Seeing Davis activate his fourth soul skill, Huo Wushuang did not take it lightly. His second soul ring shone brightly as a crimson, translucent protective barrier enveloped his body.
"Boom—"
The dazzling radiance of Davis's attack struck Huo Wushuang.
Below, Davis felt a surge of confidence.
He knew that with Zhu Zhuyun's inexplicable surrender, their trump card—the Hell White Tiger—was now useless. Adding to that, his five teammates had been instantly eliminated by Huo Wu, making it certain that Star Luo Royal Academy would lose this battle with no chance of victory.
However, even in defeat, how they lost and how many opponents they took down before falling made a big difference.
If possible, he didn't want to lose too miserably.
Right now, the other members of Blazing Academy showed no intention of ganging up on him. If he could defeat Huo Wushuang in a one-on-one fight, then even if he ultimately lost, it wouldn't be too humiliating.
"Hmph—"
Just as Davis was feeling confident in his imminent victory, a sudden, piercing pain erupted in his mind.
His face turned pale as a trickle of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
His body, completely out of his control, collapsed onto his knees.
"Heh~ A mental attack?"
In mid-air, Huo Wushuang, having taken a direct hit from Davis's mental assault, remained completely unscathed. He scoffed with disdain.
If Davis's fourth soul skill had been a straightforward power-attack skill, then Huo Wushuang's second soul skill, Crimson Flame Crystal Barrier, might not have been able to withstand it and could have been shattered.
After all, both were five-ring Soul Kings. Even though Huo Wushuang far surpassed Davis in all aspects, a hundred-year second defense-type soul skill would likely be unable to withstand a proper fourth soul skill from a power-attack soul master.
However, this move was a mental attack, which posed no threat to Huo Wushuang at all.
With the Lunar Soul Refinement Art, a technique dedicated to enhancing spiritual power, Huo Wushuang might be a power-attack Battle Soul King, but in terms of spiritual strength alone, he could rival high-level Soul Emperors, even if he wasn't quite at the level of a seventy-ring Soul Sage yet.
When it comes to spiritual combat, the worst scenario is when one's own spiritual power is far inferior to the opponent's.
Davis's mental strength was vastly lower than Huo Wushuang's. As a result, his own White Tiger Annihilating Strike failed to harm Huo Wushuang in the slightest. On the contrary, he suffered severe backlash from the failed attack—an absolute case of "trying to steal a chicken but losing the rice instead."
At this moment, Davis was utterly shocked.
Not only had his supposedly foolproof strike failed to harm Huo Wushuang, but he had also ended up suffering from the backlash himself.
Wasn't Huo Wushuang supposed to be a power-attack Battle Soul Master?
Why was his spiritual power so terrifyingly strong?
Though Davis couldn't determine exactly how powerful Huo Wushuang's spiritual strength was, it was undoubtedly far superior to his own—at the very least, at the level of an ordinary six-ring Soul Emperor.
"A head… soul bone?"
After struggling for a long while, Davis gritted his teeth, clutching his head in pain as he questioned Huo Wushuang.
"If your spiritual power was this strong, why didn't you say so earlier?! Now I've completely embarrassed myself!"
"Heh."
Huo Wushuang chuckled but didn't answer the question. Instead, he asked, "Do you surrender?"
Hearing this, Davis's already pale face turned a shade redder—this time, from pure frustration.
But there was nothing he could say.
He had been thoroughly outmatched.
Trying to throw out harsh words or excuses after losing would only make things even more embarrassing.
Left with no choice, he shot Huo Wushuang a resentful glare before nodding unwillingly.
Immediately afterward, the referee stepped onto the battle stage and announced in a loud voice:
"In the third round of the finals, Blazing Academy versus Star Luo Royal Academy—Blazing Academy wins! Congratulations to Blazing Academy for advancing to the fourth round of the finals."
With three matches concluded, only the last match of the third round remained.
However, compared to the previous three battles, the fourth match did not attract nearly as much attention.
Both participating teams were from the Star Luo Empire, and their paper strength was only slightly stronger than that of Shrek. Each team had only three or four four-ring Soul Ancestors, and their advancement to the third round was largely due to luck.
After a chaotic battle of "weaklings pecking at each other," a team named Knox Academy secured a narrow victory and advanced to the fourth round of the finals.
With this, the six teams advancing to the fourth round of the Soul Master Tournament finals were officially determined.
They were the Spirit Hall Team, Blazing Academy, Divine Wind Academy, Knox Academy, along with the two teams that ranked second in their respective empire qualifiers and had a bye in the third round: Skywater Academy and Delos Academy.
Without a doubt, with the conclusion of the third round, among the three competing factions—Heaven Dou Empire, Star Luo Empire, and Spirit Hall—the Star Luo Empire had already been eliminated.
Compared to Spirit Hall, Blazing, Skywater, and Divine Wind, the Star Luo Empire's Knox Academy and Delos Academy were far weaker. Forget about competing for the championship—unless they got extremely lucky and ended up facing each other in the fourth round, they wouldn't even make it to the fifth round.
Of course, while it was possible that some under-the-table manipulation had occurred in the first three rounds, once the fourth round arrived, such manipulation was a certainty.
However, this manipulation wasn't about Spirit Hall, as the hosting faction, deliberately rigging the matchups to ensure that strong teams eliminated each other while protecting their own team.
Instead, the goal was to make sure that stronger teams faced weaker ones, eliminating teams that had advanced due to luck rather than true strength.
Otherwise, if all the true powerhouse teams were eliminated too early and a lucky weak team somehow made it to the final round, the championship match would lose much of its entertainment value.
Since there were only four matches in the round, the third round had ended fairly early, leaving plenty of time before noon. With nothing else to do and it being his first time in Spirit City, Mu Yang decided to take Shui Bing'er on a tour around the city.
As for safety, Mu Yang had no concerns. Spirit Hall was the host of the Soul Master Tournament finals. If any contestant were harmed within Spirit City, no matter which faction was responsible, Spirit Hall couldn't afford to lose face over it.
Just like in the original work, even though Spirit Hall knew Tang San was Tang Hao's son, they didn't make any moves against him while he was within Spirit City.
If not for Xiao Wu's identity as a transformed soul beast being exposed, Tang San would have been able to leave Spirit City safely.
Of course, once the Soul Master Tournament ended and the contestants left Spirit City, Spirit Hall would no longer be responsible for their safety.
Mu Yang's plan was solid, but an unexpected incident disrupted his date.
As soon as Mu Yang invited Shui Bing'er out, her younger sister, Shui Yue'er, objected and insisted on tagging along.
No matter how much he tried, he couldn't shake her off. Left with no choice, Mu Yang had to bring along this third wheel.
Just when the three of them were about to set off, they ran into Feng Xiaotian from Divine Wind Academy, who had come to fawn over his cousin, Huo Wu.
One thing led to another, and what started as a two-person date turned into a six-person shopping trip and group meal.
Walking along the bustling streets of Spirit City, Huo Wushuang found himself deep in thought as he watched the scene before him
At the front,Feng Xiaotian shamelessly hovered around Huo Wu, eagerly attending to her every move.
Beside him, Mu Yang held Shui Bing'er's hand while Shui Yue'er clung to his other side.
Trailing behind them, Huo Wushuang couldn't help but reflect on the situation.
For additional chapters
Versatile mage {40 chapters}
Douluo Dalu:This Soul Master is to Weird {30 Chapters}
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