Chapter 943: Counterattack

"Of course, while our Glory Circus has very strict selection criteria, only those with renown and power throughout the Western Region's spirit cultivation domain can be invited. However, we are never a team that forces anyone. If you refuse to join this game, you can state it now, and perhaps we might let you leave immediately."

Xu Yang looked kindly as he suddenly offered this reminder.

Awkwardly, in any team, there are always one or two stubborn individuals who aren't sharp enough. They actually believed these words and immediately stood up to resist.

An immensely powerful dark-blue totem swiftly condensed in his palm. The totem resembled a giant octopus, clearly a water-element totem with formidable power.

"Peak Spirit Skill: Abyssal Cataclysm!"

This powerful expert, also at the Cyan level, unleashed his strongest power!

In an instant, the entire, incredibly spacious circus stage was engulfed by frantic, deep-blue water elements. Everyone within received exclusive icy-blue water armor as a protective layer.

He, meanwhile, controlled the octopus totem in his palm, making it ascend and float in mid-air. His eyes glowed with murderous intent, clearly wanting to devour Xu Yang and the others beneath the stands.

"How dare you play such tricks on our Imperial Soul Combat Team? Today, I'll show you what true despair is! Hahaha!" The moment he finished speaking, the seven members of the Glory Combat Team, led by Xu Yang, burst into hysterical laughter from beneath the stands.

Their expressions suggested they had witnessed the biggest joke in the world.

Amidst this laughter, the man floating in mid-air, who had initiated the resistance, felt immense humiliation. He gritted his teeth and furiously slammed the totem in his palm downwards.

However, the very moment he unleashed his strongest power, all spirit energy circulation in his body instantly froze.

The Heaven-Swallowing Python, which had been overseeing the stage throughout, exerted its power preemptively at this moment. With its absolute rank advantage at the Blue-tier peak, it instantly restricted all the man's subsequent actions, firmly pinning him in mid-air.

At that moment, the resisting man felt as if his entire body was enveloped by immense force. No matter how he tried to struggle, it was utterly ineffective.

He had even completely lost the ability to perceive or control his own powers.

"No! How can this be? My body feels like it's not obeying me. What's going on?"

Little did he know, the technique just unleashed upon him was the Heaven-Swallowing Python's initial spirit skill: Snake Venom!

Although this was merely the simplest and weakest of the Heaven-Swallowing Python's six spirit skills, its effect in actual combat was terrifying.

In an instant, the snake venom silently locked onto its target, and the victim's entire body would fall into a state of absolute paralysis within a very short time.

Even more terrifying, once the target felt the paralyzing effect, their resistance to serpent-type powers would be greatly reduced. This meant that if the one who unleashed the attack was a serpent spirit beast, the damage inflicted on the victim would increase by fifty percent!

"Kid, I admire your courage, daring to resist in the Glory Circus!"

"However, as a consequence, you've lost the right to participate in the circus's subsequent games. And on our territory, those who lose their qualifications have only one fate: downfall!"

After finishing its speech, the little ape pulled out a pile of brandy bottles from seemingly nowhere and began violently smashing them onto the head of the thoroughly paralyzed man in the center.

Throughout the entire process, the other seven top leaders from the Imperial Soul Combat Team's faction, who were lying on the ground, could only watch helplessly as their teammate was smashed into a pulp by a monkey wielding liquor bottles.

"Damn, Boss, you never told us where this little ape came from! This guy is far more ruthless than us!"

"Even though they are our enemies, it shouldn't be such a bitter, deep-seated hatred..."

Xu Yang exchanged a look with Ling Yao and sighed helplessly, "You don't know, but this guy has a deep-seated feud with the Imperial Soul Combat Team. A long time ago, he ambushed their treasury and devoured one-tenth of their power reserves!

After that, he was relentlessly hunted for three years before escaping into the Great Spirit Beast Forest, where he became a king.

Not long after Ling Yao and I entered the Western Region, we encountered him.

On a whim, I took him as a pet and promised him that I would help him get revenge and overthrow the entire Imperial Soul Combat Team in the near future. This was a significant reason why we initially headed straight for Saar City-State.

Coming to this place, we were bound to have a hostile relationship with the Imperial Soul Combat Team."

Nearby, the Prassis couple and other teammates instinctively began rubbing their chests to calm their lingering fear after hearing Xu Yang's explanation.

"My heavens, thankfully we are under the Dragon Demon Combat Team. If we were a border fortress of the Imperial Soul Combat Team and encountered you two, we would truly be out of luck."

Soon, after personally witnessing the little ape's exceedingly sharp and domineering disciplinary methods, the members of the other strongest combat teams became thoroughly subdued. They no longer dared to harbor any extravagant thoughts, each remaining obediently on the ground, waiting for the game to begin.

"All right, Clown, you can proceed with the next segment. Take these fellows through each of our games. Grade their performance based on the different playstyles, and after each competition, automatically eliminate the person with the worst score."

The Clown maintained his sinister smile, bowing respectfully to Xu Yang with a slight nod. Then, he transformed into a wisp of air and vanished from the spot, beginning to assess the remaining seven top experts from the strongest combat team one by one.

Naturally, the specific game content will not be described in detail.

In short, it can be described with one word: miserable!

It's important to note that the strength of this strongest combat team surpassed that of the Scarlet Dragon Combat Team. This meant they were absolutely among the top five strongest combat teams within the Imperial Soul Combat Team's sphere of influence!

However, upon arriving at Xu Yang's Glory Circus territory, each of them had been tormented to the point of completely doubting their existence.

After a full seven days of various game trials, four of the original seven individuals were ultimately punished by the Clown. The remaining three—one at the Blue-tier, and two at the Cyan-tier peak—were all branded by the Clown with a special, exclusive soul imprint belonging solely to the Glory Circus, according to the final game's requirements.

This so-called soul imprint was, in fact, a new method for controlling human souls, created by integrating Xu Yang's and the Prassis couple's enchanting techniques.

Those etched with the soul imprint were effectively sacrificing their vitality, akin to offerings.