Chapter 180: Continental Soul Master Elite Competition

According to Sword Douluo, this powerful aura is not inferior to him, but it is blocking him, not launching a direct attack, mostly a warning.

It's easy to guess who the aura belongs to; Sword Douluo returned to the Seven Treasure Glazed Sect and reported this to Ning Fengzhi.

At Shilake Academy, not only Tang San could attract Ning Fengzhi's attention; the innately full soul power Oscar also drew Ning Fengzhi's gaze.

The Continent has never seen a Food Soul Master with innately full soul power; he is truly a genius.

Ning Fengzhi conceived a win‑win plan.

……

Two months passed quickly, and the Soul Master Competition's attention kept rising;

The first stage is the Preliminary; besides the four great kingdoms and a principality within the Tiandou Empire that have their own Preliminary zones, other Soul Master academy teams must go to Tiandou City for selection in the Preliminary.

In Tiandou City, teams from all major academies have already appeared, the most eye‑catching being FiveElementsAcademy.

"Five spots advance from the Preliminary; the five teams with the highest points move to the next round. Within the group a single round‑robin is used; each victory over a team earns one point, and the result is decided by Team Soul Battle."

Zhao Tianhe explained the rules to the members; most students already know the Soul Master Competition's regulations, but the required procedures cannot be omitted.

The Preliminary will officially start three days later; the opening ceremony will be held inside Tiandou City's Tiandou Grand Soul Battle Arena. For this, the Grand Soul Battle Arena halted all Soul Battle matches a month ago for internal renovation.

After renovation, the Grand Soul Battle Arena can accommodate over 80,000 spectators simultaneously.

Indeed, ticket prices are extremely high, but the Grand Soul Battle Arena has also invested heavily.

"First Team does not need to take part in the Preliminary; they will be directly promoted to later rounds. As Second Team, we must compete in the Preliminary just like ordinary academy teams."

In the remaining three days, Zhao Tianhe did not put the members through high‑intensity training, but let them rest well and stay in good condition.

When the Preliminary officially began, the outer area of the Grand Soul Battle Arena was filled with spectators who had bought tickets; outside the arena they could see the members of each academy team up close.

Those who can join the Soul Master Competition are undoubtedly the academies' genius Soul Masters, and witnessing their prowess is not to be missed.

Especially the girls in the crowd tried their best to showcase their excellence; marrying a genius Soul Master would bring both fame and fortune.

For this Preliminary, Tiandou City mobilized five thousand city‑defense troops to maintain order; in just these few days the city's foot traffic increased by fifty percent—hardly an exaggeration—as hotels and inns were fully booked.

From the moment they entered the Grand Soul Battle Arena, Shilake Academy's team uniforms became the focus of the whole venue; other academies' uniforms tried to flaunt their own distinctive and luxurious styles, but Shilake Academy's uniforms were oddly bizarre.

The poop‑green uniform color, coupled with large bold recruitment slogans, made them hard to ignore.

Inside the Grand Soul Battle Arena there is a dedicated rest area for each team.

Tie Li and others wore the meticulously designed uniforms of the Tiandou Royal Academy, truly drawing everyone's eyes.

In the rest area, each academy chatted among themselves.

"Fortunately, we didn't wear those uniforms; otherwise I wouldn't dare to compete," Mu Wei couldn't help glancing again at Shilake Academy's spot.

The poop‑green uniforms seemed to have a strange charm that made people keep looking; it wasn't just Mu Wei and his friends—members of other academies also kept glancing at the Shilake team, even when they hid in a corner.

"Hahaha, watching him look embarrassed makes me feel much better," Jue Dun laughed.

"It seems they had a dispute with someone?" Gu Qi said.

It was a student from CangHuiAcademy who quarreled with the Shilake team, but after the teachers of both sides intervened, the two teams quickly separated.

Not long after, competition staff arrived at the rest area to organize the teams for entry.

The huge open plaza was filled with countless shouting spectators; in front of the central arena stood a golden‑backed podium, and behind the presidium was the VIP area.

Each team followed the same pattern, and the emcee on the podium introduced them.

"First to appear is our Tiandou Royal Academy's competing squad. As everyone knows, our academy has a main team and a reserve team; the main team can advance directly to the finals, while the reserve team fights other academy teams for a spot;

But as the Tiandou Empire's top academy, don't underestimate this powerful team."

Placing Tiandou Royal Academy first was a sign of respect.

Because in the first row of the VIP area sat the Tiandou Emperor, and in the second row were Snow Star Prince and the Three Great Sect Committee of the Tiandou Royal Academy.

As a Soul Master academy attached to the royal family, it naturally receives special privileges in some aspects.

Tie Li walked at the front of the line, attracting the most attention.

"Your Majesty, he is the Second Team's leader, an inheritor disciple of Fenglei Sect," Dream Divine Machine whispered into the Tiandou Emperor's ear.

The Tiandou Emperor nodded; he had already heard of Tie Li from Du Gu Bo and Yang Wudi.

"With him leading, the Preliminary should be no problem," Snow Star Prince added.

After Xue Qinghe's identity was revealed, Snow Star Prince and Xue Bing no longer concealed themselves, began to display their talents, which impressed the Tiandou Emperor.

On the Emperor's two sides stood the White Gold Bishop of the Spirit Hall and the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Sect, Ning Fengzhi.

As each team entered, the crowd's cheers grew more intense.

"Now, please have the Tiandou Empire's Emperor announce the opening of this Grand Competition," the emcee on the VIP stage announced loudly.

The Tiandou Emperor, clad in a scarlet‑gold robe, rose slowly; raising his right hand gently, the raucous noise instantly fell silent.

His deep, resonant voice, amplified through the Amplified Soul Conductor, echoed in every corner of the arena.

Just as in the original timeline's speech, after a burst of encouragement, the members of each team became excited; for them, a competition of this caliber is the best stage to showcase themselves.

Then Ning Fengzhi stood to speak; as the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Sect and the foremost auxiliary Soul Master in the Soul Master World, his reputation is immense.

His speech was likewise concise and splendid, yet still stirringly inspiring.

Today, besides the opening ceremony, there is only one match: the Tiandou Royal Academy's reserve team versus their first‑round opponent.

White Gold Bishop Saras rose slowly and announced the draw results.

"Preselection first round: CangHuiAcademy versus ZiXingAcademy."

"Preselection first round: Tiandou Royal Academy versus Shilake Academy."

"……"

(End of Chapter)