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

Chapter 197 The Holy Spirit Cult Kills People

The Holy Spirit Sect was the team sent by the Holy Spirit Cult to participate in the competition. A-Die had previously given a special warning—this team was backed by the Holy Spirit Cult, and their actions were often unpredictable and treacherous, requiring extra vigilance.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the rest area unconsciously quieted down a bit. Xiao Hongchen's eyes narrowed slightly, clearly taking Xia Die's reminder to heart.

"Holy Spirit Sect versus Heavenly Capital Academy, both teams take the stage." The referee's voice echoed throughout the arena from the podium.

The members of the Holy Spirit Sect were all dressed in black, with several wearing bamboo hats and black veils that obscured their faces, giving them an air of mystery. Meanwhile, the members of Tiandu Academy, a long-established academy in the Douling Empire, wore uniform school attire and exuded a composed demeanor.

At this moment, the first players from both sides had taken their positions. The Holy Spirit Sect sent out a pale-faced, ordinary-looking young man; the Heavenly Capital Academy sent out a tall young man who exuded a fierce and courageous aura.

"Game start!"

As soon as the referee finished speaking, the two youths charged at each other simultaneously.

A pale white light suddenly emanated from the young man from the Holy Spirit Sect, and his eyes instantly turned pure white, with no pupils visible. An eerie aura spread out, making it impossible for anyone to guess what his martial soul was.

In contrast, the youth from Tiandu Academy had already released his martial spirit—a long-handled battle blade appeared in his hand, and five spirit rings, two yellow and three purple, pulsed around him. Although his spirit ring configuration wasn't weak, it was clearly inferior to the optimally matched spirit rings of the youth from the Holy Spirit Sect.

The simulated battlefield has begun, and both sides have been teleported to the [Atlantis 120] area.

This is a deep underwater world where sunlight filters through layers of water, refracting into colorful patterns, dotted with vibrant corals and exotic marine plants. However, an invisible oxygen shield covers the edge of the battlefield, isolating the seawater and allowing the participants to breathe normally without hindering their combat performance.

【Game start! 】

The young man from Tiandu Academy took the initiative, his first spirit ring suddenly lit up, and his long-handled battle blade drew a dazzling crescent-shaped blade light, directly slashing at the young man from the Holy Spirit Sect.

The young man from the Holy Spirit Sect swayed, dodging the blade's edge with an extremely strange movement. At the same time, he rapidly formed hand seals, and black energy surged around him, condensing into a spinning black tornado that swept towards the young man from the Heavenly Capital Academy with a piercing whistling sound.

Facing the approaching black tornado, the young man from Tiandu Academy remained calm. His third spirit ring suddenly lit up, and he unleashed three overlapping crescent slashes with his battle blade. "Triple Crescent Slash!" The three blade beams connected end to end, doubling their power, and accurately struck the black tornado, shattering it into pieces.

Just as cheers were about to erupt from the audience, a sudden change occurred—the fragments of the black tornado that had been cleaved apart transformed into wisps of purple smoke in mid-air, rapidly converging towards the young man from Tiandu Academy as if they possessed a life of their own.

Only the Tian Du Academy youth facing the smoke could hear the countless mournful cries and wails mixed within it, and a hideous purple skull flashed by in the smoke. The next moment, the purple smoke suddenly gathered, and the Holy Spirit Sect youth appeared behind the Tian Du Academy youth, landing lightly on his feet.

Looking at the young man from Tiandu Academy, his eyes had lost all their luster, his skin had turned as white as paper, his body went limp, and he fell straight down from mid-air, crashing to the ground without making a sound.

A deathly silence fell over the entire hall. No one had seen clearly what had just happened, but everyone could guess that the young man from Tiandu Academy was probably dead.

The young man from the Holy Spirit Sect revealed a satisfied smile, licking his lips with a strange, blood-red tinge. In reality, in the instant the purple smoke enveloped him, he had silently devoured the other's soul, even draining his brains—this was the terrifying method of an evil soul master.

The moment he withdrew from the simulated battlefield, the young man from Tiandu Academy fell straight down, lifeless—even after leaving the battlefield, his appearance remained unchanged.

"The Tiandu Academy member has been killed in action." After carefully examining the condition of the Tiandu Academy youth, the referee's voice carried a hint of imperceptible solemnity as he turned his gaze to the evil soul master from the Holy Spirit Sect. "You... killed him."

Although stating facts, there was a chill in his tone. To so blatantly cause death in a public competition was far too brazen, even for an evil spirit master.

The young man from the Holy Spirit Sect merely twitched the corner of his mouth, revealing a cold smile. He neither admitted nor denied it, and walked straight back to the group, as if the referee's words were nothing more than a passing breeze.

The evil spirit master from the Holy Spirit Sect looked at the corpse on the ground without any change in expression, as if he had merely crushed an ant, and turned to walk back to his own group. This scene caused many people in the stands to gasp, a chill rising from the bottom of their hearts.

The referee first bowed slightly to Xu Tianzhen on one side of the competition platform, then suddenly turned around, glaring fiercely at the Holy Spirit Sect members, and angrily rebuked them: "What exactly does your Holy Spirit Sect want to do? The rules before the competition were clearly stated that killing indiscriminately is strictly prohibited. You have caused someone's death. What kind of logic is this!"

It's important to understand that many dangerous individuals are lurking among the participating teams, hence the rules explicitly prohibiting lethal attacks within the arena. The Holy Spirit Sect's blatant violation of these rules is undoubtedly a provocation against the entire arena's order.

In the Holy Spirit Sect's rest area, a cool voice rang out, carrying a hint of nonchalant mockery: "Has no one ever died in previous competitions? Your question is utterly foolish. Deaths and injuries are commonplace on the field; why should we be an exception here?" The voice paused, then grew even colder: "Besides, if something does happen, it's due to your referees' negligence. Of course, if our opponents are capable of killing one of our people, we'll have no complaints and simply accept defeat."

His words were casual and dismissive, completely absolving him of any rules or responsibilities. The arrogance and disdain in his tone instantly turned the referee's face ashen.

"You..." The referee's face flushed with anger, and he was about to retort when Kong Deming on the platform spoke up: "Alright, that's enough for now. Zheng Zhan, you will decide the rest of the match."

"Yes." A response came, and a level nine soul master rushed over from a distance, landed steadily on the platform, bowed to Kong Deming, and then went straight to the referee's position to replace the seven-ring referee.

This person was Zheng Zhan, a level nine Soul Master known as the "Invincible King," and also the chief referee of this competition. As soon as he appeared, he exuded an aura as steady as a mountain. His gaze swept across the entire arena, and the originally restless atmosphere immediately quieted down.

In the rest area of ​​St. Freya Academy, Xia Die softly called out, "Feng Ling".

Wang Dong'er nodded upon hearing this, a hint of seriousness flashing in her eyes.

They were all too familiar with that cold, clear voice in the Holy Spirit Sect's rest area—it was none other than the Evil Phoenix Douluo, Feng Ling.

On the other side, the teacher in charge of the Tiandu Academy rushed to the front of the stage, his voice trembling with anger: "This is just a competition, not a life-or-death struggle! This is clearly murder, not an accidental killing! Tiandu Academy is withdrawing from this competition!"

Even with Chief Referee Zheng Zhan present, Tiandu Academy was determined to withdraw from the competition. Most of the spectators in the stands frowned; while they enjoyed intense battles, they couldn't bear the bizarre way the Tiandu Academy youth had died. Compared to the ruthlessness of the Holy Spirit Sect, the conflict between Shrek Academy and the Heavenly Armor Sect seemed like child's play.

Members of the other participating teams also showed fear and anger. The Holy Spirit Sect's unbridled killing undoubtedly made everyone feel a chill to the bone—this was no competition, but a blatant disregard for human life.

Tiandu Academy withdrew from the competition in anger, and the Holy Spirit Sect won without a fight. Before the tense atmosphere in the arena could dissipate, the chief referee Zheng Zhan's voice rang out in time, breaking the silence: "St. Freya Academy versus Earth Dragon Gate, both teams enter the arena."

His voice was steady and powerful, carrying the imposing aura of a ninth-level Soul Master, attempting to draw everyone's attention back to the competition itself. However, the bloody scene at the Holy Spirit Sect had clearly cast a shadow over everyone's hearts, and their gazes toward the arena inevitably held a more complex expression.

On the other side, in the open space outside Mingdu, the duel between Dai Huabin and Mu Mingtian had already reached a fever pitch, but the battle was extremely fierce for Dai Huabin.

Mu Mingtian was surrounded by lightning, his soul power of light and dark intertwined and flowed. Every move he made carried the force of a thunderbolt, his moves precise and fierce. Dai Huabin tried his best to defend, but he was always suppressed and had no power to fight back. His soul power was consumed rapidly, and he had already been wounded several times. He was being beaten so badly by Mu Mingtian that he was in a sorry state.

The more impatient he became, the more openings he made. Mu Mingtian's attacks, however, became increasingly unhurried, as if he were toying with him. Every collision made Dai Huabin's blood surge, and the resentment and anger in his heart almost overwhelmed his reason.

Mu Mingtian looked down at Dai Huabin, who was lying on the ground barely breathing, and said with a hint of indifferent mockery, "Dai Huabin, Dai Huabin, this is all you'll ever be."

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned and left without looking back—the outcome of this duel was never in doubt from beginning to end, and Dai Huabin's struggles were all in vain.

"Mu Mingtian!" Dai Huabin roared hoarsely, struggling to his feet with brute force. He staggered toward Mu Mingtian, his eyes bloodshot with resentment.

Mu Mingtian didn't even turn his head. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, he kicked out with a backhand, his movements swift and clean.

"boom!"

The kick landed squarely on Dai Huabin's chest. The immense force sent him flying backward like a rag doll, crashing heavily to the ground. He spat out a mouthful of blood and was completely unable to stand up again.

Mu Mingtian continued walking, his voice cold as he said, "This world is never short of geniuses. I myself haven't dared to call myself the best, yet you've already become arrogant."

A single sentence pierced Dai Huabin's heart like an ice pick. He lay on the ground, his fingernails digging deep into the soil, a mixture of humiliation and anger overwhelmed him, yet he lacked even the strength to refute it.

Mu Mingtian's figure receded into the distance, and the power and disdain in that figure pressed down on him like a mountain, making it almost impossible for him to breathe.

(End of this chapter)