An explosive shell with tracking abilities? Then it's not a Class 4 shell anymore. But why does its power look like a Class 4 shell? Huo Yuhao's brain was calculating rapidly in the Tang Sect's waiting area.
This round was especially important for the Tang Sect, and Wang Dong'er was the first one to fight. Huo Yuhao was afraid that he would lose his cool and his rationality because he was too concerned, and that he wouldn't keep his calm to continue commanding his team in the tournament. Therefore, when his eyes were closed before this, he was using one of the skills of necromancy that he had learned from the Calamity Necromancer, Electrolux, which was called the Necromancer's Silent Heart. This skill allowed him to enter a peculiarly calm state, and the skill also greatly boosted his senses. The only downside was that he would be incapable of any emotions at all over the next day, and he would only use the most rational and reasonable methods to think about things.
Wang Dong'er's second soul ring sparkled, and a golden light burst forth from the light spots on her wings behind her. The sphere of light immediately collided with the explosive shell hurtling through the air.
Intense explosions could be heard, and sphere of scorching red light over ten meters in diameter instantly lit up the sky. The violent shockwaves that resulted from the collision caused the air in the sky to twist and contort.
This was a Class 5 explosive shell after all, and the shell possessed power close to a Class 6 soul tool's attack. Shi Xing was sophisticated, indeed!
Shi Xing revealed five soul rings; two yellow and three purple rings, which contrasted with Wang Dong'er's two yellow, two purple, and two black soul rings. Wang Dong'er's ring combination was the most optimal combination, and she was also a Soul Emperor. There was quite a gap between their cultivations.
However, since Shi Xing could unleash a Class 5 explosive shell with tracking abilities within such a short period of time, it was likely that he wasn't far from his sixth ring even though he only had five rings at the moment.
The vigorous shockwaves touched Wang Dong'er in the end, and forced her body upwards. On the other side, three more explosive shells whistled through the air and formed a triangular formation in the sky. This formation completely locked Wang Dong'er in and sealed everything off as she rose up through the air.
Wang Dong'er wasn't hasty to soar upwards, but neither did she intend to meet these shells head-on. She withdrew her wings, and plummeted down through the air just like that. However, the explosive shells could lock onto her and track her down, and they immediately pursued her as she fell. Wang Dong'er didn't seem like she was about to reduce her speed, and she plunged down right towards the ground. The location that she was going towards was actually where the judge was, and she began to shout as she continued diving through the air, "Watch out, please move away!"
The judge received a rude shock. They were only in the round robin stage, so they couldn't send that powerful a soul master out to be the judge. He was a seven-ringed Soul Sage, but he still couldn't take the force of three explosive shells detonating at the same time. What's this dude from the Tang Sect trying to do? Is he trying to die together with me?
The judge released his martial soul in his astonishment, and his body moved several dozen meters away in a flash. He was actually an agility-type soul master!
Wang Dong'er had no intention of letting him go. She expanded her wings again, and switched directions gracefully in the air as she chased after the judge.
---
Back on the rostrum, Xu Tianran said plainly, "Relieve that judge of his duties after the competition. You have to be discerning even if you're biased. He's going to disgrace our empire by showing such bias when everyone's watching. What an idiot."
"Yes." Cold light flashed across Ju Zi's eyes. However, the image of her and Wang Dong'er healing Huo Yuhao together surfaced in her mind at this moment.
He must know that she's a girl by now. They… are they together now?
Ju Zi could feel her heart starting to palpitate as this question appeared in her mind.
"Why are your hands so cold, Ju Zi?" Xu Tianran asked confusedly.
Ju Zi felt her heart skip a beat and said hurriedly, "The tournament is too exciting. Perhaps I'm just a little nervous."
Xu Tianran smiled, "You can't be crushing on that youth from the Tang Sect, can you? He's the most handsome man I've ever seen, though. I couldn't match up to him even if I could walk."
Ju Zi couldn't help but laugh. "Are you envious, your Highness?"
Xu Tianran chortled and said, "I'm also a man, how can I not be envious?" He was wearing a smile on his face, but the sparkle in his eyes was as cold as ever. He couldn't please his women, so deep in his heart, he was quite afraid that his women wouldn't be loyal to him. He couldn't take it even if it was just emotional disloyalty. However, Ju Zi's next sentence pacified the fury that was just rising in his heart.
Ju Zi continued, "I'm glad that you're envious for me, because that means you care about me. However, there's no need to be envious about a girl, is there?"
"A girl?" Xu Tianran was momentarily stunned.
Ju Zi bent down beside his ear and whispered, "Can't you tell that Wang Dong is a girl? How could a man be that good-looking?"
Xu Tianran was still shocked. "So, she's a girl. How did you find out?"
Ju Zi smiled and replied, "Didn't you ask me to investigate the Tang Sect? My people made that judgment from their intel and observations. She's not just a girl, I think she's together with Huo Yuhao. They stay with each other every day, and she's the one that takes care of him."
"A girl, huh. She would be very pretty if she were wearing women's clothes." Xu Tianran murmured to himself. However, his eyes suddenly became cruel and fierce as he spoke.
If… if I hadn't lost the ability to be a man, how many beautiful girls like that would I have for myself?
"You're hurting me, your Highness!" Ju Zi exclaimed agonizingly.
Xu Tianran froze, and his eyes quickly returned to normal. "I'm sorry."
Ju Zi grabbed his hand and said, "It's alright, your Highness. Please don't think too much about that. The empire's technology is so advanced, it's just a matter of time before we discover something that can heal your wounds."
"Yes," Xu Tianran nodded. "Let's watch the competition."
---
The scene on stage had changed drastically as they were talking. Wang Dong'er was right about to crash into the ground as she plunged through the air, and the judge was running away as quickly as he could. He wasn't a seven-ringed Soul Sage for nothing, and it wasn't that easy for Wang Dong'er to catch up to him even though she was flying through the air.
The ground was right before her eyes. Wang Dong'er suddenly turned around, and her slender legs tapped lightly on the floor's surface. She bounced off the ground at the moment the three explosive shells behind her were about to touch her, and she flew back into the sky at lightning speed.
Boom, boom, boom!
Three violent explosions rang out at almost the same time. Even though the competition stage was reinforced by soul tools, it couldn't take an explosion as forceful as this one. Metal pieces flew in all directions, and intense shockwaves reached every corner of the competition stage. But those shockwaves only seemed to push Wang Dong'er's away, and helped her rise even faster through the air. Wang Dong'er was covered by a golden light, and the shockwaves didn't hurt her at all.
However, a frightening pressure descended from the sky right at that moment.
Shi Xing naturally wasn't idle when Wang Dong'er was falling through the sky with three explosive shells on her tail. The attack that he had just launched was meant to preoccupy her. Xiao Hongchen had already shared his findings regarding the Tang Sect with his companions before this, and Wang Dong'er was one of the people that they had to pay extra attention to. They were already aware that Wang Dong'er had six rings now.
Even Shi Xing himself didn't expect his second round of explosive shells would force Wang Dong'er to tuck tail and run. Distance was extremely important in a fight between soul engineers and soul masters, and soul engineers would reign supreme if there was enough distance between the two parties.
Shi Xing was decisive, and immediately withdrew the other soul tools that he was about to use to continue his suppression of Wang Dong'er. A fiery-red heavy cannon appeared on his shoulder.
This heavy cannon was about two meters long, and is barrel about thirty centimeters in diameter. It began to release a dense and searing aura from the moment it appeared. It was made from Scarletsun Steel, and its formation arrays were sculpted from Scarletflame Crystals. The most important thing about using crystals to create formation arrays was that one couldn't afford to make a single mistake or miscalculation, and one had to finish everything in one go. Otherwise, there was no way to change anything, as crystals weren't as malleable as metal.
Shi Xing began to infuse as much soul power as he could into the cannon. This was clearly a Class 6 Scarletflame Cannon, and it was being charged up as high as possible. This charging process was almost complete when Wang Dong'er turned back around and rocketed upwards.
A cruel look flashed across Shi Xing's eyes. So what if you're a Soul Emperor? Even Soul Sages won't dare to meet my Scarletflame Cannon's attack head-on! I wonder how you're going to dodge this?!
A miniature metal tube rose discreetly from his left shoulder, and a ruby-red beam fired out and landed directly on Wang Dong'er.
---
Is that… a positioning-type soul tool?
Huo Yuhao's eyes became a lot more focused as he sat inside the waiting area. Positioning-type soul tools were typically used for stationary soul tools, as they were more practical, and they were equivalent to the stationary soul tool's sights. It was apparent that the positioning-type soul tool that Shi Xing was using wasn't that simple, and the Class 6 Scarletflame Cannon's barrel shone with red light as soon as the ruby light beam fired out from his positioning-type soul tool.
---
It was very taxing for Class 5 soul engineers to operate Class 6 soul tools, and this was still the case even though Shi Xing was nearing his sixth soul ring. Therefore, he couldn't add any more tracking mechanisms to his Class 6 Scarletflame Cannon. However, he did pull a cheap trick to get around this. He used a Class 4 positioning-type soul tool and merged it with his soul cannon, giving his cannon shell a certain ability to track its target. Furthermore, the Scarletflame Cannon itself had certain abilities to lock onto its target. It was clear that he intended to smash everything onto Wang Dong'er without further ado, so that he could end the fight right here and now.
Wang Dong'er could sense the immense pressure coming towards her, and suddenly halted in her upwards flight. She spread out her wings, and looked up calmly at the frightening Scarletflame Cannon that was still charging up above her.
She glowed even more intensely, to the point where her Radiant Butterfly Goddess' wings, which were mainly blue, were blanketed with brilliant golden hues!