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"Although my toughness isn't as good as Shi Quan's Blue Silver King, my devouring attribute is definitely stronger."
Tang San compared them in his mind.
Because the Immortal Herb Shi Quan consumed was Black Jade Divine Bamboo, which primarily enhanced toughness, even though his Blue Silver Grass had significantly improved its toughness through devouring, he believed that Shi Quan's Blue Silver King had also improved through devouring. With both sides improving, in terms of toughness alone, there was still a gap between his Blue Silver Grass and Shi Quan's Blue Silver King.
However, he had also consumed the Immortal Herb Spirit Devouring Flower. The amplification effect of the devouring ability brought by the Spirit Devouring Flower became even more apparent after his Blue Silver Grass completely Awakened its devouring innate ability.
The reason his Blue Silver Grass possessed such a powerful devouring ability was absolutely related to the Spirit Devouring Flower Immortal Herb, and this was one of Tang San's trump cards.
"My Blue Silver Grass can now also be called the Blue Silver King!" Tang San puffed out his chest, his heart filled with excitement. "With my current devouring ability, my combat endurance is practically infinite. And what if his toughness is strong? I'll just directly devour the Blue Silver King's Life force. What toughness does a withered Blue Silver King have left?"
He was determined to get the head Spirit Bone awarded for the Spirit Master Tournament champion!
Tang San returned to the academy with Flender.
The first thing he did was tell Yu Xiaogang about the complete evolution of his Martial Spirit.
Upon hearing this, Yu Xiaogang also felt more confident. His thoughts were largely similar to Tang San's. He didn't believe Shi Quan would kindly warn them that there was a problem with their Martial Spirit Cultivation.
Such words were certainly only meant to mislead them.
Fortunately, they were firm enough to find the correct way to unlock the Blue Silver Grass Martial Spirit.
To further confirm Tang San's true strength, Yu Xiaogang arranged another internal sparring match within Shrek.
Whether it was Dai Mubai or Yu Tianheng, Tang San defeated both of them with just his Third Soul Skill.
Even in a one-on-two situation, he could easily win without using his Soul Devouring Eight Spider Lances.
"How did Tang San's strength improve so much in just one month?" Ning Rongrong vigilantly watched the arrogant Tang San, her heart full of questions, and secretly made a mental note of the matter.
"Xiao San, with the evolution of your Blue Silver Grass Martial Spirit, the Seven-in-One Fusion Technique will also become more stable. This will give us a greater chance of winning the championship."
Yu Xiaogang's expression was excited. The stronger Tang San was, the happier he naturally became. Heaven Dou Royal Academy looked down on him and removed him from his position, so he would use Tang San to slap Heaven Dou Royal Academy's face.
The first step was to win first place in the upcoming promotion rounds!
Because the promotion rounds adopted a one-on-one combat format, no cooperation was needed, only pure strength. Because of this, he had absolute confidence in the promotion rounds.
The promotion round venue was no longer the Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena but had been changed to the Royal Knights' Grand Drill Ground. Apart from the high-level officials of several major powers, including the Heaven Dou Imperial Family, outsiders were not allowed to enter and watch.
The promotion rounds also didn't have multiple arenas running simultaneously like the preliminaries, but only one competition venue, which was the Royal Knights' Grand Drill Ground.
A total of fifteen teams participating in the promotion rounds would undergo fourteen rounds of round-robin matches, one round per day, with one team having a bye each day, resulting in seven matches. All of these took place on the same venue.
The Grand Drill Ground had been re-renovated, with a hundred-meter diameter area marked out as the competition ground in the center, which was even wider than the seven-on-seven preliminary arena. Its purpose was to allow the many participating contestants to more easily display their strength.
On the north side of the drill ground was the VIP seating area, built facing south. In the first row sat Emperor Xue Ye, Ning Fengzhi, and Salas. Most of the seats on one side behind them were occupied by military generals, while the other side was filled with high-ranking officials from the Heaven Dou City Temple, dressed in Spirit Hall uniforms.
Emperor Xue Ye stood up from the VIP seats and loudly proclaimed through a spirit tool: "The promotion rounds officially begin today. In the next fourteen days, I hope all academy teams will fully display their strength and show the proper demeanor of Spirit Masters. Begin."
As Emperor Xue Ye's words fell, the promotion rounds, after a month of rest, finally officially commenced.
The elimination mechanism of the promotion rounds was different from the preliminaries, offering a good opportunity for everyone to hone their skills.
So, even though Tang San's strength was formidable, under Yu Xiaogang's arrangements, he still tried his best to let most people participate for training.
Tang San's presence also gave Yu Xiaogang confidence, as in his eyes, among the students of these many academies, none were a match for his disciple Tang San. With Tang San as the final safeguard, taking first place in these promotion rounds was a sure thing.
As the competition progressed, Tang San's formidable devouring and control abilities gradually emerged. No matter what opponent he faced, as long as they encountered Tang San, Tang San would extremely domineeringly drain their spirit power and secretly devour a trace of their Life force, feeding it back to himself.
Although not much, it would make people feel a wave of fatigue. With the fatigue of depleted spirit power as a cover, Tang San felt that what he was doing was foolproof, but he didn't notice that a pair of eyes had been watching him all along.
This person was Qian Renxue. Because of her unified front with Shi Quan, she specifically arranged a medical team. Anyone who felt any discomfort after a match could go to the medical team's location for a physical examination and treatment.
The sole purpose of this action was to examine the specific physical condition of those who fought against Tang San.
Devouring, like drugs, is addictive.
Tang San thought his plan was flawless, but he didn't know he was slowly walking into the abyss he had carved for himself.
The entire promotion rounds passed without a hitch. Fourteen matches, fourteen consecutive victories. Among all fifteen teams, Tang San, relying on his formidable strength, led the Shrek Team to first place in the promotion rounds.
At the end of the competition, Emperor Xue Ye once again delivered a passionate speech of encouragement and inspiration.
Next, naturally, was the final championship, and this time there were only three days of rest.
The teams had only three days to adjust. Three days later, along with the Heaven Dou Battle Team, a total of sixteen teams, accompanied by teachers and five hundred soldiers from the Royal Knights, a group of over a thousand people, set off for the venue of the finals—Spirit City.
Xue Qinghe, as the envoy of the Heaven Dou Empire, accompanied the entire entourage to Spirit City.
The journey from Heaven Dou City to Spirit City took approximately twenty days.
To ensure the participating team members could rest better, the Heaven Dou Empire specially commissioned sixteen luxurious giant carriages. These were exclusively for the participating team members to ride and rest in.
These carriages utilized rudimentary spirit tool technology, providing excellent shock absorption and sound insulation, which did not hinder the students from Cultivating their spirit power or discussing tactics within them.
"The finals are finally about to begin!" Sitting in the luxurious giant carriage, Shi Quan couldn't help but feel a little excited.
Apart from Shi Quan, everyone else was also full of fighting Martial Spirit. They had been preparing for this competition for too long, too long.
Everyone was looking forward to the Heaven Dou Battle Team shining brightly.
In more than half a year, Shi Quan's strength had already Broken through to level forty-nine. At his current Cultivation speed, if nothing unexpected happened, he would be able to Breakthrough to level fifty in at most two months.
During the period of the preliminaries and promotion rounds, Zhu Zhuqing and the others each advanced by one level.
"Shi Quan, are you getting a bit too close to Xue Qinghe lately?"
In the carriage, Dugu Bo frowned as he looked at Shi Quan.
Shi Quan felt helpless, then explained, "Grandpa Dugu, I will explain some things to you later, but rest assured, I know what I'm doing."
Dugu Bo nodded, not pressing further.
Although Shi Quan did not participate in the promotion rounds, Xue Qinghe had been keeping a close eye on the promotion rounds. From his investigation, any opponent who had been devoured by Tang San would experience a short-term weakness. After his careful investigation, Tang San indeed had actions of devouring the enemy's spirit power, and basic evidence had already been obtained.
Now, they were just waiting for an opportunity to expose Tang San's evil deeds.
Night rest.
The Godwind Academy's carriage.
"Feng Xiaotian." Huo Wushuang called from outside the window.
Soon, the carriage curtain was pulled back, and Feng Xiaotian poked his head out, asking in confusion, "Wushuang, something wrong?"
"My sister wants to discuss something with you." Huo Wushuang nodded.
"Coming, coming." Hearing this, Feng Xiaotian immediately got off the carriage without delay.
The two arrived in front of the Blazing Academy's carriage.
"Come in and talk." At Huo Wu's signal, Feng Xiaotian entered the Blazing Academy's carriage. In the spacious interior, there were only him and Huo Wu.
Seeing this, Feng Xiaotian thought his spring had arrived and became extremely excited.
"Brother Feng, I'll be direct." Huo Wu rolled her eyes at Feng Xiaotian, then said solemnly, "Do you think, with our team's strength, we can defeat the current Shrek Team, the Heaven Dou Battle Team, and the Spirit Hall Academy later?"
Feng Xiaotian immediately gave a bitter smile, "Probably very difficult."
"It's not very difficult, it's almost impossible." Huo Wu said gravely, "After Tang San of the Shrek Team Broke through to level forty, his strength underwent a tremendous change. Both his individual strength and his team contribution have been greatly enhanced, which has made the Shrek Team's strength no weaker than any of our teams."
"Moreover, I received news that the Heaven Dou Battle Team's overall strength is even stronger than the current Shrek Team, and on the Spirit Hall Team's side, there are even three Spirit Kings. With such a lineup, neither Shenfeng nor Blazing is a match."
Feng Xiaotian sighed, "Sister Huo Wu, you are indeed right. In fact, after the promotion rounds, I no longer consider these issues. I have already treated this year's finals as a tempering experience. Just do our best."
"Are we just giving up on the three Spirit Bones as a reward?" Huo Wu asked in return.
"I don't want to either, but the opponents are simply too strong…" Feng Xiaotian's face was full of helplessness.
Huo Wu looked at Feng Xiaotian seriously, "Brother Feng, I have a way that could give us a chance to win the championship. Do you want to try it?"
Feng Xiaotian was first stunned, then his eyes lit up as he looked at Huo Wu, "What way?"
Huo Wu smiled mysteriously: "It's cooperation…"