Joining the Team

Ye Luochen slowly opened his eyes and exhaled a breath of stale air.

He slowly rose to his feet.

As his body gradually straightened, his previously completely restrained aura began to rise step by step.

The moment he stood fully upright, an aura far more formidable than before suddenly erupted!

Yellow, yellow, purple, black—four Soul Rings flashed into view!

Looking at his fourth Soul Ring, black as ink, then sensing his own aura once more, a smile finally appeared on Ye Luochen's face.

Just then, applause sounded beside him, followed by Jing Hongchen's voice:

"Congratulations. You have become the first person at Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy to possess a ten-thousand-year Fourth Soul Ring."

Hearing this, Ye Luochen came back to his senses and quickly turned to bow in thanks.

"Thank you for your guidance, Hall Master. My achievements today would not have been possible without the Academy and Mingde Hall's support!"

Those were not merely polite words. They were Ye Luochen's sincere thoughts.

First of all, Jing Hongchen had brought back this Thorn Vine for him.

Otherwise, with his strength, even if he had somehow defeated a Thorn Vine with twelve thousand years of cultivation, he would certainly have had to pay a price.

Furthermore, thanks to Mingde Hall's subsidies, he had no financial worries whatsoever. Over the past half month, he had eaten only the most expensive medicinal meals every day.

Rare ingredients that he once had to scrimp and save just to taste occasionally could now be eaten as regular meals.

Nourished by all those things, his physique had undoubtedly improved greatly compared to before.

Otherwise, no matter how solid his foundation was, absorbing the Soul Ring would never have been so easy.

"Why thank me? Mingde Hall invested in you because it saw value in you.

"If it were someone else, even if Mingde Hall were willing to invest, they might not have been able to handle it.

"In the end, everything still depends on your own abilities."

Jing Hongchen said with a smile, waving his hand.

"Alright. Now that you have your fourth Soul Ring and have officially reached the Soul Ancestor level, it is time for you to come into contact with some other things."

Ye Luochen nodded at those words.

Soul Rings undoubtedly provided an enormous boost in strength. Under such circumstances, he could naturally begin learning many new things.

However, Jing Hongchen's next words were completely different from what he had expected.

"Ye Luochen, have you heard of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament?"

Hm?

Ye Luochen froze.

He had thought that the new things Jing Hongchen wanted him to encounter would be related to Soul Tools.

Who would have thought that the topic would suddenly shift to the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament?

Though somewhat puzzled, Ye Luochen still nodded.

Of course he had heard of that tournament.

Held once every five years, it was the grandest event capable of igniting the passion of everyone across the continent!

It could be said that no one on the entire continent was unaware of it.

Seeing Ye Luochen nod, Jing Hongchen continued.

"With your current cultivation, you are already qualified to join Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy's team. What do you say? Are you willing?"

Hearing Jing Hongchen's words, Ye Luochen was stunned.

He wanted him to join Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy's team?

Wasn't this a little too hasty?

Yes, he was now a Soul Ancestor. Although he had only passed the Level 2 Soul Tool examination, his actual skill had long surpassed Level 3. Taken together, his strength could absolutely be considered outstanding.

But surely the Academy could find stronger students?

Seeing the confusion on Ye Luochen's face, Jing Hongchen explained further.

"I am not asking you to join the official team directly. Otherwise, even if I gave the order, I am afraid it would be difficult to convince everyone. You will only join the reserve team first."

"Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen will join the reserve team with you as well."

"You came from Shrek, so you should understand clearly. Although this tournament includes numerous advanced Soul Master Academies, only a handful are truly competitive.

"More accurately, in recent years, it has always been Shrek and Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy competing for the championship."

"Yet regrettably, Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy has never been able to overcome the mountain that is Shrek."

Ye Luochen naturally knew the situation Jing Hongchen described.

Ever since the Shrek Seven Devils led by Tang San had burst onto the scene ten thousand years ago, Shrek had firmly claimed the championship of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament almost every time.

There had been almost no change throughout those ten thousand years.

Only after the Sun Moon Empire entered the sight of the Original Three Kingdoms did the situation change somewhat.

With Soul Tool technology that the Original Three Kingdoms had never encountered before, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Team shone brilliantly in the tournament, defeating academy after academy.

It had even once threatened Shrek's dominance over the championship.

Unfortunately, it had only been a threat.

After several tournaments, Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy had ultimately failed to truly defeat Shrek.

Thinking of this, Ye Luochen vaguely guessed why Jing Hongchen had proposed having him join the Sun Moon Empire team right after he absorbed his Fourth Soul Ring.

It must have had something to do with his experiences at Shrek.

Sure enough, Jing Hongchen's next words immediately confirmed his guess.

"In recent years, we have constantly studied why Shrek has been able to remain champion.

"We studied their competitors, their martial souls, and their methods of battle."

"But after all, we are separated from Shrek by thousands of miles, and our relationship is not harmonious. Thus, the results have always been poor."

Jing Hongchen spoke slowly before focusing his gaze on Ye Luochen.

"But now things are different. You came from Shrek and understand Shrek's situation better than anyone.

"If you can join Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy's team in this tournament, then when you face Shrek again, you will not have to wait until the battle begins to directly learn about their competing members as before."

Ye Luochen did not answer immediately.

As the person involved, he naturally knew Jing Hongchen was right.

He knew every official and reserve member Shrek intended to send to this tournament, because just a month ago, those people had still called him senior brother or junior brother.

He was also familiar with their martial souls, strength, and every other aspect of them.

There was not much time left before the tournament began, and according to Shrek's traditions, the chances of changing its competitors now were very small.

If they could obtain intelligence about those participants in advance, Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy could arrange its lineup and formulate strategies accordingly.

When the time came, their chances of victory in the arena would certainly increase significantly.

But if he did this and leaked information, would that be appropriate?

Appropriate!

More than appropriate!

Ye Luochen considered it for only an instant before making his decision.