Seven Assemble

"Yang Dong, you're finally back! I've missed you so much these past few days. The three of us brought you a gift, so don't blame us for leaving without saying goodbye!"

The moment Yang Dong entered, Tang Hao jumped up and rubbed his hands as he walked over, his voice carrying a slightly fawning tone.

Yang Dong looked at Tang Hao as though he had discovered a new continent. He had never expected Tang Hao to have such a side to him.

"That depends on the quality of your gift. If I don't like it, I won't let this go so easily."

Yang Dong looked at Tang Hao with a smile.

"Haha, you'll definitely like this gift. Ah Yin, quickly take out the gift we picked."

Yang Dong turned his gaze toward Ah Yin.

"Brother Yang Dong, this piece of Ten Thousand Year Warm Jade can nourish the body. Wearing it for a long time can help maintain one's physical condition."

Ah Yin smilingly handed Yang Dong a palm-sized Jade Pendant and briefly explained its value.

"Thank you."

Yang Dong accepted it with a smile. Though this piece of Ten Thousand Year Warm Jade was supposedly for him, it was actually meant for Yang Tianlang, who lay bedridden and unable to move. This warm jade was undoubtedly extremely valuable. Yang Dong could only silently remember this favor.

"Oh? You three still knew to come back? Are your hides itching that badly?"

As the four of them spoke, Bai Jiajia entered the residence with Tyson, Bai Yu, and a very young boy.

Ning Fengzhi.

The instant they entered, Yang Dong's gaze locked onto the young boy.

The future master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

"Teacher Bai, we know we were wrong. Please forgive us this time!"

At times like this, Ah Yin had to step in.

"Forget it. Since everyone is here, I won't pursue the matter for now. Everyone, introduce yourselves first. Then I have a surprise prepared for you."

Bai Jiajia smiled faintly and took several steps back.

"Yang Dong, martial soul Ghost Hand, level fifty-eight support-type Soul King."

"Tang Xiao, martial soul Haotian Hammer, level fifty-three assault-type Soul King."

"Tang Hao, martial soul Haotian Hammer, level fifty-six assault-type Soul King."

"Ah Yin, martial soul Blue Silver Emperor, level fifty-one healing-type Soul King."

"Tyson, martial soul Armored Giant Rhinoceros, level forty-one defense-type Soul Ancestor."

"Bai Yu, martial soul Pink Tremor Centipede, level forty-seven control-type Soul Ancestor."

"Ning Fengzhi, martial soul Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, level forty-one support-type Soul Ancestor."

Four Soul Kings and three Soul Ancestors—this was the team the Clear Sky Sect had prepared. Judging by their strength on paper, this lineup was definitely among the top three.

"Alright, I believe everyone now has a basic understanding of their teammates. The competition will begin in less than a week. For the sake of fairness, none of the teams have exemption privileges this time. If you want to take first place, you can only fight your way out from nearly two hundred academies."

"Tell me, do you have confidence?"

Bai Jiajia's tone became extremely serious, her beautiful eyes continuously sweeping over the seven of them.

"Teacher Bai, we have four Soul Kings and three Soul Ancestors here. With strength like this, who could possibly be our opponent? You can't scare us like this, can you?"

Tang Hao scratched his head and spoke somewhat foolishly.

"Scare you?"

Bai Jiajia sneered and took a roster from her Spirit Guidance Device, slapping it onto the table. Her gaze at Tang Hao carried a hint of warning.

"Take a look at the participant list for this Heaven Dou City Preliminary Round yourself. I hope you can still be so optimistic after reading it."

Hearing Bai Jiajia say this only made Tang Hao more unconvinced. He reached out and grabbed the roster.

Canghui Academy,

Captain Wei Xingzhou, martial soul Qi Que Jian, level fifty-two agility attack-type Soul King.

Team member Hua Qiu, martial soul Xuanwu Turtle, level fifty-one defense-type Soul King.

Team member: ..., Soul King.

Tang Hao could hardly believe his eyes. Soul Kings, Soul Kings—the people listed on the roster were practically all at the Soul King level. Since when had Soul Kings become so common?

"What is it?"

Seeing Tang Hao freeze, Yang Dong took the roster from his hand. After one look, Yang Dong was shocked as well. These academies were basically all led by Soul Kings, though Yang Dong had already mentally prepared himself that morning.

"Take a look, all of you. This is the first All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament. Do you really think it is merely testing the level of Soul Masters? If that's what you think, then you're wrong."

"This Soul Master Tournament is a display of strength by the various powers in the Soul Master world. Many people here aren't actually academy students, or they graduated long ago."

"Take Canghui Academy's captain Wei Xingzhou, for example. He is already twenty-four years old this year, and he was not previously a student of Canghui Academy. Yet he can still participate in this tournament."

"In other words, your opponents are all Soul Masters much older than you. With their age advantage, their Soul Power levels are not weak. Tang Hao, tell me now, am I scaring you?"

Bai Jiajia said a great deal in one breath. She had originally been confident as well, but after seeing the registration list for this competition, she realized things were not so simple.

"Why isn't the organizer of this competition investigating this strictly?"

Ah Yin tilted her head and looked at Bai Jiajia in confusion.

"There are two reasons. First, as I said before, this is an opportunity for the various powers to display the strength of their younger generation. Second, there is no way to verify it. People from Spirit Hall might say someone is not a student, but the academy insists that person is one. Wouldn't that make things impossible to resolve? Therefore, for this first tournament, as long as you are under twenty-five years old, everyone will treat you as an academy student."

Bai Jiajia explained again, finally conveying the sense of crisis to them.

"Moreover, there is another piece of not-so-good news. There are even Soul Emperors participating in this competition."

There were even Soul Emperors?

Yang Dong looked at Bai Jiajia in disbelief. Was the first All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament really this absurd?

"Alright, I'm telling you this because I want you to understand that your enemies are not weak. If you look down on your opponents, then forget about taking first place—we might not even make it into the Knockout Round."

Bai Jiajia clapped her hands. Seeing the shocked expressions on their faces, she secretly nodded. If she did not dampen these fellows' arrogance, they would truly think themselves invincible.

"Since you are not yet familiar with one another, we will now move on to our surprise segment to help you quickly understand each other's abilities and coordinate your actions."

Bai Jiajia smiled brightly at them and pointed toward the door.

"Gather here in half an hour. I'll take you somewhere interesting!"