Douluo Continent: The Eye of Truth

Chapter 66 Xuanzi's Public Relations

The following morning, the individual elimination match between Shrek Academy and Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy began.

Because of the three team members who died in yesterday's team battle, the entire Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy team is shrouded in a somber atmosphere.

The Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy naturally has substitute players. Although three of them died in battle, they will not be unable to field enough players for the individual elimination rounds.

However, things were different today; the Heavenly Fiend Douluo standing on the competition stage did not look too good.

Because he saw a figure, someone even he had to be wary of, appear in the Shrek Academy rest area.

"The Gluttonous Douluo... This is going to be difficult to handle." Heavenly Fiend Douluo frowned slightly. As a member of the Star Luo Empire's Hall of Worship, he was naturally aware of the existence of the Gluttonous Douluo Xuanzi in Shrek Academy.

Normally, even if the other party is a senior member who accompanied Shrek Academy this time.

However, the fact that the other party had not shown up before clearly indicates something and is sending a signal to their Star Luo Empire.

That means the other party is supporting Ma Xiaotao and defending her previous "manslaughter" in the team battle.

"Elder Xuan," Wang Yan said respectfully, bowing to Xuanzi.

Xuanzi nodded, glanced around casually, and then looked at Ma Xiaotao and said.

"I won't participate in your tactical decisions. Just pretend I don't exist. Anyway, with me here, no one will dare to play any tricks."

"After all, you're the one with the biggest secret, aren't you?" Huo Yuhao thought to himself.

Upon hearing this, Wang Yan nodded, and at this moment, the Heavenly Fiend Douluo on the competition stage also spoke loudly.

"In the first match of the individual elimination round between Shrek Academy and Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, please welcome the participating teams from both sides to the stage!"

Wang Yan said softly, "I'll leave the first round of that person's elimination tournament to you, Xiao Tao."

Ma Xiaotao didn't say anything more, but jumped straight onto the competition stage.

The starting lineup sent by the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy was none other than the opposing team's captain, Ma Rulong.

At this moment, Ma Rulong's expression turned extremely cold as he faced Ma Xiaotao, the enemy who had killed three of his teammates.

The two didn't even go through the usual formality of exchanging compliments that they should have done on the surface.

Just as the atmosphere was becoming increasingly tense, the Heavenly Fiend Douluo spoke again: "Both teams, please retreat to the edge of the arena and prepare for the official start of the match!"

Ma Rulong naturally knew that he was no match for Ma Xiaotao.

He also knew that the most likely outcome of his encounter with Ma Xiaotao was serious injury, with a small chance of death, and he would most likely miss the next match.

But at this point, he had made up his mind that he had to eliminate Ma Xiaotao, this menace, for his teammates.

Even if it costs me my life, I'm willing to pay the price.

Otherwise, because of Ma Xiaotao's presence, would the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy have to surrender as soon as Ma Xiaotao makes a move in the subsequent matches?

Therefore, the Heavenly Fiend Douluo announced, "The competition begins!"

As Ma Xiaotao's golden phoenix flames reignited after her martial soul was activated, a terrifying figure approached. However, Ma Rulong did not use his most proficient long-range soul tool to intercept it.

With the Great-Headed Spirit Ape Martial Soul attached to him, the Soul Rings under his feet shimmered, and surging Soul Power flowed through Ma Rulong's body. At this moment, he actually faced Ma Xiaotao, who was attacking him head-on, without making any attempt to hinder her, and allowed her to get close.

"What is he trying to do?" Wang Yan, sitting below the stage, sensed something was wrong. Ma Rulong's current behavior was completely unlike that of a normal Soul Master.

If Wang Yan could discover the truth, Ma Xiaotao would naturally be able to as well, but she didn't care because she didn't think a Soul Master was qualified to engage in close combat with her.

Indeed, this was the case, because as the evil energy was infused into the soul bone, Ma Xiaotao's own martial soul was indirectly replenished, and her physical attributes were also strengthened under the influence of the evil energy soul bone.

Therefore, Ma Xiaotao is now more skilled in close combat techniques that use phoenix flames as a supplement and evil energy as the core. Phoenix Piercing Cloud Strike and Phoenix Roaring Sky Strike are both fusions of the same soul skill, the same move that killed the soul master named Lin Xi.

Beneath the bursting golden phoenix flames lies a condensed and compressed evil aura.

And this was precisely the opportunity that Ma Rulong had been waiting for.

As the golden invincible shield lit up, even the golden walls of the shield showed obvious cracks under Ma Xiaotao's attack.

However, since Ma Xiaotao's attack did not have the support of Gongyang Mo, nor was it amplified to the maximum extent by relying on the Soul Bone Skill, most of its power was diverted to the surrounding ground as the flames subsided after hitting the invincible shield.

Ma Xiaotao's attack, a fusion of soul skills, did not break through the invincible shield's defense, but it greatly depleted the shield's energy.

So for Ma Xiaotao, although this attack did not decide the outcome, she might as well launch another attack!

But at this moment, Ma Rulong made his move, and a golden-red greatsword appeared in his hand.

This close-range soul tool has never appeared in the early stages of the competition before, and it is clearly one of the hidden trump cards of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy.

Meanwhile, Huo Yuhao's Eye of Truth was also operating at full capacity, recording the structure within. After all, an eighth-level soul tool was a rare find in Shrek Academy and the original three kingdoms of Douluo Continent.

Even within the Sun Moon Empire, the Sword of Judgment is not considered low-level among eighth-grade soul tools.

At the same time, behind Ma Rulong, a blood-red soul guidance core array was flashing on his back, burning with dense blood flames. This was a level seven soul guidance device called the Chapter of Sacrifice.

Its effect is to instantly enhance Ma Rulong's physical strength and soul power by sacrificing his own life force and potential. It is a soul tool with a very high cost and a very powerful effect.

It was precisely because of the Chapter of Sacrifice that Ma Rulong was able to forcibly wield the Judgment Sword, a Soul Guidance Device of Grade Eight, with his cultivation as a Soul Emperor.

At this moment, Ma Rulong and Ma Xiaotao were extremely close. Ma Rulong held the hilt of the golden greatsword with both hands, and a strong golden light began to emanate from the sword, extending from the tip of the sword all the way to the hilt.

Nine soul-guiding core arrays on the sword began to operate, and then beams of light burst forth in the air. At the same time, the golden light in the sword seemed to seep into Ma Rulong's body, dyeing him golden as well.

"Awaken, Sword of Judgment!" Ma Rulong roared, and then the remaining soul power in his body poured into the giant sword at an astonishing speed. This was the trajectory of soul power transmission in Ma Rulong's body.

As long as one is a Soul Master, even without the True Eye like Huo Yuhao, one can see clearly through the perception of Soul Power. This situation can only be achieved when Ma Rulong holds nothing back.

Then, with the convergence of soul power, the giant sword that was originally shimmering with golden light changed. As the golden light subsided, it turned into black and white. The blade of the giant sword turned white on one side, with the spine as the boundary, while the other side was black.

Light and darkness coexist on the sword's edge. This is one of the research results of Mingde Hall, a product of research on the subject of opposing attributes: the Sword of Judgment.

By utilizing the mutual repulsion of light and darkness, yet their subtle connection, one disrupts the balance of attributes within another person, causing them to lean more towards one side.

Then, by using the pure elemental energy on the other side of the sword, one can suppress the dark aura that has become temporarily uncontrollable due to the disruption of the body's attribute balance.

"They are darkness, condemn heretics." Ma Rulong gripped the greatsword, turned the blade, and the black side of the blade was directly facing Ma Xiaotao in front of him, emitting a black light.

At such close range, Ma Xiaotao had no time to react, and the black light was moving incredibly fast.

Logically speaking, the Sword of Judgment should have little effect on beings who inherently possess either darkness or light attributes within them.

Because if the opponent has dark attributes, then the dark side of the Sword of Judgment will only provide an amplification to the opponent.

The bright side can only harm it, but cannot affect the nature of its internal attributes, thus paving the way for the subsequent judgment.

If the other party possesses the attribute of light, the result will be similar, only the logic for determining darkness will be the opposite.

Although Ma Xiaotao has now integrated her evil energy into her soul bone to stabilize her martial soul.

However, in essence, the attributes of the Evil Phoenix are still fire attributes mixed with evil attributes, and it is not closely related to the dark attribute.

It is precisely because of this that, with the injection of the dark attribute, and because the evil attribute and the dark attribute are very compatible, the darkness hidden in Ma Xiaotao's evil attribute was also affected by the Sword of Judgment and brought out.

This is also because Ma Xiaotao's cultivation level has not yet reached the Soul Saint level. Otherwise, if she were already a Soul Saint and possessed a Martial Soul True Body, the stability of her Martial Soul would be greatly improved under the suppression of the Martial Soul True Body.

At this moment, with the infusion of dark energy, the golden phoenix flames around Ma Xiaotao quickly turned black, transforming into pitch-black flames. The evil power that Ma Xiaotao had originally concealed through her fire attribute was now revealed to everyone.

Black flames swirled around her, and an evil aura soared to the sky. Anyone with even a slight understanding of evil spirit masters could see the evil aura that had seeped into Ma Xiaotao's very bones.

"How is this possible? A demonic spirit master? Shrek Academy's team member is actually a demonic spirit master?"

"No, that can't be! It must have been Ma Rulong who did this! This must be fake; this is Shrek Academy!"

"Not necessarily. After all, Ma Xiaotao seemed a bit off before; she apparently crippled or killed several people as well."

"Yeah yeah."

The audience outside the venue were buzzing with discussion. Although Ma Rulong was initially taken aback, he did not hesitate any longer.

He directly reversed the blade of the giant sword in his hand, and its white side faced Ma Xiaotao, emitting a white-hot sword light, which then rose to gold.

Accompanied by an extremely bright golden sword light, a surging aura of light swept towards Ma Xiaotao.

Light and darkness restrain each other, but when darkness is not pure enough, light will normally be the nemesis of darkness, and vice versa.

However, at this moment, the evil energy within Ma Xiaotao's body, under her instinctive control, merged with the invading dark power, and the pitch-black phoenix flames burst forth, resisting and even overwhelming the light power of the Sword of Judgment.

But at this very moment, one person couldn't sit still any longer.

Xuanzi's eyes widened in fury, and he roared, "How dare you, you scoundrel!"

A terrifying aura of soul power mixed with spiritual power swept across the entire area in an instant. Everyone's breath caught in their throats, their minds went blank, and the previous chaos vanished. Even the titled Douluo were affected.

After all, Xuanzi's cultivation level was infinitely close to that of a Super Douluo, making him the strongest fighter among everyone present.

Several guardian Douluos from the Star Luo Empire's Hall of Worship only had time to form a barrier with their soul power to protect the most important Star Luo Emperor himself.

Unlike in the original story, where the martial soul underwent uncontrollable mutation due to the Sword of Judgment, Ma Xiaotao's martial soul has now been stably transformed into a dark phoenix.

Faced with this situation, Xuanzi naturally could not sit idly by, otherwise it would be a major blow to Shrek Academy's reputation.

Those powerful Title Douluo who cannot be affected are actually insignificant. After all, there are many shady dealings in various countries, and everyone knows this. They all have their own unspoken rules and will not discuss them openly.

Those weaker Soul Masters and commoners, under the dual influence of Xuanzi's spiritual power and soul power, will spontaneously forget this memory due to their body's self-protection mechanism, thus suppressing the impact of the event to the greatest extent.

Seeing the Star Luo Emperor's gaze on the stage, the Heavenly Fiend Douluo could only helplessly say to Xuanzi, "Your Excellency Taotie Douluo, please calm down."

"Hmph, if anything happens to my disciple because of that evil soul tool, I will never forgive any of you present."

Xuanzi interrupted Tian Sha Douluo directly, and as he spoke, Xuanzi's gaze also turned to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy team members who were still conscious under the protection of the ninth-level Soul Master, Elder Ma, not far away.

In just a few words, Xuanzi directly attributed the impact of this matter to a problem with the soul tools of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy.

Next, all that's needed is to take the Sword of Judgment and bring Ma Xiaotao back to Shrek Academy. That way, there will be no way to prove anything, and no one will be able to use this as leverage to criticize Shrek Academy.

This is why Xuanzi did not choose to break the rules and interrupt the match on stage, because he could see that Ma Xiaotao's condition was very stable at the moment, or even abnormally stable.

Seeing the changes in Ma Xiaotao, Ma Rulong felt his heart skip a beat. But having already gone this far, he had no way out. He suddenly rushed forward, his Judgment Sword slashing fiercely at Ma Xiaotao.

His momentum then stopped.

He looked down in disbelief.

At some unknown time, a small black phoenix, formed from the evil fire of the phoenix, appeared.

It ripped open his chest and abdomen, leaving a gaping hole.

His attention had been entirely focused on the Sword of Judgment, and his soul power had been almost completely depleted, making it impossible for him to activate the Invincible Shield for defense.

It was a Soul Bone Skill. Under the cover of the Phoenix Evil Flame and the brilliance of the Sword of Judgment, Ma Xiaotao absorbed dark energy and transformed it into soul power to activate her Soul Bone Skill, thus launching a sneak attack and killing Ma Rulong, who was not good at close combat.

(End of this chapter)