Chapter 312: Participating in Bright Capital

Although Tang Wulin had long heard the fame of Bright Capital, the continent's first city, seeing it in person for the first time was still his first experience of its splendor.

Countless buildings were arranged like stars across the sky, most over five stories high; between them, wide stone-paved streets were laid out in a grid, some main avenues even exceeding thirty meters in width. In the midst, Tang Wulin faintly sensed fluctuations of soul power from among the buildings.

At this moment, the immensely huge city was packed with people; looking down from above, it resembled an ant nest teeming with ants.

This Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament can be said to be the most watched in the past thousand years, after all it is the first time in a thousand years that sects have been allowed to participate, and on the Douluo Continent, the number of sects far exceeds that of academies.

According to Tang Wulin's knowledge, in fact, in the distant past, the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament allowed sects to participate; it was only later, nearly a thousand years ago, that only academies were permitted. Hence the Ri Yue Di Guo's slogan of "Return".

After the organizer, Ri Yue Di Guo, proposed it and other nations agreed, they finally decided to restore the previous eligibility, increase sect participation, and change the competition format, thereby greatly increasing the overall scale of the tournament.

For an academy, achieving good results in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy's Soul Duel Tournament is a great opportunity to bring fame and benefit to the academy, greatly aiding recruitment and development; for a sect, it is no different.

Any sect's development cannot do without talent, and the more high-level the talent, the more likely it is to join a powerful sect.

After the new tournament's format was confirmed changed, over sixty percent of the sects on the continent chose to register.

If not for the final tournament organizing committee's decision, besides restricting participants to under twenty years of age, they would also have required at least five members per sect team to have cultivation above the fourth ring, otherwise the number of teams in this tournament would have exceeded ten times that of the previous session.

Even with such restrictions, the final number of participating teams was set at one hundred sixty-seven, many more than the previous session.

As the wealthiest nation on the Douluo Continent, Ri Yue Di Guo hosting such a tournament is nothing special, but even so they devoted a full three months of preparation for it.

Bright Capital, as the continent's largest city, also expanded a large number of hotels, adding rooms to accommodate more visitors during this event, especially out-of-town merchants, in order to reap greater profits.

Ri Yue Di Guo, as the continent's foremost soul engineer nation, also spared no expense in this tournament; the final prize is no longer a soul bone but a soul guide device.

The champion team will receive a nine-level soul guide device, the runner-up an eight-level, and the third-place a seven-level.

The value of these three soul guide devices exceeds that of soul bones, especially the nine-level soul guide device that the champion team can obtain, which is practically priceless nowadays; only Ri Yue Di Guo possesses nine-level soul guide devices, and this device also poses the greatest threat to the other three nations on the continent.

Under the heavy rewards, all participating teams are eager and striving for higher placements; this is not only a good opportunity to achieve fame in one battle, but also a good time to obtain substantial profits.

Yet for some reason, Tang Wulin sensed a hint of conspiracy from Ri Yue Di Guo's unusual actions.

It is well known that in recent years Ri Yue Di Guo has been increasingly unstable at the borders of various nations; they are likely plotting a large-scale war. Why would they now offer a nine-level soul guide device, a strategic weapon, as a prize? Tang Wulin could not fathom it, and not knowing what they intended, he could only take things one step at a time.

However, according to his knowledge, many old friends are expected to come to Bright Capital this time; joining forces with them, he need not necessarily fear Ri Yue Di Guo.

After arriving at Bright Capital, the team leaders became Huo Yutong and He Caitou, this pair of senior fellow disciples.

Under their guidance, everyone quickly found the registration site for this tournament—a large hotel eight stories high, located in the center of Bright Capital, named the Bright Joy Hotel. Its entirely silver-white exterior could be seen from afar; although only eight stories, each floor is very tall, making it one of the tallest buildings in Bright Capital.

At this moment, in the spacious lobby covering several thousand square meters, a considerable number of people had gathered; as Tang Wulin and his companions entered, a girl in a silver long dress came forward to greet them.

"Welcome, honored guests. May I ask if you are here to participate in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament?"

The girl was tall and slender, extremely beautiful, wearing a silver long dress that fit her perfectly, hanging past her calves, appearing very elegant and noble; her pretty face bore a light smile, easily giving a sense of affinity.

Tang Wulin gave a slight nod.

"Yes."

The girl's smile instantly became even more affectionate.

"Because quite a few teams have arrived just now, please wait a moment, honored guests, and follow me."

While speaking, the girl led the group toward the interior of the lobby.

Tang Wulin led the group forward; he glanced at Huo Yutong, whispered something to her in his heart, and Huo Yutong lightly nodded.

Next, a mental detection image gradually appeared in everyone's minds.

Everyone was surprised to discover that, with the aid of Huo Yutong's mental detection, they could even roughly gauge the cultivation level of people within the detection range.

Naturally, the strongest reaction came from the few members of the Shrek Team led by Wu Feng; they had not previously fought side by side with Huo Yutong, and during this period of special training they had been completely dominated by her, making this their first experience of the assistance of mental detection.

Experiencing this heaven-defying assistance, even Ning Tian's expression turned solemn; she realized she could not determine whose support ability was stronger, hers or Huo Yutong's, which was undoubtedly a huge blow to someone as proud and arrogant as her.

Tang Wulin did not pay attention to the others' reactions; he had Huo Yutong use mental detection sharing purely to find people, and helping others observe the participants of other teams present was merely incidental.

Huo Yutong's mental detection ability was incredibly powerful; soon Tang Wulin found the two individuals he was looking for.

Having found those two targets, Huo Yutong, as the master of mental detection, naturally located them as well; in the next instant, Tang Wulin felt a certain connection arise between his spiritual power and theirs, and Huo Yutong also added those two people to the sharing group.

Tang Wulin smiled faintly.

"Jiujiu Princess, Weina Princess, long time no see."

(End of chapter)