Chapter 109: Key Information on the Main Tournament Rivals
If, back when he was still at the Sixth Sense, Lin Beiya needed to remain cautious when facing certain extreme situations, then now—after awakening the Seventh Sense—he could already handle any enemy with complete composure.
Even if he couldn't defeat them head-on, he could simply exile them to another dimension. If they managed to come back, then they truly deserved praise.
And even if the opponent were lucky enough to escape the another dimension and return to the Douluo Continent, Lin Beiya still had the dual safeguards of telekinesis and Yomotsu Hirazaka.
His increasingly powerful telekinesis was now sufficient to support him in escaping several kilometers away in just a few instants. Very few Soul Masters could hope to keep up with his pace.
After a full year of cultivation, Lin Beiya's soul power level had reached Rank 46.
The members of his own team had also advanced rapidly under intense internal competition.
Among them, Ye Lüsu—who possessed the highest soul power—had broken through to Rank 49 a few months ago. With nearly four months remaining before the Soul Master Tournament began, he could attempt to push for the Soul King realm.
Si Min and Yu Quan, who had only obtained their third soul rings a year ago, had now reached Rank 35 and Rank 34, respectively. In this regard, Lin Beiya's Gold Cloth had played an indispensable role—after all, a 40% cultivation speed boost was no joke.
Even when shared in rotation among them, it was more than enough to significantly accelerate their cultivation.
Lei Ying, Wei Xu, and Qiu Tete, originally all Soul Ancestors, had now reached Rank 48, while Qiu Tete, slightly behind, had advanced to Rank 45.
As for Mo Xue, she had broken through the Soul Ancestor bottleneck within the year, obtained her fourth soul ring, and could now provide her teammates with a 50% defense boost.
The most terrifying growth belonged to Shi Nuo, who had originally been at the very bottom in terms of cultivation. After consuming the Singular Velvet Sky Chrysanthemum, his talent was greatly enhanced, and the immortal herb also granted him the most direct feedback in soul power.
After a year of cultivation, he had already reached Rank 40, the quasi–Soul Ancestor stage. To avoid drawing too much attention—
After discussing it with Lin Beiya, Shi Nuo planned to wait until just before the Soul Master Tournament began, then go together with the soon-to-breakthrough Ye Lüsu to obtain their soul rings.
Even without relying on Lin Beiya, the Spirit Hall team's strength was already more than enough to contend for the championship of the tournament. Historically, Soul Masters who could reach the Soul King level at this age were exceedingly rare. Otherwise, how could Hu Liena and the other two have been hailed as the Spirit Hall's Golden Generation?
If not for running into overpowered freaks, those three alone would have been enough to crush every other participant in the tournament.
Arriving at a certain classroom within the academy, Yu Quan was already waiting for him.
As the team's intelligence specialist, Yu Quan had used his grandfather's connections to gather information on the main members of the various participating teams.
"Boss, our primary opponents are the Star Luo Royal Academy and the Heaven Dou Royal Academy."
"As for the others—such as the Five Element Academies—although they do have some strong individuals, their overall quality still can't compare to the two great empires."
Looking at the thick stack of documents in front of him, Lin Beiya nodded in approval of Yu Quan's abilities and then casually flipped through the information on their main rivals.
At a glance, he recognized a familiar name.
Qin Ming, the leader of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy in the subsequent Tournament, hadn't expected the other party to also be a participant in this Tournament.
As the first graduate of Shrek Academy, in the original work, he appeared as a teacher at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
How Qin Ming joined Heaven Dou Royal Academy had never been clearly explained. Now it seemed that his outstanding performance in this very tournament was the catalyst.
After all, as a backwater academy, Shrek did not possess the qualifications to participate in the Soul Master Tournament.
Even if they did, they wouldn't have been able to gather seven participants. For a genius like Qin Ming, who possessed innate full soul power, it was understandable that he would use the tournament as a stepping stone toward a better future by joining Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
After briefly reviewing Qin Ming's profile, although the details of his soul skills remained unclear, his Rank 45 soul power and his martial soul—Inferno Grey Wolf—were recorded very clearly.
As for his age—
Twenty-four years old.
Exactly at the tournament's maximum age limit.
Looking over this information, Lin Beiya curled his lips in disdain.
As an Innate full soul power holder, and nearly 11 years older than himself, he actually had the same soul power cultivation as him
Even considering the fact that Lin Beiya had Gold Cloth "cheats," this cultivation speed was still far too slow.
And the exaggerated claims about Qin Ming's talent, such as being the most talented person beneath Tang Hao, those were simply nonsense.
Tang Hao broke through to Titled Douluo at forty-four. Qin Ming is only a Soul Emperor at thirty-four. Even if he burned incense and prayed for ten years, reaching Soul Douluo would already be a miracle.
This is a classic example of a genius being hindered by a backwater academy.
"Only accepting monsters" might sound impressive, but in reality, it meant abandoning geniuses to fend for themselves—without any cultivation resources. Being able to eat their fill was already a blessing.
Speaking of Qin Ming, if he had joined a more suitable academy like Blazing Academy, he would already be a Soul King by now.
That place has a large number of fire-attribute soul master simulated training grounds—far superior to staying in that broken village known as Shrek.
It seems he was dazzled by the cultivation levels of Shrek's teachers. After all, an academy staffed by multiple Soul Saints and Soul Emperors—where the number of teachers even exceeded the number of students—is truly unique.
As for the remaining members of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, none of them stood out particularly.
All of them were over twenty-two years old. Aside from Qin Ming, there were two Soul Ancestors and five high-level Soul Elders—hardly worth much attention.
Even their strongest member, Qin Ming, wasn't necessarily a match for Lei Ying, Wei Xu, or Ye Lüsu.
On the other hand, the members of the Star Luo Royal Academy gave Lin Beiya some concern—after all, they possessed a martial soul fusion skill.
As champions of the previous tournament, Star Luo Empire had lost the reinforcement of Clear Sky Sect disciples, yet they still fielded a team where every participant was above the Soul Ancestor level.
With no direct imperial princes present, the Star Luo team in this tournament was led by the Dai and Zhu families.
Two collateral-branch geniuses—Dai Moheng and Zhu Yuwei—both possessed the martial soul fusion skill. Their strengths were Rank 46 and Rank 43 Soul Ancestors, respectively.
With two Soul Ancestors unleashing a martial soul fusion skill together, Lin Beiya could not be certain whether anyone on the Spirit Hall team besides himself would be able to withstand it.
Therefore, he would definitely personally oversee the battle against the Star Luo team, while other battles would depend on the situation.
As for opponents like the Five Element Academies, Lin Beiya had little interest in reviewing their information. Even if the strongest among them could win one or two rounds through attrition, it would be meaningless against absolute strength.
In other words, those opponents could be left to others—Lin Beiya would only fight in the finals.
"Pack the rest up and pass the information on to Senior Ye and the others. Aside from Star Luo Royal Academy, we have absolute strength suppression—there's no need to be overly cautious."
"Got it, Boss!"
The opening of the Soul Master Tournament was drawing near.
Bibi Dong, in her capacity as Pope, also took some time to personally inspect the team members and offered words of encouragement.
For Ye Lüsu and the others, meeting the Pope for the first time was an exciting experience. They nodded repeatedly, declaring they would definitely bring the championship back to Spirit Hall.
Bibi Dong wore a satisfied smile and nodded in approval. However, her gaze swept over Shi Nuo standing nearby, and her pupils suddenly contracted.
She then glanced at Lin Beiya beside her without leaving any trace—and said nothing more.
—
End of Chapter