In the spectator stands, the atmosphere was enthusiastic and tense. The cheers and discussions of the audience rose and fell, seemingly about to overturn the entire stadium.
The two opposing sides entered the arena under the gaze of thousands, stepping onto the competition platform.
Huo Yuhao and Yu Longheng, as the team leaders, walked at the front of their respective teams, their eyes meeting.
Yu Longheng, maintaining his elegant and composed demeanor, smiled gracefully. "At this moment, facing us — it's still too early for you. You shouldn't have been so rash in accepting the match yesterday. Now, both of us are in a dilemma."
Behind Huo Yuhao, Xie Xie heard Yu Longheng twist the truth. For once, he didn't speak. He just looked at Yu Longheng with a strange expression.
Would this guy still be able to smile after this?
And upon hearing Yu Longheng's words, Huo Yuhao also returned a smile. "Yes — too early."
Yu Longheng narrowed his eyes at this, silently sneered.
The match had not yet begun, but an invisible air of tension already permeated the air. Ye Xinglan also glanced coldly at Gu Yuena. The latter simply looked indifferently back at her, ignoring her.
The noise in the stands gradually quieted. Everyone held their breath, waiting for this match, destined to be recorded in history.
While waiting for the referee's signal, Yu Longheng suddenly frowned. He noticed the expressions of the team members behind Huo Yuhao not a trace of nervousness or fear, but rather a strange kind of anticipation.
Yesterday, they should have seen his strength. What was going on now? What had he missed?
Something was wrong — very wrong.
"Begin!" The referee's voice broke the brief silence.
Yu Longheng forcibly gathered his thoughts and commanded:
"End it quickly!"
Yu Longheng and those behind him simultaneously released their martial souls and spirit rings.
The light of various spirit rings lit up.
Just as they were about to launch an attack, as they had done yesterday —
A suffocating pressure suddenly descended upon the entire arena.
Huo Yuhao stepped forward slowly. Four spirit rings rose from beneath his feet —subverting the common knowledge of the spirit master world:
Black! Black! Black! Black!
The entire Tianhai Sports Stadium fell into deathly silence. 80,000 spectators, along with the countless residents watching behind their screens, collectively lost their voices.
In VIP Box No. 1, Long Huantian, Shen Yi, and others stood up abruptly, dumbfounded.
A ten-year-old Spirit Ancestor with four ten-thousand-year spirit rings — a miracle unheard of in Federation history.
Was this real?
They couldn't believe it!
And on the arena stage, the four ten-thousand-year spirit rings and the vigorous spirit power of the Spirit Ancestor level emitted a suffocating, extreme pressure.
Under this pressure, Ye Xinglan, whose spirit power level was only that of a Great Spirit Master, immediately stopped her charge toward Gu Yuena. Her face was as pale as paper, her eyes filled with fear and shock. The few Spirit Ancestors of Shrek also were not spared; their figures were suppressed by an invisible invisible gravity, becoming sluggish, with cold sweat streaming down their foreheads.
"This is impossible!" Yu Longheng's voice was hoarse, unlike his own.
At this moment, he seemed to understand why the other Eastsea Academy students had been so calm. He also felt he now understood the deep meaning behind Huo Yuhao's words.
Indeed — too early. For them, facing such a monster, they were far from ready!
But... he didn't believe it. This was definitely fake!
It was a technique similar to the notorious Imitation spirit ability!
"Move!" Yu Longheng's roar snapped the others back to reality. Ning Yue, pale-faced, applied her to him. Xu Lizhi's buns also reached their hands.
The next moment, Yu Longheng's Battle Armor enveloped his body. He charged violently toward Huo Yuhao.
At the same time, the other two Spirit Ancestors beside him —
Yao Qixuan, with his Sky King Falcon martial soul, directly tore through the air and flew skyward, diving toward Huo Yuhao.
Lin Xuyao, a Control System spirit master with the "Prison Realm King Vine" martial soul, remained in place and cast two spirit abilities at Huo Yuhao.
Third Spirit Ability: Iron Thorn Prison Cage!Fourth Spirit Ability: Rotting Mist!
Clearly, the sight of four ten-thousand-year spirit rings had frightened them, making them unanimously decide to take down Huo Yuhao first.
A cage of thorn-covered vine rose from beneath Huo Yuhao's feet. When cast by Lin Xuyao, this spirit ability could hold even a Strength System spirit master of the same level for two seconds.
Not to mention that the purple poison mist poison mist of the Fourth Spirit Ability had already begun to spread, infiltrating toward Huo Yuhao — surely capable of controlling him for a moment.
But with a flash of silver light, Huo Yuhao's figure had already appeared outside the cage, his body showing no discomfort whatsoever.
"Spatial spirit ability? Poison immunity?" Lin Xuyao's expression changed drastically.
This guy was practically his bane.
And the location Huo Yuhao had teleported to was directly in Yu Longheng's path. Seeing this, the latter's expression darkened. His fourth spirit ring blazed with light.
Ten-thousand-year spirit ability — Thunder Emperor Dragon's Wrath!
With a roar, the countless bolts of lightning in the sky converged with a howl, condensed into a ten-meter-long lightning dragon in an instant.
The moment the lightning dragon appeared, the entire stage was dyed an eerie azure blue.
Yesterday, using this move, he had thrown the Tianhai Academy team into disorder, allowing his teammates to take advantage and end the battle in under a minute.
"ROAR——"
The lightning dragon's cry shook the heavens. The furious sound waves, accompanied by high-voltage electricity, even ionized the air with a scorched smell. The air current from the dragon's dive tore gullies into the ground. The splashing gravel, before they could even hit the ground, turned to dust.
"It seems the memory I left you yesterday wasn't deep enough."
Seeing Huo Yuhao dodge neither left nor right, Yu Longheng gave a cold snort. But then he saw Huo Yuhao's right arm suddenly glow with silver radiance.
Spirit power, spiritual power, and blood and energy force — preliminary three-in-one.
A chilling sound of fragmentation. That palm, enveloped in silver-white spirit power, had pierced through the lightning dragon as easily as cutting through tofu. The countless bolts of lightning in the sky, at this moment, eerily solidified, then collapsed with a boom into countless points of light.
Before Yu Longheng could even feel horror, his vision held only that growing fist. The silver light flowing on its fist split space itself into fine cracks, hurtling toward the core of his chest Battle Armor.
BANG——
Among the audience, powerful spirit masters witnessed an astonishing sight — the Battle Armor of that Battle Armor Master cracked like a fragile mirror.
One-Word Battle Armor components... shattered?
Yu Longheng felt as if his internal organs had been shaken out of place. Blood sprayed from his mouth. His body, like a ragdoll, crashed against the protective barrier. His vision blurred.
The shattered Battle Armor components scattered around him, along with all his pride. In the final moment before his consciousness sank into darkness, his vision was saturated with endless bitterness.
The natural talent praised by his teachers and elders, the strength admired by his peers — at this moment, they had all turned into sharp fragments, each piece stabbing deep into the core of his self-respect.
Yet he couldn't even muster hatred.
Because the spiritual thought and bloodline power contained in that attack had detonated his own dragon bloodline, creating a desire to submit from the depth of his soul.
At this moment, he even felt an impulse to acknowledge Huo Yuhao as his master. He could no longer feel any enmity toward Huo Yuhao...
"Spatial power? A self-created combat technique fused with spiritual power, spirit power, and even blood and energy force?"
Shen Yi murmured to herself, her heart filled with shock.
The latter — she couldn't comprehend. Was that something a Spirit Ancestor could understand?
As for the former — if his martial soul was related to the space attribute, that could be understood. But using spatial power at the Spirit Ancestor level, theoretically, shouldn't have been able to destroy a One-Word Battle Armor either. What had just happened...
The battle on the stage did not stop because of Shen Yi's thoughts.
Seeing Yu Longheng sent flying with a single punch, Yao Qixuan's heart trembled violently. Before he could react, a biting chill suddenly climbed up his spine — Huo Yuhao's gaze had somehow already locked him and his teammates not far away.
Those eyes, shimmering with a faint golden light, were placid to the point of being alarming.
"Oh no!" Yao Qixuan tried to warn the others, but it was already too late.
The moment their eyes met, he felt as if a spiritual bomb had exploded in his mind. An invisible spiritual pressure, like a huge wave, rolled over their Sea of Spirit with irresistible force.
It wasn't a simple shock and awe, but a spiritual piercing piercing so precise it was terrifying.
"AHHH!!!"
Yao Qixuan let out a pitiful scream. He felt as if ten thousand ice needles had simultaneously plunged into his brain, each one stirring his nerves. The world before his eyes instantly shattered.
THUD! THUD!
The sound of falling bodies came one after another. The teammates behind him fell like harvested wheat, one after another. Some rolled on the ground clutching their heads, some died outright, and some even had blood seeping from their seven orifices...
The entire arena fell into an eerie silence.
In the stands, countless people had their mouths wide open, yet not a sound came out.
Those with higher spirit power were even more dumbstruck. They could sense that, in that instant just now, the spiritual power Huo Yuhao had released had already reached the Spirit Abyss realm
a level usually only achieved by Title Douluos!
This also proved that his four ten-thousand-year spirit rings were real!
"What kind of monster is this?"
Compared to Huo Yuhao, Shrek Academy's students were simply nothing. The latter was the real monster!
At the edge of the arena, Xie Xie just barely managed to grab the pale-faced Xu Lizhi. His Adam's apple unconsciously rolled. "The Boss is even more vicious than I thought."
He smiled bitterly as he looked around. His comrades, who had been about to charge at the opponents, were all stiffed in place. He, as an Agility System spirit master, had just barely grasped a gap and grabbed this little fatty before the spiritual storm hit.
This guy was also one of the only two who hadn't been subjected to Boss Yuhao's Spiritual Shock.
As for the other...
Xie Xie's gaze shifted to the distance.
Gu Yuena was looking down at Ye Xinglan, who had fallen at her feet. Her black hair gently swayed in the agitation of spirit power, surrounded by traces of various elements wreaking havoc.
"Being knocked unconscious by the Spiritual Shock — for you, who values Shrek Academy's glory above all else, would probably be preferable, wouldn't it? Why did you have to come after me?"
Ye Xinglan stared blankly at the center of the arena, not answering.
There, only Huo Yuhao remained, standing calmly. His teammates lay scattered all around him.
It was the exact same scene as yesterday, only the roles had been reversed.
Ye Xinglan, who had been about to force herself to stand, suddenly collapsed to her knees. It wasn't due to injury, but because her shattered beliefs could no longer support her body. The Star God Sword slipped from her hand and struck the ground with a clear clang, echoing like the sound of her pride breaking.
From childhood to adulthood, she had always been the most dazzling genius, a future star in whom Shrek's inner court had placed immense hopes.
But now, an unknown young man had shown her in the most ruthless way possible that neither she nor Shrek's so-called glory meant anything.
"Referee, the match is over."
Huo Yuhao looked at the stunned referee.
The referee, still stunned into silence, heard the voice in his ear. He still took a moment before reacting. In a trembling voice, he called out: "Eastsea Academy vs. Shrek Academy — Eastsea Academy wins!!!"
The quiet stands, after a few seconds of dead silence, suddenly burst into flames. A deafening cheer erupted like a tsunami, instantly sweeping through the entire arena.
Ten seconds? Or five?
No one could have timed it in that just now. But they knew — Shrek had lost. They had lost to Eastsea Academy. They had lost to one person.
This was Huo Yuhao's victory — and the Tianhai Alliance's victory!
Not caring about this hollow fame, Huo Yuhao took one last look at the disheveled Shrek students on the stage, then turned to leave with the others.
The roaring cheers from the stands were like a thick layer of frosted glass. In Ye Xinglan's world, there was only that gradually retreating figure. In a daze, she seemed to see Huo Yuhao's expression — not the smugness of a victor, only calm.
Crushing us, Shrek — not even a trace of joy can it bring you?
Ye Xinglan's lips trembled, but no sound came out. That back, though not radiating any spirit power, made her feel an even more suffocating pressure than before.
This was not arrogant contempt, but a calm that truly regarded the so-called glory of the "number one academy of the continent" as mere dust.
The lights on the arena dome suddenly Only then did she realize that her vision had long since blurred. Scalding liquid streamed down her cheeks, condensing into cool pearls at her chin, falling one by one onto her trembling hands.
Lost.
She had lost. The academy had lost.
It was all her fault...
In a corner of the stands, Wu Changkong closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
The words he had once wanted to say to Luo Yanglu surfaced again in his mind.
Even Shrek Academy had never produced a monster like Huo Yuhao. Even Atlas Douluo... could not compare.
Shen Yi watched the match. Hearing the boiling cheers in her ears, her face clouded over. She wanted to go down and stop Huo Yuhao and the others, to say something and salvage some prestige for the academy. But Luo Yanglu, sitting beside her, said flatly:
"This is just an ordinary match. No rules were violated, and no one's life was lost. What do you intend to do?"
"..."
Shen Yi pressed her lips together. Her expression turned cold. "Is the Spirit Transmission Tower using this method to pave the way for its juniors?"
Stepping on Shrek Academy's reputation to pave the way for their own juniors — what a clever plan!
Luo Yanglu turned to look at her. Hua Yichen's words echoed in his mind.
"Yuhao has exceeded my expectations. He will dominate this era — even unify the entire Spirit Transmission Tower's forces, as the First Generation Tower Master did. This is an unprecedented change... Whether it's a blessing or a curse, I don't know. But with our Spirit Transmission Tower's ten-thousand-year foundation, we need not be afraid."
Thinking this, Luo Yanglu didn't bother to argue. He just smiled at Shen Yi.
"Now that we have a figure like Yuhao who can truly dominate an era why shouldn't the Spirit Transmission Tower do this?"
Shen Yi looked sharply at him, an indescribable fear suddenly rising in her heart.
The Spirit Transmission Tower — no longer planning to keep a low profile?
At the Eastsea Spirit Transmission Tower, Hua Yichen watched this short but stunning match. A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Yuhao — this is your first step onto the Federation stage.
He called over a staff member and instructed in a low voice: "Send the news to headquarters. And move Yuhao's ranking on the Junior Genius Rankings to first place. His title — Spirit Transmission!"
At the same time, at Shrek Academy.
An elderly woman, watching the picture of Shrek's defeat on the screen, crushed the teacup in her hand. Scalding tea dripped through her fingers, but she was completely unaware.
Spirit Transmission Tower — using our Shrek Academy as a stepping stone — you've gone too far!
***
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