Chapter 210: Sky Water, Blazing Fire, Heaven Dou Three-Academy Exchange Tournament
Faced with Dai Mubai's challenge, Tang San shook his head quite rationally and did not act rashly.
"If I don't use those unexpected hidden weapons of mine, then with my current cultivation alone, I'm indeed not your match."
"There's no need to fight this kind of battle across ranks. Let's talk about it after my strength improves in the future."
And so, after a farcical encounter where they got acquainted through conflict, Dai Mubai, Tang San, and Oscar officially got to know each other.
Not long after that, Ma Hongjun, the Evil Fire Phoenix who caused trouble all over the village, also joined in, forming the initial student lineup of Shrek.
...
The commotion from the daytime new student registration finally subsided.
However, that very night, under a dark sky with no moon and strong winds,
In a secluded grove behind Shrek Academy, Teacher Li Yusong, who had gotten up in the middle of the night, suddenly felt a chill run through his entire body.
A tall figure cloaked in a wide black robe, with even his face completely hidden beneath a hood, silently appeared in front of him like a ghost.
The black-robed man walked slowly toward Li Yusong. With each step, the surrounding air seemed to solidify, bringing a suffocating and terrifying pressure.
Stopping in place, the black-robed man lowered his voice and said in a deep tone, "At the academy gate during the day, it was you, old bastard, who liked to rely on your cultivation to bully the weak, right?"
Before Li Yusong could react, the black-robed man suddenly clenched his fist, and his bones let out a series of tooth-aching crackles.
"Today I won't use my martial soul, nor any soul skills. The two of us will have a proper bout right here!"
Poor Li Yusong, a Soul Emperor of over rank sixty, yet in front of this black-robed man, he didn't even have the slightest room to resist.
And so, on that dark and windy night,
Li Yusong, who was in charge of registration, was pressed to the ground and brutally beaten one-sidedly by Tang Hao until his face was swollen and bruised beyond recognition—even his own mother wouldn't recognize him.
Meanwhile, on the other side, inside the dean's office.
The reason Flender had been so decisive during the day, directly accepting Tang San despite his soul ring configuration not meeting the standard, was not only because of Yu Xiaogang's reputation but, more importantly, because Tang San was Tang Hao's son.
Moreover, he had not only inherited top-tier talent but was also a rare twin martial soul possessor, seen perhaps once in a century on this continent!
Knowing Tang San's background, how could a shrewd old fox like Flender possibly turn him away?
So even though Tang San's currently revealed first martial soul had a slightly lacking soul ring configuration,
It didn't affect the fact that as long as he cultivated his second martial soul in the future, he was destined to become a top powerhouse standing at the peak of the continent!
This was equivalent to picking up a future unparalleled genius for free. Flender could wake up laughing even in his sleep.
...
Heaven Dou City.
Heaven Dou Royal Academy, the soul master academy symbolizing the empire's highest honor, welcomed a highly anticipated event today.
Blazing Academy and Sky Water Academy, two powerful elemental academies, sent their most elite student delegations to officially engage in a high-level exchange competition with Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Not long ago, the Academic Affairs Office of Heaven Dou Royal Academy received a joint request letter for an exchange competition from these two top academies.
As the chief education committee member, Meng Shenji naturally agreed without hesitation after reading the letter.
After all, in recent years, although Heaven Dou Royal Academy had nominally remained the unshakable number one academy of the Heaven Dou Empire,
Their performance in the recent editions of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament had been rather mediocre, barely even making it into the finals.
This had led to a noticeable decline in the academy's status within the soul master world, drawing widespread skepticism.
Meng Shenji and the other committee members had been holding back their frustration, and they intended to use this three-academy exchange competition as an opportunity to showcase their strength.
Through this, they wanted to send a signal to the outside world and prove to everyone that in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament over a year later, Heaven Dou Royal Academy was determined to claim the championship!
To expand the event's influence, the venue for this exchange competition was not arranged within the academy but instead at the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena.
Since this was a direct clash of strength between three top advanced academies, once the news spread, it immediately caused a huge sensation and citywide discussion in Heaven Dou City.
The Great Soul Arena's ticket office also understood operations well, dividing the audience seats into outer and inner sections, both sold at clearly marked prices.
Outer section tickets cost 10 gold soul coins each, which are still affordable for ordinary soul master families.
However, inner section tickets cost 100 gold soul coins each, and that was only the base price, with no upper limit!
The Great Soul Arena had very clear rules: the closer the seat was to the central arena, with the best viewing position, the more outrageously expensive the ticket became, even scalped at sky-high prices.
Heaven Dou Royal Academy's decision to publicly sell tickets immediately puzzled forces across the continent.
Many sect leaders privately discussed how, for an exchange competition meant to test each other's capabilities, it wouldn't be better to conduct it behind closed doors for confidentiality.
By making such a grand public event, weren't they afraid that spies from other academies and factions would mix into the audience?
Those spies could observe and completely figure out the real soul skills and combat habits of their main team members.
Once such core battle intelligence leaked and spread across the continent,
When the Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament officially began over a year later, what if their royal team was deliberately countered by opponents?
This was practically a major taboo in military strategy!
However, in the face of such doubts, many people with deeper insight thought of a completely different possibility.
They believed that the higher-ups of Heaven Dou Royal Academy were definitely not fools.
Since they dared to make the competition public so recklessly, completely unafraid of exposing their trump cards,
It could only mean one thing: they had absolute confidence in the terrifying strength of their current royal team!
This kind of confidence had reached the point of disregarding any schemes or tricks!
Once this was realized, the various forces could no longer sit still.
Since the Royal Academy had such confidence, they had no choice but to send people to the scene to see just how terrifying this team truly was!
For a time, streams of people headed toward the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena without end, and the entire Heaven Dou City fell into a boiling frenzy of excitement.
This exchange competition, held at the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena, was unprecedented in scale.
Both inner and outer section tickets were sold out early, and the ticket revenue reached an astronomical figure.
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End of Chapter