Douluo Continent: This Tang San is different

Chapter 189 Douluo Continent Elite Tournament: Opening Ceremony!

Time flies like an arrow; in the blink of an eye, half a year has passed in a flash.

Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Guang Ling returned to Notting City again to celebrate the New Year with Old Jack.

Before returning to the Heavenly Battle, Tang San left behind the child sphere of the Mother-Child Soul Guidance Photography Sphere and a large number of soul guidance energy storage devices, and taught Old Jack how to use them, and left behind an instruction manual - which was mostly filled with operation diagrams.

In this way, Old Jack could broadcast the footage in the village, allowing the villagers and children to witness the battle between Soul Masters.

After all, people in small villages have to be careful with their money, even for a single copper soul coin.

The soul-guided energy storage devices Tang San left for Old Jack were all very small, only the size of a thumb. A whole box of them was enough for him to use for three to five years…

···

After returning to the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Guang Ling were called away by Huo Wu, who was waiting at the entrance, and then headed to the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena.

"Has the Elite Tournament started yet?" Xiao Wu asked.

"Instead, we need to gather in Wuhun City. This year's competition, including both the preliminary rounds and the qualifying rounds, will be held there." Huo Wu explained the rules of this year's Continental Elite Tournament. "I initially thought it was a last-minute decision by the Wuhun Hall, but actually, according to Teacher Qin Ming, the royal families of the two great empires and the deans of various regular academies already knew about it, but they only told us during this period of time."

"Luckily, you came back in time, otherwise, you would have missed it."

"Because we're leaving this afternoon."

The distance between Heaven Dou City and Spirit City is quite far, so we definitely need to set off early. In addition, Heaven Dou City has quite a few academies, so the team will be quite large.

If we were to take action, the speed would be slow.

Heading to the Heaven Dou Grand Arena, upon arriving at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy area, Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan, Yu Feng, Oslo, Shi Mo, Shi Mo, Ye Lingling, Ning Rongrong, Lan Yinzi, and others were all there, along with Huo Wu, Xiao Wu, Guang Ling, and Tang San, making all thirteen members of the Heaven Dou Royal Team one complete.

In addition, there is the Tian Dou Royal Second Team nearby, led by Wang Chen. Besides the seven official members, there are five substitutes, making a total of twelve people.

Other areas house academies such as the Four Elements Academy, Canghui Academy, Shrek Academy, Mars Academy, Elephant Armor Academy, and Barak Academy.

Among them, Mars Academy and Elephant Armor Academy are also located in Tiandou City. However, Huo Wu was not familiar with these two academies, and their reputations were not as good as those of the Four Elements Academy, so she did not take Tang San to visit them.

As for Barak Academy, it is located within the Barak Kingdom, not in Tiandou City. At this time, it came to Tiandou City along with the advanced academies of other kingdoms.

By observing the different logos and uniforms of the various academies, Tang San discovered that there were a total of fifty-two advanced soul master academies present.

Since the Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire are comparable, the number of advanced Soul Master academies must be roughly the same.

The two great empires combined have only about a hundred advanced soul master academies.

According to the census conducted by the Heavenly Dou Empire a century ago, the empire had a population of three million…

Although this census was conducted three hundred years ago, and a large portion of the population was certainly not registered, making the data inaccurate for comparison, it can still be roughly deduced that the number of Soul Masters, when placed among the entire continent's population, is less than two percent (assuming an academy has a thousand Soul Masters, including students and teachers).

If you only look at this data, one in fifty might seem okay; out of fifty people, one could become a Soul Master.

But the truth is, you might not see a single Soul Master among a thousand people. After all, Soul Masters mostly stay with each other and rarely pay attention to the lives of ordinary people.

For example, a small village like Holy Soul Village, with a population of about a hundred households, is not bad, but usually, you only see a Soul Master once a year—a member of the Spirit Hall who helps the villagers awaken their Martial Souls.

[The task is arduous and the road ahead is long. Such a small number of Soul Masters cannot change the situation on the continent. Either 99% of Soul Masters will disappear, or 99% of the people on the continent will be able to cultivate. This seemingly maximum estimated 1/20 ratio is very worrying.]

It wasn't that Tang San was being overly compassionate; he simply felt that at this ratio, it would take far more than ten thousand years to achieve the goal of "conquering the stars and the sea."

However, let's take the first step before considering anything else...

···

Directly in front of the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena, after Emperor Xue Ye delivered a passionate speech, it was Salas, the Platinum Leader of the Spirit Hall, who spoke.

Compared to Emperor Xueye's lengthy speech, Salas was much simpler, merely congratulating the various academies within the Heaven Dou Empire on their excellent results in the competition.

Then, before setting off, an exhibition match was held.

The so-called exhibition match is a way for the Heaven Dou Royal Academy to demonstrate its strength as the number one academy in the Heaven Dou Royal Academy to other academies.

The Heavenly Dou Royal Academy has two teams.

As per usual practice, the main team is guaranteed a spot in the finals. Although the venue for this year's competition has changed, this rule still applies.

The team that took the stage to perform was naturally the second team of the Heavenly Dou Royal Team.

"Please welcome the members of the Heavenly Dou Royal Second Team to the stage!"

As the host announced from a soul-guided amplification device resembling a microphone, the members of the Heaven Dou Royal Team stood up confidently and headed down to the nearby passageway, entering the Soul Battle Arena one by one.

"Actually, we could go up too, but these opportunities are usually given to the second team."

Huo Wu explained to Tang San and the others in a low voice, "Compared to our first team, the members of the second team are either born into royalty or closely related to royalty. Although our first team is powerful, we are not entirely on the same side as the Heaven Dou royal family. Our members are mainly from families and sects. The three of you are currently commoners..."

"From this point of view, although Emperor Xueye appreciates our team more, he trusts the Heavenly Dou Royal Second Team the most, because their ancestors fought alongside the ancestors of the Xue family to establish the Heavenly Dou kingdom."

"After all, we mainly focus on cultivating martial spirits. Even if we are eventually granted a title by Emperor Xueye, in most cases, it will only be a nominal official position with a salary, without any real fiefdom. At most, we will be given a manor or something similar."

"Because the rich cities and towns within Tiandou are already occupied, if we want our own fiefdom, we either have to wait for a nobleman to make a mistake and step down so we can inherit his territory, or we can lead our own people to explore the deep mountains, forests, and wild wilderness that have not yet been developed by the empire."

"So, this exhibition match was actually to build momentum for the members of the second team, to let them show their strength and prove that they have the corresponding ability to inherit the fiefdom and status left by their ancestors."

"Of course, Wang Chen doesn't count. He's Crown Prince Xue Qinghe's bodyguard, and he was only forcibly included in the team to improve the performance of the Tiandou Second Team in the upcoming competition."

After Huo Wu explained the ins and outs, Salas began to select another team to participate in the exhibition match, with the aim of using them as a stepping stone for Tian Dou Team 2.

Although Salas didn't want to do it, he had to give face since Emperor Xueye personally invited him.

Then, Salas pulled a crumpled piece of paper from the box, on which were written the words "Shrek Academy".

"Please welcome the Shrek Academy team to the stage!"

Shrek?

Upon hearing these three words, Tang San was slightly taken aback, then chuckled to himself, "Tsk, I didn't join Shrek Academy, and Salas didn't deliberately target me this time, yet I still got drawn into Shrek Academy. What a coincidence."

When the seven Shrek Academy students took the stage, almost all the teachers and students from the academy started complaining.

It's all because their team uniforms are so bizarre—a yellowish-green, shit-green color.

Yu Feng grinned from ear to ear: "Haha, Xiangxiang, look at Shrek Academy's clothes! They're so ugly! I wouldn't even dare to go out wearing clothes like that. How dare they show up in public like that? And are those GGs stuck to their backs, chests, and shoulders?"

"Indeed, that fat guy who looks like a ball is really ugly." Bai Chenxiang spent most of her training time with Yu Feng, and the two became closer. They have now confirmed that they are boyfriend and girlfriend.

Oslo interjected, "It takes courage to wear those clothes on stage."

"That sounds like a good idea. Why don't you change into it when we compete in the final round?" Yu Feng suggested with a grin, placing his hand on Oslo's shoulder.

"Go away! I don't want to!" Oslo slapped the other person's hand away.

It's one thing for someone who admires Shrek to dare to dress like that on such a big occasion; it's quite another to wear it yourself.

These should not be confused.

"I'm not so poor that I need to stick a little GG on my clothes and make myself a laughing stock."

At this moment, Ning Fengzhi, as Emperor Xueye's "deputy", began to draw lots to select the venue for the competition.

This is largely thanks to Tang San's theory of diversified competition venues.

At the very least, Tang San has already brought about some changes to the world of Soul Masters through his theoretical knowledge...

"Desert terrain!"

Ning Fengzhi drew the desert venue.

Suddenly, the conventional arena in the Soul Arena descended, revealing a deep opening. Then, a competition field, hundreds of meters long and wide and covered with yellow sand, emerged from underground.

Both sides felt uncomfortable after taking the field.

Stepping on the yellow sand is completely different from stepping on the ground. Whether walking, running, or jumping, it requires much more effort and soul power.

In particular, Ma Hongjun from Shrek's side had his knees sink into the sand, requiring him to exert more effort with every step.

"Damn it, what kind of crazy suggestion did that martial soul theory master make? This kind of venue completely restricts us bird soul masters. When the competition officially starts, I need to move quickly, otherwise I'll have to waste my soul power flying in the sky all the time." Ma Hongjun complained. For a Soul Venerable like him, flying also requires additional soul power.

Later on, when his soul power was high, it was fine, as the soul power consumed by flying was negligible. But for someone who was only level 32, flying continuously would consume a lot of soul power.

"Now, please both sides state your names, martial spirits, and levels as a sign of respect," the referee said. "This is also the time for you to activate your martial spirits."

As the second team of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, they naturally started by introducing themselves.

Wang Chen took the lead and said, "Wang Chen, 20 years old, Martial Soul: Death Scythe, Level 45 melee control type offensive Soul Master."

After Wang Chen came the other members, but they were all Soul Venerables, none of them were Soul Masters.

On Shrek Academy's side, Mu Tian stared intently at Wang Chen, this fellow human... He had once considered joining forces with him to deal with Tang San, but after learning that he was Xue Qinghe's personal bodyguard, he gave up immediately.

If they've already pledged allegiance to Qian Renxue, it would be strange if they didn't betray their fellow villager.

In this cruel world of Douluo Continent, it's better to trust the original Tang San than to trust other transmigrators.

Wang Chen had also considered cooperating with Mu Tian, ​​but considering that Mu Tian was from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, he gave up the idea... Their positions were different. If they were to cooperate, Qian Renxue, with her keen insight, would definitely discover it—Qian Renxue had an extremely strong desire for control. Over the years, Wang Chen had already figured this out and dared not test her any further.

Therefore, having another time traveler means having another competitor, so it's best to eliminate them.

Next, it was Shrek's side's turn to introduce themselves.

Dai Mubai: Seventeen years old, Martial Soul: White Tiger, Level 41 melee control type strong attack Soul Master - After realizing that he had really lost his ability to compete, he gave up on himself for a period of time. After regaining his strength, he did not return to Xingluo, but his cultivation also slacked off, barely reaching the Soul Master level.

Mu Tian: Fifteen years old, Martial Soul: Bright Moon, Level 39 melee control type and physical defense type Soul Master - born with full Soul Power. His Martial Soul was once possessed by Austin Griffin, and his efficiency in refining the energy of heaven and earth was quite good. However, due to Austin Griffin's transfer and his own misjudgment, he forcibly absorbed a thousand-year-level Soul Ring, which caused his body to take a period of time to recover. Even if he worked hard to cultivate afterward, he was still one step away from becoming a Soul Master.

Oscar: 15 years old, Martial Soul: Sausage, Level 35, Melee Control-type Soul Master, Food-type Amplification-type Support Soul Master - Innate full Soul Power. He was taken in as a disciple by Yu Xiaogang at the age of seven and trained accordingly. Although his Martial Soul is a sausage, he possesses offensive Soul Skills that only Battle Soul Masters have. His development has gone astray, but with his external Soul Bone Eight Spider Lances and strong physique, he can relatively easily defeat strong offensive Soul Masters of the same level, as long as the opponent's Martial Soul is not particularly powerful.

Ma Hongjun: Fourteen years old, Martial Soul: Evil Fire Phoenix (crossed out) Evil Fire Chicken (corrected by the referee), a level 32 ranged output type strong attack soul master - the disciple of Shrek Academy Dean and Flander. His development is not much different from the original work, except that he did not take the Phoenix Crest Sunflower Immortal Grass and was also troubled by the evil fire.

Following them were Jiang Zhu, a healing-type support-type Soul Master; Jing Ling, an assassination-type agility-attack-type Soul Master; and Huang Yuan, who was relatively well-rounded in all aspects.

As for Tyrone, as a close-combat, crowd control, and offensive type, his type overlaps with Dai Mubai, Mu Tian, ​​and Oscar, so he cannot play for the time being and can only be a substitute.

"Three minutes."

With the referee's signal, the battle began. Mu Tian held up three fingers at Wang Chen, saying, "I'll knock you out of this match in just three minutes."

Although the two teams were a hundred meters apart, Wang Chen heard it and sneered, "Heh, how arrogant! Do you think you've replaced Tang San?"

Although the rest of the Heaven Dou Royal Second Team were useless, he was not, and Shrek Academy had many Soul Masters but only two Soul Grandmasters.

Without Tang San giving you the immortal herbs, how could Shrek Academy defeat them in three minutes?

Do you really think the Heaven Dou Royal Second Team is as useless as they are in the original story?

Battle is imminent.

Both teams put in their best effort and began to charge.

Meanwhile, the members of various advanced academies sitting in the audience observed the battle between the two sides amidst the swirling yellow sand.

Shrek's team was not well adapted to the desert environment, and the seven members did not coordinate their abilities well.

Individually, they are all quite strong, capable of defeating the vast majority of Soul Masters of the same level. However, their teamwork remains the same as before, lacking any particularly outstanding tactics.

And what about the Heavenly Dou Royal Second Team?

Needless to say, their coordination is even worse, since they usually spend far more time playing than cultivating.

However, their martial spirit talent was there, and for a time they managed to fight on par with the seven members of Shrek Academy.

For most high-level academies with low skill levels, these two teams are formidable opponents. However, for the members of the four elemental academies and the first team of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, apart from Dai Mubai, Mu Tian, ​​and Oscar of Shrek Academy, and apart from Wang Chen of the second team of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, the rest are all weaklings fighting each other.

"Tianheng, if you were to go alone, could you take down all fourteen of them in just a few minutes?" Tang San turned to Yu Tianheng, who was sitting behind him, and asked.

"Me?" Yu Tianheng put his hands on his hips and smiled confidently. "In normal circumstances, it might take me ten minutes to resolve this. The Death Scythe is of good quality, the White Tiger is alright, but that mutated fire lizard is a bit troublesome. And that sausage... it's being used as a weapon by Oslo's relative. If we catch it off guard, it might cause me some trouble."

"If overclocking is enabled, it can be resolved in three minutes."

Oslo: "...Vice Captain, don't talk nonsense. Although Oscar and I share the same surname, we are really not related. There are many people with the surname Os in the Heaven Dou Empire."

"Sorry, I thought you and Oscar were distant relatives." Yu Tianheng apologized, after all, he didn't usually pay much attention to the surnames within the Heaven Dou Empire, he just thought that Oscar and Oslo's names were very similar.

"It's not the vice-captain's fault. After all, the surname Os originated from the Os family three hundred years ago. Later, it was suppressed by the three major sects and eventually fell apart, with various branches scattered throughout the entire Heaven Dou Empire." Osro recounted some of the family's historical records. "It can be said that people with the surname Os were indeed related three hundred years ago, but three hundred years later, their blood ties have diverged so much that they have no connection with each other at all... It can be said that apart from the surname, they really have nothing in common."

"I'm sorry." Yu Tianheng apologized again, after all, he came from the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Clan, one of the three major sects.

"Cough, what's there to apologize for? I don't even know what happened three hundred years ago. In our Os family, whose martial spirit is the Ghost Leopard, there are only a few words left, and not many elders care about them."

Three hundred years ago?

Tang San recalled his experience in the Infinite Desert. Huo Feng of the Huo family had mentioned that the Spirit Hall had organized an expedition three hundred years ago, and apart from three Title Douluos, the entire army was wiped out.

The Os family from three hundred years ago might have been involved... Perhaps one of the three surviving Title Douluos was born into the Os family... Perhaps the downfall of the Os family was related to something that Title Douluo obtained from the Golden Tree...

(End of this chapter)