The Tournament Begins

They're here!

Wu Feng opened the door with a complicated expression, her fiery red hair swaying slightly beneath the corridor lights.

She looked at Xia Ming, her expression conflicted.

"Young... Young Master."

Her small face was slightly flushed, not from shyness, but from humiliation.

Since childhood, she had been considered a favored daughter of heaven in the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. Her grandfather was even a Title Douluo. When had she ever addressed someone else in such a lowly manner?

Not to mention her—even Xia Ming, with the mentality of someone living his second life, felt somewhat awkward at this moment.

But since he had accepted their benefits, Xia Ming could hardly drive her away now.

After pondering briefly, he asked, "What are your arrangements for tonight?"

"I... I'll just sleep on the sofa." Wu Feng looked away, her voice vague.

"Forget it." Xia Ming shook his head. "I normally won't rest at night anyway. I use meditation instead of sleep."

"The bed will be empty regardless. You can sleep on it while I meditate."

"I can meditate too!" Wu Feng suddenly raised her head, her tone carrying an unyielding stubbornness.

Seeing this, Xia Ming smiled but said nothing more.

How could it be so easy to completely replace sleep with meditation?

Meditation could indeed restore one's energy.

But for most Soul Masters, meditation was far more mentally exhausting than sleeping.

Even adult Soul Masters found it difficult to sustain for long, let alone Wu Feng, who was only seven years old.

He walked straight to an open space in the room and sat down cross-legged.

Soul Power circulated as his aura gradually settled.

Wu Feng bit her lip and sat down on the floor not far from the bed, closing her eyes and concentrating.

The night passed without a word.

When morning light streamed through the window, Xia Ming slowly opened his eyes.

After a night of meditation, he felt refreshed, and his Soul Power had improved by another trace.

However, without obtaining a Soul Ring, the progress in his Soul Power would not show.

He stood and stretched, only to see Wu Feng on the floor across from him, hugging her knees and glaring at him with dark circles beneath her eyes as though he were a monster.

After forcing herself through one night, she already felt unable to endure it any longer. Yet from the sound of it, he treated this as normal?

"Get up." Xia Ming looked as composed as ever. "The tournament opens today. We need to gather in the conference room first."

"...Mm."

Wu Feng rubbed her stiff legs and followed behind him.

Everyone had already arrived in the conference room.

When Xia Ming pushed open the door, followed by the awkward-looking little girl with fiery red hair, the atmosphere in the room subtly froze for a moment.

Aside from Zhang Lexuan, who had known about this beforehand and remained calm, the other main team members all showed surprise.

Since when had Shrek's team gained someone like this?

But Dragon God Douluo Mu En sat in the seat of honor, smiling without speaking.

Since even he had said nothing, no one asked further.

Seeing the two arrive, Mu En smiled warmly.

"Alright. Since everyone is here, I only have one thing to remind you of: keep a calm mind, and that will be enough."

"As long as we perform normally, the championship will inevitably be ours."

"Yes!"

Before the main gate of the Heaven Dou Empire's imperial capital, a competition stage spanning one hundred meters in both length and width had long been prepared.

Around the outside of the stage stood one hundred and eight metal pillars. Once the match began, one hundred and eight Soul Masters would pour Soul Power into them to form a protective barrier.

After the standard procedures were completed, the first match officially began.

One side was naturally Shrek Academy, as tradition dictated.

The other was Plant Academy, from the Dou Ling Empire.

"Plant Academy..." Mu En looked at the seven figures slowly ascending the stage across from them and sighed softly.

"They are also an old academy with a legacy of ten thousand years. Their history may even be longer than Shrek's."

He turned his head slightly and whispered to Xia Ming beside him.

"Several thousand years ago, they worked with the Tang Sect in an attempt to cultivate an expert with a Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul and retrace the Sea God's path to godhood."

"That gamble nearly dragged down the entire academy. Fortunately, they withdrew in time and managed to preserve their last remnants of strength."

A faint gleam flickered in Xia Ming's eyes.

This academy had indeed existed ten thousand years ago, and it had even fought Shrek in a tournament.

He just had not expected it to continue uninterrupted for ten thousand years.

But cooperating with the Tang Sect to cultivate Blue Silver Grass Soul Masters?

He nearly laughed.

Others might not know, but how could he not?

Tang San's Martial Soul had never been Blue Silver Grass. It was the Blue Silver Emperor!

Ordinary Blue Silver Grass was indeed a useless Martial Soul, but Tang San's Blue Silver Emperor was one of the Super Martial Souls!

And even so, he had nearly ruined his Martial Soul in the early stages because of the Soul Rings he added.

Trying to imitate him by attaching Soul Rings and pouring resources into nurturing Blue Silver Grass Soul Masters was simply a bottomless abyss. No amount of investment would help!

Even the Tang Sect itself had declined because of this, let alone an ordinary academy.

Just as countless thoughts ran through his mind, Mu En's voice sounded beside him.

"Leave this match to Xia Ming. The other reserve team members will go as well. Lexuan, you will hold the line."

"Yes."

Other than Yao Haoxuan, the remaining six reserve team members and Zhang Lexuan stepped onto the competition stage.

The moment they appeared, the entire audience began shouting Shrek's name.

Meanwhile, the seven members from Plant Academy had all gone pale.

A person's reputation was like a tree's shadow. Shrek Academy had been champions for ten thousand consecutive years. Any team that encountered them would inevitably be terrified.

Even in the original story, a few reserve team members could frighten a group of competing teams with that name alone.

Quite a few people had even believed the six hundred-thousand-year Soul Rings simulated by Huo Yuhao. This showed just how great Shrek's deterrent power was.

Of course, as an academy, Shrek had undoubtedly surpassed the bounds of what an academy should be.

However, upon seeing Xia Ming step onto the stage, everyone still revealed stunned expressions.

Even though Soul Power stimulation allowed Soul Masters to develop far faster than ordinary people,

Xia Ming was ultimately still too young, and his Soul Power Level was not especially high. He still looked no older than ten.

Not to mention the main team members, who were all nearly twenty.

Even the reserve team members, who were fourteen or fifteen, looked far older than him.

Questions of doubt surged from every direction.

"Is that a Shrek competitor?"

"He's at most eight or nine, right? Has he even enrolled at that age?"

The Heavenly Soul Emperor, standing in the viewing stands, also stared downward in astonishment. "What is Shrek Academy trying to do?"

Just as he was preparing to question the old man beside him, he discovered that the latter's gaze was not fixed on Xia Ming.

Instead, he was staring at Shrek Academy's team leader in shock, as if he had seen something unbelievable.

"...Senior?"

There were also those who felt anger at being slighted.

This was especially true for the seven competitors from Plant Academy, as well as everyone from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy watching the match.

"Too arrogant!"

Within Plant Academy's team, a burly young man wore an enraged expression, while the others nodded heavily in agreement.

If Shrek Academy had sent reserve team members, they would not have said anything under the academy's ten-thousand-year undefeated reputation, nor would they have believed they had any hope of winning.

But this person before them did not even appear to be half their age, yet he dared to take the stage?

One had to know that ordinary Soul Masters awakened their Martial Souls and began cultivating only at the age of six.

Even if he were nine now, his cultivation time would still be less than a quarter of theirs.

No matter how gifted he was, how could he possibly make up such a massive gap?

Of course, Xia Ming had actually cultivated for only one year. They had cultivated for over ten times as long as he had after awakening.

However, the advantage of time could not make up for the gap in talent.