Douluo Continent: The Eye of Truth

Chapter 49 The Competition Begins

After a night's rest, the reserve team members had mostly recovered. Today was also the last day to register for the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament. On this rare day of leisure, the reserve team members strolled around Star Luo City together.

The members of the main team stayed home to recover from their injuries, while Huo Yuhao remained alone in his assigned hotel room, refusing all invitations to go out.

Although the reserve team will be the main fighting force in the early stages of this continent-wide advanced soul master academy fighting competition.

However, Huo Yuhao is a Soul Master whose apparent strength is only at the second ring level.

Aside from team battles where everyone needs to be involved, BeiBei generally doesn't arrange for him to compete against XiaoXiaoShen, whether in individual or duo battles.

Moreover, compared to the original owner of the novel who was sharp and arrogant, showing off and slapping faces everywhere with a ten-year soul ring, the current Huo Yuhao can be described as quite low-key.

He usually doesn't show off his abilities. Apart from his decent hidden weapon skills, his only other skill is his second soul skill, which is a strong single-target mental control. It's worth including him in Beibei's tactical plan.

Therefore, it is foreseeable that Huo Yuhao will likely have a rather leisurely time during this Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

In preparation for the upcoming auction of the "Gold of Life," Huo Yuhao needed to make some other preparations in advance.

Within Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea, before his spiritual body, a soul power circuit, modified based on the prototype of spiritual erosion, was being constructed.

Compared to the original version's mental devouring, this soul power loop structure is closer to mental suggestion, and it also adds a large number of concealment-type runes and magic circles.

Compared to Soul Ring Skills, the advantage of Soul Skills constructed by Soul Power Circuits is that, apart from the necessary Soul Power fluctuations and Mental Power fluctuations, they will hardly have any obvious external manifestations such as the lighting up of Soul Rings.

Moreover, mental suggestion is a type of spirit skill that tends to have a subtle and gradual influence, making it difficult for others to perceive. Therefore, what Huo Yuhao needs to do now is to add some concealment-type runes to it to make it even harder for others to detect.

Because the Life Gold is currently still in the form of the Soul-Devouring Blade, and its infamous reputation is well-known, if Huo Yuhao rashly tries to buy it, it will definitely attract the attention of the team leader, Wang Yan.

Huo Yuhao's status in Shrek Academy at this time is not as high as it was in the original work, so it would be a bit troublesome to explain it without a suitable reason.

However, if there is psychological suggestion involved, at least most of the trouble can be avoided.

Because apart from Wang Dong, who has Tang San's methods left in his spiritual sea, with the help of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, no one else in Shrek Academy, even Ma Xiaotao, who has the highest cultivation level, can avoid the influence of mental suggestion.

The auction itself will feature a large number of soul tools, and under Tang San's influence, Wang Dong is unlikely to participate, which gives Huo Yuhao room to maneuver.

Moreover, what Huo Yuhao was doing wasn't anything too difficult; it was merely a temporary influence on the Shrek Seven Devourers' perceptions, causing them to overlook a small fragment of their memory of the appearance of the Soul-Devouring Blade.

After patching up the Soul Power Circuit, a brand new Soul Power Circuit Technique was created. Unlike the Spirit Devouring Technique, the Soul Power Technique constructed within this Soul Power Circuit requires at least ten minutes of continuous influence to take effect.

However, after the influence is complete, the mind of the person being influenced will enter a state of ignorance, making them susceptible to guidance and manipulation by Huo Yuhao's mental power.

Afterwards, as long as the soul skill is dispelled, the affected individuals will naturally forget this part of their memory and will fill in the gaps in their minds, completing the events that occurred during this period.

Before he knew it, it was already late at night. Although the soul skills and runes used in this soul power circuit adjustment were all products that Huo Yuhao had fully analyzed.

However, due to the complexity of the structure, it still took a long time. Feeling the hunger in his stomach, Huo Yuhao immediately asked the hotel to send him a meal.

Unbeknownst to him, thanks to the diligent cultivation of the Heavenly Dream Ice Silkworm, Huo Yuhao's cultivation had once again achieved a breakthrough.

From level 24 when he obtained his second spirit ring, he has now reached level 26, which is close to level 27.

It was true that he was already close to level 25 after obtaining the spirit ring, but at this point, only about a month and a half had passed since Huo Yuhao obtained his second spirit ring.

At this time, Huo Yuhao had almost completely absorbed the medicinal power of the magic potion in his body. When Huo Yuhao's physique reaches the Soul Master level, his cultivation speed of soul power will experience another small burst due to his body being able to carry higher intensity soul power.

It is foreseeable that after the conclusion of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament, Huo Yuhao will be able to prepare for matters related to breaking through to Soul Master and acquiring the third Soul Ring. At that time, he will need to start preparing for the selection of Soul Rings in advance.

Huo Yuhao had a rare good night's sleep tonight, after all, tomorrow is the official opening of the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament, although Huo Yuhao doesn't have much of a role to play.

The following morning, as the first rays of sunlight shone into Xingluo City, the capital of the Xingluo Empire was filled with an exceptionally solemn atmosphere.

Many merchants and shops outside Xingluo City closed their doors to customers, and a large number of soldiers dressed in ornate ceremonial armor blocked the streets of Xingluo City.

In particular, the streets from the Star Emperor Hotel to Star Luo Square were completely under lockdown. All civilians and tourists were isolated, and only the contestants from the various advanced Soul Master academies who came out of the Star Emperor Hotel were allowed to pass.

Behind Xingluo Square lies the inner city of Xingluo City, which is also the true imperial city area. This area also boasts the best spectator view in this year's All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament.

The arena for this competition is 100 meters long and 100 meters wide, and is surrounded by 108 defensive soul tools shaped like metal pillars.

After the competition begins, these defensive soul tools will be activated by 108 corresponding soul masters to form a unified defense, thereby creating a protective shield to prevent the soul skills inside from overflowing and causing harm to the spectators outside the arena.

However, compared to its internal protective capabilities, this soul tool's external defensive capabilities are not ideal.

Moreover, due to the vast area covered and the technological blockade imposed by the Sun Moon Empire, the 108 defensive soul tools, though seemingly numerous, were only moderately effective.

After casually glancing at them with his Eye of Truth, Huo Yuhao stopped paying attention to these soul tools. Most of the core arrays used in these soul tools were just common, generic ones.

Only the connecting soul guidance core array is somewhat interesting, but that's about it. These 108 defensive soul guidance devices are all standard specifications, and each one has the exact same structure.

Moreover, because it was so crude, Huo Yuhao could even directly exert a reverse influence and control on it through his own mental power, and after cracking it first, secretly extract the soul power within it for his own use.

Because of the importance attached to this competition, everyone arrived early in the morning to take their positions.

The task of drawing lots to determine the order of the competitions is handled by the teachers in charge of each college.

As the sun rises high in the sky, its warm rays bathe the earth.

On the walls of the imperial city, the emperor and empress of the Star Luo Empire, along with civil and military officials, had all arrived and taken their places, signifying the official start of this year's Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament.

As orders were issued, the Star Luo Empire methodically arranged for the spectators to enter the arena, while the various academies had already entered the vicinity of the battlefield to wait.

By the time all the spectators had entered and the contestants had finished preparing in their respective areas, the sun was high in the sky.

"Silence!" A huge voice resounded throughout the entire venue, carrying with it an implicit mental pressure.

This was immediately followed by all the officers maintaining order in the arena standing at attention, raising their spears in unison. The once noisy Xingluo Square instantly fell silent.

"His Majesty the Emperor has arrived!" It was that same loud voice again. At this moment, a large number of civilians knelt down in unison to pay their respects, while soldiers knelt on one knee according to their status, and students and teachers from the participating academies bowed deeply.

"Rise, my lords." The voice of the Star Luo Empire Emperor was amplified and transmitted from the top of the imperial city wall by a soul-guided amplification device.

Behind the emperor were his empress and civil and military officials, while one step behind the emperor and empress of the Star Luo Empire was Duke Dai Hao of the White Tiger.

However, compared to when he was seen in the military camp, the White Tiger Duke's eyes seemed to have some bloodshot streaks, and he looked quite tired and somewhat travel-worn.

The emperor of the Star Luo Empire wore a smile, but whether this smile was due to the competition or something else was unknown.

"The All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament is the most important event in our soul master world. This year, it is the Star Luo Empire's turn to host the tournament. I am very happy. On behalf of the Star Luo Empire, I would like to welcome all the representatives from various academies, led by Shrek Academy, who have come from afar."

"I hope you will all shine in the competition over the next month!"

Representatives from all 133 academies responded, "Thank you, Your Majesty."

Emperor Xingluo didn't say much after that, since several hours had passed since the students from the various academies entered.

"Alright, I hereby declare the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament officially open!"

After the cannon salute, the Star Luo Emperor stepped back slightly and led his civil and military officials to the viewing seats prepared on the city wall of the imperial city.

"According to the competition rules of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament, the first round will be an elimination tournament."

"A total of 133 advanced soul master and soul master academies have registered for this competition. After drawing lots, except for one academy that will receive a bye, there will be a total of 66 matches."

"Participants who lose in the first round of elimination will be eliminated from the competition."

"Now, the first match will begin immediately. The two teams are the representatives from Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy of the Douling Empire and Shrek Academy, the number one academy on the continent, which has won all the major championships in the past thousand years!"

Because of Shrek's reputation accumulated over thousands of years and its millennium-long reign as champion, the arena immediately erupted in cheers after the host's announcement.

Under these circumstances, everyone in the reserve team except Huo Yuhao felt a heavy pressure on their hearts, and their faces turned pale.

Huo Yuhao remained calm, after all, what did glory or victory matter to him? He came here solely to obtain the Gold of Life.

His main purpose was to use the Eye of Truth to record the soul skills of various soul masters and the composition of the soul guidance core array in their soul guidance devices, thereby enriching his own reserves. As for whether he won or lost, he didn't care.

"Shrek! Shrek! Shrek!" Amidst the enthusiastic shouts of the audience, the teams from both academies began preparing to enter the arena.

Seeing the somewhat stiff reserve team members, Wang Yan forced a smile and said, "Don't be afraid, everyone. This is the glory of Shrek Academy, and it will soon be yours as well."

"Don't be nervous, don't panic. Your opponents will be ten times, a hundred times, more nervous and panicked than you, because their opponent is us, Shrek Academy!"

Even so, judging from the slightly stiff expression on Wang Yan's face when he spoke, it was clear that he was not as relaxed as he claimed, as this was his first time experiencing a competition of this caliber.

However, apart from Huo Yuhao, the others had no time to judge, and only felt that Wang Yan's words were like a shot of adrenaline for them.

After everyone calmed down a bit, they were still a little nervous, but their pale faces regained their color.

At this point, the competition host began to announce the entry of the participating teams from both sides.

"First, let's welcome the team members from Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy to the stage."

Immediately afterward, a group of people, their steps unsteady, their faces pale, and even their legs trembling, entered the arena.

Seeing this, the Shrek Academy students all breathed a sigh of relief. After all, Shrek Academy had a great reputation, while their opponent, the Heavenly Spirit Advanced Soul Master Academy, was just a mediocre school.

In all the major competitions, they are always the first to be eliminated, belonging to the team that is just there to accompany the prince in his studies.

Facing Shrek Academy, such a team, not to mention exerting extraordinary combat power, would be intimidated by Shrek Academy's immense reputation before the battle even begins, and would probably lose seven or eight out of their already limited strength.

(End of this chapter)