Although the Three-Eyed Charm Fox possessed a cultivation of ten thousand years, its attack power and speed were far inferior to the Phantom Tiger that Xie Yue had slain.
Thus, defeating it was much easier.
A mass of black mist slowly rose from the fox's corpse, gradually condensing into a soul ring radiating with dark light.
Seeing this, Hu Liena could barely contain her excitement.
She hurried beneath the floating ring, sat cross-legged, steadied her breathing, and began absorbing it.
The others entered the cave as well, standing guard as Hu Liena absorbed her spirit ring.
The cave was decent enough — once they lit a campfire, it would make a good place to rest for the night.
Three hours later, Hu Liena finished her absorption.
Xie Yue, who had been guarding her side, smiled with relief as his sister awoke.
"Nana, you're done. How do you feel?"
"Really good," she said with a smile. "My spirit power has risen by one level. I'm level fifty-one now."
The others quickly gathered around.
Zhang Ping asked curiously:
"Sister Na, what's your fifth spirit skill?"
Hu Liena smiled faintly, her eyes shimmering with an alluring glow that seemed capable of drawing one into a dreamlike trance.
"My fifth spirit skill is called Eyes of Enchantment. When I activate it, level differences no longer matter — as long as my opponent's spiritual power is weaker than mine, they'll fall hopelessly in love with me, completely under my control."
"Wow! Sister Na, that control-type skill is insane! You could literally charm people to death!"
"Of course," Hu Liena said with quiet pride. "The charm power of the Three-Eyed Charm Fox is among the strongest of all fox-type spirit beasts."
As they spoke, Lin Zhendong approached.
"Teacher Lin, you're still up?"
Lin Zhendong nodded and smiled.
"This expedition went quite smoothly. Both Xie Yue and Nana's spirit beasts matched their martial souls perfectly. And all of you performed admirably during the hunt."
Hearing their teacher's praise, everyone was delighted.
"Alright, get some rest. Tomorrow morning we'll head back to Spirit City and prepare for the upcoming Soul Master Tournament."
As he spoke, Lin Zhendong's gaze fell upon Yan.
Although Yan hadn't personally taken part in the beast hunts, his contributions were irreplaceable.
Only two months remained before the tournament began.
With Xie Yue and Hu Liena both obtaining their fifth spirit rings in time, the team's overall strength had risen significantly.
The Spirit Hall Team, along with the Heaven Dou Royal Academy and the Star Luo Royal Academy, all held direct qualifications for the Grand Finals.
Everyone was full of anticipation for the tournament ahead, eager to see who their ultimate opponents would be.
The next morning, the group set off toward Spirit City.
Upon returning to the Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong personally awarded Yan, Xie Yue, and Hu Liena the Spirit Hall's Purple Record Medals — a symbol of high honor.
Time flew by quickly — two months passed in the blink of an eye.
The Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament had officially begun.
According to the competition rules, both the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire would first hold preliminary rounds to select the top fifteen teams from each region. These teams would then proceed to the advancement rounds, and finally, the top teams — together with the seeded teams — would enter the Grand Finals.
As the host and a seeded team, the Spirit Hall Team was automatically qualified for the finals and did not need to participate in the earlier stages. They only had to remain in Spirit City and await the Grand Finals.
During this time, Yan's spirit power had risen to level fifty-five.
Xie Yue remained at level fifty-two.
Hu Liena was level fifty-one.
Sun Chuantao had reached level forty-eight.
Li Kai and Zhang Ping were both level forty-seven.
Xu Yu was level forty-six.
With that, every member of the Spirit Hall Team had surpassed level forty-five.
Confidence surged through them all — this time, they were determined to claim the championship.
Meanwhile—
In Heaven Dou City, at the Great Spirit Arena, the Shrek Seven Devils entered the arena with full confidence.
Their team now boasted four Spirit Ancestors:
Dai Mubai (level forty-three), Tang San (level forty-two), Xiao Wu (level forty-one), and Oscar (level forty-one).
Ma Hongjun, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing were all at level thirty-seven.
With this strength, they were certain they could reach the Grand Finals — perhaps even win the entire Soul Master Tournament.
However, the moment they entered the arena, they drew everyone's attention.
Their uniforms were… hideous.
An absurd, dung-green color.
To make matters worse, each had a cartoonish Shrek monster emblem on their chest — and on their backs, six bold characters read:
"Now Accepting Sponsorship Ads."
They walked under the weight of countless strange stares.
Spectators whispered among themselves:
"Shrek? What kind of trash academy is that? Never even heard of it."
"And those uniforms! Who the hell chose that color? They actually want sponsors looking like that? What a joke!"
Embarrassed, most of the Shrek team members wished they could crawl into a hole. Heads down, they walked on quickly.
Only Ma Hongjun was looking around — his eyes lit with excitement.
The arena was filled with beautiful girls, and he could hardly contain himself.
Then, one fiery figure caught his attention.
"What are you staring at, you fat pig? Think a toad like you can dream of eating swan meat?"
It was Huo Wu.
She had been waiting for someone for quite a while, but when that person didn't show up, irritation crept in — only to find Ma Hongjun's leering gaze upon her.
Humiliated before so many people, Ma Hongjun couldn't stand it.
"Who are you calling names?! Which academy are you from? Say it!"
Huo Wu glanced at the Shrek emblem on his chest and scoffed:
"Shrek? Never heard of it. I'm not wasting words on nobodies."
"Y-you just wait!"
Ma Hongjun could sense that the girl was also a fire-type spirit master. Her blazing red uniform stood out vividly in the crowd.
He silently swore to himself — if they ever met on the battlefield, he would make her pay for that insult.
"Fatty, come on, stop making a scene! Haven't we embarrassed ourselves enough already?"
Oscar quickly dragged him away as Huo Wu's teammates came over.
Huo Wushuang walked up beside his sister, eyes brightening suddenly.
"Little sis, look — they're here."
The Tianshui Academy Team had arrived, dressed in matching sea-blue uniforms that exuded a cool, refreshing aura.
Huo Wu stepped forward to greet them.
"Bing'er."
"Huo Wu, Brother Wushuang — you're already here."
"Yeah."
Huo Wu linked arms with Shui Bing'er, the two walking side by side, chatting happily about their recent progress and training.
All the while, Shui Bing'er kept glancing around, as if searching for someone.
"Bing'er, stop looking. Brother Yan isn't here."
Caught red-handed, Shui Bing'er lowered her head shyly.
"Isn't he from the Heaven Dou Empire?"
"Maybe," Huo Wu said thoughtfully. "Or perhaps he's from the Star Luo Empire… or maybe—"
She trailed off.
"Maybe what?" Shui Bing'er pressed.
Huo Wu glanced around, then leaned close to whisper in her ear:
"Maybe he's part of the Spirit Hall Team — one of the three prodigies of Spirit Hall. The fire-attribute spirit master."
Shui Bing'er's heart skipped a beat.
"R-really?"
"Bing'er, don't overthink it. It's just my guess. Let's focus on our matches first. With Brother Yan's strength, his team will definitely reach the Grand Finals. When that happens, we'll surely meet him again."
Please drop some power stones support me at my
PS: Access the complete chapters/series at