Days and nights passed, seasons came and went. Unknowingly, another two autumns had passed. As the saying goes, a day apart feels like three autumns; for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's youth, it had truly been three autumns since their last meeting.
It had been two and a half years since Tianlin entered seclusion, now at level eighty-nine, pushing for the final breakthrough.
On Seagod Island, Ning Rongrong, in Scorching Hell, Ma Hongjun, and others had passed their third trials and were working on their fourth.
Gu Ran and Ye Lingling had, after years of punishing evil and saving lives, built a reputation even greater than Tianlin once had.
This fulfilled the first step Tianlin had set for them.
Meanwhile, the continent was far from peaceful—much had happened in two years. Over a year ago, Spirit Hall's Nine Great Sects Expansion Conference concluded successfully.
The original top three clans didn't attend, since they didn't recognize the so-called "Nine Great Sects." But Spirit Hall's aim was only for their own vassals; whether the top three came or not didn't matter. Since the top three were still around, their titles weren't stripped—just the rankings changed.
Now, there were four top clans: Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect first, Clear Sky Sect second, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect third, and the new Saint Dragon Sect fourth.
The Saint Dragon Sect's leader, Tuoba Xi, managed to become a Title Douluo. Most accepted this, as the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect only had one Title Douluo as well.
To ordinary soul masters, a Title Douluo was lofty enough—level ninety-one or ninety-nine didn't matter.
The new five lower clans were Black Tiger, Wind Sword, Fire Leopard, Elephant Armor, and Wasp.
All five leaders were Soul Douluos. If Huyan Zhen were still alive, Elephant Armor Clan would be first among the five, but his successor wasn't as strong, so they ranked fourth.
After the conference, Spirit Hall boldly declared itself the sacred land of all soul masters, asserting authority over all, regardless of origin.
The six vassal clans—all but the original top three—immediately voiced support, and Spirit Hall's power reached its peak.
Tianlin's earlier actions had indeed delayed Bibi Dong's ascension, but thanks to the reconciliation between Qian Renxue and Bibi Dong, the Hall of Worship and the Hall of the Pope worked together, advancing even faster than in the original.
Spirit Hall wanted to show its strength, and as five years had passed since the last Soul Master Tournament, they held a new one.
Tournaments were a tradition—even if the Empires disliked Spirit Hall, they still participated.
Especially the Heaven Dou Empire, last time's champion. If they retreated now, their academy's reputation would be ruined.
They were confident, too. After merging with the Elemental Academies, they easily formed an all-Soul Ancestor team, with their strongest captain at Soul King level.
Shui Bing'er—level fifty-six Soul King. She'd been about the same level as Feng Xiaotian, Huo Wu and others last time, but she was younger—only sixteen then, now just over twenty-one. Her talent far surpassed the innate full-soul-power Feng Xiaotian, largely because he spent much time on self-created skills.
Clearly, Shui Bing'er also had innate full soul power. If nurtured, her Ice Phoenix could even surpass Ma Hongjun's Fire Phoenix, whose own innate soul power was only level nine.
Even without Tianlin, Heaven Dou was confident, thinking Spirit Hall couldn't possibly have another Golden Generation.
If there was only one, Shui Bing'er could easily defeat them. Her talent even exceeded the Golden Generation; among them, the most gifted, Hu Liena, was still lower-level at this age.
But Shui Bing'er still lost—not to her opponent, but to her own teammates, a most frustrating defeat.
After the Elemental Academies merged into Heaven Dou Royal Academy, the likes of Feng Xiaotian soon noticed something was wrong.
Was this an academy? No, it was a den of vanity, where everyone lived in luxury, bullying the weak and currying favor with the strong—hardly a place for learning.
But by then it was too late to regret joining.
Gradually, the once upright Elemental Academy students were corrupted; within a year, most became spoiled.
Only a handful, like those who had joined the previous tournament—Feng Xiaotian, Huo Wu, Xue Wu—held onto their principles.
But most of these were over twenty-five and had graduated, now serving as teaching assistants or managers.
Especially Feng Xiaotian, now vice principal of Elemental Academy.
A twenty-nine-year-old Soul Emperor, advancing faster than Qin Ming had—truly, innate full soul power, once devoted to cultivation, advanced at a shocking pace.
Without such excellent teammates, Shui Bing'er had to fight with teammates who had decent levels but no real combat ability—always one-vs-seven, or worse, as they dragged her down, one-vs-thirteen.
Only her younger sister, Shui Yue'er, was any help. But Shui Yue'er was a romantic and naïve. She was soon lost in the academy's glamorous life.
To be fair, though the Royal Academy students weren't great, they were all nobles, most good-looking and refined. Shui Yue'er, who loved handsome faces, couldn't resist. If not for her sister's care, she'd likely have been seduced by some noble.
In this environment, Shui Yue'er barely trained before the tournament; her combat ability even regressed.
In the finals, Shui Bing'er's teammates fell quickly to Spirit Hall Academy's elite team.
She was left alone, beset by seven high-level Soul Ancestors, and lost badly.
That battle utterly shamed the Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Yes, they reached the finals, but everyone saw it was only due to Shui Bing'er's strength. Without her, they wouldn't have won a single match.
And as Shui Bing'er was from the Elemental Academy, it showed just how rotten the Royal Academy was.
Hard to believe this was the academy that once had the legendary Emperor Battle Team. Without them, it was a toothless tiger.
Thus, Spirit Hall Academy reclaimed its throne as the top academy, attracting countless youths.