lengye, stop spouting nonsense! I hate people like you who play with ice!"
An Lengye chuckled softly.
Seeing her arch-rival in such a defeated state, even though she was usually aloof, she felt a strange sense of satisfaction.
Meanwhile, outside the ice prison.
Seeing that the stage was almost set up, Ma Xiaotao no longer hesitated, and her second and third spirit rings lit up at the same time.
Intense golden-red flames swirled around her like boiling golden waves, and the phoenix wings on her back grew even larger.
Her wings flapped suddenly, her phoenix eyes widened, and she angrily shouted, "Ling Luochen, what are you doing! Don't you know that I am the captain of the Shrek team? Immediately let go of Yuhao!"
"Heh, so what if you're the captain?"
There was no fear in Ling Luochen's eyes, but rather a faint hint of mockery.
"Do you think I'll be afraid of you just because you've become a Soul Saint? Besides, as Yuhao's older sister, it's only natural for me to hold my younger brother. Who are you to tell me what to do?"
As she said these words, Ling Luochen's pretty face flushed slightly.
Given her usual aloof nature, she would never have said such a thing, but for the sake of her grand scheme, she was now resolute in doing so.
Hearing Ling Luochen emphasize the word "sister" in his words, Ma Xiaotao felt inexplicably annoyed.
Rather, she felt uneasy from the moment she learned that Ling Luochen was Huo Yuhao's god-sister. It was as if a treasure that should have belonged to her had been stolen by someone else.
Especially after overhearing the conversation between the auspicious beast and Qiu'er inside the Spirit Pagoda, a bold guess kept popping into her mind.
Hearing Ling Luochen emphasize again that she was Huo Yuhao's sister, one can imagine her indignation, especially since the competition last night was far from over.
Hearing their conversation, Huo Yuhao's lips twitched, and he completely gave up struggling.
Given the irreconcilable differences between Ling Luochen and Ma Xiaotao, even if he forcibly stops them now, they will probably find a place to fight again in private.
Moreover, Ling Luochen was right before; using a mere Thousand Spirits Academy to promote Soul Spirits is indeed far from sufficient.
The Thousand Spirits Academy, with its one Soul King and six Soul Master configuration, could easily eliminate all seven opponents with a single strike from Ma Xiaotao, who had already transformed into the Ultimate Flame. How could the role of Soul Spirits be demonstrated?
Having figured this out, Huo Yuhao decided to settle down and become a soul power supply bottle without any emotions.
"Ignorant and arrogant!"
Ma Xiaotao's wings flapped violently again, propelling her body like a crimson-gold meteor as she hurtled straight towards Ling Luochen.
At the same time, her first spirit ring lit up instantly.
"Then I'll take Yuhao from you first, and then beat you until you're completely convinced!"
With the combined power of her second soul skill "Phoenix Reborn" and her third soul skill "Phoenix Wings Soaring to the Sky," the long golden-red flames that burst forth from Ma Xiaotao's mouth were powerful enough to melt gold and shatter stone.
The surging heatwave caused the air to distort violently under the scorching heat.
Despite the fierce attack, Ling Luochen remained calm.
A howling wind swept outwards from her, and the temperature of the entire competition area began to drop rapidly.
As her jet-black fifth spirit ring glowed softly, a ring of ice-blue light condensed above her head and instantly expanded outward, transforming into a huge and magnificent snowflake ice crystal light and shadow in the air.
The blazing phoenix flames and the frigid ice and snow eroded each other, but the earth-shattering explosion that was expected did not occur.
The icy blue light grew even stronger, enveloping and eroding the phoenix flames layer by layer upon contact.
In the blink of an eye, the ice-blue field enveloped the entire competition stage.
Even the referee, who had already retreated and was using all his soul power to protect himself, turned into a crystal-clear ice sculpture in this bone-chilling cold.
After a few breaths, he suddenly shattered the solid ice and retreated further away in fear.
The golden-red phoenix flames that were originally burning fiercely around Ma Xiaotao were suppressed within three inches of her body in this extreme cold, making it difficult for them to expand even slightly.
The surrounding audience erupted in uproar.
They didn't care why Shrek Academy suddenly broke out into an internal war; as long as there were exciting matches to watch, they didn't care who was fighting whom.
But what they saw before them completely overturned their understanding.
In the eyes of the vast majority of viewers, who are ordinary people and low-level Soul Masters, the number and color of Soul Rings represent absolute strength.
How could a Soul King possibly suppress a Soul Saint with a 100,000-year Soul Ring?
This makes absolutely no sense!
Of course, laymen only see the spectacle, while experts see the details.
On the viewing platform of the imperial city wall, Xu Jiawei narrowed his eyes. With the cultivation of a titled Douluo, he naturally saw through the key point at a glance.
With Huo Yuhao's enhancement, Ling Luochen's martial soul had reached the level of ultimate ice.
Although Ma Xiaotao has an absolute advantage in soul power cultivation, her phoenix martial soul is clearly still a little short of the ultimate fire.
Given the elemental advantage, it's not surprising that such a situation of being suppressed would occur.
Huo Yuhao sensed the situation on the scene and looked at Ma Xiaotao deliberately controlling the temperature of the flames in mid-air. He understood what kind of drama his two older sisters were preparing to put on.
Compared to the previous Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul, whose flames were so violent that even Ma Xiaotao herself could hardly control them, now that she has transformed into a Fiery Phoenix, the fire poison in her body is completely controlled by Fiery Apricot.
Not only are his own phoenix flames incredibly hot, but they can also be controlled at will, demonstrating a level of mastery over fire that has been elevated to countless degrees.
Just when all the audience members thought that Ling Luochen was about to press his advantage and defeat Ma Xiaotao in one fell swoop, staging a stunning comeback.
A clear female voice resounded throughout the entire Star Luo Square via a pre-prepared amplified soul tool.
"Little Peach, don't be afraid, I'm here to help you!"
(End of this chapter)