Douro Continent

Chapter 373 Liu Erlong, the Schemed One (Part 2)

"Since they can link other soul skills together, they certainly can't not incorporate these two powerful skills. You lost because of carelessness. When Tang San's Purple Demon Eye made you dizzy, you already had no chance. These little guys didn't give you any time to fight back. Various restrictive skills kept hitting you. What could you do? Even if your strength was far superior to theirs, you couldn't withstand their relentless bombardment. You were outmaneuvered by them."

Liu Erlong whirled around, glaring at the Shrek Seven Devils who were excitedly celebrating their victory. "Well, you little rascals, were you planning this all along?"

Oscar chuckled and said, "Teacher Liu, your strength is too great. Otherwise, how could we possibly be your match?"

Liu Erlong angrily said, "I should have used my Martial Soul True Body right from the start and taught you a good lesson."

"It's useless. They have too many interrupt skills. They won't give you a chance to use your Martial Soul True Form. Your other skills aren't enough to defeat them in one go either. With two support classes present, they can easily boost the strength of two or three of them to over level 50. These little monsters' coordination is already basically perfect. If Flander came, the result would be the same."

The master looked at the group of children with satisfaction. In just one month, they had clearly grown again. And the speed of their growth was even faster than he had imagined. Not just Tang San, but everyone.

At this moment, the soul power of all seven people had reached the critical point of advancing to the next level under Liu Erlong's pressure. They were not far from leveling up.

The master casually put his arm around Liu Erlong's shoulder. "These seven little monsters have been plotting against you for at least three days. With a combination like that, although you could defeat them, it wouldn't be easy for you to crush them like you did a few days ago. They were feigning weakness to make you relax and be careless. In terms of true strength, they are obviously no match for you. But by feigning weakness, you couldn't use a strong soul skill to strike first. That's why you suffered this defeat today."

Liu Erlong glared fiercely at the Shrek Seven Devils, "Fine, you seven little brats actually dared to scheme against me. You're all dead. Come on, let's continue our sparring. If I don't beat you until you cry today, I'm not Liu Erlong."

"Ah!" Before Liu Erlong could even rush over, the Shrek Seven Devils were already screaming in pain. Everyone's pleading eyes fell on Grandmaster.

The master looked up at the sky and said calmly, "Your tactics are not bad, but you're ultimately targeting your master's wife. Let her vent her anger. Erlong, go easy on her."

The Shrek Seven Devils, "..."

For the next few hours, screams could be clearly heard coming from the classrooms inside the Shrek Academy's teaching building. It seemed the woods behind the academy had become a scene of utter misery.

The most unlucky ones were Tailong and his three companions. They weren't the ones who plotted against Liu Erlong, but they were the ones who got beaten up.

The qualifying rounds of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament are not as exciting as the preliminary rounds. To protect the privacy and safety of individual Soul Masters, no spectators are allowed to watch the qualifying rounds.

The qualifying rounds will still be divided into two major empires. The thirty teams that qualified through the qualifiers will compete in their respective empires. The three teams that have already qualified for the finals will not participate in the qualifying rounds.

On the Tian Dou Empire side, a total of fifteen teams, including the five teams that qualified from the Tian Dou City preliminary rounds, had completed the registration process in the morning and gathered at the venue for the qualifying rounds.

There are fewer teams, but those who can pass the qualifiers are undoubtedly the elite of the elite.

The ten teams from the five kingdoms and duchies who qualified through the preliminary rounds arrived earlier, needing to familiarize themselves with the environment. They also carried with them numerous promises from the kingdoms or duchies they represented.

If they achieve good results, the rewards they can receive will be even greater than what Emperor Xueye promised.

After all, those kingdoms and duchies have a greater thirst for talent; who wouldn't want to have more powerful Soul Masters under their command?

In the wars of Douluo Continent, Soul Masters have long been a decisive factor on the battlefield.

The number of high-level Soul Masters is a fundamental measure of a power's strength. This is precisely why the Spirit Hall holds such a transcendent position, one that even the two great empires dare not easily offend. Even knowing that those kingdoms and duchies secretly receive support from the Spirit Hall, they dare not speak out against it.

The Royal Hunting Grounds are located fifty kilometers southwest of Tiandou City. The terrain within the hunting grounds is varied and the area is vast. It is the place where members of the royal family hunt and train.

Normally, no civilians are allowed to approach. Ten thousand Royal Knights are responsible for patrolling and guarding the area. They also train here, rotating every three months to maintain combat effectiveness.

The Royal Knights are arguably the strongest force under the control of the Heavenly Dou Empire's royal family.

To avoid unnecessary trouble and conflict, and to prevent the strength of each academy that entered the promotion tournament from being observed by other academies, all fifteen advanced soul master academy teams that entered the promotion tournament were arranged to rest in different places.

The Heaven Dou Empire's royal family was clearly well-prepared for the qualifying rounds. When the Shrek Academy students arrived early in the morning, the first thing they saw was the massive Royal Knights.

The Royal Knights of the Heavenly Dou Empire are all dressed in bright silver armor. This thick plate armor has extremely strong defense. Even their mounts are carefully selected Heavenly Soul Horses with certain magical beast bloodlines. These horses themselves do not have much offensive capability.

But with its incredible speed, immense weight, and exceptional endurance, it has always been the best choice for cavalry.

The horse was also covered in armor, and the weight of the rider and the bright armor did not affect the horse's speed in the slightest.

Once such a cavalry unit launches a charge, its power will undoubtedly be astonishing.

The Royal Knights have always been an elite force that the Heaven Dou Empire's royal family has been dedicated to building, totaling 50,000 men, with all captains of rank over 100 being Soul Masters. This is an extremely expensive army, but its deterrent power is equally immense. At least under the name of the Heaven Dou Empire, the major kingdoms and duchies dare not act rashly in the face of its threat.

"Please show your credentials." The Shrek Academy students were stopped by the Royal Knights' outer guards. These credentials were proof of their advancement.

Flander handed the token to the other party, and the knight in silver armor with a red tassel on his head immediately bowed to the crowd.

"Welcome, fellow Soul Masters from Shrek Academy. I am Roxon, the captain of the Third Battalion of the Heaven Dou Royal Knights. Please follow me." After saying this, he did not mount his horse. The group of more than ten people from Shrek Academy walked into the hunting grounds under the escort of fifty fully armed Royal Knights.

After crossing a small hill, a wide-open space suddenly appeared before them, revealing a vast grassland. The expanded view brought a sense of liberation and indescribable comfort.

On the grassland, a large military camp was arranged in a circle. Roxon pointed to the camp, "The qualifying rounds of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament will be held right in the center of the camp. Your safety and privacy can be absolutely guaranteed."

Tang San's heart stirred, and he thought to himself, "The Heaven Dou Empire's royal family has really gone to great lengths." This qualifying tournament is being held in the military camp, and the Royal Knights will undoubtedly be spectators. The duel between Soul Masters will certainly have a positive impact on the Royal Knights.

This further inspired their determination and fighting spirit to train hard.

The Shrek Academy students were led to a large military camp, where they were assigned five barracks to rest in. The military barracks were not luxurious, but they were very clean.

It was clear that they had made preparations before their arrival.

The fourteen members of Shrek Academy will stay here until the end of the qualifying rounds.

The qualifying rounds also follow a round-robin system, but because the number of teams has been significantly reduced, the competition period has been shortened from one month to half a month. After a half-month break, the final tournament will be held at the border between the two great empires, Tiandou and Xingluo.

Roxon gave Flander a standard military salute. "Dean, please get some rest. The qualifying matches will officially begin tomorrow. Someone will escort you to the competition venue. There will be no opening ceremony; the matches will begin immediately. The winners will be jointly determined by experts from both the Empire and the Spirit Hall to ensure fairness."

"Thank you, General Roxson," Flander returned the greeting with a smile.

Roxon, somewhat flattered, said, "I wouldn't dare, I'll take my leave now." As the captain of the Royal Knights' Third Battalion, he was naturally a Soul Master, though only level forty-four. He naturally held the dean of a high-level Soul Master academy in high esteem.

Flander quickly assigned rooms to everyone. Liu Erlong and Xiao Wu took one room, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing took another. He shared a room with Master. The remaining two rooms were given to Tang San, Dai Mubai, and the other male students.

Just as they had settled in, their temporary lodgings welcomed two more guests. While Tang San had expected the arrival of Ning Fengzhi, the sect leader of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, the other person who accompanied Ning Fengzhi was someone he had never anticipated.

(End of this chapter)