"This is the tournament information—we have drawn the Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy, which belongs to the Douling Empire. Their main team only has five Soul Ancestors and two Soul Elders."
Seeing that the academy had sent the senior sister, Teacher Wang felt much more at ease. He spoke slowly to the Shrek group with a smile on his lips.
Clearly, he was quite satisfied with the team they would be facing in the knockout tournament.
"But with five Soul Ancestors and two Soul Elders, and since we are Shrek Academy, the opponents facing us are likely fully prepared. They will definitely go all out and will not be careless in the slightest. You, alone—" Teacher Wang looked at Lu Cheng with hesitation.
"Let him go," Zhang Lexuan said softly. "I believe in him."
Upon hearing this, Bei Bei's eyes dimmed, and he turned his head away. Meanwhile, the gazes of the many Shrek students present were all fixed on Lu Cheng, their eyes flickering with excitement. They did not notice the genius who was once one of the Twin Stars of the Outer Academy, known as Thunder Bei Bei.
After all, the former's reputation as the Devil King of the Outer Academy was earned through real battles: slaying a ten thousand-year-old soul beast, crushing Xu Sanshi (who was at the Soul Ancestor realm) with just his physical body, and escaping from the encirclement of a team of Soul Douluo and Soul Saint experts—one incident after another.
This caused Lu Cheng's prestige in the Outer Academy to be unprecedentedly high. Moreover, he spent his years wandering outside—in the Star Dou Great Forest, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, and the Far North—and rarely showed himself at the academy, which only deepened his sense of mystery.
Therefore, Xiao Xiao, Ning Tian, and the others were looking forward to a visual feast, seeing this person they admired slaughter the competition on the field. Even they would feel a sense of pride in it.
Teacher Wang nodded slightly upon hearing this. After all, if Lu Cheng won, the morale brought to Shrek Academy would be unprecedentedly high. Although this was akin to walking a tightrope, he had no other choice.
Early morning. As the first ray of sunlight pierced through the darkness, the entire Star Luo City gradually began to boil. This city was brought to the peak of vitality because of the tournament, and today, the All-Continent Soul Master Academy Tournament officially began.
On Star Luo Square. Countless soldiers clad in heavy armor formed a human wall, surrounding the four sides. As the general gave a soft shout, the human wall slowly left a gap, and the sea of people began to surge into the square.
On the inner city wall of Star Luo, several figures stood, looking down at the commoners surging in like a tide below.
"This is my Star Luo Empire—" Xu Jiawei's eyes were proud, his appearance heroic, wearing a dragon robe, possessing quite a bit of imperial bearing.
"Registration has completely closed. Shrek Academy is confirmed to only use these team members." The elegant and dignified young girl, dressed in a court gown, cast her golden eyes toward the inner field, where Shrek Academy was located at the very front of the various academy rest areas. Many truly proud sons of heaven had already gathered.
What surprised her was that the reserve team captain named Lu Cheng in the information had an absurdly high status—"That little guy is actually at the Soul King realm?" Xu Jiawei noticed his sister's expression and frowned slightly.
They had performed a bone age test yesterday, and they had just received the news. A thirteen-year-old Soul King was simply too—too much of a monster. Looking throughout the history of this continent, there had never been such a person.
"If I am not mistaken, he must be the next-generation successor of the Sea God Pavilion. And there is also a nineteen-year-old Soul Saint and a twenty-nine-year-old Titled Douluo expert. Shrek Academy is full of monsters." Standing to the side, looking majestic and clad in general's armor, General Dai Hao spoke in a deep voice.
"Has the general seen him?" Xu Jiawei asked softly. "I have. Proud but not impetuous, with a calm bearing; he is clearly superior even to the elites of Shrek Academy's inner court," General Dai Hao pondered aloud.
"It is a pity he is not a person of Star Luo—" Upon hearing this, Xu Jiawei became even more envious of the youth. This was true envy. Obviously, this meant that as long as no accidents occurred, Shrek Academy would inevitably flourish for another few hundred years, standing tall at the peak of the continent, proud and unyielding. His eyes were red with jealousy.
"Let's watch first—" Xu Jiawei withdrew his gaze and spoke softly. "That little guy must be Shrek Academy's hidden lethal weapon."
Firecrackers blared, and gongs and drums shook the heavens. Following Xu Jiawei's brief address, the referee began to preside over the event.
"Next, the first match is about to begin. The two sides of the match are the representative team from the Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy of the Douling Empire and the representative team from the continent's number one academy, Shrek Academy, which possesses countless glories and has almost swept all tournament championships for the past thousand years."
Once announced, the atmosphere of the entire Star Luo Square instantly boiled to its peak. Shrek Academy was, in the eyes of many, a legendary existence, forever the continent's number one academy. Especially in the minds of the commoners, the Star Luo Empire also needed Shrek to boost popularity, so appearing first was well-deserved.
"Let us invite the two teams to the stage!" The cheering and boiling sounds of hundreds of thousands of people echoed through the sky.
On the side of the Tianling Advanced team, everyone's faces were pale, their legs were a bit weak, and they were forced to take the stage. However, the Shrek Academy side was somewhat strange. The expected elite soldiers and fierce generals did not appear; instead, only a fourteen-year-old youth, with an impossibly handsome face, wearing a wolf-tail hairstyle and a somewhat lazy expression, walked slowly onto the stage.
"Shrek Academy—only sending one person?!?" The referee was stunned for a moment before reacting.
Equally confused was the Sun Moon Empire team, separated by only a wall from the Shrek rest area.
Ma Rulong's eye twitched. To be honest, in this situation, he was confident he could crush that group of guys on the opposite side, but this was a knockout tournament after all. The pressure was so great that it made people break out in a cold sweat, and no one could afford the consequences of losing, let alone Shrek Academy—
"How does he dare?" To the side, a white-haired old man with knotted muscles, a burly figure dressed in red and black Sun Moon Empire lead teacher attire, and wearing a ponytail stood with his arms crossed, his face full of confusion and disbelief.
A thirteen or fourteen-year-old youth, facing this kind of pressure alone. If it were him, he would have involuntarily broken into a cold sweat for him.
"His steps are steady and solid, without the slightest bit of instability, which shows that this youth is confident and not just a show-off with no substance. But I just can't understand—how does he dare?"
Those guys from Shrek Academy were famous for treating the championship as their life. In the first knockout match, even if they didn't send their main force, they should at least gather enough people, right? This was leaving absolutely no room for error.
"Go for it—" Teacher Wang waved his arms. Xiao Xiao, Ning Tian, and the others were all holding the railing, watching Lu Cheng's receding back with eyes full of hope. At Shrek Academy, they had already been numbed by the reputation of the Devil King, and now—it was time for these guys to see for themselves what Shrek Academy's Devil King was all about.
"You—just one person?" The referee took a deep breath. If Shrek Academy were defeated, he would not dare to bear the overwhelming pressure. Perhaps by the next day, there would be many gamblers' corpses in the moat outside Star Luo City.
"Yes." A warm smile appeared on Lu Cheng's handsome face, and he nodded slightly. This top-tier attractiveness immediately drew many gazes, and many young girls cheered and jumped for joy, waving the flowers in their hands and casting flirtatious glances.
"Handsome, so what?" On the other side, the Tianling Advanced team saw that there was only Lu Cheng, and their expressions lost their previous tension, gradually transforming that negative emotion into anger. One of them muttered secretly.
"Let's go!" The captain of the Tianling Advanced team, a tall man with an ordinary appearance, glanced indifferently at Lu Cheng and led his many team members to retreat to the back of the arena. This was a blatant insult from Shrek Academy. Just wait, I will make you feel the price of underestimating Tianling Academy—
"Everyone retreat to the edges of the two sides of the field," the referee shouted softly.
The members of the Tianling Advanced team exchanged glances, and they could see the ecstasy gradually rising in each other's eyes. If they won against Shrek Academy, they would be the first to eat the crab. Even when they returned, the Emperor of the Douling Empire would personally meet them, and they would have endless cultivated resources, and the prestige of Tianling Advanced Academy would rise who knows how many levels!
They also suddenly realized that this might be the only opportunity in their lives to defeat Shrek Academy, and they must grasp it firmly.
Lu Cheng's eyes remained calm, and a smile lingered on the corners of his lips. The cheers of hundreds of thousands of people were indeed shocking. In his previous life, he would likely have been nervous enough to sweat, but at this moment, he was extremely steady, feeling the abundant soul power flowing within his body and the vast, boundless mental force in his sea of consciousness. This was his confidence—the foundation for why he dared to stand here.
"The match begins!" "You may use soul tools, but you must not use lethal weapons like stationary martial soul cannons."
Following the referee's order, the disciples of the Tianling Advanced team all saw their aura rise to an unprecedented level, setting up the most classic 2-2-3 formation. Two power attack or tank types in the front, one agility attack type on each side, and one support and one control type in the middle and back.
With shouts, yellow and purple soul rings rose from their feet. They were all the best combinations, and the captain of the Tianling Advanced team at the lead had yellow, yellow, purple, and purple soul rings slowly rising from his feet, his eyes sharply sizing up the wolf-tail youth opposite him.
He felt his whole body boiling, and there was only one thought in his mind: defeat him! Even at this moment, he had already imagined the scene of returning to the academy with his team, countless junior students welcoming them along the way, warm applause, dazzling garlands hanging around his neck, and him being the hero of the academy.
Spectator area. Two black-robed figures were mixed in the crowd, located in a corner, with their arms crossed, leisurely watching this scene.
"Big Brother, what do you think this kid is playing at?" The middle-aged man, who was more robust and had an especially thick right arm, said with interest.
"Since it is Shrek Academy, there is no such thing as tricks. Watch patiently. I hope this tournament will have a few decent seedlings." Another man, who was small and thin with a huge head, resembling a big-headed doll, spoke in a low voice.
The start of every tournament was their recruitment season. After all, body martial souls were truly hard to find, especially in this era where commoners could not awaken martial souls. Therefore, their body sect basically digested internally, and their source of students relied entirely on opening blind boxes of genes left by their ancestors for generations. Of course, the blind boxes opened were mostly related to body parts. Thus, they were generally self-sufficient. External recruitment was basically a bonus; if there was one, it was better; if not, it didn't matter.
"Something is wrong—" Lang Ya's pupils shrank suddenly. "Starting with mental force, what terrifying mental force intensity… This guy—"
The atmosphere in the arena was unusually strange, quiet to an absurd degree. Yu Tao's eyes were blank: "Big Brother, what exactly is this kid's martial soul? Why is it so strange?"
And Lang Ya, whose martial soul was a brain, felt his pupils shrink suddenly at this moment, goosebumps breaking out all over his body. With hot and crazy eyes, he stared at the wolf-tail youth below, his throat rolling as he said, "It is—the Eye!!!"
The Tianling team captain roared angrily. The soul tool spear in his hand was swung out, stirring up rolling momentum, pointing straight at Lu Cheng's chest. The latter's martial soul was unusually strange, also holding a long dark green blade, fighting with him.
"Isn't this A Lin's long blade? Strange—it is actually so similar." The captain frowned slightly, his eyes strange, but soon, this feeling of wrongness was diluted by the murderous intent in his mind, and the thought of defeating that youth and winning occupied his mind.
"Is that it?" Another spear strike fell, accurately knocking away the youth's long blade. The latter's eyes were panicked, his mouth constantly begging for something. But the captain raised a ferocious smile, not caring about any of this, and thrust his spear again, completely piercing the latter's abdomen. He watched with his own eyes as blood spilled from the corners of the latter's mouth, his eyes helpless and blank, and the evil thoughts in his heart reached their peak. Daring to underestimate us, this is the price.
But the next instant—
Puchi-
The captain suddenly felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, his body curled up violently like a shrimp, slowly bending down. With blank and astonished eyes, he looked at his abdomen. A light blue soul tool spear had pierced his abdomen; this was clearly Linger's weapon. And as he looked behind him.
It was as if the world had been crushed and then reorganized; a sense of strangeness suddenly surged into his heart. Behind him was Linger, whose eyes were full of heat and madness. The blood from his abdomen stained Linger's hand along the spear, but the latter was completely unaware.
"Wait—something is wrong!!" When he suddenly turned his head to look at the youth whose abdomen he had originally pierced, the other party had suddenly changed into a different person—"A Lin!!" It was exactly one of his team members.
And when he looked into the distance again. That impossibly handsome youth, whose eyes were now glowing with a scarlet hue, still wore a warm smile, quietly and softly watching them.
Puchi-
"No, something is wrong—" More blood spilled from the captain's mouth. The other team members were all crazily killing each other. They had actually been in an illusion from the beginning to the end. When were they caught in it?
The captain's eyes gradually lost their strength, and a kind of terror surged from the depths of his eyes as he looked at the wolf-tail youth. If it were a complete crushing in terms of combat cultivation, he would at most be unwilling, but now—he felt more terror and a deep sense of powerlessness. Facing this kind of opponent. You don't even know when you were caught in the trap; you need to keep your mental force tense at all times, and you don't even know if the person you are fighting right now is your enemy or your teammate. It's just too damn insidious.
Notes:
Bonus for mistake, thanks for Bronya_Best_Girl and Aidoneus_Senpai for the reminders