Chapter 173

Three days later, the capital of the Tian Dou Empire, Tian Dou City.

In the early morning, golden dawn light splashed across the majestic outline of Tian Dou City, highlighting the grandeur and magnificence of this royal city.

The opening ceremony of the Tian Dou Empire division of the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Competition was held grandly in Tian Dou City.

As the most grandiose spirit master competition in the spirit master world, it attracted not only the attention of spirit masters but also, from the imperial family and nobility to commoners, every citizen of Tian Dou City regarded this competition as the grandest festival.

The opening ceremony was held inside the Tian Dou Grand Spirit Arena in Tian Dou City. As early as one month prior, the tickets for the opening ceremony had already sold out. Know that the price of these tickets was the same as the admission price for the main spirit battle center of the Tian Dou Grand Spirit Arena.

As the main venue for the Tian Dou division, the Tian Dou Grand Spirit Arena had stopped all spirit battles three days prior and began internal renovation, merging all sub-arenas within the Grand Spirit Arena with the main spirit battle center to form an enormous competition ground.

Except for the VIP area retained on the north side of the entire competition ground, the renovated Grand Spirit Arena could accommodate eighty thousand spectators simultaneously. Although ticket sales brought in considerable revenue, the Grand Spirit Arena itself also incurred substantial costs.

In the coming period, all the Tian Dou division preliminaries will be held here.

The renovated Tian Dou Grand Spirit Arena had already welcomed a huge crowd of spectators. Arriving this early, the spectators were naturally not there just to enter the venue early, since each ticket had a designated seat number. Their purpose was to get a close-up view of the participating young spirit masters on the first day of the opening ceremony.

Among them were many young maidens in the bloom of youth. According to statistics from the Spirit Hall, the total number of spirit masters across the continent does not exceed one hundred thousand. Those who can represent advanced spirit master academies in the competition are even more outstanding among them. Moreover, with the age limit of twenty-five, they undoubtedly become the ideal dream lovers in the hearts of maidens. To marry a powerful spirit master would surely be a double gain of fame and fortune.

Even some nobles who had purchased VIP area tickets were now gathering outside, as nobles have always been eager to recruit spirit masters.

The Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Competition itself is a cradle of talent; not to mention those who can achieve certain results, even merely participating students are objects of contention for nobles and clans.

At this moment, centered on the Tian Dou Grand Spirit Arena, nearly one-third of Tian Dou City presented a scene of the streets emptied of people. Since a few days ago, all hotels of every grade in Tian Dou City have been fully booked. The city's population has almost increased by fifty percent. This shows how great the attraction of the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Competition is for people.

For this competition, Tian Dou City mobilized an entire ten-thousand-strong military force to maintain order, thereby doing its best to avoid stampede and disturbance incidents.

This year marks the third edition of the Continental Spirit Master Elite Competition; the first edition was won by the Star Luo Empire, the second by the Spirit Hall. Perhaps because it has only been held a few times, even hotels need to be sought out by the teachers of each academy themselves, but fortunately Lan Ba Academy is already in Tian Dou City, so it does not have to expend the same effort as the out-of-town academies.

Under the leadership of Liu Erlong, the members of Lan Ba Academy who were participating entered the Tian Dou Grand Spirit Arena; most of the participating teams were dressed splendidly, and Qian Renxue's group was no exception, today wearing the platinum-colored school uniform personally designed by Dou Dou.

In her words, the captain wearing platinum-colored clothes looked especially good, earning unanimous approval from the other members and Liu Erlong, so the original azure school uniform was changed to platinum.

At this moment, the place where the Lan Ba Academy group was located was the rest area inside the main arena specially provided for participating academies. They were not the first to enter, nor the last to arrive here; the spacious rest area contained over a thousand seats, divided into sections, to provide rest and waiting places for each spirit master academy.

Although there were not as many civilians here as outside, as the participating members of the advanced spirit master academies entered, the Lan Ba Academy group became the focus; despite Liu Erlong having found them a corner, they were still noticed by many people.

"Is that golden-haired girl the new captain of Lan Ba Academy?"

"I've heard she's very strong, but I don't know if it's true or not."

"Looking at where they're sitting, even Wu Yu has been cowed; it must be genuine."

"How come there are only seven people? Don't they have substitutes?"

Dou Dou poked Wu Yu's cheek, "Did you hear that, big sis? Someone says you're afraid of the captain."

Wu Yu gave a cold snort, impatiently shaking off her hand, "What's it to them! Just a bunch of weaklings; if they've got the guts, let them come say it to my face!"

Liu Erlong looked at Wu Yu with some satisfaction; this kid's personality and martial soul were especially to her taste, and if she weren't unwilling, Liu Erlong would have already taken her as a disciple.

Gazing at Qian Renxue, who was resting with eyes closed beside them, Liu Erlong suddenly said, "Alright, I'm going to do the final registration confirmation work; the opening ceremony is about to start, get ready to enter the field. Tian Ling, you just lead everyone in; I'll go ahead first, but don't embarrass Lan Ba Academy! Now that's also your academy! Did you hear me?"

"Mm."

Under the curious or surprised gazes of everyone, Qian Renxue responded lightly with a sound.

Afterward, Liu Erlong rose and left the rest area.

At this stage, each academy also needs a teacher to carry out the final registration confirmation; once the participants' status is registered, no further additions or substitutions of team members are allowed in the subsequent matches.

Having just come out of the infirmary, Shangguan Tian now sat upright with his head bowed, his body trembling uncontrollably.

"What did the dean just say? Tian Ling, hey hey hey, could it be that Jade Tian Ling he's thinking of?" "Ladies and gentlemen, I place no demands on you six; everything is up to me."

Qian Renxue slowly opened her eyes, her gaze calm as she looked at everyone; within her crystal-clear deep violet pupils, a flash of brilliant gold seemed to flicker, captivating the heart.

Chi Yu Can placed his hand on Shangguan Tian's shoulder, letting him calm down a bit and not be too nervous.

However, upon hearing Qian Renxue's words, besides an inexplicable sense of reassurance, Chi Yu Can's eyes also flashed with a hint of unwillingness; they felt completely looked down upon by the captain.

Han Chen Yu reached up to brush aside his bangs, lightly saying, "Heh, the preliminaries? How boring."

Although he said that, the slight curve at the corner of his mouth betrayed his inner excitement and anticipation.

Dou Dou clapped her hands, drawing everyone's attention.

"Um, Captain, actually today's preliminaries don't require you to lift a finger; we few are enough! You are our hidden trump card! Moreover, today is the opening ceremony; the Tian Dou Royal Academy's first team has a bye, leaving only a demonstration match by their second team. To display the empire's authority, they'll likely only pick soft persimmons. With the captain, we have two Soul Ancestors, so they might not dare to pick us."

Dou Dou said mysteriously: "The students of Tian Dou Royal Academy are divided into three levels: newly enrolled students and those with strength below rank twenty-five constitute the first level, called Tian Wei level; those between ranks twenty-five and thirty are the second level, called Tian Zhi level; those above rank thirty enter the highest Tian Dou level." "Captain, according to the rumors I've heard, all the deputy team members of Tian Dou Royal Academy are Tian Dou level students, their strongest captain being around rank thirty-six; our team is far stronger than them."

"Mm."

Qian Renxue nodded, finding that these students' rumors were actually quite accurate, sometimes spreading faster than the academy's high-level news.

Mo Xiangran is a support-system ink brush spirit master; his soul power level has reached thirty-six, except for Dou Dou, who almost daily works at the Grand Spirit Arena and is only rank thirty-five, the rest are stronger than the captain of Tian Dou Royal Academy's second team.

The competition staff soon entered the rest area, and the assembled participants began to enter the field.

Soon it was Lan Ba Academy's turn; a female staff member approached, her eyes lighting up at the sight of Dou Dou, they exchanged greetings, appearing to be friends from work.

"Several esteemed spirit masters, please follow me."

Then the woman led them into the entrance passage.

Around the vast, open square were countless shouting and cheering spectators. Directly ahead of the central field stood a platform with a gold background; behind the platform was the renovated VIP area.

The spacious field exceeded a diameter of one hundred fifty meters; the academies that had entered earlier were already arranged in neat formations at the center. Each academy's entrance featured a dedicated announcer on the platform holding a spirit tool for introduction and commentary, which is also Dou Dou's regular job.

"Now entering the field are the athletes of Lan Ba Academy! Lovely and spirited Miss Dou Dou! By the way, Miss Dou Dou is also a staff member of our Tian Dou Grand Spirit Arena! And their captain is the mysterious genius who joined Lan Ba Academy at the last moment! In one fell swoop she replaced the arena's star athlete—Red Dragon Wu Yu—becoming Lan Ba Academy's ultimate dark horse captain! It is said that when she first enrolled, she faced off against a seven-ring powerhouse and did not fall behind—!"

To Qian Renxue's surprise, according to the introduction, the venue actually had various broadcasting spirit tools installed—over a hundred of them—real-time magnifying the figures of the spirit masters on the huge screens.

Who would have thought the Grand Spirit Arena had such things? What a strange technological development.

Even players with some fame at the Tian Dou Grand Spirit Arena usually have a slight home-field advantage; the announcers, when introducing academies, also deliberately hype up rumors about each academy, so this announcer position is an easy way to make money, and academies seeking fame often present gifts such as gold spirit coins.

Listening to the announcer's words on the stage, the spectators in the stands erupted in various cheers, with shouts rising and falling; Qian Renxue's appearance was indeed overly eye-catching.

Besides them, there were also the top-ranked Tian Dou Royal Academy main team, the second-ranked Beast Martial Academy from the Ba La Ke Kingdom, and the Star Luo Royal Academy.

Apart from the Tian Dou Royal Academy representative team captain Yu Tianheng, whose gaze was fixed dead on Qian Renxue, the captain of the Beast Martial Academy's representative team also caught Qian Renxue's attention.

This team swaggered and took over the position of the seeded team, Star Luo Royal Academy; most of its members were sturdy and solemn in demeanor. Most interestingly, aside from the girl in light blue form-fitting attire wearing a veil, every other member's body bore some animal traits to a greater or lesser extent.

Besides that girl, there was also a beautiful short-haired girl with light green hair and peculiar ears on her head; these were not human ears but resembled the pointed little ears of feline creatures, and under everyone's gaze, her ears flushed slightly red.

In her one blue and one green heterochromatic pupils lay a hint of fear, as she tightly clung to the sleeve of the veiled girl beside her.

In Qian Renxue's perception, these strangely appearing people were not the so-called hundred-thousand-year soul beasts taking human form; they were genuine humans, mutated humans caused by martial soul awakening.

Through the silk veil, Qian Renxue could see that the veiled girl's hair color was a strange pink‑blue.

Interesting, the Exotic Beast Academy—living up to its name, is this the idea of the Auspicious Beasts?

Finally, after all participating academies had entered the arena, the Blue Tyrant Academy's contingent was positioned fourth among all teams.

This Grand Soul Duel Arena is undoubtedly the largest in Tian Dou City, with stands capable of holding eighty thousand spectators. Everything is decorated in a silver‑toned backdrop; although it is morning, specialized soul tool lighting hangs all around, imparting not just luxury but also a grand, majestic atmosphere.

Qian Renxue looked up at the VIP seats, and aside from a few acquaintances, she indeed spotted a figure that surprised her quite a bit.

One of them was an elderly man with a sunflower martial soul embroidered on his chest and wearing a crown; the sunflower is the inherited martial soul of the Barak royal family, leaving no doubt he is the king of Barak Kingdom. Beside him sat a handsome man with black hair and golden pupils, two strands of golden hair falling from his forehead—none other than the Beast God of the ferocious beasts, Di Tian.

The ferocious beasts indeed have a deal with the Barak Kingdom.

Di Tian's gaze had been calmly fixed on the veiled girl below the arena; suddenly, he sensed Qian Renxue's gaze, their eyes met, his dark‑gold pupils seeming to contain boundless ferocity, yet Qian Renxue was utterly unaffected, her deep‑purple eyes tranquil, and she even gave him a slight nod with a smile.

Di Tian's pupils contracted slightly, a hint of surprise in his voice: "This familiar aura? How could it be her?"

A being at least a Super Douluo taking part in this kind of match? Not even twenty‑five years old and already a Super Douluo? What a monster! Humans truly are a frightening species; Di Tian felt ever more relieved, glad that besides the Red King, he himself had also come to secretly protect the Auspicious Beasts today.

The Barak king looked at Di Tian with some curiosity—it's rare to see this peerless, invincible powerhouse of the human world surprised! Is another expert appearing? He grasped Di Tian's hand enthusiastically and asked, "Minister, have you run into an old acquaintance?"

Thinking of the Auspicious Beasts, Di Tian suppressed his contempt for humans, his expression softening: "It's fine, Your Majesty, rest assured; with me here, she alone cannot stir up any trouble."

The Barak king nodded in satisfaction, then affectionately patted Di Tian's hand. Di Tian did not reveal his identity as a Title Douluo; seated beside the Snow Night Emperor, he already trusted Di Tian's loyalty.

His Barak Kingdom now boasts numerous Title Douluo powerhouses! When encountering members of the Spirit Hall, he now dares to stand firm! Were it not for the Spirit Hall's edict—that Title Douluo may not act against ordinary soldiers—and his fear of provoking them into triggering the Angel God's divine traces, he would have already risen in rebellion! After all, without Title Douluo, the Tian Dou Empire's million‑strong army is indeed hard to deal with, and slaughtering many would also harm the harmony of heaven.

Moreover, the three senior instructors of the Tian Dou Royal Academy were seated in the second row of the VIP stands, their gazes proud yet kindly fixed on Yu Tianheng in the arena—this boy is not only the empire's future, but everything to them! And the first row of the VIP seats had only three people.

The central figure wore a crimson‑gold robe and a crown of golden diamonds, his face resembling an ancient moon; he looked considerably older than the Snow Star Prince whom Qian Renxue had once toyed with to death, and there was a faint resemblance in his brows. However, his bearing far surpassed that of the Snow Star Prince; though he appeared somewhat aged, seated there he gave the impression of being the origin, as if everything around him revolved around him.

Even the Barak king had to sit in the second row, so the identity of the person occupying the center of the first row was obvious—aside from the Emperor of the Tian Dou Empire, who else could sit there? To the left of the Snow Night Emperor sat an elder even older than him, clothed head‑to‑toe in a great red robe, wearing a five‑pointed white platinum crown on his head, his eyes half‑closed as if dozing; his shoulders were narrow, his tall, slender frame like a spear.

(End of chapter)