Meng Hongchen darted nimbly between He Caitou's bombardments, carefully seeking an opening to launch a counterattack.
Although He Caitou was like a walking engine of destruction on the battlefield, unleashing overwhelming firepower, Meng Hongchen held the advantage of one more soul ring—and she was a soul engineer herself. The suppression wasn't as severe as it might've seemed.
He Caitou's fierce and thunderous offense made the biggest impact on the audience.
For many spectators, it was their first time witnessing such devastating firepower from soul tools. And since the attacks were aimed at someone from the Sun Moon Empire, a significant portion of the crowd erupted in cheers, utterly thrilled by the spectacle.
Soon, Meng Hongchen spotted a brief gap in He Caitou's barrage. She surged forward like a flash of light and appeared right in front of him in the blink of an eye. Just as she raised her hand to strike—
He Caitou suddenly activated multiple cannons on his body, transforming himself into a living artillery platform.
From his chest, a cannon muzzle lit up, firing a soul energy beam with power comparable to a fifth-tier soul tool.
Meng Hongchen's pupils contracted sharply. She instantly dropped into a crouch, dodging the blast by mere inches.
From the sidelines, Xiao Hongchen clenched his fists and growled, "That little punk actually…"
"Calm down. Trust Senior Sister Hongchen," Jiang Shengyu said, gently placing a hand on Xiao Hongchen's shoulder to calm him.
"Of course I trust my sister!"
Xiao Hongchen shook off Jiang Shengyu's hand, his eyes locked on He Caitou. "Still, I get the feeling this guy's soul tool techniques are… kinda like ours."
"Are they?" Jiang Shengyu glanced at He Caitou, then shook his head. "I can't tell."
Xiao Hongchen gave him a side-eye. "Of course you can't. You don't study soul tool tech seriously."
Although Jiang Shengyu led the modernization and innovation of Sun Moon Empire's soul tool advancements, his strength was in proposing revolutionary ideas and breakthrough designs. The actual research and development work fell to the Mingde Hall's engineers.
In truth, Jiang Shengyu had only a surface-level understanding of the underlying soul engineering principles.
From behind them, Huo Yuhao chimed in, "I noticed it too. The soul energy beam He Caitou used definitely bears the signature of Sun Moon Empire's tech."
Xiao Hongchen furrowed his brows in confusion. "How would Shrek Academy have access to our technology? Don't tell me Qingtong leaked it to them?"
Jiang Shengyu shook his head firmly. There was no way he'd allow any soul tool tech to be passed to Shrek. As for ninth-tier soul tools, even if Shrek got their hands on one, they wouldn't be able to understand it—let alone replicate or analyze it.
The tech gap was just too wide. At best, they might reproduce the outer shell—and for a soul tool, the shell was the least important part.
Jiang Shengyu said calmly, "He Caitou's real name is Xu He."
"Xu He?"
Xiao Hongchen was startled when he heard the real name. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't think twice—there were plenty of people with the surname Xu.
But in this context, the implication was obvious. "You mean…"
Jiang Shengyu nodded and continued, "He's part of the Sun Moon Empire's royal bloodline. His parents fled during a period of royal upheaval and escaped to the lands of the former Douluo Continent nations. I suspect they brought a stash of soul tools and technical blueprints with them."
After all, as royals, they would have access to many secrets and assets beyond what ordinary citizens could dream of.
Hearing this, Xiao Hongchen's expression turned to disdain as he looked at He Caitou. "So that's it. What a disgrace to the royal family!"
"He doesn't consider himself royalty anymore. To him, Shrek Academy is the place that feels like home," Jiang Shengyu replied.
"A sense of belonging? It's all about what he can offer. If he were just an ordinary citizen from the Sun Moon Empire, or didn't have those blueprints, would Shrek have even looked at him?" Xiao Hongchen snorted in contempt.
On the platform, although Meng Hongchen had been forced to retreat by He Caitou's hidden soul energy cannon, her reaction time was far superior. Like her brother, she was a naturally gifted soul master first and a soul engineer second.
As the battle dragged on, He Caitou's offense weakened. His soul tool ammo had run dry, and he no longer had the soul power to fire energy beams. As a food-type soul master, he was nearly helpless without his tools.
Meng Hongchen kicked him off the platform.
Wang Yan quickly ran forward to help him up, asking with concern, "Caitou, how are you feeling? Are you alright?"
"I've just burned through too much soul power. Everything else is fine," He Caitou replied, shaking his head.
Wang Yan nodded and helped him back to the rest area. As they returned, Xiao Xiao took a deep breath and stepped onto the stage.
"Xiao Xiao, reserve team member of Shrek Academy. Rank 30, control-type Battle Soul Elder," she introduced herself while standing opposite Meng Hongchen.
Meng Hongchen nodded back respectfully. Once Huang Jinxu declared the match's start, she was the first to release her martial soul. Although she'd just fought, her soul power consumption hadn't been too significant.
Xiao Xiao wasted no time. She released both her martial souls—Three Lives Soul-Suppressing Cauldron and Nine Phoenix Serene Flute. Two hundred-year soul rings rose around her. Her flute music, combined with the cauldron, prevented Meng Hongchen from closing in.
"Twin martial souls!"
The audience erupted again in a wave of cheers and astonishment.
Watching Xiao Xiao skillfully control two martial souls at once, Dai Hao narrowed his eyes and muttered, "Impressive. As expected of Shrek Academy! Such talent and combat maturity at this age..."
Xiao Xiao had only just reached Rank 30 after arriving in Star Luo City. She hadn't had time to add a third soul ring yet. Despite her twin martial souls, she only had two soul skills, and faced Meng Hongchen, a four-ring Soul Ancestor.
The disadvantage quickly became apparent.
Meng Hongchen's martial soul, Zhuling Ice Toad, was toxic in nature—but she refrained from using poison against Xiao Xiao. Even so, her oppressive pressure steadily wore Xiao Xiao down. After all, Xiao Xiao had to split her attention between both martial souls.
With a palm strike, Meng Hongchen knocked back the Three Lives Soul-Suppressing Cauldron. Though she staggered back from the rebound, her attack sent the cauldron flying toward Xiao Xiao.
Midair, the cauldron dissipated, and Xiao Xiao's soul power was fully exhausted.
Breathing heavily, Meng Hongchen glanced down where the team instructor continued taking notes on Xiao Xiao's performance.
She said to her opponent, "You've done all you could, Xiao Xiao. You were excellent."
Meng Hongchen hadn't forgotten about Jiang Qingtong's situation. If Shrek could try to poach their people, then why couldn't they do the same?
Hearing the compliment, Xiao Xiao was momentarily stunned. Her cheeks flushed red, and after a deep breath, she replied, "Thank you."
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