On Shrek Academy's side, Dai Mubai, Tai Long, and Huang Yuan stood at the very front.
Tang San occupied the center position, with Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu on either side of him, while the support-type Soul Master Jiangzhu stood at the very rear of the formation.
Although Huang Yuan was only a substitute member, Tang San had deliberately chosen not to field Oscar so that the team could fully execute the tactics they had prepared in advance.
Emperor Xue Ye smiled as he looked toward the arena and said to Ning Fengzhi beside him,
"Sect Master Ning, it seems there won't be much suspense in this first match."
Ning Fengzhi chuckled and nodded calmly.
Salas, who sat beside them, merely raised his eyelids and swept his gaze across the arena before losing interest and continuing to rest with his eyes half closed.
Soul Master geniuses?
As the Hall Master of the Spirit Temple, he had seen far too many.
In his eyes, a match like this was little more than children playing around.
Perhaps the finals might be somewhat interesting.
"The first match of the first round of the qualifiers officially begins!"
At the referee's signal, the opening match of this year's Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament officially commenced.
Similar to ordinary spirit battles, both teams were given one minute to summon their Martial Souls and prepare.
Dai Mubai stared coldly at Su Cheng and the others.
He raised both hands before his chest and roared,
"Brothers, release your Martial Souls!"
"White Tiger, Possession!"
Immediately, one dazzling Martial Soul after another emerged from both teams, while rings of light rose beneath their feet.
The moment every competitor's Soul Rings appeared before the audience, waves of astonished exclamations swept through the stands.
It wasn't only the ordinary spectators.
Even the VIP seats erupted in surprise.
Every young Soul Master standing on the arena possessed at least the cultivation of a three-ring Soul Elder.
They were undoubtedly among the finest talents of the younger generation.
Among them, Zhu Zhuqing's four Soul Rings—
two yellow, one purple, and one black—
were particularly dazzling, far beyond ordinary understanding.
Yet at this moment, almost no one paid attention to the fact that her fourth Soul Ring had exceeded the normal absorption limit by more than five thousand years.
Because at the very front of Heaven Dou Imperial Academy's team stood Su Cheng, holding a longsword.
Beneath his feet silently revolved five Soul Rings.
One yellow.
Two purple.
Two black.
They spoke more loudly than any words ever could.
Tang San and the others felt their hearts sink at the same time.
This guy…
He had already become a Soul King?!
What they didn't know was that this appearance had been disguised using Ah Yin's current abilities.
If Su Cheng revealed five black Soul Rings at once, that would simply be too outrageous.
He had no intention of being that high-profile.
As for the abnormal ages of his earlier Soul Rings, many people had already seen them before.
Trying to disguise them now would only draw even more suspicion.
"Move!"
Although countless thoughts flashed through Tang San's mind, the Shrek Team was already committed.
There was no room for hesitation.
Following Tang San's shout, all seven Shrek members immediately launched their attack.
As a rank thirty-seven assault-type Soul Master, Dai Mubai took the lead.
His muscles swelled dramatically as he charged straight ahead together with Tai Long and Huang Yuan.
At the same time, Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu circled around from the sides, one ahead of the other.
Behind Tang San, Jiangzhu suddenly held a strange staff in her hands.
The lower end was slender while the upper end was thick and heavy, its surface engraved with mysterious patterns.
Her three Soul Rings flickered.
With a wave of her hand, she planted the staff into the ground in front of her.
Layer after layer of orange-yellow light quietly spread outward.
Dai Mubai threw his head back and roared.
Without holding anything back, he immediately activated his third Soul Skill—
White Tiger Vajra Transformation!
All three Soul Rings around Tai Long lit up simultaneously.
Under the amplification of pure strength, his body instantly transformed into that of a violent ape.
Huang Yuan's third Soul Skill, Heavenly Wolf Transformation, was somewhat similar to Dai Mubai's ability.
Although its enhancement was slightly weaker, it could instantly increase both his attack power and speed by fifty percent.
These three assault-type Soul Masters from Shrek Academy had actually activated their thousand-year Soul Skills from the very beginning.
This completely exceeded the audience's expectations.
After all, using such high-consumption skills immediately was extremely risky.
If the opponent managed to endure the initial assault, there might be little strength left for the rest of the battle.
Tang San's yellow first and purple third Soul Rings lit up.
Countless strands of resilient Blue Silver Grass erupted from the ground.
Entangle!
Bind!
He did not use the large-scale control skill most important to control-type Soul Masters in a team battle.
Instead, he used single-target control Soul Skills.
His objective was obvious.
Restrict Su Cheng—the strongest person on Heaven Dou's second team.
Of course, Shrek's strongest offensive point at present was undoubtedly Zhu Zhuqing, whose Soul Power rank was the highest among them.
Two Soul Rings beneath her feet lit up one after another.
Fourth Soul Skill: Netherworld Possession!
Dark light enveloped Zhu Zhuqing's entire body.
All of her attributes instantly increased by twenty percent, while her strength and agility increased by more than seventy percent.
Then came—
Third Soul Skill: Netherworld Slash!
She brought both hands together above her head.
The claws extending from her ten fingers rapidly fused together, transforming into a blade approximately one foot long.
As Soul Power poured into it, a black blade of light condensed into a straight line and shot toward Su Cheng.
One glance was enough to tell that its destructive power was extraordinary.
This was also Zhu Zhuqing's strongest single-target attack.
The entire sequence unfolded with astonishing speed.
Every movement was sharp, fluid, and overwhelming.
The spectators barely had time to process what they were seeing.
Not only had the assault-type Soul Masters at the front immediately gone all out—
every single Shrek member had done the same.
Was Shrek Academy completely ignoring the issue of Soul Power consumption?
What the audience didn't know was that this had been Tang San's strategy from the very beginning.
Focus everything on Su Cheng.
In Tang San's judgment, if they could not restrict Su Cheng, then this battle was hopeless.
As for what came afterward?
If they failed to catch him off guard in a single decisive assault, then the most likely outcome was Su Cheng defeating them one by one.
Yet in the face of Shrek's violent offensive, the reaction of Heaven Dou Imperial Academy's team was rather puzzling.
Su Cheng stepped forward.
The other six members behind him also released their Soul Rings—
but instead of advancing, they all retreated.
At the same time, they adopted obvious defensive stances, splitting the formation cleanly into a front and rear section.
This was the arrangement Su Cheng had given them before entering the arena.
They didn't understand why.
But right now, they only needed to obey.
Su Cheng slowly closed his eyes.
A scene from half a month earlier flashed through his mind—
the annihilation of all things.
Then his eyes opened.
He gripped his sword with both hands.
Slowly…
he raised it.
The movement was extremely simple.
Yet the sword in his hands seemed as though it weighed tens of thousands of kilograms.
The next moment—
A colossal sword phantom soared into the sky.
"Fifteenth Sword…"
"Empty Mountain."
The enormous sword shadow descended.
The world before Shrek Academy's seven members changed.
No.
It wasn't only them.
Even the spectators facing Su Cheng felt something similar.
It was as though nothing remained between heaven and earth except that single sword shadow.
Pure.
Silent.
Untouched by dust.
All sounds had vanished.
Across a thousand mountains, not a single bird flew.
Across ten thousand paths, not a single human trace remained.
This sword did not represent extinction.
Nor did it carry killing intent.
It represented—
emptiness.
Distant mountain peaks stood tall.
Countless paths stretched across the land.
Yet no birds crossed the mountains.
No footsteps marked the roads.
Snow covered a thousand peaks.
Ten thousand paths disappeared beneath white silence.
The intent of Great Annihilation spread out the instant the sword was unleashed, enveloping the entire arena.
Every Soul Skill released by Shrek Academy gradually disintegrated beneath that sword shadow.
Around Su Cheng, the Blue Silver Grass erupting from the ground shattered strand by strand.
It didn't even reach the sword shadow itself.
The scattered sword energy around it was already enough to tear everything apart.
Then—
the three assault-type Soul Masters charging from the front were struck by the aftermath.
Boom!
Dai Mubai, Tai Long, and Huang Yuan were blasted backward.
Xiao Wu, who had followed behind them and planned to attack after the three created an opening, didn't even have time to activate a Soul Skill.
She was sent flying immediately afterward—
even faster than she had charged forward.
Tang San's eyes went bloodshot when he saw Xiao Wu's figure fly away.
Without hesitation, he summoned an enormous amount of Blue Silver Grass to block the incoming sword energy.
At the same time—
Eight Spider Lances burst from his back.
They supported his body as he forced himself forward.
Su Cheng's gaze shifted slightly.
He gently pressed the Sword of Longevity downward.
The giant sword shadow descended.
If Tang San had only felt the residual pressure before…
then now, as he directly faced the terrifying sword energy, his mind instantly went blank.
He couldn't even make his body resist.
The sword energy swept through.
His Blue Silver Grass was shredded without the slightest resistance.
Even several of his Eight Spider Lances snapped apart.
External Soul Bones were indeed powerful.
But they grew together with their Soul Master.
At Tang San's current level, he was still far from being able to unleash their full potential.
Tang San spat out a mouthful of blood and collapsed to the ground.
He stared at the terrifying scene before him, trembling slightly.
He tried to raise his hand toward the broken Soul Bone fragments—
but he couldn't even move.
He couldn't even use his hidden weapons.
During all of this, Zhu Zhuqing moved solemnly through the gaps between the sword energy, rapidly shifting from one opening to another.
Yet no matter what she did, she could not get close.
Su Cheng glanced at her.
His wrist tilted slightly.
The sword shadow shifted.
In an instant, Zhu Zhuqing was locked onto.
She was effortlessly knocked off the arena.
Finally, the enormous sword shadow stopped above Jiangzhu's head.
She stood at the very back of the team, her face deathly pale.
Her healing Soul Skill was still active.
But clearly—
it no longer mattered.
"…"
After several seconds of silence, Su Cheng raised an eyebrow.
He spoke calmly.
"You want to fight me alone?"
He had no intention of severely injuring the members of Shrek Academy.
If they were left in too poor a condition, Zhu Zhuqing alone would probably have difficulty helping them secure a place in the finals.
Only then did Jiangzhu react.
She hurriedly shook her head and obediently withdrew her Martial Soul.
After glancing at Tang San, who was barely conscious, she quickly said,
"We surrender."
In truth, it wasn't only Shrek Academy's members who had turned pale.
Even the six Heaven Dou members standing behind Su Cheng had bloodless faces.
Only now did they finally understand why Su Cheng had told them to adopt defensive positions in advance.
Although they had not faced the sword directly, the impact of its sword intent alone was enough to fill them with despair.
And throughout the entire process—
none of Su Cheng's Soul Rings had even lit up.
In other words…
he had not used a single Soul Ring Skill to strengthen that sword strike.
And that was only natural.
During his previous trip to the Blue Silver Grass Forest, the benefits Su Cheng obtained after advancing to Soul King had far exceeded his initial expectations.
His cultivation had directly soared to rank fifty-four.
Under the resonance of his Soul Rings, every single one had reached the ten-thousand-year level.
Moreover, they had all reached sixty-three thousand years—
perfectly aligned with the limits of his physical body.
With the combined effects of the Blue Silver Emperor Right Leg Bone, complete mastery of the Five Elements, his Domain, and the Nirvana Scripture cultivation technique, Su Cheng's physical constitution had reached a terrifying level.
Even he had not expected his body's endurance to become this powerful.
By condensing Soul Rings using this method, he no longer even needed to use his secret silver-needle acupoint stimulation technique.
After all, the principle behind that method did not truly strengthen his body at its foundation.
It was more like borrowing strength first and repaying it later.
Essentially, he temporarily extracted a portion of his physical potential, then relied on the enhancement brought by absorbing a Soul Ring to make up for it afterward.
More importantly—
there was also the comprehension he had obtained from witnessing the destruction of an entire world.
Setting aside how much that experience would influence his future cultivation…
the offensive technique born from that understanding was simply absurdly powerful.
It was no exaggeration to say that even an ordinary Soul Saint using Martial Soul Avatar might not be able to defeat him if Su Cheng fought using only the Sword of Longevity Martial Soul.
As for a Soul Saint on Qian Renxue's level—
he would only know who was stronger after using all his methods and actually fighting her.
"…"
The battle had ended extremely quickly.
Less than a minute had passed.
Yet at this moment, the Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena—
an enormous stadium capable of holding tens of thousands of people—
was completely silent.
There were no shouts.
No cheers.
No cries of encouragement.
Only countless dark silhouettes filling the spectator stands, all staring fixedly at the arena.
They still hadn't recovered from what they had just witnessed.
Even the three people seated in the first row of the VIP section had unknowingly risen to their feet.
Emperor Xue Ye's aged face suddenly seemed revitalized.
A clear look of surprise and joy appeared in his eyes as he turned toward Ning Fengzhi.
"Sect Master Ning, this child is…"
He knew that Sword Douluo Chen Xin, protector of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, had accepted a disciple who was currently studying at Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
He also knew that the disciple was on the same team as Ning Fengzhi's daughter.
Only after hearing the emperor's question did Ning Fengzhi finally regain his composure.
He forced himself to calm down and nodded.
"That's right."
"It's him."
Yet inwardly, Ning Fengzhi couldn't help thinking—
What a pity Uncle Sword didn't come to watch this match.
Because only one match would be held on the day of the opening ceremony, Heaven Dou Imperial Academy's team was naturally guaranteed to appear.
However, having a Titled Douluo personally attend would attract too much attention.
Besides, as far as they knew, Su Cheng's strength was already well understood.
They knew his background clearly enough.
And Su Cheng himself had never been someone who enjoyed showing off.
Whether they attended this opening match or not didn't really matter.
It would be better to watch once the finals arrived.
Perhaps there would be some truly exciting battles then.
Who could have expected Su Cheng to deliver such a massive surprise on the very first day?
Platinum Bishop Salas, standing nearby, no longer looked half asleep.
His eyes were shining sharply as he stared at Su Cheng, both hands clenched tightly.
Then a thought suddenly struck him.
He remembered the person a certain important figure from Spirit City had met some time ago.
Apparently, that person was a student from Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
At first, Salas had assumed it would be someone from the first Imperial Fighting Team.
Only now did he realize—
there was an eighty or ninety percent chance it was this boy.
Thinking of this, he casually glanced toward Emperor Xue Ye, whose eyes were still filled with delight.
A trace of mockery appeared in Salas's gaze.
He said nothing.
Instead, he calmly restrained his expression and sat back down.
Only then did the referee finally recover.
He hurriedly raised his voice and announced,
"The first match of the first round of the qualifiers—"
"Heaven Dou Imperial Academy wins!"
His voice finally awakened the countless spectators.
Boom—!
The entire arena instantly exploded into discussion.
And accusations of match-fixing?
What a joke.
Who the hell would need to rig a match like that?
Besides—
were the Shrek Academy members weak?
Even though their uniforms made them look as though they had just escaped from a circus, not a single one of them was below the Soul Elder level.
Every one of them possessed an optimal Soul Ring configuration.
They even had an agility-type Soul Master whose fourth Soul Ring was ten thousand years old.
Yet even such a team had still been swept away by a single sword.
There was nothing anyone could say.
That man was simply too strong.
Terrifyingly strong.
The only thing people couldn't understand was—
why wasn't someone like him on the first Imperial Fighting Team?
The teachers and students from the participating academies were also entirely focused on Su Cheng.
Discussions erupted everywhere.
Compared with the ordinary audience, however, their reactions were more restrained and their analysis more professional.
"Who is that guy? A Soul King with two ten-thousand-year Soul Rings?!"
"That technique he just used was definitely a self-created Soul Skill, right?"
"Could we withstand that sword?"
"Hard to say. But don't panic too much. Shrek only had six Soul Elders and one Soul Ancestor. Naturally they wouldn't have much chance against a Soul King."
"What nonsense are you talking about? You think we'd have a chance against a Soul King?"
"Actually, it's not completely hopeless. Aside from their captain, the rest of Heaven Dou's second team are only Soul Elders."
"I seriously don't understand why someone like him is fighting us for qualifying spots. Why doesn't he just go captain the first team?"
"It's fine. There are still four qualifying places left for the finals."
"…"
Compared with the relatively relaxed discussions among the other academies, the expressions of Shrek Academy's teachers were far more solemn.
Flender, Yu Xiaogang, Qin Ming, and the others exchanged glances.
For a moment, none of them knew what to say.
Could they really blame the students?
When the opponent was this overwhelmingly powerful, words were meaningless.
They couldn't help feeling somewhat discouraged.
"Qin Ming."
Flender turned toward him, his expression speechless.
"This is what you meant when you said his individual strength was merely 'a little strong'?"
He wasn't blaming Qin Ming.
The problem was simply that the intelligence discrepancy was absurd.
Could this really be described as merely a little strong?
Qin Ming gave a bitter smile.
At this point, he didn't even know how to defend himself.
This level of strength was already beyond ordinary understanding.
If he remembered correctly…
Su Cheng was only a little over fourteen years old.
So who exactly was the monster here?
Liu Erlong looked at the discouraged expressions of the people beside her and immediately grew dissatisfied.
She snorted coldly.
"He's only a Soul King. What's there to be so afraid of?"
"That technique was immensely powerful. Its consumption must also be enormous."
"He only looks relaxed on the surface."
"For all we know, he's already exhausted."
After speaking, she cast a cold glance toward Su Cheng on the arena.
She had accepted Xiao Wu as her goddaughter.
Although they hadn't known each other for long, Liu Erlong had already developed extremely deep feelings for her.
And Liu Erlong had never been someone capable of swallowing her anger.
Seeing Xiao Wu severely injured and unconscious naturally caused her tremendous heartache.
She secretly made a decision.
I must find an opportunity to teach that brat a lesson.
Su Cheng paid no attention to the surrounding discussions.
He turned around and led his teammates down from the arena.
Before leaving, he glanced toward Tang San, who was still glaring at him.
Su Cheng clicked his tongue and shook his head.
"This counts as innate full Soul Power?"
"Blue Silver Grass really is a trash Martial Soul. Heh…"
Before finishing his sentence, he turned away and jumped off the arena.
At that moment, his expression shifted slightly.
He noticed Zhu Zhuqing standing not far away, staring at him coldly.
Su Cheng's earlier sword strike had only knocked her off the stage.
She hadn't suffered any serious injuries.
After this short amount of time, even her breathing had already stabilized.
Su Cheng didn't care.
However, as he passed her, he paused and looked her up and down.
Shrek Academy's bizarre uniform produced an inexplicable contrast when worn by Zhu Zhuqing.
If anything, it only made the outfit look even more ridiculous.
Su Cheng smiled and nodded toward her.
"Nice outfit."
"Very distinctive."
The instant she heard those words, Zhu Zhuqing's fair face flushed completely red.
She gritted her teeth.
Then she turned around angrily and stormed away without even bothering to check on her teammates still on the arena.
Only after Su Cheng left did the Shrek Academy members finally struggle down from the platform with the help of Jiangzhu and the substitute members.
Tang San unwillingly looked up at Su Cheng's departing figure.
His fist slowly clenched.
Those earlier words still echoed in his ears.
"Innate full Soul Power…"
Tang San knew exactly what his own so-called innate full Soul Power represented.
But why—
even with the Mysterious Heaven Skill—
was his cultivation speed still inferior to Zhu Zhuqing and Su Cheng?
"And Xiao Wu…"
Tang San turned toward Xiao Wu.
Her face was pale, and traces of blood still remained at the corner of her lips.
His heart immediately ached.
He had once sworn that no matter what happened, he would never allow her to be hurt.
Anyone who dared harm her would repay it a hundredfold.
Yet just now, on the arena…
he had failed to protect her again.
She had still been injured.
Moreover, the shadow Su Cheng had left in Xiao Wu's heart had not diminished at all.
Instead, after one clash after another—
it had only grown deeper.
Tang San walked toward the waiting room, weighed down by his thoughts.
At that moment, a nearby conversation suddenly reached his ears.
"That captain from Heaven Dou Imperial Academy has an incredible sword Martial Soul."
"I wonder how it compares to the Clear Sky Hammer—the number one Tool Martial Soul in the world?"
"The Clear Sky Hammer should still be stronger, right? That's a legendary Martial Soul, the inherited Martial Soul of the world's number one sect."
"That makes sense…"
"Clear Sky Hammer…"
Tang San's footsteps paused slightly.
He lowered his gaze toward his left hand.
Hidden there—
was his second Martial Soul.
........
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