area51novel Chapter 179 The Opening Match's Understated Bluster
Chapter 179 The Opening Match's Understated Bluster
The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament, held every five years, is an event that attracts immense attention. And being the opponent in the opening match of this tournament is an even greater focus of attention.
Shrek Academy has enjoyed this special attention for a long time. Although the lineup of participants was not complete this time, the Shrek Academy students, who were confident, were not flustered in the face of the boiling scene and the shouts of "Shrek" that spread to every corner of Xingluo Square.
However, Shrek Academy's composure didn't mean the other academy, bearing this special honor, was unfazed. When the tournament host announced the arrival of Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy, this academy, positioned towards the back of the contestants' area, practically floated onto the stage with their entire team looking utterly pale.
[Tsk tsk, Shrek's Glory is truly a weapon that strikes at the heart!]
"Beibei, when you appear and reveal your martial soul later, use the simulated soul tool to simulate a fifth soul ring."
Silently calling out Xiao Yan, Long You explained the situation to the students of Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy. With a slight upturn of his lips, he nudged Bei Bei beside him and said this.
"Huh? What's going on? Wait, I see. But was it really necessary?"
I do have a feeling I'm about to break through level 50 these past couple of days. Simulating it today won't give me away, but wouldn't it be better to keep my fifth spirit ring a trump card?
"It's not particularly necessary, but if you reveal it today, our match should end a little faster."
"Did you use your analytical abilities on them just now?"
"Well, although we haven't figured out much, five fourth-rings and two third-rings, even in terms of raw strength, they can't catch up with us."
Look at their calves, look at their morale, shouldn't we take advantage of this?"
"Hey, that makes sense, but my individual contribution might not be significant. Yuhao! From now on, you and Songhe are both Soul Kings, you know what I mean?"
"Soul King? I understand."
The cheers at the scene were loud, but the Shrek team members were all standing very close together. As a Soul Master, having sharp hearing and eyesight is a basic ability, so Huo Yuhao could hear the conversation between Long You and Bei Bei clearly. Now that Bei Bei had given him a hint, Huo Yuhao immediately understood.
"Next, please welcome the Shrek Academy team, the number one academy on the continent and the true king among academies."
The appearance of Tianling Academy was brief, and Shrek Academy's conversation was interrupted by the tournament host raising his voice once again.
Having already made up their minds, they remained outwardly calm. With a light fist bump, the seven members of the Shrek Academy reserve team stepped effortlessly onto the five-meter-high competition platform.
The journey to the competition platform felt like a path of glory. When the fourteen competitors stood in two corners of the platform, gazing at each other, it was a moment of heightened emotion.
However, at present, almost all the spectators and academy students in Xingluo Square are expressing both anticipation and doubt.
The elimination rounds, the first round of this year's Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament, are a brutal elimination round!
Tactical failures are not tolerated here, because failure means going home. Even Shrek Academy rarely sends its reserve team into the knockout stage in previous competitions.
Long You glanced around the competition area and could sense the astonishment in people's eyes.
[Surprised? You'll be even more surprised later. Whether it's the panoramic simulation soul tool or Xiao Yuhao's simulated soul skills, they're all great tools for showing off.]
Huh? Wait a minute. How come I remember this?
A thought flashed through Long You's mind. Imagining the "wonderful" scene that had been described, Long You's lips twitched involuntarily.
Ignoring the fact that they were in public, Long You turned around and pulled Huo Yuhao to his side.
"I forgot to remind you earlier, when you use simulated soul skills, be careful not to create a bunch of red soul rings, understand?"
"Uh, I understand."
Huo Yuhao was bewildered when Long You dragged him away, and he felt guilty after being scolded by Long You with his ear pulled.
No kidding, when Huo Yuhao heard Bei Bei tell him to create two five-ring Soul Kings, he did consider using two more red Soul Rings to increase his intimidation. But now, after hearing Long You's reminder, Huo Yuhao instantly realized how foolish his plan was.
He's just a five-ring Soul King. If a red Soul Ring appears, people's first reaction will be that it's fake, and it might even backfire.
There was no need to delve into Huo Yuhao's inner thoughts. After Long You reminded Huo Yuhao, the referee for the match began to gather both teams to the center of the playing field to announce the rules of the match.
"The first round is an elimination tournament, a team battle. Both sides can use most soul tools in the competition, but if one side concedes during the battle, the other side cannot continue to attack. Soul masters are not allowed to use fixed soul tools or healing bottle soul tools during the competition."
Did you all understand?
"Understood" x2
"Very good. Both sides, step back to the sides of the arena and await my command to begin the match. Before I announce the start, no one may release their Martial Soul or use their Soul Tool in advance; otherwise, they will be disqualified."
After reiterating the competition rules, both Tianling Academy and Shrek Academy began to retreat simultaneously.
"Brothers, use the Soul Guidance Artillery Tactics! Quick and decisive! We must build up our momentum."
Of course, the mobile soul-guided turret is currently hidden. Yuhao, Songhe, you two shouldn't make a move either. Just stand at the back, with your soul rings glowing, and strike a pose of superiority.
Shrek Academy has always presented itself as a Soul Master Academy, but when facing opponents whose hard strength is inferior to its own, Long You felt that Soul Tools were faster at clearing out opponents.
The Shrek Academy team is currently incomplete, so some concealment is still necessary. The faster they defeat their opponents, the less information they will reveal.
The referee, standing in the center of the field, slowly raised his right hand, and the entire Xingluo Square fell into a rare silence.
The instant the referee raised his hand, the two teams that had already pushed to the edge of the court simultaneously began to change formation. At that moment, the 108 metal pillars surrounding the playing platform also released beams of white light, tracing beautiful arcs as they converged 20 meters above the playing platform.
The Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy lined up in a fairly traditional formation. Three Soul Masters who looked like they were either offensive or defensive types stood in the front row, two agility-type Soul Masters stood slightly behind, and the last two, support and control-type Soul Masters, stood behind their teammates in the front row.
This 3-2-1-1 formation is a comprehensive team battle formation that has been developed and refined over many years in the Douluo Continent team battle system. To some extent, this 3-2-1-1 formation represents tradition and the authority of Soul Master team battle formations.
However, when something becomes a tradition, there will inevitably be some unconventional things emerging. For example, Shrek Academy, which stands opposite Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy, does not use a traditional soul master formation.
The seven students from Shrek Academy stood in two rows. The first row was with Long You at the core, flanked by Bei Bei, Tang Ya, He Caitou, and Xu Sanshi. The second row consisted of Huo Yuhao and Song He.
If the 5-1-1 formation is still within the scope of traditional team battle formations, then Shrek Academy's 5-2 formation is truly deviating from traditional formations.
However, the referees and hosts of the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament are all experienced individuals. This is just a slightly modified team battle formation, which is not enough to make the referees pause at this moment.
So... "The game begins!"
The referee's raised right hand fell quickly, and the atmosphere in the entire Xingluo Square suddenly rose to an unprecedented level.
At this stage, for Soul Masters, it's a competition of Martial Soul release speed; for Soul Masters, it's also a test of hand speed.
The Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy team completed their Martial Soul release, just as Long You had analyzed earlier: five four-ring Soul Masters and two three-ring Soul Masters. They weren't weak, but no one in the entire arena paid any attention to them; everyone was focused on Shrek Academy.
What is Shrek doing?
"My God! Are these people really Shrek Academy's contestants?"
"This must be the battle preparation method of a Soul Master!"
That's right, while Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy was releasing its martial soul, Shrek Academy was busy assembling its own soul-guided turret!
Looking at the five soul-guided cannon turret bases that were thrown out with a "bang," any knowledgeable audience member knew that this was a classic tactic of the soul master.
The time when the Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy releases its martial soul is the time when Shrek Academy completes its transformation.
After the Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy was already enveloped in the dazzling light of the soul rings, Shrek Academy found five more menacing war fortresses.
The unexpected situation caused the already unsure Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy to pause. Taking advantage of this momentary hesitation, the five members of Shrek Academy, who were not very familiar with this low-level, manually assembled soul-guided turret method, quickly began to release their martial souls.
Although it wasn't planned in advance, the effect of this martial spirit release was maximized through the unspoken coordination of the seven reserve team members.
The first to reveal their spirit rings were He Caitou, Xu Sanshi, and Tang Ya. Although all three had the best spirit ring ratio of two yellow and two purple, they didn't attract much attention on this competition field, under the halo of Shrek Academy.
However, the subsequent revelation of spirit rings by Huo Yuhao, Song He, Bei Bei, and Long You caused quite a stir.
Huo Yuhao and Song He were alright. Although five spirit rings floated out from their bodies, these five spirit rings were only the optimal spirit ring combination. In addition, since the two of them were huddled at the back, they naturally did not attract as much attention as Bei Bei and Long You, who were standing in the front row.
With the help of the simulated soul tool, the soul rings surrounding Bei Bei, in terms of both quantity and quality, were all the same as Long You's, consisting of five soul rings with a yellow-yellow, purple-black, and black color scheme that surpassed the optimal soul ring ratio.
(Bebe's fourth spirit ring was originally black, obtained through the sacrifice of a ten-thousand-year-old "Flawless Light".)
"Soul Kings! Four Soul Kings! And two of them are Soul Kings with black ten-thousand-year Soul Rings as their fourth Soul Ring. And this is just Shrek Academy's reserve team! No wonder they dared to only send their reserve team to the knockout stage."
Not everyone said it aloud, but everyone, including the seven members of Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy currently on the competition stage, agreed with it.
"Speak up, brothers, the other side is already panicking."
Although the soul-guided turret equipment currently in use is only a simplified version, with the tactical goggles attached to their eyes, even from a distance of 100 meters, the expressions of the Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy team members are clearly visible to Long You and the others.
The panic and helplessness revealed in the opponent's eyes, coupled with the mental detection and soul sharing skills Huo Yuhao used to send feedback about the opponent's muscle condition to everyone's minds, all contributed to the analysis.
Shrek clearly realized that the tactics they had devised before the match had worked, and now all they needed to do was seize this opportunity. Psychological warfare has a time limit; if they didn't act immediately when it took effect, the opponent might react, or even be forced to unleash their strongest form.
"Swish swish swish"
With all five soul-guided cannons firing at full power, and with the help of Huo Yuhao's soul skills, Shrek Academy used the conventional firepower of the five soul-guided cannons to build a fairly complete firepower network.
Long You remembered that in the original story, after Huo Yuhao terrified the people from Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy, he and Wang Dong used their Martial Soul Fusion Skill together and instantly ended the match.
Huo Yuhao is now also using a mental interference soul skill, but Shrek Academy no longer has the visually stunning Golden Road Martial Soul Fusion Skill, which can create a one-hit kill effect.
But it doesn't matter. Facing the seven opponents who are in a daze, the firepower network constructed by the soul-guided turrets is enough to eliminate them.
On the Tianling Academy side, two unsuspecting three-ring Soul Masters were eliminated in the first wave of attacks launched by Shrek Academy (thanks to the referee's intervention). As for the remaining five Soul Masters, they were still struggling. After all, Shrek Academy only used conventional attack methods and did not use those high-powered soul tools. It would be normal for Soul Masters to withstand one or two waves of attacks.
However, the Soul Guidance Turret Battle Strategy is known for its dense firepower. Five Soul Guidance Turrets, all composed of level-five attack Soul Guidance Devices, opened fire on the five unprepared four-ring Soul Masters.
With no cover available to the five four-ring Soul Masters, who could only rely on their Soul Skills to fight back or defensive Soul Skills to withstand the dense attacks of the Soul Guidance Cannons, the final outcome was already predetermined.