Chapter 518: The New King Ascends, the Old Emperor Falls - Part 2
As for the remaining group of Soul Kings bolstered by soul tools, they were utterly crushed by Shrek's team in less than a few minutes.
However, neither the audience nor the higher-ups of the major powers were surprised by this outcome. Since the collision of the Sun Moon Continent with the Douluo Continent, every championship in the Advanced Soul Master Tournament had been claimed by Shrek Academy—a testament to their deep-rooted strength and terrifying combat prowess.
In this era, the only force truly capable of challenging Shrek head-on was the Sun Moon Imperial Academy, which relied on its advanced soul tool system to surpass others through unconventional means.
For this reason, the upcoming match between Tianxing Academy and the Sun Moon Imperial Academy drew extraordinary attention from the spectators.
Logically speaking, Tianxing Academy stood no chance against Shrek Academy, meaning that in terms of traditional cultivation, Tianxing had yet to reach Shrek's level.
However, the performance of Tianxing's women throughout the tournament made it clear to everyone that beyond conventional soul skills and soul power training, self-created soul skills could yield astonishing combat effects. They had carved out an entirely new path within the myriad cultivation systems.
But creating one's own soul skills was no easy feat.
Nowadays, any faction worth its salt treated self-created soul skills as priceless heirlooms, guarding them jealously and refusing to divulge even a shred of information. Once leaked, it almost always led to bloodshed and vendettas without end.
Even Shrek Academy was no exception.
Yet, amidst these fiercely guarded secrets, Tianxing Academy stood out like a breath of fresh air, openly sharing its inherited self-created soul skills. Countless commoner soul masters saw this as a glimmer of hope.
Gaining entry into Shrek Academy required not just connections but also exceptional talent. Without such qualifications, even surviving the six-year elimination period in the outer court was impossible.
On the other hand, entering the Sun Moon Imperial Academy or other soul tool-focused institutions demanded vast sums of money, as both crafting and purchasing soul tools were far from cheap.
But Tianxing Academy was different. From the very beginning, it had imposed no barriers to entry. If there was any threshold at all, it might simply be talent.
In no time, many young and impoverished commoner soul masters without influential connections felt their hearts stir with excitement.
Tianxing Academy—it was the ideal academy for the common people.
Recently, rumors spread that the Heavenly Soul Empire had introduced a brand-new subsidy system for exceptionally talented students of Tianxing Academy. This news sent waves of enthusiasm through those who possessed talent but lacked opportunities.
Tianxing Academy vs. Sun Moon Imperial Academy
Huo Yu'er, clad in white battle attire embroidered with the characters "Tianxing," stepped onto the arena stage with a cold, resolute expression, her face cloaked in an unyielding frost.
Though the Sun Moon team had already accepted their inevitable defeat, they still dispatched their members strategically.
Huo Yu'er's first opponent was a Level 5 soul engineer named Mi Jia.
At any other academy, a soul engineer of this caliber would easily serve as the captain of a team. But at the Sun Moon Imperial Academy, he was merely a starting member.
It was no wonder they had been able to compete with Shrek for so many years for the top two spots.
As the referee shouted "Prepare!" both sides instantly displayed their martial souls.
Huo Yu'er had defeated numerous Soul Kings—and even Soul Emperors—along the way, but she dared not show the slightest hesitation now. In an instant, her spirit fused with her martial soul, transforming her into the Snow Empress.
No matter how many times one witnessed this transformation, it remained breathtakingly stunning. Gasps of admiration rippled through the audience.
However, for a soul engineer, true combat strength never lay in their martial soul itself. Their martial soul served merely as a battery to supply soul power.
There was also a rule in the tournament: soul engineers were prohibited from equipping their soul tools before the match began, as the attacks from soul tools were nearly instantaneous.
Imagine if soul engineers could unleash barrages of attacks the moment the match started—it would be grossly unfair to traditional soul masters.
But Ye Wen harbored some disdain for this rule.
After all, in real combat, there was no time to wait. Using every possible means to kill one's enemy was commonplace.
It was simply a reflection of the Sun Moon Empire's lack of bargaining power as the defeated party, forcing them to accept the unreasonable terms set by the Douluo Continent.
But humans had never let themselves be drowned by their own urine. While the Douluo Continent dared to impose such rules, the Sun Moon Empire responded by developing faster equipment deployment speeds.
The moment the referee shouted "Begin!" Mi Jia's body erupted with a series of metallic clangs.
In the blink of an eye, shimmering blue metal armor surged forth from his back, swiftly enveloping his entire body.
At this moment, Ye Wen recalled that armor-type soul tools had already begun to emerge around this time, possibly serving as the precursor to Divine Armors.
Moreover, Ye Wen remembered that the original text described the Sun Moon Empire as having already begun researching humanoid soul tools—the precursors to the mecha soul tools of ten thousand years later.
It was also during those ten thousand years that the Douluo Continent truly gained the power to resist the gods.
Indeed, technology changed lives.
The instant Mi Jia completed his armor transformation, Huo Yu'er used Instant Step to close the distance between them in the blink of an eye.
"First Soul Skill: Emperor Palm!"
No matter how many times one saw the hundred-thousand-year soul ring adorned with seven golden streaks, it never failed to inspire reverence.
Everyone witnessing this battle scene had no doubt about Huo Yu'er's future achievements. She was not only a disciple of Ye Wen, a Supreme Douluo, but also a prodigy capable of defeating a Soul Emperor despite being only a Soul Elder—a thirty-level gap.
However, after so many battles, nearly all of Huo Yu'er's combat data regarding her Snow Empress martial soul had been exposed.
After all, the most powerful factions knew well that the third-ranked beast on the Savage Beast List, the seventy-thousand-year Snow Empress, was most renowned for her ultimate techniques: Emperor Sword, Emperor Palm, and Empress' Chill.
Almost the moment Huo Yu'er approached him, Mi Jia summoned a shield.
White mist surged forth, and absolute cold descended.
In the blink of an eye, the sturdy shield was encased in a thick layer of solid ice.
Using the shield to block momentarily, Mi Jia unleashed a burst of intense soul power, creating distance between himself and Huo Yu'er.
Anyone with a functioning brain would avoid close combat with a soul master wielding extreme ice unless their mind had been frozen solid.
Mi Jia knew he couldn't defeat Huo Yu'er, but his mission was to exhaust her.
Taking a firm stance, Mi Jia instantly summoned six floating soul cannons into the air.
Without hesitation, he activated the soul ray cannons.
In this era, due to the absence of soul batteries, the power of soul tools was directly tied to the soul master's own cultivation level.
But the destructive power of a Soul King-level attack was more than sufficient to deal with Huo Yu'er!
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