Although Ma Xiaotao knew that Huang Heyun had relied on Xu Jiujiu's third soul skill, Starlight Art, to block her Phoenix Fire Line, she still found it unbelievable.
After all, she was a Soul Emperor, with a soul power level of sixty-eight. Although Phoenix Fire Line was only her first soul skill, when boosted by her third soul skill, Phoenix Wings Unfurl, its destructive power was enough to make any Soul King feel immense pressure.
Yet before her, Huang Heyun had actually managed to block her attack head-on with just his first soul skill—and even had strength left to counterattack.
In the blink of an eye, the dark wave laced with starlight was already in front of Ma Xiaotao.
She gave a cold snort as her second soul ring lit up.
"Second Soul Skill — Bathing Phoenix in Fire."
And this was the Bathing Phoenix in Fire used under the state of Phoenix Wings Unfurl.
Fiery, blazing phoenix flames erupted from her right hand, enveloping her entire body in golden-red light. At that moment, she truly looked like a living Fire Phoenix.
The instant Huang Heyun's Dark Wave touched her right hand, it shattered with a soft pop, and the golden-red phoenix flames surged forward toward him like a tsunami.
The searing heat made Huang Heyun feel as if his very lungs were burning.
Even with Xu Jiujiu's Starlight Art amplifying him, facing Ma Xiaotao—a Soul Emperor from Shrek Academy's Inner Court—was still suffocating.
He dared not underestimate her. His body shifted slightly backward, and his thousand-year purple soul ring shone brightly.
"Thousand-Year Soul Skill — Demonic Tiger's Roar!"
With a deep roar, a black mass of soul power mixed with dark-golden starlight burst forth from his body, forming a fierce black tiger in midair that lunged toward Ma Xiaotao's phoenix flames.
The Star Luo Imperial Academy had Xu Jiujiu, an auxiliary-type Battle Soul Master. But on Shrek's side, there was Gongyang Mo, an even purer auxiliary-type Soul Master.
At some point, Gongyang Mo had floated gracefully into the air behind Xu Zihuang, a pair of dazzling seven-colored wings fluttering gently behind him.
Two yellow, two purple, two black—six soul rings of perfect configuration revealed his Soul Emperor cultivation.
"Another Soul Emperor?!"
The spectators gasped aloud in astonishment.
Meanwhile, the other academies' contestants and instructors in the rest area all grew solemn—especially the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy.
Even Xiao Hongchen, usually full of confidence, frowned deeply.
He clearly hadn't expected Gongyang Mo to have advanced to the sixtieth rank and obtained his sixth soul ring during the tournament.
Gongyang Mo had appeared in earlier matches, and the Sun Moon Imperial Academy had already studied his martial soul and skills in detail.
His Rainbow Dragon was a top-tier auxiliary-type martial soul—comparable to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda itself.
When a Soul Master advanced from Soul King to Soul Emperor, the amplification effect of each skill increased by ten percent.
Even without counting his new sixth soul skill, that alone gave Shrek Academy's team a tremendous boost in overall strength.
Gongyang Mo's long hair turned seven-colored, his handsome face calm and faintly smiling.
His first, second, third, and fifth soul rings lit up almost simultaneously.
Four differently colored rings of light fell precisely upon his teammates.
Aside from the familiar Red of Strength, Orange of Soul Power, and Yellow of Speed, his fifth soul skill—a ten-thousand-year ring—was Azure of Attribute.
This was a rare and powerful attribute-amplifying soul skill.
Gongyang Mo's attribute amplification differed from Xu Zihuang's first soul skill, Song of the White Whale. Xu Zihuang's ability enhanced the elemental nature of martial souls—fire, ice, wind, lightning, earth—due to his Silver-Scaled White Whale's draconic bloodline and its command over elements.
However, Xu Zihuang's skill refined the quality of a soul master's attribute—raising it to a higher level. Gongyang Mo's Azure of Attribute instead amplified the power of the user's attacks.
One caused qualitative change; the other, quantitative expansion.
Of course, the amplification degree of Gongyang Mo's fifth soul skill far surpassed Xu Zihuang's first. And unlike Xu Zihuang's elemental limitation, Gongyang Mo's could amplify the strongest attribute of each teammate—an extremely broad enhancement.
For example, Chen Zifeng's Soul-Chasing Sword specialized in sharpness, so Gongyang Mo's boost focused on that.
For Ma Xiaotao, naturally, it enhanced her phoenix flames.
Within the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, there also existed such an attribute-amplifying skill—usually as the sixth soul skill, and considered one of the sect's most precious abilities.
It was only after Gongyang Mo's clan negotiated directly with the sect that he obtained such a powerful technique.
The four amplification skills landed upon Ma Xiaotao, and her aura immediately surged. Especially her golden-red phoenix flames—when the azure halo descended upon her, the blue and red intertwined like fire meeting wind, dyeing half the sky crimson.
At that moment, Ma Xiaotao's momentum had reached the level of a Soul Sage.
As Ma Xiaotao's "sisterly" companion, Gongyang Mo knew her fiery temper all too well.
Facing such a powerful opposing team, he held nothing back from the very start—granting full amplification to all.
Chen Zifeng, Dai Yueheng, and Ma Xiaotao—all three of Shrek's strongest assault-type Inner Court disciples—became the team's main attackers, each receiving all four buffs.
To conserve soul power, Gongyang Mo gave only the first three amplifications to Xu Sanshi and Beibei behind them.
Even as a Soul Emperor, he couldn't afford to use ten-thousand-year skills recklessly.
As for Xu Zihuang, being a control-type Soul Master, he only received the Orange of Soul Power.
Xu Zihuang stared coldly across the arena at Xu Jiujiu.
Following Wang Yan's tactical plan, he had not used his first soul skill Song of the White Whale to boost his team.
But he was fully prepared to coordinate with Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, and Chen Zifeng when they exploded with full power.
The reason he didn't activate his skill immediately was twofold:
First, because from the memories of his past life, he knew the hidden trump card of Princess Jiujou;
and second, because only now—when Ma Xiaotao's trio went all out under Gongyang Mo's amplifications—would it be the perfect moment to strike.
Behind Ma Xiaotao, her twin wings of flame suddenly spread wide. The fiery phoenix flames turned from golden-red to searing white.
The temperature spiked sharply—so much that even Dai Yueheng, Chen Zifeng, and their opponents Du Guyun and Chen Xiaojie were forced to back away.
Standing directly before her, Huang Heyun felt it most intensely. Even his soul power could not shield him from such overwhelming heat.
What shocked him even more was that Xu Jiujiu's Starlight Art—the golden starlight amplifying him—was being vaporized by the intense heat itself.
With a thunderous roar, the black tiger shadow from his Demonic Tiger's Roar burned to ash within moments.
Ma Xiaotao's figure blurred, and she unleashed another searing white Phoenix Fire Line toward Huang Heyun.
This time, she drew directly upon the Evil Fire within her Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul.
With Yu Tianhuang (Xu Zihuang) present, she no longer had to fear the backlash of that evil flame.
Combined with Gongyang Mo's 60% attribute boost to her first soul skill, the attack pushed Huang Heyun into an immediate crisis.
At that moment, however, the blazing white Phoenix Fire Line suddenly veered aside, soaring upward into the sky.
The one who intervened was a girl standing behind Huang Heyun.
She looked plain, with dark purple hair, yet her eyes gleamed with the same fiery light as Ma Xiaotao's.
Her name was Yi Chen, and her martial soul was a powerful Fire Element, one of the two control-type soul masters on the Star Luo team.
The other control-type, also a girl, was Wang Shiying, whose martial soul was Wind Element. Together, they formed the Wind and Fire Twin Control duo.
Wang Shiying worked alongside Du Guyun and Chen Xiaojie to resist Dai Yueheng and Chen Zifeng's assault.
But even with the five of them joining forces, they still couldn't withstand Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, and Chen Zifeng's all-out offensive.
They fell into disadvantage, retreating step by step.
If, even with Gongyang Mo's support, Ma Xiaotao's trio couldn't overpower those five head-on, they would hardly be worthy of being called elite disciples of Shrek Academy's Inner Court.
With a sharp roar, Dai Yueheng's golden tiger claws sliced through the air, forcing Du Guyun back in disarray.
On the other side, Chen Zifeng unleashed countless blood-red sword rays, driving Chen Xiaojie into visibility.
Chen Xiaojie's body was surrounded by yellow lightning, his arms transformed into wings, his eyes sharp as a hawk's.
Those wings glowed orange-yellow—not as dazzling as Gongyang Mo's seven-colored wings, but sleek and beautiful in form.
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