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Su Wen was completely unaware that Bibi Dong had already handed over his personal intelligence to Yu Xiaogang.
In truth, this was somewhat expected. Back then, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, and various other major powers had all obtained the information Su Wen had registered at Spirit Hall through their own respective channels. The only difference lay in the level of detail each party managed to acquire.
Yu Xiaogang's most shameless act was simply using the Elder's Token to directly pull Su Wen's files for his own viewing. It was a classic case of abusing personal authority.
As for how Bibi Dong would choose between Su Wen and Yu Xiaogang, Su Wen never harbored any illusions that she would truly value him. A woman blinded by love—a literal madwoman—could never be expected to make the most rational choice, especially when she felt no immediate pressure to do so.
Bibi Dong had likely already received the inheritance of the Rakshasa God and was steadily progressing through the trials. From her current height, the angle at which she weighed her options was naturally different from an ordinary person's.
Of course, Su Wen's own efforts to conceal his true situation played a part as well. But even if he had known this would be the result, he had no intention of exposing everything to Bibi Dong just to force her into a choice. On the contrary, he had been constantly on guard against such a scenario.
The cultivation years of his third and fourth Spirit Rings, as well as the sources and abilities of those rings, were all fabricated information he had filled in randomly. In fact, he had started misleading people as early as his second Spirit Ring.
Besides, intelligence is always forward-looking. The information Su Wen had registered would be rendered obsolete in just a few days.
Spirit City was not a simple quadrilateral like most ordinary cities; instead, it was a hexagon. It possessed six massive city walls, each featuring a giant relief carving. These carvings matched the six symbols on the Spirit Hall's highest-ranking tokens, representing the six most powerful Martial Souls.
Within the city, the only things that stood tall enough to be seen just by looking up—aside from the Statue of the Seraphim—were these six great reliefs.
To facilitate the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament, Spirit Hall had specifically cleared a vast area in the center of the city. A massive arena, one hundred meters in diameter and constructed entirely from solid granite, served as the stage. The platform was further reinforced with a staggering number of defensive soul tools to prevent damage during high-intensity combat.
As Su Wen looked at these soul tools, his eyes flickered. He became even more certain of his previous theory: if soul tools of this nature existed, there was no reason why offensive and defensive combat-type soul tools would be as scarce as the public believed.
As the Heaven Dou Empire's contingent arrived in Spirit City, the Star Luo Empire's teams arrived on the very same day. A total of thirty-two external teams were given three days to rest and recover within the city.
Three days later, the Finals officially commenced.
"Shrek's first-round opponent is the Thousand Clouds Academy?" Su Wen muttered as he scanned the data on the Thousand Clouds team. He couldn't help but marvel at Shrek's luck.
They had drawn a team that only had three Spirit Ancestors. Aside from those three, the Thousand Clouds Academy had no other trump cards to speak of.
Sure enough, under the pressure of Tang San's Eight Spider Lances and his Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step, the lone Spirit Ancestor facing him was no match. The terrifying toxin of the Man-Face Demon Spider was enough to make anyone wary. Meanwhile, on the other side of the stage, Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing used their Hell White Tiger fusion to pin down the other two Spirit Ancestors from the Thousand Clouds team.
Three people managed to stall all three of the enemy's core members.
The match then became a test of endurance: would the remaining four members of Shrek crumble under the assault of the opposing four, or would Tang San's opponent succumb first to the agonizing poison?
"Shrek Academy wins!"
The massive crowd surrounding the arena erupted—half in boos and half in cheers. Clearly, this upset victory displeased the Star Luo Empire spectators but thrilled those from Heaven Dou.
The first round lasted for six days. During this period, teams like the main Imperial Fighting Team, Godwind Academy, and Blazing Academy all secured victories against their Star Luo counterparts.
Overall, of the fifteen teams that advanced, eight were from the Heaven Dou Empire and seven were from Star Luo. It seemed to be an evenly matched struggle, which was a departure from previous years. In past tournaments, the first round usually ended with the Star Luo Empire holding a significant lead in advancing teams. This year, Heaven Dou had actually edged them out by one.
"For the second round, the two teams receiving a bye are the Imperial Fighting Team and the Star Luo Imperial Team!"
This result was also quite different from previous years. Usually, the byes were reserved for the top-seeded teams from the ranking matches of the two empires. In the past, the two main Imperial teams rarely both received byes in this round, but this time, they did.
"The quality of Spirit Masters from the Heaven Dou Empire this year is remarkably high," commented representatives from several major sects who were watching from the stands. They were busy comparing the shifts in power between the different factions. This year, Heaven Dou seemed to have a surplus of gathered geniuses.
"Imperial Fighting Team Two vs. Shrek Academy!"
When the draw results were announced, interest spiked across the board. If one were to name the two most eccentric and eye-catching teams of this tournament, it would undoubtedly be Shrek and the Imperial Fighting Team's second squad.
One relied on an incredibly low-tier configuration of Spirit Masters and bizarre, garish uniforms, while the other was a team of "rich second-generation" kids who had been granted a direct seed into the finals.
Everyone knew the "true" value of the Imperial Fighting Team Two. Upon seeing their roster, most spectators assumed they only secured a spot because of Su Wen and Ning Rongrong's connections. But even so, it was considered absurd. Could two people really carry an entire team?
Now that these two headline-grabbing teams were set to clash in the second round, the audience sharpened their focus, eager to watch what many expected to be a "pecking match between noobs."
"Hahaha! Su Wen, even the Heavens are helping us!" Ma Hongjun laughed boisterously, pointing a finger at Su Wen. "Just you wait! Watch as your grandpa Ma beats the crap out of you!"
Su Wen glanced at the fat man, silently adding a mark against him in his mental ledger.
The match between the two sides was scheduled for the third day, and the entire second round only spanned three days. It was unclear if this was a deliberate arrangement by Spirit Hall.
"Brother Wen, Shrek might look weak, but their actual combat power is terrifying. How are we going to fight them when the time comes?" one of the second team members asked worriedly.
In Shrek's previous battles, the toxin from Tang San's Eight Spider Lances had proven to be extremely difficult to deal with. By using the Eight Spider Lances in Spirit City, Tang San could no longer keep his secret. There were many in the audience who could recognize the origin of such a bone, and within just a few days, the news that Tang San possessed a rare External Spirit Bone had spread like wildfire.
"I know, I know!" Ning Rongrong raised her hand, signaling that she had the answer.
The team members turned to look at the little witch.
"Your only job is to stand in the back and shout '666'!" Ning Rongrong chirped, her eyes curving into crescent moons as she giggled.
"???"
Su Wen patted Ning Rongrong's head and smiled. "Rongrong is right. There's no need for you all to feel pressured. As long as you don't accidentally attack me from behind, you won't get hurt."
"???"
The members of the second team were struck dumb twice in a row.
(End of Chapter)