Chapter 446 - Douluo: Emerald Poison Emperor [446]
Although the matches were decided by drawing lots, and the teams were supposedly randomized, there was an unspoken rule that the first match of the main competition each year was always a showcase battle. The Royal Academy would face off against a relatively weaker academy to put on a show.
This year, the Heaven Dou Royal Academy team followed tradition, taking the stage first. Their opponents were the Heaven Armor Academy, a newly promoted Advanced Soul Master Academy in the past year.
The Heaven Armor Academy was the team of the Heaven Armor Sect, whose martial soul was the purely defensive high-grade martial soul, the Heaven Armor Shield. With exceptional physical resistance and the capacity for martial soul resonance when multiple Heaven Armor Shield users released their martial souls simultaneously, their defense was further enhanced. This made the Heaven Armor Sect particularly skilled in group battles.
Although the sect was relatively unknown, being a reclusive sect, they had a unique specialty: they could use special formations to further amplify the advantages of their Heaven Armor Shield martial soul.
The team's captain was a Soul Ancestor who had reached the age limit of 25, while the rest were all Soul Elders. However, when they formed their defensive formation, even a typical Soul King would find it difficult to break through their defenses head-on.
The captain of the Heaven Dou Royal team was Dugu Yan, with Ye Lingling as the vice-captain. Chen Ming was one of the team members, along with eleven others.
Since the first match was a showcase battle, it carried little real weight. Chen Ming, whose strength far surpassed the others, didn't even take the stage. Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling led Oslo, Yu Feng, Ning Zhongze, and two other power-attack Soul Masters into the fight.
The battle was uneventful, even dull. The seven members of the Heaven Armor Academy team, all using Heaven Armor Shields, formed a shield-wall formation and slowly advanced, attempting to overwhelm the Heaven Dou Royal team by applying pressure gradually.
At the start, Dugu Yan didn't summon her martial soul and simply stood beside Ye Lingling, observing the battle, while the other five clashed with the Heaven Armor team.
After a prolonged exchange of blows, the Heaven Dou Royal team, whose members were all Soul Elders, couldn't even scratch the Heaven Armor Shields. At one point, they nearly suffered a serious injury when the Heaven Armor team used a coordinated shield-wall strike. If not for Ye Lingling's timely use of her abilities, one of their members would have been eliminated.
Just as the crowd began to think that the Heaven Dou Royal team was off to a poor start, Dugu Yan, who had been idle until then, finally summoned her martial soul.
Five soul rings—two yellow, one purple, and two black—appeared around her. A viridian-green poisonous mist began to spread in the air, and the oppressive aura of her high-quality martial soul, the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor, radiated unrestrainedly. The pressure was so intense that even the audience in the stands felt suffocated.
Sensing the aura of a Soul King and the overwhelming superiority of the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor compared to their Heaven Armor Shields, the previously confident Heaven Armor team members, who had thought they could defeat the Heaven Dou Royal team and make a name for themselves, immediately turned pale with despair.
They tried to resist and showcase their sect's strengths at the very least, but Dugu Yan didn't even use a soul skill. She simply released her soul power and poison, enveloping the team. Within two or three seconds, the once-imposing Heaven Armor team collapsed.
The members of the Heaven Armor team fell one after another, their faces pale, foaming at the mouth, their eyes lifeless. Their muscles were completely paralyzed, their martial souls vanished, and their bodies went limp as if their bones had been removed. Even their breathing became faint.
If Dugu Yan hadn't deliberately controlled the intensity of her poison, the team might have died on the spot.
An instructor from the Heaven Armor Academy, a Soul Emperor with the Heaven Armor Shield martial soul, nearly fell to his knees in the spectator area upon witnessing this. If he had led his sect's entire younger generation to their deaths in the tournament, not only would the patriarch never forgive him, but he wouldn't be able to live with the guilt.
After signaling the referee to declare the match over, Dugu Yan finally withdrew her poison. Ye Lingling then used her soul skills to heal the Heaven Armor team members.
It wasn't until the Heaven Dou Royal team returned to their room that the audience in the stands began to process what had just happened, erupting in thunderous cheers.
Even in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament, appearances by Soul Kings were rare. Moreover, Dugu Yan's extraordinary soul ring configuration and the way she instantly defeated an entire team with her poison completely shattered the audience's expectations.
Although subsequent matches followed, with other teams delivering exciting performances after the arena was cleared of lingering toxins by earth-element Soul Masters, the day ended with most of the discussion still revolving around the Heaven Dou Royal team, Dugu Yan's performance, and the black fourth soul ring she possessed.
Due to Dugu Bo's recent breakthroughs and immense strength, no one dared to openly investigate how Dugu Yan had achieved such exceptional power, though they speculated in private.
As for the Heaven Armor team? They had lost quickly and decisively, but no one doubted their strength. After all, Dugu Yan's performance was simply too overpowered. Poison-type Soul Masters were known for their ability to dominate weaker opponents, often capable of defeating enemies across levels or even classes. A team of defense-type Soul Masters, led by a Soul Ancestor, being obliterated by a poison-type Soul King was entirely within reason. Even the Heaven Armor team themselves felt the loss was inevitable.
After realizing that no one in the region could contend with Dugu Yan, a Soul King with the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor martial soul, nearly every academy in the Heaven Dou division began to consider the Heaven Dou Royal team the strongest contender from the Heaven Dou Empire, with a high chance of winning the championship.
Why nearly every academy? Because the Shrek Academy team still had Tang San.
Despite Dugu Yan's terrifying poison, superior soul ring configuration, and higher soul power, Tang San remained confident, showing no fear of her.
"Poisonous snakes are afraid of realgar wine, which can neutralize their venom. Before going on stage, I'll soak my clothes in realgar wine, cover my nose and mouth, and with my Mysterious Heaven Skill soul power, I'll be immune to her Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison. Once I close the distance and strike her, I'll win."
To prevent his strategy from being exposed, Tang San kept it a secret, even from Xiao Wu, repeatedly assuring her that he had a plan to counter the Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison.
However, much to Tang San's disappointment, in the following matches, Shrek Academy never faced the Heaven Dou Royal team. Instead, they only encountered some average Advanced Soul Master Academy teams.
Although Tang San's Blue Silver Grass had lost its potential, it had gained powerful venom. With his 46th-level soul power and the toxic Blue Silver Grass, Tang San's performance in battles was outstanding, giving him an inflated sense of confidence—until he ran into the seasoned Five Elements Academy teams.