"Shrek Academy, please send your sixth contestant to the stage!"
With the outcome decided, the referee announced.
"Boss Dai, good luck!"
From outside the arena, Tang San encouraged Dai Mubai.
"Mm."
Feeling uneasy, Dai Mubai forced himself to nod calmly and stepped onto the stage.
His opponent was a five-ring Soul King—not just any Soul King with a mediocre martial soul and a weak soul ring configuration like White, Yellow, Yellow, Purple, Purple. No, this was a true genius, possessing a powerful martial soul and a soul ring sequence of Yellow, Yellow, Purple, Black, Black. Meanwhile, he was merely a 42nd-level Soul Ancestor, with a soul power gap of at least ten levels. How was he supposed to win?
But with the match already at this stage, there was no room for retreat or surrender. All he could do was brace himself and fight.
After all, this was the Soul Master Tournament. The worst outcome would just be getting beaten up—at least his life wouldn't be in danger.
Not long after Dai Mubai stepped onto the stage, Huo Wushuang curiously asked, "I remember your name is Dai Mubai, right? The White Tiger is the exclusive inherited martial soul of the Star Luo Empire's royal family. As someone from Star Luo, why are you here in our Heaven Dou Empire participating in the Soul Master Tournament?"
Hearing this, Dai Mubai's face froze, and his expression visibly darkened.
His past… was something he'd rather not recall.
To ease the awkwardness, Dai Mubai hardened his tone and said, "Enough with the nonsense. Let's settle this with our strength!"
"Hm?"
Noticing Dai Mubai's firm tone, Huo Wushuang raised an eyebrow.
This guy… His soul power level wasn't high, but his attitude sure was bold.
Was it because of his status as a Star Luo royal that he had developed such arrogance? Or was he hiding some kind of trump card?
With this thought, Huo Wushuang became more vigilant.
Ordinary four-ring Soul Ancestors weren't worth his attention, but special ones required caution. Otherwise, an upset wasn't impossible.
Take his younger sister, Huo Wu, for example. With her innate ability Fusion Ring, even though she was only at the four-ring level, she could unleash the attack power of a six-ring Soul Emperor.
Or Mu Yang—back when he had just reached the four-ring level, his formidable spiritual power and secret mental techniques allowed him to crush ordinary six-ring Soul Emperors like chopping vegetables.
One could never be too careful.
Soon, the match began.
"Third Soul Skill—White Tiger Vajra Transformation!"
With a loud roar, Dai Mubai's third soul ring glowed. His body, clad in the White Tiger martial soul, tore through his clothes as his muscles swelled, black tiger stripes emerged, and his aura skyrocketed.
"Fourth Soul Skill—White Tiger Meteor Shower!"
With his enhancement activated, Dai Mubai immediately unleashed his ultimate move. As his fourth soul ring shone, countless golden spheres the size of fists materialized around him. Like a meteor shower, they streaked through the air, raining down toward Huo Wushuang.
"Fifth Soul Skill—Crimson Flame Divine Dragon Strike!"
With a calm expression, Huo Wushuang's fifth soul ring flared. Waves of crimson soul power surged around him as a mighty dragon, wreathed in blazing flames, rose behind him.
With the speed of a lightning strike, the crimson divine dragon lunged forward, colliding with the incoming golden meteor shower.
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!—"
A series of rapid, crisp sounds rang out. Under Dai Mubai's shocked gaze, his fourth soul skill—White Tiger Meteor Shower—shattered like fragile bubbles upon impact, completely crushed by the rampaging crimson dragon.
But what horrified Dai Mubai even more was that, after obliterating the meteor shower, the crimson dragon—its momentum only slightly reduced—was now rapidly enlarging in his vision, rushing straight toward him.
"No!"
Feeling the terrifying aura of the crimson dragon, Dai Mubai seemed to sense the breath of death. His legs went weak, and he let out a terrified scream.
Fortunately, Huo Wushuang had no intention of taking Dai Mubai's life. Just as the dragon was about to strike him, it suddenly tilted its head and swung its tail, barely missing Dai Mubai as it soared into the sky.
"Boom—"
A deafening explosion echoed through the air as the crimson dragon self-destructed midair, transforming into a massive fireball high above.
"Bang—"
The powerful shockwave from the aerial explosion quickly spread downward. Although the hundred-meter distance weakened its destructive force, reducing it to nothing more than a strong gust of wind, it was still enough to knock over Dai Mubai, who was already paralyzed with fear. He landed flat on his backside.
"That's it?"
Seeing this, Huo Wushuang curled his lips in disdain.
Earlier, Dai Mubai had acted so tough that Huo Wushuang thought he might be a formidable opponent. But now, seeing him reduced to a joke, he couldn't help feeling disappointed.
"Defeated contestant, please leave the stage."
At that moment, the referee's voice rang out.
Although Dai Mubai hadn't been blasted out of the arena or formally conceded defeat, everyone could see that Huo Wushuang had held back. Otherwise, that crimson dragon wouldn't have detonated in the air—it would have exploded right on top of him.
And with Dai Mubai's strength, there was no way he could have survived the blast.
Thus, the outcome of this match was already decided.
With the battle over, the defeated contestant had to leave immediately to allow the next match to proceed.
Since this was a knockout tournament, no academy was allowed to have more than one contestant in the arena at the same time.
Glaring hatefully at Huo Wushuang—the one who had humiliated him—Dai Mubai fled the arena in disgrace.
Soon, Shrek Academy sent out their seventh and final contestant, as per the tournament's rules: Tang San.
"That Dai Mubai was all talk. Your martial soul is even worse than his—are you sure you still want to fight?"
Huo Wushuang asked as he looked at Tang San.
From his perspective, Tang San had absolutely no chance of winning.
Fire-attribute assault-type soul masters were the natural counters to plant-type soul masters.
On top of that, Tang San's martial soul was the infamous Blue Silver Grass, a so-called trash martial soul. With the power of his dragon flames, Huo Wushuang was confident that Tang San's Blue Silver Grass would ignite instantly upon contact.
With such an overwhelming disadvantage, in Huo Wushuang's eyes, this match wasn't even worth fighting.
"Even though it's Blue Silver Grass, it holds infinite possibilities. Besides, I'd like to experience the strength of a true genius in the Soul Master world."
Tang San said seriously.
At this stage, as long as someone wasn't marked by him as "seeking death," Tang San's attitude was generally quite reasonable.
Moreover, during Huo Wushuang's previous battle with Xiao Wu, he had displayed the demeanor of a true expert—strong yet not arrogant, and he had shown restraint rather than cruelty.
This earned Tang San's approval, especially given his own deep protective instincts toward his loved ones.
"Infinite possibilities? Not bad. In my eyes, you're already better than that Dai Mubai."
Huo Wushuang nodded in acknowledgment.
Clearly, he had no respect for Dai Mubai's arrogant act earlier.
To Huo Wushuang, it was obvious that Dai Mubai was just flaunting his noble background, looking down on others with no real strength to back it up.
Of course, arrogance itself wasn't the issue—what mattered was whether one had the strength to justify it.
Didn't he know that even the Star Luo Emperor himself had to show respect to any Title Douluo?
Hmph. Though he wasn't a Title Douluo yet, it was only a matter of time.