area51novel Chapter 186 Tactical Mistakes and Exhaustion
Chapter 186 Tactical Mistakes and Exhaustion
Ling Luochen made her appearance. As a woman in her early twenties, she was already fully developed. Everyone in the audience and the other academies watching the match perked up at that moment.
Ling Luochen's age destined him to be a regular member of Shrek Academy. After witnessing that Shrek Academy had a reserve team with four Soul King-level combat power, everyone was full of speculation about Shrek Academy's regular team this time.
The reserve team already has four Soul Kings, but the main team only has three people. So, these three people must all be Soul Emperors, right?
Long You doesn't have mind-reading abilities, but Xiao Yan, who is now free, has managed to discern and analyze some of the superficial thoughts floating around him, so Long You is now scratching his head a little.
If everyone thinks this way, then it seems that having Senior Ling Luochen in this competition is less effective than having Beibei or even myself participate.
Ling Luochen does indeed have the ability to defeat seven opponents single-handedly, and Long You now believes that Ling Luochen can win the first round-robin tournament that Shrek Academy is participating in on his own. However, all of the above cannot stop people from wanting to see a Soul Emperor.
When the competition started, everyone saw that Ling Luochen only had five spirit rings. The moment their expectations were dashed was the moment when Shrek Academy's powerful facade crumbled.
Even if the professional academy could analyze it afterward and find that Ling Luochen was very strong, the abnormally strong level that Shrek Academy displayed during the elimination rounds gave them away, or rather, it failed to intimidate anyone.
For no other reason than that Shrek Academy's continued display of strength couldn't match everyone's wild imaginations. This was essentially a process of exposing a paper tiger; the Japanese invaders remained powerful after Pingxingguan, but their myth of invincibility was shattered.
"It's troublesome."
Lost in thought, Long You unconsciously read aloud.
"What's the trouble?"
Right now, the referee is still reading out and emphasizing the rules of the game, so everyone's attention isn't quite focused yet. Therefore, even though Long You was just muttering it out unconsciously, Bei Bei still heard it.
Having been overheard, Long You didn't bother with any mystery or keeping anything a secret. He simply recounted the detached emotions that Xiao Yan had previously analyzed.
"not good."
Without needing Long You's explanation, simply explaining the situation clearly will make everything clear.
"It's too late."
Wang Yan had a look of regret on his face, but there was nothing he could do. The referee's arm, which had been raised high on the competition stage, had already fallen, and the five spirit rings of the best combination appeared on Ling Luochen's body.
Silence was followed by noise. Even without Xiao Yan's insightful analysis, Long You could hear the disappointment and complaints contained in the noise, simply by relying on his Soul Master's hearing.
This is highly unusual. Even if this were the second round of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament, the appearance of a Soul King with the best-matched Soul Rings would be enough to elicit cheers. Let's lower our expectations; even without cheers, there shouldn't be this kind of uproar, or even booing, noise.
"Phew—I'm actually quite grateful to the Star Luo Empire for the soul-guided shield that surrounded the competition stage. At least Senior Ling can't hear these boos, so they won't affect her performance."
"Sanshi, you don't understand Senior Ling at all. Even if she heard it, it wouldn't affect her performance. The only thing we need to consider now is whether there's any way to make up for it?"
This won't be the last time our illusions about our abilities are exposed! Yuhao and Songhe will still be playing.
"This is indeed a troublesome matter, but it's not without a way to make up for it. Senior Sister Ling can only rely on actual combat strength to deal with the impact of the shattered illusion. However, if Senior Gongyang Mo can be patient for a while, we can still solidify the impression that the academy's main team this time is composed of Soul Emperors."
"What's it to me?"
Long You and Bei Bei's conversation successfully attracted the attention of the other Shrek Academy students present. After hearing the two mention his name, Gongyang Mo immediately chimed in.
"Of course, it's because you're about to break through to the Soul Emperor level. Although the effects of that Soul-Absorbing Blood Mist caused you some overdraft, it should have brought you a lot of benefits after you recovered, such as your Soul Power level. You should have already reached the threshold of level 60 by now."
"That's true. Although I haven't awakened my martial soul consciousness yet and can't accurately grasp when I'll break through to level 60, I think it will be within the next ten days or so."
"In that case, senior, you should focus on breaking through to level 60 during this period. I would like to trouble Teacher Fanyu to make a trip and bring back a suitable ten-thousand-year-old soul beast. Senior Gongyang and Senior Dai Yueheng can make an appearance together in the second half of the round-robin tournament."
"I understand, but I'm just a support-type character. I'm afraid my influence as a Soul Emperor isn't enough."
"It's okay, senior, you can pretend to be a Soul Master at the Soul Emperor level!"
"Understood. I will go back today and begin my seclusion to cultivate my soul power, striving to break through to Soul Emperor as soon as possible. However, I'll need you to help me prepare a Soul Emperor-level soul tool."
"Don't worry about the soul tool, I'll prepare it. As for the soul rings, I'll go to the Star Dou Great Forest this afternoon. Gongyang, just tell me if you need any soul rings."
Fan Yu remained silent as always, but he would never fail to speak when needed.
"Don't be too hasty. Breaking through the level of soul power often takes more effort than speed. You should keep a calm mindset." Although there was a mistake in the tactical decision, Wang Yan's research on martial soul theory was genuine, so he gave Gongyang Mo a timely reminder.
The long discussion about remedial measures came to an end, and Shrek Academy finally focused their attention on the competition stage. However, it was clear that everyone had missed a lot during this time, as the one-on-one battle between Shrek Academy and Yunluo Academy had entered its second round.
"Senior Ling is quick! However, this rare close-combat soul master from Yunluo Academy can probably only last a shorter time than the previous one."
Long You's eyesight was quite good. The pair of swords wielded by the close-combat soul master from Yunluo Academy were only level three soul tools. Given the level of soul tools and the fact that this young lady wasn't particularly fast, Long You concluded that she wouldn't last long.
Sure enough, as the young lady continued her charge, a layer of frost spread across the ground to her feet. The next moment, although she noticed the spreading frost and avoided slipping, she was forced to slow down and ultimately couldn't dodge Ling Luochen's subsequent control skills. Her hands and feet were quickly frozen, following in the footsteps of the first student from Yunluo Academy to appear earlier.
At this point, the clamor that had filled the entire Star Luo Square completely subsided. Although they weren't Soul Emperors, and although the audience didn't actually know much about Soul Masters, they were all people with eyes, and it was easy for them to see such obvious differences in strength.
The overwhelming strength of Ling Luochen compared to the students from Yunluo Academy made the audience look forward to witnessing the miracle of defeating seven opponents on the first day of the round-robin tournament.
The blond and strong captain of Yunluo Academy looked even more serious, but after the young lady was sent off the stage, the captain still walked onto the competition stage with a solemn expression.
Long You didn't know what the captain was thinking, but he knew that the captain was Yunluo Academy's last hope, and his failure meant the ultimate failure of Yunluo Academy.
Despite defeating two opponents quickly, Ling Luochen's expression remained unchanged. Only when the blond Yunluo Academy captain, Situ Yu, solemnly introduced himself did a slight flicker appear in Ling Luochen's eyes.
[A soul-guided turret? This is truly the first time I've seen a soul-guided instructor from outside my own academy use such a tactic! But it's so rudimentary! No wonder these completely immobile soul-guided turrets have been replaced by soul-guided mechs.]
Watching Situ Yu skillfully unleash the soul-guided turret, Long You felt a surge of emotion. Simply because Long You could already imagine how Situ Yu would ultimately be defeated by Ling Luo Chen.
Facing a powerful control-type Soul Master, standing still and delivering stationary attacks without moving would have terrifying consequences if the Soul Master's defenses couldn't be broken through in a short time.
With a soul-guided defensive shield composed of 108 metal pillars, Long You could not sense any soul power fluctuations on the arena. However, the icy mist spreading across the arena indicated that the competition was proceeding in the way Long You had anticipated.
Situ Yu's offensive firepower is considered very strong among fourth-level soul masters. However, when faced with the ice wall formed by Ling Luochen, these attacks, which could threaten normal soul king-level soul masters, seemed somewhat powerless.
The scattered ice shards might seem to indicate the intensity of the attack, but the fact that frost was still solidifying and gathering on Situ Yu's body showed that Situ Yu's attack did not have much of an effect on Ling Luochen.
The ice wall that Ling Luochen had built in front of him was about to be breached, but Long You noticed that a confident light still shone in Ling Luochen's eyes. As the fourth spirit ring on Ling Luochen's body lit up with a deep purple light, Long You noticed that Situ Yu was instantly turned into an ice sculpture.
The icy scepter in Ling Luochen's hand gleamed, and his fifth soul ring was poised to unleash its power. However, Ling Luochen did not rush to activate his soul skill, but instead turned his gaze to the referee.
Clearly, because this was just a match, Ling Luochen deliberately held back.
Even disregarding the fact that Ling Luochen didn't immediately follow up with a finishing blow with his fifth soul skill, the ice shell on Situ Yu's body was actually something Ling Luochen had been holding back. The seemingly solid ice shell was actually just a very thin layer. If Ling Luochen didn't continue to apply pressure or deliver a finishing blow, given enough time, even if Situ Yu did nothing, the heat accumulated from using the soul-guided turret earlier would be enough to melt away the ice shell.
However, the referee clearly noticed Ling Luochen's intention to hold back, and after confirming that Situ Yu was indeed temporarily unable to move, he directly waved his hand to end the match.
Long You, watching from the sidelines, noticed a clear look of disappointment in the eyes of the Yunluo Advanced Soul Master Academy's team leader when Situ Yu was defeated. However, it was only for a moment. The teacher quickly composed himself, stepped onto the competition stage, carefully checked his disciple's physical condition, and then, while expressing his intention to forfeit the rest of the match to the referee, carefully led Situ Yu, who was still encased and restrained in ice, off the stage.
As the referee announced that Yunluo Advanced Soul Master Academy had forfeited the remainder of the match and conceded defeat, the entire Xingluo Square was once again filled with cheers.
The forgetful audience forgot their previous disdain for Ling Luochen, who was merely a Soul King, and instead cheered for Ling Luochen's feat and for the strength of Shrek Academy.
Ling Luochen completely ignored the cheers and calmly walked back to the waiting area.
"What happened? I noticed you two had a discussion some time ago."
When Ling Luochen mentioned this, a slight blush involuntarily appeared on Wang Yan's face. However, even so, Wang Yan did not intend to hide his tactical planning error. As Shrek Academy left the arena, Wang Yan explained to Ling Luochen what had happened at the very beginning of the match.
Perhaps the relatively strong performance of the reserve team gave Wang Yan some confidence, so this time he didn't send the reserve team back to the hotel like in the original story, preventing them from watching the remaining round-robin matches.
Overall, the competition was quite exciting. However, including the knockout stage, this was only the second round of the competition. Therefore, it would be unrealistic to say that all the top schools had gone all out.
Fortunately, Long You had Xiao Yan as a helper. Although he couldn't say he had seen all the cards, Long You had recorded most of the basic strength of the opponents in the same group as Shrek Academy.
After the four matches in the same group were over, Shrek did not choose to continue observing the opponents in other groups, but immediately left Star Luo Square. Having stayed up all night and then expended a lot of mental energy during the day as fuel for activating the Insight and Analysis skill, Long You felt that he might collapse at any moment.
It was precisely because they realized this that Wang Yan and Zhang Lexuan stayed in the rest area to continue recording the round-robin tournament using the camera soul tool, while Fan Yu led the students back to the hotel.
In a semi-conscious state, Long You was helped back to the hotel by his companions. The moment he saw the large bed in his room, he completely lost consciousness.