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Huang Jia, the substitute, knew his place after sitting through over twenty matches. He was just there to fill a spot and quietly took his position at the back.
"Letting an agility-attack Spirit Master lead the charge?" Shui Bing'er muttered, surprised but cautious.
Both teams lined up fast. Tianshui Academy placed their three power-attack Spirit Masters in front, with Shui Bing'er, Shui Yue'er, and another agility-attack Spirit Master in the middle. Vice-captain Xue Wu stood at the rear.
When their spirits and soul rings flared to life, Tianshui's strength was obvious: three Spirit Ancestors and four Spirit Elders. The Spirit Ancestors were Shui Bing'er, Xue Wu, and one of the front-line power-attack Spirit Masters.
The referee gave the signal. "Start"
As his words rang out, Zhu Zhuqing's presence shifted.
Shui Bing'er caught it, her face tightening. "Watch out, everyone," she called.
Right then, Zhu Zhuqing's first soul ring glowed. She kicked off with Nether Thrust and charged forward, alone.
Tianshui Academy knew about this move. Her speed was blinding, but it didn't let her change direction much. The three power-attack Spirit Masters up front activated their soul skills, moving to cut her off.
To their shock, Zhu Zhuqing slipped through like a shadow, dodging their trap. She wasn't aiming for Shui Bing'er, she was targeting Xue Wu, the support Spirit Master.
As Shui Bing'er tried to lock her with an ice seal, Zhu Zhuqing sidestepped the ice and darted behind Xue Wu. Her Nether Thrust hit Xue Wu's right shoulder, knocking her off the stage.
"What?" Shui Bing'er gasped. She hadn't expected this from Zhu Zhuqing. It was like a different fighter had stepped up. In one move, she'd slipped past three power-attack Spirit Masters, dodged the ice seal, and taken out their support.
Crack!
The ice around Ning Tian shattered instantly. The Shi brothers broke free too.
Shui Bing'er could freeze them again, but she saw the play. Ning Tian had let himself get sealed to pull her focus, giving Zhu Zhuqing the chance to eliminate Xue Wu. Without their support Spirit Master, Tianshui couldn't use their martial soul fusion skill, Ice and Snow Drift. And without that, they had no shot against Ning Tian. The fight was done.
As the New Heaven Dou Battle Team moved to attack, Shui Bing'er raised her hand. "We give up."
The crowd buzzed with confusion. Zhu Zhuqing's strength had been impressive, but Shui Bing'er's quick surrender left them scratching their heads.
She didn't explain. Instead, she walked up to Ning Tian. "You let me freeze you on purpose, didn't you?"
"Caught that, did you?" Ning Tian grinned, unfazed.
Shui Bing'er let out a breath. "You've got all our moves figured out." She'd lost, fair and square.
Ning Tin shrugged. "Know your enemy, know yourself, and you'll always come out on top. But you're clever too. Reacting that fast in a pinch? Most control-type Spirit Masters your level couldn't do it. And you knew when to quit. Out of all the girls I've met, you're the smartest. I'd call you the strongest."
"The strongest?" Shui Bing'er paused, surprised by the praise.
Then she smiled. "You are also the sharpest guy I've ever met."
A quiet spark passed between them.
Zhu Zhuqing stepped up, her spirit fading back. She gave Ning Tian a hard look, grabbed his arm, and pulled him off the stage.
Ning Tian flashed Shui Bing'er a sheepish smile but didn't fight it.
The rest of the New Heaven Dou Team shared amused looks and followed.
The crowd laughed, some grinning like proud relatives.
In the VIP seats, Emperor Xue Ye chuckled. "Youth and its fire."
His tone was light, but his thoughts drifted. 'Qinghe and Ning Tian are already like brothers. Maybe I should bring Xue Ke to meet him to tie things closer.'
...…
The preliminaries marched on. Soon, Thunder Academy and the Shrek Team finished their match.
Shrek brought their best, minus Ning Tao: Tang San, Dai Mubai, Yu Tianheng, Xiao Wu, Ma Hongjun, Oscar, and a strong substitute from Heaven Dou Academy.
Oscar's speed sausages made a big difference. They only lasted a minute, but they gave the team agility-attack Spirit Ancestor-level speed, lifting their game.
With Tang San swinging his Clear Sky Hammer, and Dai Mubai, Yu Tianheng, and Xiao Wu hitting hard as power-attack Spirit Ancestors, Thunder Academy didn't stand a chance.
Thunder's captain, Yu Tianxin, fell to Yu Tianheng. Yu Tianxin was already outmatched, and with the speed boost, Yu Tianheng took him down easily.
...
After Shrek crushed Blazing Academy and Thunder Academy back-to-back, Feng Xiaotian finally saw Tang San as a real rival.
He met with Ning Tian and Tang San, and the three agreed to settle their teams' matches with one-on-one duels.
This was new for the preliminaries. The referee had to run it by the tournament committee: Ning Fengzhi, Emperor Xue Ye, and Bishop Salas. Each had their own plans, but they all wanted the event to stand out. To mix things up, they added a twenty-eighth round where Ning Tian, Feng Xiaotian, and Tang San would face off.
The competition hit round twenty-six: Shrek versus Tianshui Academy.
Just like before, Tang San was pinned down by Shui Bing'er from the start. Her mental-locking ice seal made his Blue Silver Grass useless.
In the end, they turned around the situation with his Clear Sky Hammer, Yu Tianheng's lightning, and Ma Hongjun's fire.
But Shui Bing'er saw her opening.
She and Xue Wu launched their martial soul fusion skill: Ice and Snow Drift!
Snowflakes swirled in the air, forming a massive blue phoenix over seven meters long.
As it took shape, Tang San didn't pair up with Dai Mubai. Instead, he yelled, "Mubai, Xiao Wu, Tianheng, get off the stage!"
He knew their Evil-Eyed Green Tiger fusion couldn't match Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu's skill. It was about spirit quality and soul power. He and Dai Mubai were levels forty-two and forty-one, while Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu were forty-three and forty-two. Plus, their spirits, White Tiger and Blue Silver Grass, couldn't compare to Ice Phoenix and Xue Wu's Snow Satin. Going head-to-head would only end badly.
Worse, he'd already burned most of his soul power breaking Shui Bing'er's earlier moves and was simply unable to perform soul martial fusion.
At his shout, Xiao Wu teleported off the stage without hesitation. Dai Mubai, Yu Tianheng, and the others followed.
Ning Tian watched, his eyes sharp. He knew Tang San had used his Eight Spider Lances to escape this in the original story. So now, what would he do?
The Ice Phoenix spoke with Shui Bing'er's voice. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Get off, I can't hold it back!"
Tang San grinned, his teeth bright against his dark skin. "Come on!"
A cold wave rushed forward as the phoenix dove, slipping from Shui Bing'er's grip.
The attack covered the stage blocking the view, but Tang San didn't budge. Just before it hit, eight gray spider legs burst from his back. They weren't as long or strong as the Man-Faced Demon Spider's, but they lifted him up and shot him into the air, clear of the cold. He pulled them back mid-flight, keeping his secret hidden.
It was an instant flash but Ning Tian saw it all with his second martial soul.
'So this is the crafted Child of Destiny,' he thought.
Ning Tian also pieced together how Tang San jumped to level forty-two in a month. Without a ten-thousand-year fourth ring, a seven or eight-thousand-year Earth Burrower Spider ring wouldn't explain it.
Still, since Ning Tian had shifted the Eight Spider Lances' downsides to Tang San before it fully bonded, he could still take it back.
'I need to find a way to grab that bone,' he thought. 'Lingling's got no soul bones yet, and it's wasted on Tang San.'
As Ning Tian schemed, the Ice Phoenix crashed down, coating the stage in blue ice before it broke apart.
It was the biggest hit of the tournament so far, topping even Ning Tian's ten-thousand-year soul skill that took out Elephant Armor Academy's team; at least in range.
"How'd you do that?" Shui Bing'er asked the same question in the original story.
The cold from Ice and Snow Drift could slow any Spirit Master under level sixty. Yet Tang San had pulled through.
He'd used Blue Silver Grass's ice resistance before, but not this time. He stayed quiet.
With Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu drained from the fusion skill, they gave up. The referee called it for Shrek.
Tang San stepped off the stage, but he wasn't happy. He felt worse than ever.
Against Blazing Academy, his Blue Silver Grass got countered, but he could shrug it off as a bad matchup and still win with his Clear Sky Hammer.
This time, Shui Bing'er had him locked down the whole way. Without the Eight Spider Lances, he'd have been done.
It made him hate Yu Xiaogang more. If that fool hadn't pushed him into three poison-attribute Soul Rings, his Blue Silver Grass wouldn't be this weak. Following Zhu Qing's ideas, even with fire as a weakness, he'd be way stronger. He wouldn't have felt so stuck against Shui Bing'er.
'Yu Xiaogang's got it coming,' Tang San thought, bitterness settling in.
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