Douro Continent

Chapter 318 The First Match of the Preliminaries Begins (Part 2)

He was in charge of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, so good results would naturally bring him glory. He had long forgotten about Shrek Academy. As an imperial prince, what happened at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy was nothing more than a minor incident to him.

"I don't think so. Sect Leader Ning only agreed that His Majesty's battle of spirits was a foregone conclusion. He didn't say who would win."

Upon hearing this unusual voice, Prince Xuexing immediately looked in the direction from which it came with displeasure. The speaker was none other than Meng Shenji, the head of the three academic committee members of the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy and a Soul Douluo.

Prince Xuexing coldly said, "Committee Member Meng Shenji, don't embolden others. You are the direct person in charge of the academy."

He and Meng Shenji had always been at odds, yet neither could shake the other's position. Because of the Shrek Academy incident, Meng Shenji had complained to Emperor Xueye. However, Emperor Xueye was busy with official duties and his health wasn't good, so he didn't pay much attention. Prince Xuexing was his only younger brother, and he trusted his own brother more.

Prince Xue Xing couldn't identify the Shrek Academy participants in the arena, but how could Meng Shenji not? He immediately recognized Tang San, who had left a deep impression on him before. When he saw that Shrek Academy hadn't fielded all seven Shrek Monsters, he felt a pang of sadness. The prestigious Heaven Dou Royal Academy couldn't even force their opponents to go all out. But what could he do? Almost every student at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy had a powerful background; he couldn't simply impose his will on them.

Despite having a strong faculty and abundant resources, few outstanding students emerged. If it weren't for the great favor he had received from the royal family, he would have long since given up his position on the education committee.

"The first match of the first round of the qualifiers has officially begun."

At the referee's signal, the first preliminary round of this year's All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament officially began.

Similar to the Soul Battle, the tournament gives both sides one minute to activate their Martial Souls.

While coldly staring at his opponent, Dai Mubai raised his hands in front of his chest and shouted, "Brothers, activate your Martial Souls! White Tiger Possession!"

When both sides simultaneously released their martial spirits, revealing all their spirit rings to the audience, gasps of surprise immediately filled the stands.

Two yellow and two purple spirit rings shone brightly on Dai Mubai's body, while Tailong and Huang Yuan, standing beside him, each released three spirit rings, one yellow and one purple. The three power-attack type spirit masters unleashed a formidable aura, showing no weakness in the face of the five opponents.

Xiao Wu, Jing Ling, and Jiang Zhu behind them each released three spirit rings: two yellow and one purple. All six of them had the best spirit ring configuration.

What surprised, even horrified, the audience the most was Tang San, who was in the center of the Shrek Academy formation, with four spirit rings appearing on his body at the same time: two yellow, one purple, and one black.

Black is the least conspicuous color, but anyone who knows even a little about Soul Masters understands what it means.

Not only the stands, but also the VIP stands were filled with gasps of astonishment. Who could have imagined that in the very first match of the preliminaries, they would witness a ten-thousand-year spirit ring appear on the competition stage?

Prince Xuexing, unable to control his emotions, shouted, "No, this is impossible! How could it be a ten-thousand-year soul ring?"

Meng Shenji closed his eyes in anguish. "This should have been the glory of Tiandou Academy. No wonder, no wonder they didn't even send their full strength."

Even Ning Fengzhi, the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School who already held Shrek Academy in high regard, was greatly surprised when he saw the black spirit ring on Tang San's body. His fourth spirit ring had already reached ten thousand years? As one of the top three sect masters of the seven great sects, how could he not understand the difficulty involved? That was a difference equivalent to five thousand years of cultivation for a spirit beast!

The light in Platinum Bishop Salas's previously narrowed eyes suddenly brightened as he stared at Tang San. Although he did not lose his composure like Prince Xue Xing behind him, his hands on his knees unconsciously clenched.

"A fourth-level ring after ten thousand years?" Emperor Xueye's eyes flashed with a dazzling light. "Sect Master Ning, it seems you're actually rooting for this team, aren't you?"

After a brief moment of surprise, Ning Fengzhi's expression returned to normal. Although Tang San's fourth ring, which had remained unchanged for millennia, had stirred up a storm within him, he managed to maintain a semblance of composure. He smiled calmly and said, "Your Majesty, my daughter is also at Shrek Academy, but she didn't participate in this competition."

"Oh? So, Shrek Academy was trained by your sect?" Emperor Xue Ye said with a smile. A hint of joy was clearly visible in his eyes, showing no concern that the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's second team had encountered such a powerful opponent. On the other side, Platinum Bishop Salas's expression was much more unpleasant. Ning Fengzhi's mention of his daughter being in this team was clearly a message to him: the Spirit Hall should not covet this team. Furthermore, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School had always maintained good relations with the Heaven Dou Empire's royal family.

Ning Fengzhi smiled slightly and said, "It can't be said that they were trained by our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School. It's just that the child with the fourth ring of ten thousand years is also a disciple of our three upper sects. Originally, they were going to join the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, but unfortunately, they were driven away by His Highness Prince Xue Xing. Later, they joined another academy in Heaven Dou City, which is the predecessor of Shrek Academy, Blue Tyrant Academy."

"What?" Emperor Xueye was startled. He barely managed to restrain himself from turning around to ask Prince Xuexing, but he immediately recalled Meng Shenji's complaint to him, and his brows furrowed deeply.

Upon hearing Ning Fengzhi's last words, Salas's expression returned to normal, and his eyes even showed a hint of schadenfreude.

Compared to Shrek Academy, the spirit rings of the second team from Heaven Dou Royal Academy were inferior. It wasn't that their quality was bad; to represent Heaven Dou Royal Academy, these students all had optimal spirit ring combinations. After all, with Heaven Dou Royal Academy's powerful faculty and the influence of the nobles themselves, obtaining optimal spirit ring combinations wasn't too difficult. Unfortunately, none of the seven people on the stage were level 40 spirit masters. All of them only had three spirit rings. When their gazes fell on Tang San and they saw his restrained black ten-thousand-year spirit ring, their pupils contracted, and they were somewhat stunned.

But this is a competition, akin to a battlefield, and being stunned on the battlefield is a major taboo. While their opponents might be stunned, the Shrek Seven Devils wouldn't. In terms of combat experience, this Heaven Dou Royal Academy's second team is even inferior to the Shrek Seven Devils, who joined later, let alone the Shrek Seven Devils.

"Go!" Tang San shouted. While their opponents were still in a daze, the seven Shrek Seven Devils had already launched their attack.

Dai Mubai charged ahead, his muscles bulging, leading Tailong and Huang Yuan directly through the enemy lines. Xiao Wu and Jing Ling simultaneously circled around from the side. Behind Tang San, Jiang Zhu now held a strange scepter, slender at the bottom and thick at the top, engraved with strange inscriptions. Her three spirit rings flashed, and with a casual wave, she planted the scepter in the ground before her, a ring of orange light quietly spreading outwards.

It wasn't until Dai Mubai and his two companions launched their attack that the members of the second team of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy reacted. The petite man, controlling the Soul Master, shouted angrily, "What are you standing there for? Attack!"

The five members of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's second team were all power-attack type Soul Masters, with martial souls of Lion, Bear, Tiger, Leopard, and Wolf respectively. This combination's impact was clearly formidable. Although their reaction was a beat slow, they immediately responded to the small man's shout and menacingly charged towards Dai Mubai and his companions. In their view, although Dai Mubai's martial soul was level 40, they still had the advantage in numbers. All five of their martial souls were above level 35, so they weren't at a disadvantage against the three opponents. If they could defeat these three main forces first, victory would be within reach.

The fact that the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's second team placed five offensive-type Soul Masters at the front was clearly justified; their aim was to gain an advantage in the early stages of the initial contact between the two sides.

Unfortunately, they were facing Dai Mubai, whose soul power had reached level 44. And there was also Tang San, the Thousand-Handed Asura, with his ten-thousand-year soul ring, providing backup.

With a roar, the Evil-Eyed White Tiger unleashed its third soul ring skill, the White Tiger Vajra Transformation, just before it was about to collide with its opponent.

Talon's approach was even simpler. With all three of his spirit rings activated simultaneously, his pure strength amplification instantly transformed him into a ferocious gorilla.

Huang Yuan's third spirit ring skill is somewhat similar to Dai Mubai's, only slightly less powerful, and is called Heavenly Wolf Transformation. It instantly increases attack power and speed by fifty percent.

The fact that these three offensive-type Soul Masters from Shrek Academy activated their millennium-old Soul Skills right from the start was something no one expected. After all, using such a resource-intensive Soul Skill right away meant that if it was blocked by the opponent, there would be no follow-up.

But do the Shrek team members need any follow-up?

Dark light emanated from Tang San's body. He didn't even give the control-type Soul Master a chance to make a move before activating his ten-thousand-year Soul Ring skill, Blue Silver Prison.

Without any warning, over a hundred jet-black Blue Silver Grasses suddenly surged from the ground, transforming into seven sturdy cages that trapped all seven members of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy within.

Exclamations of surprise echoed throughout the arena, with some spectators even shouting the words "group control." Group control—the most threatening ability of control-type Soul Masters in team battles—had appeared in this very first preliminary match.

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(End of this chapter)