Chapter 81: Du Qianjue's Dominance

Chapter 81: Du Qianjue's Dominance

At the Royal Soul Master Academy of Moon and Sun, aside from Meng Hongchen, who was infatuated with appearances, everyone else was wracking their brains for strategies to counter Du Qianjue. The advantage of being a soul guide master is that with enough soul guide devices, tactics can be infinitely varied.

The situation at Shrek Academy was no less tense. After watching the match between Di'ao Academy and Fancypants Academy, Wang Yan hurriedly took the main team members back to the hotel's conference room. He felt immensely relieved that he had previously sent all the reserve members to rest, telling them he would collect information about the other teams himself. He didn't want them to directly face the terror of Du Qianjue. Otherwise, Wang Yan feared that the reserve team would be completely disheartened, shattering their morale.

Back in the conference room, everyone sat down with grim expressions, even the most powerful among them, Dai Yueheng, looked wary.

"Yueheng, if Gongyang Mo supports you, do you think you can hold off Du Qianjue?" Wang Yan was the first to turn his attention to Dai Yueheng.

The other members of Di'ao Academy weren't a concern; their strength was comparable to previous years and not a match for Shrek Academy. The main issue was Du Qianjue; this young fellow was off the charts. The traditional soul masters of the Douluo Continent simply couldn't comprehend his tactics.

Hearing Wang Yan's question, Dai Yueheng's face turned pale. "Teacher Wang, you're overestimating me. He's a Soul Saint!" Dai Yueheng said with a bitter smile, his face filled with helplessness. "Against a normal Soul Saint, with Gongyang Mo's support, a fight might be possible. But Du Qianjue's soul rings are outrageous—ten thousand years, and if he uses his hundred thousand-year soul skills, whether I can withstand even one move is questionable."

Dai Yueheng was frank about his assessment of a confrontation with Du Qianjue. It was better to be honest now rather than face utter humiliation on the stage by getting knocked out in one move.

And there was a risk of becoming the scapegoat, especially since he was the team's main combatant and captain at level 64, a powerful assault-type Soul Emperor. If he lost after bragging, the blame would definitely fall on him.

Dai Yueheng didn't dare take that risk, even as the White Tiger Duke's eldest son.

The honor of Shrek Academy over thousands of years would be destroyed, and not even the White Tiger Duke could shield him from the wrath of Shrek Academy's die-hard fans.

Wang Yan understood Dai Yueheng's predicament. A Soul Emperor facing a Soul Saint truly had little chance of resisting. A soul body alone could wipe out 99.9% of opponents challenging a Soul Saint.

"And, Teacher Wang, I don't think I can block his fourth soul skill," Gongyang Mo also raised his hand, looking embarrassed. "His fourth soul skill can reach the sky. I definitely can't block it with my defenses, and I'm not sure about the others, assuming it's a one-time release skill. If it's a sustained skill, aside from Dai, probably none of us can withstand it."

Ling Luochen, Chen Zifeng, and Xi Xi also nodded. They were all Soul Kings—Ling Luochen a control-type with ice attributes, Chen Zifeng a sword-wielding assault-type, and Xi Xi an agility attack-type. None of them were defense-oriented, and their natural defenses weren't strong. They could hold up if Du Qianjue's fourth soul skill was a one-time attack, using some techniques. But if it was sustained, like the thunderous power that could plow through the arena, they figured they'd get plowed too.

The severity of the arena damage, seen by everyone, mixed with steel-reinforced concrete, was testament to the devastating power of Du Qianjue's lightning. Their skin certainly wasn't as tough as the arena's.

Wang Yan's situation grew even more dire, his expression showing a mix of torment and desperation. The difficulty was beyond nightmare or hell—it was infernal.

"What do we do? Use our heads to fight?"

"The only break we might have now is through soul guide devices," Wang Yan said with a bitter smile, knowing his proud inner court disciples looked down on soul guides as 'external items.'

As expected, Dai Yueheng and the others looked uncomfortable at the mention of soul guide devices. To use them would violate Shrek's principle of relying on one's own power, not external aids. Yet without them, they stood no chance against Du Qianjue. Shrek would almost certainly lose.

"What if they use soul guide devices too?" Xi Xi whispered.

"No matter what, whether they use soul guide devices or not, we must compete with our greatest effort, so using soul guide devices is essential," Wang Yan suppressed the urge to throttle his students and spoke calmly.

Stay calm, think rationally. It's no time to cling to your so-called inner court pride. Are you fools?!

Wang Yan was internally screaming.

A bunch of idiots. They disdain me, a mere Soul King teacher, fine, I can't argue with that since I'm not as strong. But with an overpowered opponent like Du Qianjue showing up, why are you still flaunting your inner court pride?

At this moment, Wang Yan felt like fleeing, regretting ever taking up the task of coaching this tournament.

"This is life-threatening."

"Alright, if we're buying soul guide devices, we can look at Starlight Auction House," Dai Yueheng sighed, not particularly resistant to soul guide devices since he was from the White Tiger Duke's house.

The White Tiger Duke, a top military and political leader in the Star Luo Empire, commanded nearly all the empire's soldiers guarding the border by the Ming Dou Mountain Range. Many soldiers in the duke's army used soul guide devices, so Dai Yueheng, frequently seeing this in the military, didn't have the aversion Wang Yan feared. He mainly didn't want to be out of step with the team.

Seeing the captain agree, Ling Luochen and the others naturally wouldn't object. The pressure from Du Qianjue was too great; not using soul guide devices would mean being humiliatingly defeated under the public eye. They chose to set aside their pride in favor of using soul guide devices.

If Du Qianjue knew their tactical planning, he'd probably laugh. Comparing soul guide devices with him? Even without using the two grade-nine fixed soul guide bombs, just the grade-nine Thunder Annihilation Cannon and the grade-nine Soul Dispersion Ray could scare them to death.

Ye Yukong, the treasure-delivering child, hadn't even used the soul guide devices he brought yet.

"That settles it. If there are no matches in the next two days, you'll all accompany me to Starlight Auction House to buy the soul guide devices you need. The academy will cover the expenses," Wang Yan adjusted his glasses, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.

It took a whole chapter, but these stubborn mules were finally persuaded. Wang Yan felt this was exceedingly difficult.

He much preferred dealing with the naively easygoing boys of the reserve team... ah, no, easy to get along with!

And those reserve team boys...

(End of Chapter)