"Ah~ I'm gonna die!"
Gongyang Mo put on a delicate, coy face. Ma Xiaotao expressionlessly kicked him off the stage. He landed on all fours, butt stuck up, turned back to look at everyone, and spoke in a contrived tone.
"F—, you sissy. Keep acting and I'll kill you!"
Ma Xiaotao snarled through gritted teeth.
Everyone around—Xixi, Beibei—froze for a beat.
Gongyang Mo grinned. His whole purpose was to stall. Every second counted. He didn't mind being thrown down; his team already had his support buff. As long as Su Wen on the other side also got blasted off by their focus fire, that was a win.
On the other side.
Su Wen faced six at once.
The overlapping slow from Empress Snowy Dance and the Everfrost Domain cut their speed, but they still closed in on schedule.
As the only agility-attack type among them, Jiang Nannan was the quickest. Her purple soul ring lit, and her figure blinked above and behind Su Wen—third skill, Teleport.
Her long, slender legs looped around Su Wen's neck. Cloth shoes pressed to his chest, fair thighs cinched tight, her waist snapped viciously. Two yellow rings flared in succession—first soul skill, Bow Waist; second soul skill, Gravity Amplification.
But even as her legs rubbed red, Su Wen stood like Mount Everest, immovable.
"Sister Nannan, use a little more strength," Su Wen chuckled.
"If you won't exert yourself, I will…"
Hearing that terrible line, Jiang Nannan flushed. Her escape was a beat late; Su Wen pried her from his neck, then struck her belly—she was booted away, only stabilizing after a long skid.
With others she normally wore long pants and never choked with her legs—she'd grab the neck and do a brutal Bow Waist slam. Today, who knows why—heat of the moment—she mounted him.
Thankfully, it was a battlefield—everything changed in an instant. Everyone focused on tactics; few noticed the impropriety.
"Hah!"
Dai Yueheng charged like a tank, reckless, straight at Su Wen.
But in the next instant, a heavier presence cut him off. Little Gold swung a heavy paw. Without even invoking the Golden Left Arm, the near-Soul Sage-level raw power pressed Dai Yueheng hard.
"White Tiger Devilgod Transformation!"
Dai Yueheng roared.
He looked possessed by a devilgod—forced into a bit of full power.
Wang Dong was swept off by Mu Xiu'er's Golden Dragon Spear. Their Martial Soul Fusion skill was a trump card and more soul-power intensive than in the original work, so Su Wen never planned to use it nor to support—he let his side go down in numbers.
Ma Xiaotao and the others didn't expect such decisiveness—they ditched Gongyang Mo, swapped field positions, finished him, then rushed back here. But at this level, fights are measured in milliseconds. Three seconds late was enough for Dai Yueheng to do a lot.
"Icy Mist!"
Ling Luochen swung her staff. Dense, freezing mist blanketed the field, covering everyone.
It also hid Su Wen's figure.
"Nana!" Mu Xiu'er called.
The silver-haired girl nodded. Her calm eyes locked on the frost-mist. A faint golden soul ring rose underfoot.
"Elemental Tide!"
As the Silver Dragon King, she innately commands all elements.
But limited by power, Elemental Tide currently only boosts her elemental control. True "Elemental Authority" is still far off; even her original body—the Silver Dragon King—hasn't reached that.
Authority is vague on Douluo.
Many so-called elemental gods sound domineering, but the "authority" they wield is fragmented and incomplete.
This may relate to the Silver Dragon King—her share of authority wasn't reclaimed by the God Realm, and as a split of the Dragon God, she herself hasn't fully grasped complete "authority."
In any case, Gu Yuena's enhanced elemental control is already more than enough at this competitive level.
Vmm—
As if a tidal storm swept up.
Gu Yuena lifted a finger.
Ling Luochen's frost-mist instantly beaded into droplets and fell as a light rain, pooling on the arena's steps. The white fog faded; Su Wen's group reappeared, fully visible.
At the same time—
The girl spoke again, coolly.
"Elemental Control."
"Elemental Fusion."
The slowing effect in the area, including Su Wen's Ultimate Ice, sharply diminished.
With the silver-haired girl's martial soul active—
The battlefield flipped.
"What is that ability?!!"
Everyone gaped.
Push a single attribute to its extreme and you'll shock people; but elements? What the hell?
Wind, fire, lightning, water, earth—she covers them all!
The prestige is off the charts.
Ling Luochen was dumbstruck.
With a teammate like that, nice. As an opponent… she hard-counters her.
No—she doesn't just counter her. She basically counters all elemental mage-type soul masters.
Su Wen's Ultimate Ice already suppressed her—now a greater monster showed up.
Offstage.
Xuan Zi clicked his tongue in amazement.
"Not bad, not bad."
Wang Yan adjusted his glasses, surprised. "Elder Xuan, a Silver Dragon martial soul is really that strong?"
"Heh, that's even stronger than Elder Mu's—cough… stronger than the Holy Light Dragon. Legend says after the ancient Dragon God split, benevolence and elements condensed into the Silver Dragon, destruction and strength into the Golden Dragon. That's an ancient of the dragon race. Man, a human awakened something like that." Xuan Zi smacked his lips.
His own is the Godly Taotie Bull—legend says the dragon has nine sons; Taotie is one, and his martial soul is from Taotie's descendants. He's far from true dragon blood.
Elder Mu's Holy Light Dragon is also a shade off true dragon.
Only Gu Yuena's Silver Dragon is the ancestor of dragons; not just true dragons—true dragons would call it ancestor.
"Hahaha, heaven blesses Shrek." Xuan Zi laughed wide.
Silver Dragon is truly special.
In all Shrek's millennia, Gu Yuena is the first. The closest was a Sea God Pavilion Master two thousand years ago with an Elemental Dragon—but their elemental control was far below Silver Dragon Gu Yuena's…
And the faint golden ring color? Xuan Zi simply ignored it.
Geniuses are anomalous—that's understood. No need to fuss.
Soon—
Mu Xiu'er hefted her Golden Dragon Spear and shouted through the arena:
"Golden Dragon Body!"
"Dragon's Strength!"
"Golden Dragon Fist!"
Three rings flared in succession.
Purple, purple, black.
Not the usual palette from the original. These ring colors were so dazzling the whole arena nearly froze—not dazzling as in brightness, but in implication.
A second ring being purple—barely understandable.
Wang Dong is an example.
But purple, purple, black…
That's beyond most people's comprehension, right?
Wang Yan was stupefied.
Is this cohort all monsters?
Let's set freak Su Wen aside—just Gu Yuena and Mu Xiu'er alone max out the reserve team; either could rival an average Soul King!
No past reserve team could match that. Hard to imagine how bright they'll shine at the next Continental Tournament.
Before coming, he'd reviewed the core disciples' list.
He'd noticed these two girls.
But lists are lists—real performance is on the field.
This scene truly shocked him.
Xuan Zi put down his drumstick, eyes blazing.
…
"A fist as big as a sandbag—let's see if you can take it!"
Maybe because Su Wen was ten-finger interlaced with the beauty-senpai Ling Luochen, Mu Xiu'er snorted. Her seemingly tender, clenched fist faintly coalesced a golden dragon head that roared and hurtled at Su Wen.
"Senior, let go."
Su Wen released Ling Luochen's soft hand, sliding to her waist instead.
He slanted his shoulder, reached out, and met the punch.
Awoooo!!!
A terrifying dragon's roar shook the venue.
With Mu Xiu'er's punch, the Golden Dragon's terrifying strength exploded—but the expected scene of Su Wen being blasted away didn't happen. After advancing to Soul Ancestor, thanks to several soul beasts' physique surges, his body power got a big boost.
He actually caught a peer-level Mu Xiu'er's strike with flesh and blood.
"Ah~"
Ling Luochen looked a bit disheveled. The aloof ice-queen look was gone. She lay lightly in Su Wen's arms, wet hair clinging to a stunning face, looking pitiful and lovely.
His arm around her slender, soft waist, she didn't resist—rather, she cooperated. As a mage, her power is scary, but her physical fitness is fragile.
"Gently…"
The beauty chided.
Su Wen: "…"
Attack from front and back.
Senior, please don't make things worse!
"What a pretentious bitch!" Ma Xiaotao rolled her eyes at the scene and sped up again.
"What a body!" Mu Xiu'er's golden eyes lit. She threw another punch. A faint gust seemed to billow from nowhere—the force didn't diminish at all.
She knew Su Wen was strong.
But his physique felt like punching an iron bastion—steady as Mount Everest.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Punches rained.
Su Wen received them easily, but with one arm at Ling Luochen's waist to protect her, he was getting a headache.
Luckily he didn't rely much on elements; otherwise, against Gu Yuena, unless he suppressed by realm or evolved soul beasts for better elemental control, he'd have no way to break the game.
That's why he didn't use the Ice Emperor again.
Only Gale met Yao Haoxuan.
"Fall!"
"Kill!"
Chen Zifeng finally arrived—late by design.
At fifty-seventh rank, he was the strongest Soul King here besides the two Soul Emperors. His fourth and fifth skills were single-character names—he showcased them for the first time.
The flying sword radiated a rich aura of annihilation.
It seemed to paint the surroundings in black and white.
Terrifying might erupted.
Dozens of black-and-white sword auras shot straight at Su Wen.
"So ruthless," Su Wen twitched a smile.
I'm a Soul Ancestor; you're a Soul King—thirteen levels above—and you open with a finisher? Bullying the honest guy?
He barely used speed to dodge the first few.
Then simply summoned Little Gold back.
"Rooaaar!"
The annihilating force slammed into Little Gold's body.
It raised its left arm; the broad bear paw cast a shadow, covering Su Wen and Ling Luochen, blocking those dozens of annihilation swords.
But it was forced to use the Golden Left Arm.
Chen Zifeng wasn't a ordinary Soul King.
He was the real deal—heaven's pride.
A Soul King's full strike at fifty-seven could destroy an average Soul Emperor. Fighting above rank was like breathing to them.
Without respect, hard-eating that strike would mean heavy injury!
"That got blocked?!!" Chen Zifeng gaped. "As expected of the Dark-Gold Dreadclaw Bear. Ridiculous."
He'd used over ninety percent strength—Xuan Zi was watching, so he dared go all out—yet he didn't even singe a hair on that big guy. That stung.
He shook his head and accepted it.
In just three seconds, Su Wen tanked a chain of their team's focus attacks—everyone except Dai Yueheng. That meant the counterattack from the opposing main force was coming.
If they'd downed Su Wen in those seconds—kicking him and Ling Luochen off—that'd be huge value. Losing one Gongyang Mo was nothing; the buff was already delivered. But—
Under their attacks—
Su Wen handled it with ease.
Dai Yueheng grimaced under Ma Xiaotao's assault.
He'd burnt a lot of soul power and stamina fighting the Dark-Gold Dreadclaw Bear, and now met a peak-state Ma Xiaotao—he was strained.
The rest were beset front and back.
Su Wen seized chances, booted Gu Yuena off first, then Mu Xiu'er, then Yao Haoxuan. Under pincer pressure, Chen Zifeng and Dai Yueheng conceded.
No point dragging it out.
Pure time waste.
They'd all shown their trump cards—time to build tactics around them. That was the point of this scrim.
Clap clap clap—
Wang Yan applauded, eyes alight.
He seemed to already see Shrek's monsters rampaging in competition.
This time Elder Xuan himself would lead—meticulous from the Academy—to protect the students. With this lineup, he couldn't imagine losing!
He didn't say more—just smiled and clapped.
There were plenty of coordination issues, actually.
For example, Ma Xiaotao's group all piled onto the enemy support. In his view, no matter how important Gongyang Mo was, sending Xixi and Beibei was the limit. The rest had to guard their own backline—Su Wen and Ling Luochen—against focus. That was a fatal mistake.
Chen Zifeng and Yao Haoxuan's rhythm had issues. Jiang Nannan launched one ineffective attack and then vanished. He kept all that to himself.
Team morale is paramount.
Especially in a "must-win" setup.
Wang Yan knew if he pointed out mistakes with his authority, these prideful prodigies would likely shrug—or worse, clash. Counterproductive. Only when this team needs to break and rebuild should these flaws be laid bare.
"Good. No need to keep fighting. Head back. Remember to gather outside the Academy in half a month." Xuan Zi waved and left with flair.
Wang Yan smacked his lips and said nothing.
They felt a bit arrogant, but that seemed natural. The main team's strength is obvious; the reserve team has at least three freaks rivaling the main!
In a must-win scenario, what's there to train?
Yao Haoxuan grimaced below the stage, muttering.
Seeing Gongyang Mo walk over, he exaggeratedly clutched his butt. "I'd rather Chen Zifeng's sword was back there than you."
"Hmph, even if I did swing that way, not with you. You're creepy and useless. Su Wen's at least handsome…" He fluttered a wink at Su Wen.
Su Wen: "…"
He glanced at Gongyang Mo and drifted behind Ma Xiaotao to hide.
Having this kind of teammate is like having a spy—reminds him of a joke: if a girl among girls is into girls, everyone chuckles and keeps playing. If a guy among guys is into guys… no one in the dorm dares sleep too soundly.
He actually wasn't ugly—done up normally, he'd be an eerie-pretty pretty boy. But that neither-male-nor-female persona was too much.
"Gongyang Mo, if you dare set your sights on Su Wen again, I'll roast you into charcoal-dragon!" Ma Xiaotao snapped in disgust.
Scrim over.
Everyone dispersed.
…
"Huff, huff—"
Inside the bath.
Ma Xiaotao panted heavily.
Cheeks flushed, one hand on the wall—the evil fire inside her being suppressed by Ultimate Ice felt too good.
Especially after Su Wen advanced to Soul Ancestor—his power soared.
Faintly, there was a sense of "tables turning."
She still had the upper hand, but secretly hoped the day he pinned her down wasn't far off.
In the not-large villa bath—
Su Wen's Ultimate Ice met Ma Xiaotao's Phoenix Evil Fire. Dense white steam rose and filled the bathroom, blanketing vision.
Ma Xiaotao wore only her underwear; without the red-white inner-court uniform, her figure looked like a ripe peach—irresistible.
From the mist, a hand slipped out, circled her waist. A teasing voice: "Sister Xiaotao, running out of gas already…"
"How is your soul power recovering so fast?!!"
Ma Xiaotao yelped.
She remembered when Su Wen used to help her, he'd say he was tired or not in the right state—but today…
Su Wen stepped from the steam.
Grinning.
He certainly wouldn't tell her—
The Azure Luan not only restored vitality, but soul power and mental state too. And its soul bone skill Sacred Light Illumination was a single-target godsend.
Though its cooldown wasn't short—
It effectively gave Su Wen stamina x2.
"The tide's turned, Sister Xiaotao!"
Su Wen smiled smugly.
"Hope your evil fire is enough…"