Against any one of Ye Wen's trio, Tang San was confident he could hold his own and even achieve a fifty-fifty chance of victory.
However, with such a group of teammates and facing the combined strength of the three opponents, Tang San saw no hope of victory whatsoever.
The reason was simple: Xiao Wu's close-combat prowess aside, Ye Wen's exceptional mastery over his soul skills and Huo Yu'er's highly disruptive mental-type soul skills were overwhelmingly difficult to deal with. They even countered his hidden weapons effectively.
This severely diminished Tang San's combat effectiveness, which heavily relied on his hidden weapons. Privately assessing his chances, Tang San concluded that unless he used poison-based attacks, his odds of victory against these two would only be twenty-eighty.
With this motley crew dragging him down, Tang San truly saw no glimmer of hope for success.
Thus, Tang San decided on a strategic retreat!
"Xiao Ao! Mushroom!"
As an expert in strategic retreats, Oscar instantly understood and quickly formed a hand seal. His third soul ring flashed as he chanted, "Twin-Flying Mushrooms!"
"Yu'er, stop him," Ye Wen said sternly.
Tang San could see that the battle situation was unfavorable to him, and so could Ye Wen. In a fast-paced team fight, Tang San's use of this move indicated only one thing—his intention to flee.
But after coming to their doorstep and causing trouble, they couldn't just let them escape so easily. That would be too embarrassing!
Almost the moment Ye Wen gave the order, Huo Yu'er swiftly drew her bowstring and fired several arrows.
Tang San was determined to escape and couldn't let Huo Yu'er ruin his plan. He unleashed a torrent of hidden weapons to block her.
From a distance, it had been relatively easy for Tang San to dodge Huo Yu'er's audible arrows. But completely blocking them while visually impaired was an impossible dream.
Even so, though Tang San couldn't fully stop her arrows, he managed to disrupt their trajectory, preventing them from accurately hitting Oscar.
Still, Oscar was terrified, screaming loudly as he struggled to gather enough Twin-Flying Mushrooms, which required significant time to materialize.
Ye Wen frowned in displeasure and said, "Yu'er, focus on shooting. I'll handle Tang San's weapons."
With that, Ye Wen, who had been relatively inactive until now, stepped forward and formed a single-handed seal, then thrust his palm outward.
"Second Soul Skill—Wind Element Mastery—Gale Palm!"
In the face of gale-force winds akin to a typhoon, even Tang San's most powerful hidden weapons were rendered useless, falling limply to the ground like bullets fired into water.
Realizing his thrown weapons had been neutralized, Tang San's expression turned grim. This move of Ye Wen's felt like severing one of his fingers!
But Tang San didn't despair; he only seethed inwardly. If he had already mastered the ultimate throwing technique, Guanyin's Tear, he wouldn't fear such tricks!
However, delaying tactics weren't limited to hidden weapons. Tang San quickly adapted, channeling his soul power and slamming his palm onto the ground.
Soul skills weren't everything for soul masters. Some could influence natural elements through their martial souls, turning them into allies. At this moment, Tang San used his soul power to stimulate the Blue Silver Grass beneath his feet.
In an instant, the sparse Blue Silver Grass grew wildly, reaching human height and obstructing Ye Wen's group's line of sight.
Ye Wen sighed inwardly. Though Tang San's unawakened Blue Silver Grass martial soul was weak, its effects were astonishing due to its incredibly low energy consumption.
However, Ye Wen didn't intend to act further. Huo Yu'er had already silently moved to another position and fired an arrow at Oscar from a blind spot Tang San couldn't cover.
Similarly, Xiao Wu took advantage of Tang San's obstructed vision to circle around widely, positioning herself near Ma Hongjun.
"Stinky Fatty! Finally, my chance has arrived!"
Xiao Wu smirked wickedly, her hardened true form armor-clad leg flying toward Ma Hongjun with a powerful kick.
Ma Hongjun's face filled with terror. The earlier barrage of soul skills had nearly drained his soul power, leaving him at his limit. Moreover, his poor close-combat abilities meant Xiao Wu utterly dominated him.
By the time Tang San realized Ma Hongjun was under attack, it was too late. The Blue Silver Grass that blocked Ye Wen's group also restrained Tang San himself.
Tang San cursed himself for his carelessness. However, based on his understanding of Ye Wen and his group, though they came looking for trouble, they weren't irredeemably evil. At worst, they'd get beaten up. So Tang San didn't hesitate; he turned to find Oscar and grab the Twin-Flying Mushrooms to escape.
It was only then that Tang San noticed Huo Yu'er's soul skill effects had faded, but an arrow now caught his eye, heading straight for Oscar.
Tang San wasn't particularly worried about Oscar.
Instead, he feared that his escape plan was now doomed. Despite being classmates with Ye Wen and his group for years, it seemed he couldn't avoid the fate of getting thoroughly beaten.
Zhu Zhuqing also noticed the arrow, but having not yet broken through to the Soul Elder level, her speed was insufficient to catch up with the arrow, let alone intercept it.
As for Ning Rongrong, she could barely run properly, let alone protect herself. Now, all Oscar could do was watch the arrow hurtling toward him, screaming in terror!
Had Oscar stayed still, things might have been fine. But his panicked movements, combined with external factors, caused the arrow to miraculously aim directly for his face, seemingly intent on taking his life.
Huo Yu'er was surprised. She had only intended to shoot his hand, but it seemed fate favored her, wanting to eliminate this potential future enemy prodigy soul master early.
Oscar—the future Food God who would save Tang San—was someone Huo Yu'er knew well.
Considering Tang San might become an enemy in the future, but it wasn't yet the right time to act, Huo Yu'er thought, 'Let the Food God die if he must.'
Oscar watched in despair as the arrow closed in on his face, closing his eyes in fear.
"Ahhhh! I shouldn't have come with Dai Mubai to cause trouble today! I haven't fallen in love yet, I haven't lived the life I wanted—I don't want to die here!"
At this moment, overcome by fear, Oscar's mind raced through his regrets, lamenting the unfulfilled dreams of his ideal life.
But after keeping his eyes shut for what felt like an eternity, Oscar realized the expected pain hadn't come.
"Could it be that I died so quickly I didn't feel a thing?"
Confused, Oscar opened his eyes. He saw a slender figure standing before him, catching the arrow that had been aimed at his face.
"P-principal!?"
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