Chapter 117.3: Xiao Hongchen's Three-Legged Golden Toad

Book 14: The Finals!

The dazzling blade radiated frightening hues as the White Tiger Soul King’s sixth soul skill, the White Tiger’s Extermination, appeared in the blink of an eye.

The referee of the competition, the Heavenfiend Douluo, appeared next to the two of them in a flash, but hesitated momentarily, as he wasn’t sure whether he should interfere. This was ultimately the finals of the competition, and his interference would very likely affect how the competition would unfold. However, someone had already perished, and if someone else were to meet his or her unfortunate demise, there would be a lot of pressure on him as the judge. The respective team members from the Sun Moon Empire and Shrek could all be described as extraordinary prodigies, after all.

Dai Yueheng’s strike crashed downwards within that moment of hesitation.

How could Dai Yueheng not be despondent? There had already been two important rounds in the competition. It was Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong’s sudden explosion that had broke the impasse and forcibly turned the tides. It was Jiang Nannan who had appeared in front of him in a split second in this round and blocked his opponent’s fatal strike. Furthermore, both his father and the emperor were watching from the top of the city wall, and this was the finals. He was a Soul Emperor, and he let a Soul Ancestor step in in front of him, and this intense stifling sensation that he felt was better off not mentioned. Yet, he also understood that he would have been severely injured if not for Jiang Nannan.

He swallowed all of this, and this was the reason why his White Tiger’s Extermination could be said to be his best effort. The judge was there anyway, and he never even considered whether he might end up murdering his opponent.

Xiao Hongchen’s fifth soul ring sparkled as the terrifying soul skill was about to hit him. At this point, He no longer dared to use his Impregnable Wall, which was much more practical than the Invincible Barrier, as he could clearly feel from the petrifying aura looming over him that he wouldn’t be able to maintain the Impregnable Wall to fend off his opponent’s assault even if he emptied the rest of his soul power.

Therefore, even as a soul engineer, he still resorted to soul skills at this crucial moment.

The White Tiger’s claws flashed by, while Xiao Hongchen’s body seemed to instantly melt; he simply transformed into a sphere of dark golden liquid, then slid down to the ground.

The White Tiger’s Extermination also instantly landed on this sphere of liquid.

Dai Yueheng’s strike was formidable, and his maniacal and devastating aura reached the highest possible level in an instant, and the liquid that Xiao Hongchen had transformed into was slashed apart into pieces as it exploded in all directions like fine powder.

However, just as the liquid touched the ground, it spread out in all directions with bedazzling speed, and the dark golden liquid merely looked a little singed when it came out of the Prison of Lightning.

“Brother—!”

Meng Hongchen screamed in shock, and she finally made her move after holding herself back since the start as she rushed towards the dark golden liquid that was flowing out.

The liquid began to solidify and when Xiao Hongchen reappeared in front of everyone’s eyes, his entire body was full of wounds, and there were dozens of gashes all over. He coughed out mouthful after mouthful of blood, and collapsed into Meng Hongchen’s arms. However, he was still conscious, and muttered a single sentence. “Such bad luck… I’ve been severely wounded.”

The soul skill that Xiao Hongchen displayed during the most crucial moment was called Golden Yearning. This was an extremely powerful ten thousand-year soul skill, and the Illustrious Virtue Hall had to send three Class 8 soul engineers to complete the task of killing the ten thousand year soul beast for this skill. They had then used special medicines to amplify Xiao Hongchen’s body so that the absorption would be successful, and so that he could have this thirty thousand year soul beast’s impressive soul skill.

Xiao Hongchen was able to instantly liquefy himself, and convert his entire body into liquid metal using the Golden Yearning. It gave him the ability to negate about eighty percent of material attacks. However, his cultivation was still low, and his control of this soul skill was not completely smooth. Otherwise, he would become much more frightening if he paired it with his Golden Coagulation. He used the Golden Yearning to escape impending demise.

However, the White Tiger’s Extermination was simply too brutal. Metal conducted electricity, and this property brought insufferable pain to his entire body as he escaped from the Prison of Lightning, and he had lost his ability to continue in this group battle. He had never expected to end up like this in his first appearance, and even his hair had been charred a charcoal black color. This wasn’t anything comfortable at all.

While Xiao Hongchen was seriously wounded, Ma Xiaotao made an unexpected decision on the other side. Shrek Academy’s team leader chose to go on the offensive instead of defending herself under her opponents’ barrage of attacks.

She flew backwards like a bolt of lightning as she raised her right arm, and a searing ball of dark red flame congregated and transformed into a black phoenix before it shot out. At the same time, she leapt down from the competition stage in the nick of time in the face of her opponents’ attacks.

The black phoenix’s target of choice wasn’t the enormous ape, and neither was it the strongest of them all, Ma Rulong. The black phoenix’s speed wasn’t fast at all, but Michael’s lightning pearls strangely disappeared the moment the black phoenix collided with them. When the black phoenix clashed against Chen Fei’s metal balls, they dissipated into nothingness as well, and these soul tools weren’t able to unleash their full potential before they were vaporized entirely.

The fiery black phoenix’s aura was just too frightening, and its first target was Chen Fei. Chen Fei just launched his attack and was standing next to the Bloodthirsty Demon Ape, and he never thought that Ma Xiaotao would go after him. His body flickered as he attempted to dodge the assault from the black phoenix.

The flaming black phoenix’s surface area wasn’t big, and neither was it fast from his perspective. His Lightning Bird’s speed wasn’t something that could be threatened by the black phoenix.

It was a pity that his judgement was erroneous.

The black phoenix wasn’t that large, and it wasn’t that fast either. However, just as it Chen Fei was in the midst of evading it, the scorching black flames suddenly exploded outwards.

This speed of expansion was simply too fast, and too quick to be registered by the naked eye. Chen Fei’s body was swiftly swallowed inside this abrupt expansion.

Not all members from the Sun Moon Academy had the status to use automated soul tools like the Impregnable Wall. The resources required to make that particular soul tool were simply too great.

Chen Fei did have the Invincible Barrier in his possession, but the Invincible Barrier was a single-instance soul tool, and it was far too valuable. He was confident that he could avoid the attack, and wanted to save it for future use, thus he naturally hadn’t unleashed its power. However, by the time he realized something was wrong, it was too late.

Ma Rulong exclaimed, “Judge!”

If the Heavenfiend Douluo had been paying attention to their side, he could have reached out in time, but it was a pity that the Heavenfiend Douluo was occupied with Dai Yueheng’s strike against Xiao Hongchen. When he heard Ma Rulong’s voice and wanted to make a move, it was too late.

The crisp and shrill cooing sounds from the phoenix rang out as Chen Fei’s fast-moving body was barely scraped by the expanding black flames before the black flames sped up and surged towards Michael the next moment.

Chen Fei’s body was still surging forward into the sky, but half his body had disappeared, and his corpse crashed down onto the stage.

Michael didn’t dare to hold back as he witnessed Chen Fei’s tragedy. He threw out the Invincible Barrier in the first possible moment and attempted to block the black phoenix’s strike. What he didn't expect was that the black phoenix swerved, and finally lunged towards Ma Rulong.

Ma Rulong’s eyes were flushed red from his fury and hatred, but he had no choice but to use his own Invincible Barrier. Even though he was also a Soul Emperor, he knew that there was no other soul tool in his arsenal besides the Invincible Barrier that could defend him against Ma Xiaotao’s attack.

“Boom –” The blistering red flames detonated in the sky, and a dark red mushroom-shaped cloud burst into the air from the collision.

Michael initially felt as if using his Invincible Barrier was wasted when the black phoenix turned away, but he knew he was fortunate as even the aftershocks of the black phoenix’s detonation turned the stage’s surface into molten lava.

The Sun Moon Empire's team had already placed Ma Xiaotao in high regard by arranging four people to besiege her at the same time. However, Ma Xiaotao’s explosive power was still almost too much for them to take.

Lin Xi and Chen Fei perished in battle, while Ma Rulong and Michael’s Invincible Barriers were no longer operational. Even though they were students from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, they had all been equipped with only one Invincible Barrier, as this item’s value was simply too lofty. Ma Xiaotao jumped down from the stage, and this meant that she was no longer able to participate in the battle, but this also meant that she managed to reserve her strength and wasn’t injured.

Ma Xiaotao didn’t glance back at the stage to see the consequences as she leapt off. She grabbed Xu Sanshi and swiftly returned to the waiting area.

Huo Yuhao jumped up from his seat and gave it to her at once. Her seat was immediately vaporized the moment Ma Xiaotao sat down, and Wang Yan hurriedly shifted to the side fearfully. It appeared as if anybody who touched this Phoenix Soul Emperor would be done for.

If a term could be used to describe this battle, then “cataclysmic” would be perfect.

Only in the initial elimination rounds had people died in this season’s Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. There were individuals who were grievously injured in the subsequent rounds, but there had been no other casualties under the judges’ watchful eyes – yet, there had been two participants from the Sun Moon Empire’s team who perished in battle during today’s battle even though it was refereed by a titled Douluo. Lin Xi’s situation could still be counted as an accident, but the Heavenfiend Douluo truly couldn’t save Chen Fei in time. The vigor and intensity of this battle only went to show how ferocious both parties could be in their attacks.

Ma Xiaotao tossed Xu Sanshi aside, and Wang Yan supported him as he shifted him to the side without attempting to wake him up.

Huo Yuhao quickly placed both of his hands onto Ma Xiaotao’s back. He activated the Ice Empress’ Pincer and his Mysterious Jade Hands to amplify his powers as he pressed his hands onto her back, and two streams of steam erupted as they crackled loudly. Ma Xiaotao’s clothes instantly vaporized in the shape of two palm prints where Huo Yuhao came into contact with them.

Do you want to read up to 20 unreleased chapters? Support UTS on Patreon!