The Peerless Tang Sect: Possessing Huo Yuhao at the Start

Chapter 36 The Power of the Stars

early morning

As soon as the Shrek Academy team, dressed in dark green outfits, appeared on Star Luo Square, they were greeted with a deafening roar of cheers. With nearly half an hour to go before the start of the match, all four teams had already arrived.

As dawn broke, the weather remained pleasant, with sunlight bathing the vast Xingluo Square in a soft golden glow.

The first day of the semifinals: team battles.

To everyone's surprise, a ten-meter-wide red carpet stretched from the direction of the imperial city gate all the way to the front of the competition stage. Ten minutes before the draw was to begin, the imperial palace gates swung open, and His Majesty the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire, surrounded by palace guards, strode out and headed straight for the competition stage.

"Long live! Long live! Long live!" All the soldiers responsible for maintaining order raised their weapons and shouted "Long live!"

Four elderly men stood beside the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire, forming a square. The Emperor, surrounded by four Title Douluo, ascended the arena at the center of this square, facing the direction of Star Luo Square, and said with a smile, "My subjects, rise."

"Long live! Long live! Long live!" A cheer immediately rang out in Xingluo Square.

"The All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament is a grand event held once every five years on the Douluo Continent. Today, the semi-finals will begin later, and this year's All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament will come to an end. The draw for the top four is also the last draw of this tournament, therefore, I have decided to personally preside over this draw. I hope that Shrek Academy, Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, Di'ao Academy, and our Star Luo Empire's Star Luo National Academy will present even more exciting matches in the final competition."

"To ensure the safety of both teams during the semi-finals and finals, I have decided that in every match to come, the Imperial Guardian Douluo will serve as the referee and preside over the game. Today's draw and the first match will be presided over by Senior Huang Jinxu, whose title is Heavenly Fiend."

The four team captains have arrived on the stage, and the drawing of lots has begun. Under the watchful eyes of the four titled Douluo, the four captains approached His Majesty the Star Luo Emperor.

Emperor Xingluo smiled slightly and said, "It's a pleasure to see such talented young people like you. The competition is about to begin, and I hope you will uphold the principle of 'friendship first, competition second' to complete this tournament. I will throw out four balls with their draw numbers written on them shortly; you will all rush to grab them at the same time. Are you ready?"

"alright."

"Watch out." Emperor Xingluo narrowed his eyes slightly, and then, before anyone could see how he made his move, four golden lights rose into the air at the same time.

Ma Xiaotao had been waiting for this moment. As soon as Emperor Xingluo made his move, she leaped up and rushed towards the golden ball in the air at top speed. Only Princess Jiujiu remained motionless, still standing there with a smile on her face.

As expected of Shrek Academy's captain, Ma Xiaotao, despite being a girl, exerted her strength soaring into the air like a spring, almost instantly grabbing a small ball and landing.

Just as she began to fall, the captain of Di'ao Academy and Ma Rulong both succeeded in their attack.

The last golden ball fell from nowhere, and Princess Jiujiu simply reached out and caught it. "I am number one."

Ma Rulong said in a deep voice, "Number Two."

Ma Xiaotao's gaze fell directly on Princess Jiujiu's pretty face: "Number One."

At this point, although the Imperial Academy had not yet announced the lottery numbers, the results of the draw were already out. After personally checking the lottery numbers, Emperor Xingluo announced the results to the public.

"Shrek Academy, Star Luo National Academy, team battle members, enter the arena." The referee in charge of today's team battle was indeed the same Heavenly Fiend Douluo from before.

The Star Luo Emperor, protected by the other three Title Douluos, has returned to the imperial city and ascended the city wall to watch the battle.

Ma Xiaotao led the way, followed closely by Dai Yueheng, Ling Luochen, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, Huo Zhanji, and Wang Dong. The two teams took to the stage simultaneously.

"Both sides step back. No one may release their Martial Soul before I announce the start of the match."

Both teams retreated simultaneously, but their eyes remained fixed on each other. During the retreat, their formations changed rapidly.

"The match begins." Just as both sides were closely watching their opponent, Tian Sha Douluo shouted, and a golden light flashed in the center of the arena. The powerful titled Douluo then disappeared without a trace.

Xu Sanshi roared to the sky, "Xuanming Replacement!" The black light of the Xuanming Tortoise Shell Shield in his hand shone brightly, pointing directly in the direction of Princess Jiujiu.

Just then, Princess Jiujiu's star crown shone brightly, her third soul ring lit up, and a strong golden beam of light shot into the sky, appearing as a golden mist, with specks of starlight swirling and rising within it, looking extremely strange.

Shrek Academy launched their attack immediately, with Ma Xiaotao leading the charge, followed closely by Dai Yueheng and Bei Bei.

Ling Luochen had already summoned her ice staff, which was held high above her head. It emitted a dense icy mist that enveloped Xu Sanshi, herself, Huo Zhanji, and Wang Dong, completely concealing their figures within the mist.

"Just kidding." Before his figure was swallowed by the icy mist, Xu Sanshi waved to the princess opposite him.

Princess Jiujiu's eyes narrowed, and she gave a cold look. The rising golden mist quickly spread out and enveloped the other six members of her group.

With such speed, Ma Xiaotao had already rushed to the front of the enemy formation in such a short time. Blazing phoenix flames shot into the sky, her huge phoenix wings spread out, and a stream of phoenix fire shot out towards the enemy Soul King directly in front of her.

This Soul King is named Huang Heyun. Being able to stand at the front, he is naturally a powerful attack-type Soul Master. Dense black energy swirls around his body, his figure swells, and his solid muscles bulge. On his forehead, there is even a "King" character similar to Dai Yueheng's. Dark Demon Tiger, this is his Martial Soul.

Facing Ma Xiaotao's Phoenix Fire Line, Huang Heyun roared to the sky and charged forward without hesitation. He threw a punch in the air, and his first soul ring shone with yellow light. Instantly, a dark golden semi-circular light shield with a diameter of more than one meter burst out in the air, with sparks flying everywhere. However, it failed to penetrate the light shield even a little bit, and the Phoenix Fire Line was blocked head-on.

This scene made Ma Xiaotao pause for a moment, and the dark wave was already in front of her. The next second, Ma Xiaotao's right palm pressed down on the dark wave. With a soft "poof", the dark wave shattered instantly, and flames ignited on Ma Xiaotao's right hand. Intense phoenix flames surged out and swept directly towards the opponent.

Faced with Ma Xiaotao's fierce attack, Huang Heyun made a backward movement, slightly lowering his body. His third soul ring lit up, and soul power shining with dark golden starlight surged out with a loud tiger roar, transforming into a tiger shape and crashing into Ma Xiaotao's phoenix flames.

Huang Heyun was taken aback. The blazing flames were already in front of him, and he was horrified to find that he felt completely unable to resist them.

Just as Huang Heyun was in a critical moment, suddenly, the pressure in front of him eased, and Ma Xiaotao's incandescent flames actually veered to the side and then flew into the air.

The one who made the move was a woman standing not far behind Huang Heyun. She had an ordinary appearance, looking like a simple young girl with long, dark purple hair flowing down her back. Five spirit rings pulsed around her, and her right hand was waving towards Ma Xiaotao. It was she who had lured the Phoenix Fire Line away.

"A talent for controlling flames?" Ma Xiaotao instantly had the answer in her mind.

At this moment, the control-type battle soul king, whose soul power cultivation was around level 51, pressed his right hand towards Ma Xiaotao. Immediately, a fiery red halo appeared beneath Ma Xiaotao's feet, and a strong suction force came from beneath her feet, continuously drawing the phoenix flames away from the fiery red halo.

At this moment, Huo Zhanji's mental detection shared some problems. Princess Jiujiu's Star Crown's Starry Sky Technique interfered with Huo Zhanji's mental detection, causing some deviation in the detection.

While Ma Xiaotao's side was being blocked by the opponent's strong attack and control, the battle between the two sides had already begun at the same time.

Dai Yueheng was facing a tall young man. His opponent's martial spirit was a lion, the Netherworld Lion.

Beibei was also stopped, but his situation was the opposite. He was blocked by a speed-type Battle Soul King whose speed was unprecedented in Beibei's life.

Princess Jiujiu's gaze wasn't fixed on the battle before her; it was fixed on the rapidly approaching thick ice mist. Currently, although Star Luo National Academy was only managing to hold off three powerful offensive Soul Masters with the strength of five members, they weren't actually at a disadvantage. It could be said that Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, and Bei Bei already constituted half of Shrek Academy's fighting force.

The battle has progressed to this point, with neither side going all out. The most terrifying aspect of team battles lies in the sudden coordination that emerges. Princess Jiujiu narrowed her eyes, her right hand slowly pointing to the sky, a golden light gleaming at her fingertips. The star crown on her head flashed once more.

The golden light suddenly solidified as it approached the protective shield of the arena. Immediately afterward, a dazzling star appeared above Princess Jiujiu's head. This star wasn't large, but its light was dazzling. These rays of light were not blocked by the ice mist and easily entered it. With a flash, most of the light disappeared, leaving only four rays. These rays, like bridges, guided Princess Jiujiu, and four pale golden figures flickered faintly within the ice mist.

The four people in the ice mist maintained their previous formation, but they were now very close to the center of the competition area. The ice mist on both sides began to converge inwards, getting closer to the competition area.

A resounding phoenix cry suddenly rang out from Ma Xiaotao's mouth. Her fiery wings slammed downwards, forcefully blasting away the Dark Demon Tiger Battle Soul King Huang Heyun before her. Simultaneously, icy mist erupted, surging towards the center like a tidal wave. A black light flashed from the icy mist, its target Princess Jiujiu. Xu Sanshi's long-prepared Xuanming Replacement technique had finally been unleashed.

Dai Yueheng instantly amplified his power to the level of the White Tiger Demon God Transformation, and pounced on his opponent. On the other side, Bei Bei also suddenly erupted, with countless bolts of lightning swirling around him, forcing the Lightning Falcon Battle Soul King back.

However, at that moment, Princess Jiujiu revealed a smile on her face, and a ball of golden light was flung out from her hand. It was definitely not a soul skill. The golden light flashed and collided with Ma Xiaotao's terrifying phoenix flames that soared into the sky.

A layer of golden light descended from the sky, instantly flipping back and completely enveloping Ma Xiaotao's unleashed sixth soul skill, Phoenix Meteor Shower. It then rapidly descended, suppressing Ma Xiaotao herself within it.

Below the arena, He Caitou suddenly stood up, his eyes filled with disbelief. "That...that's an absolute defense soul tool? How is that possible? Absolute defense is at least level seven! They actually used a level seven soul tool. This absolute defense is also a one-time use item. Its value..."

Wang Yan's eyes widened in surprise, and he quickly asked, "What is an absolute defense soul tool?"

He Caitou said, "It's similar to an invincible shield, but it's a special soul tool used in reverse. Once used, within a quarter of an hour, anyone sealed by the absolute defense shield will have to face the protection of an eighth-tier Soul Douluo-level defensive battle soul master."

Princess Jiujiu's tactics were clearly pre-arranged. As soon as Ma Xiaotao was trapped, her fourth soul ring lit up. Centered on her body, a burst of intense starlight burst forth. This time, the starlight was as dazzling as the sun, forming a light shield that forcefully blocked the ice mist outside, only enveloping the seven of their own people, Dai Yueheng, Beibei, and the trapped Ma Xiaotao.

Huang Heyun and Yi Chen, who were originally fighting Ma Xiaotao, did not hesitate to change their target to Dai Yueheng. The four Soul Kings launched a siege against him, while Bei Bei was constantly attacked by the Lightning Falcon Battle Soul King and was still struggling to protect herself.

Princess Jiujiu glanced indifferently at the icy mist outside the light barrier, a slight smile playing on her lips. There was a Soul Master in front of her, but he did not join the battle.

"Not good!" Ling Luochen exclaimed in shock from within the icy mist. She quickly urged the icy mist to push inward, but the starlight-shimmering shield stubbornly blocked the icy mist, preventing it from penetrating even a fraction of the way.

On the city wall, the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire wore a faint smile: "For Shrek Academy, losing the match isn't necessarily a bad thing. Our Star Crown lineage's Star Guardian hasn't appeared on the continent for who knows how long. I'm afraid the Soul Master world has long forgotten this powerful area-of-effect defensive Soul Skill known as attribute isolation."

At this moment, the most dangerous one was Dai Yueheng. Without the suppression of the Phoenix Flame, Fire Element Soul King Yi Chen circled her hands in front of her, and a flame halo enveloped Dai Yueheng. Wind Element Control Battle Soul King Wang Shiying also released a similar halo. The blue and red halos overlapped and then exploded at the same time. Centered on Dai Yueheng's body, a huge pillar of wind and fire shot into the sky.

The icy mist released by Ling Luochen had already encompassed the entire Star Guardian, but the eighteen stars on the Star Guardian were only slowly fading one by one.

Wang Dong looked at Huo Zhanji with a nervous expression and asked, "Huo Zhanji, what should we do now?"

"Don't worry, the Star Luo Empire princess is using the power of stars. If anyone here can break through her defense, it's only me. Leave it to me." Huo Zhanji spread his dragon wings and flew into the air.

"Mere star power, you think you can stop me?"

After speaking, Huo Zhanji pointed his right hand towards the sky, and the originally clear sky instantly darkened, revealing thirty-five bright stars that radiated endless light.

The spectators and the emperor on the city wall were all shocked to see Huo Zhanji actually change the world. It should be noted that changing the world is something that only a Title Douluo can do, and Huo Zhanji is only a Soul Venerable at the moment.

"The stars will transform into a sea!"

As Huo Zhanji finished speaking, the originally bright stars emitted a deep purple aura, which then surged in the air above the competition stage.

"Holy Eye - Frost Holy Spirit Armor, Eternal Night Form!" Huo Zhanji, who was suspended in the air, suddenly appeared in a gray robe and held a golden staff in his hand. "The power of the stars is bestowed upon me, and the Milky Way shines brightly."

In his Eternal Night form, Huo Zhanji created a home-field advantage. The thirty-six stars in the sky transformed into the most essential energy and surged into Huo Zhanji's body. Then, waving the staff in his hand, purple starlight continuously appeared above the Star Guardian. As the last star of the thirty-five stars condensed, Huo Zhanji suddenly swung the staff in his hand downwards.

"Starfall!"

A strange scene then unfolded: the places where the bright stars fell became extremely dim, their light imprinted closely on the protective shield of the stars.

At this moment, the audience below the stage could only see the spells cast by Huo Zhanji. Princess Jiujiu, inside the Star Guardian, could only sense the positions of the four people outside through her Star Guiding Technique. Princess Jiujiu's attention was entirely focused on Dai Yueheng. Huang Heyun's second attack, the Demon Tiger Shocking Heaven, was about to collide with Dai Yueheng.

This is the key to victory or defeat. As for the four people outside the barrier, in her opinion, they cannot pose any threat to her at least for now. However, in the next moment, Princess Jiujiu's expression suddenly changed, and the entire shield actually turned into the same brilliance as the eighteen stars on the shield.

Princess Jiujiu could only vaguely see stars falling directly above her. The next moment, she was horrified to find that her Star Guardian was melting, with drops of golden liquid sliding down the surface of the shield, and the soul power she had been continuously injecting into it was forcibly interrupted.

"This is impossible!" At this moment, she felt the same way as Dai Yueheng before, but in this world, nothing is truly impossible.

Just as the Star Guardian malfunctioned, Dai Yueheng reacted to the opponent's powerful attack. A burst of blazing white light suddenly erupted from his body, and a huge white tiger image appeared above his head before instantly merging into his body. His first, third, fifth, and sixth spirit rings shone brightly at the same time.

The golden tiger claws, a foot long, gleamed with a chilling light. In the next instant, he vanished in a dazzling light that turned from white to gold. A huge character for "kill" appeared out of thin air and collided with the black tiger transformed from the Demon Tiger Jingtian.

Huang Heyun and three others used the Nine Transformations Soul Ritual to transfer their souls.

The combined forces were indeed very strong, but as the saying goes, man proposes, God disposes. Princess Jiujiu did not expect that Huang Heyun's mindset would change during the battle, which led to the failure of his seemingly inevitable second attack.

"Idiot!" Princess Jiujiu couldn't help but curse.

As the saying goes, it's not the god-like opponents you should fear, but the pig-like teammates. To make matters worse, with a deafening roar, her Star Guardian collapsed.

"Senior Sister Ling, dispel the ice mist," Huo Zhanjichen said.

"Okay," Ling Luochen replied, then removed the ice mist.

"Form switch, heavy particle form!"

Huo Zhanji's gray robe instantly turned into a deep red, and the scepter in his hand transformed into a red stick. "This next move is going to be really cool."

The red staff in his hand suddenly radiated golden light, and then Huo Zhanji vanished into thin air. In that instant of his disappearance, Xu Sanshi and Ling Luochen both felt the exact same thing: murderous intent!

In the next instant, Huo Zhanji, wielding a long staff, appeared out of thin air directly in front of the Star Guardian. The moment he appeared, a strange, unprecedented wailing sound rang out in the air, as if the air itself was weeping because of his presence. All the light was extinguished, and even the Star Guardian in front of him seemed to tremble because of his appearance. The next instant, the staff fell.

What Princess Jiujiu saw was the instant the blood-red stick fell. She suddenly felt as if she had been struck by a tremendous force in her chest, and the star crown on her forehead rang out with a clang like it was shattering. Cracks appeared on the diamond-shaped gem in the center of the star crown. Then, the Star Guardian collapsed instantly, and the blood-red color flashed and disappeared.

A red light flashed in the air and disappeared in an instant. The light pointed to the absolute defensive shield that had trapped Ma Xiaotao. Huo Zhanji tore a hole in it.

"boom--"

The metal sphere at the top of the absolute defense shield suddenly emitted a crisp sound. The audience and the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire on the city wall all clearly saw what was happening on the competition stage. Just like his sister, the Emperor of Star Luo blurted out "Impossible!"

Ma Xiaotao's eyes turned blood red. Then, her phoenix wings unfurled from her back once more, shattering the absolute defensive shield. Ma Xiaotao's body shot forward, meeting the four soul masters who were now one entity.

Just as Ma Xiaotao was about to act, Dai Yueheng also unleashed his power. His triple-strength physique had already made him the most physically robust person on the battlefield, and he pounced directly on Princess Jiujiu.

The Soul Master who hadn't made a move yet finally stepped forward in front of Princess Jiujiu. His huge wings suddenly spread open, blocking Dai Yueheng's path like two doors.

"Get out of my way!" Dai Yueheng's eyes widened, and he roared as he charged forward aggressively, his tiger paws splitting to the left and right to forcefully grab the opponent's outstretched wings.

The ear-piercing friction sound was accompanied by countless sparks flying. The two sides were like metal weapons clashing. In the ear-piercing friction, although the wings that had turned into hard metal blocked Dai Yueheng's path, Dai Yueheng's sharp golden tiger claws forcefully gripped into the opponent's wings in the friction.

However, this time his attack missed its target. A powerful suction force suddenly came from the sky, and then the Holy Wings disappeared in front of Dai Yueheng. Only the wings that his martial soul had conjured up had ten long cuts.

This time, however, the referee intervened. With Ren Daiyueheng attacking, Saint Wing was doomed. In ensuring Saint Wing's safety, the referee effectively announced his departure from the field.

As Dai Yueheng succeeded, Ma Xiaotao also showed everyone that she was the strongest member of the Shrek team besides Huo Zhanji, who was just a gimmick. Red flames propelled her body, making her look like a real phoenix, a true fire phoenix.

Without the blessing of the Starry Sky Technique, the four people, led by Huang Heyun, paused for a moment. Seeing Ma Xiaotao rushing towards them, the inflexibility of the four-in-one formation became apparent once again. Huang Heyun dared not be careless, and a black tornado instantly swept towards Ma Xiaotao's body.

After using this attack, Huang Heyun's endurance was nearing its limit. Dugu Shangshan, who was standing behind him, had to withdraw his palms from Huang Heyun's body and take over Huang Heyun's position. However, the previous four-in-one formation was transformed into a three-in-one formation.

Ma Xiaotao did not choose to confront it head-on. With a sudden flap of her huge fiery wings, Ma Xiaotao's body accelerated as she was pulled by the powerful hurricane. Although she could not break free from the suction force, a strange scene appeared. Instead of being sucked into the dark hurricane, the dark hurricane was pulled by her and accelerated towards Ma Xiaotao.

"Boom—" The arena was engulfed in red flames amidst a violent roar. The three had been severely injured by the previous collision. The Nine Transformation Soul Instruments on their backs were all shattered. Huang Heyun, who had collapsed due to the excessive strain on his body, was also caught by the referee and lifted into the air.

At the same time, it wasn't just Dai Yueheng and Ma Xiaotao who ended their battles. On the other side, Bei Bei also defeated his troublesome opponent. The speed of the Lightning Falcon was simply too fast, and it also had a certain amount of lightning ability, which had a strong resistance to Bei Bei's lightning paralysis effect. When the Star Guardian shattered, it was already covered in wounds.

The entire process of the game, from the moment the situation changed until the end, actually took only about seven or eight breaths.

Of the seven members of the Xingluo National Academy, six had already left. Dai Yueheng stood in front of Princess Jiujiu, who was staggering backward, but he did not attack her. Instead, he calmly gazed at the princess.

Princess Jiu Jiu was somewhat dazed. She wanted to say, "I haven't even used my strongest skill yet." However, she knew very well that it was pointless now.

"Jiujiu, just admit defeat," Dai Yueheng said calmly.

After a long silence, she coldly said, "I didn't lose to you." With that, she turned and jumped off the stage, marking the end of the team battle.

(End of this chapter)