Douluo: Soul Shadow King.

The carriage passed through a somewhat dark passage in the city wall. After a while, the view ahead suddenly became clear, and the noisy voices of people filled the ears, making the scene very lively.

The Wuhun City gave people a very prosperous feeling. Although there were not many pedestrians on the street, there were definitely quite a few. There were some shops on both sides of the street, and most of the things sold were daily necessities needed by soul masters, which were not uncommon.

Cheng Xiao and his group were greeted by a Spirit Hall cardinal. Under his leadership, the Seven Stars Academy group was quickly settled in and they stayed in a luxurious hotel inside the Spirit Hall.

Because of what happened on the way, Cheng Xiao and Dugu Bo lived together, and Prince Xue Qinghe was not far away, in order to prevent any changes from happening again.

According to the news from Spirit Hall, the finals will officially begin in three days.

After dinner, Cheng Xiao returned to his room and was about to regulate his breathing and practice, when suddenly, a sound of breaking wind came from outside the window. As the window was pushed open, Dugu Bo's figure appeared in the room.

Looking at Cheng Xiao who was preparing for training, Dugu Bo sighed and said, "Cheng Xiao, I went out to collect some information. Judging from the current situation, many colleges will choose to give up."

"Isn't that just perfect?" Cheng Xiao smiled and said, "The same people are always competing in the same competition. I find it troublesome if they don't give up."

"Hahaha, that makes sense." Dugu Bo smiled and patted Cheng Xiao on the shoulder, saying, "This time, it's all thanks to your cheap teacher. Otherwise, I think Qianjun and Jiangmo would have taken you back to the Spirit Hall."

"Okay, you should concentrate on your training. Yanzi and the others will go out shopping soon, so I have to ensure their safety in secret." As he spoke, Dugu Bo's figure disappeared from the spot.

Smiling and shaking his head, Cheng Xiao sat cross-legged on the bed. Just as he was about to practice, he suddenly remembered the magic crystal he found from King Taizu's body.

"If my guess is correct, this magic crystal should be able to increase my training speed, just like the reward given by the system."

The evening breeze blew in slowly, and under the dim light, Cheng Xiao's profile was reflected. The magic crystal in his hand sparkled, and for a moment, the room became a little brighter.

…………

In preparation for the finals of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Competition, the Spirit Hall specially opened up a venue in front of the Pope's Palace for the competition. This venue was located in the center of the Spirit Hall, and the huge arena had a diameter of 100 meters.

This huge competition stage was reinforced with a large number of soul guides. In order to prevent damage, the Spirit Hall also used special methods to reinforce it. It was said that it was strong enough to withstand any attack from soul masters below the level of Soul Emperor without being damaged.

All the contestants, led by the Cardinal of the Spirit Hall, came to the outside of the Pope's Palace. Each academy had a separate rest area built around the competition venue. On the opposite side of the Pope's Palace was the VIP judging seat.

There are a total of thirty-three teams participating in the finals, of which three seeded teams are selected by the two empires and Wuhun respectively. There are five rounds of competition in the finals. There is a day of rest between each round and the next round. There are three days of rest before the final fifth round.

In each round of the competition, three seeded teams will have a bye, and the remaining thirty teams will compete for fifteen qualifying spots. The losers will be eliminated directly. In the second round, the first-place colleges of the two empire divisions will have a bye. At that time, sixteen teams will compete for eight teams to enter the third round.

The second-placed team in the promotion round will have a bye in the third round, and the remaining eight teams will decide the fourth spot and advance to the fourth round.

And so on, in the last round, there will be a promotion match with seven players from each team for round-robin elimination to determine the strongest team, and then the two losing teams will have a team battle, and the winner will challenge the previous winner.

As soon as the contestants from the Seven Stars Academy arrived at the competition venue, before they could settle down, Dugu Bo was called away to draw lots.

Everyone is preparing for the competition, and Shrek is also preparing as well.

The draw in the first round is undoubtedly very important. If a team can draw a weaker opponent, it will be quite advantageous for any team.

The master came back soon after drawing lots. His face was obviously not very good at the moment, and it could even be said that he was gloomy. He said to the Shrek people: "There is good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?"

Hearing this, everyone was stunned for a moment. Ma Hongjun stammered, "Master, our first round opponent won't be the Seven Star Academy, right? If it is really them, we should just give up and avoid getting beaten for nothing."

"No future!" The master glared at Ma Hongjun.

"Teacher, please tell me the good news first." Tang San suddenly said.

The master glanced at everyone and said in a deep voice, "The good news is that we did not encounter the Seven Stars Academy in the first round of the draw. The bad news is that Blazing Fire Academy and Divine Wind Academy have merged, and our first round opponent will be them."

"Merge?" Everyone at Shrek frowned, somewhat puzzled by the master's words. Isn't it possible for participating academies to change people in the middle of the competition?
The master shook his head helplessly and said, "They took advantage of the loopholes in the rules. It is true that participating colleges cannot change people during the competition, but this does not mean that students who have been recorded cannot change colleges temporarily."

"Aren't they too shameless?" Dai Mubai couldn't help but curse: "This bunch of rubbish actually used this kind of operation. Why didn't they draw the Seven Star Academy?"

"Teacher, with our strength, there should be no problem." At this moment, Tang San said.

The master said seriously: "Xiao San, I know that you are very strong now. Except for that monster Cheng Xiao, I am afraid that no one in the competition will be your opponent. But the Shenfeng Academy and the Blazing Academy have merged, so we can't be careless."

"Damn, if they meet the Seven Stars Academy and get slapped twice by Cheng Xiao, they will behave themselves." Ma Hongjun was so angry when he thought of what the Blazing Academy and the Divine Wind Academy did. Now he no longer regarded Cheng Xiao as his opponent. The strength of the two was simply not at the same level, and he had no choice but to accept it.

"Alright, we are all soul masters, why do you have to destroy your own prestige and boost others' ambitions?" The master said coldly: "Since you are not strong enough, then work hard to practice and defeat him."

"Don't forget, we at Shrek Academy also have the Seven-in-One Fusion Technique. I don't believe that Cheng Xiao can be stronger than the seven of you combined."

"At least it's better than your bragging." Xiao Wu glanced at the master and said in her heart.

Anyone who has seen the power of Cheng Xiao’s martial soul would not be so foolish as to say this. Not to mention seven people, even seventy people would not be able to do this!
…………

The bright sunshine shines on the earth. Under the sun, the Pope's Palace appears even more magnificent and looks like the residence of gods from a distance.

In front of the Pope's Palace, two rows of palace guards stretched from the door of the Pope's Palace to the foot of the mountain. They were dressed in bright silver armor and carried heavy knight swords, making the entire Pope's Mountain extremely majestic.

The students participating in the finals stood quietly in the square, waiting for the Pope to come.

A moment later, a total of twelve cardinals walked out of the side door of the Papal Palace, and then they stood on the left and right, six on each side.

"His Holiness the Pope has arrived!"

"Long live, long live, long live!"

The sound of shouting, like a landslide or tsunami, resounded throughout the entire Wuhun City.
This is not only the voice of the knights guarding the Pope's Palace, but also the voice of other soul masters in the entire Wuhun City. For them, the Pope is the greatest faith in their life.

The huge palace door slowly opened, and a middle-aged woman in a golden long dress, a purple gold crown on her head, a golden scepter in her hand, walked out of the Pope's Palace with a serious face. This woman was the majestic and iron-blooded Pope of the Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong!

The golden dress fit Bibi Dong perfectly. The gorgeous dress sparkled with over a hundred red, blue and gold gemstones. The purple gold dress on her head was even more brilliant.

"See Your Majesty the Pope!"

At this moment, all the members of the Spirit Hall knelt on one knee.

Cheng Xiao glanced at the powerful middle-aged woman, looked her up and down, and then stopped looking at her.

Behind Bibi Dong, there were four people following, three of whom were wearing red Titled Douluo formal dresses. For ordinary people, this kind of dress might just be a symbol of nobility, but for soul masters, it was the greatest honor, because only Titled Douluo-level masters were qualified to wear this red dress.

And now, these three people are actually Titled Douluo-level masters.

Cheng Xiao had seen all three of them before, one of whom was Chen Xin, the 96th-level Title Douluo of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, who was titled Sword. The other two were his cheap teacher and good friends, Chrysanthemum Douluo Yueguan and Ghost Douluo Guimei.

There are only three types of people who can walk out of the main entrance of the Papal Palace. The first one is naturally the Pope.

The second type is to prove with strength that you are a Titled Douluo, and the third type is to be an elder of the Spirit Hall.

Apart from these three, even the Platinum Bishop and the emperors of the two empires are not qualified to enter and exit this gate.

The fourth person who walked out with the three Titled Douluo, although he did not have the strength of a Titled Douluo, he was still able to walk out of this door, which meant that he had another identity, the elder of the Spirit Hall, or to be precise, the honorary elder of the Spirit Hall, and this person was Ning Fengzhi, the leader of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.

Dugu Bo naturally had the qualifications, but he did not join the group. He just stood quietly beside Cheng Xiao to prevent any accidents.

On this platform, except for Cheng Xiao, Dugu Bo, Tang San, Master and some special individuals, everyone else has already knelt on one knee.

Seeing that Cheng Xiao and Tang San did not kneel, Ju Douluo, who was standing behind Bibi Dong, pondered for a moment and was about to say something, but Bibi Dong did not care. Her eyes naturally fell on Cheng Xiao and Tang San.

In just a moment, Bibi Dong's gaze shifted to Cheng Xiao. For some reason, she felt a familiar yet unfamiliar feeling from this young man. This special feeling made her frown unconsciously.

"Strange, Yue Guan said that this child's martial soul is quite special, but why do I feel the breath of death from him?" Bibi Dong was surprised but still smiled.

"How dare you! How dare you disrespect His Holiness the Pope!" Seeing that some people did not kneel down to kowtow to the Pope, a cardinal immediately shouted angrily.

However, Bibi Dong only raised her hand slightly, and the cardinal immediately shut his mouth, with a look of awe on his face, not daring to say anything more.

With a faint smile on her face, Bibi Dong stared at Cheng Xiao and said, "You are Cheng Xiao, right?"

"Junior Cheng Xiao, greetings to His Holiness the Pope." Cheng Xiao said neither humbly nor arrogantly, looking directly at Bibi Dong who was staring at him and exuding a sense of oppression.

"Yes, the young man has a great character. He will definitely be a powerful man who will dominate the continent in the future." With a faint smile on her lips, Bibi Dong's eyes were full of admiration for Cheng Xiao's behavior.

Perhaps because of his identity as Ju Douluo Yueguan's disciple, or perhaps because of that familiar yet strange feeling, Bibi Dong couldn't help but look at Cheng Xiao twice more.

After a while, Bibi Dong looked away from Cheng Xiao, waved the golden scepter in her hand slightly, and said calmly: "Everyone, please stand up."

As Bibi Dong finished her words, the people who were kneeling in worship slowly stood up.

“From you, I see the hope for the future of the spirit master world. In front of the Pope’s Palace, I hope to see all of your strength and talent. The final winner of this competition will receive the greatest reward from the Spirit Hall.” As she spoke, Bibi Dong waved the golden scepter in her hand again.

No one could see how she did it. Three colorful lights instantly enlarged in front of Bibi Dong and then floated in the air.

They were three different objects, small in size and shaped like bones. They were a right arm bone, a skull and a left leg bone, and they were shining with three colors of light: fiery red, light blue and dark green.

Soul bones, these are exactly three soul bones.

Even at the foot of the Pope Mountain, the light emitted by the three soul bones could be clearly seen. For a moment, the Wuhun City was in a complete uproar.

Apart from those who already knew the final reward, who would have thought that the reward for the competition would be three soul bones? From the light, it can be seen that the quality of these three soul bones is extraordinary. Even the people in the Spirit Hall saw it, and their eyes were full of greed.

Soul bones are also divided into high and low values. The most precious is the torso bone, followed by the head, and then the right hand, left hand, left leg, and right leg in this order. Soul bones of the same quality have different positions and values ​​depending on their quality.

These three soul bones are the wisdom skull of concentrated spirit, the right arm of explosive and burning flames, and the left leg of chasing the wind that moves forward rapidly. They all come from soul beasts that are more than ten thousand years old. Among them, the wisdom soul bone of concentrated spirit comes from a soul beast that is more than fifty thousand years old.

At this moment, Bibi Dong's gaze fell on the master beside Tang San. Suddenly, her palm holding the golden scepter trembled slightly, her chest rose and fell slightly, and her face changed slightly.

"Xiao Gang, do you really have to stand against me?"

Bibi Dong sneered with gritted teeth, the depression coming from deep in her heart made her head a little dizzy. She didn't want to attack the master because of their past friendship, but now, the master's appearance was like a slap in her face.

The master's eyes met with Bibi Dong's. He seemed to understand something from the latter's eyes, but despite this, he still did not retreat. For him, not allowing him to prove the importance of martial soul theory to the world was tantamount to killing him.

At this time, Liu Erlong quietly walked to the master's side, took his arm, and cast a provocative look at Bibi Dong.

Sensing Liu Erlong's provocation, Bibi Dong's expression became even weirder. If the competition had not been going on at this moment, she would probably have been furious.

However, although she did not show any emotion on her face, she was already furious in her heart.

"Great! That's great!"

…………

The Central Square is the largest venue in the Spirit Hall. It is usually not open to the public. It is only opened when the finals of the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Elite Competition are held.

Although the central square occupies a very large area, today it is still occupied by countless dark crowds. As far as the eye can see, it is full of bustling crowds.

At this moment, when I looked around and admired the architecture of the Papal Palace, I discovered three unfamiliar faces.

Their appearances were very strange, with red light flashing in their eyes, like three vicious wolves ready to attack.

The three of them wore purple, book-shaped badges on their chests with the Chinese characters "Spirit Hall Academy" engraved on them, and their uniforms were pure white.

Standing in the front was a man, about 1.9 meters tall, with neat short black hair standing up like steel needles, and two purple crescent-shaped lines on his face.

On both sides of the short-haired black man stood a man and a woman. The man had fiery red hair that was casually draped behind him. Even his eyeballs were dark red, and he exuded an air of arrogance.

The only woman among the three had short golden hair and looked somewhat similar to the man in front. At first glance, this girl did not seem very pretty, but upon closer inspection, one would find that she exuded a strange charm.

"Cheng Xiao, these three are the golden generation of Spirit Hall." A familiar voice sounded in his ears. Cheng Xiao turned his head and saw Dugu Bo also observing these three people.

"These three are the geniuses of the Spirit Hall's golden generation. The black-haired young man standing in the front is called Xie Yue, his spirit is Moon Blade, and he is a weapon spirit master in his 50s. The red-haired man standing behind him is called Yan, and his spirit is Flame Lord, a spirit with dual attributes of fire and earth."

"As for that girl, she is Xie Yue's sister, named Hu Liena. Her martial soul is a fox, and she is also a Soul King. Rumor has it that she and her brother seem to have a martial soul fusion skill."

"However, in your eyes, the so-called golden generation of the Spirit Hall is probably just stronger spirit masters."

"I am looking forward to your performance. Why don't you just wipe them out directly? It would save us from comparing with each other. It would be troublesome and not fun to watch."

Hearing this, Cheng Xiao shrugged and smiled, "We'll talk about it when the time comes. The result will be the same anyway."

“Haha, you are quite confident, but then again, if I had half your strength when I was young, I would probably be even more arrogant than you.”

"It is rare, indeed rare, to possess such strength without being proud." (End of this chapter)