As she advanced to the edge of the competition stage, Wang Qiu'er was already using a Class 6 milk bottle to restore the soul power in her body.
By the time both sides had taken their positions, Zheng Zhan did not immediately announce the start of the third match.
"Given the severe damage to the competition stage, and for the convenience of the subsequent matches as well as fairness, this referee will personally maintain the integrity of the stage."
As he spoke, Zheng Zhan waved his right hand, and a white light orb the size of a human head flew out. Under his control, the white light orb instantly bloomed with a layer of white radiance that spread across the competition stage.
The faint light flowed, and the surface of the massive pit seemed to be covered by a thin membrane. Although the sunken terrain of the deep pit beneath their feet was clearly visible, Zheng Zhan, standing upon it, remained incredibly steady.
Zheng Zhan slowly retreated, withdrawing his gaze from Wang Qiu'er. In his heart, he thought: This is all I can do to help you.
If not for their opposing stances and the instructions from above, he truly did not wish for Wang Qiu'er to fall here.
"Individual elimination match, third round—begin!"
Finally, after both sides had announced their names, the third match officially started.
Two yellow, two purple, and three black, seven soul rings rose around Yan Feng at the same time, and a pair of ice-blue bone wings spread open across his entire body. With each flap of the bone wings, his body soared upward into the sky.
Immediately after, his first three soul rings flashed in succession.
Hovering more than fifty meters above the competition stage, a massive skeletal head suddenly appeared in front of Yan Feng. This skull unmistakably belonged to a bone dragon head, over two meters long, more than a meter tall, and about one and a half meters wide. It looked extraordinarily eerie.
The bone dragon skull opened its maw, unleashing a torrent of ice-blue airflow straight toward Wang Qiu'er below.
Yan Feng's Bone Dragon Martial Soul's first soul skill, Dragon Transformation, and third soul skill, Bone Dragon Conversion. The first soul skill allowed his body to transform toward that of a bone dragon, while the third soul skill enabled him to condense soul power into a specific part of the bone dragon.
It was precisely under the amplification of the first and third soul skills that this imposing second soul skill, Bone Dragon Breath, was born.
From this alone, one could see just how powerful his Bone Dragon Martial Soul truly was.
Yan Feng could sense the fluctuations of soul power within Wang Qiu'er's body. Although she had briefly used a milk bottle to recover some soul power earlier, she was still at the end of her rope.
Against an opponent in such a state, there was naturally no need for him to unleash his seventh soul skill, Bone Dragon True Body, right from the start, as he had against Bei Bei.
He had received instructions from Scorpion Tiger Douluo Zhang Peng: eliminating Yu Tianhuang and Wang Qiu'er was their top priority at the moment. Conserving as much soul power as possible for dealing with Yu Tianhuang was the correct choice.
The thought of having the chance to devour Wang Qiu'er's martial soul origin and bones filled Yan Feng with barely concealable greed. Everything Wang Qiu'er had displayed so far indicated that her martial soul was closely related to dragon-type martial souls—and of extremely high quality.
To him, it was the perfect supplement.
And as long as he could devour Wang Qiu'er's martial soul origin and bones, his Bone Dragon Martial Soul would surely undergo a positive evolution. There was even a chance he could acquire the light and fire attributes from Wang Qiu'er's martial soul.
At the same time, above the competition stage, the bone dragon's breath containing terrifying ice-evil power exploded outward, as though the surrounding space had frozen solid.
Next, Wang Qiu'er displayed an astonishing ability that stunned the entire audience.
With a single leap, she rose into the air. Beneath each of her feet appeared two clusters of golden flames. With every light tap of her toes, she borrowed force from them. In an instant, she had already broken through Yan Feng's bone dragon breath while wielding her Golden Dragon Spear, now also wrapped in golden flames.
"This is…"
To the ordinary spectators in the stands, Wang Qiu'er's dazzling display paired perfectly with her flawless beauty and aloof demeanor. But for the members of the top eight teams, who had a deeper understanding of martial souls, their gazes all sharpened slightly.
This was clearly an innate talent of her martial soul.
One could imagine just how astonishing Wang Qiu'er's martial soul quality truly was.
Even her opponent, Yan Feng, felt a trace of surprise and uncertainty. He had seen many powerful martial souls, but never one with such miraculous innate abilities.
The moment he saw Wang Qiu'er shatter his bone dragon breath, sensing danger approaching, he hurriedly flapped his wings and shifted sideways to the left. A streak of golden light grazed right past his cheek.
Yan Feng swiftly turned around. Sure enough, Wang Qiu'er had appeared above him.
Wang Qiu'er gripped the shaft of the Golden Dragon Spear in her left hand. Starting from the roots, her pink-blue long hair began changing at an astonishing speed, as though a layer of golden liquid were flowing from the roots all the way to the tips.
As her profound sixth soul ring shone brightly, dense golden scales once again spread across her entire body except her face. Radiant golden light illuminated a large portion of the space.
Wang Qiu'er raised her right hand, which transformed into a golden dragon claw forged as if from pure gold.
A terrifying claw shadow fifty meters long descended from the sky.
Sixth soul skill—Golden Dragon Terror Claw!
"Dark Gold Terror Claw?!" Yan Feng's pupils contracted sharply. Immediately afterward, a low, furious dragon roar erupted from his mouth. His black seventh soul ring expanded outward as he unhesitatingly activated his strongest seventh soul skill, Bone Dragon True Body.
A bone dragon more than fifteen meters long appeared in midair. His third soul skill, Bone Dragon Conversion, activated once more, causing his pair of bone claws to grow enormously as they blocked in front of him.
The instant the five dark-golden heaven-shaking claw shadows collided with Yan Feng's pair of bone dragon claws, it was as though halos separated from them, causing the claws to dim and become illusory.
This was the powerful innate ability attached to Bone Dragon True Body, Soul Power Disintegration.
Thanks to this innate ability, the power of Wang Qiu'er's Golden Dragon Fearful Claw was reduced by at least fifty percent.
To be valued and accepted as a direct disciple by Zhong Liwu, Yan Feng was certainly no mediocre figure.
However, this ability of his was not omnipotent. Reduction was merely reduction, not complete immunity. Otherwise, he would not have been forced to sever one of his own bone wings earlier when Bei Bei's head soul bone skill, Medusa's Gaze, had cornered him.
Moreover, the special effects attached to soul skills could not be isolated. For example, the shattering and tearing effects carried by Wang Qiu'er's sixth soul skill, Golden Dragon Fearful Claw.
Although Yan Feng's pair of bone claws managed to block the Golden Dragon Fearful Claw, countless fine cracks appeared across them. Then, with crisp shattering sounds, they collapsed into countless blue-gray specks of light scattering through the air.
Meanwhile, Wang Qiu'er seemed to have completely exhausted her strength. Her body drifted powerlessly downward from the sky.
"Ang—" Yan Feng roared furiously toward the heavens in uncontrollable rage. Deep blue flames danced in his eye sockets as he opened his bone dragon maw, preparing to swallow Wang Qiu'er whole.
His heart was filled with greed and madness. As long as he could devour Wang Qiu'er, every injury he had suffered would be worth it.
"Once I devour your martial soul origin and bones and allow my martial soul to complete its evolution, I will be the next leader of the Holy Church!"
Zheng Zhan hesitated for a moment on the side but ultimately did not intervene to help. No matter how much he admired Wang Qiu'er, he had to uphold his own position.
Just as Wang Qiu'er was about to be swallowed by Yan Feng's bone dragon maw, she remained remarkably calm. A bewitching blood-red line slowly emerged between her eyebrows.
In the end, she had been forced to this point.
But right as Wang Qiu'er was about to activate her Eye of Destiny, a gentle voice quietly sounded beside her ear.
"That's enough."
Finding herself suddenly held in a warm embrace, Wang Qiu'er's delicate body trembled slightly. What entered her vision was a face she knew all too well.
In the next instant, she felt the surrounding space distort.
"Bang—" A low collision sound exploded like muffled thunder.
To all the spectators outside the competition stage, they only saw a streak of purple-golden light flash past. Yan Feng's Bone Dragon True Body was then heavily smashed into the light membrane floor that Zheng Zhan had artificially created earlier.
At the center of the competition stage stood a tall and upright young man, proudly holding Wang Qiu'er in his arms. The golden sun earring on his left ear swayed gently, scattering dazzling morning sunlight, extremely eye-catching.
And on that golden sun earring were ten strange golden patterns.
In the Shrek Academy rest area, Zhang Lexuan, who had been pale with shock, finally let out a relieved breath.
The young man was none other than Xu Zihuang, who had just successfully fused with the Tian Meng and the Thunder Beast.
"Who are you?!" Zheng Zhan couldn't help exclaiming in shock. Only after seeing Xu Zihuang's face clearly did the surprise in his eyes turn into sheer horror.
"It's you?!"
He knew that Shrek Academy's captain, Yu Tianhuang, was indeed very strong, but that was only among the younger generation of soul masters. He himself was a renowned Titled Douluo and Class 9 soul engineer, yet he hadn't even sensed Yu Tianhuang's presence at first. He hadn't even noticed how Yu Tianhuang had appeared on the competition stage.
Regaining his senses, Zheng Zhan looked at Yan Feng, who had been kicked out of his martial soul true body state by Yu Tianhuang, and frowned as he said, "Interfering in the match by entering the stage without permission, you have already violated the rules of this tournament."
"Violated the rules?" Xu Zihuang glanced sideways at Zheng Zhan with a faint, mocking, cold laugh.
"Are you going to allow an evil soul master to kill one of our people? If you truly have the authority to make that decision, then go ahead and disqualify Shrek Academy from the competition."
Looking into Xu Zihuang's deep eyes and feeling the soul-deep pressure emanating from him, Zheng Zhan realized that what had just happened was no illusion. Hearing the latter half of Xu Zihuang's words, he suddenly felt extremely troubled, his face turning alternately pale and flushed.
Xu Zihuang, however, paid no further attention to Zheng Zhan. Still holding Wang Qiu'er in his arms, he leaped down from the competition stage. The soul guidance protective barrier, capable of withstanding attacks from Soul Douluo level, seemed completely ineffective against him, allowing him to pass through with ease.
Meanwhile, Yan Feng, sprawled on the ground, felt his entire body go numb. It was as though countless bolts of thunder were exploding inside him, making it extremely difficult for him to even condense soul power. But that was all; he hadn't suffered any truly severe injuries.
However, watching Xu Zihuang's departing figure, the shock in his heart was even greater than Zheng Zhan's.
Returning to Shrek Academy's waiting area, Wang Qiu'er finally reacted. She hurriedly struggled free from Xu Zihuang's embrace, a certain inexplicable change flickering deep within her eyes.
Every member of Shrek Academy's team turned their gazes toward Xu Zihuang in unison. Although they were the closest to Yu Tianhuang, none of them had noticed when he had ascended to the competition stage.
Ning Tian, in particular, stared with wide-eyed disbelief, so stunned that she even overlooked how intimate Xu Zihuang and Wang Qiu'er had just appeared.
"Leave the rest to me."
Xu Zihuang swept his gaze across everyone and gave a faint smile. Then, in his heart, he added mockingly:
If Shrek Academy hasn't been disqualified from the competition, that is.
How could Xu Tianran possibly let such a perfect, open opportunity to deal with Shrek Academy slip by? This was one of the reasons he dared to act so brazenly.
The other was that his own mentality had changed. Now, he wouldn't say he could confront top-tier powerhouses like Long Xiaoyao, Ye Xishui, or Kong Deming. But if he wanted to leave, no one could stop him.
Fusing with the Tian Meng's million-year seventh soul ring had already elevated his strength to a level even he found hard to imagine. Moreover, the Thunder Beast had granted him a hundred-thousand-year soul ring and a hundred-thousand-year soul bone.
A total of four hundred-thousand-year soul skills, not one missing. As one of the peak existences among thunder-attribute soul beasts, the Thunder Beast would never lack powerful innate soul skills the way a plant-type hundred-thousand-year soul beast like the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass did.
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