Holy Spirit Church's team, battered by Qian Renxue and Castorice's combined assault, suffered devastating losses and could only flee, pursued relentlessly.
If Qian Renxue hadn't needed to look after Hu Liena and the slower team members, she might have chased Huo Yuhao to the ends of the earth.
"Just my luck!" Huo Yuhao punched a tree in frustration, leaving a deep dent in the trunk.
He glanced at Tang Ya, who was also gravely wounded, unable to hide his dismay.
A glaring golden sword mark marred Tang Ya's chest, nearly piercing her heart. The holy power within continued to purify her soul power, leaving her ever weaker.
Besides Huo Yuhao and Tang Ya, the rest of Holy Spirit Church's team had been picked off and eliminated.
Qian Renxue's pursuit was relentless; it took all Huo Yuhao's cunning to escape with Tang Ya.
On paper, Holy Spirit Church's team was strong—potentially championship caliber—but they'd run into Qian Renxue, leaving Huo Yuhao deeply frustrated.
Just then, a flash of golden light streaked by. Huo Yuhao's expression changed as a layer of diamond-like ice instantly encased him, just barely deflecting a golden needle attack.
"Dragon Beard Needle!" Huo Yuhao's face darkened.
If not for his sharp senses, that needle would have struck home. As a fellow Tang Sect disciple, he knew how deadly it could be.
Tang San emerged from behind a boulder, killing intent in his eyes, with Zhu Zhuqing and others fanning out to encircle them.
Huo Yuhao cursed his carelessness—having been on the run, his mental energy was spent, and he hadn't scanned the area with spiritual detection, falling into a trap.
"Bastard, now it's your turn! Today, Xiao Wu will make you pay!" Xiao Wu charged at Huo Yuhao, her attacks a furious, deadly storm.
Though exhausted, Huo Yuhao was no pushover, using Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and spiritual detection to evade even Xiao Wu's fiercest blows.
Seeing this, Zhu Zhuqing joined in, black claws slashing at Huo Yuhao.
Tang San's killing intent was so intense that even Oscar and Ning Rongrong shivered with fear.
After Tang San's resurrection, they'd learned the whole story from Xiao Wu, and their anger at Huo Yuhao was overwhelming.
They'd been waiting for this chance—seeing Holy Spirit Church routed by Qian Renxue, they moved in for the kill.
Tang Ya, gravely wounded, stayed silent and motionless. But when Huo Yuhao was attacked, she responded.
She raised her arm, and black-red Blue Silver vines erupted from the ground, sweeping toward Tang San's group.
A dying camel is still bigger than a horse—even badly injured, Tang Ya's strength was formidable. Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun went on full alert, activating their martial souls and unleashing soul skills.
But Tang San's eyes were fixed on Huo Yuhao, controlling his own Blue Silver vines to trap him.
Though it was kicking someone when they were down, neither Huo Yuhao nor Tang Ya were easy opponents—the battle quickly escalated.
Outside the simulation, Huo Yuhao could have summoned undead from his Demiplane of Undeath.
But in the simulated universe, there was no such thing. He couldn't connect to his demiplane, and the simulation wouldn't conjure one for him.
Just as Qian Daoliu and Bo Saixi couldn't borrow the power of their gods, Huo Yuhao couldn't call on his undead army here.
Otherwise, if he had the demiplane, he could summon a disaster legion and win the match outright—far too unbalanced.
In this situation, both the exhausted Huo Yuhao and the wounded Tang Ya quickly found themselves at a disadvantage.
Tang San showed no mercy—the Blue Silver Grass wrapped around his Clear Sky Hammer, striking Huo Yuhao in the chest with crushing force.
At that very moment, Wang Dong'er, who had tracked them down, saw Huo Yuhao blasted away and coughing blood.
"Yuhao!" Without thinking, she hurled her Clear Sky Hammer at Tang San, sending him flying and coughing blood just like Huo Yuhao.
"San-ge!" Xiao Wu's eyes turned red as she instantly teleported to Wang Dong'er, aiming a deadly kick at her head.
"Xiao Ya!" Meanwhile, Bei Bei, recently revived, saw Tang Ya surrounded and unleashed a thunder dragon's roar.
The raging lightning dragon surged toward Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun.
Wang Dong'er's power far surpassed Xiao Wu's at this point. Though caught off guard by the sudden teleportation, she quickly grabbed Xiao Wu's ankle and instinctively slammed her into a tree.
Xiao Wu spat blood and turned deathly pale.
Only then did Wang Dong'er see Xiao Wu's face, and a strange guilt and unease welled up in her.
…
"Pfft!"
In the distance, Lu Jingming, who'd been watching all along, spat out his drink in surprise.
He watched the chaos with a peculiar expression—especially seeing Wang Dong'er slam Tang San and beat up Xiao Wu, he couldn't help but spat his drink.
Though these were alternate-universe versions, and technically unrelated, Lu Jingming found the scene hilarious.
He wondered how Wang Dong'er would react if she knew who she'd just beaten up.
But due to the cognitive interference from the Fenghuang Down, Wang Dong'er and the others couldn't recognize their real opponents.
So, in this chaos, the Shrek Academy of ten thousand years later ended up pummeling the Shrek Academy of ten thousand years ago.
The power gap was huge—Tang San's group was no match for Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and the others, not to mention the Clear Sky Sect joining in. The battle quickly turned one-sided.
Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing, and the rest were soon eliminated, and even Tang San, in his anger and unwillingness, was finished off by Wang Dong'er's Butterfly God Slash.
"Yuhao!" After defeating Tang San's group, Wang Dong'er turned anxiously to Huo Yuhao, desperate to ask what had happened.
But Huo Yuhao only gave her a cold response.
Knowing the situation was hopeless, he chose to withdraw from the match.
Following him, Tang Ya also withdrew, under Bei Bei's emotional gaze.
"What on earth is going on?" Bei Bei clutched his head in pain and confusion.
His junior brother seemed like a completely different person—cold and heartless. Tang Ya, too, seemed to have forgotten him, leaving him feeling utterly lost.
All these changes were hard to accept.
"Don't worry too much, Bei Bei. At least we know they're alive—that's good news, right?"
Xu Sanshi sighed and patted Bei Bei's shoulder in comfort.
"Yeah, at least they're alive. That's enough." Xiao Xiao also murmured, as if reassuring herself.
"Someone's coming!" Jiang Nannan suddenly warned, spotting another team nearby.
"Familiar faces—maybe we should just eliminate them!"
Meng Hongchen, spotting the Shrek Academy team, immediately suited up with her ice-blue soul armor and drew her swords, ready to fight.
"Shrek Academy—always rivals!" Xiao Hongchen smiled.
As students of Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, they'd always been at odds with Shrek.
"Let's clear the field!" Robin clasped her hands, singing a melodious song.
With her soul skill, Wang Qiu'er's team's aura surged—a full rank higher.
…
"Looks like it's ending soon." Lu Jingming glanced at the map—Shrek, Clear Sky, and St. Freya's second team were all converging in the final circle.
Other teams were heading that way too.
A grand melee was about to begin—but who would have the last laugh?
…
"Sister Jinhsi, should we join in?" The Earth Dragon Sect was also in the survival tournament, led by Nan Qiuqiu.
Now allied with Haiyuan City, they had no reason to refuse Jinhsi's invitation.
Really, they'd entered for experience. Prizes were nice, but they knew they had no chance to win.
But with Jinhsi's help, their fighting power was now considerable.
"Of course we'll join! How could I miss the fun?"
A lively, mischievous girl stood hands on hips, eyes sparkling with anticipation, fixed on the battlefield.