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With the bet set, there was no room for regret.
At this moment, the audience, intrigued by Tang San's proposed gamble, grew even more curious about what was originally a foregone conclusion of a match. After all, this involved an additional top-tier soul bone.
To ensure fairness, the soul bone in Tang San's possession was handed over to Qian Renxue for safekeeping immediately after the bet was established.
Now, Ye Wen and Tang San's teams stood on the arena stage.
Ye Wen's lineup remained unchanged.
On Tang San's side, he led alongside Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun from the original Shrek Academy team.
The three of them positioned themselves at the forefront of their formation. Ye Wen could tell that they were likely planning to launch a fierce frontal assault to disrupt his team's interruptions while preparing to unleash their combination techniques.
Tang San's strategy was glaringly obvious. Apart from Tai Long, who had some combat capability, the rest—Ning Yuan, Oscar, and Jing Ling with her skeleton martial soul—all had relatively weak overall combat effectiveness. They would be completely unable to withstand Ye Wen's direct assault.
However, although Ye Wen had guessed Tang San's strategic intent, he still felt something wasn't quite right. His eyes narrowed slightly.
At this point, the referee took their position and announced, "Both teams prepare. The match will begin one minute from now."
As soon as the words left their mouth, both sides immediately entered their Spirit Attachment states.
On Ye Wen's side, everyone except Ning Rongrong had at least four soul rings. On Tang San's side, apart from Ma Hongjun, everyone else also had a minimum of four soul rings.
Just looking at this setup was enough to make outsiders exclaim at how both teams consisted of elite prodigies. Moreover, all participants were extremely young, averaging around 15 years old. They could easily endure until the next Soul Master Tournament, which made them even more terrifying.
Some might even last until the tournament after that. This group could truly be considered the most elite batch of young talents on the Douluo Continent.
At this moment, sharp-eyed spectators noticed that Ye Wen, who had never summoned his martial soul in previous matches, had now entered his Spirit Attachment state. His two yellow, one purple, and two black soul rings were dazzlingly impressive.
With Ye Wen activating his Spirit Attachment, the previously balanced appearance of both sides was instantly overturned. After all, Ye Wen's team had three over the limit soul ring configurations, making Shrek's conventional geniuses pale in comparison.
And Ye Wen's current demeanor clearly indicated he was ready to fight.
All at once, the audience's curiosity was piqued. Ye Wen had never lifted a finger in any previous battles, so they were eager to see how his combat abilities measured up. Leading such a group of capable women, Ye Wen's talent and strength must surely be exceptional.
However, those harboring such thoughts quickly chuckled at themselves. Ye Wen was, after all, the only Soul King on the field—a fact that spoke volumes about his innate talent.
What was there to compare when it came to talent? Their sole curiosity now lay in Ye Wen's combat prowess.
Tang San regarded Ye Wen as a formidable foe. Though he had long known Ye Wen was strong, he hadn't expected him to be this powerful.
Amidst his envy, Tang San couldn't help but feel a twinge of resentment. He now fully realized that Yu Xiaogang's theory about soul ring years was utter nonsense. Hadn't he just witnessed three living examples to disprove it?
Tang San cursed Yu Xiaogang inwardly once again for courting death, but he quickly smiled as he calculated that Yu Xiaogang wouldn't live much longer under the effects of the special pills he had prepared. This thought brought him satisfaction. Moreover, Tang San felt smug knowing that Ye Wen only had one ten-thousand-year soul ring advantage over him. With his dual martial souls, even if his first martial soul was rendered useless, he still had his second! The future undoubtedly held greater strength for him than Ye Wen!
The referee glanced at both sides, confirmed the time, then slowly raised their right hand before swinging it down sharply and shouting:
"Begin!"
Almost the instant the words left their mouth, both sides sprang into action.
Tang San and Dai Mubai swiftly retreated, allowing Ma Hongjun to take center stage in the front-line position.
Ye Wen immediately activated his first soul skill, entering his Armed State, and instructed Huo Yu'er:
"Yu'er! Provide full support!"
Huo Yu'er quickly responded, and her third and fourth soul rings lit up in succession.
"Third Soul Skill – Spiritual Detection!"
"Fourth Soul Skill – Spiritual Sharing!"
In just moments, everyone on Ye Wen's team seemed to gain an omniscient perspective.
These two soul skills were carefully chosen by Huo Yu'er after deep consideration. After all, spiritual-type combat techniques boiled down to mental shocks or hallucinations.
With memories of her past life, Huo Yu'er could independently cultivate and refine her spiritual power. Rather than pursuing raw combat strength, she preferred to recreate her past life's auxiliary divine skills. However, without the million-year soul ring of Tian Meng Ice Silkworm, she had to piece together these skills one soul ring at a time.
Just as Huo Yu'er activated Spiritual Detection and Sharing, Ma Hongjun completed his inhalation and unleashed a torrent of flames, resembling the technique Great Fire Annihilation.
Notably, Ma Hongjun wasn't using a soul skill here; he relied solely on the inherent flames of his martial soul. Thanks to specialized flame control training arranged by Yu Xiaogang during his time in Suotuo City, Ma Hongjun now demonstrated precise mastery over the intensity of his flames.
But that wasn't all. Behind him, Ning Yuan's soul power surged, and his third soul ring lit up.
"Seven Treasures Shine with Glazed Tile.
Third: Soul!"
Under Ning Yuan's 40th-level soul power enhancement, Ma Hongjun's spirit attributes were amplified by 50%.
At this moment, the potency of Ma Hongjun's flames reached new heights, directly breaking through to the Soul Ancestor level!
Ye Wen furrowed his brow. Though Ma Hongjun's flames weren't of the utmost extreme fire, they were a special variant demonic flame. In addition to their intense heat, they had adhesive burning properties, making them unpleasant to deal with once they clung to someone.
Moreover, most of his team consisted of girls. Even with martial soul attachments, their hair remained unprotected. Female soul masters on the Douluo Continent generally detested fire-attribute soul masters because no one wanted their carefully maintained hair burned off.
Through Huo Yu'er's Spiritual Detection and Sharing, Ye Wen also observed Tang San and his six teammates forming a unique array at the rear.
Clearly, Tang San intended to unleash a Spirit Fusion Technique.
Using Ma Hongjun, whose spirit attributes clashed most strongly with Ye Wen's team and could effectively restrain opponents, as the vanguard while preparing a powerful move from behind—Ye Wen had to admit Tang San's tactical wisdom was commendable.
However, what Tang San didn't realize was that Ye Wen's team had Huo Yu'er, who could provide an omniscient perspective. Under the effect of Spiritual Detection and Sharing, no scheme could remain hidden.
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