The Round Robin Begins, Mingdu Soul Master Academy

With his thoughts churning, Xia Ming pondered for the entire night.

In the end, he had no choice but to give up on the problem.

If there were a God Position inheritance, that would naturally be for the best.

Even if it weren't a God King or even a First-Class God, he wouldn't intend to inherit a God Position just because it was placed in front of him.

Perhaps he could still sponge off the benefits of a God Trial; that was a tangible improvement, after all.

Even if there were none, he had never intended to rely on an inherited God Position anyway.

At most, it was just like five hundred Gold Soul Coins tossed into the water.

His daily food consumption at the academy was far greater than that amount, so it wasn't worth feeling distressed over.

The next two days were still the elimination rounds.

Because they were in the first elimination match, Shrek Academy had no matches for these 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 right now.

"Your spiritual power is very strong now; practicing this Self-Created Soul Skill of mine should yield twice the result with half the effort."

Mu En raised his hand; without seeing any soul rings light up, he simply pointed a finger out plainly.

In an instant, Xia Ming only felt an aura of Reign Over the World, an unyielding arrogance, rushing toward his face.

At the same time, he felt his body and spirit suffer an impact simultaneously.

But this feeling flashed and vanished; Mu En had already retracted his finger.

"The core of this soul skill lies in integrating spiritual power into soul power, and integrating will into the attack," Mu En explained slowly.

Xia Ming closed his eyes, savoring the shock from that moment, his internal soul power and spiritual power surging quietly in its wake.

For the next two days, he immersed himself in it wholeheartedly.

The process was smoother than he had anticipated.

By the evening of the second day, Xia Ming threw a punch; within the wind of his fist, apart from soul power, there was unexpectedly an indescribable, heavy sense of oppression.

It was as if he were not facing a person, but a lion coiled and ready to spring!

Although it was only a rudimentary form and still a long way from the true Reign Over the World, the signs of integration had already appeared.

If things continued this way, perhaps he could truly master this soul skill before the tournament ended.

Two days later, the round-robin tournament officially began.

The first group, where Shrek Academy was located, had a first match that was the center of attention.

They were pitted against Mingdu Soul Master Academy.

This was also the strongest team in their group, aside from themselves.

If nothing unexpected happened, these two schools would be the ones to advance from this group.

Although they were facing one of the rare strong teams in this tournament, everyone appeared very relaxed.

After all, they were different from the state in the original work where the main team was entirely absent and the reserve team had to step up.

The strength of this year's Shrek Academy representative team was not discounted in the slightest; even setting aside Zhang Lexuan, who was a Soul Emperor, the remaining six members of the main team were at least Soul Kings.

And the opponents had only three Soul Kings and four Soul Ancestors; no matter how one looked at it, they couldn't possibly be their match.

If nothing else, Zhang Lexuan alone might be able to defeat the entire opposing team.

For the Shrek Academy team, it was naturally Zhang Lexuan who went on stage to draw lots, and shortly after, the referee announced loudly through a portable soul guidance megaphone.

"Shrek Academy versus Mingdu Soul Master Academy, conducted in a one-on-one individual elimination format. Please have both sides send out their first competitor."

Everyone's gaze subconsciously turned toward Mu En.

The old man scanned everyone slowly, finally letting his gaze land on Xia Ming.

"You go for 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.

When he appeared on the stage, the already noisy auditorium suddenly erupted into an irrepressible uproar.

Although through the elimination round, many people already knew a portion of Xia Ming's strength and knew he was no weakling.

Being able to crush the entire Plant Academy team meant his strength was at least far beyond an ordinary Soul Ancestor.

It was impossible for him to be weaker than the four Soul Ancestor-level main team members of Mingdu Soul Master Academy.

But his age was still too deceptive.

Xia Ming's face still carried the refined, handsome look unique to a youth, and although his figure was tall and straight among his peers, he had far from fully grown.

Compared to the already adult opponents on the other side, the visual contrast was simply too strong.

Not to mention those at the scene who hadn't watched the first elimination round, even those who had carefully observed the first elimination round.

Seeing Xia Ming's appearance, it was still hard to imagine that he would stand here to fight against those genius soul masters who were at least eighteen or nineteen years old on average.

The one who felt most troubled was naturally Xia Ming's opponent, Chen Yan.

He looked at the excessively young face opposite him, his mouth twitching slightly as a sense of absurdity and embarrassment welled up in his heart.

Facing a child at least ten years his junior.

If he won, it would be bullying a child, a victory without honor.

If he lost, it would be a lifelong humiliation, turning him into a laughingstock.

He recalled the scene during the elimination rounds where Xia Ming had torn through his opponent's defensive line like a ferocious beast.

With that kind of pure strength and defense, the Soul Tools he took such pride in would likely not hold up for long against the other party.

However, no matter what, he could not afford to lose.

Chen Yan's gaze gradually grew firm.

After the referee announced the rules, he had both men retreat to the edges of the competition stage.

Once he confirmed that both were on opposite sides of the stage, he shouted, "The match begins!"

Xia Ming activated Martial Soul Possession, while Chen Yan immediately engaged the vast array of Soul Tools on his body.

"Clang! Clatter! Click—!"

A series of metallic mechanical sounds erupted from all around him as a multitude of metal tubes flipped out from his person.

In the span of just two or three breaths, Chen Yan's physical profile visually expanded by nearly double!

Three metal-like struts extended from each of his legs, snapping into the ground and locking firmly to form an incredibly stable triangular base.

Then, starting from his calves, a large number of offensive Soul Tools emerged one after another.

From bottom to top, Xia Ming counted over thirty metal tubes on him, the largest of which appeared right at his chest.

It was a Force Gathering Soul Cannon, emitting a faint dark golden glow with a bore diameter of over half a foot.

The cannon barrel was engraved with complex energy-gathering arrays, which were currently humming softly as they began to draw in soul power, radiating energy fluctuations that made one's skin prickle.

"So it really is Soul Cannon Turret Tactics."

Instead of fear, a hint of excitement appeared in the depths of Xia Ming's eyes.

In truth, this was his first time truly battling a Soul Master.

The strength of the Soul Guidance Department at Shrek Academy was generally weak, and its status was low.

Among those of similar age to Xia Ming, no one was qualified to spar with him.

"Let me witness the true strength of a Soul Master."

Before his words had even faded, he stomped his foot hard!

"Boom!"

The ground shook slightly, and Xia Ming's figure, like a bolt of golden lightning tearing through the air, launched a frontal charge toward that turret fortress!