69novels Chapter 291
Chapter 291
His vision blurred, and the little figure in Long You's sea of consciousness weakly pounded the floor. He only knew that inscribing the original law inscriptions in this world would be suppressed, but he did not expect that using pure law power to attack would also cause a backlash.
Although the reaction of the Imagination Pearl in his mind showed that his actions did not attract the attention of the divine realm, the instinctive suppression from the world still put an unbearable pressure on Long You.
With his last shred of rationality, Long You didn't take the elevator, but instead rushed into the pedestrian passage that Bourne had detected. However, Long You's extremely poor condition made it difficult for him to move forward in this unfriendly passage.
Just as Long You was pondering whether to summon the Soul Guidance Powered Mech, a cool breeze suddenly swept past him.
"He seems like a very cautious person, how could he let himself get into this state in a place like this!"
The familiar cool and warm feeling, the familiar voice—Long You wanted to respond, but the moment his mind relaxed, he fell into a deep sleep.
Zhang Lexuan, whose face always wore a gentle smile, looked at the boy in her arms who had fallen asleep instantly without any resistance, and her expression softened even more. However, this gentle expression vanished the moment Zhang Lexuan caught the faint sound of a mechanism operating in her ears.
As the breeze rose again, Zhang Lexuan, whose strength was no less than that of a Super Douluo, decided not to cause too much of a commotion before the final battle. She transformed into a gentle breeze and instantly drifted out of the passage that had begun to become dangerous.
In the lobby of the Yafei Auction House, Zhang Lexuan glanced around the unchanged lobby area, a slight smile playing on her lips. Without lingering, she quickly returned to the Mingyue Hotel after leaving the auction house area.
The Tang Sect's "lazy" group had already been eliminated before this round of competition, so only the three Soul Masters were still fighting in the Mingdu Soul Master Elite Competition. He Caitou and Huo Yuhao, who hadn't yet used their ultimate abilities, had returned to the suite's conference room. The Tang Sect members were discussing their future competition strategies and also waiting for Long You to return to see if he had any unique ideas.
However, when Zhang Lexuan brought the unconscious Long You back, the Tang Clan members present were not too surprised. All indications had already shown that Long You's main focus during his trip to Mingdu was on improving his soul tool manufacturing skills, with the majority of the remaining time devoted to causing trouble, and only a tiny fraction of his attention on the Elite Soul Master Competition.
Therefore, the Tang Clan members were not surprised that Long You had once again messed things up. After throwing Long You back onto the bed, He Caitou, Long You's roommate, returned to the meeting room and, like the other members, turned his curious gaze toward Zhang Lexuan.
"If you have any questions, feel free to ask."
Although she was certain that she could leave the room without saying anything, Zhang Lexuan still spoke up after a brief silence, giving her Tang Clan friends a chance to satisfy their curiosity.
"Why is Senior Sister with Xiao You? Elder Xuan said before that you have a personal mission that requires you to go to the south of the Sun Moon Empire."
The relationship between Long You and Zhang Lexuan is quite special, as everyone present knows. However, judging from the intimate actions Zhang Lexuan took with Long You when she returned today, it seems that their special relationship has undergone an ultimate evolution without anyone realizing it.
Xu Sanshi asked around in circles, but the ultimate question was actually, "You two are dating, aren't you? Senior Sister, you haven't shown up before because you were helping this kid cause trouble, right?"
"Xiao You and I are indeed trying to date, but my previous absence was not for Xiao You, but to officially break through to the Title Douluo level."
Zhang Lexuan's meaningful gaze lingered on Beibei for a moment, and before Beibei's body completely stiffened, she gave an answer that left Beibei with somewhat complicated feelings.
This feeling was a mixture of melancholy, joy, relief, reluctance, and other indescribable emotions. It was Tang Ya's soft, warm hand that immediately enveloped Bei Bei's hands. Otherwise, Bei Bei would probably have remained lost in thought for a while longer.
"Congratulations, your life is finally about to begin."
These words lingered on Beibei's lips for a while, but she ultimately didn't say them, and they remained a blessing deep in her heart.
Asking questions is fun in the moment, but awkward afterwards. Everyone present was somewhat aware of the complicated situation between Bei Bei and Zhang Lexuan. Now, suddenly hearing that Long You and Zhang Lexuan had gotten together, even though they had expected it, they still couldn't help but feel a little awkward. Some of the questions they had prepared were suddenly hard to say.
"Alright, stop asking. Let me tell you what I know."
Having already decided to start dating Long You, Zhang Lexuan was clearly prepared and didn't feel embarrassed at all.
"I arrived in Mingdu in the early hours of this morning. Before it got dark, I wandered around Mingdu. I didn't find the Holy Spirit Cult's stronghold, but I found a large soul tool array on the northern mountain of Mingdu."
Stylistically, this soul tool position doesn't resemble a military position of the Sun Moon Empire. However, my understanding of soul tools is not in-depth enough to determine its ownership.
The only thing I'm certain of is that the soul-guiding array is extremely well-hidden. If Xiao You hadn't given me a targeted soul-guiding device, even a Super Douluo wouldn't have been able to find its location.
"Then, what about the encirclement? Has the Sun Moon Empire truly prepared to surround all the participating teams that left Mingdu?"
The unknown soul-guiding array was indeed intriguing, but with so little information, focusing too much on it would be misplaced. Therefore, after a brief moment of thought, Huo Yuhao spoke up, shifting the focus back to the situation surrounding Mingdu.
"The information about the encirclement is basically consistent with what you detected before. I witnessed an encirclement and capture operation, and it can be basically confirmed that there is a Title Douluo-level Soul Master in charge of the encirclement from each direction."
Even if one is mentally prepared to break through, without external support or the combat power to resist a Title Douluo, it is unlikely that a successful breakout will be possible.
And I don't know if it's just my imagination, but although there aren't any soul-guiding arrays for encirclement to the west of Mingdu, I can still feel a faint sense of threat whenever I get close to that direction. I can't pinpoint the exact location, but my intuition is telling me to stay away from that direction.
Frowning, silent.
The strategy of "surrounding three sides while leaving one open" is an ancient military tactic used to effectively reduce the will to resist of besieged troops. However, the current situation around Mingdu is not a siege or attack scenario, but rather Xu Tianran's attempt to wipe out all the foreign contestants within Mingdu.
In this situation, a deliberately left-empty direction without any ambushes is simply bizarre.
"It seems we need to investigate the West more thoroughly. Although we want to save the innocent contestants trapped in Mingdu City, it would be better not to give them any information if the information we provide is inaccurate."
Having broken free from her complex emotions, Beibei's mind began to function normally again.
With her eyes slightly lowered, Zhang Lexuan knew very well that her current strength was definitely no less than that of a Super Douluo, and with her current perception ability, there was absolutely no possibility of misperception.
Having confirmed the danger but unable to pinpoint its location, Zhang Lexuan, who had already been spoiled by Long You's revelations, could only think of one possibility. However, remembering Long You's previous warnings, Zhang Lexuan simply couldn't bring herself to voice that possibility.
I hope I'm overthinking it, and that Elder Xuan will be more reliable this time.
After a brief silence, Zhang Lexuan left the suite where the Tang Clan members were. Although there weren't any particularly strong opponents in the upcoming round-robin matches, it was still necessary to prepare the necessary battle strategies.
A week later, at the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament outside Mingdu, the Tang Sect members were intently watching the competition stage. Although after Long You single-handedly defeated the Pi Shi Sect team, the Tang Sect had no other strong opponents in their group. However, Shrek Academy, which was in the same group as the Tang Sect, was still significantly weaker. The current final round-robin match against the Pi Shi Sect was somewhat tense.
Currently, the only Soul Emperor on the Shrek Academy team is Dai Huabin. With Wang Qiu'er's performance being personally restricted by Di Tian (through the influence of bloodline, an influence was planted at the soul level to ensure the stability of the soul and prevent further invasion by Tang Wutong's soul fragments), Dai Huabin is now the strongest fighter in Shrek Academy (Wang Qiu'er no longer has a clear advantage).
In terms of talent, Dai Huabin is actually no worse than Dai Yueheng, the previous Shrek Academy's main team member. However, Dai Huabin ultimately had two less years of growth time than his brother, resulting in a gap in soul power level. This limited the strength that Dai Huabin could unleash, most notably in terms of stamina.
The injuries inflicted on the Pishi Sect team by Long You have fully healed, and with all members being elite Soul Kings, they are eager to test the level of Shrek Academy students. Under these circumstances, even if the Pishi Sect team doesn't perform beyond their usual level, they will certainly be performing at their absolute limit.
Facing level 5 and even level 6 Soul Masters who are also skilled in high burst damage, Dai Huabin successfully eliminated Pi Shi Zong's first opponent, but ultimately failed to defeat two opponents in a row. After exhausting most of his second opponent's Soul Power, he was forced to admit defeat and leave the field.
Wang Qiu'er, who appeared second, wasted a lot of soul power because she had no understanding of the Soul Master's combat techniques. Although she achieved better results than Dai Huabin, she still failed to win an absolute advantage for Shrek Academy in the individual battle.
The remaining Shrek Academy team members are basically one-on-one against the elite members of the Upper Pishi Sect. If nothing unexpected happens, they might win in the individual matches, but if something unexpected occurs, they could easily be upset. Considering the greater advantage of Soul Masters in group battles, the Tang Sect members are currently quite tense.
Aside from Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan, whom Long You and Huo Yuhao had managed to swindle back from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, the Tang Sect members' sense of belonging to Shrek Academy was undeniable. If Shrek Academy were to be eliminated in the top eight of this tournament due to their independent participation, Long You could imagine how guilty these guys would feel.
(Because Tang Sect deliberately lost, if Shrek Academy loses this match, then Tang Sect, Shrek, and Pi Shi Zong will all have one loss, and the top two in the group will be determined by point differential. Tang Sect has a significant lead in point differential ranking because they have repeatedly defeated their opponents directly in individual matches, but the point differential comparison between Shrek and Pi Shi Zong is very close, and the outcome of any individual match is crucial.)
As expected, the team battle that officially began was as the Tang Sect members had anticipated. Shrek Academy, which had formed a temporary team and did not have any dedicated Soul Masters, was indeed overwhelmed by the Soul Guidance Army of the Pi Shi Sect.
Completely lacking any ranged counter-attack methods, the seven members of Shrek Academy could only rely on their defensive soul tools to withstand the enemy's attacks. After Dai Huabin and Wang Qiu'er's several unsuccessful attempts to break through the firepower blockade, what should have been a thrilling team battle turned into a soul power reserve contest devoid of any skill.
Shrek Academy was unable to break through the Pishi Sect's firepower blockade and inflict effective damage on them, while the Pishi Sect was also unable to break through the defensive effects of the defensive soul tools that Shrek's soul guidance department had specially prepared for the participating teams.
In other words, launching a concentrated soul-guided offensive requires a large amount of soul power, and relying on a soul-guided shield to resist a hail of bullets also requires a large amount of soul power. In a competition dominated by Soul Kings, there simply isn't enough soul power reserves to sustain this level of special effects for an extended period.
Ultimately, it was the Pi Shi Sect that ran out of soul power first. Although Dai Huabin and Wang Qiu'er's assault failed, it did prevent the Pi Shi Sect from lowering their firepower. The side that attacks always works harder than the side that defends passively. After the firepower inevitably decreased, the Shrek Academy team almost immediately rushed to the other side of the arena, their backs smoking (from activating their propulsion soul tools), and relied on their familiar close-quarters combat to win this team battle.
"The academy's education is somewhat of a failure! They have such a convenient virtual secret realm as the Panlong Realm, so why are these guys struggling so much against such a simple Soul Guidance Army formation attack!"
"Huh? What are you talking about, Xiao You? Of course the academy has done targeted training for the Soul Guidance Army Formation. Didn't Wang Qiu'er and Dai Huabin do a great job just now?"
"What the hell! Was that mindless charge just now the standard answer for the Soul Guidance Army Formation given by the academy? It's only because the Pi Shi Sect doesn't have a Soul Emperor that they have at least two ways to make those two fall halfway through the charge."
On the other hand, is the research on Soul Guidance Army formations and tactics really that lagging behind? They've already studied at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Guidance Academy, haven't they?