The Tournament Begins

However, what greeted him were the furious gazes of the Shrek group.

Realizing what was going on, Flender immediately coughed lightly. "Registration is already complete. Pull yourselves together. After all, you're a team aiming for the championship."

But just as his words fell, a somewhat mocking voice rang out not far from them.

"Champions? You're killing me. You think you're worthy?"

Hearing this, everyone from Shrek angrily looked toward the source of the voice. They saw a group of Soul Masters dressed in moon-white uniforms, with the words Blue Sunshine embroidered on their shoulders.

They were from Blue Sunshine Academy, one of the advanced Soul Master academies. Because they had previously had some conflicts with Shrek, they were deliberately mocking them now.

"What did you say?"

Immediately afterward, someone built like a gorilla sprang out from the Shrek team and began arguing with them.

The commotion between Shrek and Blue Sunshine Academy immediately drew the attention of the other academies in the spectator area. Many wore expressions of eager anticipation, hoping to see the two sides fight.

Although Soul Masters' Soul Skills were not exactly secrets, they were not casually revealed either.

Especially in this medieval-like world, information did not spread very efficiently. Thus, most academies actually knew very little about their opponents.

Now that people were about to clash, it was naturally a good thing for them. They could gather intelligence in advance and avoid suffering losses in future battles.

Even Shui Wuchen glanced slightly toward Shrek and Blue Sunshine Academy. However, what he was curious about was the actual level of the students from the other academies.

Although he had gained a general understanding of these academies' strengths over this period, seeing was believing, and information was not necessarily accurate.

Shui Wuchen had not forgotten what web novels from his past life had taught him: those who could be easily seen usually were not the true geniuses. More formidable talents would most likely emerge later, like the angel girl he had encountered before.

Unfortunately, the two sides ultimately did not truly fight. Seeing this, Shui Wuchen stopped paying attention and began meditating with his eyes closed.

Who knew how much time passed before the opening ceremony finally began!

On the platform above the competition area, the host held a sound-amplifying Soul Tool and continuously introduced the teams entering the arena to the audience.

"Next to enter is the Skywater Team from Skywater Academy! Skywater Academy is famous for accepting only beautiful women, yet there is actually a man on this year's team. Could it be that Skywater Academy has finally relaxed its admission requirements?"

After hearing the host's words, most of the audience immediately looked toward Skywater Academy. Upon seeing Skywater Academy's stunning beauties, they erupted into the loudest cheers of the day.

Hearing this, quite a few people from the other academies curled their lips. Some even muttered quietly, "So what if they're popular? In the end, strength is what matters."

However, to others, those words sounded rather like sour grapes.

Of course, quite a few people at the venue also glared viciously at Shui Wuchen, who stood in front of the Skywater Academy Girls. Their jealous gazes seemed as though they wanted to devour him whole.

Yet Shui Wuchen did not care about any of that. At that moment, his gaze had already turned toward the VIP section.

There were neither too many nor too few people in the VIP section. From their clothing and the aura they exuded, it was clear that they were either wealthy or noble.

Among them, the three seated at the very front were the most eye-catching.

Seeing Shui Wuchen looking toward the VIP section, Shui Yueruo, who stood beside him, explained in a low voice, "Wuchen, the people in the first row of the VIP section are no ordinary figures. From left to right, they are Platinum Bishop Salas, Xue Ye, and Ning Fengzhi."

"So it's them."

Hearing this, Shui Wuchen understood. Naturally, he had heard all of these names before.

Ning Fengzhi was the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, one of the Upper Three Sects, and was known as the continent's number one support Soul Master.

The rank of Platinum Bishop was also extremely high within Spirit Hall, surpassed only by the Pope, elders, and consecrated guardians. All of them were powerhouses close to the level of Titled Douluo.

As for Xue Ye, there was even less need to mention him. He was the emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, one of the Two Great Empires of Douluo Continent.

The fact that they had all come to watch the opening ceremony was enough to show how seriously the continent regarded this Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament.

About half an hour later, all the academy teams had finished entering. Shui Wuchen counted them—there were twenty-eight teams in total.

According to the rules, the Heaven Dou Division had only five advancement slots. In other words, the remaining twenty-three teams would be eliminated.

Next came the classic opening speeches. However, to Shui Wuchen's surprise, all three men spoke very briefly, finishing in only a few minutes.

Back in his previous life, speeches from leaders at events like this could not possibly end in under half an hour.

After they finished, the host smiled. "Thank you to Xue Ye, Bishop Salas, and Sect Master Ning for your speeches. Next, Bishop Salas will conduct the draw for the first round of the Preliminary Round."

As his words fell, Platinum Bishop Salas slowly walked to the host's side under the guidance of a palace maid. He placed his hand into a box and began drawing lots.

"First round of the Preliminary Round: Flame Radiance Academy versus Oakland Academy!"

"First round of the Preliminary Round: Godwind Academy versus Ska Academy!"

"First round of the Preliminary Round: Skywater Academy versus North Academy!"

Upon hearing that their academy would be facing North Academy, a smile could not help appearing at the corner of Shui Yueruo's lips. This academy ranked near the bottom among all advanced Soul Master academies. It simply could not compare to Skywater Academy.

"First round of the Preliminary Round: Heaven Dou Royal Academy versus Shrek Academy."

Upon hearing this matchup, every academy looked at Shrek Academy in surprise. This was because only one match would be held during the opening ceremony to liven up the atmosphere, and it would be Heaven Dou Royal Academy and its opponent.

However, many spectators in the stands were dissatisfied. They believed this was favoritism toward Heaven Dou Royal Academy, deliberately giving them an obscure opponent.

In response, Platinum Bishop Salas said calmly, "Are you questioning Spirit Hall?"

That single sentence immediately rendered the entire venue silent.

The words Spirit Hall held an almost sacred status across the continent.

This was because the Martial Souls of the vast majority of people on Douluo Continent were awakened by Spirit Hall's deacons.

Only a very small number had their Martial Souls awakened by their own clans or factions, and those people made up less than one percent of the total population.

Shui Wuchen held Spirit Hall in rather high regard because both his and his younger sister Shui Bing'er's Martial Souls had been awakened by Spirit Hall.

It was precisely because they had awakened outstanding Martial Souls that the Water Clan and their marquis father had undergone a complete change in attitude toward them.

Otherwise, even if Shui Wuchen and his sister had died outside, the Water Clan would not have spared them a glance. There were simply too many illegitimate children of nobles like them.