The match for the Spirit Hall Academy had ended. Next up was the clash between Heaven Dou Imperial (Emperor Battle Team) Academy and the New Godwind Academy.
Just now, Jun Tianlin's boastful words had left the Spirit Hall Academy team simmering with anger.
"Hmph, let's see what this Jun Tianlin is capable of. First, he claimed my goddess isn't as pretty as someone else, and now he's belittling the prodigies of our Golden Generation!"
Seeing his academy's members mocking Tianlin, Xie Yue said coldly, "Shut up, all of you. You're not qualified to look down on Jun Tianlin."
Although Xie Yue hated Tianlin, he also saw Tianlin as the only opponent worth respecting in this tournament. Those who couldn't even qualify to go onstage had no right to mock him.
Hu Liena did not comment. Compared to the still-impulsive Yan, these two's composure was far beyond what it used to be.
The seven members of the Spirit Hall Academy team stood quietly to the side. On the plaza before the Pope's Hall, the two teams stared intently at each other.
Tianlin and Yu Tianheng stood at the front of the Heaven Dou Academy. Looking at the familiar faces not far ahead, Tianlin's face showed a hint of doubt.
In the original story, Huo Wu's goal was to defeat Tang San. Now, Tianlin didn't know her reasons for still doing so.
Feng Xiaotian, Huo Wu, and Huo Wushuang stood at the core of their team, locking eyes with their opponents.
Huo Wu stepped forward, gazing at Tianlin, and said calmly, "Sword Prince, do you know why we're doing this?"
"I'm doing this only to prove the strength of our Blazing Fire Team, and to fight openly and honorably against powerful opponents like you."
"Since you relied on the strength of other academies to advance to the finals, and accepted conditions to become someone else's enforcers, the words 'open and honorable' no longer apply to you." Tianlin shook his head and replied coldly, "You keep sending strong teams to block me, just to probe my true strength, right? If that's the case, I'll show you. Watch closely!"
"Both sides, prepare. The match begins!" announced the referee.
On the New Godwind side, everyone had completed their Martial Soul Possession.
The strongest, Feng Xiaotian and Feng Moheng stood at the front, each preparing their self-created spirit skills—the Gale Demon Wolf Thirty-Six Consecutive Strikes and the Sword of Wind.
Huo Wu, with the help of two support soul masters behind her, prepared her fourth spirit skill, Blazing Dance Radiance. She even activated her innate talent, Fusion Ring.
She instantly poured the power of her other soul rings into her fourth ring, maximizing her attack strength in a flash.
With the Emperor Battle Team as their opponents, they naturally had to go all out.
But something unexpected happened. On the Heaven Dou side, no one made any preparations. No one even released their martial souls. Except for Tianlin, the other six stood at the edge of the field.
Their behavior almost spelled out one word on their foreheads:
Spectators!
"What do you mean by this?" Huo Wu shouted angrily. Looking down on others should have a limit, and Heaven Dou's behavior was nothing short of contempt.
"I already said, I'll be using my true strength this time. So far from looking down on you, I take you very seriously. Take this!" Tianlin said with his eyes closed.
Then he suddenly opened his eyes, flames blazing in his pupils as a vast spiritual force surged toward the Godwind Team.
Starting with Feng Xiaotian, his consecutive attacks were immediately interrupted. Then Feng Moheng's Wind Shield, created during the Sword of Wind's Breeze Chapter, slowly dissipated.
Finally, Huo Wu's four fused spirit rings were instantly broken apart.
"Ugh!!"
Seven low groans rang out as the seven members of the Godwind Team collapsed to the ground, one after another.
"Referee, you can make your decision now," Tianlin said to the referee, then turned to his teammates, "Let's go, everyone. This match is over."
The referee hurried over to check on the Godwind Seven, exclaiming in shock, "They're all unconscious—stunned by a spiritual shock-type skill!"
"How is this possible? He didn't even release his martial soul, and just with a glance, he knocked out seven Soul Ancestors?"
The referee wasn't the only one astonished; so was everyone in the stands. They all knew the Sword Prince was strong, but none expected him to be this strong.
Especially the Spirit Hall Academy students who had just been mocking them. Their goddess, Hu Liena, could indeed charm six people with a glance, but compared to Tianlin stunning seven people in an instant, it paled in comparison.
"This spiritual wave… a Soul Emperor? No, it's even beyond that!" In front of the Pope's Hall, Bibi Dong wasn't present, but Chrysanthemum Douluo was watching and quickly judged that this was not a spiritual strength a Soul King should have. Forget seven Soul Ancestors—even a Soul Sage would have to be careful.
Scarier still, he could sense that Tianlin's spiritual wave just now was far from his limit. He couldn't even sense where the upper limit was.
"Haha, that expression—I love seeing humans look so terrified." Skydream Ice Silkworm was smug. Hu Liena dared to show off her fifty-thousand-year skull's spiritual power before Xiao Tian. The million-year skull he'd given was no joke. This was a case of a minor magus meeting a true Magician.
"To deal with Jun Tianlin, we must use Charm Demon. Otherwise, even if the three of us go together, we probably wouldn't be his match," Xie Yue said seriously.
Just now, they'd already used a significant portion of their strength to intimidate Heaven Dou, but Tianlin gave them back even more, and clearly, he wasn't even using his full power—just a hint of seriousness. After all, he hadn't even released his martial soul.
"That's right. Only with Charm Demon do we have a chance to win." Hu Liena agreed. She turned to the soul master in the team with the radiant golden scepter martial soul, "Xu Yu, I'll be counting on you next. Only your fourth spirit skill can restrain Jun Tianlin."
Xu Yu was flattered, "Miss Hu Liena, please rest assured. If we meet Heaven Dou in the finals, even if I use up all my soul power and spiritual power, I will restrain Jun Tianlin to the end!"
"For victory, thank you!" Hu Liena smiled slightly.
She wasn't particularly alarmed. When facing Skywater earlier, she hadn't used her full strength either; otherwise, charming seven people with a glance would've been easy for her too.
After all, in the original, even Tang San, who was below rank 50, had soul power no less than a normal Soul Douluo after absorbing the spirit skull—Tang Hao said so himself.
Now, Hu Liena, who specialized in spiritual power, was not much weaker than Tang San—at least at the Soul Sage level. It's just that her spiritual power was less offensive and more focused on control. She believed she could withstand the spiritual shock Tianlin had just unleashed.
With the match between Heaven Dou and New Godwind over, the top five had been decided: Spirit Hall Academy, Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Shrek Academy, Thunderclap Academy, and Star Luo Royal Academy.
Tomorrow, except for the top-seeded Spirit Hall Academy (which gets a bye), the other four academies would face off, and the tournament's top three would be determined.