Douluo: When the piano sounds, the hidden weapon returns to the factory

Chapter 22: Battle with Shrek
In the center of the fighting arena, a circular piece with a diameter of two meters suddenly rose from the ground. As it slowly rose, one could see a thick golden pillar supporting the rising circle. On that golden pillar, a girl was leaning.

The girl looked only eighteen or nineteen years old, wearing a graceful white dress and long, wavy brown hair. Her ample breasts and breathtakingly slender waist embodied a breathtaking beauty. In her hand, she held a conical amplifying soul guide, a professional smile on her pretty face.

"It's an honor to see you all again." The woman in the white dress emerged from the platform after it had risen to its proper position. She spun around in place and waved to the surrounding stands. The platform that had carried her up to the stage quietly descended and quickly returned to its normal position, leaving no trace behind.

"It is Doudou's honor to once again host the Team Fighting Soul Competition in the main fighting arena for all of you distinguished guests. I hope you all enjoy yourself tonight. Today will be the highlight, and this is the only fighting soul match we have scheduled for tonight. Although the two opponents are only at the Soul Master level, they have both already held the honor of the Silver Fighting Soul Badge. If I had to give them a title, I think the word genius would be the most appropriate. Doudou will provide commentary for you all. Now, let me introduce the two opposing teams to you."

"Royal Fighting Team, Captain: Yu Tianheng, Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex Soul Master..."

"The Shrek Seven Devils, Captain: Evil-Eyed White Tiger, White Tiger Spirit Master..."

The host, Doudou, used her professional hosting skills to eloquently explain the backgrounds of both teams. Her sweet voice, enhanced by the soul-guided loudspeaker, swept through each box like a spring breeze, cleverly stirring the expectations of the VIPs present.

"Enough small talk, let's welcome both teams onto the stage with warm applause!" Doudou winked playfully. "As fellow Soul Masters, Doudou is very much looking forward to witnessing this showdown between geniuses~"

Before she finished her words, a pure white light suddenly emanated from her. To everyone's astonishment, a streak of silver suddenly appeared among her wavy brown hair, and a pair of snow-white wings unfurled from her back. Three yellow spirit rings rose from beneath her feet. When the third spirit ring illuminated, the wings gently fluttered, carrying her graceful figure into the air.

As a spirit master possessing the White Dove spirit, Doudou's third spirit ring, though only of a hundred-year quality, bestowed upon her the power of flight, a powerful addition. At that moment, gracefully circling in the air, her crystal megaphone in hand, she resembled a dove of peace holding an olive branch, adding a touch of tenderness to the fierce duel that was about to begin.

The secret doors on both sides of the fighting arena slid open silently, and the two teams moved towards the center at the same time under the guidance of spotlights.

In the left passage, the Royal Fighting Team marched in unison. Yu Tianheng led the way, his dark blue uniform faintly shimmering with lightning. The Shi brothers, like two towering iron towers, followed closely behind. Oslo's stern features, enhanced by the Ghost Leopard Spirit, looked even more formidable. At the end, Feng Yao, embracing the ancient "Fuxi," walked shoulder to shoulder with the two female team members, Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling. This was a lineup Qin Ming had carefully adjusted, replacing Yu Feng with Feng Yao to mitigate the Wind Bell Bird Spirit's weakness against the Phoenix Flame.

In the right passage, the Shrek Seven Devils were equally imposing. Dai Mu, the leader, had flying white-gold hair, his eyes blazing with fighting intent. When the two captains' eyes met, invisible sparks seemed to explode in the air, and the faint roars of dragons and tigers echoed throughout the fighting arena.

"What is that?" Xiao Wu's rabbit ears stood up unconsciously, Tang San's pupils shrank slightly, and a hint of surprise flashed across Zhu Zhuqing's frosty face - the three of them locked their eyes on Feng Yao at the same time.

Feng Yao smiled gently, his fingertips stroking the strings of the zither: "Long time no see, classmate Tang, Xiao Wu." He turned his gaze to the girl in black, "and this friend from Xing Luo."

On the fighting arena, the two teams looked at each other with surprise on their faces.

"Xiaofeng, do you know each other?" Dugu Yan leaned close to Feng Yao's ear and asked in a low voice.

Feng Yao looked at the Shrek people with a gentle gaze: "Tang's Blue Silver Grass, Xiao Wu's Scorpion Braid..." His gaze finally fell on Zhu Zhuqing, "and the Netherworld Spirit Cat Martial Spirit, which is unique to the Xing Luo Empire, are all very recognizable."

Although the two people's conversation was not loud, it was particularly clear in the silent fighting arena.

"The piano player~" Xiao Wu winked playfully, "Since we know each other, Sister Xiao Wu will be gentler later~"

Dugu Yan frowned and was about to retort, but was gently stopped by Feng Yao: "Then thank you for your kindness, Sister Xiaowu." He bowed and smiled, his posture calm.

This modest response caused a hint of disdain to escape the Shrek crowd, but Zhu Zhuqing's gaze grew sharper. She clearly remembered the young man who, with only two rings of cultivation, had subdued Zhu Zhuyun and her pursuers with a single melody of the zither a few months ago.

"Be careful of his piano playing." Zhu Zhuqing's cold voice broke the brief silence, and the black cat's tail unconsciously tightened. "He is not an ordinary soul master."

Before he finished speaking, the gazes of the two players clashed in the air like sharp swords. Even before the battle began, two fierce auras had already collided fiercely on the fighting arena, stirring up invisible ripples of soul power.

In mid-air, Doudou gently fluttered her snow-white dove wings, and her soft voice spread throughout the audience through the amplified soul guide: "Both soul masters, please complete the summoning of your martial spirits within one minute. You may only launch attacks after I announce the start. The criteria for victory or defeat are: one side surrenders, all members lose their combat effectiveness, or fall off the fighting stage."

This melodious voice was a delight to the VIPs in the private room, but it instantly set the nerves of the fourteen young spirit masters present on edge. Xiao Wu's rabbit ears perked in alert, and Yu Tianheng's fingertips danced with blue lightning. Everyone understood—this fierce battle between dragons and tigers was about to begin.

At the entrances to the passages on both sides of the fighting arena, the team leaders of both sides were closely watching the situation on the field.

On the Shrek side, Master Yu Xiaogang stood at the front with a frown on his face. Behind him was Flanders, who kept stroking his chin, and Zhao Wuji, who stood with his arms folded. Lacking VIP status, the three could only watch from the players' tunnel. Meanwhile, a hundred meters away, Qin Ming, leader of the Royal Fighting Team, was intently recording something.

When Flanders' sharp eyes fell on Qin Ming, the solemnity on his face instantly turned into surprise: "Ha! Now I can finally breathe a sigh of relief." He nudged Zhao Wuji beside him with his elbow, "Old Zhao, look who that is?"

Zhao Wuji followed his gaze and his eyes widened even wider. "Wow, how could it be him?"

Yu Xiaogang keenly noticed the abnormality of the two people and asked sideways: "Do you know the leader of the Royal Fighting Team?"

"The secret cannot be revealed~" Flanders pushed his crystal glasses, a sly look flashing behind the lenses. "Wait until the game is over, and the outcome will be revealed."

On the central fighting arena, fourteen pillars of soul power suddenly shot up into the sky, their violent energy waves shaking the very air. The host, Doudou, exclaimed in surprise, frantically flapping her wings to soar higher. She hovered twenty meters in the air, nearly dropping the crystal speaker. Gazing at the fourteen javelin-like figures below, Doudou's mind was filled with only one thought: these young people were truly terrifyingly strong.

Her throat churned a few times, and she was momentarily at a loss for words. As a commentator, she couldn't find the right words to describe the fierce battle between dragons and tigers that was about to break out before her eyes.

Yu Tianheng suddenly raised his head to the heavens, a dragon's roar piercing the clouds and crackling the rocks. The violent blue lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex spirit power erupted from his body like a thunderstorm, and the blue electric snakes that leaped around him scorched the air with crackling sounds. Amidst the blinding lightning, his figure rose higher and higher, his dragon-like arms covered in scaly scales, and deadly arcs of electricity danced on his sharp claws. The fighting spirit burning in his azure dragon eyes seemed to drop the temperature of the entire fighting arena.

Following the dragon's roar, the Royal Fighting Team instantly completed their battle stance: the Shi brothers' black tortoise shells glowed with bronze, and ancient patterns were faintly visible on the thick shells. The figure of the ghost leopard Osro appeared and disappeared in the shadows, and his sharp claws flashed with a faint light.

Feng Yao's fingertips flew across the strings, sending invisible ripples of sound precisely shrouding each member of the Royal Fighting team. With each rise in pitch, the fluctuations in the Royal Fighting team's soul power surged, and the multicolored soul light lingering around them grew increasingly dazzling.

"Group amplification?" Yu Xiaogang on the stage looked at him with a hint of contempt and doubt, "But why didn't the spirit rings light up? Could it be a self-created spirit skill?"

He clearly remembered the stubborn kid from six years ago—when he suggested he pursue a support career, his stubborn eyes were filled with rejection. Now, it seemed like he'd finally ended up on the support path.

"Massive hyperactivity." Tang San's purple demon pupils flashed, instantly perceiving the enemy's transformation. He dared not delay, and the blue silver grass beneath his feet spread out like a tide. After advancing to Soul Master, these tough blue grasses not only increased in number, but each vine glowed with a cold metallic light.

Tang San's palm flashed with blue light, and countless blue silver grass grew wildly, covering most of his own position in the blink of an eye. Six particularly thick blue silver grasses wrapped around his teammates' waists like spirit snakes, connecting the seven Shrek people into a perfect offensive and defensive battle formation.

Fourteen brilliant spirit rings shone brightly on the fighting arena. The Royal Fighting Team's optimal spirit ring configuration of two yellow and one purple weighed on the hearts of the Shrek members like seven mountains. This double crushing of spirit quality and spirit ring ratio made the Shrek Seven Devils, who always prided themselves on challenging higher-level opponents, feel a comprehensive disadvantage for the first time.

Beneath their masks, every team member's expression was as solemn as water. Dai Mubai's tiger claws unconsciously tightened, and Tang San's Blue Silver Grass trembled slightly—they knew full well that this would be an unprecedented fierce battle.

In mid-air, Doudou bit her cherry lips lightly and raised the amplifying soul guide with forced composure.

"start!"

These two crisp words were like the fuse that lit a powder keg. In an instant, fourteen beams of soul power shot up into the sky, distorting the air of the entire fighting arena.

Dai Mubai raised his head to the heavens and let out a deafening roar. His white tiger barrier, radiating a burst of golden light, made him look like a god of war, charging towards the Royal Fighting Team. His unstoppable momentum seemed to completely tear through the enemy's defenses.

Faced with this thunderous attack, the Shi brothers' faces were as cold as steel. In tacit understanding, they closed their formation, their first spirit ring, "Black Tortoise Guardian," illuminating simultaneously. The thick tortoise shells shone with a bronze sheen, and the steady, mountain-like spirit power surged, forming an invisible barrier before them.

"Hah!" Dai Mubai suddenly stepped on the ground and jumped up. With the 30% power and speed increase from Ning Rongrong's Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, his sharp tiger claws drew several golden afterimages, directly attacking the vital points of the Shi brothers.

At this critical moment——"Zheng!"

A clear, melodious melody washed over the entire room like a spring. Dai Mubai's mind suddenly went blank. The force of his tiger claws receded like a tide, and he fell from mid-air like a puppet with its strings cut. His once-determined killing move was completely undone by this seemingly understated melody.

Just as Dai Mubai was falling uncontrollably, a figure shrouded in blue lightning flashed into view like a ghost. Yu Tianheng's dragon arm gleamed with a cold metallic sheen under the light of his soul guide. Before he even reached him, the violent lightning had already coalesced into a half-meter-wide thunder dragon claw in the air, precisely snagging Dai Mubai's unprotected chest. This series of attacks was as seamless as if meticulously calculated.

It turned out that Yu Tianheng had already advanced simultaneously with Dai Mubai's charge. His movements were perfectly concealed by the Shi brothers' combined defenses. The moment Dai Mubai's attack was thwarted, Yu Tianheng soared into the air like thunder, his first spirit ring, "Thunder Dragon Claw," erupting with a roar.

In a split second, Dai Mubai only caught sight of a fleeting blue shadow before the destructive claws of lightning approached. The speed of lightning far exceeded the limits of human reaction, and the outcome seemed to be decided at that moment.

"It's a control spirit skill!" Tang San's pupils suddenly shrank, and his Purple Demonic Pupil instantly reached its peak. He flicked his wrist, and the Blue Silver Grass wrapped around Dai Mubai's waist suddenly shrank. At the moment when Yu Tianheng's Thunder Dragon Claw was about to hit, Dai Mubai's figure disappeared into thin air!
This incredible scene startled even the calm and composed Yu Tianheng. He leaped into the air, but his dragon claws missed, and violent lightning blasted a scorched black mass across the fighting arena.

It turned out that at the critical moment, Tang San used the Blue Silver Grass to pull Dai Mubai back to his own camp. This exquisite coordination was the essence of the tactics that made the Shrek Seven Devils famous.

Dai Mubai stumbled a few steps after landing, his back already drenched in cold sweat. He shook his dazed head and whispered, "What happened just now?"

"Be careful of his piano music." Zhu Zhuqing's cold voice rang out again, the black cat's tail swaying nervously. She knew better than anyone else that the young man playing the piano was far more dangerous than he appeared.

The way everyone on Shrek looked at Feng Yao had completely changed. The seemingly gentle and graceful young man playing the zither had now become their most dangerous opponent. Their previous disdain and contempt had vanished, replaced by a solemnity as if facing a formidable enemy.

"Incredible," Flender said, pushing up his crystal glasses, his eyes gleaming behind the lenses. "He can actually achieve both group amplification and mind control simultaneously, without even activating his spirit rings, relying solely on the characteristics of his martial spirit." He stroked his chin, "I never thought such a genius could emerge among the nobles."

……

(End of this chapter)