Spirit City

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The next morning, Tang San made a rare appearance at the promotion round.

By now, the competition had reached its sixth round.

Without Tang San on the field, the Shrek team suffered another defeat. After losing to the New Heaven Dou Battle Team earlier, they now fell to the Blazing Academy.

It had to be said that, in terms of individual strength, Feng Xiaotian truly lived up to his reputation as the strongest among the Four Element Academies. His power was surpassed only by Ning Tian, Zhu Zhuqing, and Tang San.

He overpowered Dai Mubai with sheer force and went on to defeat Yu Tianheng of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, renowned for wielding the "World's Number One Beast Martial Soul."

It wasn't until he clashed with Xiao Wu that his stamina finally gave out, leading to his defeat.

After beating Feng Xiaotian, Xiao Wu managed to knock out two more level-39 Spirit Elders from the Blazing Academy before ultimately conceding due to depleted soul power. Her performance was solid, if not spectacular.

As for Ma Hongjun and the former members of the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy's secondary team, they were merely Spirit Elders and were utterly outmatched by the Blazing Academy. Their losses were swift and decisive.

Meanwhile, the New Heaven Dou Battle Team was an unstoppable force.

In fact, if it weren't for the need to give the Shi brothers, Yufeng, and Huang Jia some stage time, Ning Tian wouldn't even have needed to step in. Zhu Zhuqing alone could have crushed most academy teams single-handedly.

In the end, the New Heaven Dou Battle Team clinched the championship of the Heaven Dou Empire's promotion round with a perfect record: fifteen wins in fifteen matches. Their overwhelming strength left the crowd in awe, with many believing they could secure the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament title for the Heaven Dou Empire, a historic first since the Empire's Establishment.

After the competition, Emperor Xue Ye delivered his customary rousing speech. He then awarded the six qualifying teams from the Heaven Dou Empire's preliminary round with their respective gold soul coin prizes. Finally, he announced a three-day rest period. Three days later, the sixteen teams, along with their teachers and five hundred Royal Knights, totaling over a thousand people, would set out for the finals in Spirit City.

Just before departure, Osler broke through to level forty. With Mona's help, he acquired his fourth soul ring, officially becoming a Spirit Ancestor. With that, excluding the freeloader Huang Jia, all eight members of the New Battle Heaven Dou Team: Ning Tian, Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, Ye Lingling, Shi Mo, Shi Mo (the brothers), Yufeng, and Osler were now Spirit Ancestors.

Over the two-plus months of the soul master tournament, Ning Tian's soul power had also surged, reaching level forty-nine.

The journey from Heaven Dou City to Spirit City took roughly twenty days. During this time, the competing teams traveled in luxurious carriages provided by the Heaven Dou Empire, cultivating diligently to boost their strength for the finals. The New Heaven Dou Battle Team was no exception.

Following Ning Tian's breakthrough, Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, and Ye Lingling also saw their soul power rise, reaching levels forty-four, forty-three, and forty-seven, respectively. Even Zhu Qing improved, climbing from level fifty-six to fifty-seven.

This rapid progression left the Shi brothers, Yufeng, Osler, and Huang Jia who shared their carriage dumbfounded. This was what true monsters looked like. Compared to these four, the so-called "monsters" of Shrek Academy were nothing.

Ning Tian just smiled at their reactions. After all, they had the advantage of immortal herbs, something their peers lacked.

…..

Surprisingly, the Spirit Hall hadn't sent anyone to intercept them, unlike in the original story. Upon reflection, though, it made sense. Tang San was in a sorry state now, far less of a threat than in the original timeline. Plus, Ning Tian had tipped off Qian Renxue about Tang Hao secretly protecting his son. Though crippled, Tang Hao's legendary feat of facing three Title Douluos still cast a long shadow. Unless Bibi Dong was completely brainless, she wouldn't dispatch Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo to assassinate Tang San. The other Spirit Hall elders, with their Title Douluo pride, wouldn't bother with such a task either.

Under these circumstances, even if she were foolish, Bibi Dong wouldn't repeat the original story's mistake of attacking the tournament teams as the host. And so, after twenty days of travel, they arrived at Spirit City unscathed.

This left Ning Fengzhi, lurking in the shadows with Sword Douluo, feeling a pang of disappointment. He'd assumed that upon learning of prodigies like Ning Tian and Tang San emerging from the Heaven Dou Empire, the Spirit Hall would act, especially since Ning Tian's New Heaven Dou Battle Team clearly threatened their own academy. But the Spirit Hall held back, which was baffling.

If only they'd attacked. Then Ning Fengzhi could have had Sword Douluo step in, earning Ning Tian and Tang San's gratitude and cementing their opposition to the Spirit Hall.

As they neared Spirit City, the various academy teams opened their carriage windows, peering out curiously. For most, this was their first glimpse of Spirit City, the holy land of soul masters.

Then, an almost laughable scene unfolded.

As the Shrek team's carriage rolled through the city gates, a special soul tool designed to detect soul master identities flashed red.

"Halt!" shouted two gate guards clad in silver armor and red capes, blocking the Shrek carriage. Over a hundred soldiers raised their knight spears in unison. "This is the holy land of soul masters. Non-soul masters are not permitted entry. Get off the carriage."

The guards tasked with protecting Spirit City were all Spirit Kings or higher, and the two leaders were Spirit Saints, the bishops of Spirit hall. Facing two Spirit Saints and a hundred Spirit Kings, the Shrek team froze in shock.

They exchanged uneasy glances, their eyes eventually settling on the grandmaster. Clearly, the Spirit Hall guards meant him.

"Scram, get out of the way!" Before anyone could disembark, a cold, commanding voice cut through the air, audible to every team behind them. At the same time, a terrifying aura surged forward like a crashing tidal wave, sweeping over the Spirit Hall guards.

The sheer force of it made even the two red-robed bishops' pupils shrink.

But they didn't flinch. Liu Erlong's fury might have intimidated others, but not them. "All units, prepare for battle."

Two yellow, three purple, and two black soul rings flared to life as the bishops summoned their martial souls; a giant axe and a steel whip, both top-tier tool martial souls. The guards followed suit, each releasing their own martial souls with the optimal configuration of two yellow, two purple, and one black soul ring.

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