The Opening Match

The opening match

"Teacher Wang Yan?" Huo Yuhao muttered, quickly withdrawing his gaze.

Of course he remembered Wang Yan. Out of all the people he knew at Shrek Academy, Wang Yan was the only one he was truly willing to call teacher. Now he was going to face Wang Yan's Shrek team on the field. The thought left him with mixed feelings. He wondered whether Teacher Wang Yan still remembered him.

Wang Yan certainly remembered. He had seen Huo Yuhao, and two other familiar faces were standing beside him. He, too, was feeling complicated. He hadn't expected the children to head to the Sun Moon Empire after leaving. Now they were going to become opponents.

"Yuhao?" Chi Qiu noticed Huo Yuhao's little movement. None of the Sun Moon teams had listened to the Star Luo Emperor's opening speech, treating it as background noise.

"I saw someone I know. It's nothing." Huo Yuhao turned slightly toward Chi Qiu. Her golden hair spilled over her pure white academy uniform, shining brightly in the sun.

"How's Shrek doing?" Wang Dong chimed in. She was bored, so she naturally wanted something else to focus on.

"Ten people, not counting the teachers," Huo Yuhao whispered. "Looks like only three of their regulars can compete, and one of them is in a wheelchair."

"Sigh, beating Shrek like this won't be any fun. I want to beat their strongest lineup, not a bunch of cripples." Xiao Hongchen's plaintive voice came from behind Huo Yuhao.

"Next time!" Huo Yuhao said with a smile. "Next time you'll be the regular team captain, Big Brother Xiao. You can beat them soundly then."

Before Xiao Hongchen could complain again, Star Emperor's deep voice rang out from the front of the square—

"I hereby declare the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament officially open!"

And so, this year's All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament began. The cannons thundered in unison, firing a hundred and eight times before falling silent. The crowd's cheers seemed endless.

Though Huo Yuhao had held many complicated feelings about Star Luo City, the sight of such a grand spectacle stirred his emotions. He had never witnessed anything like it before.

The booming voice rang out again:

"According to the rules of the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament, the first round will be an elimination round."

"A total of 133 advanced Soul Master and Soul Engineer academies have registered for this year's tournament. After the draw, one academy received a bye in the first round. There will be a total of sixty-six matches. The first round is single elimination. The losers will be eliminated from the tournament. The first match is about to begin."

"The two teams competing are the Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy team from the Dou Ling Empire and the team from the continent's number-one academy, with countless honors and nearly a thousand years of tournament championships to its name—the Shrek Academy team!"

The announcement set the entire crowd roaring once more!

"Shrek! Shrek! Shrek!"

"Here we go, here we go." Wang Dong looked toward the area where the teams would take the stage, grinning. "Oh, Dai Huabin looks like he's half-dead."

She hadn't meant to mock Shrek, who had suffered such a devastating blow, but she couldn't help taking a jab at Dai Huabin. As soon as she finished, Chi Qiu pinched her.

Sure enough, Xiao Hongchen was quick to pick up on it. "You know someone on their reserve team?"

"Cough, cough." Wang Dong replied vaguely, "Personal grudge. Personal grudge."

Huo Yuhao quickly came to the rescue and changed the subject. "Why isn't the audience sitting down? Could it be that there aren't any seats in the stands?"

He had only meant to bring up a random topic, but he had guessed right: there were no seats in the Star Luo viewing area.

The Star Luo Empire treated all spectators equally. Having money only meant you might get a spot closer to the front. Everyone received the same treatment: they had to stand and watch. The organizers believed this let them fit more people in... which also meant raking in more Gold Soul Coins.

They'd heard that the profits from a single tournament could match the Star Luo Empire's annual tax revenue.

"That's how they do things," Elder Ma said.

"Everyone's standing shoulder to shoulder... If something goes wrong, won't there be a stampede?" Huo Yuhao frowned.

"They had an incident twenty years ago." Elder Ma's tone carried a hint of scorn. "And what did they do this year? They just added more soldiers to keep order."

Huo Yuhao turned his gaze back to the center of the arena. Shrek's opening match was about to begin.

The entire crowd was stunned. The six members of Shrek's reserve team were huddled tightly around the woman in the wheelchair. Their intention was obvious, but they had no other choice.

As the 108 Soul Masters of the Star Luo Empire simultaneously pressed the metal pillars in front of them, an equal number of white beams shot into the sky. They converged into a dome twenty meters above the arena, covering the entire field.

The referee swept his hand, and the students from Tianling Academy immediately moved. All seven released their Martial Souls: five had four rings, while the other two had three.

"Take a look," Elder Ma said. "This is the regular lineup most of your opponents will have."

He was speaking more to the reserve team, since the regulars had already seen one before.

"I think Yuhao and I could handle them just fine," Xiao Hongchen said.

"Big Brother Xiao, why not say you could handle them all by yourself?" Huo Yuhao chuckled.

"Ha, of course I could handle them alone. Having you there just makes it a sure thing."

Huo Yuhao remembered what Meng Hongchen had once said: Even if the sky fell, Xiao Hongchen's mouth would hold it up. He'd never admit he was wrong.

While they chatted, the situation in the arena had already begun to change.

Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi took the front, releasing their Martial Souls to block the opponents' first wave of attacks. At the same time, an icy aura erupted from Ling Luochеn. Five Soul Rings appeared beside her in an instant. She waved her hand, and a staff of ice landed in her palm, gleaming like a gemstone in the morning light.

"A Soul King," Xiao Hongchen murmured, rubbing his chin. "And she has an ice attribute, too. Is the whole continent getting colder this year? I hope it does. Summers are too hot."

Meng Hongchen glanced at her brother, who was spouting nonsense, and was at a loss for words.

"Looks like she's the only Soul King they can field right now," Huo Yuhao said. "Her Ice Martial Soul is pretty unusual. I can't tell what it is."

"That's because her Martial Soul is a rare elemental Martial Soul," Ice Empress's voice sounded in Huo Yuhao's mind.

"Ice Empress!" Huo Yuhao called out in the Sea of Consciousness. He had been so busy lately that he'd barely spoken to the residents of his Sea of Consciousness.

"So you do remember us!" Sky Dream Ice Silkworm grumbled.

"I didn't want to disturb you while you were sleeping, Brother Sky Dream."

"You... Forget it. Since you've been working hard at cultivating, I'll let it go."

"There's a lot you can do with that woman's ice." Ice Empress got straight to the point. "Yuhao, if you face her, she'll probably be rendered completely useless. Her ice is pure, but it's nowhere near the level of mine. You could even control her ice."

"Thank you, Ice Empress. That's important to know," Huo Yuhao said solemnly.

In the arena, Ling Luochеn swept her staff, and a wave of cold surged past Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi toward the seven opponents with unstoppable force. None of her Soul Rings lit up as she used this ability.

No matter how much her physical condition limited her, Ling Luochеn was still a Soul King. Her cultivation alone put her above the seven opponents, and she was a control-type Soul King, too. The seven were quickly frozen in ice. Bei Bei and the others rushed forward and knocked them out of the arena.

Ling Luochеn won the match with a single strike, and the entire crowd erupted in cheers for Shrek once more.

But the students of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy all breathed a sigh of relief. They had noticed that Ling Luochеn already looked unwell after that one attack. Her injuries must still be limiting her.

"Second match: the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy versus the Yingcheng Advanced Soul Master Academy from the Heaven Dou Empire!"

"At least they didn't draw us against each other. That's something," Ma Rulong said. "We'll stick to the plan we made before setting out. Yuhao, you're going up with Mi Jia and me."

Huo Yuhao nodded, straightened the collar of his white uniform, and followed Ma Rulong onto the stage.

Before they arrived at the arena, Yu Rufeng had arranged the teams. Aside from the regular team's tactics, Huo Yuhao had to be present for every group match, but would never compete in individual matches. Wang Dong would only take part in one-on-one duels between Soul Masters; she couldn't compete in matches between Soul Engineers. Chi Qiu and the Hongchen siblings were trump cards who would be kept out of the competition as much as possible.

The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy had only sent up three people for a seven-person team match, drawing gasps from the crowd. And one of the three looked like a young reserve team member!

"Are you two ready?" Ma Rulong took the lead. Mi Jia stood to Huo Yuhao's front left, while Huo Yuhao stood at the rear, looking rather inconspicuous.

"I'm ready," Huo Yuhao said with a nod. "We can start anytime."

"Ready too, Captain Ma," Mi Jia said. Metallic clinks rang out from his body. Soul Engineers in battle all loved that sound.

"Good." Ma Rulong looked at their opponents, whose faces had gone ashen. "Then let's get the crowd fired up, too."