Chapter 197: Impossible, Absolutely Impossible!
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As he once again entered the practical phase, Su Yu used the feedback from the power of fate to identify those harboring malicious intent toward him, all while refining the "Evil" character rune in the process.
In truth, even without external assistance, Su Yu could have deduced the hostility of people like Zhongli Wu through his own reasoning.
However, the "Evil" character rune provided a far more direct answer.
Speculation and absolute certainty were two entirely different things.
Moreover, the "Evil" character rune primarily detected active malice. That was precisely why, the moment Su Yu sensed Zhongli Wu's hostility and followed the power of fate's feedback, his gaze met Zhongli Wu's directly.
Zhongli Wu was powerful, and his connection with Su Yu was significant—what Su Yu himself defined as karma. The karmic ties between them were not minor.
In Heaven Dou City, Su Yu had orchestrated a plan to lure Yan Shaozhe into battle against Zhongli Wu, disrupting Zhongli Wu's attempt to corrupt Tang Ya. Furthermore, Su Yu had eliminated Zhongli Wu's three brothers, escalating the conflict between their respective factions.
These intertwined events deepened their karmic entanglement, making their fates more apparent through the power of destiny.
Additionally, Zhongli Wu's formidable strength gave his influence over fate greater weight.
This was precisely why, as soon as Su Yu inscribed the "Evil" character rune, Zhongli Wu's malice was the first he perceived.
With a deeper understanding of this perception, Su Yu refined his awareness further—soon detecting malice from others.
The hostility from Yan Shaozhe, from Xuanzi, from Xu Tiannan…
Gradually, Su Yu's sensitivity to malice heightened.
By quantifying malice, he could assign values—if Zhongli Wu's malice measured at 100, then Su Yu initially needed an equivalent level of hostility to perceive it. Yan Shaozhe's malice registered at 50, Xuanzi's at 30, and Xu Tiannan's at 20.
This disparity did not mean their schemes against Su Yu were any less dangerous than Zhongli Wu's, but rather that their current intensity of malice was lower.
Now, Su Yu had lowered his perception threshold to around 5 points.
In other words, as long as someone's malice reached a value of 5, he could sense it.
Within the Grand Soul Arena, anyone harboring clear hostility toward Su Yu was now detectable through the "Evil" character rune.
At this level, his ability had become exceptionally strong.
Su Yu even realized that he might need to suppress this perception in daily life—at the very least, this passive awareness of malice shouldn't constantly flood his mind.
"All malice and its sources exist as a database. It won't affect me, but if I wish to know, I can access it at any time."
Otherwise, living in a world where he was constantly aware of every person's hostility toward him would be unbearable.
As the "Evil" character rune continued to evolve, Su Yu's "Fate" and "Derivation" runes—both related to the power of destiny—also saw significant improvements.
The Tenth Day of the Tournament
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
A synchronized march. Elite troops in full armor.
A grand army of 30,000 soldiers advanced from three directions, surrounding the Grand Soul Arena.
Inside the arena, the competing teams felt an overwhelming sense of dread.
### Shrek Academy's Rest Area
"Xu Tiannan isn't even trying to conceal his actions anymore. He's blatantly deployed his troops right outside the Grand Soul Arena."
The arena was now besieged on three sides by the military, with only one remaining route leading directly to Sun-Moon.
"It's fine. We'll follow the proper procedures, return to Sun-Moon as usual, and head back afterward. Does the Sun-Moon Empire really dare to take action against us?"
As panic spread among the participating sects and academies, some voices spoke out with such reasoning.
This argument indeed gained considerable support.
After all, they had entered the Sun-Moon Empire through legal channels, following all the proper procedures. If the empire still intended to capture them despite this, it would be an outright violation of reason and justification.
Yet, within the rest areas of the Star Luo Royal Battle Team, Shrek Battle Team, and the Body Sect Battle Team, these words did nothing to ease the tension. Instead, the atmosphere grew even heavier.
"Sigh… Xu Tiannan is ambitious—he's not even trying to hide it anymore."
"Good thing we brought a number of powerful experts with us this time."
"If Xu Tiannan really makes a move and tries to slaughter the geniuses of our Douluo Alliance, our elders will ensure the Sun-Moon Empire pays a heavy price."
Despite the external military movements, the tournament continued as usual.
And Su Yu? He remained completely unaffected, focused solely on refining his mastery over the power of fate. Perfecting the 'Evil' character rune was only one aspect—he was also continuously improving the 'Derivation' character rune.
### The Second-to-Last Day of the Tournament
By this point, Su Yu had reached a new milestone—he had successfully begun simulating cultivation through Derivation Power.
"The training of universal cultivation techniques can now be simulated using the 'Derivation' character rune."
Su Yu obtained the latest version of a research institute's cultivation method and used the power of fate to simulate its effects.
"Hmm… at the very least, it's twice as fast as pure meditation. In other words, if it originally took ten hours to reach the daily limit, now it only takes five."
Cultivation followed a gradual process—every step, every subtle change in soul power, needed to be absorbed and imprinted into the cultivator's body.
This was why a daily limit existed for cultivation.
Of course, that limit wasn't absolute.
For example, in the first hour of training, soul power might increase by 100 units. In the second hour, that gain would drop to 50, and by the third hour, it would shrink to 25. By the tenth hour, the increase would be negligible—barely even 1 unit.
Going beyond this limit would still yield some progress, but the efficiency was too low to justify the effort. This was why most Soul Masters allocated time to studying other disciplines. The true geniuses who could cultivate in multiple areas without compromising either had mastered the art of balancing efficiency.
Now, with this universal cultivation technique doubling meditation efficiency, Soul Masters could train twice as fast—freeing up additional time to refine their secondary professions or enhance other abilities.
"But this is just the foundation. Universal techniques can still evolve and improve."
Perhaps one day, there would be a technique so advanced that even after training continuously for ten or twenty hours, Soul Masters would still receive a guaranteed increase in soul power.
Such techniques already existed—Su Yu was practicing one himself.
However, the difficulty of mastering them was incredibly high, making them unsuitable for widespread use.
"If a universally accessible cultivation technique could one day reach this level, then perhaps Douluo Star itself would evolve to a point where it could withstand the presence of God-ranked powerhouses."
That would mark the true advancement of the entire Soul Master world.
---
"Tang Sect versus Mingyu Sect!"
Today marked the Tang Sect's final match.
As long as they won this match, they would qualify alongside Shrek Academy, securing their spot in the next stage as the first and second-place teams.
Mingyu Sect—a Soul Engineering sect based in the Sun-Moon Empire—was located near Sun-Moon.
Their overall strength was formidable, forcing the Tang Sect to send out all their main team members.
In the individual matches, Mingyu Sect relied on Invincible Barriers and Soul Tools to outlast Bei Bei and Wang Dong, forcing the Tang Sect's fifth contestant, Tang Ya, to step in.
Following Tang Ya was Jiang Nannan, while Ning Tian didn't even have the chance to compete in the individual battles.
In other words, Mingyu Sect had systematically defeated every Tang Sect member except for Jiang Nannan—a testament to their impressive strength.
However, in the team battle, they were ultimately overwhelmed by the Tang Sect's flawless coordination.
"Tsk tsk… Three Soul Emperors, four Soul Kings. Two of those Soul Kings even possess a Martial Soul Fusion Ability, and one of them is a Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda Soul Master—hailed as the strongest auxiliary-type Soul Master."
Regarding the fame of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, Su Yu had no objections to that title.
While his own Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul provided far greater support—even surpassing the legendary Nine Treasures Glazed Pagoda—this didn't change the fact that the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda had rightfully earned its reputation as the most powerful auxiliary martial soul.
Its strength lay in its unique properties.
As long as a Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda Soul Master chose the right Soul Ring combinations, they would always wield top-tier auxiliary abilities. Percentage-based enhancements—was there any type of support more powerful than that?
Individually, it might not be the strongest, but in terms of stability and overall effectiveness, it was unparalleled.
That said, Tang Sect's team composition was undeniably top-tier.
Even Tang Ya, a Blue Silver Grass Soul Master, met the standard for control-type specialists when combined with Tang Sect's signature techniques, such as Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon.
Moreover, her fifth Soul Skill included a life-based ability that could restore her teammates' condition.
While a mix of control and healing seemed somewhat unconventional, it proved highly effective in this Soul Battle Tournament.
---
"Yesterday, Shrek Academy's lineup was also pretty much exposed."
Mingyu Sect once again proved its strength, forcing Shrek Academy to send four of its main team members into battle at full power during the team match.
"Zhou Xinghao's task is complete. Now, only Xiao Ping remains. There are still two more opportunities—should be enough to get it done. As for Xiao and Meng, their turn will come later."
From the quarterfinals to the semifinals, there would be a total of five matches—three in the quarterfinals and two more in the semifinals and finals.
That meant Xiao, Meng, Hongchen, Huo Yuhao, and Su Yu needed to pull off four consecutive seven-win streaks in those matches.
To this, Su Yu could only express a slight sense of relief.
---
"Holy Spirit Church versus Snow Demon Sect!"
"Oh? We've finally reached the highlight match."
Su Yu paused his insight training, turning his attention to the stage, eager to watch the battle unfold.
The clash between Snow Demon Sect, led by Snow Empress, and the Holy Spirit Church was bound to be thrilling.
And he wasn't the only one excited—many competitors perked up, preparing to watch the match with full focus.
Snow Demon Sect had already shown just a glimpse of its terrifying strength in previous rounds. Yet, even that mere glimpse had been enough for them to dominate from the elimination rounds all the way to the final match of the round-robin stage—completely undefeated.
This team had long since captured everyone's attention.
On the other hand, Holy Spirit Church, the battle team formed by the Holy Spirit Church, was equally fearsome. Many teams had already caught on to their true origins and regarded them with deep wariness.
Now, as Snow Demon Sect faced off against Holy Spirit Church, all teams with a shot at the quarterfinals sat up straight, watching intently.
---
"First Match: Team Battle!"
The lottery draw was quickly completed—Snow Demon Sect and Holy Spirit Church would begin their clash with a team battle, immediately sparking an intense showdown from the very start.
Huo Yuhao's expression tensed, while within his Spiritual Sea, both Ice Empress and Skydream Iceworm stirred restlessly, focusing on Snow Empress, who had taken the stage.
Snow Demon Sect's overall strength was incredible—every member had a cultivation level above Soul King, and the team even boasted one Soul Emperor and one Soul Saint.
This kind of terrifying lineup was nothing short of astonishing.
Even without Snow Empress, Snow Demon Sect was an undeniably formidable force.
---
"What's going on?"
In the Shrek Academy rest area, Su Tong's expression shifted slightly as she gazed at Snow Empress on the stage. A strange sense of familiarity washed over her.
That aura… it felt so familiar.
One by one, the other Shrek team members also began to sense something odd.
"Su Jie, why does that Snow Girl feel so much like you?"
"No… to be precise, her presence is very similar to yours when your Ice Sky Snow Lady Martial Soul is fully awakened."
"I feel the same way. It's as if… she and I are somehow connected," Su Tong murmured to herself.
From Snow Empress, she could faintly sense a deep, intrinsic bond—one that seemed to stem from her very bloodline.
---
On the Arena
Snow Empress turned her head, her gaze sweeping over the Shrek rest area—as if she had noticed Su Tong.
"Ice Sky Snow Lady Martial Soul?"
Compared to Su Tong's confusion and uncertainty, Snow Empress's perception was much sharper.
For her, the appearance of a human Soul Master possessing the Ice Sky Snow Lady Martial Soul was not particularly shocking.
First, she wasn't the easily startled type.
Second, the Ice Sky Snow Lady was never meant to be a unique existence.
Snow Empress's true form was an Ice Sky Snow Lady, a pure manifestation of heaven and earth's ice-attribute energy, naturally formed over countless years until she finally gained wisdom and self-awareness, evolving into an intelligent being.
She carried the bloodline of the Ice God, and aside from favorable environmental conditions, this divine bloodline had played a major role in allowing her to become a living entity.
Compared to the Titan Snow Demon, another being that possessed Ice God blood, Snow Empress's bloodline was even purer—her very existence seemed to have been shaped directly from it.
To put it bluntly, Snow Empress was akin to a direct descendant of the Ice God, a being nurtured by the god's very own bloodline power.
Just as the Angel God could grant the Angel Martial Soul to its chosen successors, and the Sea God could bless its High Priest with the Sea God Martial Soul, the Ice God was also capable of bestowing its own bloodline powers.
That very Ice God Martial Soul was, in essence, the Ice Sky Snow Lady Martial Soul.
Snow Empress herself was born through the same process, much like how a human Soul Master awakened the Ice Sky Snow Lady Martial Soul—granted life through the Ice God's bloodline power.
Unfortunately, at some point, the Ice God vanished.
Even Snow Empress, a being directly granted life by the deity, had never been able to communicate with it.
---
She withdrew her gaze and turned toward the seven members of Holy Spirit Church standing opposite her.
Her brows furrowed slightly.
No matter how indifferent her personality was, the moment she sensed the dense aura of bloodlust and slaughter emanating from the Holy Spirit Church team, she couldn't help but crease her brow.
A bone-chilling coldness silently spread across the arena, enveloping everything.
The previously arrogant Holy Spirit Church members immediately snapped to full attention, their casual attitudes disappearing in an instant.
Snow Demon Sect was indeed powerful, but only in comparison to ordinary teams.
To Holy Spirit Church, a team with one Soul Emperor and six Soul Kings was hardly a threat.
But this Snow Girl standing before them…
She was far more dangerous than they had anticipated!
---
"Both sides, prepare! Match—begin!"
With the referee's command, both teams unleashed their Martial Souls.
---
"Impossible!"
"Absolutely impossible!"
In the Shrek Academy rest area, one by one, the team members' eyes widened in shock, as if they had just witnessed something beyond belief.
On the battlefield, the seven Holy Spirit Church members were equally shaken, their minds thrown into chaos as they stared at the figure standing before them.
---
(End of Chapter)