Chapter 89: A Year's Advancement

I have to say, Liu Erlong really cares about Yu Xiaogang; knowing the Shrek team's substitute ability is lacking, he actually introduced the Lan Ba Academy's top disciple Tai Long and Jiang Zhu to Flanders.

Yang Xiong also didn't know what happened among them; eventually Tai Tan met Tang San, who revealed his second martial soul, the Clear Sky Hammer, and then Tai Long became a little follower beside Tang San.

Even Yang Xiong sighed at the fickleness of the world, never expecting that after all the twists it would revert to the original storyline.

More than a year flew by quickly; the Soul Master Competition is now very close, or rather, the graduation time Yang Xiong has in mind is also very close.

After a year and a half of hard training, Yang Xiong advanced six levels in this year, now at Level 38, the most progress among everyone.

Compared with Yang Xiong, the others also made relatively large gains.

Among them, Dai Mubai broke through to Level 42, the only Soul Ancestor among everyone, though Dai Mubai is already seventeen years old.

Tang San's soul power is now Level 39, only one level higher than Yang Xiong; Xiao Wu is Level 38, the same Soul Power Level as Yang Xiong.

Oscar trained hard with Yang Xiong this year, reaching Level 36 in soul power, a rise of four levels in a year.

Ning Rongrong is also Level 36, but she has just broken through.

Zhu Zhuqing and Qin Shuang are both Level 34; these two girls train extremely hard, but unfortunately their innate soul power is relatively low, likely unable to improve further in the short term.

Especially Qin Shuang, who especially enjoys training in the gravity simulated environment; her training time is even longer than Yang Xiong's, and she even battles Zhao Wuji daily just like Yang Xiong, as if the gravity simulated environment were tailor‑made for her.

By contrast, Ma Hongjun is only Level 33, the lowest Soul Power Level among everyone, and was overtaken by Qin Shuang and Zhu Zhuqing, making Flanders look very bad, since Ma Hongjun is his direct disciple.

Based on the Shrek group's training speed, even by the finals there will probably be at most four Soul Ancestors, and only Yang Xiong, Tang San, and Xiao Wu have a chance to break through again; the others are far behind.

Without Immortal Herb, the Shrek group isn't as outstanding as in the original work, but in terms of talent and training speed they have indeed far surpassed their peers, especially by the next Soul Master Competition, when having all members as Soul Ancestors, even several Soul Kings, won't be a problem.

However, in this Soul Master Competition they probably can only play a supporting role; at best they have no hope of winning the championship.

The day before the Soul Master Competition, all teachers and students of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Shrek team gathered again, and Yu Xiaogang and Flanders detailed the competition rules, including all aspects of the Qualifying Tournament and the Advancement Tournament.

It was clear that Yu Xiaogang and the other teachers were very confident; although they don't expect to take the championship, they are confident of a top‑five finish in the Qualifying Tournament. Typically Advanced Soul Master Academies have only one or two Soul Ancestors, and although the Second Team has only one Soul Ancestor, Yang Xiong, Tang San, and even Xiao Wu possess Soul Ancestor‑level combat power, and the others cooperate very smoothly.

Moreover, compared with other teams, the Shrek party recently trained in Sunset Forest, gaining relatively rich combat experience and even seeing a lot of blood; they are definitely incomparable to ordinary teams.

The current Shrek team cannot preserve its strength like in the original work, and soon confirmed its main lineup.

The seven main members are Dai Mubai, Tang San, Yang Xiong, Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, Tai Long, and Oscar; the substitutes are Qin Shuang, Zhu Zhuqing, Ma Hongjun, and Jiang Zhu.

Among them, Tai Long's Soul Power Level has reached Level 38, the same as Yang Xiong among the main lineup, after all he was originally the captain of Lan Ba Academy.

Although Yang Xiong tried everything this year, even asking Lin Gong to create pressure for him, he still couldn't fully fuse a pair of explosive dragon claws with his own body. This makes Yang Xiong feel his dragon claws are becoming increasingly extraordinary; achieving complete fusion may not be simple—perhaps the dragon bloodline of the claws is too strong to be fully absorbed.

Yu Xiaogang still follows his own plan, assigning Tang San to handle the team's layout and tactics, since he is the team's only Control System Soul Master.

Yang Xiong doesn't care much either; after all, he doesn't treat this Soul Master Competition as a big deal, and being able to exert seventy percent of his strength in the match is enough, so he won't pay much attention to the rest.

Compared with Yang Xiong's composure, Yu Xiaogang and Tang San are considerably nervous; the two are eager to showcase themselves.

During this year, Yang Xiong's soul power kept closing in on Tang San's, putting a lot of pressure on Tang San himself.

Originally Tang San thought his talent was unparalleled and his training fairly diligent, but if both continue at this pace, he might be surpassed by Yang Xiong, and then his Innate Full Soul Power would become a joke.

And Yu Xiaogang, as the team leader—and also Tang San's teacher—believes Tang San is absolutely unrivaled under his tutelage, yet his own disciple seems about to be outshone by teammates, making his solo training a joke?

However, Yang Xiong has never displayed his soul skill; they have no idea what Soul Ring ability he has or which soul beast it comes from, even though the two have analyzed Yang Xiong many times, they still know nothing.

Yu Xiaogang even gave Yang Xiong various hints, but Yang Xiong pretended not to notice; after all, this person lacks the strength to force himself.

Of course, rumors circulated outside that if the two teams of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy were combined, the team's strength might increase, and even First Team leader Qin Ming expressed this view.

Unfortunately, the rumor died out; the Heaven Dou Royal First Team already has a tangled internal structure with each person having their own background, and if the two teams truly merged, their coordination might not be as good as now, especially since the Three Education Commissioners value the Second Team's potential more than its current strength.

That day the Soul Master Competition finally began; the original Great Soul Battle Arena in Heaven Dou City was renovated, looking more upscale, and even added more than ten small Soul Fighting Arenas inside.

The whole of Heaven Dou City was bustling with crowds, especially outside the Great Soul Battle Arena, where a sea of people gathered.

The Shrek group, clad in silver battle robes, walked among all the teams.

First to take the stage was, of course, Heaven Dou Royal Academy First Team, followed by the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Shrek team; it was originally supposed to be called Heaven Dou Royal Academy Second Team, but the Three Education Commissioners and Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, out of respect for the Shrek group, named it this way.

If the outside of the Great Soul Battle Arena was crowded, the inside of the Soul Fighting Arena was packed with people, with cheers ringing out from time to time.

Sitting at the very center of the guest seats was Emperor Xue Ye, with Ning Fengzhi on either side and a senior official from the Spirit Hall, presumably the Platinum Archbishop Salas of the Tiandou Region, who is the true host of this Soul Fighting Competition.

Although Yang Xiong has taken part in many Soul Master Soul Fighting Competitions, he has never participated in a contest that attracted attention from the entire continent, so it's no wonder Yu Xiaogang and others place great importance on it.

After Platinum Archbishop Salas drew lots, the Shrek team of Heaven Dou Royal Academy's opponent turned out to be Lan Ba Academy, leaving Yang Xiong speechless.

Originally, Lan Ba Academy was a bottom‑tier force in the Tiandou Region, and now even its captain was poached for the Shrek team, making its combat power extremely weak.

As a result, as soon as they stepped onto the stage they were caught off guard by the Shrek team; in just half a minute all members were knocked down, and before Yang Xiong could act the opponents were already thrown off the arena.

According to Tang San's arrangement, Yang Xiong did go onto the field, but positioned toward the rear of the formation, mainly serving as a Defense System Soul Master protecting Oscar and Ning Rongrong as support, and also acting as a surprise unit during combat, since at Yang Xiong's speed he could fully function as an Agility Attack System battle soul master.

Yang Xiong himself was content to take it easy; he would never pull off a heroic rescue, and showing seventy percent of his strength is already enough to live up to everyone's expectations.

Yang Xiong specifically paid attention to Liu Erlong; even though Lan Ba Academy suffered such a disastrous defeat, its director seemed completely indifferent, focusing all her attention on Yu Xiaogang, making Douluo Continent indeed live up to its nickname "Love Continent", as these women each prioritize romance over ambition.

Of course, Yang Xiong also has a very strange issue: normally in a Soul Master Competition, Xiao Wu shouldn't be allowed to participate, especially with Sword Douluo masters and other Title Douluo experts occasionally appearing on the stands, yet Xiao Wu seems fearless and actually entered the competition, making Yang Xiong start to doubt things.

In the following days, the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Shrek team racked up consecutive wins, with several battle soul masters shining brilliantly, while Yang Xiong, standing at the back of the team, performed rather averagely.

Originally Yang Xiong wasn't very interested in such events, but with everyone around discussing, he couldn't help but watch the other teams' matches.

The Five Element Academies indeed are veteran powerhouses; each team performed brilliantly, especially the captains, whose strength basically reached the Soul Ancestor realm, and their various Soul Ring abilities were also excellent, making them far beyond what the Shrek group could compare to.

Yang Xiong even saw his older brother Yang Wei take the field; although he is only a substitute for Zixing Academy, he now has Level 35 soul power, and his Iron Sword martial soul's attack is extremely strong, making him a rare Tool Spirit Soul Master in the Soul Fighting Competition.

It is well known that training a Tool Spirit is far more difficult in the early stages than a Beast Soul; although Yang Wei's Soul Power Level is average, he benefits from many sect resources, giving him excellent physical qualities, especially since the sect has a dedicated Inheritance Sword Technique, which ordinary Soul Masters cannot match.

Yang Xiong also reflected privately; after all, this is his own older brother, the person closest to him in this world, so perhaps he should pay special attention and even make plans for his future, especially since this brother was quite kind to him when they were young, though he has his own training methods and his father's cultivation, so the two have not had much communication about training.

(End of Chapter)