The All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament was a long event, expected to last nearly a month.
The tournament had three phases: eliminations, round-robin, and the grand finals. St. Freya Academy demonstrated overwhelming strength in the first two, sweeping aside opponents like autumn winds blowing away fallen leaves.
With Soul Sages on their team, few were able to resist them. Absolute strength left little room for struggle.
Lu Jingming also realized that with two Soul Sages, St. Freya Academy's participation was completely overpowered.
In a tournament where Soul Kings were already top-tier, and there were fewer than five Soul Emperors, no one could really threaten Keqing and Zhang Lexuan.
What's more, the two weren't ordinary Soul Sages—their martial souls were top tier, and they were equipped with all kinds of soul devices.
In matchups of the same level, they weren't invincible, but they were in a league of their own.
This tournament was completely different from the one the Sun Moon Empire would hold in the future, where the removal of sect restrictions and changes in the rules saw many Soul Emperors appear, and even four Soul Sages. Yet even if you put today's St. Freya Academy in that future tournament, they'd still stand out—let alone in the current one.
Sure enough, St. Freya Academy stormed through match after match, defeating even the Royal Academy of Star Luo Empire.
This left Xu Jiujiu looking at Lu Jingming with no small amount of resentment.
She hadn't competed herself, but she was here as a reserve team member for Star Luo Royal Academy.
When St. Freya Academy defeated Dragon Academy, and Shrek Academy bested the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, the tournament reached its climax: the grand finals.
—
"Sixth Soul Skill: Soul Shackles!" Han Ruoruo's bright red lips parted as she gave a crisp shout.
Her martial soul, the Dazzling Golden Rope, instantly transformed into a chain of spiritual power, locking onto Keqing.
Keqing reacted swiftly, her first soul ring flashing as she used her first soul skill, "Star Dou Return," turning into a flash of lightning and instantly teleporting to a pre-marked thunder wedge.
However, Han Ruoruo's sixth soul skill was of the spiritual type, locking directly onto Keqing's soul.
An invisible shackle wound around her, and Keqing felt her spiritual power crushed as if by a giant hand. The sixth soul skill she'd been about to release was locked down, unable to activate.
That was the horror of Han Ruoruo's sixth skill, Soul Shackles—her golden rope could become a spiritual chain, attacking the target's soul.
If the target's spiritual power was lower than hers, they'd be shackled for thirty seconds, unable to use soul skills. Even if they were stronger, they'd still be locked out for five seconds.
Keqing's spiritual power was above Han Ruoruo's, but even she wasn't spared—her actions were locked.
It was only five seconds, but in a fast-paced battle, five seconds could be fatal.
Han Ruoruo's Dazzling Golden Rope martial soul, as a top-tier control type, showed its strength.
"Ming'er!" Han Ruoruo shouted upon successfully restraining Keqing.
"Sixth Soul Skill: Solar Corona!" Wu Ming's back sprouted radiant fire wings, her whole body blazing with the True Fire of the Golden Crow, like a scorching sun. She fearlessly unleashed her strongest soul skill.
A dazzling sun ring formed above her head, and in an instant, the searing heat swept outward in all directions, the air sizzling as if ignited.
Frightening energy condensed and compressed at the corona, gathering devastating power.
"Boom—!"
A pillar of golden flame, charged with extreme heat, blasted toward Keqing.
"Did you forget about me?" Just then, Zhang Lexuan's cool voice rang out.
Silver moonlight hung high, casting a cold, holy glow.
Her fifth soul ring shone black, her whole being merging with the moonlight, radiating a sacred and inviolable aura.
"Fifth Soul Skill: Lunar Annihilation Divine Light!" As she spoke, a wave of terrifying cold radiated from her, instantly extinguishing the heat of Wu Ming's flames, like snow meeting the blazing sun—gone without a trace.
Next, silver moonlight condensed before her, forming a silver pillar of ultimate cold that shot out even faster than the solar flare.
"Boom—!"
When extreme light and heat collided with ice and cold, it was as if time froze.
Sun and moon energies clashed violently, erupting in a massive explosion, forming a huge, destructive energy sphere.
With a deafening blast, blinding light swept across the arena, forcing the audience to shut their eyes in pain.
"Third Soul Skill: Sword Light As Myself!" Amid the chaos, Keqing's clear voice rang out.
She transformed into a bolt of thunder sword light, striking Wu Ming with a flurry of lightning-fast slashes.
"Ugh!" Wu Ming groaned. Having just unleashed her sixth soul skill, she hadn't had time to recover. She couldn't react to Keqing's ghostly speed—her wings were instantly severed, her body paralyzed by lightning, and she plummeted from the sky like a cut kite.
Han Ruoruo, seeing this, wanted to rush to help Wu Ming, but she didn't dare move a muscle.
Seven moonlit sword shadows had silently appeared, each aimed at her vitals—one wrong move and she'd be struck down.
Han Ruoruo looked up to see Zhang Lexuan, a silver moon suspended above her, radiating sacred brilliance like a moon goddess descended.
Han Ruoruo's lips twisted in a bitter smile. She looked at Wu Ming, now kneeling in defeat before Keqing, and at her other teammates, already unconscious on the ground.
Her voice was dry, full of loneliness and resignation: "We surrender!"