As the referee's voice fell, the atmosphere on the stage shifted instantly—from deathly silence to a violent eruption of energy.
The members of the Shrek Team did not hesitate in the slightest. Within a thousandth of a second after the match began, everyone summoned their martial spirits almost simultaneously. Brilliant rings of color surged upward, intertwining within the Shrek formation.
As the visual core and spiritual backbone of the entire team, Huo Yuhao unleashed his power immediately.
His Spirit Eyes activated in an instant, and a powerful Spiritual Interference Domain spread rapidly, enveloping the entire stage. At the same time, Spiritual Detection Sharing centered on Liu Yuan, transmitting the most precise spatial coordinates and fluctuations of spirit power to every teammate in real time.
"Senior Sanshi! He hasn't activated his soul core yet—strike now!" Huo Yuhao shouted through the spiritual link.
Xu Sanshi's eyes widened as the Mysterious Underworld power within his body was forced to its absolute limit. On his massive Mysterious Underworld Turtle Shield, the originally pitch-black patterns suddenly lit up, and the vague phantom of an ancient beast emerged.
"Black Tortoise Replacement!"
As his fourth spirit ring blazed, dense black light instantly enveloped Xu Sanshi's body and locked onto Liu Yuan.
Under countless gazes, the space at the center of the stage twisted violently, accompanied by a low, humming vibration.
In the next instant, Liu Yuan—who had been standing at the core of the Sun Moon Royal Team—abruptly appeared at the very center of the Shrek Six's encirclement.
At the same moment, Xu Sanshi appeared before Wang Qiuer, Xiao Hongchen, and the others.
The positional exchange was complete.
The sight stunned the tens of thousands of spectators in the stands. The uproar that had filled the arena abruptly stopped, replaced by waves of sharp gasps.
Everyone instantly understood Shrek's intent.
They had actually abandoned their strongest defensive Spirit Master, forcibly swapping Xu Sanshi for Liu Yuan.
This was an extremely radical one-for-one decapitation tactic. As long as the six from Shrek could focus their fire and defeat Liu Yuan in a short time, even losing Xu Sanshi would render the rest of the match meaningless.
But could such a plan really succeed?
Could six young Spirit Masters, with an average cultivation of only Spirit Emperor, truly defeat Liu Yuan—who had condensed a soul core and possessed a hundred-thousand-year spirit ring?
In the spectator stands, Ma Xiaotao gripped the railing tightly, her knuckles turning white from the force. Her expression was grave, lips pressed together.
So far, everything was proceeding perfectly. Xu Sanshi had completed the exchange, and Liu Yuan was fully surrounded.
Now, it depended on whether they could carry out the suicidal plan finalized last night and land the decisive blow.
In the VIP seating area, Xuan Zi clenched his fists, which had been resting on his knees. His face was flushed with excitement and tension as he stared fixedly at Liu Yuan in the center of the formation.
"You have to take him down… You absolutely cannot give him a moment to breathe!" Xuan Zi roared inwardly.
He knew this was Shrek's last—and only—chance to reclaim its honor.
On the stage—
The moment Liu Yuan appeared, the Shrek Team's reaction speed reached its peak. Countless simulations from the previous night transformed into pure instinct.
The three assault-type Spirit Masters—Bei Bei, Wang Donger, and Jiang Nannan—struck simultaneously from the left, right, and front the instant Liu Yuan stabilized his footing.
Blue-purple dragon scales spread across Bei Bei's arms as the violent might of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon gathered into terrifying lightning spheres in his palms.
Behind Wang Donger, the Light Goddess Butterfly wings beat furiously, unleashing blinding light as countless butterfly-wing guillotines slashed forward.
Meanwhile, Jiang Nannan used the Soft Bones Demon Rabbit's teleportation to appear directly in Liu Yuan's blind spot, her hands transforming into sharp claws aimed at his vital joints.
All three unleashed their most explosive spirit abilities, sealing every possible avenue of escape within a single second.
Facing a combined assault capable of obliterating a high-level Spirit Emperor, Liu Yuan showed no sign of panic.
The corners of his mouth lifted slightly into a faint, amused smile. "Starting with spatial displacement and going straight into a six-on-one? Interesting. This tactic really does carry the shadow of old Shrek."
He made no attempt to dodge.
Just as the attacks were about to land, Liu Yuan activated his martial spirit.
Emerald-green light surged from beneath his feet, and the oppressive aura of Mega Rayquaza descended like an invisible storm, forcibly disrupting the dense fluctuations of surrounding spirit power.
Liu Yuan chose to face it head-on.
As Bei Bei's lightning, Wang Donger's light blades, and Jiang Nannan's close-range strike arrived together, faint ripples of spirit power spread across Liu Yuan's body.
He did not use a single defensive spirit ability. Relying solely on the ultra-high-density circulation of spirit power provided by his soul core, he countered with pure physical strength.
Fists swung. Legs snapped out.
All within an incredibly small range.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Three heavy impacts overlapped.
Bei Bei felt his lightning disperse the instant it met Liu Yuan's fist, an overwhelming force rebounding violently through his arm.
Wang Donger's light blades shattered under Liu Yuan's bare hands, and before Jiang Nannan could even close in, she was sent flying backward by a casual elbow strike.
In a single exchange, the three core members of Shrek were blown back head-on by Liu Yuan's physical strength alone.
"So strong… His spirit power quality is absurd!" Bei Bei stabilized himself with difficulty, horror filling his eyes.
He could feel his dragonized arm trembling slightly. The opponent's spirit power felt as solid as refined steel.
At that moment, He Caitou in the rear launched his attack.
As the Shrek Team's soul engineer core, he had already completed the fixed deployment of his soul tool array before the exchange. Now, dozens of launch ports on his back snapped open simultaneously.
A dense swarm of missiles streaked forward, trailing long flames as they saturated the ten-meter radius around Liu Yuan in a devastating carpet bombardment.
Unfortunately, under the guidance of Spiritual Detection, Liu Yuan displayed an almost eerie sense of balance.
With light taps of his toes, his figure moved like a fish weaving through turbulent waves. Explosions capable of severely injuring a Spirit Emperor failed to even graze the edge of his clothing as he effortlessly slipped through the bombardment.
"It's not over yet!" Xiao Xiao's voice rang out from the rear.
Taking advantage of the chaos created by the missile explosions, the Three Lives Soul Suppressing Cauldron had already floated silently above Liu Yuan's head.
Seizing the instant of disorientation after his landing, the three black cauldrons merged into one and smashed downward with terrifying force.
"Great Treasure of the Nation—Cauldron Tremor!"
Liu Yuan did not even look up.
He simply threw a punch straight into the air.
His fist, covered in dragon scales, collided heavily with the underside of the cauldron.
Boom!
The ancient cauldron was sent flying by a single punch, spinning wildly through the air dozens of times before Xiao Xiao barely managed to recall it. Her face turned pale as she staggered, clearly suffering from spirit power backlash.
In the brief moment Liu Yuan repelled five attackers in succession, Huo Yuhao finally moved.
This was the most critical step of Shrek's strategy. All previous attacks had been designed solely to create this opening.
Using his teammates' cover, Huo Yuhao had already closed in on Liu Yuan. His eyes shifted from gold to an icy, deathly white as the Extreme Ice power within him erupted to its absolute peak.
"Eternal Freeze!"
-------------Author---------------
Read 50 advanced chapter
👉 patreon.com/Master_fic