Opening Ceremony

The day of the Skysea Alliance Grand Tournament's opening ceremony arrived quickly. Liu Tianran and Xu Xiaoyu got up early, stood side by side brushing their teeth and rinsing their mouths in front of the mirror, then changed into their Eastsea Academy uniforms and headed out.

The teachers and students from all participating academies had already gathered in the first-floor lounge. Liu Tianran and Xu Xiaoyu quickly found where Eastsea Academy's group was among the crowd.

"Ah, we're a little late."

Skysea Stadium was a massive venue capable of holding eighty thousand people. Its scale made it the largest stadium among all the cities in the Skysea Alliance.

When Eastsea City's competing team arrived at Skysea Stadium, the largest stadium in the eastern Federation, aside from Liu Tianran and several teachers who had seen it before as locals, even Gu Yue among the students was amazed by its sheer size.

For the Eastsea Economic Circle, the Skysea Alliance Grand Tournament was the greatest event of the year and drew the attention of the entire Federation. Every year, the tournament brought forth outstanding talents. As the host, Skysea City spared no effort in its preparations, hoping to recruit promising newcomers into Skysea City before and after the tournament ended.

In truth, the original purpose of the Skysea Alliance Grand Tournament was to select and cultivate exceptional talents for the Skysea Alliance, allowing them to become pillars of the Federation while strengthening the alliance itself.

Political factions were numerous within the Federation, and the Skysea Alliance itself was a formidable force. Especially economically, it could be considered one of the alliance's major giants.

Unfortunately, the Skysea Alliance had always lacked talent. In its competition against the major inland cities, it had constantly been crushed. After all, many inland cities possessed great families with legacies spanning thousands, even tens of thousands, of years. Their talent reserves and foundations ran deep.

After recalling some relevant details from the original work, Liu Tianran told his teammates a little about how seriously the Skysea Alliance regarded this tournament and about its background.

As they filed in with Eastsea City's competing team, Liu Tianran and the others also saw the teams from other cities.

Among them, the local Skysea City students stood out the most. Their faces were filled with fighting spirit. Although they could not defeat most academies and teachers from the inland regions, they were still among the strongest within the alliance.

"Class monitor, tell me—if we beat them before the finals, will they still be so spirited after the tournament ends?"

Watching the Skysea City students pass in front of them, He Qing looked eager to give it a try.

"Alright, don't overthink it. Teacher Lin told us to go to the preparation room."

"Alright, coming."

[Little geniuses of the Skysea Alliance, are you ready to face the world's disparities head-on?]

While Liu Tianran was thinking about this, the stadium stands had already filled with spectators, and the opening ceremony began amid the clamor.

At that moment, the broadcast spread throughout the stadium and reached the lounge where Liu Tianran was.

"Young talents, greetings to you all." At that moment, a loud, authoritative voice echoed through the stadium, instantly drawing the attention of every contestant present.

The speaker was Skysea City's governor. He did not appear beside the draw machine in front of the screen, but stood on the open-viewing podium. His figure was projected onto the giant screen through high-definition cameras, clearly visible to everyone.

"First, on behalf of the Skysea Alliance, I welcome you all.

"To demonstrate the importance we place on this competition, we have specially invited Saint Craftsman Mr. Li Ziming from the Forging Masters Association to attend this opening ceremony. Please give him a warm welcome!"

Amid the applause, a man appeared onstage. He was handsome and upright, with short platinum-blond hair that gleamed beneath the lights like flowing metal, making him exceptionally recognizable.

"That's... Saint Craftsman Li!"

Someone let out a cry of surprise, instantly breaking the silence in the arena.

Li Ziming's advancement to Saint Craftsman had already swept through the entire Soul Master world like a hurricane over the past year, becoming one of the hottest topics of recent times.

Not to mention that those able to participate in the Skysea Grand Tournament were all young talents carefully cultivated by the Skysea Alliance's major powers. They were well-informed, so naturally none of them could be unaware of Li Ziming's name.

"And I have some more good news for everyone.

"To inspire all contestants, Mr. Li Ziming and the organizers have agreed that, in addition to the precious resources officially prepared for the champions, they will each custom-make a set of Battle Armor for the individual-event champions of this year's Skysea Alliance Grand Tournament youth division and young adult division."

"I hope that all of you will give it your all in the upcoming round-robin matches, display yourselves at your very peak, and strive to stand out."

The moment the host finished speaking, an uproar erupted.

"It really is Saint Craftsman Li Ziming! The Skysea Alliance actually managed to invite him!"

"A Saint Craftsman will custom-make Battle Armor? Damn it! Why didn't my tournament have rewards this good?"

"Quick! Get those boys from the family over here! Even if they can't win, it'd still be good if they could show their faces in front of a Saint Craftsman!"

"Where's the registration desk? I want to sign up!"

Many of the contestants wore stunned expressions, and discussions rose one after another.

Even the proud, self-proclaimed geniuses from Shrek Academy had their eyes turn blazing hot. Their gazes toward the platinum-haired man were filled with excitement and longing, far more intense than their reactions to the opening ceremony just moments earlier.

They could not help but turn eager, hopeful gazes toward their team leader, Shen Yi.

"Go. This is a very good opportunity."

Shen Yi understood that such an opportunity was nearly impossible to come by. The value of a Saint Craftsman personally custom-making Battle Armor was immeasurable; even she herself wished she could go onstage and compete.

Many Soul Masters from major powers seated in the VIP rooms, who had accompanied their juniors to compete, also looked at those juniors with envy.

After all, no matter how one put it, the Skysea Alliance Grand Tournament was merely a competition between young people. They had originally only come to make an appearance and perhaps see whether there were any promising seedlings.

More than the people of the Skysea Alliance, they understood the importance of Battle Armor to Soul Masters, and naturally understood the status and capabilities of a Saint Craftsman.

They also knew exactly what an incredible stroke of fortune it was to have the chance to befriend a prodigy who had become a Saint Craftsman at the age of twenty-one.

Saint Craftsmen were generally extremely busy. Their orders alone could be scheduled years in advance. Even at Shrek Academy, they were not qualified to speak with a Saint Craftsman, much less commission one to forge Battle Armor.

This unexpected delight instantly set the thoughts of all the Soul Masters present racing. Their gazes at Li Ziming were filled with fervor and expectation—perhaps this was the perfect opportunity for them to approach a Saint Craftsman and obtain Battle Armor.

After the commotion died down somewhat, Skysea City's governor saw that the atmosphere had been sufficiently stirred up and began the next part of the program.

"Everyone, today marks the beginning of the Skysea Alliance Grand Tournament. We have specially invited a team from Shrek Academy to exchange pointers with last year's champions.

"Given Shrek Academy's formidable strength, this exchange will be a cross-age-group match. Our Skysea Alliance young adult division's seven-person championship team will challenge Shrek Academy's seven-person youth team.

"Now, please invite both sides onto the stage."

They raised their eyes toward the center of the stadium, where a raised platform had already been constructed. Seven young men and women in silver team uniforms strode onto it with high spirits. They were the previous Skysea Alliance Grand Tournament champions.

"Hey, look! Isn't that the little fatty who was talking to the captain just now?"

Beside them, Xu Xiaoyan suddenly pointed when she saw the seven boys and girls entering from the other side. Tang Wulin looked over as well.

All seven wore green athletic uniforms and appeared to be thirteen or fourteen years old. However, two of them were Xu Lizhi and the golden-haired girl called Xinglan. The fact that both looked around ten years old made them stand out even more.

"So they're Shrek Academy students!"

Tang Wulin said it only after freezing for a moment. Xu Xiaoyan, Xie Xie, and the others were also stunned. They were all around ten years old too, so how could those two represent Shrek Academy in a match?

"There's nothing to envy. Given the chance, I'll take you to challenge the students of the legendary Shrek Academy someday."

Wu Changkong interrupted Tang Wulin and the others' thoughts in a serious tone before saying, "Focus on the match. I mean it, but we need results first."

A few words from Wu Changkong pulled Tang Wulin and the others out of that inferiority-driven comparison and back to reality.

On the raised platform, both academies had already exchanged bows. The obvious age gap between the two sides stirred up countless spectators in the stands.

At the head of Shrek Academy's team was a youth around fifteen years old. His aura was as profound and weighty as abyssal waters, and he quickly became the focus of the entire stadium.

As Tang Wulin focused on the two sides onstage, preparing to absorb experience from the seven-versus-seven team battle for his own team's use,

Liu Tianran was also recalling information about Shrek Academy's team.

[Aside from Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi, that captain's Martial Soul should be the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. There's also a girl whose Martial Soul is the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, but I truly don't know anything about the other three. They're just background characters, after all.]

Very soon, after the referee announced the start of the match, both sides released their Soul Rings and Spirit Souls. Then the youth with the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul used lightning that filled the sky to obscure everything happening onstage.

About a minute later, the match ended.

The seven representing the Skysea Alliance all lay sprawled across the competition platform. The Shrek Academy representatives still maintained their original formation, with the youngest, Xu Lizhi and Ye Xinglan, at the rear of the team. Ye Xinglan seemed not to have made a move from beginning to end.

As the entire stadium fell into silence, the Shrek Academy team members onstage gave a slight bow to the audience below, then casually left the competition platform.

"If you win the championship, I'll give you an opportunity to challenge them publicly."

Behind Liu Tianran, Wu Changkong's icy voice sounded. Wu Changkong walked out of the crowd and stopped before Liu Tianran, Tang Wulin, and the others, saying,

"They're only students of Shrek Academy's Outer Court. Only the two younger students in the back may already be Inner Court disciples chosen in advance."

"Challenging Outer Court students can prove your abilities, but those two are your greatest rivals."