Xia Ming spent the entire night wrestling with his turbulent thoughts.
In the end, he had no choice but to stop dwelling on the matter.
If there was an inheritance of a God Position, that would naturally be for the best.
Even if it was not a God King or even a First-Class God, he would not refuse to inherit a God Position placed right before him.
He might even be able to ride the benefits of a God Trial. That would be a genuine improvement.
Even if there was nothing, he had never intended to rely on an inherited God Position anyway.
At worst, it would just mean five hundred Gold Soul Coins had gone down the drain.
His daily food expenses at the academy far exceeded that amount, so it was not worth feeling bad over.
The next two days were still devoted to the elimination rounds.
Since they had been in the first elimination match, Shrek Academy had no matches over the following two days.
Perhaps because he had discovered the existence of the Holy Spirit Cult, Mu En changed his previous mind and began teaching Xia Ming Reign Over the World.
"Your spiritual power is very strong now. Cultivating this Self-Created Soul Skill of mine should yield twice the result with half the effort."
Mu En raised his hand. No Soul Rings lit up as he simply pointed forward.
In that instant, Xia Ming felt an overbearing, unrivaled aura rush toward him.
At the same time, he felt both his body and mind suffer an impact.
But the sensation vanished in a flash as Mu En withdrew his finger.
"The core of this soul skill lies in blending spiritual power into soul power and infusing one's will into one's attacks," Mu En explained slowly.
Xia Ming closed his eyes, savoring the shock of that brief moment as the soul power and spiritual power within him quietly began to stir.
Over the next two days, he immersed himself in it wholeheartedly.
The process went more smoothly than expected.
By the evening of the second day, Xia Ming threw a punch. Amid the gust from his fist, there was now, in addition to soul power, a faint yet indescribably heavy sense of oppression.
It was as if he was not facing a person, but a lion poised to pounce!
Though it was only the barest prototype and still far from true Reign Over the World, signs of fusion had already appeared.
At this rate, he might truly master this soul skill before the tournament ended.
Two days later, the round-robin stage officially began.
The opening match for Group One, where Shrek Academy had been placed, was immediately a focal point.
They were facing Mingdu Soul Master Academy.
This was the strongest team in their group besides themselves.
Barring any surprises, these two academies would be the ones advancing from the group.
Although they were facing one of the few formidable teams in the tournament, everyone seemed very relaxed.
After all, unlike in the original tournament, the entire main team was not absent and leaving only the reserve team to fill in.
Shrek Academy's representative team this year was at full strength. Even setting aside Zhang Lexuan, a Soul Emperor, the other six members of the main team were all at least Soul Kings.
Their opponents, meanwhile, had only three Soul Kings and four Soul Ancestors. No matter how one looked at it, they could not possibly be a match for them.
To say nothing else, Zhang Lexuan alone might be able to defeat the entire opposing team.
For Shrek Academy, Zhang Lexuan naturally went up to draw lots. Shortly afterward, the referee made a loud announcement through the Soul Tool amplifier he carried.
"Shrek Academy versus Mingdu Soul Master Academy will proceed in a one-on-one individual elimination format. Both sides, please send out your first competitors."
Everyone's eyes instinctively turned toward Mu En.
Mu En slowly swept his gaze across the group before finally settling on Xia Ming.
"You'll take the first match," Mu En said, looking at Xia Ming.
"Your Reign Over the World still needs some stimulation."
"Yes!" Xia Ming nodded, then walked straight toward the competition stage.
The moment he appeared onstage, the already noisy spectator stands erupted with an uncontrollable uproar.
Through the elimination rounds, quite a few people had already learned of part of Xia Ming's strength and knew that he was no weakling.
Being able to crush the entire Plant Academy team with such overwhelming force meant his strength was at least far beyond that of an ordinary Soul Ancestor.
He could not possibly be weaker than Mingdu Soul Master Academy's four Soul Ancestor-level main team members.
But his age was simply too misleading.
Xia Ming still had the clean, handsome features unique to a youth. Though tall among his peers, he was far from fully grown.
Compared to the already adult opponent across from him, the visual contrast was simply too stark.
Not to mention those in the audience who had not watched the first elimination match—even those who had carefully observed it.
Seeing Xia Ming's appearance, they still found it hard to imagine that he would stand here and fight genius Soul Masters who were, on average, at least eighteen or nineteen years old.
The one who felt most troubled by this was naturally Xia Ming's opponent, Chen Yan.
Looking at the excessively youthful face across from him, the corner of his mouth could not help twitching as a sense of absurdity and embarrassment rose in his heart.
He was facing a child at least ten years younger than himself.
If he won, he would be bullying a child, an unworthy victory.
If he lost, it would become the shame of his life and make him a laughingstock.
He recalled the scene from the elimination round, where Xia Ming had torn through his opponent's defenses like a Beast Lord.
Against that sheer strength and defense, the Soul Tools he was so proud of probably would not last long.
However, no matter what, he could not lose.
Chen Yan's gaze gradually hardened.
After the referee announced the rules, he had the two retreat to the edges of the competition stage.
Once he confirmed that they were standing on opposite sides of the stage, he shouted, "Begin!"
Xia Ming used Martial Soul Possession, while Chen Yan immediately activated the large number of Soul Tools on his body.
"Clang! Clank! Click—!"
A rapid series of metallic mechanisms rang out around him as countless metal tubes unfolded from his body.
In just two or three breaths, Chen Yan's body seemed to nearly double in size!
Three metal-brace-like structures extended from each of his legs. The moment they sprang out, they dug firmly into the ground, forming an incomparably stable triangular base.
Then, beginning at his calves, large numbers of offensive Soul Tools emerged.
From bottom to top, Xia Ming counted at least thirty metal tubes on his body. The largest was positioned over Chen Yan's chest.
It was a Force Gathering Soul Cannon that glowed with a faint dark-golden light, its barrel more than half a foot wide.
Complex energy-gathering formations were engraved upon the cannon's body. It gave off a soft hum as it began absorbing soul power, radiating energy fluctuations that made one's skin sting.
"So it really is Soul Cannon Turret Tactics."
Rather than fear, a trace of excitement appeared in Xia Ming's eyes.
In truth, this was his first time genuinely fighting a Soul Engineer.
The Soul Guidance Department of Shrek Academy was generally weak and held little status.
Among those close to Xia Ming's age, no one was qualified to spar with him at all.
"Let me see the strength of a true Soul Engineer."
Before his words had even faded, he stomped down hard!
"Boom!"
The ground trembled slightly as Xia Ming shot forward like a golden bolt of lightning tearing through the air, charging straight at that fortress of artillery!
Before you continue