The grand opening ceremony, such a grand event, naturally wouldn't allow any trouble.
The Heaven Dou Empire had deployed 5,000 troops to maintain order; anyone who dared to cause trouble would be provoking the event organizers.
Therefore, Canghui Academy only talked the talk.
However, whether it was physical or verbal, Shrek Academy wasn't afraid.
The people from Canghui Academy were furious and wanted to fight, but Ma Hongjun coldly watched them, expecting them to make the first move.
Although they weren't allowed to cause trouble, self-defense was always an option.
"What are you doing?"
A strong, powerful voice came from behind Canghui Academy.
The people from Canghui Academy quickly made way, and an elderly man of about sixty years old, wearing a moon-white Soul Master robe with gold trim, walked over. Behind him was an old acquaintance wearing a single-rimmed bespectacle, Ye Zhi Qiu.
Ye Zhi Qiu looked at Dai Mubai, Tang San, and Ma Hongjun with resentment. After several months, seeing the three again still caused him a faint, stabbing pain.
The Dragon Beard Needles had left a deep impression on him, causing him nightmares for a period of time. This also made him a temporary disgrace to Canghui Academy.
The leading elder glanced at Ma Hongjun indifferently, without any emotional fluctuation.
"Go!"
With his order, the people of Canghui Academy followed him.
Ma Hongjun saw that the old man was somewhat gloomy, and with Ye Zhi Qiu beside him, he guessed that there was more to the story.
"Teacher, who is that old man?"
Flander nodded and said, "That old guy is called Shi Nian. His martial soul is very special. It is a special martial soul that has form but no substance.
It can create various illusions, making people lose themselves in the illusions. With his current strength, he is enough to make opponents who are lost in the illusions harm themselves to death.
We call his martial soul 'Remnant Dream'. This old guy is extremely vicious. Don't be fooled by his calm appearance. He is actually vengeful. You all need to be careful. When I first met him, his soul power was over level sixty. Now it is probably over level seventy.
His martial soul is very troublesome. Even soul masters stronger than him are generally unwilling to fight him."
"Shi Nian!"
Ma Hongjun murmured the name softly.
So it was this guy,
the Soul Bone Deliveryman.
In the original story, Shi Nian tried to assassinate Tang San, but Tang San countered with the hidden weapon, the Yama's Decree, and obtained a soul bone from him. In the original story,
Tang San was the strongest and most important person in Shrek Academy, but now it's Ma Hongjun. This conflict will likely shift to Ma Hongjun, meaning Shi Nian's assassination target might become Ma Hongjun.
Ma Hongjun isn't Tang San; he doesn't have the Purple Demon Eye, can't break Shi Nian's lingering dream, and doesn't have the deadly hidden weapon technique of "One Needle Kills All."
The Yama's Decree isn't an ordinary mechanical hidden weapon; it requires special techniques from the Tang Sect to be effective.
This is somewhat dangerous; being targeted by this cunning old fox is a bit difficult.
However, knowing the danger beforehand is much better.
Ma Hongjun is now more interested in the soul bone on the other party.
The delivery is right in front of him; he just needs an opportunity to pick it up.
The opening ceremony is being held in the central Soul Arena, where all participating teams will make their appearances. In
the backstage rest area, one team after another is being arranged to take the stage by the staff.
The order of appearance was carefully planned, starting with the second team from the Heaven Dou Empire, followed by teams from duchies and kingdoms, and then teams from various advanced soul master academies.
Someone had somehow managed to put Shrek Academy last.
As Shrek Academy entered, the host's introduction followed.
"The last team to enter is the Shrek Academy team.
Shrek Academy, formerly known as Blue Tyrant Academy, changed its name a year ago. They have twelve students participating. Their slogan is '
The champion without rivals.
' A very clever slogan indeed; we hope they can deliver an outstanding performance."
Hearing their arrogant slogan, a murmur of disapproval rippled through the audience.
Not everyone knew much about the Shrek team, so Shrek wasn't very popular, with few supporters, unlike the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, where not only the academy itself, but also their aristocratic members, garnered a large following.
"Calm down, brothers. They look down on us now, but when we make a comeback, we'll dazzle them.
A team's strength isn't about how many supporters they have, but about winning over the opponent's supporters," Ma Hongjun said confidently.
No matter the competition, some teams always face doubt and setbacks from the start, but opinions are just opinions; they're unstable. Only strength speaks for itself.
A comeback is what makes a real spectacle.
"Go Shrek!" "
Go Shrek!"
"Go Shrek!"
...
After the initial jeers subsided, a pleasant sound rang out in the slightly quieter arena.
"Wow!"
The sound quickly drew everyone's attention, not only because their voices were all female, but also because of their sexy and youthful attire.
Bright blue high-waisted tops and miniskirts, long, bare arms, and they waved fluffy purple pom-poms.
The nearly one hundred-strong cheerleading squad, all seated together, formed a beautiful sight in the audience.
Looking at this group of stunningly beautiful cheerleaders, Ma Hongjun's lips curled into a slight smile.
What were random fans and supporters compared to this?
In his previous life, sometimes even the competition itself wasn't as exciting as the cheerleading performances.
Some people even watched the competition just for the sexy cheerleaders.
This cheerleading squad consisted entirely of members of Fairy Clothing Pavilion, led by Ma Hongjun's Shuang'er sisters.
Since Fairy Clothing Pavilion expanded, it had partnered with Beauty Village, recruiting approximately 80% of its staff from there.
Therefore, one could imagine their beauty.
You could say any one of them was a supermodel-level beauty from his previous life.
This kind of cheering was undoubtedly the most effective.
It's unclear how the beauties like Xiang Chengxian and Ning Rongrong felt, but Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai certainly enjoyed it.
Just look at Tailong; his eyes were practically glued to the screen, he unconsciously swallowed, veins bulging, radiating power.
The Shrek team had shaken off their previous gloom.
In contrast, the other teams were now all dejected and embarrassed.
Seeing this beautiful cheerleading squad, the other spectators forgot to cheer for their own teams.
For a moment, the entire arena, filled with tens of thousands of people, was filled only with the melodious cheers of "Shrek!"
"Wow, what a rare way to cheer! Shrek Academy seems to be a team with some ideas,"
the host's voice rang out, casually diverting attention.
After all, this was a competition, and the normal procedure had to be followed.
"Now, please welcome His Majesty the Emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire to declare the opening of this competition."
In the first row of the VIP section, only three people sat.
The one in the middle wore a long, golden-red robe and a golden, diamond-studded crown.
He was the Emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, Xue Ye.
To his left stood the Platinum Bishop of the Spirit Hall, wearing a five-pointed platinum crown and a crimson robe, who was also the Hall Master of the Spirit Hall in Heaven Dou City.
To his right was Ma Hongjun's father-in-law.
Ning Fengzhi wore a white robe and a seven-treasure purple-gold crown, a symbol of his status. As one of the three sect masters of the seven major sects, he was fully qualified to sit in this position.
Emperor Xue Ye slowly rose and waved to the audience.
His deep and resonant voice, amplified by the soul-guided device, resounded throughout the arena:
"I, Emperor Xue Ye of the Heaven Dou Empire, on behalf of the Heaven Dou Empire and the organizers of this competition, hereby declare the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Competition now open."
Yesterday, I grew another year older, dear readers.