NOVEL NEXT Chapter 114: Chapter 114: He Used What He Was Least Skilled At to Crush What We Took Pride In…
The individual matches began.
In the first round, Xiao Hongchen fought against Ling Luochen and narrowly won. Both sides had exhausted their trump cards.
However, Xiao Hongchen had an advantage against ice-based abilities. While crafting defensive soul tools for Tianling Academy to counter ice-based attacks, he had also conveniently made a personal set of six-level defensive tools.
One hundred and twenty-eight five-level soul cannons roared with terrifying force.
Despite this, Ling Luochen, a true genius of Shrek's inner court and an ice attribute powerhouse, managed to deplete Xiao Hongchen's soul power before being blasted off the stage.
Soon after, the soul-power-depleted Xiao Hongchen was slapped off the stage by Dai Yueheng, leaving half of his face swollen.
On the Sun-Moon side, Ji Juechen, Lin Xi, Li Yan, and Meng Hongchen took turns entering the stage. Eventually, Dai Yueheng was paralyzed by Meng Hongchen's ice poison and was carried off by Shrek.
Next up was the Evil Fire Phoenix, Ma Xiaotao.
Unlike in the original story, where she was unstable early on—causing her to struggle in battle—and later severely corrupted, leaving her somewhat deranged, Ma Xiaotao was now at her peak.
At this moment, compared to the original version of Huo Hang, who feared using too much force and damaging his body, Xu Cheng's version of Bingdi was incredibly powerful. Even just using the Ice Jade Scorpion martial soul alone, he could match a Soul Sage in strength.
Thus, with just one move, Ma Xiaotao easily handled the evil fire.
With no restraints and full firepower unleashed…
Ma Xiaotao instantly took down Meng Hongchen, Ma Rulong, and Li Yan, pushing the finals to a climax.(In the original story, Shrek lost the team battle but won the championship by relying on a 3v7 in the individual matches. Although Ma Rulong was strong, he could only use Judgment Sword to get a cheap shot in against Ma Xiaotao. Against a fully unleashed Ma Xiaotao, he had zero chance of victory and could not even exhaust much of her soul power…)
"Boom!"
Ma Xiaotao stepped on Li Yan, a glint of disdain flashing in her beautiful eyes.
"Trying to play with fire in front of someone who wields the Ultimate Fire? How laughable."
Then, with a light side-kick, Li Yan's body was sent flying off the stage, landing in the arms of Chen Fei, who caught him swiftly with a face full of anger.
"This Ma Xiaotao is a freak," Ma Rulong said, frowning.
That perfected evil fire didn't just completely suppress Meng Hongchen's ice abilities and Li Yan's fire attribute…
Even he himself was defeated and pushed off the stage.
Compared to before—when she constantly suppressed the evil fire and didn't dare to unleash her full power—Ma Xiaotao now seemed like a completely different person.
But strangely, she hadn't gone for the kill.
Normally, these two teams would never hold back if given the chance…
"Shrek! Shrek!"
"Unbeatable! Creating miracles!"
"The eternal number one!"
The audience was roaring.
There were many Shrek supporters in attendance. Seeing their team miraculously bring the finals to match point, they were ecstatic, cheering and shouting encouragement.
Ma Xiaotao, clad in fiery phoenix robes, stood proudly on the battlefield.
She exuded an aura of heroic elegance.
Her gaze shifted toward the Sun-Moon team—to that figure.
She wanted to see his face show tension, loss, or shock. But she saw nothing. His expression remained as deep and unreadable as a bottomless pool—calm and indifferent.
"Buzz!"
Xu Cheng stepped into the air.
He landed lightly on the battle stage.
The entire venue fell silent. Even those who had just been chanting "Shrek is invincible" gradually quieted, their eyes fixed on the arena, on that lone figure.
His back wasn't particularly broad, but in the eyes of countless spectators, he stood like a towering mountain, emanating overwhelming pressure. Previously, he had led the Sun-Moon team to utterly crush Shrek in the team battle.
Now, what would happen today?
Would Ma Xiaotao, who had turned misfortune into opportunity, be able to overcome this mountain?
Everyone watched with bated breath.
"Match, begin!"
With a loud declaration from Huang Jinshu, he swiftly retreated from the battlefield.
As a Titled Douluo, he could still feel the immense pressure of this match.
This young girl was indeed strong. If they were in the same realm, even as a high-level Soul Douluo, he wasn't sure he could win against her. But this mysterious young man was even more terrifying—his methods seemed endless.
And he was just a Soul King.
Damn it, his techniques were like an infinite abyss.
"As everyone knows, I come from the Sun-Moon Empire. So… knowing a thing or two about soul tools is only natural, right?" Xu Cheng said with a smile.
As he spoke, he pulled out a six-level long-range soul cannon from his storage soul tool.
Ma Xiaotao didn't reply. Her expression remained vigilant, her body leaning forward in an attack stance.
Many academy representatives watching from below were stunned.
Jiang Peng frowned. "Just a six-level soul tool? Thinking he can defeat Ma Xiaotao with that is a bit arrogant. But given his strength, he should have a backup plan."
One of his teammates laughed, "He's probably just testing the waters. Honestly, even a seven-level soul tool wouldn't be enough to deal with Ma Xiaotao. Shrek's captain seems like a completely different person since yesterday. At this point, I'd believe he was a Soul Douluo rather than a mere Soul Emperor."
"How interesting. I really can't see through him…" Jiang Peng shook his head helplessly.
…
On the stage.
"So… be careful."
Xu Cheng smiled.
"Boom!"
The shoulder-mounted soul cannon roared.
The recoil pushed Xu Cheng back slightly, leaving a trail on the ground.
A black beam shot forward, emanating dark, disintegrating energy as it surged toward Ma Xiaotao.
Ma Xiaotao's beautiful eyes contracted sharply.
A pitch-black phoenix roared to life around her, its shadow shielding her front.
The cannon blast struck head-on, shaking the battlefield like an earthquake. It tore through the black phoenix projection and slammed into Ma Xiaotao, sending her skidding back dozens of meters.
When the smoke cleared…
The crowd gasped.
Ma Xiaotao stood at the very edge of the stage.
She had blocked the attack with her arms crossed in a defensive stance, leaving a deep trench stretching dozens of meters in front of her.
One more step, and she would have been eliminated.
"Phew…"
Xu Cheng exhaled lightly.
"As everyone knows, my specialty is soul tools. So, it's reasonable for my six-level soul tools to be a little stronger than usual, right?"
The crowd: "…"
"You call that a six-level soul tool?!!"
Jiang Peng's eyes widened. "If you told me it was an eight-level soul tool, I'd believe you!"
Just a moment ago, Ma Xiaotao had summoned her fully unleashed Evil Fire Phoenix form.
She had effortlessly kicked Soul King Li Yan off the stage and crushed Ma Rulong.
Yet now, she was nearly eliminated by a single shot from this so-called 'ordinary' six-level soul cannon?
Ridiculous.
The surrounding spectators fell into silence.
They had all used soul tools before, and they knew—this absolutely wasn't the power of a standard six-level soul tool.
…
"We all forgot something."
Xu Jiujing's expression turned somber.
"He comes from the Sun-Moon Empire—the leader in soul tool research. He was even trained by the pillar of Mingde Hall, Elder Cheng…"
"What are you trying to say?" a Star Luo team member asked.
"We've always thought of him as a fellow soul master, because up until now, he's only displayed traditional martial soul techniques. And just with those, he already crushed us…"
"But he's from the Sun-Moon Empire. His true specialty should be soul tools."
"He used what he was least skilled at to crush our proud soul master system. So… what happens when he finally reveals what he's best at?"
The Star Luo team members shuddered.
They looked at the calm young man on stage.
Perhaps… he never saw this as a competition.
To him, this was just a game.
"…"
(End of Chapter)