On the tournament stage for the round of sixteen, Zhu Ziyang stood alone against the seven members of the Dou Spirit Academy team. And yet, the ones feeling fear were his opponents.
The moment Zhu Ziyang revealed his hundred-thousand-year soul ring, the outcome of the match no longer held any meaning. Because regardless of the result, the true victor would undoubtedly be Shrek Academy.
Even if Dou Spirit Academy somehow won today, unless they managed to seriously injure Zhu Ziyang and prevent him from participating in the next rounds, then in tomorrow's individual elimination matches, Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao alone could easily defeat them.
They wanted to injure him. But to heavily wound a Soul Emperor with a hundred-thousand-year soul ring? That wasn't something a group of Soul Kings could easily accomplish. At minimum, it would cost them three to four severely injured members. Three to four wounded members — how was that any different from losing outright?
"Captain, what do we do?" asked Xiao Feng, the control-type Soul King of the Dou Spirit team, his face grim.
"We have no choice. Go!" Gu Zhujian clenched his jaw. "We might lose the match, but we cannot lose our dignity!"
With their resolve made, the fighting spirit of the Dou Spirit team flared. But for Zhu Ziyang, none of that mattered.
Before they could even act, Zhu Ziyang had already made his move. In full view of the entire audience, he leapt into the air. His eyes emitted a silver radiance, and in an instant, he froze all seven members of the Dou Spirit team in place. Then, a pure aura of light filled the arena, so intense it even drifted off the stage and reached the audience.
Those in the front rows felt a warm, spring-like breeze brush across them, and expressions of bliss and intoxication spread across their faces.
This had nothing to do with Zhu Ziyang. He simply gripped his Stillness Fate Ending Scythe with both hands and swept it in front of him, drawing a massive arc through the air. Instantly, the light essence across the world, like bees drawn to a flower, swarmed toward the golden arc. Before thousands of watching eyes, the light condensed into a gleaming crescent moon, radiating a divine and unstoppable might.
As the golden crescent appeared, the aura of light vanished from the stage — replaced by a divine pressure that seemed to rule the heavens. This majestic power bore a sense of mercy toward all beings and the imperial dominance of a sovereign above all. The faces of the front-row audience turned pale, as a sense of reverence and submission rose unbidden in their hearts — as if they were gazing upon a supreme emperor who ruled the heavens themselves.
Zhu Ziyang brought both hands down.
The golden crescent fell.
It crashed like the moon itself descending from the sky. Facing this brilliant crescent, the members of the Dou Spirit team felt despair bloom in their hearts. Though their bodies had finally broken free of the immobilization, they dared not move. They could only watch in terror as the golden crescent dropped in front of them, drowning them in a sea of dazzling light.
A figure dashed onto the stage — the referee. His face was filled with panic and dread. Internally, he felt like a thousand alpacas were stampeding through his heart.
'Please don't let anyone die! If someone dies, I'm doomed!'
He deeply regretted being assigned to this match. Just yesterday, he had been thrilled to officiate a match involving Shrek Academy. But now that joy had turned to grief and dread. He never imagined Shrek would pull something like this!
The golden light gradually faded, revealing the fallen figures of the Dou Spirit team. The referee scanned them quickly and sighed in relief.
No deaths. As long as no one had died, then it wasn't his responsibility.
Zhu Ziyang looked at his opponents with a trace of surprise. He had actually gone easy on them — if he had used the Mourner's Moon instead of the Emperor's Moon, things would've been far more serious.
The Half-Crescent Form — Emperor's Moon. A technique formed from Zhu Ziyang's ultimate light attribute fused with his sovereign aura.
The Dou Spirit team had taken a full strike from the Emperor's Moon — and some of them were still standing. This did surprise Zhu Ziyang. Though Emperor's Moon wasn't as lethal as Mourner's Moon, it was still a devastating ability. Yet it had only seriously injured five people, and two were still standing.
That didn't feel right.
Zhu Ziyang narrowed his eyes and observed the two still standing. One was Heng Yu, a defense-type Soul King with the martial soul Giant Diamond Shield. The other was Qian Yuan, a power-type Soul King with the martial soul Terrorclaw Bear.
That these two had withstood Emperor's Moon was surprising — but not unreasonable.
Heng Yu and Qian Yuan looked pale. They glanced at their fallen teammates and then at their own battered condition. Smiling bitterly, they shouted together, "We surrender!"
As soon as they spoke, the referee shouted, "Round of sixteen, first group match — Shrek Academy wins!"
In truth, this wasn't just a victory in the team match — it was the end of the entire encounter. With five main members injured, Dou Spirit Academy had no chance in tomorrow's individual battles. Their only option was to forfeit.
Everyone understood now — Shrek Academy had secured a spot in the quarterfinals!
The audience erupted with thunderous cheers.
"Shrek! Shrek! Shrek!"
In the Sun Moon Academy's rest area, every face was dark. Ma Rulong said grimly, "I saw it. Gu Zhujian and the others had fragments of Invincible Shields on them. You all know what that means."
"Invincible Shield. Rank 5 soul tool." Xiao Hongchen's expression was sinister. "He shattered it in one hit. Truly strong... Hmph, Zhu Ziyang!"
On the imperial city tower, Xu Jiawei remained outwardly calm, but his tightly clenched fists betrayed the turmoil within.
"It seems the champion of this tournament will once again be Shrek Academy," he muttered. "Zhu Ziyang... why couldn't such a prodigy be born in my Star Luo Empire?"
"Hehe... at this point, it doesn't even matter whether we came or not," Gongyang Mo said awkwardly to Ling Luocheng in the stands.
"Old Lin never planned to let us go up anyway," Ling Luocheng replied coldly, her eyes flashing with something unreadable.
When Zhu Ziyang returned to the rest area, everyone immediately crowded around him.
"Zhu Ziyang, you were amazing just now!" Tang Ya exclaimed, eyes glowing with excitement.
"Yeah! Yeah!" Huo Yuhao nodded rapidly, his face full of admiration. "Brother Ziyang, that slash you used just now was so cool! It looked like you pulled the moon down from the sky!"
"Heh, now you understand why Teacher Wang Yan didn't let Zhu Ziyang go up earlier, right?" Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi spoke in unison with a sigh. "Because the moment he goes on stage, the match loses all suspense."
"Seriously, haven't you seen Ziyang fight back at the academy? Why are you all so shocked?" Ma Xiaotao and Jiang Nannan were the only two still calmly seated. For them, Zhu Ziyang's performance was nothing unusual.
"Hehe... back then, we thought you two were going easy on him!" Tang Ya said innocently — but her words made Ma Xiaotao feel like punching someone.
"Alright, let's head back," said Wang Yan with a beaming smile. "Thanks to Ziyang's efforts, we might not even need to fight in tomorrow's individual matches. We'll have an extra day of rest — that's a good thing!"
Surrounded by their teammates, Zhu Ziyang and the others left Star Luo Square. Everyone in the audience watched them go, not looking away until their figures vanished.
—
The next day, due to a lack of able-bodied members, Dou Spirit Academy forfeited the individual round, and Shrek Academy advanced smoothly into the quarterfinals.
Now that their place was secured, Shrek Academy decided to rest at the hotel and wait for the quarterfinals two days later.
In Zhu Ziyang's room, Elder Lin and Elder Song arrived together.
"Elder Lin, Elder Song? What brings you here?" Zhu Ziyang was surprised.
"Haha, Ziyang, your performance yesterday was excellent!" Elder Lin praised with a bright smile. "You displayed the might of Shrek Academy! But we're here for something else — someone from the Star Luo Imperial Family approached us last night and delivered a gift on their behalf."
"A gift?" Zhu Ziyang looked curious.
"A carving knife," said Elder Song. She took out a black silk pouch from her storage soul tool. It was itself a storage soul tool. From it, she produced a fine wooden box and handed it to Zhu Ziyang.
"You might've heard of this knife before."
Zhu Ziyang froze for a moment, then opened the box. Inside lay a pitch-black carving knife. His expression shifted instantly.
"Spirit Devourer Carving Knife!"
The Star Luo Royal Family had given the Spirit Devourer Carving Knife to Shrek Academy? Was this a gift — or a provocation? Zhu Ziyang was baffled and looked at the elders in confusion.
Seeing his expression, Elder Lin and Elder Song chuckled.
"Ziyang, it seems you've heard of the Spirit Devourer Carving Knife's sinister reputation. But don't worry. To you, it's just an ordinary knife. Its killing aura and evil presence are meaningless in the face of your ultimate light."
Zhu Ziyang's eyes lit up as something clicked.
"Elder Lin... does this mean the Star Luo Royal Family knows I have the ultimate light attribute?"
"There's no hiding it." Elder Lin laughed. "Your light aura was overwhelming yesterday. Plus, the chief consecrated of the Star Luo Royal Family also has a light attribute. Naturally, he could see that you possess the ultimate light."
"That's why they gave this knife," added Elder Song. "Its actual value rivals any of the top thirty carving knives on the rankings. This gift is meant to show goodwill — toward you and toward Shrek Academy. No one dares underestimate someone with ultimate light!"
(End of Chapter)
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