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Huo Yuhao was sandwiched between the two Body Sect Soul Saints, speeding across the sky above Star Luo City. Soon, they rendezvoused with Du Busi, who had been hovering in the air waiting for them.
Du Busi's stocky yet terrifyingly powerful figure, along with his eyes that seemed capable of piercing through souls, instantly made Huo Yuhao realize that this man was the true mastermind behind it all.
Suppressing his fear and dissatisfaction, Huo Yuhao looked directly at Du Busi, his voice carrying a tone of accusation: "Senior, is this how the Body Sect recruits disciples? By forceful abduction?"
To everyone's surprise, Du Busi treated Huo Yuhao exceptionally well. A rare smile even appeared on his rugged face, and his voice softened slightly:
"Kid, don't jump to conclusions so quickly. The Body Sect is different from other sects. Once you enter, all disciples with Body Martial Souls become one family—connected by blood, supporting each other! You'll understand when you truly experience it."
Huo Yuhao fell silent for a moment before speaking again: "But I've already joined the Tang Sect. Once you join the Tang Sect, you remain a member for life. I cannot betray my sect and join the Body Sect."
"The Tang Sect?" Du Busi raised his thick eyebrows, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. "The Tang Sect that rose to fame through hidden weapons? They're still around?"
Then, a look of undisguised disdain appeared on his face. "Kid, times have changed. The advent of soul-guided devices has turned Tang Sect's intricate hidden weapons into jokes. No matter how clever the mechanism, it can't withstand a single barrage of soul-guided cannons."
Upon hearing this, Huo Yuhao immediately retorted, his tone firm: "The Tang Sect was founded by the Sea God, Tang San. It carries honor and legacy. I believe that, with everyone's efforts, the Tang Sect will surely rise again."
"The Sea God, Tang San?" Du Busi sneered, clearly lacking sufficient reverence for this legendary figure from ten thousand years ago.
"So what? Past glories don't represent the present. And rising again? Rely on what? Those outdated hidden weapons? Or on your so-called 'effort'?"
He shook his head, his tone decisive and dismissive of soul-guided devices.
"The only true path to power is self-strengthening! Whether it's soul-guided devices or hidden weapons, they are external aids! Only by unlocking the ultimate potential of your own martial soul and refining your body to its peak can you achieve eternal strength."
Huo Yuhao opened his mouth to speak but ultimately decided not to continue arguing. He understood that differences in ideology couldn't be changed with a few words, but his belief in the Tang Sect and soul-guided devices remained unwavering.
As they moved farther away from Star Luo City, Huo Yuhao grew increasingly anxious and tried again: "Senior, could you… let me finish the Soul Master Tournament before going to the Body Sect?"
"My companions, my seniors and juniors, were seriously injured in previous missions against evil soul masters... I want to fight alongside them until the end and complete this tournament."
Du Busi flatly refused: "No."
Seeing Huo Yuhao's urgent expression, he offered a rare explanation: "Although Xuan Zi's strength is inferior to mine, if he drops all pretense and goes all out to mobilize Shrek's forces to snatch you back secretly, or even resorts to personally attacking without shame, I can't keep an eye on you every second."
"As for the tournament? It's just a game. Don't worry, I'll have someone inform you of the results immediately."
He spoke lightly, and after finishing, gave Huo Yuhao no further opportunity to speak. A gentle surge of soul power enveloped Huo Yuhao as Du Busi, along with the two Soul Saints, transformed into three streaks of light and disappeared over the horizon.
...
In the hotel where Shrek Academy stayed in Star Luo City, the atmosphere was oppressive. Wang Yan's face was extremely grim.
"Yuhao has been taken away... This loss is too great."
Wang Yan massaged his temples, feeling the weight of the situation:
"His shared mental detection was the cornerstone of our team tactics. Losing this 'eye' and 'brain,' our advantage in team battles is completely gone. In the upcoming quarterfinals and semifinals, our opponents will only get stronger."
He looked at the main players whose injuries had mostly healed: "Xiaotao, Yueheng, Luochen, how are your injuries? Can you fight at full strength?"
Ma Xiaotao flexed her wrist, her eyes burning with fighting spirit: "My minor injuries have long healed, and my soul power has returned to its peak. No problem."
Dai Yueheng and Ling Luochen also nodded, indicating they were in good condition.
Wang Yan sighed in relief: "Good, this is fortunate amidst misfortune."
His gaze swept over the reserve members and finally landed on Gu La, his tone more serious than ever:
"Gu La, in the upcoming matches, regardless of who the opponent is or what plans you may have had, you must give it your all and unleash your full strength. Shrek cannot afford any more mistakes!"
Gu La calmly nodded: "Understood."
His demeanor remained indifferent, but Wang Yan had no choice but to trust him.
The tournament progressed rapidly. With Wang Yan's tactical adjustments and the strong support of core members like Gu La and Ma Xiaotao, Shrek Academy stumbled but ultimately advanced into the top four without major incidents.
Their opponent in the semifinals was the Star Luo Royal Team, led by Princess Xu Jiujiu of the Star Luo Empire.
On the stage, Xu Jiujiu wore a form-fitting battle skirt, exuding elegance and nobility.
Standing at the center of her team, the soul rings rising beneath her feet showcased her powerful auxiliary abilities: two yellow, two purple. Her martial soul was the Star Crown, passed down from the reclusive Star Crown Sect, which was also the heritage martial soul of the current Star Luo royal family and hailed as one of the strongest control-type martial souls.
"Shrek, today marks the end of your winning streak!" Xu Jiujiu's voice rang clear with confidence. She gracefully raised her hand, releasing her soul skills.
"First soul skill, Starguiding Technique!"
Countless dazzling stars shot out from the crown above her head like living creatures, precisely entangling and locking onto every member of Shrek Academy.
An invisible pulling force attempted to disrupt their formation.
Without Huo Yuhao, Shrek Academy could only adopt a steady, conventional tactic used by normal teams, unable to pull off any surprising victories.
Moreover, Xu Sanshi's Dark Exchange was blocked due to obstructed vision, unable to lock onto Xu Jiujiu.
"Second soul skill, Starfall!"
Following closely, points of starlight fell like meteors, exploding under the feet of Shrek Academy members. Strong shockwaves accompanied by slight dizziness caused Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and others to stagger, their formation instantly scattered.
"Third soul skill, Starglory Spell!"
Four thick pillars of stellar light descended from the sky, enveloping four core members of the Star Luo team.
Their presence surged instantly, with significant boosts in strength, speed, and soul power fluctuations.
"Fourth soul skill, Star Barrier!"
Finally, Xu Jiujiu formed seals with her hands. Her teammates swiftly acted, setting up soul-guided devices.
A vast expanse of starry sky unfolded around her, forming a massive, semi-spherical shield adorned with swirling stellar halos, firmly protecting the entire Star Luo team.
The surface of the shield shimmered with starlight, exuding an unbreakable aura and subtly isolating external soul power fluctuations. This shield, enhanced by soul-guided devices, transformed the absolute control characteristic of the Star Crown martial soul into absolute defense. Even a Soul Saint's personal attack would fail to break through.
Shrek dispersed to avoid the starlight control but had no time to stop Xu Jiujiu's setup. As the shield rose, their offensive momentum was instantly thwarted.
Ma Xiaotao shouted, "Sixth soul skill, Phoenix Meteor Shower!"
Countless burning meteorites trailed fiery tails as they crashed violently into the Star Barrier shield.
"Boom boom boom boom—!"
The deafening explosions resounded, flames and starlight intertwining fiercely in annihilation.
However, when the smoke cleared, the starry shield, though violently fluctuating and dimmed significantly, still stood resiliently. Not even Ma Xiaotao's full-force attack could breach it!
Ma Xiaotao's face darkened. Xu Jiujiu's cool voice echoed within the shield: "Counterattack!"
Empowered by the Starglory Spell, the Star Luo team unleashed various powerful soul skills through the shield, bombarding the disarrayed and star-attraction-interfered Shrek members like a torrential storm.
Shrek found themselves in a passive position, enduring relentless attacks!
Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and others desperately defended. Dai Yueheng attempted to forcefully attack weak points in the shield, but to little effect. Wang Yan sweated profusely on the sidelines.
At this moment, Gu La, who had been at the edge of the battlefield and seemingly not fully locked by the Starguiding Technique, moved.
He raised his left hand, revealing the silver-yellow "soul-guided watch" on his wrist, which glowed warmly and mysteriously in the sunlight.
"Angel — Evolve!" Gu La's voice was calm yet clearly audible to everyone.
He pressed a concealed button on the side of the watch.
"Click!"
A crisp, mechanical engagement sound rang out.
Immediately, the Evolution Watch erupted with unprecedented brilliance.
A concentrated torrent of energy, infused with immense Sun Stone and Light essence, surged into Gu La's body through his arm instantaneously.
"Hum—!!!"
The Sun Angel spirit soul behind Gu La emitted a bright sigh. Its form underwent astonishing changes in the light.
The original six flame wings, infused with pure light, began extending and growing at the edges, transforming into six illusory yet larger light wing contours.
Sun Saint Angel!
Even more shocking was the aura emanated by the spirit soul. Into the previously scorching and domineering ultimate fire, another equally formidable force blended seamlessly—pure, sacred, and seemingly purifying ultimate light!
The perfect fusion and stacking of light and fire attributes produced energy fluctuations that instantly surpassed the limits of a Soul Master, reaching the heart-stopping level of a Soul Emperor.
The entire arena fell into a deathly silence, everyone stunned by this sudden, mind-shattering transformation.
Gu La, feeling the overwhelming power surging within him almost to the point of explosion, coldly eyed the seemingly impregnable Star Barrier shield.
"Break."
Without using a soul skill, he simply raised his right hand. The Sun Angel spirit soul mirrored his movement, its colossal sword blazing with golden-white holy flames slicing through the air toward the shield.
There was no earth-shattering explosion.
Only a condensed golden-white sword beam silently sliced through both sides of the shield like a hot knife through butter.
Sss—!
The starry shield, which hadn't been breached even by the Phoenix Meteor Shower, maintained its resilient stance but suddenly became unstable, with residual extreme heat causing the air to twist and burn.
But this was only the beginning. The terrifying high temperature contained in the sword beam didn't dissipate; instead, it spread and permeated crazily along the cracks in the ground.
"Sizzle sizzle sizzle—!"
The sturdy arena ground, within a hundred-meter radius around Gu La, visibly softened, turned red, and then melted into scorching magma.
The terrifying high temperature inside the shield, like an invisible wave, swept over the Star Luo team members.
"Ah!"
Weaker team members instantly felt as if they were inside a furnace, their skin burning painfully, making soul power circulation incredibly difficult.
Xu Jiujiu's face turned pale as she desperately tried to maintain the shield and resist the heat with her Star Crown, but it was all in vain.
The overlapping ultimate light and ultimate fire temperatures seemed capable of melting everything!
More fatally, countless fine, purely condensed ultimate light swords stealthily infiltrated the shield through gaps melted by the intense heat.
Silent yet possessing an unstoppable divine sharpness, they penetrated the shield.
The defensive system of the Star Luo Royal Team appeared riddled with holes in front of Gu La, empowered by the "Evolution Watch." Victory was sealed the moment Gu La pressed the button.
"We… concede."
When Xu Jiujiu reluctantly announced their surrender and the referee declared Shrek's victory, the entire Star Luo Grand Arena fell into an eerie silence.
No cheers, no applause.
The audience from the Star Luo Empire watched the molten area on the arena, seeing their princess and team members struggling under the residual heat, filled with disbelief and shock.
They lost, and utterly without resistance. So, no one cheered for Gu La this time, but the stirred emotions wouldn't dissipate into silence—they were merely digesting the shock.
All eyes were fixed on the boy in the Shrek team, who had already retracted his spirit soul, his silver-yellow wristwatch glowing softly, his expression remaining calm and unruffled.
What kind of soul-guided device was that?!
It could make a three-ring Soul Elder unleash such terrifying combat power?! Amplifying ultimate attributes—it was practically overturning tens of thousands of years of understanding in the soul master world.
Instinctively, countless gazes turned towards the rest area occupied by the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy.
In everyone's subconscious, such an outrageous, era-transcending soul-guided device could only come from the most advanced soul-guided technology of the Sun Moon Empire.
However, in the Sun Moon Academy area, there was also a dead silence and confusion.
Xiao Hongchen's handsome face was filled with shock, confusion, and a hint of… defeat. He stared intently at the wristwatch on Gu La's wrist, as if trying to see through it.
"What… what exactly is that thing?!" His voice carried an unintentional dryness. "Amplifying Ultimate attributes? Stacking light and fire dual attributes? Martial Soul evolution?"
"This fundamentally violates the basic principles of soul-guided device energy transmission and attribute conversion. How can a soul master possibly evolve their martial soul with a soul-guided device?!"
"Shrek… when did they acquire a master capable of creating such a high-level soul-guided device? I… I can't even understand its principle!"
Ma Rulong's face was grave enough to drip water. He solemnly said, "Young Master Hongchen, I'm afraid that thing didn't originate from Shrek Academy. Look at the others from Shrek, including their leader Wang Yan—their shock and confusion aren't less than ours. They should also be seeing it for the first time."
"Not from Shrek? Then who?!" Meng Hongchen also put away her fangirl attitude, her small face full of seriousness.
If they had to choose an opponent, they'd rather face Shrek Academy than an unknown foe.
Xiao Hongchen clenched his fists tightly, his eyes blazing with unprecedented sharpness: "Regardless of who created it, the appearance of this thing poses a huge threat to our Sun Moon Empire. We must uncover its origin and principle."
"Otherwise, if soul masters from the Three Kingdoms of Douluo all equip themselves with such soul-guided devices that amplify ultimate attributes… No, even if it only amplifies ordinary attributes to near-ultimate levels, the efforts of generations in our empire will be in vain, leaving us no chance for revenge!"
His words struck like a heavy hammer on every Sun Moon student's heart, instilling bone-chilling fear. The erasure and surpassing of technological disparity made the proud Sun Moon students feel their deepest fear!
Back in the rest area, Shrek's group immediately surrounded Gu La, asking questions with awe and curiosity.
"Gu La! What kind of divine artifact is that watch on your wrist?!" Xu Sanshi was the first to blurt out.
"Yeah, it's so powerful. That shield couldn't be broken by Elder Xiaotao's Phoenix Meteor Shower, yet you destroyed it with a single sword slash!" Wang Dong's eyes widened.
"And that heat… the arena melted!" Xiao Xiao shuddered.
Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, Ling Luochen, and other main players also stared intensely at Gu La, especially the elemental soul masters, their eyes devouring him with fervor.
Facing everyone's inquiries, Gu La didn't beat around the bush this time. He raised his wrist, revealing the Evolution Watch: "It's called the 'Evolution Watch.' The principle isn't complicated."
He succinctly explained:
"The core uses a compatible soul bone as an energy source and 'trigger,' combined with a special soul-guided array, guiding and amplifying the latent power of the martial soul itself to achieve explosive short-term evolution. Essentially, it taps into the potential of the martial soul itself, not creating something out of nothing."
Everyone listened with mixed understanding, but keywords like "soul bone" and "guiding the martial soul's potential" sparked enlightenment.
Wang Yan adjusted his glasses, his eyes flashing with wisdom, adding: "I see now. That's why it can amplify Ultimate attributes so powerfully."
"It doesn't forcibly inject external forces to 'boost' Ultimate attributes, nor is it easy to find such treasures."
"Instead, through resonance with the soul bone and a special array, it 'guides' and 'releases' deeper powers from the martial soul's essence that even the possessor might not fully control."
"It's like opening a floodgate, letting the floodwaters naturally rush out. Ingenious! Truly ingenious! Similar to the lost Dragon Transformation Secret Technique of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan!"
Bei Bei, upon hearing this, looked at Gu La with burning eyes. Could the Evolution Watch replicate the Dragon Transformation Secret Technique?
Wang Yan gazed at Gu La with admiration and curiosity: "Gu La, your creation… although it utilizes soul-guided technology, its core idea is an ultimate exploration of the application of martial soul's inherent power. Its value is immeasurable!"
Wang Yan had already decided to report the design concept of Gu La's work and his personal value to the Sea God Pavilion immediately after the tournament.
Unlocking martial soul potential ahead of time, even without considering combat power enhancement, could aid soul masters in breaking through to Title Douluo and beyond. This was crucial for Shrek Academy.
Gu La remained noncommittal about Wang Yan's interpretation.
Let them guess. Even knowing the principle, without items from another world, no one could replicate the Evolution Watch.
He looked at the Evolution Watch on his wrist, feeling its warm touch, eagerly anticipating the upcoming matches and the greater "attention" it might attract.
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