At the same time, inside Lanba Academy, the atmosphere was thick with triumph.
Yu Xiaogang stood in his office, looking at Tang San with a smile that stretched from ear to ear. Tang San had just returned from a successful hunt, having leveled up to the fortieth rank.
Yu Xiaogang was very satisfied—no, he was ecstatic. In just half a year, through his unremitting efforts and strategic planning, he had forcefully raised Tang San's spirit power by ten full ranks. It was a miraculous feat of cultivation speed.
However, this miracle came at a steep price. He had almost completely emptied Liu Erlong's small personal vault to fund it. Because of this, Yu Xiaogang also became a regular customer of the Heaven Dou Grand Auction House. His only pleasure in recent months was to bid for various rare spiritual medicines and herbs that could artificially enhance spirit power for Tang San.
Although Tang San's fortieth-rank spirit power now contained a lot of 'water'—meaning his foundation was somewhat unstable due to the reliance on drugs rather than pure cultivation—the results were undeniable. He had indeed broken through to the Spirit Ancestor realm.
And most importantly, he had acquired his fourth Spirit Ring. It was from a five-thousand-year-old Devil Spider, a vicious beast perfectly suited to Tang San's martial soul.
What made Yu Xiaogang most overjoyed was the status this achievement brought. Because Tang San had now broken through to the fortieth rank, he had successfully secured the position of captain of the Lanba Battle Team. He would lead Lanba Academy to participate in the upcoming Spirit Master Tournament, proving Yu Xiaogang's theories to the world once and for all!
Besides Tang San, the remaining six team members selected for the main roster were also impressive:
Tai Long: A thirty-eighth-rank Attack System Battle Spirit Ancestor. His Spirit was the Mighty Ape.
Huang Yuan: A thirty-fifth-rank Attack System Battle Spirit Ancestor. His Spirit was the Lone Wolf.
Jing Ling: A thirty-fifth-rank Agility-Attack System Battle Spirit Ancestor. His Spirit was the Skeleton.
Jiang Zhu: A thirty-fifth-rank Support System Tool Spirit Ancestor. Her Spirit was the Healing Scepter.
Cao Kui: A thirty-fifth-rank Defense System Battle Spirit Ancestor. His Spirit was the Thunder Battle Bear.
Cao Zhan: A thirty-fifth-rank Defense System Battle Spirit Ancestor. His Spirit was also the Thunder Battle Bear.
Especially the last two, Cao Kui and Cao Zhan. As a pair of brothers with identical defense spirits, their combined strength was very formidable, forming an impenetrable wall for the team.
The Lanba Battle Team once again gave Yu Xiaogang hope. Although he didn't know the exact strength of the Shrek Team at this moment, he assumed it wouldn't be much stronger than the Lanba Battle Team he had personally cultivated. Yu Xiaogang was now full of confidence that they could reach the finals.
There was also one other person on the team who greatly impressed Tang San personally. That was the support system Spirit Master, Jiang Zhu.
Jiang Zhu was nineteen years old, a few years older than Tang San. She stood about 1.65 meters tall, with distinctive auburn long hair that cascaded down her back. She was definitely considered a beauty.
Not only was her healing strength very satisfactory to Yu Xiaogang, but Jiang Zhu herself was also very satisfactory to Tang San. What attracted Tang San the most was her mature figure. The places that should be round were definitely not flat, a stark contrast to the younger girls he was used to seeing.
He hadn't noticed it before during training, but after two close encounters during team drills, he suddenly felt an itching sensation in his heart. After all, Tang San had never had such intimate interactions with a girl before.
Especially when he was at Shrek Academy, he would often see Huo Feng surrounded by three beautiful girls. He couldn't help but feel a strong yearning and jealousy deep down. Now that he finally had some opportunities of his own, he naturally wouldn't give up easily.
However, what made Tang San somewhat dissatisfied was that this Jiang Zhu seemed to intentionally want to keep her distance from him. She was polite, but cold. This made Tang San a bit hard to accept, as he was used to being praised.
But he wasn't overly worried. As the captain of the Lanba Battle Team, he would have countless opportunities to display his power and leadership. He believed that by showing his dominance on the field, he would make Jiang Zhu come to him obediently.
Three days later, the sun rose over Heaven Dou City, the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire.
The opening ceremony of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament, specifically the Heaven Dou Empire qualifiers, was held in Heaven Dou City with great fanfare.
As the grandest Spirit Master tournament in the world, it attracted not only the attention of Spirit Masters but everyone else as well. From the imperial family and high-ranking nobles to commoners, every citizen of Heaven Dou City regarded this tournament as the grandest festival of the decade.
The opening ceremony was held in the Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena, the heart of the city's combat culture.
As early as a month ago, tickets for the opening ceremony had already sold out completely. It should be noted that the price of these tickets was the same as the admission price for the main Soul Arena matches, a hefty sum for ordinary people.
As the main venue for the Heaven Dou division, the Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena had ceased all regular Soul Arena matches a month ago for massive internal renovations. All sub-arenas within the Great Spirit Arena were merged with the main Soul Arena to form a massive, singular competition venue.
Except for the VIP area which remained on the north side, the renovated Great Spirit Arena could now accommodate eighty thousand spectators simultaneously. Although ticket sales brought in considerable revenue, the Great Spirit Arena itself invested quite a lot to make this happen. In the coming period, all Heaven Dou division preliminary matches would be held here.
In the early morning, before the sun had even fully risen from the east, the renovated Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena had already welcomed a huge number of spectators. The plaza outside was a sea of people.
Coming so early, the spectators naturally weren't just there to enter the venue early. Because each ticket had a specific seat number, there was no rush for seats. They came to see the participating young Spirit Masters up close on the first day of the opening ceremony.
Among the crowd were many young girls in love. As Flender had once said, the total number of Spirit Masters on the entire continent did not exceed six digits. And the students who could represent advanced Spirit Master academies in the competition were the cream of the crop—young, powerful, and with limitless futures.
With an age limit of twenty-five, they would undoubtedly become the ideal objects of affection in the hearts of young girls. To marry a powerful Spirit Master would definitely be a beautiful thing that brought both fame, fortune, and security.
Even some nobles who had purchased VIP area tickets were gathered outside at this time. Nobles were always enthusiastic about recruiting Spirit Masters to their family banners. The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament itself was a cradle of talent. Let alone those who could achieve high results; even students who merely participated in the tournament were sought after by nobles and families.
At this moment, centered around the Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena, almost one-third of Heaven Dou City was a scene of bustling crowds. Starting a few days ago, all hotels of all ranks in Heaven Dou City were fully booked. The city's population had almost increased by fifty percent overnight.
This showed just how great the appeal of this Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament was to the people. For this tournament, Heaven Dou City mobilized a full five thousand city guards to maintain order, trying to minimize the occurrence of disturbances in the crowded streets.
"Wow, so many people!" Ning Rongrong couldn't help but exclaim, her eyes wide with wonder.
Looking east and west, this kind of bustling scene was also her first time seeing it, despite her upbringing in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.
But Huo Feng, standing beside her, had his head down, seemingly not wanting others to see his appearance.
Not just Huo Feng. Besides a few dazzlingly beautiful girls like Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing who didn't seem to mind, the rest of the group was suffering. Whether it was the male members of The Shrek Group or the two substitute Spartan brothers, all of them were trying their best to keep their heads down at this moment.
Why? Because their attire made them feel deeply ashamed.
They were wearing the standard Shrek Academy uniform.
That wasn't ordinary green. It was a color somewhere between yellow and green, a sickly, indescribable shade. To describe it in Dai Mubai's words, it was 'shit green'.
For this academy tournament, the uniquely tasteful Principal Flender had specially custom-made these uniforms for them, insisting it would make them memorable.
Besides the 'shit green' base color, each person also had a monster Shrek emblem on their chest that was so large it almost covered their entire front. And the color of this emblem was a vibrant, fresh emerald green that clashed horribly with the rest of the outfit.
It could be said to be so ugly it was awesome—or just incredibly embarrassing.
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