Douluo, my clone Groudon

Chapter 419 Liu Niandao Makes His Appearance
Shrek Academy achieved its first victory by relying on soul tools. Although the result was expected, the process shocked and unsettled all traditional soul masters and sects.

Shrek Academy, this traditional holy land of soul masters, not only has students with formidable strength, but they are also so skilled in using soul tools!
Whether it's Wu Feng's level-six defensive soul tool that saved his life at a critical moment, or Zhou Sichen's milk bottle that almost continuously restored his soul power, they both clearly convey a signal—Shrek is actively embracing the era of soul tools and is going further than many people imagine.

Soul tools are no longer exclusive to the Sun Moon Empire; they are being integrated into the combat systems of top soul masters in an unstoppable manner.

On the high platform of the Sun and Moon Empire, Regent Xu Tianran's expression was calm, but the speed at which his fingers tapped the armrests was imperceptibly faster.

The orange beside him still had a gentle gaze, but when she swept over the Shrek rest area, a hint of seriousness flashed in the depths of her eyes.

Shrek Academy's adaptability and level of soul guidance technology exceeded their expectations. In their view, the old-school soul master forces should continue to stubbornly resist soul guidance devices.

Princess Xu Jiujiu of the Star Luo Empire's beautiful eyes flickered, her mind racing: "It's not surprising that disciples of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile School use soul tools, but it's so widespread in the Shrek Academy team..."

"Is this due to Ning Tian's influence, or Shrek Academy's own strategic shift? It seems that the cooperation with Tang Sect regarding the Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannon needs to be pushed forward more actively."

Other traditional Soul Master sects and the teams representing the three great empires were more shocked and felt pressured.

The convenience and powerful auxiliary function of soul tools were fully demonstrated in this competition, forcing them to start to take this area, which they had once underestimated, seriously.

The first day of competition continued, with each team taking turns to showcase their strengths and unique characteristics. The intense and exciting battles drew gasps from the audience, creating a lively atmosphere.

In one morning, eight matches concluded one after another, with eight teams successfully advancing and the other eight teams leaving the competition in disappointment, revealing the harsh reality of the tournament.

As noon approached, the final matchup was displayed on the big screen – Natural Gate Team versus Beast Academy.

Upon seeing the draw results, Cooler, seated in the players' rest area with an ancient mask on his face, curled his lips into a smile, leaned back in his chair with an unrestrained and lazy air, and said:
"The Sun Moon Empire probably set these arena rules because they're certain no one can easily defeat seven opponents at once, saving time. Whoever steps up will give them a 'surprise' and give us a more comfortable spectator spot?"

"Let me do it."

It was Liu Niandao who stepped forward. He volunteered not out of enthusiasm or a desire to show off; he was naturally emotionless. His enthusiasm stemmed from the fact that the martial souls of the others in the team were far too unique and conspicuous.

Abyss Martial Soul, Ghost Emperor Martial Soul, Body Martial Soul, Ultimate Water, Ultimate Ice, Mind Martial Soul... Once these are exposed, they are likely to attract the attention of the Holy Spirit Cult, the Body Sect, and even Xu Tianran.

On the contrary, his "Nine-Leaf Flying Knife" martial spirit, which seems to be a type of weapon martial spirit, is most suitable for displaying in the early stages to confuse the opponent.

Gula nodded slightly: "Then I'll leave it to you."

Liu Niandao silently stood up. With a thought, a simple and ancient-looking throwing knife with nine fine leaf patterns on its edge appeared out of thin air and hovered at his feet.

With a light leap, he stepped onto the throwing knife and, as if riding a sword, transformed into a streak of light and electricity, shooting towards the arena with an elegant and graceful posture.

After landing, the throwing knife was retrieved silently.

This "flying with a sword" move not only elicited a low gasp from the audience, but even Gula was stunned, his face twitching slightly beneath his mask.
"Flying on a sword? You're even better at showing off than me?"

He secretly decided that if he had the chance, he would definitely borrow the martial spirit of one of the avatars and try out this cool way of making an entrance.

Meanwhile, the Tang Clan members in the stands, who knew part of the "Natural Gate's" background, immediately perked up.

Huo Yuhao focused intently, his mental probe quietly enveloping the arena, not wanting to miss any detail.

Xu Sanshi curled his lip, saying somewhat sourly, "His martial spirit is that little knife? It looks ordinary. But being able to fly on a knife, this guy's pretty good at showing off!"

He always enjoyed being in the limelight, and seeing others in the limelight now made him quite unhappy.

Huo Yuhao smiled slightly, his gaze profound: "I can't see through his strength yet, but we'll soon know his true power."

Other teams, unaware of the situation, didn't pay much attention to this unknown "Natural Gate".

In their eyes, Liu Niandao's sword-flying technique was somewhat flashy and impractical—why waste soul power to fly with a martial soul when there are more convenient flying soul tools?
The rival of the Natural Gate, the Beast Academy, is an academy in the Douling Empire that specializes in recruiting and training Beast Martial Soul Masters.

A young man with long blond hair and an arrogant expression jumped onto the stage first, raised his chin at Liu Niandao, and said: "You're unlucky to have met me!"

He instantly released his martial spirit, accompanied by a loud cry, a pair of broad wings unfolded behind him, feathers covered parts of his body, and his hands transformed into sharp claws—it was one of the top-tier beast martial spirits, the Griffin!
This is a powerful martial soul that combines flight ability with immense strength, second only in quality to some true sub-dragon martial souls. He is also a five-ring Soul King, possessing the standard configuration of two yellow, two purple, and one black soul rings.

Unfortunately, Liu Niandao only glanced at him indifferently.

Those eyes were empty, cold, and indifferent, as if they contained endless mountains of knives and seas of blood. When the blond youth was swept by those eyes, he felt a chill run from his spine straight to the top of his head. His fighting spirit was extinguished as if doused with ice water, and his movements froze involuntarily, his whole body turning cold.

During his mission to the Tang Clan, Liu Niandao was a ruthless man, practically a machine born for killing, and he never showed any mercy when he struck.

Although his soul power has not yet broken through to the seventh ring, his understanding and control of "ruthless sword intent" and the actual "killing intent" have already reached a state of perfection, no less than any genius.

After sharing countless combat insights and realm experiences with Gula, he even surpassed many Title Douluos in the realm of "intention".

He didn't delay any longer and released his martial spirit.

In an instant, twelve identical nine-leaf throwing knives hovered in front of him, like living fish.

What's most astonishing is that the six spirit rings rising from beneath his feet are all a deep black!

"impossible!"

The stands and the players' area instantly erupted in chaos.

Long Aotian of the Body Sect, now using an alias, stood up abruptly, his face filled with disbelief.

Even a spirit with a powerful physique would never be able to withstand the impact of a ten-thousand-year spirit ring in its very first spirit ring!

"Could it be that he has twin martial souls, and he added a soul ring to the other martial soul first?"

This was the only reasonable explanation he could think of, but why did the other party reveal it so directly? He couldn't figure it out.

Most of the other people's guesses were similar to Long Aotian's; they were all shocked by this unconventional soul ring configuration and could only attribute it to twin martial souls.

On the arena, the golden-haired griffin soul king's face froze completely, his lips trembling.

Six ten-thousand-year spirit rings? You expect him to go and fight someone like that?!

Liu Niandao ignored the commotion around him, and his fourth black spirit ring flashed.

Fourth Soul Skill: Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Blade Formation!
The twelve nine-leaf flying knives emitted a clear hum and instantly dispersed, forming a basic knife formation with a mysterious trajectory.

Once the blade formation was complete, faint celestial and terrestrial qi circulated and clung to the blades, creating an invisible aura of sharpness that enveloped the entire arena.

Sensing a deadly danger, the blond youth's survival instinct caused him to instantly unleash all his defensive soul skills.

Third Soul Skill, Divine Protection! Light Attribute Shield!
Fourth Soul Skill, Body of a Hundred Battles! A comprehensive enhancement of physical attributes! Fifth Soul Skill, Royal Glory! Increased attack, defense, and speed!

The three soul skills shone brightly at the same time, protecting him inside.

However, in Liu Niandao's eyes, who had already comprehended the "Soul of the Blade" realm, his defense was full of flaws.

There's no need to use any of the 108 variations of the blade formation; simply manipulating five or six of the throwing knives transforms them into several black threads that are difficult to detect with the naked eye, weaving and slicing through the air.

"Puff puff……"

The shield shattered like paper, and the amplification effect was forcibly interrupted.

The blond youth didn't even see the trajectory of the throwing knife before several blood flowers exploded on his body. He screamed and fell to the ground, instantly losing his fighting ability and lying in a pool of blood.

Liu Niandao had no intention of killing him; he simply broke through his defenses and combat capabilities with precision.

Being born without emotions doesn't mean he's a bloodthirsty madman; that's the behavior of an evil spirit master.

There was an uproar in the audience.

Liu Niandao dealt with his opponent with far too ease and grace. He remained standing still throughout, and with just a few throwing knives, he dismantled the full defense of a top-tier Beast Soul King as if he were a master butcher dissecting an ox.

This sends chills down one's spine—if all twelve throwing knives were unleashed at once, and that knife formation were operating at full power, who could withstand it?

The players from each of the strong teams looked extremely serious.

However, on the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy team's side, Xiao Hongchen curled his lip and revealed a relaxed smile: "Flying Knife Martial Soul? Heh, isn't that exactly what I, this young master, have to counter?"

His three-legged golden toad martial spirit is best at manipulating metal.

Against ordinary weapon spirit masters, it might only be a distraction, but against these pure metal throwing knives, in his view, even if he couldn't completely seize control, it would be enough to greatly reduce the opponent's attack methods.

A burst of relaxed laughter rang out from the Sun and Moon team.

The referee, regaining his composure, declared Natural Gate the winner and signaled for Beast Academy to send out their second member.

The Beast Academy's representative this time was a burly, strong man who appeared reckless, but whose eyes gleamed with shrewdness.

Upon stepping onto the stage, he did not immediately unleash his martial spirit. Instead, he pointed to the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Blade Formation still in place on the arena and loudly addressed the referee:
"Referee, I want to report him for violating the rules! The battle hasn't even started yet, how can he release and maintain his soul skill beforehand? How are we, the later arrivals, supposed to fight?"

This was precisely the countermeasure their academy had devised after studying Zhou Sichen's tactics from Shrek Academy yesterday—utilizing the rules.

Unexpectedly, the first match was against the Natural Gate.

Upon hearing this, the audience members all showed expressions of sudden realization, and discussions arose again.

Indeed, this kind of array-type soul skill, which can be set up in advance and exists continuously, has a huge advantage in the arena and does have the suspicion of skirting the rules.

"This..." The referee was also stunned. He seemed to be considering it, but in reality, he secretly asked the higher-ups for their opinions through the soul guide communicator.

Orange, who was in charge of the specific affairs of the competition, quickly gave her decision.

The referee, having received instructions, secretly admired the princess's quick wit and announced loudly:

"As determined by the organizing committee, the individual competition is intended to test the individual combat ability of Soul Masters on the spot, and releasing and maintaining Soul Skills in advance is indeed inconsistent with the spirit of fairness."

"However, considering that this is also part of the Soul Master's personal ability, it was finally decided that such continuous field Soul Skills must be withdrawn and recast after every two opponents have entered the field before they can be used again."

This compromise, which both limited the unlimited field occupation and acknowledged the characteristics of its soul skill, was accepted by most viewers.

While the Beast Academy felt somewhat regretful that they couldn't completely ban it, they could barely accept it.

However, the burly man on stage who had made the report broke out in a cold sweat instantly.

"Retracting it every two rounds? Doesn't that mean... I have to survive this round at least until he retracts his martial spirit?"

He was on the verge of tears, muttering, "Damn it! Captain, can I admit defeat now? I should have known better than to come up here and show off!"

The referee gave him no chance to back out and announced directly, "The match begins!"

The burly man dared not be negligent and instantly activated his Martial Soul—Earth Demon Bear! Moreover, he followed a pure defensive approach combined with earth element control.

He roared and activated almost all of his defensive soul skills at the same time:
First Soul Skill: Earth Power! Increases Strength and Defense!
Second Soul Skill, Earth Surge! Manipulates earth and rocks to form obstacles!

Third Soul Skill, Demonic Bear Roar! The sonic waves intimidate and cause slight dizziness!
Fourth Soul Skill, Impregnable Fortress! Rock armor covering the body!

Fifth Soul Skill, Earth Guardian! Summons earth energy and rocks to form an all-around shield!

In an instant, he was covered by a thick layer of earthy yellow light and rock armor. The arena floor rose up, forming thick rock walls, attempting to block the elusive flying knives.

Unfortunately, Liu Niandao's Nine-Leaf Flying Knife Martial Soul, though not made of the finest gold, had refined the attribute of "sharpness" to its extreme.

With a thought, his first spirit ring flashed—his first spirit skill, Martial Spirit Thousand Cuts! The sharpness, penetrating power, and attack speed of his throwing knives were greatly enhanced!

The already incredibly fast throwing knives now transformed into streaks of death.

The array of twelve throwing knives had not yet fully deployed its attack mode, but its special properties remained, drawing dazzling trajectories in the air. Facing the thick rock walls and shields, it sliced ​​through layer after layer of protection as smoothly as a hot knife through butter.

Liu Niandao perfectly inherited Gula's "aversion to trouble" and "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" personality traits.

If the other party tries to weaken him with the rules, he will naturally not be polite.

Manipulating the throwing knives, he precisely left 108 wounds of varying depths on the burly man's body, wounds that were just enough to render him incapacitated but not fatal. Only then did he calmly retrieve all the throwing knives and dispel the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Knife Formation.

Only after the throwing knife was retrieved did the seemingly solid rock wall and shield collapse with a crash, revealing a burly man inside who had become a blood-soaked figure, lying unconscious in a pool of blood.

The injury was not fatal, but the excessive blood loss and excruciating pain were enough to render him incapable of any movement.

Through the window of his special spectator seat, Zhongli Wu, the leader of the Holy Spirit Cult, watched with admiration the icy Liu Niandao on the arena, licking his lips with his scarlet tongue.
"Unfazed, with precise control, capable of inflicting a thousand cuts without taking a life... Tsk tsk, a promising talent, truly a worthy candidate to become an evil spirit master!"

His eyes gleamed with the light of discovering a treasure.

(End of this chapter)