Dai Yun'er caught up with Long Yue, who was walking ahead. "Crazy Brother, why did you let him off just like that? Couldn't your strength have taught him a lesson?"
"Yeah, Brother Long, he was so arrogant. Why didn't you show him who's boss?" Hua Lantang also chimed in, then looked at Long Yue and asked, "Brother Long, do you think I should go up alone later?"
Hua Lantang and his girlfriend, Ye Zhi of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, were the next opponents of Xia Yi.
As one of the Heavenly Kings of Monster Academy, Hua Lantang was proud.
He wanted to defeat Xia Yi fair and square.
A two-on-one fight—winning that way wouldn't be honorable.
"Give me your hand," Long Yue said flatly, ignoring Hua Lantang's question.
"What for?" Hua Lantang asked curiously, extending his right hand toward Long Yue.
Long Yue didn't explain. He simply grasped Hua Lantang's hand tightly, just as he had done to Xia Yi earlier.
A terrifying force instantly invaded Hua Lantang's palm. For a moment, he felt like his bones were about to shatter.
Hua Lantang's face twisted in pain.
"Release your martial soul," Long Yue commanded.
Gritting his teeth through the pain, Hua Lantang nodded. Dragon scales rapidly appeared on his right arm, spreading toward his hand.
But when they reached his wrist, they could go no further.
"What?!" Hua Lantang was shocked. Under Long Yue's overwhelming power, even his martial soul was suppressed.
"Do you still underestimate Xia Yi now?" Long Yue glanced at Hua Lantang. "He's at least as strong as you, if not stronger. Plus, he has a battle armor made of spirit-forged metal. Without Ye Zhi's support, you don't stand a chance. Even if both of you fight together, your odds of winning are at most 70%."
"He's that strong?" Hua Lantang was stunned.
"Do you really think the second genius of Douluo Continent is all hype?" Long Yue sighed.
Calling Xia Yi the top genius earlier had just been a compliment.
Who knew Xia Yi would actually accept it?
At that moment, Dai Yun'er, the lowest-ranked among the Eight Heavenly Kings, curiously turned to Su Mu, another member of the Eight Heavenly Kings. "Brother Mu, Xia Yi's martial soul looks a lot like yours. You both seem to have Nine-Tailed Foxes. But he's only at four rings—why has he already evolved to five tails?"
Fox King Su Mu ranked third among the Eight Heavenly Kings, second only to the Mad Dragon Long Yue and Fourth Prince Dai Yueyan.
In reality, his strength wasn't much inferior to Dai Yueyan's. Even Dai Yueyan himself didn't know how powerful Su Mu could be when he unleashed his full strength.
His martial soul was the Nine-Tailed Fox, an extremely rare top-tier soul. Foxes were known as one of the most intelligent creatures, and the Nine-Tailed Fox was a symbol of wisdom. It naturally possessed powerful abilities and an exceptional sensitivity to the world's energy.
Nine-Tailed Fox soul masters were exceedingly rare. In fact, this martial soul had almost no recorded legacy on Douluo Continent. Su Mu's ancestors were originally from the Star Luo Continent, where the Nine-Tailed Fox martial soul had once held great influence.
Each time he advanced in soul power, he would grow another tail, and his strength would undergo a qualitative leap. Each tail represented a unique ability.
In this way, he was somewhat similar to Xia Yi.
However, unlike Xia Yi, Su Mu didn't have to worry about martial soul evolution.
Xia Yi, on the other hand, needed an immense amount of energy to evolve each time.
"I'm not sure either, but when he released his martial soul earlier, I didn't sense any bloodline resonance," Su Mu replied with a gentle smile. His demeanor was calm and refined.
"Well, even if it's not a Nine-Tailed Fox, it's still a fox," Dai Yun'er giggled. "Brother Mu, you're already really handsome, but he's even more handsome than you! You both have the same gentle and elegant aura, but he also has a natural, carefree charm that makes him seem even more extraordinary."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Su Mu rolled his eyes.
"Give it your all in the match later," Long Yue said seriously, his deep voice carrying a weight of authority. "Today's match is a true showdown between the talents of Douluo Continent and our Star Luo Continent. If anyone loses because they underestimated their opponent, bringing shame to our empire and Monster Academy, then don't blame me for being ruthless. You will no longer be qualified to be one of the Heavenly Kings of Monster Academy."
With that, Long Yue shot a cold glance at Hua Lantang.
It was him who had underestimated Xia Yi.
Compared to the match between Shrek Academy and Monster Academy, Xia Yi's battle against Hua Lantang and Ye Zhi would happen first.
"Are you sure you're going in alone, with no teammates?" The referee looked at Xia Yi, confirming once again.
"I'm more than enough," Xia Yi replied arrogantly.
"You said it yourself!" The referee frowned, displeased with Xia Yi's arrogant attitude, and proceeded to announce the match rules. "Do not deliberately kill your opponent. If one side surrenders, the other must cease attacking immediately. If I determine the match is decided, I will stop it."
Unlike some soul master competitions on Douluo Continent, the rules in Star Luo Empire's tournament were more relaxed to allow participants to unleash their full strength. However, this also made the battles significantly more dangerous.
Previously, soul master matches in the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament had prohibited mecha usage. Those wanting to use mechas had to enter the mecha competition instead.
That rule had worked fine in the past.
But this time, the rewards for the two-on-two championship were so tempting that even mecha masters were eager to join.
As a result, they collectively opposed the restriction.
Under pressure, the Star Luo Empire agreed to let mecha masters participate.
"Begin!" The referee declared.
Ye Zhi was the first to act. She raised her Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, and multicolored light enveloped Hua Lantang, boosting his power dramatically.
His aura surged.
"I was actually looking forward to testing the strength of Monster Academy's so-called Eight Heavenly Kings," Xia Yi sighed inwardly at the sight of the legendary support-type martial soul.
But the next moment, he called out loudly, "Xiao Bing, take care of them for me."
In an instant, a towering, blood-red figure more than three meters tall materialized behind Xia Yi.
It was—
A red mecha!
Hua Lantang and Ye Zhi were completely stunned.
"R-Red mecha?" They stammered in disbelief.
"No way! You can't possibly have a red mecha!" Ye Zhi shrieked.
Red mechas were powerful enough to fight without a soul master's direct control.
Even the weakest red mecha was comparable to a Titled Douluo.
Not only Hua Lantang and Ye Zhi, but even Emperor Dai Tianling and the powerful figures around him, as well as the entire audience, shot to their feet in shock.
The referee, just like Hua Lantang and Ye Zhi, was too stunned to speak.
The Star Luo Empire had red mecha masters.
Every red mecha was a legend.
But no one had expected Xia Yi to have one.
Taking advantage of their distraction, Xia Yi unleashed his martial soul and battle armor, charging forward.
Fourth soul skill: Demon-Expelling Strike!
Both fists smashed toward Hua Lantang and Ye Zhi's chests.
Bang! Bang!
Before they could even gather their soul power to defend, they were knocked unconscious.
"So easy," Xia Yi dusted off his hands, stored away the "red mecha," and walked off the stage with his head held high.
"Your Majesty, I think you should add a new rule," En Ci muttered, still trembling slightly.
"What rule?" Dai Tianling asked.
"From now on, in both soul master and mecha competitions, no one is allowed to paint their mechas red."
Xia Yi was from the Spirit Pagoda, right?
How could he be this shameless?
Painting his mecha red just to scare his opponents?
Hua Lantang and Ye Zhi had never been more wronged in their lives.
When they woke up and learned the truth, they would probably want to die.
More importantly—how could Xia Yi act so dignified after pulling such a cheap trick?
Winning like that, did he actually feel proud?
"You'll get used to it," Yali sighed. Knowing Xia Yi, this was perfectly in character.
(End of Chapter)