Nightfall. Inside Zhu Ziyang's room at the Star Emperor Hotel, he sat cross-legged on the bed, eyes closed, his breathing steady. The red spider lily on his forehead flickered, as if silently declaring its presence.
At this moment, his consciousness had already entered the inheritance space of the God Position. He was receiving the reward for the First Trial of the Death God, while also being presented with the content of the Second Trial.
Zhu Ziyang stood on the tenth step of the Path to Godhood, his gaze falling on the God-Locking Pillars on either side. The content of the first Death God Trial had already disappeared from them, replaced now by a line of mysterious runes.
Just then, Xiao Bai's voice rang out at the right moment.
"Congratulations on completing the First Trial of the Death God. Now granting your reward."
As his words fell, Zhu Ziyang's body trembled. The contents of the reward immediately surfaced in his mind:
"First Trial of the Death God, completed. Reward: 10% Affinity with the Death God. One pair of God-Locking Pillars."
That's it? A divine trial reward? That's all? Zhu Ziyang muttered internally, but quickly let it go.
After all, he had no idea what kind of rewards Tang San received from the Sea God. If he had, he would've been filled with outrage. The Sea God not only granted increases in soul power and soul ring age, he practically handed the god position to Tang San on a silver platter. In comparison, the Death God's stinginess was almost laughable.
If the trial examiner Xiao Bai had known what Zhu Ziyang was thinking, he would've felt deeply wronged. The previous Sea God was still very much alive and could recklessly use divine power to give his chosen candidate special treatment. But the Death God? He had perished hundreds of thousands of years ago. It was already difficult just to maintain the inheritance space. How could there be any divine energy left to help someone cheat?
The reward distribution began. Zhu Ziyang noticed that the foggy stairs ahead started to clear. The eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth steps... all the way to the twentieth step became visible before stopping.
At the same time, he was shocked to see the God-Locking Pillars beside the tenth step begin to tremble violently. Then, with a sudden jolt, they launched into the sky, and under his stunned gaze, began to shrink, and shrink again. Finally, they transformed from hundred-zhang-tall celestial columns into two tiny needles the length of his fingers. They gently fell into his hands.
Zhu Ziyang found them fascinating and tried to inspect these strange items, but was promptly told that he did not yet have permission to use them. This left him disappointed — yet curious. Such mystical pillars surely held extraordinary abilities.
Putting aside the God-Locking Pillars, he began ascending the steps, climbing one by one until he reached the twentieth step. As expected, there were two new God-Locking Pillars on either side. The content of the Death God's Second Trial appeared before him.
Zhu Ziyang read the Second Trial.
"God Affinity: 20%"
"Second Trial of the Death God: Unmatched Power of the Death God — Slay Three Kings in One Battle."
"As the successor to the Death God, you must demonstrate overwhelming combat ability to prove your worth.'
"Trial Objective: In a single battle, slay five soul masters or soul beasts whose cultivation is not lower than yours."
"Trial Requirements: Must fight alone, May not use second martial soul, May not use soul tools."
"Time limit: three years."
"Trial Reward: Unknown."
Compared to the First Trial, the Second Trial was clearly more difficult — but not by much. Slay five opponents in one battle? That hardly even counted as a challenge for Zhu Ziyang.
'Could it be… Xiao Bai is deliberately going easy on me?'
——
The next morning.
As the first rays of sunlight shone upon Star Luo City, it marked the official beginning of the highly anticipated All-Continent Elite Soul Master Tournament.
All streets surrounding Star Luo Plaza were heavily secured by armored soldiers. The area around the Star Emperor Hotel was even more strictly guarded, with over a thousand soldiers stationed nearby. The road from the hotel to Star Luo Plaza was completely sealed off. Only academy participants exiting the hotel could pass through.
Though no one believed anyone would be foolish enough to cause trouble at such a prestigious event, deploying the military and sealing roads was still necessary. It reflected the importance the Empire placed on the tournament.
This year's battle arena was not built in the center of the plaza, but rather at the southern edge, directly facing the imperial palace gates. This setup allowed the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire and his ministers to watch from the palace walls above — ensuring both the best vantage point and the Emperor's safety.
At present, the vast Star Luo Plaza was mostly empty. Apart from soldiers in the distance, no one else was present.
During the last tournament held in the Star Luo Empire, a horrifying stampede had occurred. This time, the royal family had taken no chances. They deployed large forces to maintain order and implemented new methods to prevent such tragedies.
The plaza was divided into multiple regions by iron fences. Each area had its own entry and exit points, and soldier patrols were stationed accordingly. The number of spectators allowed in each zone was also strictly limited.
The imperial palace stood in the northern part of Star Luo City. Facing the arena's west side was a luxurious rest area constructed specifically for participating academies. It could accommodate up to seventy teams — clearly, only those who passed the first elimination round would be eligible to use these lavish facilities.
Since the All-Continent Elite Soul Master Tournament had adopted the current format, the first elimination round had become the most thrilling part of the competition — second only to the finals. It could even be called brutal. Every academy only had one shot. Lose once, and they were out — no exceptions, not even for Shrek Academy, the reigning champions.
Early that morning, the lead teachers of the academies arrived at the imperial palace to draw lots using the numbers distributed during registration. The draw had already concluded, and the results had been compiled by Star Luo Empire officials. Once the match order was finalized, the last piece of preparation was complete.
As the sun rose from the eastern horizon, Star Luo City warmed with daylight. A young man in bright yellow imperial robes and a purple-gold eight-treasure crown stood atop the city wall, his hands behind his back. His regal bearing was unmistakable. He was Xu Jiawei, current Emperor of the Star Luo Empire.
Standing beside him were the Empress and the empire's top ministers. All their gazes fell upon the plaza below, their faces glowing with anticipation.
Xu Jiawei watched the academy teams begin to enter the venue and smiled.
"Zitong, look, the teams are entering one by one. But today, none of them are allowed to use the rest area. Only those who win will earn that right.
I hear Shrek Academy only brought ten people this time. Most of them are quite young. I'm curious to see how they'll perform. Sigh, Dai Yueheng should've been with them today. Such a pity.
I'd hoped this would bring Dai Hao back to the capital to watch the match. After all, it's once every twenty years that we host the tournament. But on second thought, I gave up the idea. The world's too unstable right now."
As he spoke, a faint gloom passed through his eyes.
Seeing this, the Empress gently held his hand and whispered, "Your Majesty, this is not your fault. Don't blame yourself."
"Hmph! Those scheming traitors hiding behind their so-called loyalty — I'll sweep them out one day," Xu Jiawei muttered under his breath, so softly that even the Empress couldn't hear him clearly.
Setting aside the imperial court, Zhu Ziyang and the Shrek team had already arrived at the waiting area for participants, preparing for their opening battle.
Today, everyone from Shrek Academy wore their traditional dark green uniforms — the signature color of Shrek. They stood at the very front of all the academies, a position earned through centuries of dominance. None dared challenge their place.
However, as teams from other academies looked at Shrek's current lineup, many couldn't hide their surprise. Only ten people? And most clearly under twenty years old — even without testing their bone age, their youth was obvious.
This felt far too arrogant.
Among the stronger academies, some anger began to stir — especially within the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy. Although they'd already been informed of Shrek's roster, seeing it with their own eyes was a different experience entirely.
Their team stood directly behind Shrek's, giving them a perfect view of every detail.
Among Shrek's members, the youngest were Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao. Huo Yuhao looked older than he was thanks to the torso bone of the Ice Empress, making him appear like a fifteen-year-old. But Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao still had childlike faces — especially Xiao Xiao, whose petite frame made her look like a student from a beginner-level soul master academy.
Such a strange lineup… even Xiao Hongchen was puzzled. What was Shrek Academy trying to do?
(End of Chapter)
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