Chapter 38: Overwhelming Victory
At this moment, Qin Ming, stood in a second-floor VIP room overlooking the arena below. His eyes were focused intently on the Shrek Seven Devils as they took their positions opposite his students.
A slight smile curved at the corner of his mouth. Principal Flender, it's been a long time, hasn't it? Let me see how strong this generation of Shrek members is!
When he'd first received news of a team called "Shrek" making waves in Soto City's Great Spirit Arena, he'd been uncertain whether it was the same academy he remembered. After all, in his opinion, it was relatively unlikely for Shrek to gather seven students for a full team battle. He still vividly remembered that in his generation, including himself, there had been only three students total.
But once he'd confirmed that the leaders of the Shrek Team were Flender—the very same people who had trained him—he'd been absolutely certain. And he'd insisted on coming personally to witness this match!
He had learned this very approach from Shrek Academy itself, and he remained deeply grateful to Principal Flender for everything.
Without Shrek Academy, there would be no Teacher Qin Ming today!
His chest swelled with pride and gratitude as he watched the arena below.
If Chen Sheng had known what Teacher Qin Ming was thinking at this moment, he would have definitely exclaimed that the man was beyond help—that he'd been fooled into being completely deluded by Flender's manipulations.
Without Flender, you wouldn't be who you are today? Wrong! Without Flender holding you back with his outdated methods and greedy corner-cutting, you would have become a much stronger version of yourself!
It would have been laughable if it weren't so tragic.
But Chen Sheng had no interest in Qin Ming's misguided loyalty. His attention was entirely focused on the opponents before him.
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After both sides had set up their formations and taken their battle stances, the atmosphere in the arena reached a fever pitch. The crowd's anticipation was a living thing, pressing down on the fighters like physical weight.
As the martial souls of both teams were activated and their spirit rings revealed in brilliant displays of colored light, Doudou's voice rang out across the arena, amplified and clear: "Tonight's first main stage team battle—BEGIN!"
The moment the words left her lips, the Imperial Fighting Team's eyes immediately locked onto one specific figure among the Shrek ranks.
Chen Sheng.
They had reviewed the intelligence thoroughly. The reports stated that one person in the Shrek Team possessed a four-spirit-ring configuration, and that his strength was not weaker than a Spirit King—a level that represented a huge challenge for any team of Spirit Elders.
Yu Tianheng and his teammates had spent hours formulating a series of tactics to counter this threat. Their strategy was clear: the Shrek Team had two primary targets that had to be dealt with first.
First, Ning Rongrong—the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile support specialist whose amplification abilities could turn the tide of any battle.
Second, Chen Sheng—the overwhelming powerhouse who could single-handedly destroy their entire formation.
"Dugu Yan!"
Yu Tianheng's voice was barely a whisper, but it carried absolute command.
Dugu Yan understood immediately. Her three spirit rings lit up simultaneously in a dazzling display of purple light. Her Jade Phosphor Serpent martial soul manifested fully, its massive serpentine form coiling behind her. The snake's mouth opened impossibly wide, revealing rows of glistening fangs, and then it released its payload.
A massive cloud of poisonous mist exploded from the serpent's maw, billowing forward in thick, roiling waves toward the Shrek side of the arena. The poison was dense and visible, a sickly green color that seemed to absorb light itself.
Before the match had begun, the Imperial Fighting Team had taken special antidote pills provided by Teacher Qin Ming himself. With his approval and strategic guidance, they had decided to let Dugu Yan release her poison directly at the match's start—an overwhelming opening move designed to throw their opponents into chaos.
Such a large-scale poison attack simply could not be resolved by a single Sausage Spirit Master alone. The Imperial team had carefully reviewed the Shrek roster, and they knew Oscar's detoxifying sausages had limitations.
What surprised them even more was that the Sausage Spirit Master wasn't even present on the field for this team battle. He'd been substituted out entirely.
They must know his abilities are useless against Dugu Yan's poison, Yu Tianheng thought with satisfaction. Good strategic thinking, but it won't save them.
However, Chen Sheng had been prepared for Dugu Yan's poison long before the match even started. The moment he saw her spirit rings activate, he acted.
"Fatty!"
Chen Sheng's voice cut through the tension like a blade. "Activate both Spirit Abilities! Use Phoenix Fire Wire toward the center, and leave the rest to me!"
Then, without missing a beat: "Rongrong, amplify Fatty!"
Chen Sheng issued the two commands in rapid succession, his voice carrying absolute authority and confidence.
Tang San, who had been standing in the traditional C position—the central command position for any tactical formation—felt his expression darken with displeasure. He'd prepared himself to give strategic orders, to demonstrate his battlefield analysis and tactical genius to everyone present.
But Chen Sheng had completely bypassed him, taking command as naturally as breathing.
Tang San's hands clenched at his sides, but there was nothing he could do about it. Not here, not now, not in front of everyone.
[DETECTED! Tang San Emotion Displeasure Congratulations to the host Treasure Chest Acquired]
The soft chiming sound echoed in Chen Sheng's mind, but his expression didn't change by even a fraction.
The Imperial Fighting Team didn't believe the Shrek Team could actually break through Dugu Yan's legendary snake venom. It was her pride, her signature ability, refined and perfected over years of training under the guidance of her grandfather—the Poison Douluo himself.
But Ma Hongjun and Ning Rongrong both knew they had to be fast. There was no time for hesitation or second-guessing Chen Sheng's orders.
Ning Rongrong's second spirit ring lit up with brilliant light, and she called out: "Speed!"
Immediately, Ma Hongjun felt his body become lighter, his movements more fluid. The amplification settled into his muscles and nerves like warm honey.
"Second Spirit Ability, Phoenix Bathed in Fire!" Ma Hongjun's body erupted with intense flames, his Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul manifesting fully around him in a corona of scorching heat.
"First Spirit Ability, Phoenix Fire Wire!"
The next moment, a concentrated beam of powerful, scorching Phoenix Fire shot from Ma Hongjun's mouth. The fire was so intense it left afterimages in the air, and the moment it touched the advancing wall of poisonous mist, the reaction was instantaneous.
WHOOOOOOSH!
The poison ignited.
The entire cloud of toxic gas burst into flames, the Yang-attribute Phoenix Fire consuming the Yin-attribute poison like oil meeting a match. The flames spread through the mist in a cascading chain reaction, turning the deadly poison into harmless smoke and dissipating heat.
Within seconds, the entire poison cloud had been neutralized, leaving only faint wisps of harmless smoke drifting upward.
Dugu Yan's confident expression froze on her face. Her eyes widened in absolute shock.
"What?!" she gasped, unable to believe what she was seeing.
The other Imperial teammates quickly moved to protect Ye Lingling, their Nine Heart Begonia healer, positioning themselves defensively. Some of the residual flames had penetrated through and were threatening their back line.
But Chen Sheng wasn't done. The moment the poison was neutralized, he moved.
Chen Sheng's Ancient White Tiger martial soul burst into full manifestation, his body surrounded by crackling lightning. His four spirit rings rose from beneath his feet—yellow, purple, purple, black—though their true colors and ages were concealed by his talents.
"First Spirit Ability: Shadow Rush!"
His speed instantly increased by fifty percent, and Chen Sheng's form blurred with supernatural velocity. He shot forward like a bolt of white lightning, his movements so fast they left afterimages scattered across the arena.
But he didn't charge straight at the Imperial team. Instead, he began darting between his own teammates, appearing beside each one in turn—supporting, defending, covering weaknesses.
Whenever an Imperial team member tried to exploit an opening against Dai Mubai, Chen Sheng was there, forcing them back.
When Tang San's Blue Silver Grass was about to be overwhelmed, Chen Sheng deflected the attacks with casual ease.
When Zhu Zhuqing was slightly pressured by Ao Siluo's Ghost Leopard, Chen Sheng appeared between them, his presence alone forcing the enemy back.
His power was far higher than anyone else in the arena—overwhelmingly so—but he was deliberately going easy on his opponents, using only a fraction of his true strength. This was a teaching moment, a chance for his teammates to gain experience and confidence.
But even while holding back tremendously, his presence was absolutely dominant.
"What kind of monster is this?!" one of the Shi Mo twins muttered under his breath as he watched Chen Sheng's impossible speed and precision.
The Imperial team had known Chen Sheng was strong, but seeing it in person was something else entirely. His movements were too fast, too precise, too overwhelming. It was like fighting a powerful expert who was deliberately restraining himself to make the match fair.
Small arcs of white lightning occasionally escaped from Chen Sheng's body as he moved, striking at Imperial team members who tried to press forward. The lightning wasn't strong enough to cause serious injury, but it was enough to force them back, to disrupt their coordination, to keep them constantly off-balance.
"Damn it!" Dugu Yan gritted her teeth, watching her carefully planned poison strategy fall apart. "I don't believe it! In a spirit power competition, I can still lose to a weak Spirit Elder like you?"
She was enraged and humiliated to see her proud poison broken so easily, and she made a decision born of desperation and wounded pride.
She increased her spirit power output dramatically, pumping more and more energy into her Jade Phosphor Serpent. The snake's mouth opened again, and another massive cloud of poison began forming, even larger and more concentrated than before.
Ma Hongjun felt the pressure immediately. "Brother Sheng, if this continues, my spirit power might not last much longer!"
His voice carried genuine anxiety. He himself followed a burst-damage route—his abilities were designed for overwhelming short-term power, not sustained contests. Both of his Spirit Abilities consumed massive amounts of his spirit power with every use. If they continued competing like this in a direct power struggle, he estimated he wouldn't even last a full minute before he was completely drained.
After a minute of continuous output, there would probably be nothing left—completely exhausted.
But Chen Sheng's response was calm and utterly confident: "It's okay, the opponent won't last long either. Just do your best and trust me."
Then he looked at Dai Mubai and the others, his voice sharp with command. "Act according to the plan! Ranged attack, now!"
Although Dai Mubai was somewhat displeased at taking orders from someone technically his junior, but in front of absolute power, he still held back his pride and obeyed. His second spirit ring lit up with brilliant light, and he began continuously launching White Tiger Light Waves toward the opponent's back row, forcing them to divide their attention between offense and defense.
Tang San, meanwhile, controlled his Blue Silver Grass with expert precision, making it rise silently from the ground behind the Imperial Fighting Team. The grass moved like living serpents, seeking to execute a sneak attack—to bind the opponent's support system Spirit Master and their two agility-attack system Spirit Masters in one coordinated strike.
But just as he was about to succeed, just as his Blue Silver Grass was about to wrap around Ye Lingling's ankles—
SLASH!
One of the Shi Mo twins' turtle shells came down like a guillotine blade, its sharp edge cutting through the Blue Silver Grass like it was paper. The severed grass withered instantly, and Tang San's sneak attack was completely neutralized.
Tang San's eyes widened in frustration. How did they see that coming?!
The other Shi Mo twin, meanwhile, positioned himself directly in front with his massive turtle shell held before him like an impenetrable wall, methodically blocking and deflecting Dai Mubai's White Tiger Light Wave attacks. Each blast of white energy splashed harmlessly against the shell's surface, unable to penetrate the legendary defense of the Black Tortoise martial soul.
Both twins instantly activated their Shell Breaking Spirit Ability, detaching their entire turtle shells and wielding them directly in their hands as both shields and weapons. The shells were massive, easily large enough to protect their entire bodies, and the defensive capabilities were absolutely formidable.
"Captain, the opponent's offense is too fierce!" Shi Mo called out urgently. "If this continues, I'm afraid our defense won't hold!"
His twin brother nodded in agreement, sweat already beginning to form on his brow from the constant pressure of blocking attacks.
"Hmph! Then we attack!" Dugu Yan made her decision and withdrew her poison cloud. It was clear the Shrek Team was stronger than she had initially imagined, and their first battle plan—poison overwhelming—had failed completely.
Subsequently, the two teams abandoned any pretense of coordinated formation warfare. Instead, they split into individual confrontations, going king against king, general against general—each fighter seeking their opposite number.
Zhu Zhuqing faced off against Ao Siluo, both of them agility-type specialists. They circled each other warily, each wanting to break through the opponent's defense line and reach the vulnerable support members in the back.
But unfortunately for Zhu Zhuqing, Ao Siluo's Ghost Leopard martial soul was faster than her Hell Civet, she's moved against his opponent with her movement technique.The two became locked in a high-speed dance of strikes and counterstrikes, Zhu Zhuqing is able to gain a little advantage.
Ma Hongjun, having consumed a large amount of spirit power in the poison-neutralizing contest, remained positioned protectively in front of Ning Rongrong. His role had shifted from offense to defense, ensuring their support specialist remained safe.
The task of dealing with Yu Feng, the Wind Chime Bird agility attacker, was handed to Tang San instead.
Dai Mubai squared off against Yu Tianheng directly, both possessing top-tier beast martial souls, facing each other in what should have been the match's centerpiece confrontation.
"Xiao Wu," Chen Sheng said with a slight smile, his voice carrying easily over the sounds of battle, "you go deal with Dugu Yan. The opponent's two turtle shell Spirit Masters are for me."
His smile widened slightly, taking on an edge of anticipation. "What I like most are defense system Spirit Masters, hehe!"
There was something almost playful in his tone, like a predator that had just spotted particularly entertaining prey.
To finish the battle quickly and give his teammates more room to operate, Chen Sheng decided to use just a little bit of his actual strength—though still nowhere near his true capabilities.
Chen Sheng's form suddenly blurred, and then there were multiple Chen Shengs on the field.
His Phantom Steps technique activated fully, creating perfect afterimages that moved independently. To the naked eye, it appeared as though Chen Sheng had split into several illusions, each one attacking from different angles—both flanks and the center of the arena simultaneously!
The speed was so extreme, so perfectly executed, that even experienced Spirit Masters in the audience couldn't distinguish which image was real and which were afterimages.
All of them converged on a single target: the Imperial team's back row, and specifically Ye Lingling, their precious Nine Heart Begonia healer.
"You want to get past us? Dream on!" Yu Tianheng roared, trying to disengage from Dai Mubai and intercept Chen Sheng's charge.
But Dai Mubai's strength was not weak—far from it. He had been well-trained, and he understood his role perfectly. His White Tiger martial soul blazed with power as he firmly blocked Yu Tianheng's path, preventing the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon user from providing support to his captain.
"Shi Mo, Shi Mo, be careful!" Dugu Yan's voice rang out in warning. "His target is Lingling!"
She wanted desperately to help, to use her poison to create a barrier, but she had problems of her own. Xiao Wu had already closed the distance, arriving directly in front of her with frightening speed.
As a Jade Phosphor Serpent Spirit Master, Dugu Yan was a control-type specialist whose entire fighting style was built around maintaining distance and controlling the battlefield with poison and status effects. Being approached by a close-combat specialist was her absolute worst-case scenario.
Now that Xiao Wu had gotten so close so easily, Dugu Yan's expression immediately turned ugly. All three of her spirit rings were dedicated to poison control abilities: paralyzing poison, corrosive poison, hallucinogenic poison, and various other toxins designed to incapacitate from a distance.
Once someone got into melee range, she was at a severe disadvantage.
"Dugu Yan," Xiao Wu said with a sweet smile that didn't reach her eyes, "using poison for control is truly rare and impressive. But now that I've gotten close to you—what will you do?"
"Purple Cloud Poison!" Dugu Yan activated one of her abilities desperately. "Hmph! I have poisonous mist surrounding my body at all times. Do you dare to approach further?"
Indeed, a layer of toxic purple vapor began emanating from Dugu Yan's skin, creating a defensive barrier of poison around her entire body. Anyone who got too close would be poisoned immediately.
It was a defensive measure specifically designed to counter close-combat fighters.
Xiao Wu's advance halted, her eyes narrowing as she assessed the poisonous barrier. It was dense, potent, and clearly dangerous.
But then—
WHOOOOOOSH!
A powerful gust of wind suddenly swept across the arena. Chen Sheng had appeared nearby, his massive three-meter-long Wings fully manifested and spread wide. The wings were jet black with crimson edges, and when they beat the air, they generated tremendous force.
The wind blast struck Dugu Yan's poison cloud directly, dispersing it completely and scattering the toxic vapors harmlessly into the air. The thrust of the wind was so strong that Dugu Yan herself was nearly blown backward, her feet sliding across the arena floor as she struggled to maintain her balance.
Her eyes widened in shock. Is there really such a powerful Spirit Master? He can even neutralize my defensive poison with just wind pressure?!
Xiao Wu immediately sensed her opportunity. Her eyes flashed with predatory focus, and she activated her spirit ability.
In an instant, Xiao Wu vanished from her position in front of Dugu Yan and reappeared directly in front of her.
"Charm!"
Xiao Wu's third spirit ring glowed with mesmerizing pink light.
Dugu Yan had studied the Shrek team's abilities before the match. She'd taken mental precautions specifically against Xiao Wu's charm ability, knowing it could be devastating if it landed successfully.
But preparation and execution were two different things. In the heat of battle, exhausted and off-balance from Chen Sheng's wind attack, her mental defenses weren't as solid as they should have been.
The charm ability took hold for just a moment—but a moment was all Xiao Wu needed.
Her leg came up in a perfectly executed soft skill kick, striking Dugu Yan with precise force. The kick wasn't brutal or overwhelming, but it was expertly placed and timed.
Dugu Yan's body flew backward, tumbling through the air before landing roughly at the very edge of the arena, barely avoiding falling off entirely.
"Dugu Yan!"
Yu Tianheng's voice cracked with genuine panic when he saw his vice-captain—and more than that, someone he clearly cared for deeply—struck down and eliminated from effective combat.
"Get lost!"
Yu Tianheng's desperation transformed into fury. He decided he was done wasting time with Dai Mubai. His patience for strategy had run out.
Both of his spirit rings activated simultaneously, flooding his body with overwhelming power. His Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul surged, electricity crackling across his scales in visible arcs.
"Third Spirit Ability: Dragon's Fury!" His muscles bulged, his power multiplying.
"First Spirit Ability: Thunder Dragon Claw!" His hands transformed into massive, electrified claws capable of rending steel.
But Dai Mubai had been waiting for exactly this moment. He'd been deliberately baiting Yu Tianheng, measuring the other man's patience and waiting for him to overcommit.
"Second Spirit Ability: White Tiger Intense Light Wave!"
"Third Spirit Ability: White Tiger Vajra Transformation!"
Both of Dai Mubai's major amplification Spirit Abilities activated in perfect sequence. His body expanded with muscle, his power surged, and his eyes blazed with golden light. He met Yu Tianheng's charge head-on, their clash generating a shockwave that rippled across the arena.
Neither could easily overcome the other—both were top-tier beast martial soul users, and their power levels were relatively close.
While Yu Tianheng and Dai Mubai were locked in their stalemate, Chen Sheng had already reached his true targets.
In what seemed like an instant—so fast that most of the audience missed the movement entirely—Chen Sheng arrived directly in front of the two Shi Mo twins, who were still using their massive turtle shells defensively.
Since both Shi Mo brothers soul ability created defense turtle shells in front of them, they had created nearly impenetrable frontal defense. The shells were legendary Black Tortoise martial souls, after all—among the strongest defensive spirits in existence.
But that also meant the parts of their bodies not covered by the turtle shells appeared very vulnerable. Their sides, their legs, the gaps where the shells didn't quite reach—all were exposed.
Before either twin could react or adjust their defensive positions, Chen Sheng's hands moved with blinding speed.
His palms struck forward—not with any special technique, just pure, overwhelming physical power enhanced by his tremendous spirit power and force from his physical technique
BAM! BAM!
Two impacts, so close together they almost sounded like one. Chen Sheng's palm strikes hit both twins simultaneously in their exposed abdomens with precisely controlled force—enough to eliminate them from combat, but carefully modulated to avoid serious internal injury.
"Ah—!" Both twins cried out in shock and pain.
Chen Sheng's movements had been as fast as lightning itself, his attacks creating visible afterimages that lingered in the air. To anyone watching, it looked as though he'd struck both opponents at exactly the same instant—which was, in fact, precisely what he'd done.
The Shi Mo twins flew in opposite directions across the arena, their massive turtle shells clattering to the ground as they lost their grip. They tumbled and rolled, eventually coming to a stop near the arena's edges, groaning in pain but not seriously injured.
The speed, precision, and overwhelming power of the attack truly shocked everyone watching—but none more so than Ye Lingling, the Nine Heart Begonia healer who had been standing directly behind the twins.
She stood there frozen, her eyes wide with disbelief. She had been completely protected by her teammates' defense just a moment ago, secure in the knowledge that the legendary Black Tortoise shells were virtually impenetrable.
And now, in less than a second, both of her protectors were down, and she was standing alone and vulnerable with Chen Sheng directly before her.
She even forgot to activate her healing ability to help the Shi Mo twins, so complete was her shock.
Chen Sheng took a single step forward, and suddenly he was directly in front of Ye Lingling, so close she could feel the residual spirit power radiating from his body. His hand moved with casual ease, coming to rest gently against her neck—not threatening, not violent, but unmistakably dominant.
"Will you walk off the stage yourself," Chen Sheng asked calmly, his voice carrying no malice or cruelty, "or shall I make you?"
His tone was almost conversational, as if he were asking her preference for tea rather than demanding her surrender.
"I..." Ye Lingling gritted her teeth, her pride warring with her rational mind. She was unwilling to give up so easily, to surrender without even attempting to fight back or heal her teammates.
But what could she do? She was a support-type Spirit Master, and Chen Sheng was... whatever this overwhelming monster of power was.
Before she could make a decision, three figures burst forth with explosive speed.
Seeing Ye Lingling in immediate danger—their team's most valuable and irreplaceable member, the legendary Nine Heart Begonia healer—Yu Feng, Ao Siluo, and Yu Tianheng all made the same decision simultaneously.
They abandoned their current opponents entirely, flooding their bodies with every ounce of spirit power they possessed, and burst free from Zhu Zhuqing, Tang San, and Dai Mubai respectively.
The three of them attacked Chen Sheng from three different directions simultaneously—a coordinated strike designed to force him to release Ye Lingling or be hit by at least one of the attacks.
Yu Tianheng came from the front, his Thunder Dragon Claws fully charged with blue lightning.
Yu Feng dove from above, her Wind Chime Bird martial soul allowing her to attack from an aerial angle.
Ao Siluo's Ghost Leopard came from the shadows to the side, his form partially transparent and difficult to track.
It should have been an overwhelming coordinated assault.
Chen Sheng's expression didn't change at all.
"Sigh," he breathed out softly, a sound of genuine disappointment. "This is just a competition, otherwise..."
He didn't finish the sentence, but the implication was clear. Otherwise, you would already be dead for such recklessness.
Chen Sheng condensed a surge of carefully controlled spirit power in his left hand. Before Ye Lingling could even register what was happening, that power flowed into her abdomen—not as an attack, but as a gentle, irresistible force.
Push.
Ye Lingling's body was lifted smoothly off the ground and propelled backward with invisible power. She sailed through the air, completely out of the arena's boundaries, and landed gently on the ground outside the ring. There was no impact, no injury—just a soft, controlled descent that left her physically unharmed.
For an instant, as she stood there outside the arena, Ye Lingling's eyes flickered with complex emotions.
Was this... showing mercy?
He could have hurt her. He could have struck her down violently or used her as a hostage. Instead, he'd removed her from the battle with such gentleness that she hadn't even felt threatened.
[DETECTED! Ye Lingling Emotion Fear, Surprise, Admiration, Complex Feelings Congratulations to the host Treasure Chest Acquired]
Chen Sheng had already dismissed Ye Lingling from his thoughts. His attention was on the three attackers who had just made a critically poor tactical decision.
Yu Tianheng, Yu Feng, and Ao Siluo—completely disregarding their teammate's safety, launching a desperate attack while she was still in potential danger.
It honestly disappointed Chen Sheng. He'd expected better tactical discipline from the prestigious Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
However, perhaps this was because it was just a sparring match, and they knew Ye Lingling wouldn't actually die, so they'd acted more recklessly than they normally would in a real life-or-death battle?
Still, it was too thoughtless. Too impulsive.
The three attacks converged on Chen Sheng's position from three different angles.
And Chen Sheng simply wasn't there anymore.
His form blurred into multiple afterimages. The three attackers' strikes hit nothing but empty air and each other's peripheral attacks, their coordination falling apart in the confusion.
Then Chen Sheng reappeared—behind them, between them, everywhere at once it seemed.
His fists moved with surgical precision, each strike perfectly controlled in force and trajectory.
BAM!
Yu Tianheng took a controlled punch to his back, the force perfectly calculated. It wasn't enough to cause serious injury, but it was absolutely enough to completely knock the wind out of him and send him flying backward out of the arena.
BAM!
Yu Feng received a strike to her center mass as he descended from his aerial attack, the impact redirecting his momentum and sending him tumbling out of the arena entirely.
BAM!
Ao Siluo's shadow form was disrupted by a precisely placed strike that caught him mid-phase, forcing his Ghost Leopard martial soul to solidify and launching him across the arena boundary.
All three impacts happened within the span of perhaps two seconds. Chen Sheng's movements were so fast, so fluid, that they seemed to blend together into a single continuous motion.
Yu Tianheng, Yu Feng, and Ao Siluo all crashed to the ground outside the arena boundaries in various states of shock and pain. They struggled to rise, their bodies trembling from the overwhelming force they'd just experienced.
With Ye Lingling present—a Nine Heart Begonia Spirit Master whose healing abilities were legendary—even if these three had been more severely injured, they could have been saved.
So Chen Sheng had used sufficient force to definitively end the match while still maintaining careful control to avoid fatal damage.
The three fighters managed to push themselves up into sitting positions, but they were clearly terrified. Those punches had carried power far beyond what a normal Spirit Ancestor should possess.
What kind of monster is he? was written clearly across all their faces.
The audience's cheers gradually died down as they began to sense something unusual in the air. There was a strange tension, an undercurrent of "gossip" that the more perceptive spectators picked up on.
The way Chen Sheng had gently pushed Ye Lingling out of the arena, showing such obvious mercy and care while simultaneously devastating the rest of her team...
Supervisor Ao, watching from his position at the arena's edge, saw that the Imperial Fighting Team had been completely defeated. He silently sighed in his heart.
What a one-sided match. I thought it would be more competitive.
In the VIP rooms above, multiple people were having similar thoughts, though their emotional reactions varied wildly.
Qin Ming stood with his hands clenched on the railing, his knuckles white with pressure. Who exactly is this Chen Sheng?! He could actually force three powerful opponents out of the arena with such ease! His strength... it's beyond anything I expected from someone his age!
[DETECTED! Qin Ming Emotion Shock, Disbelief, Awe...]
In the Shrek VIP room, Yu Xiaogang's expression was complicated—a mixture of pride that his students had won so decisively, and deep unease at how completely Chen Sheng had dominated the match without him having any tactical input whatsoever.
[DETECTED! Yu Xiaogang Emotion Complex Feelings - Pride mixed with Inadequacy and Jealousy...]
Flender was grinning widely, but there was also shock in his eyes. Even he hadn't expected Chen Sheng to end the match quite so thoroughly.
[DETECTED! Flender Emotion Pride mixed with Shock...]
And Tang San, standing on the arena floor after the battle's conclusion, stared at Chen Sheng's back with eyes full of complicated emotions. Jealousy, inadequacy, frustration, and a growing suspicion that perhaps Chen Sheng was more similar to himself than he'd previously believed.
[DETECTED! Tang San Emotion Jealousy, Inadequacy, Suspicion...]
Down on the arena floor, Doudou the host hovered in the air for a long, silent moment. She seemed to be processing what she'd just witnessed, her expression carefully neutral but her eyes wide with surprise.
Finally, she raised her hand and announced in her clear, amplified voice: "Match concluded! Shrek Seven Devils—victory!"
Then, before anyone could react or call out to her, she glanced once more at Chen Sheng—a look of undisguised curiosity and perhaps a hint of admiration—and then flashed away with her white dove wings, disappearing from the arena stage.
The audience members immediately began whispering among themselves, heads bent together in eager gossip.
Chen Sheng could hear fragments of their conversations with his enhanced senses:
"Did you see how gently he removed that girl?"
"But then he absolutely demolished the others!"
"I think there might be something there..."
"No way, they just met!"
"Still, that kind of treatment difference..."
Chen Sheng inwardly sighed. People always looked for drama where there was none. He'd simply shown basic respect to a non-combatant support specialist.
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