Heaven Dou City had been reinvigorated by the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Competition.
The first rays of dawn shone over the city, and golden sunlight spilled across its orderly clusters of buildings, draping the imperial capital in dazzling radiance.
Colorful flags fluttered along both sides of the streets, and the air was filled with a festive cheer.
At the city center, a magnificent arena had risen from the ground.
It had originally been the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena, but had been specially expanded and renovated for the competition.
After the renovations, the subsidiary arenas inside the Great Soul Arena had been combined with the main Soul Fighting center, forming a vast venue capable of accommodating eighty thousand spectators at once.
Outside the arena, crowds stretched as far as the eye could see.
Soul Masters, nobles, merchants, and ordinary people had gathered from all directions, waiting for the Opening Ceremony to begin and hoping to witness the young competitors in person.
The students who represented Advanced Soul Master Academies were all outstanding members of the younger generation of Soul Masters. They were also highly sought after by noble houses and clans.
The competing academy teams filed through the broad corridors, preparing to enter the arena.
The crowds watching from either side of the corridors began chatting among themselves.
"Look, the Godwind Academy Team is here. They're still wearing their signature uniforms with the blue-green embroidery."
Among the Five Great Element Academies, Godwind Academy was one of the strongest overall.
Its specialty lay in speed as swift as the wind, paired with impressive offensive power.
What's more, some Wind Attribute Soul Masters could fly, giving them an advantage in aerial combat.
As a result, Godwind Academy had performed well in the first three Soul Master Competitions, and had made it through the Heaven Dou Division each time.
"That's the Blazing Fire Academy Team."
"Wow, that girl is so tall. She looks so poised and spirited."
The Blazing Fire Academy Team wore matching scarlet uniforms, each with a prominent flame emblem on the chest, making them easy to recognize.
Most eye-catching of all, the tallest member of the Blazing Fire Academy Team was a girl.
"The beauties from the Skywater Academy Team are finally here!"
Someone in the crowd cried out.
Everyone's attention was instantly drawn to them.
Skywater Academy was the only academy on the Douluo Continent that accepted female students exclusively. Everyone from its teachers to its students was female.
It also only accepted beautiful students with Ice or Water Attributes.
The girls on the Skywater Academy Team wore their signature pale blue uniforms. Every one of them looked fresh and graceful, with a delicate, dewy beauty.
At every Soul Master Competition, they were a beautiful sight, drawing everyone's attention the moment they appeared.
More teams entered the arena.
"What kind of bizarre team is that? Why are they wearing shit-green uniforms?"
The crowd began to make less-than-kind remarks, and some people couldn't help laughing out loud.
The team passing by at that moment was the Shrek Academy Team.
Their uniforms were an odd color—not an ordinary green, but a shit-green somewhere between yellow and green.
That wasn't all. Each person also had a huge, bright green monster Shrek emblem on the chest.
Even more bizarrely, six large red characters had been embroidered across their backs: "Seeking a Title Sponsor."
Their uniforms looked strange, and the material was cheap.
So they attracted everyone's attention as soon as they appeared.
"This is a grand event for Advanced Soul Master Academies. Are these weirdos really here to compete?"
"They don't look like Soul Masters to me. More like they came to pick through the trash. They all look like they just climbed out of a latrine. This is hilarious."
"Look at that fatso with the big ears. He's nothing special, but he's got such a confident look on his face."
"Shh, keep your voice down. What if they really are Soul Masters?"
As the crowd mocked and ridiculed them, Tang San and the others wished they could dig a hole and crawl into it.
They could only hurry into the competition venue.
The arena was divided into several sections.
There were VIP seats, general seating, rest areas for competing students from the various academies, and the central arena.
At that moment, the members of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Team were in the rest area inside the main arena, reserved specifically for the competitors.
The rest area was spacious, with more than a thousand seats divided into sections for students from the various Soul Master Academies to relax and wait.
Long Chen and the others wore simple white-and-gold uniforms, embroidered with gold thread and bearing the Royal Academy's distinctive emblem on the chest.
Overall, their uniforms weren't much different from those of the other academies.
Still, they came from the Royal Academy, and the quality of their clothing was beyond what the other academies could match.
The Opening Ceremony would be held next, followed by an exhibition Soul Fighting match.
The Heaven Dou Royal Academy Second Team would face one of the competing teams.
The Royal Academy Team One didn't have to take part in the Preliminary Match or the Advancement Match. Once they'd made an appearance at today's Opening Ceremony, they wouldn't need to return to this venue; they would advance directly to the Finals.
However, they could come watch the matches between the other academy teams to learn about their opponents' strengths.
The Finals were single-elimination, and any team that advanced could end up facing them.
Everyone was waiting for the Opening Ceremony.
Dugu Yan looked Long Chen up and down, then joked, "Long Chen, it's been ten years since I first met you, and this is the first time I've seen you in light-colored clothes. It's a little strange, but honestly, you look pretty handsome."
Osler chimed in, "Long Chen looks so refined in these clothes, not like a Soul Master at all. But who would've guessed he'd have the Dark Night Demonic Lute Martial Soul with its Evil Attribute? The contrast is the whole point. Haha!"
The group chatted and laughed, looking relaxed.
Ever since awakening his Dark Night Demonic Lute Martial Soul, Long Chen had worn dark colors, mostly black, to match his Martial Soul and black hair.
His mind was more mature than those of others his age, and with his tall, lean build, his black clothes made him look steadier than his peers.
But in this white-and-gold uniform, he looked much younger—like a boy of fifteen or sixteen.
Ye Lingling said softly, "Brother Chen, I think these light-colored clothes look nice too."
"Is that so? I might have to wear them for the whole Soul Master Competition."
More and more competitors entered the rest area.
Yu Feng spotted a few people and suddenly laughed. "Brothers, look! It's the Shrek Seven Devils. Those uniforms are way too ugly. Now they really have become Shit-Lek. Hahaha!"
Yu Feng's laugh was loud enough to draw Dai Mubai and the others' attention.
Long Chen and the others followed Yu Feng's gaze, meeting Tang San, Dai Mubai, and the others' eyes.
Tang San's gaze swept over them before finally settling on Long Chen.
The moment their eyes met, a strange feeling swept over Tang San.
His pupils contracted sharply, and the hairs on his body stood on end.
"So that's Long Chen!"
Before you continue