Thunder Academy of Five Dragons and Six Soul Kings

The next four days of competition passed without incident. All the major powerhouse teams advanced smoothly as expected, and Chang'an Academy was no exception, securing every victory with steady, methodical play.

Today was the seventh day of the tournament, marking the final battles of the first round-robin stage.

Under the competition rules, each team faced one representative team from each of the seven regions in sequence, completing one full round-robin cycle.

For Chang'an Academy, their first two opponents had been Elephant Armor Academy from Toske Province and Godwind Academy from Lagehanma Province.

After that, they successively faced Winter Battle Soul Academy from Tianshui Province, known for its combat techniques—especially its collaborative background with the Alliance of Weapons—Tulip Academy from Oswei Province, distinguished by its Plant type martial souls, and Star Field Academy, one of the weaker teams from the Central Left District.

When they faced Yue Si Academy, also from Fasinuo Province, both sides tacitly sent out their substitute lineups and concluded the match without going all out.

Against these opponents of comparatively weaker overall strength, Chang'an Academy continued its usual strategy—letting veterans guide the newcomers.

Thanks to the high proportion of veteran members and the large number of Soul Kings on the team, they had tremendous flexibility in rotating personnel and could arrange their tactics with ease.

This allowed crucial support core members like Xiao Yi, backed by Gu Wuyan, to receive valuable opportunities to rest between matches, greatly reducing their appearance frequency.

Such careful rotations and sufficient rest were vital for handling the national Semi-Finals, whose intensity far exceeded that of the provincial tournament.

Even so, the strain of the competition and the number of minor injuries suffered by Soul Masters remained immense.

The four medical instructors Chang'an Academy had brought with them—Pu Shuirou, Bao Yiling, Wen Shouren, and Mu Zilian—were already stretched thin. They had no choice but to borrow two more Healing Type Soul Masters from the Chen Family to join the medical support team.

Unlike Chang'an Academy, teams under greater performance pressure and in more tense atmospheres might have had an easier schedule at the outset, but their thinner rosters and sustained attrition still placed considerable pressure on their main members, especially the core Soul King-level competitors.

In this regard, top academies such as Tiandou, Chang'an, Moonflower, and Icebound held a significant advantage.

Across all of Fasinuo Province, the powerful upward momentum displayed by its teams in this Semi-Finals was particularly striking.

Among this, the "sending warmth" talent transfer effect following Canghui Academy's elimination could not be overlooked.

These former Canghui students had all worked twice as hard to protect their alma mater's reputation, eager to wash away the disgrace of elimination. This greatly strengthened the backbone of the various academies in Fasinuo.

Benefiting from this, not only had Chang'an Academy marched forward triumphantly, but even Mystic Yellow Academy, previously the weakest, had achieved an impressive record of four wins and three losses, successfully entering the upper-middle ranks.

Fasinuo Province's five teams—Chang'an, Five Mountains, Yue Si, Qing Lin, and Mystic Yellow—had all entered the upper half of the standings among the thirty-six competing teams, setting a new historical best.

The various academies had demonstrated flexible adaptability on the foundation of "Canghui-style exchanges."

For instance, Qing Lin Academy, which specialized in spear formations, had recruited Shen Li, who possessed the "Scarlet Magic Crystal" martial soul, and Chu Xishuang, who possessed the "Eternal Frost Amethyst" (Frost Vein Ice Shard Spear) martial soul, from Canghui. This enriched both their tactical system and roster depth.

But this wave of "exchange students" was not limited to Canghui Academy alone.

Everyone was clever. Fasinuo's academies had all shown their shrewd side; they were hardly going to keep exploiting Canghui Academy alone for talent.

They drew inferences from one example and actively recruited outside reinforcements through broader channels to strengthen themselves.

For example:

In Five Mountains Academy's minor spotlight battle against the powerful Moon Bay Academy of Toske Province, they deployed their newly recruited fifth Soul King—Wei Yelin, formerly the captain of Skywolf Academy.

This Power Attack Type Soul Master, who had been at the peak of Level 49 when the provincial tournament ended, had successfully broken through his bottleneck and advanced to a Level 51 Soul King after his Grandfather, Wei Xinzhi, gritted his teeth and purchased two Seventh Grade Spirit Herbs from the Chen Family to aid him.

It was precisely through the average-level advantage represented by five Soul Kings that Five Mountains Academy managed to defeat the deeply established Moon Bay Academy after a fierce battle.

Yue Si Academy's strategy was even more ruthless.

While core members Yue Pan and Yue Que had yet to fully recover from their severe flesh-and-blood injuries—they had suffered injuries similar to Chen Shurui and Chen Bin, having had much of their flesh carved away, making regeneration relatively slow and fragile—they had "borrowed" Shen Yuan and Lu Kun from Tian Feng Academy, the pair known for their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, "Mudslide."

Under Captain Zhong Weifeng's leadership, Yue Si Academy, bolstered by those two outside reinforcements, successfully defeated Vast Sea Academy, whose core captain Zhang Hongtao had recovered from his injuries and returned.

It had to be known that Moon Bay Academy and Vast Sea Academy were both deeply established institutions, counted alongside academies such as Chang'an, Tianshui, and Oasis as the "Five Great Provincial Academies."

Yet at the end of this first round-robin stage, they had respectively fallen to the third-ranked Five Mountains Academy and fourth-ranked Yue Si Academy within Fasinuo Province.

This result undoubtedly dropped a bombshell into the hearts of countless observers.

Through their outstanding tactical integration and talent recruitment strategies, the academies of Fasinuo Province had suddenly surged to prominence on the Elite Competition stage, stealing the spotlight and making a name for themselves.

Naturally, they had also drawn genuine attention from all sides.

Chang'an Academy's dedicated fan viewing area was packed with people, and the air was filled with eager anticipation and the buzzing murmur of discussion.

The match had yet to officially begin, so the audience's attention naturally focused on which players would soon take the stage.

"I wonder who the captain and the others will arrange to play against Thunder Academy today?" a young female Soul Master with neat short hair asked her companion, clutching a match schedule in her hand.

A young man beside her, wearing a relaxed smile, casually replied, "Who cares who they send out? With our Twin Jewels, Seven Elites, Nine Talents, and three outside reinforcements, what opponent could stand against that lineup? We'll win regardless."

Before his words had even faded, a middle-aged male Soul Master wearing glasses and carrying a somewhat composed air pushed up his frames. His voice was not loud, but it cut in clearly. "You can't put it that simply."

He appeared to be better informed as he opened the small notebook he had brought. "I heard this year's Thunder Academy is anything but ordinary. Don't be fooled by the fact that they rank second in the Central Right District, with Nine Heavens Academy above them."

"But reliable sources say that not only are their Lightning Attribute martial souls formidable, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan has gone all in this time and sent several Dragon Martial Soul Masters there... Their strength probably isn't much weaker than the leading top academies of the various provinces."

"They're doing that?" A young Soul Master in fan apparel widened his eyes.

"Thunder Academy was originally supported by the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. It's perfectly normal for them to send people over," a burly man said, folding his arms as he explained. Yet his brow also creased almost imperceptibly.

The atmosphere seemed to settle somewhat after those words. The earlier easy confidence was weighed down by a trace of uncertainty.

After a brief silence, a mother leaning against the railing with her child in her arms murmured softly, "We'll have to see how Xiao Hongchen arranges his troops."

Everyone's gazes unconsciously turned toward the entrance leading to the spirit battle passage. The young figure who would decide the course of the battle had yet to appear.

Inside Chang'an Academy's preparation room, where tactical maps were spread out and the atmosphere was solemn, a pin dropping would have been audible.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on Chen Xiaojun, who stood in the center.

The young captain's usual smile had vanished, replaced by a rare expression of grave seriousness.

"Everyone understands how difficult this match will be, right?"

He did not need any further opening remarks and went straight to the heart of the opponent's lineup.

"Thunder Academy is led by its captain, Yu Zhijun—Yu Zhengjun of Tiandou's elder brother."

"A direct descendant of the Yu Family, with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul. A Level 55 Power Attack Type Battle Soul King, ranked twenty-fifth on the Genius List."

That name alone represented the oppressive force of top-tier talent and bloodline.

His fingertip moved across the opponent roster.

"Yu Jingzhe, from a collateral branch of the Yu Family. His martial soul is the Purple Lightning Flood Dragon, and he is a Level 56 Power Attack Type Soul King."

"Though his martial soul is not a pure-blood Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, it possesses part of a dragon's might and a powerful Physical Body. The Purple Firmament Divine Thunder he controls covers an extremely wide area and carries a potent paralysis effect."

Chen Xiaojun paused and swept his gaze over his teammates. "His threat does not lie in single-target burst damage, but in battlefield control and sustained pressure."

"Ao Lie, a Level 54 Power Attack Type Soul King. His martial soul is the mutated Crimson Flame Tyrant Dragon, primarily Fire Attribute with supplementary Lightning Attribute. His attacks carry powerful explosive burning effects."

He particularly stressed the word "explosive."

"Lei En, a Level 51 Agility Attack Type Soul King. His Mutated Martial Soul is the Storm Thunder Dragon. He can fly and possesses extreme speed, while his attacks contain tearing whirlwinds and lightning with exceptional penetrating power."

This was undoubtedly an enormous threat to their backline.

Chen Xiaojun's tone remained grave. "These are their core members: four Dragon-type Soul Kings. Any one of them, taken alone, would be qualified to serve as a mainstay in a first-rate academy. In addition—"

His voice did not relax in the slightest. "They have three supporting members. Long Qi, a Level 52 Defense Type Soul King with the Rock Thunder Dragon Turtle sub-dragon martial soul, is the team's sturdiest shield."

"Lei Dong, a Level 53 Control Type Soul King—sharing a name with that future titled figure—has the Thunder Spider martial soul. His spiderweb control will become the chain that binds us."

"Lastly, there is Lei Jiuchong, a Level 48 Support Type Thunder Umbrella Soul Master, who provides mobility enhancements and supplementary defense."

His concluding words carried deep insight. "The core characteristics of Thunder Academy's lineup this year are very distinct."

"Six Soul Kings and one high-level Soul Ancestor. Aside from Lei Jiuchong's Sixth Grade Martial Soul and Yu Zhijun's Ninth Grade Martial Soul, the other five all possess Seventh Grade top-tier martial souls."

"Their greatest advantage is that they have pushed instantaneous burst power to the extreme."

"Their entire tactical system revolves around the core chain of 'battlefield control—suppression—Yu Zhijun's finishing blow.'"

"They have many Combination Skills, all highly destructive and suited to dragon might and lightning. Once unleashed, their offensive will sweep forth like raging tides—overwhelming and tyrannical."

After a brief pause, Chen Xiaojun's gaze sharpened. "But their fatal weakness is equally obvious."

"Their Soul Power consumption is enormous. The key to their entire system—finishing off their opponents—rests almost entirely on Yu Zhijun alone."

"The entire team lacks dedicated healing, and its recovery capability is a weakness."

"Their attribute composition is also far too singular. Nearly all of them are Lightning Attribute."

He slowly exhaled his conclusion. "This is a typical team that is 'a heavy sword without an edge, yet excessive hardness breaks easily.'"

"Either they destroy us as swiftly as thunder crashing down, or we drag down their tempo, seize their opening, and they rapidly exhaust themselves, with no strength left to spare."

As Chen Xiaojun's words fell, tense silence filled the room. A head-on clash was right before them.

This was their first true hurdle so far!

The only thing they had to do was make the edge of that thunderous heavy sword break before it could cut them down.