Over the next nearly half a month.
The Promotion Matches continued in full swing.
Ever since Ye Lingling wiped out the Shrek Team single-handedly, she had rarely taken the field.
Most of the battles were handled by Jin Mian.
After all, not every other academy was as weak as Shrek Academy.
As a Support-type Soul Master, Ye Lingling really couldn't cope on her own.
Of course, when they encountered weaker academies,
they would still let Ye Lingling have a turn to satisfy her itch for combat.
In this way, the Hall of Worship had maintained a perfect winning streak since the start of the Promotion Matches.
It could be said they stood head and shoulders above the rest,
leading the pack with unmatched elegance!
In stark contrast was the Shrek Team.
Their crushing defeat in the first battle
had made them extremely cautious.
Whenever they encountered powerful opponents like the Huang Dou Team or the Four Great Elemental Teams,
they didn't hesitate for a second and chose to forfeit immediately.
They called it 'conserving energy and preserving strength' for the Grand Finals.
But if they encountered a weaker team, they would still take action.
By relying on this tactic,
Shrek Academy's ranking barely stayed at seventh place.
However, to enter the Grand Finals,
a team had to be in the top five.
The teams currently ranked ahead of Shrek Academy were:
The Hall of Worship Team, Divine Wind Team, Heaven Water Team, Blazing Fire Team, Huang Dou Team, and Elephant Armored Team.
Among them, the Huang Dou Team, for certain reasons,
could be directly fast-tracked into the finals.
Furthermore, their fast-tracked slot did not count against the promotion spots.
The reason they participated in the matches was also to prove their strength.
In other words, excluding the Huang Dou Team,
Shrek had to defeat at least one of the other five teams.
Only by securing fifth place could they qualify for the Grand Finals.
But strangely,
after the first round of matches ended,
while the other members of the Shrek Team were participating normally,
their backbone, Tang San, had vanished without a trace.
Even among the leading teachers, only Zhao Wuji remained.
Flender, Liu Erlong, and Yu Xiaogang had also disappeared.
"Promotion Matches, Fourteenth Round: Hall of Worship Team VS Blazing Fire Team!"
As the referee's voice fell,
Jin Mian's figure blurred,
and he arrived in the center of the arena.
On the Blazing Academy side, Huo Wu instructed her teammates: "Remember, act according to the plan."
Before long, the first match officially began.
On the Blazing Academy side, the first one sent out was a Level 38 attack system Battle Spirit Elder, Huo Lie.
Seemingly having learned from Shrek's failure,
as soon as Huo Lie took the field, he didn't waste a single word.
He activated his Martial Soul.
His three Martial Soul Abilities were unleashed one after another—'Clang! Clang! Clang!'—hurling them out as if they cost nothing.
Unfortunately,
the gap in strength between the two sides was too large.
Jin Mian used only a single finger to block all the incoming Martial Soul Abilities.
Once the Blazing Academy member had exhausted his spirit power,
he didn't hesitate for a moment
and chose to surrender immediately.
He didn't give Jin Mian any chance to strike back.
"Interesting." Taking advantage of the gap while the opponent was swapping members,
Jin Mian looked toward Blazing Academy.
Whether by coincidence or not, he happened to lock eyes with Huo Wu.
Huo Wu looked at Jin Mian and revealed a smug smile.
She even made a provocative gesture.
To this, Jin Mian naturally countered with a gesture of his own.
This scene of mutual provocation
was seen by Feng Xiaotian.
This simp was seen leaning on the railing, saying through gritted teeth, "Dammit! I was wondering why Huo Wu's attitude toward me has been so bad lately. It turns out this Jin Mian is seducing her!"
"The two of them even have a secret communication gesture in private!"
"Waaaah, pity my sincere heart. I've pursued Huo Wu for so many years and I still don't have any special communication gesture with her!"
"Curse you, Jin Mian! I, Feng Xiaotian, swear I will defeat you!"
"Huo Wu can only be my woman!"
Honestly,
it was lucky Jin Mian was quite far away from him.
Otherwise, hearing this, he would have definitely beaten this simp to death without hesitation.
Even if Jin Mian were blind, he would never take an interest in Huo Wu.
Soon,
the second match began.
This time, the one who took the field was a Level 39 agility-attack system Battle Spirit Elder, Huo He.
It was the same routine as Huo Lie just now.
As soon as he came up, he used his three Martial Soul Abilities without a word, as if they were free.
The moment his spirit power was exhausted, he surrendered in a second.
Following closely,
the third, fourth, and fifth were all copy-pasted versions of the exact same routine.
At the same time, Jin Mian had already guessed what Blazing Academy wanted to do.
A war of attrition!
The first five Blazing Academy members—
never mind that their strength wasn't great—
each one would unhesitatingly unleash their respective Martial Soul Abilities as soon as they took the field.
They would run as soon as their spirit power was used up.
It looked like they were showing off their skills, but in reality, they wanted to exhaust his physical strength and spirit power.
All so the final person could easily defeat him.
Moreover, he dared to bet that the last person to take the field for Blazing Academy would definitely be Huo Wu.
Not for any other reason,
but because this woman's personality was fiery and overbearing, and she was extremely competitive.
Seeing that Jin Mian's strength was so formidable,
the idea of wanting to compete with him naturally arose in her mind.
Sure enough,
the sixth to appear was Huo Wushuang.
Unlike the other members of Blazing Academy,
as the son of the Dean of Blazing Academy and the academy's key focus of cultivation,
he also served as the captain of the Blazing Fire Team.
Huo Wushuang's level was 42, a Spirit Ancestor.
But in front of Jin Mian, this didn't count for anything at all.
Even though Huo Wushuang used every ounce of his strength, he didn't make Jin Mian consume much physical or spirit power.
As Huo Wushuang left the field,
the Blazing Fire Team's finale, Huo Wu, stepped onto the stage.
Jin Mian looked at Huo Wu and said with a smile, "Not hesitating to let your other teammates use their full power to exhaust me... although the tactic is a bit old-fashioned, you guys use it much better than those Shrek fellows."
"Hmph! Don't compare us to that trash academy." Huo Wu raised her head, speaking with extreme pride: "How about it? After six consecutive battles, your physical strength and spirit power must be greatly depleted."
"So next, it's my turn to dominate!"
The referee also timely announced the start of the seventh match.
"Watch this!" Huo Wu gave a delicate shout.
She activated her Martial Soul.
Four Soul Rings—two yellow and two purple—emerged from beneath her feet.
Those long and powerful legs moved rapidly,
charging straight at Jin Mian.
When she was still ten meters away from Jin Mian, Huo Wu's third Soul Ring flashed.
"Third Spirit Ability, Resisting Fire Ring!"
"Sigh, this move again."
Jin Mian said inwardly.
His figure flickered rapidly.
After all, a year and a half ago, he had already witnessed Huo Wu's Resisting Fire Ring.
He instantly appeared behind Huo Wu.
Before she could even be surprised, Jin Mian executed a grappling move,
subduing Huo Wu's hands.
Huo Wu raised her leg and kicked backward, trying to resist.
Jin Mian shifted slightly to dodge and grabbed her calf with his other hand.
Just like that,
Huo Wu stood in the arena in a strange posture.
Her hands were behind her back, she was supporting herself on one leg, and her other leg was being held from behind.
It was lucky Huo Wu was a girl.
If any guy were in this position, they would probably be in agonizing discomfort.
Jin Mian wanted to use this method to throw Huo Wu directly out of the ring.
So his hands exerted a bit of force.
Unexpectedly, in the next second,
Huo Wu cried out in pain: "Jin Mian, take it easy, you're hurting me!"
...
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