"We must win!" Tang San's eyes narrowed slightly.
With strength powerful enough to crush his opponents, he had grown much calmer—completely different from three years ago at the Clear Sky Sect, when he could do nothing but watch helplessly as the sect was slaughtered by the Sun Moon Empire.
"As long as we win, I'll have much more leverage in the upcoming wars…"
Ever since the gods of Good and Evil had inherited their divine thrones and vanished off to wander who-knows-where, he had cut loose entirely.
Although those two children didn't seem too fond of him, first of all—they were just latent potentials. Sure, they had inherited divine thrones and the strength of god-kings, but they lacked the foundation. Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to be so cautious about the power of Good and Evil.
Secondly—Tang San curved his lips into a smirk.
He didn't believe that, with his abilities, he wouldn't be able to beat those two brats into submission and make them serve him like dogs.
Destruction? That guy was too single-minded. He had no sense of maintaining caution while in comfort.
Betting on the Sun Moon Empire, and believing that once humans gained enough power, they wouldn't challenge the Divine Realm? What a joke…
"Victory is certain!"
A core disciple of the Clear Sky Sect shouted from behind.
Several others echoed without hesitation.
All around them, others cast envious and wary glances. Just yesterday, a core disciple from the Clear Sky Sect had displayed Soul Sage (Rank 70+) strength, keeping all other factions up through the night in anxiety.
If even just one core disciple was a Soul Sage…
Then what about the one standing at the front—Tang San?
Just how powerful could he be?
"Shrek Academy vs. Rhinoceros Armor Sect!"
The referee's voice rang out across the arena.
Dai Huabin adjusted his sleeves. Wearing the Shrek Academy uniform, he stood tall and straight. Behind him were Zhu Lu and five young-looking reserve members.
"So arrogant?"The lead of the Rhinoceros Armor Sect sneered.
"Tch~"Dai Huabin scoffed with an indifferent look. "What makes you think that a sect whose strongest member is only a Soul Douluo dares to challenge Shrek Academy?"
Five years ago, Shrek Academy had been ambushed by the Sun Moon Empire and eliminated in the top 18.
That was an absolute disgrace—one for the history books.
"Even your sect master might not be able to beat me. What right do you have to act tough in front of me?"
Dai Huabin glanced at the opposing team's leader.
He rotated his shoulders and smirked coldly.
"In a moment, when I defeat you, I'll dislocate your jaw too. Let's see how cocky you can be then."
"Hmph!"
The Rhinoceros Armor team's leader narrowed his eyes and didn't respond further.
Even though Shrek had declined, the saying went, "A starved camel is still bigger than a horse." He had only hoped to provoke Dai Huabin into revealing some weakness. But clearly, that wasn't going to happen…
Both teams retreated several dozen meters to opposite sides of the arena.
"Match… begin!"
With the referee's call, the match started.
The Shrek and Rhinoceros Armor teams quickly summoned their spirit rings.
"Formation!"
The Rhinoceros team captain commanded loudly.
Immediately, seven main team members activated their spirit rings: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black—an ideal combination.
Seven Soul Kings. That lineup was nothing to scoff at and drew gasps from the crowd.
But on Shrek's side…
They also had five Soul Kings!
What really shocked people was… these five were just reserve members!
As for the two official members, they didn't even reveal their martial spirits or spirit rings—they simply stood watching as the charging opponents approached like rampaging rhinoceroses.
"Seeking death!!!"
The Rhinoceros team captain roared.
He held nothing back. This was a battle arena—deaths were allowed…
But in the very next moment—
Just as they were about to crash into Shrek's front line—
Dai Huabin sneered, "White Tiger Vajra Shield!"
A black spirit ring glowed beneath him.
A massive white tiger spirit appeared in front of him.
"Boom!"
The white tiger spirit forcibly stopped the Rhinoceros team's charge.
The giant rhinoceros projections were instantly shattered.
All seven opponents coughed up blood, faces pale, bodies blown backward. The team captain was stunned, eyes wide with fear. Just as he was about to raise his hand to surrender—
"Trying to surrender?"
Dai Huabin grinned.
In a flash, he appeared beside the captain and slammed a kick into his waist. Crack! Bones broke with a series of loud pops as the captain spat more blood and was kicked around the air like a sandbag.
"Enough. Stop."
The referee frowned slightly.
Though he didn't like the arrogant and weak Rhinoceros team, letting Shrek go too far wasn't a good thing either.
"Heh, fine…"
Dai Huabin said with a grin.
He launched the captain back into his team with one final kick.
"Captain!!!"
The teammates rushed to check on him.
"Ah…"
But the captain could only gape, blood and pieces of organ dripping from his mouth. He couldn't even speak.
His jaw had clearly been completely dislocated.
Faced with such brutality—
The Rhinoceros team didn't even dare glare at Dai Huabin.
He was too powerful. His strength was unfathomable.
They simply couldn't afford to mess with him…
"Announce the result," Dai Huabin looked around the silent stadium, feeling a thrill run from his toes to the top of his head. His body was even trembling slightly from excitement.
"Shrek Academy, victory."The referee announced coolly.
"Shrek Academy is this strong?!"
"Dai Huabin definitely has Soul Sage strength! There's no way he could've shattered their formation so easily otherwise!"
"More than that! He might even be a Soul Douluo already!"
"Holy crap, Dai Huabin's from the White Tiger clan, right? Is this revenge against the Sun Moon Empire? And isn't he not even the leader of the team?!"
"There's someone even stronger?!"
"…"
Discussion exploded among the various academies.
Clear Sky Sect.
Shrek Academy.
Everyone was starting to sense something unusual.
This competition—"Hidden dragons and crouching tigers" was no longer enough to describe it.
It was practically a battle between immortals!
"Nice job!"
In the Shrek rest area—
Cheers erupted. Everyone high-fived and celebrated.
Beibei patted Dai Huabin on the shoulder with a pleased expression.
"Nah, who knew they'd be so weak, haha…"Dai Huabin said a bit shyly.
"Don't be modest. The Sun Moon Empire's team is probably scared stiff now."Beibei grinned.
The 18th and 1st arenas were quite far apart.
And everyone was inside tents, so they couldn't see each other.
Sun Moon Empire Royal Academy Rest Area
Xu Cheng smiled.
"This kid is quite arrogant…"
"He has Soul Douluo-level strength, and he's only around eighteen. He has the right to be arrogant. Besides, I'm sure that person secretly helped him too."Gu Yuena said calmly.
"Exactly. After all, he carries one of the few remaining pure White Tiger bloodlines."Xu Cheng nodded slightly.
On Sea God Island—
If Dai Mubai hadn't helped, no matter how talented Dai Huabin was, he could never have reached Soul Douluo.
The same went for Zhu Lu.
"What are you guys talking about?"Tang Ya flipped her ponytail and asked in confusion.
"Nothing. Eat an orange."Xu Cheng casually took an orange from Orange and stuffed it into Tang Ya's mouth to shut her up.
(End of Chapter)