Douluo Continent: The Twin Sons of the Styx River, Shaking the World and Destroying the Heavens

Chapter 193 Dragon Slaying Sect
The lineup for the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy has been finalized, and Meng Hongchen strode confidently onto the field. As the first team to appear in the competition, the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy carries not only the honor of the academy but also the reputation of the Sun Moon Empire; this victory is not to be missed.

On the other side, the Dragon Slaying Sect sent out a short and stocky young man with a peculiar appearance. He had a flat head and broad shoulders, and his huge, fan-like hands were particularly imposing.

"In the individual elimination rounds, the match ends when one side is rendered unable to fight, voluntarily concedes defeat, or the referee makes a ruling. Malicious infliction of injury is strictly prohibited!" The referee's eyes were sharp, and his voice echoed throughout the arena.

"Understood!" The young man from the Dragon Slayer Sect replied briefly, then turned and walked straight to his own side, skipping even the basic courtesy of bowing and announcing his name. This almost rude behavior drew murmurs from the sidelines. According to the competition rules, both sides needed to be in position at least 100 meters away before the battle began to ensure space for ranged Soul Masters and Soul Masters to perform.

Five years have sculpted Meng Hongchen, and she has long since shed her youthful naiveté. Her slender figure is graceful and her long hair sways gently in the wind, exuding a mature charm. Although she may not possess the breathtaking beauty of Xia Die and the others, she still has a radiant beauty that is unforgettable.

But the young man opposite her didn't even glance at her the whole time. This indifference completely aroused her competitive spirit. A cold glint flashed in her eyes, and she snorted and strode towards the other end of the arena.

Once both sides were in position, the referee took out a specially made ball—as mentioned in the rulebook distributed before the match, this was a prop to simulate a real-world combat environment.

As the referee pressed the button, a dazzling light suddenly enveloped the arena, and the figures of Meng Hongchen and the young man from the Dragon Slaying Sect vanished instantly, replaced by a huge holographic screen.

Within the light screen, the two found themselves in a snow-covered mountain paradise, with howling winds carrying ice crystals sweeping across the rugged rocks. Meng Hongchen smiled; the randomly selected [Snow Mountain No. 406] venue perfectly suited the characteristics of her ice-type martial soul, undoubtedly a godsend.

The referee raised his hand to signal the restless audience to quiet down, and his powerful voice resounded throughout the arena through the amplified soul-guided device: "Please calm down, everyone! This is the latest 'Simulated Battlefield' developed by our Sun Moon Empire, specially designed for this competition. This device can fully recreate a realistic battle scene, allowing contestants to unleash their full power without reservation."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the breathless contestants. "The battle ends when one side voluntarily surrenders or loses the ability to resist. At that point, the system will automatically teleport the contestant away from the arena. As for the battlefield environment, it's entirely randomized; luck and skill are equally important!" His words sparked a flurry of discussion within the arena. Everyone cast curious glances at this novel competition format, while the contestants in the waiting area already had a burning desire to fight in their eyes.

In the simulated battlefield, the players can also see a huge light screen floating in mid-air, clearly displaying the outside scene and the audience's reactions.

The referee's instructions and the commentator's voice will be clearly transmitted to the ears through a special transmission device, and the internal and external information will be communicated in real time, which will not only ensure the immersion of the battle, but also allow the players to keep abreast of the dynamics of the game.

Although he was initially shocked by the sudden icy illusion, the young man from the Dragon Slayer Sect quickly suppressed his astonishment.

With a muffled "boom," his foot slammed into the snow, the force erupting from the crater like a raging tide. He transformed into a black meteor, hurtling towards Meng Hongchen with a chilling aura. This decisiveness proved that his earlier contempt was not arrogance—in the tactical dictionary of a power-attack type Soul Master, the fastest way to break through a Soul Master's ranged advantage is always close combat.

With a whooshing sound, five spirit rings shot into the sky from beneath his feet, a perfect combination of two yellow, two purple, and one black, swirling across the icy plains like mysterious totems in the night sky. His astonishing explosive power made his normally heavy body as light as a swallow, instantly elevating his speed to the level of an agility-type spirit master. Even before his punches arrived, a chilling aura was already palpable. The strength of a five-ring spirit king was on full display. This unexpected lineup caused all the team leaders present to change their expressions drastically—who could have imagined that this unknown Dragon Slayer Sect would reveal such a trump card right from the start?

At this tense moment, Meng Hongchen remained calm and composed, her steps as light as if strolling in a spring courtyard. With each step she took, ripples of icy blue light spread outwards from beneath her feet, like waves in a cold pool. In rhythm with her steps, her spirit rings slowly rose behind her—two yellow, two purple, one black, and three red—a total of eight spirit rings blooming in succession. This astonishing scene was clearly displayed on the large screen outside the arena. The Dragon Slaying Sect's participating members stared at the screen, their faces turning deathly pale, their eyes filled with disbelief.

The breathtaking scene before us clearly reveals a fact—Meng Hongchen is actually a Soul Douluo-level powerhouse!
Because the previous tournament explicitly prohibited sect teams from participating, and because each tournament was held five years apart, very few players were able to compete in two consecutive tournaments. This unique format meant that the Dragon Slayer Sect had virtually no knowledge of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy team, and they couldn't even begin basic intelligence research before the tournament. Even though they were drawn against the previous champions in the first round, the team members, while lamenting their bad luck, did not lose their fighting spirit and still held onto the belief that the underdog could overcome the strong.

However, the moment Meng Hongchen's spirit rings bloomed, the Dragon Slaying Sect members truly felt an overwhelming pressure. An eight-ringed Spirit Douluo's strength was already enough to intimidate the entire audience, but what was even more unbelievable was that he possessed three 100,000-year spirit rings!
It's important to know that this competition has extremely strict age restrictions—all participants must be under twenty years old.

To possess such terrifying cultivation and spirit ring configuration at such a young age had already exceeded everyone's understanding of the cultivation speed of spirit masters, plunging the entire Dragon Slaying Sect into unprecedented shock and despair. The young man from the Dragon Slaying Sect moved like lightning, instantly appearing before Meng Hongchen. As the second strongest member of the Dragon Slaying Sect team after the captain, he was known for his fearless fighting style, and now his eyes burned with fierce fighting spirit. Even witnessing the seven spirit rings floating around Meng Hongchen flashing, he showed no fear, charging forward with unstoppable momentum, his first and third spirit rings bursting forth with dazzling light. "Moo—"

A deep, soul-stirring roar erupted from his throat, and his originally short, stocky body underwent a dramatic transformation. Unlike the typical overall boost from a martial soul's possession, his body expanded rapidly horizontally, like a bull poised to pounce. Then, two sharp, curved horns, each a foot long, burst from the thick muscles on either side of his neck, extending forward with a crackling sound like bones dislocating. With this violent change, his taut shirt ripped apart, revealing a bronze-colored, solid body, every muscle forged from refined steel, exuding a chilling aura of power.

This is his first soul skill—Bull Power! His martial soul, "Bronze Bull," may seem ordinary, but it is a top-tier existence among bull-type martial souls. This seemingly basic first soul skill actually contains hidden secrets: it not only grants the user terrifying impact and immense strength, but also comes with a rare invincible body effect.

During the skill's duration, he will temporarily lose the sensation of pain, while his defense will surge to an astonishing level. Even compared to the first soul skill of Shrek Academy's genius Dai Yueheng, "White Tiger Protective Barrier," this "Bull Power" technique is in no way inferior in terms of close-range amplification in actual combat, and is even superior in terms of power burst.

Facing the aggressive young man from the Dragon Slaying Sect, Meng Hongchen's beautiful eyes flashed with a cold light, and a chill emanated from her body.

In an instant, a gigantic, icy-blue dragon phantom rose from behind her, its body wreathed in chilling aura, its whiskers whipping up icy crystals as they danced in the wind. Simultaneously, a longsword gleaming with a cold, eerie blue light appeared in her palm. The blade radiated a chilling light. Like Wang Dong'er, she possessed the power of destiny, but her unique destiny was [Memory], and the vessel bearing this power was the Memory Spirit, her very martial soul.

The moment the Frost Dragon appeared, the temperature in the air plummeted to freezing. An invisible pressure spread outwards like a tidal wave, and the young man from the Dragon Slayer Sect felt a bone-chilling cold wash over him. His charging steps froze instantly, and he was forced to retreat several steps uncontrollably. His prized Bronze Bull Martial Soul, under the pressure of the ice dragon, became like a docile young beast, devoid of any arrogance.

As a being possessing the bloodlines of the True Dragon and the Ice God, and having the three ultimate attributes of ice, wind, and poison, it has the ability to suppress beast spirits. Naturally, a spirit like the Savage Bull would be suppressed.

Just as Meng Hongchen's Heavenly Cold Ice-Cracking Dragon gained the upper hand with its bloodline pressure, the aura of the young man from the Dragon Slaying Sect suddenly changed.

His eyes instantly filled with blood, as if burning flames surged within his pupils, and a strong, pungent stench, carrying with it a violent aura, assaulted the senses. Immediately afterward, two tangible beams of blood-red light shot out from his wide-open eyes, aiming straight for Meng Hongchen's face like arrows released from a bow.

The sudden attack caused Meng Hongchen's pupils to shrink sharply, and she instinctively dodged to the side. However, wherever the blood-red light touched, strange ripples appeared in the air, and an invisible force instantly enveloped her. Even more strangely, everything around her began to distort and slow down.

They even have soul control skills?

The third spirit ring of the Bronze Bull Martial Soul, "Bull's Gaze," instantly locks onto the opponent, automatically tracking them when they dodge, while also reducing their movement speed.

Compared to academies, sects are far superior in some areas, such as the research on specific martial souls. Many sects possess their own direct-lineage martial souls, a capability passed down through bloodlines. Through years of inheritance, these sects have developed a profound understanding of their own direct-lineage martial souls that academies simply cannot match.

Simply put, academies study the overall picture, while sects study the details. Through continuous experimentation, they can find the most suitable spirit beast for their sect's direct lineage spirit.

This young man from the Dragon Slaying Sect is a perfect example. His Bullish Strength and Bullish Vision are arguably the most suitable spirit rings for the Bronze Bull Martial Soul, and even represent the optimal spirit ring combination.

(End of this chapter)