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The subsequent developments were just as Shi Quan had said: many academies on the Heaven Dou Empire side raised protests, but they were all strongly rejected by Spirit Hall.
No matter what was said, Spirit Hall's final reply was always just one sentence: if you don't want to participate, you can withdraw. The organizing committee is absolutely fair.
The Heaven Dou officials also did not step forward, and the team change controversy was left unresolved.
The first round of competition quickly ended, followed by a day of rest.
Early the next morning, Dugu Bo, as the team leader, returned to the resting area with the draw results.
"Your opponent is Skywater Academy, you'll be on stage for the fourth match."
"Skywater?" Yu Feng's eyes lit up. "The other side is full of beauties. Shi Quan, let's go easy on them later."
Shi Quan smiled faintly, "It's not impossible. Anyway, they're our own team. When we go on stage, we can discuss it with them."
Yu Feng immediately asked, "How do we discuss it?"
"We won't counterattack; we'll withstand their Spirit Fusion Skill..."
"Finals, Round Two, Match Four: Heaven Dou Battle Team vs. Skywater Battle Team. Please welcome the participating players to the arena." The host's voice came through.
"Let's go."
In the resting area, Shi Quan announced, leading his teammates into the arena.
Soon, they arrived at the designated position in the arena. Just like in the preliminaries, there was still a one-minute preparation time. Both sides summoned their Martial Spirit, then waited for the referee to announce the start before they could launch an attack.
"Thousand-year second spirit ring!? Ten-thousand-year fourth spirit ring!?"
As Shi Quan summoned his Martial Spirit, the audience in the stands erupted in an uproar.
"Is this the founder of the new Peak spirit ring theory?" On the spectator stands, Hu Liena looked at the spirit rings flickering around Shi Quan with surprise.
"This Shi Quan can indeed be called a genius. I heard Elder Gui say that his Innate spirit power was only Rank One, yet he managed to reach this point." Xie Yue also nodded in praise.
"Elder Ju also told us to pay attention to this Shi Quan, but it's just a mutated Blue Silver Grass Martial Spirit. I can burn it clean with one fire, so I don't know what's so special about it." Yan pouted, scanning the Blue Silver Emperor in Shi Quan's hand up and down.
"We'll know soon enough, won't we?" Xie Yue smiled, his gaze fixed on the arena.
On the arena.
Shui Bing'er and the others looked at the spirit rings flickering beneath Shi Quan, their eyes full of shock.
"Captain Shui Bing'er, how about we make a deal?" Shi Quan stepped forward and spoke first.
Shui Bing'er was stunned for a moment and asked, "What deal?"
"When the match begins later, you can directly release your Spirit Fusion Skill, and we won't actively attack. If we can withstand your Spirit Fusion Skill head-on, how about you concede directly?"
Shui Bing'er was startled and asked, "Are you sure?"
"Confirmed." Shi Quan nodded.
"Alright!" Shui Bing'er looked at the opposing team, which was uniformly Spirit Ancestors. After a brief thought, she agreed.
"Yang Yunhai wants to withstand the opponent's Spirit Fusion Skill head-on?" Hu Liena was surprised.
"Isn't that a bit overconfident?" Yan frowned slightly.
Xie Yue shook his head slightly, "This Shi Quan is not a foolish person; he must have something to rely on."
One minute passed quickly, and the referee's voice fell.
"Match start!"
Shi Quan and the others gathered together.
Shui Bing'er also nodded slightly, turned, and ran towards Xue Wu. The two held hands and danced in place. A dense cold mist immediately rose from around them.
Four spirit rings alternately flickered, and circles of blue light spread out with their dance. As they danced, a dark cloud appeared directly above the center of the main arena, completely enveloping the arena's area.
Immediately after, large raindrops began to fall from the sky, turning into a large curtain of water, then transforming into snowflakes that converged towards the center of the dark cloud, forming a giant ice and snow vortex.
Terrifying cold Qi swept through the surroundings; the entire arena ground was covered in frost, even affecting the spectator seats.
"It can even affect here!?" Everyone in the spectator area looked surprised.
"Such terrifying energy; the power of this move has definitely reached the Peak Spirit Emperor level." Hu Liena's beautiful eyes narrowed slightly.
Xie Yue also frowned and said, "The intensity of an attack system Spirit Fusion Skill is indeed astonishing. At the same Rank, we should not be their opponents."
Yan snorted lightly, "Xie Yue, you and Nana are control skills, of course, you can't compare. And if it were truly two-on-two, would they even have the chance to release their Spirit Fusion Skill?"
On the stage.
"Blue Silver Growth." Shi Quan lightly pressed his hand downwards, and the Blue Silver Emperor in his hand immediately grew downwards.
"Fourth Spirit Ability, Xuanwu Formation!" In front of Shi Quan, Shi Mo and Shi Mo, standing shoulder to shoulder, simultaneously raised their hands and punched, colliding with each other. The next second, their fourth spirit rings simultaneously lit up, and a verdant turtle-shell-shaped light cover instantly spread out centered on the two, solidifying like a tangible object.
"Two-person Fusion Skill!" Yu Xiaogang, below the stage, saw this and his expression changed slightly.
This was not good news for him. Now that a two-person Fusion Skill had appeared, would the Heaven Dou Battle Team also have a three-person, four-person, or even the strongest Seven-in-One Fusion Technique?
"Teacher, the Shi Family Brothers are, after all, biological brothers, so the appearance of a Fusion Skill doesn't mean anything." Tang San comforted, "The Seven-in-One Fusion Technique is your original creation; I believe that Shi Quan definitely can't research it."
Regarding the Fusion Skill of the Shi Family Brothers, Tang San also looked disdainful. It was just a two-person Fusion Skill; its defense could at most withstand a Spirit Emperor's attack. As long as his Seven-in-One Fusion Technique was released, how could a shield of that Rank withstand it? It would be easily swept away, as if picking something up. Tang San's expression remained calm.
Snow Dance Tornado, the sky full of wind and snow immediately pressed towards Shi Quan and the others.
The Xuanwu Formation was covered with layers upon layers of Blue Silver vines, both inside and out.
Countless snowflakes, like a meat grinder, continuously cut at every corner of Shi Quan's defense, emitting ear-splitting cutting and friction sounds under the sharp snowflakes sharper than blades.
The ability of Blue Silver Hardening was also released. The hardened vines, under the cutting of these snowflakes, continuously tore and shattered, yet slowly recovered under the promotion of their growth characteristic.
Seemingly insignificant characteristics were fully demonstrated under the continuous attacks.
Shui Bing'er also noticed this scene. She had originally intended to exhaust the opponent's defense, but now she understood that continuous attacks would only exhaust their spirit power. Without any hesitation, she immediately changed her strategy.
A clear Phoenix cry resounded from the soaring blue light pillar, and the snowflakes that had been cutting in a tornado shape in mid-air flew high.
In mid-air, the snowflakes condensed, gradually taking shape. A giant blue Phoenix, seven meters long, appeared out of thin air.
"The main event is here; we have to hold on tight!" Shi Quan smiled, placing his hands on the shoulders of the Shi Family Brothers.
"Whoosh!" A clear Phoenix cry suddenly came from within the arena. Within their sight, the giant ice Phoenix swooped down.
"Bang!" It quickly collided with the outer vines below. Ice chips flew, the vines quickly became covered in frost, and then collapsed, revealing the shield beneath. The shield also quickly became covered in a layer of frost and began to gradually dim.
"Crack, crack." The giant ice Phoenix also continuously shattered in the stalemate.
After a few blinks, the shield finally could not withstand it and shattered with a roar, revealing the innermost vine barrier.
The marble floor tiles cracked, and the arena, reinforced by spirit tools to withstand attacks below the Spirit Emperor Rank, was damaged for the first time.
"So strong!"
On the spectator stands, the students from all academies looked solemn, while also feeling inwardly fortunate.
It was a good thing they hadn't encountered such a powerful team, and after this battle, one team was destined to be eliminated, which was undoubtedly good news for the remaining teams.
Looking around, the cold mist dissipated slightly, leaving a nearly ten-meter-high ice mound in the center of the arena.
The next second, "Crack, crack, crack..." Dull cracking sounds continuously rang out, and cracks constantly appeared on the surface of the ice layer.
As the last cracking sound came, the entire ice mound collapsed with a roar like a snow mountain collapsing. Ice chips flew, and amidst the snow mist, several vines moved out, cracking and snapping. As the vines surged, the surrounding ice blocks immediately scattered, finally revealing seven unharmed figures within.
"We concede." After Shui Bing'er clearly saw the figures of Shi Quan and the others, she surrendered without the slightest hesitation.
"It seems that the Shi Family Brothers' shield blocked most of the attack." Hu Liena's expression was solemn. "In reality, it mainly relied on Shi Quan's vines."
"This Shi Quan is indeed not simple. The strength of those vines would probably require my Moon Blade to hack several times." Xie Yue, standing beside her, also had a slightly condensed expression.
"What's there to be afraid of? No matter how tough these vines are, I can burn them clean with one fire." Yan, however, was not flustered at all. His Martial Spirit had an Innate restraint against plant-type Martial Spirits.
"Heaven Dou Royal Academy's Heaven Dou Battle Team wins."
The referee's voice came from the stage.
Shi Quan nodded slightly towards Shui Bing'er and the others, then led his teammates directly off the stage, returning to the resting area to continue watching the matches.
On Shrek's side.
"The Heaven Dou Battle Team not only had minimal consumption in this match but also managed to hide their true strength very well." Yu Xiaogang looked in the direction of the Heaven Dou Battle Team.
"It can only be said that fellow Shi Quan is too cunning." Tang San said, "The Heaven Dou Battle Team itself doesn't have attack system Spirit Masters; their offense is weak, and their defense is strong. If it were a normal fight, it would definitely not be this easy for the Heaven Dou Battle Team to win."
"Is this cunning?" Ning Rongrong couldn't help but roll her eyes at Tang San, secretly scoffing in her heart, "Playing to one's strengths is common in team competitions. Are you supposed to use your weaknesses against the opponent's strengths? You're the first to be so biased..."
Because it was a knockout round, losing meant immediate elimination, so the second round of matches was half as fast as the first, ending quickly.
The finals only truly intensified starting from the third round.
After two rounds of elimination, the participating teams had dwindled from the original thirty-three teams to just ten teams, and among these remaining ten teams, two had byes.
The rest included three seeded teams, as well as the first-place teams from the Star Luo Heaven Dou Empire preliminary qualifiers.