Chapter 136: The Soul Master Tournament Begins

All members of the second team gathered together, including the eight team members and the two deputy leaders, Teachers Li Xiang and An Ya.

Yang Podi looked at everyone and said, "The Soul Master Tournament is about to begin. According to my plan, I won't participate in either the preliminaries or the promotion matches. So, during this time, each of you will have to fight in more matches than usual."

"As for why I won't participate, it's partly to conserve my strength, and partly to give you all a sense of pressure and urgency."

"The Soul Master Tournament is one of the grandest events on the entire Douluo Continent. I hope you can become stronger through battles against various teams and Soul Masters and even surpass your limits."

"During the matches, with Lingling and Teacher An Ya around, don't be afraid of getting injured. All you need to do is give your all in the battles. I'll take care of everything else."

"Teacher Li Xiang, please explain the rules of the tournament to everyone."

After Yang Podi finished speaking, he glanced at Teacher Li Xiang, who had long been a teacher at the academy and was very familiar with the rules of such tournaments.

Teacher Li Xiang nodded and began speaking to everyone.

"Students, the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament is about to start. Today, I'll explain the rules to you."

"This tournament is jointly organized by the royal families of the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires, along with the Spirit Hall. It is the largest competition in the Soul Master world."

"There are a few essential rules that must be followed. First, the participating students must be under 25 years old, and each match must have a minimum of seven participants per team. Second, the competition is meant to be a friendly exchange. Try your best to avoid maiming or killing opponents. If anyone kills an opponent, not only will their academy bear the corresponding losses, but the academy will also be expelled from the tournament."

After explaining this rule, Teacher Li Xiang couldn't help but glance at Dugu Yan. Dugu Yan's martial soul was the Jade Phosphor Serpent, and if she used her venom, it could easily result in severe injuries or even death.

Dugu Yan immediately retorted, "Teacher, why does such a rule exist? Soul techniques don't have eyes, and battles between Soul Masters are inherently brutal."

Teacher Li Xiang nodded. "I understand your point, but the rules are as they are. The two empires and the Spirit Hall spend countless resources and effort organizing this tournament. Their goal is to select talented individuals. All participants are the elite students of their respective academies. Deaths would result in significant losses for any faction."

At this moment, Yang Podi interjected, "For all of us, the Soul Master Tournament can be seen as a minor test. Avoiding killing is just one of the goals of the test. Remember my words: your goal is the stars and the sea. If you can't even pass a minor test, how can you become stronger?"

Dugu Yan immediately fell silent, and no one else said anything either. As Yang Podi said, everyone had already endured numerous extreme training sessions and faced dangers in the Sunset Forest. A mere Soul Master Tournament was just another form of training.

Teacher Li Xiang continued, "Besides these two mandatory rules, there are other standardized ones, all based on fairness. For instance, during the matches, you cannot use any medicines or food not created by a food-type or healing-type Soul Master. Only food or healing-type Soul Masters on the battlefield may provide supplements to their teammates. Lingling is already at level 48, making her one of the highest-ranked participants in the tournament, which will give us a significant advantage."

"As for the competition format, the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires are divided into multiple divisions. We belong to the Heaven Dou City division, which has 29 participating teams. The top six teams will qualify for the promotion matches."

"The promotion matches are relatively straightforward, consisting of one-on-one battles. The Heaven Dou region will have 16 teams. Each team will participate in a match where they send out seven members, one at a time, to fight consecutively. Once a team's seven members are all eliminated, the team loses."

"The finals will include the top 16 teams from the Heaven Dou region, 15 teams from the Star Luo region, plus the seed teams from Star Luo and Spirit Hall, making a total of 33 teams. The matches will be determined by a draw. The top three teams from the promotion matches will get a bye in certain rounds, determined by their rankings."

"These are all the rules for the tournament. Remember each one carefully; they can be crucial in critical moments."

Yang Podi looked at everyone again. "This Soul Master Tournament is critical. My goal is simple: to win the championship. This time, both my grandfather and my maternal grandfather will go to Spirit City for their conferment ceremony. I hope to present them with the championship as a celebration."

Hearing this, everyone's expressions became firm, as if determined to win the championship. After all, who wouldn't want to bring glory to their family?

"As for tactics, I have only one instruction: strong offense with teamwork. With our team's synergy, the Soul Master Tournament should not pose much of a challenge."

As Yang Podi mentioned, aside from Ye Lingling, the rest of the team members had exceptional physical qualities, and their martial souls leaned heavily toward offense. Yang Ping'an, Yang Tianyue, and Yang Yuxuan, with their martial souls, the Breaking Soul Spears, had incredibly high attack power.

Though Dugu Yan was a control-type Soul Master, her martial soul, the Jade Phosphor Serpent, could also be considered attack-oriented. If she unleashed her full power, she would be a terrifying force.

Niu Meng and Niu Kui, with their defensive martial souls, the Armored Giant Rhinoceroses, were both immensely powerful after years of training. Niu Meng, though only level 45, had strength surpassing that of ordinary Soul Kings. According to Yang Podi's estimate, his defense and strength might even exceed Yan from the Spirit Hall.

Even Ye Lingling, the sole auxiliary-type Soul Master, had undergone extensive physical training, making her body exceptionally strong. She was so fast that she could rival some agility-type Soul Elders.

That day, the entire Heaven Dou City Arena was packed. The usual private battles had been canceled, and the arenas had been expanded to accommodate seven-person team battles.

Under the watchful eyes of countless spectators and the passionate words of the host, 29 teams entered the main arena in an orderly fashion.

Leading the procession was Heaven Dou Royal Academy Team One, dressed in golden uniforms symbolizing royal prestige, unlike the garish green of Shrek Academy in the original story.

Each team typically had 11 members, including seven main members and four substitutes. Surprisingly, the original Shrek Academy's seven members were all on stage, while the others included Yu Tianheng, Ning Heng, Tai Long, and Bai Xiaofei.

Cheers erupted for every team, but the most excitement came when Sky Water Academy entered. Known for being a veteran team, they were dressed in blue uniforms, and all their members were stunning women. The sight of tall beauties had the crowd roaring.

Heaven Dou Royal Academy Team Two entered last, clad in sleek silver uniforms, simpler but equally striking.

As the teams gathered, Yang Podi focused on the arena setup.

The guest seating included prominent figures, with the thin, crowned elder in the center likely being Emperor Xue Ye. Surrounding him were Ning Fengzhi, Sword Douluo from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, and Platinum Bishop Salas from the Spirit Hall.

The tournament organizers had initially invited Yang Podi's grandfather and maternal grandfather to serve as guests, but both declined, opting to keep a low profile. Even Dugu Bo, the Poison Douluo, had a reserved seat but chose to stay with the second team, insisting that a leader should be with their team.

The event began with speeches from Emperor Xue Ye, Ning Fengzhi, and Salas, encouraging the teams and subtly expressing their interest in recruiting talented participants.

Finally, the Platinum Bishop conducted the draw. Fate seemed to play a role, as Heaven Dou Team One was paired against Blue Tyrant Academy, while Team Two faced a less prominent academy.

Today, there were only two spirit fights, both taking place in the central spirit arena. The match between Heaven Dou Team One and Blue Tyrant Academy was held today, while the match for Heaven Dou Team Two would take place tomorrow.

Soon, all the teams returned to their respective observation areas, leaving only the two participating teams on the field.

The lineup for Heaven Dou Team One included Tang San, Ning Rongrong, Yu Tianheng, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, Xiao Wu, and Zhu Zhuqing.

Heaven Dou Team One had seven Spirit Ancestors, with three of them participating in this match. It was expected that at most four Spirit Ancestors would take the stage during the preliminary rounds, likely to conceal their strength for the critical moments against Spirit Hall's team.

Upon seeing Heaven Dou Team One's lineup, Yang Podi couldn't help but smile. This arrangement was quite interesting, as if they feared people wouldn't realize that Heaven Dou Team One was composed of the Upper Three Sects.

Knowing Yu Xiaogang's personality, Yang Podi assumed the lineup was determined by Tang San. It seemed unlikely that Ning Heng from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would even get a chance to participate in the preliminaries. Dai Mubai, being a prince of the Star Luo Empire, was unsuitable for the occasion. As for Tailong and Bai Xiaofei, their opportunities to compete would likely remain scarce until the finals.

Yang Podi even noticed Tai tan among the group. During the preparation phase, Tai tan seemed to stay close to Tang San, likely as a form of protection.

However, Tai tan's condition didn't appear great. While his spirit power was still full and he seemed energetic, his right arm was entirely gone. That arm was probably lost during the battle between Tang Hao and the two Spirit Hall Titled Douluo, Qianjun and Jiangmo.

As a divine craftsman, one had to wonder if Tai tan regretted losing his right arm.

Yang Podi didn't care too much about such matters. It was a path Tai tan chose for himself, and regardless of the outcome, it had nothing to do with Yang Podi. He felt he'd already shown enough restraint by not kicking Tai tan when he was down.

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