Chapter 79.2: A Genius Food-type Soul Master?
Oh!” Ma Yingjun retreated with a delighted expression on his face. It almost seemed as if he had received the biggest gift of his life.
None of them was using a sound amplifying soul tool. Therefore, the audience couldn’t hear what they were saying. But from what they could see, it seemed that the student from Cloud Luo Academy wasn’t too eager to fight!
And in this case, they weren’t mistaken. When Cloud Luo Academy discovered that Shrek Academy would be their opponent in the round-robin, and in the first match on top of that, they decided to conserve all the strength they could. At the same time, they decided to not put up too much of a fight to keep a friendly relationship with Shrek Academy.
According to Wang Yan’s info, Cloud Luo Academy wasn’t very strong. They had paid quite the price just to get through the first round. As a result, many of their strongest students were injured. As if that wasn’t enough, they had now encountered the strongest academy on the continent. It was no wonder that their fighting spirit was so low! Anyway, even if they lost to Shrek Academy during this round-robin, it wasn’t something to be ashamed of. Therefore, they decided to go on stage and do their best, leaving the rest to fate.
To tell the truth, they weren’t too happy that it had turned into a 1v1 fight. They would have preferred to go in as a group and get over with it as soon as possible.
The first match of the round-robin phase started under such premises.
Xu Sanshi arrived in front of the platform and put a thin cigar in his mouth. Afterward, he used a small lighter-type soul tool to light the cigar and started to smoke, holding it crookedly in his mouth. From his appearance, he didn’t really seem like a good person.
Even the audience went into an uproar after seeing his behavior. Cloud Luo Academy was also angered. This guy was just too arrogant. He even pulled out a cigar just as the match was about to start. Was Shrek Academy so lax when it came to their students?
The referee also furrowed his brows. Nevertheless, he didn’t take action. First, there wasn’t a rule that forbade a student to smoke. Second, he didn’t want to offend Shrek Academy.
“The match can commence!” The referee shouted as he retreated to the edge of the platform.
Cloud Luo Academy’s Ma Yingjun had been waiting for these scary words all along. When the referee gave the signal, his short and stout body quickly reacted. He lifted his arms, and three metal pipes as thick as thumbs came out of them. Two metal pipes as thick as his arms came out of each shoulder. The wings on his back also quickly unfurled, and his two stout legs also produced six metal pipes. On his chest was a soul tool that resembled a heart-protective mirror. It was obviously a shield-type soul tool. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that he was armed to the teeth right now.
Xu Sanshi’s body didn’t change drastically like that. A somewhat unremarkable black tortoise shell appeared in his right hand. At the same time, four soul rings, two yellow and two purple, started to shine.
Four soul rings?
The spectators were quite disappointed. He had only four rings! Many of them were looking forward to seeing some hundred thousand year old soul rings!
Among the spectators, the ratio of soul masters was less than 1:1000! Most of them were only there for fun. Very few knew just how precious a hundred thousand year soul ring was.
The difference between Xu Sanshi’s soul release and Huo Yuhao’s incredible performance from yesterday was the same as heaven and earth. Therefore, it was no wonder that the spectators were disappointed. But at this time, Xu Sanshi did something very unexpected.
He started to run.
Was he running toward his opponent? No! He turned around and ran in the opposite direction, just like a deserter leaving his post. He was running toward the edge of the platform.
At this time, that defensive soul tool made out of 108 pillars was active. But the defensive barrier generated by the soul tool wasn’t directly attached to the ring; there was approximately a three meter distance between them. According to the rules of the tournament, if one were to fall from the ring, they would be disqualified; that was the purpose of the distance of those three meters.
Ma Yingjun had already made up his mind before going on stage. The tactic he was going to deploy was very simple: struggle and consumption. Even if the flying-type soul tool on his back couldn’t allow him to fly too high, it was still good for dodging. As long as he could consume some of Xu Sanshi’s soul power, he would be satisfied.
But when the match started, he saw Xu Sanshi turn around and start running in the opposite direction. Ma Yingjun was left speechless, and thought to himself, Boss, why are you running away?! Didn’t you just say that you would go easy on me? What’s the meaning of all this?!
No one knew what Xu Sanshi was thinking. Only his good friend Bei Bei, who quarreled with him every day, guessed his intentions correctly.
Bei Bei curled his lips and unintentionally revealed a strange smile. “This guy seems in the mood to play dirty tricks.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Sanshi arrived at the edge of the platform. Next, he unexpectedly jumped outside the platform!
It goes without saying, the audience immediately called out in alarm. Even the emperor of the Star Luo Empire was shocked.
According to the rules of the competition, if your feet were to land outside the platform, you would be disqualified!
Let alone Xu Sanshi, who was from Shrek Academy, even students of lesser known academies hadn’t ever done anything like this! Admitting defeat without even trying? What kind of situation was this?
Indeed, what kind of situation was this? Xu Sanshi had a crafty expression on his face. Next, the fourth soul ring on his body lit up.
The radiance of his purple thousand year soul ring covered the arena. The spectators were still calling out in alarm when a strange scene played out in front of their eyes.
Xu Sanshi’s black tortoise shell emitted a pale radiance. Soon after that, the one that was jumping outside the ring and was about to collide with the defensive barrier wasn’t him anymore, but Ma Yingjun.
In other words, Xu Sanshi and Ma Yingjun had swapped places.
Ma Yingjun, who had been looking at Xu Sanshi jumping outside the platform with a stupid expression on his face, suddenly found himself in midair. He started to fall on the ground soon after, while Xu Sanshi was now standing in his previous position.
Even if Ma Yingjun wasn’t too bright, he was still an elite student chosen by Cloud Luo Academy to participate in the tournament! If they sent him first, it meant that he wasn’t that weak. After all, he too had displayed four soul rings, three yellow and one purple. And just as he was about to use his flying-type soul tool on his back to rise up into the air…
Xu Sanshi, who was still standing at his previous position, took the cigar out of his mouth and shouted, “Come forth, hundred thousand year soul ring!”
“Peng——”
Ma Yingjun was just too pitiful. Just as he was about to activate his soul tool, he was scared to death by Xu Sanshi’s sudden yell. He directly fell to the ground.
A heavy soul tool covered his whole body. Therefore, when he fell from a height of five meters, he would be still reduced to a mess even if had thick skin and strong bones!
Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, who were now in the waiting area, were completely stunned. They looked at each other and said almost at the same time, “It ended like this?”
When Ma Yingjun crashed to the ground, the spectators suddenly went very quiet. If time were to stop right now, one would notice that at least a hundred thousand of them had their mouths wide open. Even the emperor was no exception.
Huo Yuhao had been planning to use his Spiritual Detection Sharing to help Xu Sanshi, but just as he was wondering if it could bypass the defensive barrier, the match was already over.
The referee was also at a loss. It had been less than three seconds since he had shouted ‘the match can commence’. And now, it was already over.
Xu Sanshi held the black tortoise shell in his right hand and used the left one to stuff the thin cigar back into his mouth. Afterward, he calmly said, “Next.”
The purpose of this cool pose was to imitate Huo Yuhao, but the effect he obtained was completely different.
After that short time of silence, the audience went into an uproar once again. Over 90% of them had no idea what had just happened.
Was this Shrek Academy’s mysterious power?
Standing beside the platform, Bei Bei explained what had happened to his teammates, “Sanshi’s fourth soul skill is called Mysterious Underworld Replacement. With this skill, he can instantaneously swap positions with people in a certain range. This skill is quite good, and amongst defense-type soul masters, it can be considered almost godly. However, when used by him, it actually looks so lame. The way he uses his Mysterious Underworld Replacement leaves me speechless. I almost feel like crying.”
He Caitou was stupefied as he said, “Brother Sanshi is really shameless!”
As the saying goes, while the laymen watch for fun, only professionals understand the workings. The students of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, who were seated not too far off from Shrek Academy, didn’t feel like laughing at Xu Sanshi. They had more or less guessed the effects of this soul skill.
When he went on stage and showed his four soul rings, they had breathed a sigh of relief. Someone with four soul rings should only be a member of Shrek’s preparatory team. But after seeing the shield in his right hand and the trick he had used, the students of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy started to become anxious once again.
The captain of the main team, Ma Rulong, said in a serious tone, “As you would expect from Shrek Academy, they aren’t short of talented people.”
When Xu Sanshi swaggering back to his original position, the referee finally reacted. He quickly went to the edge of the platform to check on Ma Yingjun, who had crashed to the ground and was now a mess.
Xu Sanshi also came over, and spoke while still holding the cigar in his mouth, “Little brother, are you alright?”
Ma Yingjun subconsciously replied, “I feel pain everywhere after falling. How did I even end up here?”
“Didn’t I say I would go easy on you?” Xu Sanshi said with a stern expression, “Therefore, I used the easiest way to make you fall from the platform. Anyway, no need to thank me. You can go now.” With that, he waved his hand to Ma Yingjun.
Ma Yingjun also unconsciously waved his hand and went toward his team’s waiting area.
What could the referee even say at this point?
The winner of the first match of the 1v1 elimination phase is… Shrek Academy!”
Ma Yingjun arrived at his team’s waiting area. After pondering for a bit, he confusedly said to his team captain, “Captain, was I just tricked?”
The captain of Cloud Luo Academy’s team hit him on the head and howled, “Idiot! The academy completely lost its face thanks to you! Shang Yue, you’re next.”
“Yes.” A girl immediately stood up from Cloud Luo Academy’s team, quickly climbing up to the platform.