After a night of rest, the reserve team had more or less recovered their condition. Today was also the last day to register for the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament. With a rare day of leisure, several members of the reserve team paired up and wandered around Star Luo City.
The main team members, however, stayed behind closed doors to recover from their injuries, and Huo Yuhao remained alone in the hotel room assigned to him, refusing all invitations to go out.
Although the reserve team would be the primary fighting force in the early stages of the tournament, Huo Yuhao, whose apparent strength was only that of a two-ring Great Soul Master, would not be arranged by Bei Bei to participate in either the individual or duo battles except in full team battles. This was also the case for Xiao Xiao.
Compared to the original story,where the original Huo Yuhao flaunted his strength everywhere with a ten-year soul ring and easily attracted attention,the current Huo Yuhao was extremely low-profile. Normally, he concealed his strength well. Aside from his somewhat impressive hidden weapons and his second soul skill, a single-target spiritual control ability, he had little that would place him in Bei Bei's tactical considerations.
Therefore, it was foreseeable that Huo Yuhao would have a relatively idle time in this tournament.
To prepare for the Life Gold that would appear in the upcoming auction, Huo Yuhao needed to make some preparations in advance.
Within Huo Yuhao's spiritual sea, a soul power circuit,modified from the original Spiritual Parasite,was being constructed before his spiritual form.
Compared to the original version, this circuit resembled a mental suggestion ability, and numerous concealment-type runes and formations were added to it.
Unlike soul skills activated through soul rings, soul skills formed by soul power circuits produced only the necessary fluctuations of soul power and spiritual power, and had almost no external signs such as shining soul rings.
Mental suggestion itself was a subtle, hard-to-detect spiritual ability. Huo Yuhao's goal was to add even more concealment runes to make it even harder for others to sense.
Since the current form of the Life Gold was still that of the Devouring Spirit Bloodblade, an infamous and dangerous weapon, purchasing it rashly would certainly draw the attention of Wang Yan, the supervising teacher. Huo Yuhao's status within Shrek Academy was not as high as in the original story, so explaining his desire to obtain it would be troublesome without a proper reason.
With mental suggestion, most of that trouble could be avoided.
Aside from Wang Dong, who carried Tang San's spiritual protection, no one in Shrek Academy,even Ma Xiaotao with her highest cultivation,could resist Huo Yuhao's mental suggestion with the help of the Skydream Iceworm.
The auction would include many soul tools, and under Tang San's influence, Wang Dong was unlikely to attend, giving Huo Yuhao room to operate.
What he needed to do was not difficult: simply influence Shrek's group temporarily, causing them to overlook a brief moment when the Devouring Spirit Bloodblade appeared.
After patching the circuit repeatedly, the brand-new soul power circuit was finally completed. Unlike Spiritual Parasite, this circuit required at least ten continuous minutes of influence for the effect to take hold.
Once successful, the targets would enter a dazed state and could be guided by Huo Yuhao's spiritual power.
After the soul skill was released, the affected individuals would naturally forget that portion of memory and instinctively fill in the gap on their own.
When he closed and opened his eyes again, night had already fallen. Although the skill and runes used here had long been fully analyzed by him, the complexity of the structure still took a long time to complete. Feeling the hunger in his stomach, Huo Yuhao immediately ordered food from the hotel.
Unnoticed, thanks to the Skydream Iceworm's diligent cultivation, Huo Yuhao's cultivation level had once again broken through,from level 24, when he obtained his second soul ring, to nearly level 27.
Although he had been close to level 25 after obtaining the second ring, barely one and a half months had passed since then. The medicinal effects within his body were almost fully absorbed. Once his physique reached the Soul Ancestor level, his ability to withstand stronger soul power flow would allow his cultivation speed to surge again.
It was foreseeable that after the tournament ended, he could prepare to break through to Soul Elder and hunt his third soul ring. He needed to begin planning his soul ring choices in advance.
That night, Huo Yuhao enjoyed a rare good sleep. After all, tomorrow was the official opening of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament, even though he would have little to do in it.
The next morning, as the first ray of sunlight entered Star Luo City, the atmosphere in the imperial capital was solemn.
Shops around the outer city closed their doors, and soldiers in ornate ceremonial armor blocked the streets. The road from the Star Emperor Hotel to Star Luo Plaza was completely restricted, accessible only to participating academy teams.
Behind Star Luo Plaza was the imperial city,the best viewing location for the tournament.
The competition stage was one hundred meters long and wide, surrounded by 108 metal-like defensive soul tools.
Once activated by 108 corresponding soul masters, they would form a united protective barrier to prevent soul skill overflow from harming the audience.
However, despite their internal defensive power, their external defense was mediocre. Due to the large area and the Sun Moon Empire's technical blockade, these 108 devices appeared impressive but were actually average in capability.
After casually scanning them with the Eyes of Truth, Huo Yuhao lost interest. The core arrays used in these soul tools were mostly basic. Only the linkage array was somewhat interesting, but not impressive enough. All 108 devices had identical, standardized construction.
They were crude enough that Huo Yuhao could even influence or seize control of them with his spiritual power, break them down, and siphon their soul power.
Because the tournament was important, everyone arrived early.
Each academy's teacher was responsible for drawing lots to determine match order.
As the sun rose high, bathing the land in warmth, the emperor and empress of the Star Luo Empire appeared on the royal platform, along with all civil and military officials. This marked the official start of the tournament.
With the emperor's orders, the Star Luo Empire arranged for spectators to enter in an orderly fashion, while participating academies waited near the battleground.
By the time all spectators and competitors were prepared, it was already mid-morning.
"Silence!" A booming voice echoed, laced with spiritual pressure.
The officers on the field simultaneously stood at attention, raising their spears. The once-noisy plaza instantly fell silent.
"His Majesty the Emperor has arrived!" the voice announced. Civilians kneeled, soldiers knelt on one knee, and academy participants bowed.
"You may rise," the emperor's voice echoed through amplifying soul tools.
Behind him stood the empress and officials, and one step behind them was Duke Dai Hao, the White Tiger Duke. Compared to when they saw him at the military camp, his eyes were bloodshot and his expression weary.
The emperor smiled, though the meaning behind his smile was unclear.
"The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament is the most important event in our soul master world. This year, it is our Star Luo Empire's honor to host it. On behalf of the empire, I welcome all academies, led by Shrek Academy."
"I hope you display your true strength in the coming month."
The representatives of all 133 academies responded, "Thank you, Your Majesty."
The emperor spoke no further; too much time had already passed since the academies first entered.
"Now, I declare the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament officially open!"
After the ceremonial cannon blasts, the emperor stepped back and took his seat with the officials.
"According to tournament rules, the first round will be elimination."
"With 133 academies registered, after drawing lots, one receives a bye, leaving sixty-six matches."
"Any team that loses in this first round is immediately eliminated."
"Now, the first match begins. The competitors are Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy of the Dou Ling Empire versus the number one academy in the continent, winner of nearly every championship for the past thousand years,Shrek Academy!"
Because of Shrek's millennium-long reputation, the crowd burst into cheers.
The reserve team members, except for Huo Yuhao, felt a heavy pressure and turned pale.
Huo Yuhao remained calm. Honor and victory meant little to him. He was here to obtain Life Gold and to record soul skills and soul tool core arrays for research. Winning or losing did not concern him.
"Shrek! Shrek! Shrek!" the audience chanted as both teams prepared to enter.
Seeing the reserve team's stiffness, Wang Yan forced a smile. "Do not fear. This is Shrek's glory, and it will soon be yours."
"Your opponents are even more afraid than you,ten times, a hundred times more. Because they are facing Shrek Academy!"
Even though Wang Yan's face betrayed his own nervousness, his words acted like a stimulant for the students. Their tension eased, and color returned to their faces.
The host began announcing the teams.
"First, let us welcome the Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy!"
A group of pale, trembling students walked in. Seeing this, Shrek's members breathed a sigh of relief. Tianling Academy was a weak, obscure school,always among the first eliminated. A typical filler team.
Facing Shrek, they would likely lose half their remaining strength purely from fear before the battle even began.
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