The purple glow in Tang San's eyes intensified as he pushed the Purple Extreme Devil Eye to its peak.
He abandoned the use of his Blue Silver Grass martial soul and instead employed the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step, instantly bypassing the Elephant Armor team's meat shield formation.
"Boy, do you really think anger alone can defeat me?!" Huyan Li sneered, throwing a punch directly at Tang San's nose.
At this moment, Tang San seemed to have lost all reason.
Huyan Li's fist was caught by Tang San using Controlling Cranes and Capturing Dragons.
"Controlling Cranes and Capturing Dragon, four ounces to move a thousand catties!"
With a unique application of force, Tang San actually hurled Huyan Li into the air.
Having underestimated Tang San, Huyan Li had no time to react before Tang San mounted him and began pummeling his face.
Dai Mubai didn't dare to be careless.
As the team captain, it was his responsibility to take charge. "Everyone, follow me and cover Xiao San!"
Seeing Huyan Li getting beaten, the members of the Elephant Armor team became indecisive. They wanted to assist him but were also worried about losing their current advantage.
"Ah Li!" On the high platform, Huyan Zhen's expression darkened.
"It seems the Shrek Academy does have some strength after all," Xue Qinghe remarked with a faint smile.
Salas placed a hand on Huyan Zhen's shoulder, signaling him not to lose his composure.
---
The situation on the stage completely reversed.
Tang San was like a god of death, wreaking havoc among the ranks of the Elephant Armor team, charging in and out seven times.
Fortunately, the Elephant Armor team wasn't particularly strong.
Otherwise, in this state, Tang San would have inevitably exposed his Hao Tian Hammer martial soul.
Later, just as in the original timeline, Huyan Zhen used the method of forced sound transmission to awaken Huyan Li from his unconscious state, revealing his head spirit bone.
But in the end, under the combined assault of Dai Mubai and Tang San, Huyan Li was defeated, losing the match.
"The match is over! The Shrek team wins!" the referee announced.
Tang San's behavior left the referees feeling disdainful.
However, there were no specific rules governing a contestant's conduct or speech.
As Ning Fengzhi had said, without supporting rules, it didn't count as a violation.
Inside the Seven Treasures team's rest area.
Chen Huayu and Oscar wore expressions of despair. "My money~"
Neither of them was wealthy. Some of their golden soul coins came from subsidies provided by their sect, while the rest were part of the five thousand golden soul coins Ning Tianchen had given them earlier.
Losing one hundred golden soul coins at once caused them immense pain.
"All right, all forms of gambling are prohibited during the tournament. Take your money back," Ke Jie reminded them.
Of course, the hundred golden soul coins that belonged to him were not returned. Instead, they were evenly distributed among the team members.
Ning Tianchen and Ning Rongrong didn't care about the money, and Sun Buyu wouldn't quibble with the students.
"This match serves as a wake-up call for us.
Tang San's strength surpasses my expectations. His self-created soul skills are highly effective in close combat. It was precisely because Huyan Li underestimated him that he squandered a favorable situation," Ke Jie reviewed the match.
Ning Tianchen smiled. "No problem, we can handle Tang San's sudden burst."
No matter how powerful the Tang Sect techniques were, Tang San couldn't fight multiple opponents at once.
If everyone surrounded him, he would undoubtedly lose.
Most importantly, hidden weapons couldn't be used in the Soul Masters Tournament, greatly reducing Tang San's threat.
Ke Jie instructed, "Tianchen, after returning tonight, lead everyone in thoroughly reviewing this duel. Remember to consider Tang San's close-combat soul skills."
---
After defeating the Elephant Armor team, the path to advancement for the Shrek Academy brightened once again.
Next, they only needed to defeat one more team among the Four Elements academies to secure their spot in the finals.
Off the stage, Liu Erlong hurriedly carried Xiao Wu back to the rest area.
Jiang Zhu applied her healing soul skill, and Xiao Wu gradually regained consciousness.
Yu Xiaogang clapped his hands and gathered everyone together. "Thankfully, none of your injuries from this match are severe. Xiao Wu needs to rest for a few days, so Xiao San, don't let her participate in upcoming duels for now."
Tang San, still emotionally low, nodded in response.
Yu Xiaogang continued, "Defeating the Elephant Armor team means we're halfway to advancing. Among the Four Elements academies, the Godwind Academy is the weakest. As long as we defeat them, we can basically lock in our spot."
"What about the other three Elemental academies and the Seven Treasures team? Do we still need to fight them?" Yu Tianheng couldn't help but ask.
For him, of course, he wanted revenge against Ning Tianchen to wash away the humiliation.
But for the sake of the team, as long as they could secure their spot, avoiding battles with other strong teams would allow them to preserve their tactical trump cards.
"Fight! Why should we avoid them?" Tang San interjected.
"We've already seen the strength of the Four Elements academies during the inter-academy exchange tournament. I believe that even if we encounter them, we still have a good chance of winning. As for the Seven Treasures team, we have no reason to retreat either."
After the recent battle, he felt that his mastery of the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step and Controlling Cranes, Capturing Dragons had improved further.
Facing Ning Tianchen, he was confident he wouldn't fall behind.
"The preliminaries are our best opportunity to assess the Seven Treasures team's strength. If we concede now, we'll still meet them in the finals. At that point, if we lose, we'll be directly eliminated."
Yu Xiaogang nodded approvingly. "Xiao San is right, but we'll have to reveal some of our trump cards."
After pondering for a moment, he continued, "In the coming days, I'll carefully observe the Seven Treasures team's duels and try to develop an entirely new strategy."
Finally, Flender spoke, "Little monsters, today's match has drained you. Rest up quickly so it doesn't affect your performance in tomorrow's matches."
---
Over the next few days, the Seven Treasures team's opponents weren't particularly strong.
Although Ning Tianchen and Feng Xiaotian took the stage, they never revealed their soul rings or soul power levels.
Yu Xiaogang and the others failed to gather any useful information about them.
The Shrek Academy's opponents during these days weren't strong either, and they should have won easily. However, due to their previous actions, these teams pulled out all their trump cards.
In every duel, someone from the Shrek team got injured.
Faced with such situations, they were furious.
After today's match, Dai Mubai couldn't help but curse, "These guys are insane! Did they get paid off by the Four Elements academies and the Seven Treasures team to force us to reveal our trump cards?!"
Tang San, however, wasn't bothered and chuckled lightly. "If they're asking for a beating, then let's give it to them."
Tai Long pounded his chest and agreed, "Tang San is right. Beat them until they submit."
Yu Xiaogang was equally displeased, but he had something more important to announce. "Tomorrow, the Elephant Armor team will face the Seven Treasures team. The Elephant Armor team isn't weak, so this is a good opportunity for us to gauge the Seven Treasures team's strength."
"Everyone's been exhausted these past few days. In the upcoming schedule, we'll face strong teams consecutively, so adjust your condition as soon as possible."
By using the Elephant Armor team as a benchmark, they could estimate the overall strength of the Seven Treasures team.
---
As the Seven Treasures team achieved multiple consecutive victories, their strength gained increasing recognition from the audience.
Currently, the sect disciples had already prepared the commemorative uniforms, waiting for the right moment to sell them.
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