Chapter 78.2: A Genius Food-type Soul Master?
“Alright,” He Caitou said in an obedient manner, “my large cigar, er, no, my second soul skill, is called the Strength Amplifying Large Cigar. I haven’t used it much, so I don’t know how much it can increase someone’s strength by; you guys are free to test it out. As for my third soul skill, it’s called the Defense Amplifying Long Cigar, and is a thousand year soul skill. Considering what level it is, I reckon that it’s more effective than my first and second soul skills. Finally, my last soul skill is called the Soul Power Amplifying Thin Cigar. It has no use to me, thus I haven’t used it yet.”
Wang Yan forcefully swallowed a mouthful of saliva and stared wide-eyed at He Caitou. “In other words, your four cigars can strengthen spiritual power, strength, defense, and soul power? Heavens! Fan Yu, that bastard! He actually let a genius food-type soul master like you become a soul engineer? I… I really want to go beat him up now!”
“You aren’t allowed to curse at my teacher,” He Caitou angrily retorted. Fan Yu’s place in his heart was akin to that of a father’s; even though his usual straightforwardness covered up most of things hidden in the deeper recesses of his heart, nothing could replace the respect he held for Fan Yu. Without him, he probably would’ve died at the hands of his assailants long ago.
“I’m sorry, I just got a bit too excited,” Wang Yan hurriedly said, “however, I just couldn’t help but get a bit excited over your soul skills! Come on, let’s not talk about this for now. I order you to create ten of each of your cigars right now, as a trial.”
“Teacher Wang, can I not partake?” Bei Bei asked bitterly.
“No way,” Wang Yan resolutely replied, “every single one of you has to try them out. If you have Caitou’s soul skills supporting you, your comprehensive strengths will be increased by at least 10%! Furthermore, even though his cigars can’t be used simultaneously, all of you can choose one according to your specialty. Combined with the fact that these cigars are good for two days, they’ll be essential tools for you guys on the battlefield.”
The advantages gained from having the support of a food-type soul master were quickly revealed; if He Caitou had just been an auxiliary-type soul master, he definitely wouldn’t have been able to use any of his soul skills ten times in a row like right now. However, He Caitou was able to do so for all of his soul skills easily. The conference room table was rapidly filled with a pile of cigars.
There were thick ones, thin ones, large ones, and long ones. Truly, everything that they needed was there!
Xu Sanshi smiled mischievously at Bei Bei. “Come, brother, there’s no need to be polite! Actually, they taste quite good. Just think of it as us enjoying our blessings together. Everyone, let’s all enjoy Caitou’s cigars together.”
“Nobody will think that you’re mute if you don’t shut up!” Jiang Nannan suddenly flew into a rage as she looked towards the table full of cigars in front of her. Her charming face had become somewhat pale.
Only then did Xu Sanshi realise that his words had been a bit too harsh. He immediately shut up due to the embarrassment he felt.
Despite this, Wang Yan didn’t even seem to notice the resentment on Jiang Nannan’s face. He immediately lit one of the Spirit Stimulating Thick Cigar, then placed it in his mouth and inhaled deeply from it.
The three disciples from the inner courtyard were clearly much more resistant towards He Caitou’s soul incantation, as even Ma Xiaotao lit up a cigar and inhaled from it without giving it too much thought.
Thus, the other members of the preparatory team had no choice but to unwillingly light their own cigars.
Huo Yuhao held a thick cigar in his mouth, which He Caitou personally helped light it. However, his eyes held a somewhat cheeky glint in them as he did so. When Huo Yuhao finally inhaled, the strong taste of smoke caused his throat to immediately dry up. He involuntarily began to cough, and he felt as if all of his apertures had instantly been filled with the dense smell of smoke. Despite this, it really didn’t taste too bad.
At that exact moment, Huo Yuhao suddenly felt his spiritual sea shudder slightly. Immediately afterwards, an indescribable sense of relaxation spread throughout his body. When it did, his Spirit Eyes actually lit up involuntarily.
This feeling was unexpectedly joyful. To his astonishment, Huo Yuhao discovered that his spiritual power hadn’t just been strengthened by a mere 10%. Currently, his spiritual power was at least 15% stronger than usual.
“Damn, how relaxing. Just what is this feeling?” The Skydream Iceworm seemed to have been almost immediately roused from its slumber.
At that moment, Huo Yuhao subconsciously inhaled another puff from the cigar.
The Skydream Iceworm became infatuated with the feeling. “Wah, wah, wah… how comfortable! It feels like all the pores on my body have opened up! This feels to great. What sort of soul skill is this!?”
The Ice Empress’ chilly voice immediately attacked him, “Does a large bug like you even have any pores?”
“Icy, don’t you think that this feeling is extremely comfortable too?” The Skydream Iceworm asked, infatuated. “This sensation has a great nourishing effect on our souls. There truly isn’t anything more relaxing. It’s even more relaxing than sleeping!”
The Ice Empress snorted. “Besides eating, all you do is sleep. Do you even know how to do anything besides those two things? I’m too lazy to even care about you. However, Yuhao, this sort of thing truly is quite beneficial for you. I suggest that you use it as often as you can over a long period of time. It’ll help improve your level of control over your spiritual power.”
The facts proved that He Caitou’s cigars had much better effects than what he’d said earlier.
Huo Yuhao had felt a large increase in the strength of his spiritual power. On the other side of the room, when Xu Sanshi tried out the Defense Amplifying Long Cigar, he jumped up excitedly, and immediately told everyone that his body felt as hard as a rock. He felt that his defensive capabilities had increased by 15 to 20% at the very least.
After continuous testing by everyone present, they discovered that identical cigars actually had different effects based on the person that used it.
For example, the thick cigar—which would amplify a person’s spiritual power—was most suited for the spiritual-type Huo Yuhao, while the long cigar—which would amplify a person’s defense—was most suited for Xu Sanshi. On the other hand, the large cigar was most suited for Bei Bei, since it amplified a person’s strength. The fourth cigar on the other hand, which boosted a person’s soul power, turned out to be suited for everyone. When they used it, the soul power required for them to activate their soul skills was actually reduced. This was equivalent to their total pool of soul power being increased by the same amount!
When they realized just how effective He Caitou’s cigars were, they gradually became numb to the embarrassing soul incantations that he had to recite. In any case, his soul skills lasted for two days, thus they wouldn’t need to listen to his incantations when he used them most of them. However, despite the evidence of their usefulness, there were still a few people who were still somewhat unwilling to use his cigars.
The person who was most opposed to it wasn’t Jiang Nannan or Xiao Xiao, who were girls, but was actually Wang Dong. No matter what, Wang Dong absolutely refused to test the effects of He Caitou’s cigars. Huo Yuhao tried to persuade him for an extremely long time, but he wasn’t willing to relent no matter what.
Even though Xiao Xiao and Jiang Nannan were unwilling, they still accepted a set of cigars.
Helpless, Huo Yuhao could only keep an extra set of cigars as a reserve.
Wang Yan gazed at the steadfast Wang Dong with a somewhat helpless look on his face. “It’s fine if you’re simply unwilling to try them. However, I suggest that you keep a set on you, just in case.”
Wang Dong shook his head forcefully. “No!”
Wang Yan furrowed his brows, but only said, “Alright then. Now then, let’s come up with a few plans for the upcoming round-robin tournament. Earlier, I said that there would be three types of combat during the round-robin section of the tournament. Considering the level of strength we revealed during the first round, there’s no doubt that our group will only contain eight teams. At least from the others teams’ standpoints, they’ll only be fighting for a qualifying spot in the tournament. To them, we’re guaranteed to qualify. We can use this mindset of theirs against them in order to make our tactics more flexible.”
“There will be a total of sixty-seven teams participating in the round-robin tournament, who will be split into a total of eight groups. Of these, three groups will have nine participating teams, while the remaining five groups will have eight teams. In other words, we’ll have to fight seven matches in our group. If we win a match, we’ll get two points, if we lose a match, we won’t get any points, and if we draw, each team will receive one point. Four groups will have a match every day, thus a cycle of matches will be completed every two days. After seven cycles and the remaining matches from the groups with nine teams are completed, the round-robin section will be done. I reckon that the round-robin portion of the tournament will last for fifteen to sixteen days. Ling Luochen should be recovered by the fourth cycle or so, and if their recovery goes smoothly, Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng should be recovered by around the sixth cycle. When that happens, our strength team’s strength will increase dramatically.”
“We’ll know which group we’ve been placed into—along with who our opponents are—tomorrow morning. With our reputation, we’ll most likely be the first ones up during the round-robin tournament as well. The most important thing you all have to do is ensure that Yuhao doesn’t make a move.”
When he saw the astonishment present in everyone’s eyes, Wang Yan continued, “During the first round, Yuhao and Wang Dong revealed cultivations at the Soul Emperor rank. Yuhao even used his Imitation skill to give them them six hundred thousand year soul rings. That was truly extravagant, and ordinary soul masters would immediately be able to tell that this is simply impossible. However, we are Shrek Academy. Some of the other academies that don’t understand us too well will have misunderstand. At the very least, they’ll think to themselves, What if those youths from Shrek really have six hundred thousand year soul rings? What will we do then? This way, so long as Yuhao and Wang Dong don’t make any moves during the round-robin tournament, they won’t be exposed, and the fear in their hearts will persist. This will be extremely beneficial in our fights as a whole.
“In accordance with your cultivations and the understanding that I have of each you, I’ve divided you into some simple groups. There’s no need to mention the team fight; Yuhao will simply command you with his Spiritual Detection. If we draw the 1v1 elimination fight, you’ll start by going up based on your age, from the oldest to youngest.
“The 1v1 elimination fight isn’t just fought by a single person. On the contrary, the loser of the fight steps down, while the winner continues fighting. This goes on until all seven members of a team have been completely defeated. Because of this, you must be wary of enemy soul engineers. If we draw a 1v1 fight, I’ll do as much as I can to create the best lineup possible based on their abilities. You all will just have to do your best.
“The last mode of combat is the 2-2-3 fight. Normally, two 2v2 matches will be held before the 3v3 match. If we win both 2v2s, we won’t even need to fight the third match. Because of that, I’ve tentatively put Bei Bei and Jiang Nannan on one team, and Xu Sanshi and Caitou on the other team for the two teams that will go out in the 2v2 matches. Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao work extremely well together, but we can’t let them go out and fight. Because of that, they’ll be the participants for the 3v3 match.”