Following Jiang Nannan, Xu Sanshi, and He Caitou also left one after another.
Xu Sanshi felt unease in his heart because of Jiang Nannan's unusual behavior this time. Although he had already confirmed his true feelings and would no longer pester Jiang Nannan, it was far from easy to remain calm and indifferent at this stage truly.
He Caitou, on the other hand, was busy heading to the outer court's Soul Guidance Department to continue researching soul tools. The gains he obtained from this exchange and study trip to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy were no less than those of Xu Zihuang. In the more than two months before the start of the Continental Youth Soul Master Tournament, he planned to fully integrate and master the knowledge and concepts he learned from the Mingde Hall.
Unless there was something important, he rarely left the laboratory in the outer court's Soul Guidance Department.
In the end, only Xu Zihuang, Ning Tian, Beibei, and Tang Ya went to find Dai Luoli. The relationship between Xu Zihuang, Ning Tian, and Dai Luoli was relatively close, while Tang Ya and Beibei were currently the legitimate Sect Leader and Vice Sect Leader of the Tang Sect. It was just right for these four to come forward.
It was now dusk. The setting sun slanted westward and slowly sank below the horizon. The afterglow of the setting sun dyed the entire training field in golden-red.
Dai Luoli was still practicing the method of fusing spiritual power and soul power in the training field as usual. Although his Blood Tiger martial soul inherently possessed this kind of talent, when releasing his martial soul, spiritual power, and soul power would automatically fuse, there was still a long way to go before he could perfectly fuse his own soul power and spiritual power.
Xu Zihuang had accomplished this back then, and it took him less than a year and a half to master the Ruling the World that Mu En taught him. But that did not mean others could do the same.
However, Dai Luoli's martial soul had a spiritual attribute and possessed this kind of innate talent, so he definitely had an advantage in cultivating the fusion of spiritual power and soul power.
After a month of hard training, Dai Luoli increasingly felt the powerful effect of fusing soul power and spiritual power. It was not a soul skill, yet it was similar to one. His Thought of Winter Fist was also gradually being perfected by him.
Of course, the so-called self-created soul skill "Thought of Winter Fist" that he spoke of was merely an extremely weakened version of Ruling the World.
Dai Luoli threw a punch, and it seemed as if a blood-red tiger head phantom appeared on his right fist. It carried both majesty and a somewhat domineering aura.
"Hu— Hu—" After overexhausting his soul power and spiritual power, his chest heaved violently. A trace of joy appeared in his eyes. Compared to the very beginning, the power of this punch had clearly increased.
At that moment, four figures appeared in his line of sight.
Facing the dazzling setting sun, Dai Luoli instinctively squinted. Only after seeing clearly that the one walking in front was Xu Zihuang, followed by Ning Tian, did he hurriedly step forward in delight.
"Brother Yu, Sister Ning."
After this period of guidance from Yu Tianhuang, Dai Luoli had undergone what could truly be described as a complete transformation without any exaggeration. What began as mere admiration for Yu Tianhuang had now turned into indescribable gratitude and respect.
At the very least, in his heart, Yu Tianhuang's status far surpassed that of his two blood brothers, Dai Yaoheng and Dai Huabin.
Tang Ya giggled, her black ponytail swaying left and right behind her head. She teased Dai Luoli:
"I didn't expect you to be such a little fanboy of Tianhuang."
Tang Ya's appearance was not as peerlessly beautiful as Jiang Nannan's, but she possessed a temperament as if she had gathered the spiritual essence of heaven and earth. Her playful smile carried an extremely infectious friendliness. In the White Tiger Duke's Mansion, Dai Luoli had seen many beautiful maidservants, but none could compare to Tang Ya.
Being teased by Tang Ya right now, Dai Luoli felt a little embarrassed, averted his gaze, and his face turned red.
Beibei looked a little lost in thought and let out a soft sigh. For some reason, the Dai Luoli in front of him involuntarily reminded him of Huo Yuhao back then. But now Huo Yuhao's temperament was becoming increasingly dark and gloomy, and his mentality seemed to be starting to twist. He still clearly remembered the frenzied and distorted expression on Huo Yuhao's face.
During this past period, he had tried more than once to privately guide Huo Yuhao, but Huo Yuhao never opened his heart to him. From his eyes, Beibei could only see paranoia and distrust.
Xu Zihuang reached out his right hand and placed it on Dai Luoli's shoulder.
"Luo Li, let me introduce them to you. This is Senior Brother Bei and Senior Sister Xiao Ya."
"Brother Bei, Sister Xiao Ya, hello." Dai Luoli politely greeted Beibei and Tang Ya, then excitedly introduced himself:
"My name is Dai Luoli."
Putting Tang Ya aside, the previous Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament was held in Star Luo City. Beibei had represented Shrek Academy on the stage. After sizing up Beibei's appearance, Dai Luoli quickly remembered him.
Although Beibei did not have as dazzling and shocking a performance as Xu Zihuang, he was still someone Dai Luoli greatly admired.
"Xiao Ya and I have already heard about your situation from Tianhuang," Beibei said with a gentle smile.
"Actually, we came here specifically to find you."
"To find me?" Dai Luoli looked at Beibei in surprise.
Xu Zihuang timely continued:
"Luo Li, you should know that the next Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament will be held soon. This time, the rules have changed: sects are allowed to participate, and it has been renamed the Continental Youth Soul Master Tournament. Senior Brother Bei and Senior Sister Xiao Ya will represent the Tang Sect in this Continental Youth Soul Master Tournament. However, the Tang Sect still lacks one person to form a complete seven-member team, so I brought them to find you."
"Brother Yu, do you mean you want me to represent the Tang Sect in the competition?" Dai Luoli instantly understood what Yu Tianhuang meant.
Tang Ya smiled charmingly and explained:
"Little Brother Dai, we are not asking you to join the Tang Sect. We just want you to temporarily represent our Tang Sect in this Continental Youth Soul Master Tournament. Everything is within the rules. After the tournament ends, the Tang Sect will place no restrictions on you. Of course, the most important thing is still your own willingness."
"I only just broke through to Soul Elder. Can I really do it?" Dai Luoli's eyes were burning, but his words carried some lack of confidence, and he lowered his head.
He was naturally willing to have the opportunity to participate in the famous Continental Youth Soul Master Tournament. As a soul master, and at this age, who wouldn't want to become the focus of countless people, receiving admiration and respect? Moreover, if he could perform well in the tournament, perhaps he could greatly change his father, the White Tiger Duke Dai Hao's, impression of him. And he could also use this Continental Youth Soul Master Tournament to temper his own strength.
It was killing multiple birds with one stone.
The only thing holding him back was his lack of confidence in his own strength. Although his martial soul's potential had been developed by Xu Zihuang, and in terms of talent alone, he was considered outstanding even among Shrek Academy's inner court disciples, the people he had been in contact with recently were all young elite soul masters from Shrek's inner court. This made him unable to have a direct and intuitive understanding of his own progress.
Beibei smiled helplessly and comforted him:
"Luo Li, your perception is a bit off track. On the entire continent, soul masters who break through to five-ring Soul King before the age of twenty are extremely rare—and that already includes those from the Sun Moon Empire who forcibly raise their cultivation using drugs. Four-ring Soul Elder is actually the mainstream level among participants. In the previous Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament, some team captains were only four-ring Soul Elders."
After hearing Beibei's words, Dai Luoli regained some confidence. After a moment of silence, he firmly nodded.
"Brother Bei, I am willing to represent the Tang Sect in this Continental Youth Soul Master Tournament."
"Good!" Tang Ya and Beibei responded at the same time. The two looked at each other, and both saw the smile in the other's eyes.
With this, regardless of strength, they had at least gathered a seven-man team on paper. Excluding Huo Yuhao at Soul Elder level and Dai Luoli at Soul Elder level, among the remaining five, there were three Soul Emperors and two Soul Kings, and He Caitou was also a seventh-level soul engineer. With such a deep lineup, obtaining a high ranking would definitely not be difficult.
Next, the five of them went together to the central cafeteria on Sea God's Island. While eating, they discussed some of the details. Beibei also reciprocated: learning that Dai Luoli was cultivating the fusion of spiritual power and soul power, he gave Dai Luoli quite a few instructive suggestions.
Geniuses of Xu Zihuang's caliber could not be judged by common sense. Beibei had learned Ruling the World step by step under Mu En's guidance, and the insights he gained were actually more suitable for Dai Luoli.
And that was indeed the case.
After dinner, Dai Luoli, filled with realizations, couldn't wait to return to his loft residence and begin his evening meditation and cultivation.
Xu Zihuang and the other four also dispersed. The holiday had ended, but instead of returning to Shrek City, they chose to stay on Sea God's Island.
As night fell, the misty water vapor rising around Sea God's Island added a sense of dreamlike beauty.
On the grassy shore by the lake, Ning Tian spread out a blanket made of soul beast fur. She sat in the center of the blanket and let Xu Zihuang rest his head on her long, round, and smooth thighs.
The fresh fragrance of grass mixed with the faint body scent on Ning Tian lingered around Xu Zihuang's nose. At his neck was an extremely elastic, soft, and warm sensation.
Ning Tian quietly combed Xu Zihuang's hair, a shallow smile on her lips, enjoying the tranquility and warmth between the two of them.
The waves lapped against the shore. Clear, crystalline lake water flowed through the gaps between the cobblestones, producing a crisp and pleasant gurgling sound, like a mountain spring.
"By the way, Tianhuang. I received news about the light-attribute soul beast power crystals I asked people to collect earlier. But it seems none of them meet your requirements."
"There's no helping it, my requirements are indeed quite strict," Xu Zihuang opened his eyes and looked up at Ning Tian, showing a helpless expression.
"That the Seven-Star Lightflame Sword already has a hundred-thousand-year fire-attribute soul beast power crystal embedded in it. Using ordinary light-attribute soul beast power crystals cannot maintain balance and might even cause this seventh-level close-combat soul tool to collapse from the inside. The ideal situation would be to embed another hundred-thousand-year light-attribute soul beast power crystal."
Ning Tian seemed to think of something and suddenly said:
"Tianhuang, Mu En's martial soul is the Radiant Sacred Dragon. He definitely has experience hunting hundred-thousand-year light-attribute soul beasts. Why don't we find an opportunity to go ask Elder Xuan together?"
Ning Tian's words woke Xu Zihuang from his thoughts.
Perhaps subconsciously, he did not want to owe Mu En any more favors, which was why he had overlooked this point.
He gave a self-mocking smile in his heart. Although his determination was exceptionally firm, subconsciously, he was still avoiding certain things.
Xu Zihuang sat up, smiled gently, reached out his right hand, and pulled Ning Tian into his arms.
"You really reminded me of something important."
"So, how are you going to reward me?"
Ning Tian's eyes were full of smiles as she brought her face closer to Xu Zihuang's.
Their figures overlapped in the light, their breaths intertwined.
But during this process, Xu Zihuang's brows slightly twitched.
Not far behind them in the woods, a pair of beautiful eyes stared blankly at the two of them.
The owner of those beautiful eyes was none other than Wang Qiu'er.
This afternoon, she had seen Xu Zihuang and Ning Tian's figures. For reasons she herself did not understand, she had unconsciously followed them.
Complex emotions surged in her pink-blue eyes, her brows tightly furrowed. She had seen Xu Zihuang's memories and knew that Xu Zihuang was purely using Ning Tian. Yet seeing the way Xu Zihuang acted now did not seem fake.
And such a person was the destined calamity of her life.
The next morning, Xu Sanshi, He Caitou, and Jiang Nannan all gave Elder Xuan affirmative replies, willing to represent the Tang Sect in this Continental Youth Soul Master Tournament.
With that, Elder Xuan instructed Yan Shaozhe to start making arrangements for Shrek's representative team.
When Xu Zihuang received Elder Xuan's voice transmission, finished his cultivation, and walked out of the Sea God's Pavilion, quite a few people were already standing in the open space in front of the pavilion.
Opposite Elder Xuan, Yan Shaozhe, Cai Meier, and Zhang Lexuan stood a row of students. Among them were not only inner court disciples but also a few outer court students. And all these people were ones Xu Zihuang knew.
Ning Tian was prominently among them.
The rest were Wang Qiu'er, Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, Xie Huanyue, Wu Feng, Nanmen Yun'er, Xiao Xiao, Cao Jinxuan, Zhou Sichen, Lan Susu, and Lan Luoluo. Twelve people in total—thirteen including Xu Zihuang.
Xu Zihuang saluted Elder Xuan and the others, then blended into the group.
Xiao Xiao, Xie Huanyue, Nanmen Yun'er, Lan Susu, and Lan Luoluo all smiled at Xu Zihuang. Zhou Sichen and Cao Jinxuan even winked and made faces.
Wang Qiu'er, Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, and Wu Feng's expressions were somewhat stiff. Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu were purely due to their personalities; they no longer harbored hostility toward Xu Zihuang. But Wang Qiu'er and Wu Feng were another matter.
Elder Xuan nodded slightly.
"Shaozhe, since everyone is here, let's begin."
"Yes, Elder Xuan." Yan Shaozhe stepped forward respectfully.
"This edition of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament has changed rules: sect representative teams are allowed to participate, and it has been renamed the Continental Youth Soul Master Tournament. Beibei and the others will represent the Tang Sect. You thirteen will represent the academy as main and substitute members. We hope you will live up to the academy's expectations and achieve good results."
"The new team will have Yu Tianhuang as captain, Wang Qiu'er as vice-captain. Main members: Ning Tian, Dai Huabin, Nanmen Yun'er, Xie Huanyue, Wu Feng. Substitutes: Xiao Xiao, Zhou Sichen, Cao Jinxuan, Zhu Lu, Lan Susu, Lan Luoluo. Due to the special nature of this tournament, the academy will not send any junior preparatory team members."
"Additionally, for the five substitute members, except for Xiao Xiao, this tournament will also serve as an extended inner court assessment. Your performance in the Continental Youth Soul Master Tournament will determine whether you qualify to enter the inner court for study."
After hearing Yan Shaozhe's announcement, aside from Xu Zihuang and Ning Tian, who already knew, and Wang Qiu'er, who never showed much expression, the faces of the other ten changed in various ways.
Zhou Sichen, Cao Jinxuan, Lan Susu, and Lan Luoluo had previously been puzzled about being specially approved to enter Sea God's Island. Now they finally understood why.
To represent Shrek Academy in battle was an immense honor. But along with the excitement came nervousness.
Using their performance in the Continental Youth Soul Master Tournament as the evaluation standard undoubtedly created enormous pressure.
The others focused their attention on Wang Qiu'er.
They had almost no impression of Wang Qiu'er and felt she had only recently entered the inner court. Yet such a person had been appointed vice-captain of Shrek's representative team, surpassing Ning Tian and Dai Huabin.
Dai Huabin's face turned iron-green. He could accept being below Yu Tianhuang, after all, Yu Tianhuang's talent was on a completely different level from his. But on what basis did Wang Qiu'er get this position?
However, after all these years, he had gradually matured and did not raise any objections at this moment. Because doing so right now would be equivalent to challenging Yan Shaozhe's authority.
Yan Shaozhe said in a deep voice:
"Next, I will explain the specific competition format to you. Due to the introduction of sect teams, the number of participating teams in this new edition will surge dramatically, and the competition will be unprecedentedly fierce. Because there are too many teams, it will use elimination rounds directly until the top 32 are decided. The top 32 will be divided into four groups, with the top two from each group advancing to the quarterfinals. From the preliminaries, group stage, all the way to the finals, the format is the same: individual elimination + team battle."
"Each match, both sides send seven people. Once the lineup is confirmed, it cannot be changed after the match begins. First is the individual elimination round: each side sends one person to fight. The winner stays, the loser is eliminated, until one side loses the match. You can also voluntarily forfeit during the match. Winning one bout gives one point. After the individual elimination round comes the 7 vs 7 team battle. The seven participants are still the same people from the individual elimination round. If one side has fewer than seven due to injuries, they fight with however many remain. The winning side of the team battle gets five points. After the match, the side with the higher total score wins."
"It sounds a bit complicated, but simply put, this new format places greater emphasis on individual combat power. If one side can sweep all the points in the individual elimination round, they can win without even fighting the team battle. And if one side has already secured three victories in the individual elimination, they can directly request to proceed to the team battle to decide the winner, because three points from individual + five from team will definitely exceed the maximum seven points possible from individual elimination alone. Therefore, tactical arrangement becomes a very important part."
"To let everyone get familiar with the new format, and also to test your respective strengths, become familiar with each other's abilities, and build teamwork, you should first go to the outer court soul dueling area to train and build chemistry. Not long from now, Beibei will bring the Tang Sect representative team to have a sparring match against you."
"Lexuan will be the team leader for your squad. For the more than two months before the start of the Continental Youth Soul Master Tournament, she will be in charge of your training and coordination." After saying this, Yan Shaozhe gestured to Zhang Lexuan: "Lexuan, take them to the soul dueling area."
"Yes."
Zhang Lexuan led everyone away. Yan Shaozhe, however, still felt a little uneasy and looked toward Elder Xuan.
"Elder Xuan, is it really okay to hand everything over completely to Lexuan like this?"
Elder Xuan took a swig from his gourd and said grumpily:
"With Tianhuang here, what are you still worried about? Besides, Lexuan will take over your position sooner or later. Letting her get familiar with these matters earlier is good."
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