There are a total of fifteen teams participating in the Promotion Round of the Soul Master Tournament.
Aside from the five teams from the Heaven Dou Division, various other kingdoms and duchies have sent a total of ten teams.
Unlike the rules of the qualifiers, the Promotion Round is not a team battle, but one-on-one Spirit Fighting.
Each team can field seven people; the loser leaves, and the winner continues until all seven opponents are completely eliminated.
Additionally, the venue for the Promotion Round is located at the Heaven Dou Royal Hunting Ground. The matches are private, with no audience other than a few prominent figures.
After the competition, a points system is also adopted.
Top-ranking teams can receive a bye in the finals.
Therefore, every team still places great importance on the Promotion Round.
At the Heaven Dou Royal Training Ground, various teams gathered together.
The competition has officially begun.
The first opponent to take the stage was actually Shrek Academy.
Compared to a month ago, the Spirit Power Level of several members of Shrek Academy had clearly advanced by leaps and bounds, skyrocketing significantly.
In the viewing area where the Heaven Dou Vice Team was located.
Ning Rongrong watched the two figures fighting fiercely on the competition field ahead and couldn't help but complain.
"I didn't expect Shrek Academy to actually make it to the Promotion Round. What the hell? Did we go too easy on them during the opening ceremony of the qualifiers?"
Yu Feng and Shi Mo also nodded seriously.
They knew how hard they had hit, but looking at Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun's lively appearance, they didn't look like people who had just recovered from serious injuries at all.
In fact, not only had their injuries healed, but their strength had also surged by a large margin.
No, it wasn't just them; the strength of the entire Shrek Team had skyrocketed.
Especially Tang San and Tai Long; both of their spirit power had actually reached a Breakthrough to the Spirit AncestorRank.
Aside from those two, the other members also had various levels of improvement, and their performance in the first match could be described as very impressive.
Soon, the first match ended easily, with Shrek Academy emerging victorious.
Dugu Yan sat beside Yang Yuan and asked curiously, "Xiao Yuan, can you tell what's going on with Shrek Academy?"
The others also looked over curiously.
Yang Yuan withdrew his gaze, nodded, and smiled. "They must have consumed something, which is why their spirit power suddenly increased."
Hearing this, everyone's faces immediately showed expressions of surprise.
"Could it be that they also found Spirit Medicine!" Ning Rongrong exclaimed.
Yang Yuan shook his head.
"The energy of what they took is mixed and impure; it doesn't seem like Spirit Medicine, but rather like some kind of Banned Drug that forcibly increases spirit power."
After hearing this, everyone's eyes lit up.
"Banned Drug?"
"Does that mean there should be side effects while they take the drug?"
In the Spirit Master's world, Banned Drugs are those that can cause a Spirit Master's strength to skyrocket in a short time, but will lead to overdrawing potential and a decline in talent.
Because of this, while the members of the Heaven Dou Vice Team's eyes lit up, they also felt shocked and incredulous.
What exactly were the higher-ups of Shrek Academy thinking?
For a single Soul Master Tournament, they actually chose to sacrifice the future of their students?
It's simply foolish beyond belief!
When someone from the Heaven Dou Vice Team confusedly brought this up, Yang Yuan explained with a smile, "Perhaps the teachers of Shrek don't know about this side effect?"
Upon hearing this, Dugu Yan frowned.
"No way, if they didn't know, how could they dare let the students take it?"
Yang Yuan smiled. "If I'm not mistaken, the Banned Drug they took wasn't provided by the Shrek higher-ups."
"If it wasn't provided by the Shrek Academy higher-ups, then who else could it be?"
Everyone was stunned upon hearing this.
"Tang San!"
Yang Yuan said indifferently.
"It was actually him!"
"What a ruthless method, actually giving his own teammates a Banned Drug."
No one doubted Yang Yuan's words.
Since Yang Yuan said it was Tang San, he would definitely not be wronging him.
Yang Yuan laughed. "Being his teammate can be considered a blessing. The talent of the Shrek Academy members isn't bad; except for those few substitutes, they could have at least become Spirit Douluos in the future, but now..."
"What about now?" Ning Rongrong asked gloatingly.
"Their Foundation has been broken. Unless there's some other Opportunity, their future limit will likely be the Spirit EmperorRank," Yang Yuan said with a faint smile.
Hearing this, the members of the Heaven Dou Vice Team all gasped.
They knew Banned Drugs would damage the Foundation, but they didn't expect the consequences to be so severe.
Talent that was at least at the Spirit Douluo level was actually slashed down to the Spirit Emperor level!
"Hiss~ Could Tang San have a grudge against these teammates of his? To go to such unscrupulous lengths for the sake of the Soul Master Tournament?"
Yu Feng couldn't help but swallow hard, feeling shocked by Tang San's behavior.
Dugu Yan asked curiously, "During this time, Tang San's strength has also improved greatly, even reaching a Breakthrough to the Spirit AncestorRank. He must have taken the Banned Drug too. Doesn't he fear damaging his own Foundation?"
"He's not that stupid. Although he did take the Banned Drug, he used another medicine to neutralize part of its side effects, so the damage to his Foundation is still within a controllable range."
Yang Yuan continued to explain, nearly exposing all of Tang San's secrets.
Everyone exclaimed upon hearing this, and Yu Feng blustered, "Tang San has such methods, yet he doesn't help his teammates?"
"Are you stupid? There are only two possibilities why Tang San wouldn't help his teammates: either there wasn't enough money, or there weren't enough medicinal ingredients."
"I suspect it's most likely that the medicinal ingredients weren't enough; otherwise, with Yu Tianheng's status, it's not like they couldn't get the money."
Ning Rongrong analyzed.
Hearing this, everyone nodded, feeling that Ning Rongrong's analysis made sense.
Someone gloated, "However, fire cannot be wrapped in paper forever. Over time, the others in Shrek Academy will definitely discover their own problems. By then, they'll probably want to skin Tang San alive."
Zhu Zhuqing and Meng Yiran had complex expressions, but their eyes held a hint of lingering fear and relief.
Luckily they had left early; otherwise, they would probably be like the others in Shrek Academy, taking Banned Drugs and ruining their own futures.
While the Heaven Dou Vice Team members were talking in low voices, on the field, Dai Mubai easily swept aside his opponent, his face looking high-spirited with no sign of dejection.
When he returned to the team, Ma Hongjun and Oscar immediately stepped forward to congratulate him.
"Boss Dai, you were really impressive just now."
Although Dai Mubai was no longer the captain of Shrek Academy, Ma Hongjun still addressed him that way.
For no other reason than Yu Tianheng acting like he was all that every day and looking down on him, so Ma Hongjun still preferred hanging out with Dai Mubai.
"Hahaha, just a bunch of rabble; they couldn't even force out seventy percent of my power." Dai Mubai laughed, looking arrogant.
"True, with your current Rank, Boss Dai, you'd be among the top even if placed in all the participating teams."
Ma Hongjun continued to flatter him, his small, beady eyes looking very wretched.
"It's all thanks to Little San. If it weren't for Little San, we'd probably still be lying on hospital beds right now."
Dai Mubai grinned and looked at Tang San nearby, his eyes full of gratitude.
It was precisely because of Tang San that not only were his injuries healed, but his spirit power had also surged by five levels, reaching level forty-six.
This Rank was definitely a first-tier existence among all the participating teams.
Ma Hongjun also chuckled and said, "That's right, Third Brother is still the most loyal. If those two traitors, Zhu Zhuqing and Meng Yiran, knew about our situation, they'd probably regret it until their intestines turned blue."
He himself was also a beneficiary of the Secret medicine; his spirit power had risen directly from level thirty-three to level thirty-nine, and he might even have a chance to reach a Breakthrough to level forty before the finals.
Tang San smiled back upon hearing their words.
Seeing his teammates regain their confidence and high spirits, he felt more and more that he had done a good deed, and the guilt in his heart dissipated.
Presumably, on the day they find out the truth...
...they will surely understand my painstaking efforts!
(End of Chapter)
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