By midmorning, the entire audience and all participating academies had arrived.
"Silence!" A thunderous voice erupted, booming across the entire plaza.
Hearing it, all the soldiers snapped to attention and raised their spears. A chilling aura surged outward, instantly silencing the once-rowdy Star Luo Plaza.
All eyes turned to the imperial palace wall. That voice rang out again: "His Majesty arrives!"
"Long live His Majesty!" All citizens of the Star Luo Empire immediately knelt. Students from other nations' academies gave respectful bows as well.
They weren't bowing to the emperor himself, but to the worldly authority he represented.
"Rise, all of you," Xu Jiawei said. His voice was projected clearly into everyone's ears through a soul tool amplifier.
Everyone stood, their gazes instinctively gathering on Xu Jiawei atop the palace wall. Many present were seeing their emperor for the first time, and their eyes held a complex mix of reverence, awe, and curiosity.
Xu Jiawei smiled and spoke. "The All-Continent Elite Soul Master Tournament is the most important event in the Douluo Continent's soul master world. It is my great honor to host this grand tournament so soon after ascending the throne. On behalf of the Star Luo Empire, I welcome all academies, led by Shrek Academy, who have journeyed from far and wide. I hope you all display your brilliance over the coming month of competition."
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Led by Shrek Academy, the academies bowed once more in response.
Xu Jiawei nodded and smiled, then raised his voice again. "I now declare that the All-Continent Elite Soul Master Tournament is officially open!"
As his proclamation ended, the crowd's emotions were instantly ignited. Shouts echoed across the plaza.
"Long live the Emperor! Long live! Long live!"
Booming cannon fire began at once. Seventy-two celebratory soul tool salvos were fired into the sky in rapid succession, echoing across the city. Even the guards on the distant city walls could hear the crowd's roaring cheers.
With the announcement complete, Xu Jiawei's role was over. He stepped back and took a seat beside the empress on their specially arranged thrones. He then gestured slightly toward the Prime Minister. The latter immediately understood and passed the signal for the tournament to begin.
The commanding voice rang out again.
"According to tournament rules, the first stage will be a knockout round. There are 133 academies participating in this year's event. One academy drew a bye, so a total of 66 elimination matches will take place in the first stage. The losing side in each match will be immediately eliminated from the tournament."
"The opening match is about to begin. Let us welcome the two teams in today's opener: representing Heavenly Spirit Advanced Soul Master Academy from the Dou Spirit Empire, and the continent's undisputed number one academy — the champions of nearly every tournament over the past thousand years — the team from Shrek Academy!"
As the host's voice fell, the crowd erupted.
"Shrek! Shrek! Shrek!"
Tens of thousands of voices rose in unison. To many, it was thrilling and electrifying. But Zhu Ziyang had no time to savor the moment. He was busy encouraging a nervous Huo Yuhao, who stood trembling beside him.
That's right — for this first match, Huo Yuhao was the lead player. His role was crucial to setting Shrek Academy's tone and psychological dominance.
"Brother Ziyang… can I really do this?" Huo Yuhao looked at Zhu Ziyang, uneasy.
"Don't worry. Just follow the plan. Leave the rest to Nannan and Teacher Tang Ya," Zhu Ziyang said firmly, patting his shoulder.
"Nannan, Tang Ya — you two are the key to whether this plan works. Do your best," Wang Yan said with a grave expression. As the team's supervising teacher, he had hesitated to approve Zhu Ziyang's strategy, but with only three core members available, keeping the reserve members' strength hidden was vital.
If it worked, they might even instill fear and uncertainty in their rivals, giving Shrek a psychological edge in future matches.
"Let's go!" Zhu Ziyang called, raising his hand. The others quickly stacked their hands together in a team cheer.
Huo Yuhao took the lead, followed by Jiang Nannan and Tang Ya. Behind them were Beibei, Xu Sanshi, He Caitou, and Wang Dong — there to cover for any emergencies. The seven walked onto the stage, facing off against Heavenly Spirit Academy's team. All wore calm, unreadable expressions.
This formation looked… odd. Not just to Heavenly Spirit, but to the entire audience — and even Emperor Xu Jiawei. No one could understand what Shrek was planning.
The referee took his place and signaled both sides to approach. The participants quickly gathered at the center.
Up close, both the referee and Heavenly Spirit's members clearly sensed how young the Shrek team was. The referee looked confused. The Heavenly Spirit team was furious. But the Shrek team stood quietly, unmoved.
The referee cleared his throat and announced, "First round, elimination battle. This is a team match. You may use standard soul tools, but high-lethality fixed-mount tools are prohibited. If one side surrenders, the other must stop attacking immediately. Understood?"
"Understood," Beibei, the reserve team's captain, answered coolly.
"Understood," replied Heavenly Spirit's captain, a tall young man whose eyes never left Shrek's members. Despite their youth, they were still Shrek Academy. And Shrek was famous for one thing — monsters. These kids might just be terrifying monsters in disguise.
That was the power of reputation — the enemy did all the imagining for you.
The referee nodded. "Good. Both sides return to your positions. Do not release your martial souls until I give the signal, or you'll be disqualified."
Shrek's team retreated to the edge and took up a 1-2-4 formation. Huo Yuhao stood at the front, Jiang Nannan and Tang Ya just behind, and the remaining four forming the backline. At that moment, all eyes — tens of thousands of them — locked onto Huo Yuhao.
He looked barely fourteen. What gave this child the right to stand at the front, representing Shrek Academy?
Naturally, Huo Yuhao couldn't suppress his nerves under such intense scrutiny. But remembering Zhu Ziyang's encouragement and Wang Yan's trust helped calm him.
"Yuhao, it's up to you now," Tang Ya whispered behind him, noticing his tension.
"I know." Huo Yuhao's gaze steadied.
The stage activated. A soul barrier sealed off the platform. On the other side, Heavenly Spirit Academy took up a conventional 3-2-1-1 formation, ready for battle. Shrek's odd formation remained unchanged.
If Huo Yuhao had been replaced by Ma Xiaotao or Zhu Ziyang, their setup would've looked like a standard power-assault formation. But Huo Yuhao wasn't them, and this wasn't that formation. Only the Shrek team knew the truth. Everyone else made assumptions.
Seeing both sides ready, the referee shouted, "Begin!"
Everyone focused sharply as Heavenly Spirit's members instantly released their martial souls and soul rings — four Soul Ancestors and three Soul Elders, decent but average by tournament standards.
Shrek's team, on the other hand, didn't release anything at all. Instead, they all turned toward Huo Yuhao.
Once again, the crowd's attention converged on him.
Offstage, Ma Xiaotao and Zhu Ziyang watched closely.
"Do you think the plan will work?" Ma Xiaotao asked.
"I believe in Nannan," Zhu Ziyang answered with a calm smile.
Onstage, under the pressure of thousands of stares, Huo Yuhao found his mind growing serene. He recalled Zhu Ziyang's guidance… then he moved.
At that moment, an indescribable aura erupted from him. Crimson light flared across the entire stage, exuding majesty, chill, dominance — an overwhelming presence that blanketed the platform.
Then it happened.
To the utter shock of all watching, five deep crimson soul rings rose from Huo Yuhao's body.
Ten-thousand-year rings? No — those were red. These were blood-red.
Hundred-thousand-year soul rings.
The terrifying pressure of five hundred-thousand-year soul rings instantly broke through the soul barrier and slammed into the front-row spectators. Their faces went pale in an instant.
Even the aftershocks of such a presence induced fear. Direct exposure? The Heavenly Spirit team was paralyzed on the spot. Their mental defenses shattered. Their morale collapsed. Not one of them moved.
That's when Jiang Nannan and Tang Ya acted.
Huo Yuhao had completed phase one of the plan. Now it was their turn.
Tang Ya instantly released her martial soul and third soul skill — Wrath of Life. It came from a thousand-year soul ring derived from a sentient plant-type soul beast. Its effect: increase the power of an ally's soul skill by 50%.
She cast it on Jiang Nannan — more precisely, on her fifth soul skill.
Simultaneously, Jiang Nannan activated all her amplification techniques — her first and third soul skills, and the soul bone skill from her Moon Shadow Rabbit's right leg. Fully empowered, she launched her fourth skill and dashed forward, arriving in front of the stunned Heavenly Spirit team in a flash.
Her fifth soul ring lit up.
She leapt into the air. Behind her rose a silver moon, casting cold, ethereal light. She looked like a Valkyrie of the moon. Her right leg folded, left leg extended, the moon's glow condensed into violet flames along her left calf and foot. The silver moon merged into her body, turning her into a radiant meteor — an unstoppable force barreling toward Heavenly Spirit's formation.
Boom—
A deafening blast rang out.
Only then did Heavenly Spirit's team regain awareness. But it was too late. Jiang Nannan's full-powered attack struck all seven members dead-on. Not one escaped. All were injured and lost combat ability.
The match had lasted less than a minute.
The crowd erupted in chaos. Everything had happened too fast. Most were still reeling from the five crimson soul rings. Many hadn't even seen Jiang Nannan's brilliant aerial kick.
Only the other academies had clearly witnessed it all. Whether it was Huo Yuhao's overwhelming illusion of five red soul rings, or Jiang Nannan's devastating group attack, all were left shocked and overwhelmed.
"Referee, you can announce the result now," Huo Yuhao said coldly. His 'cool act' was part of Wang Yan's script.
"R-right!" the referee snapped out of his daze. "I declare Shrek Academy the winners!"
Shrek's team ignored the audience's astonished cries. Still playing the part of haughty elites, they walked off the stage in silence and headed for the rest area. With Zhu Ziyang and the others, they left without watching a single other match.
Their cold, proud exit made the crowd cry out in admiration — this was truly the style of Shrek Academy.
Back at the hotel, they finally dropped the act and burst into laughter.
"Yuhao, your performance was hilarious! For a second, I really thought you were some cold-faced tyrant CEO!" Tang Ya laughed.
"Teacher Tang Ya, please don't tease me. I was dying inside," Huo Yuhao replied, blushing.
"You did great. You nailed the part. Fooled them all. Well done," Zhu Ziyang chuckled, clapping his shoulder.
The plan that Zhu Ziyang and Wang Yan had devised was simple: use Shrek's formidable reputation and Huo Yuhao's second soul skill illusion to scare opponents into freezing. Then Jiang Nannan and Tang Ya would finish the job. It would win the match and keep their true strength hidden.
The key was the illusion of five hundred-thousand-year soul rings. No soul master could ignore that kind of pressure. Though Huo Yuhao didn't possess such rings, Zhu Ziyang did. So Huo Yuhao used his soul skill to copy the rings from Zhu Ziyang's Heavenly Frost Holy Dragon martial soul.
As for the finisher, Jiang Nannan's fifth skill — Silver Moon Sky Flash Kick — was a powerful area attack that had once taken down a 12,000-year soul beast. Its devastating strength was why she had been chosen for the strike. Paired with Tang Ya's 50% boost, it resulted in a flawless victory.
No doubt, after today, both Huo Yuhao and Jiang Nannan would become hot topics across the academies. And that was exactly what Zhu Ziyang and Wang Yan had hoped for.
(End of Chapter)
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