Five Hundred Million Gold Soul Coins

Star Luo City, Treasure-Gathering Pavilion branch.

The entire building's exterior was lavishly adorned with gilded decorations, with carved beams and painted rafters. Its upturned eaves and pillars were all inlaid with golden patterns. By day, sunlight poured over it, making it gleam dazzlingly; by evening, the sunset cast a warm golden halo across the entire structure. Its extravagance surpassed every shop in the city.

Four young women in long dresses stood at the entrance, all wearing fitted, short golden formal dresses. Their short skirts revealed their slender, fair legs, paired with crystal high heels. The fabric was light and exquisite.

One of them, a girl of eighteen or nineteen who appeared to be the leader, stepped forward respectfully. "My lord, would you like me to show you around the Treasure-Gathering Pavilion?"

Yan Jingzhe gave her a glance, but his gaze did not linger. "No need. I'll go in myself."

After saying that, he walked straight inside. The girl behind him froze for a moment, then immediately bowed and stepped half a pace back to clear the entrance.

The moment he entered, the lavish air inside was even more overwhelming than outside. The floor of the hall was paved with whole slabs of warm jade, faintly warm beneath his feet. Golden soul-tool lamps were embedded throughout the walls, reflecting soft halos of light. Two rows of young women stood on either side, and the instant Yan Jingzhe entered, all of them bent ninety degrees in unison and said together, "Welcome, honored guest."

Yan Jingzhe did not even pause, walking through the hall without looking aside until he reached the counter at the very back. He placed a jade token on the countertop. The token was milky white throughout, with a lush ancient tree carved on its surface and an extremely fine ring of golden patterns around its edge. This was the Treasure-Gathering Pavilion's highest-tier guest token. Fewer than ten people in the entire Douluo Continent possessed one.

The old man behind the counter lowered his head to look at the jade token. His pupils contracted slightly. He raised his head to look at Yan Jingzhe's face, then quickly lowered it again.

"Elder, what do you require?"

"All the funds the Treasure-Gathering Pavilion currently has," Yan Jingzhe said. "There's an auction in a couple of days. There are two items there that I must obtain."

The old man neither asked questions nor hesitated. He did not even seek anyone's approval. Turning around, he opened a hidden cabinet behind him and took out a black metal case. When he opened it, stacks of gold cards were arranged neatly inside.

"My lord, there are fifty gold cards here. Each contains ten million Gold Soul Coins, for a total of five hundred million."

Yan Jingzhe nodded, took the case, closed its lid, and put it into his storage ring. Five hundred million Gold Soul Coins would be enough. He remembered that in the original work, the Snow Empress Embryo had sold for only around one hundred and fifty million. Even if the price doubled, the remaining three hundred million would be more than enough as a safeguard.

The fourth day of the Soul Master Elite Tournament.

The round-robin stage began.

During the first three days of elimination matches, Shrek had won without any suspense. After Heavenly Spirit Academy's entire team had been kicked off the arena in the first match, the opponents drawn over the next two days were even weaker. Some teams raised their hands and surrendered as soon as they stepped onto the stage and saw a line of opponents wearing dark green uniforms marked with "Shrek." They surrendered so quickly that the referees did not even have time to announce the start. The two teams simply bowed to each other and left the stage.

No one found this strange. Their opponents were Shrek, the number one academy on the continent and an unchanging hegemon for ten thousand years. Those small academies could not even scrape together a single Soul King. What could they gain from fighting except humiliation? Surrendering early, conserving their strength, and preparing for the next tournament was the smart choice.

But the round-robin stage was different.

During the early round-robin stage, the participating teams were divided into eight groups. Three groups each contained nine teams, and every two teams within a group had to face each other once, with no byes. The other five groups each had eight teams, with four matches held per day and every two days constituting one round.

Shrek Academy's luck was not particularly good. They had been placed in one of the nine-team groups, which meant they had to fight eight matches. Still, it did not matter. Before absolute strength, one more match or one fewer match made little difference.

After the fourteen members of the Shrek Team, led by Wang Yan, entered the competitors' resting area and sat down, Wang Yan said, "According to Dean Yan's arrangements, everyone except Ma Xiaotao, who must remain hidden, may take the field. As long as victory is assured, we can let Bei Bei and the others from the reserve team have a try. Everyone, any objections?"

"No problem, Teacher Wang Yan," everyone answered excitedly.

"Good. Let's first see who our opponent is for the opening match, then decide who will play." Wang Yan nodded.

On the raised platform, the referee was drawing lots. With a wave of his hand, all the pairings were revealed.

Taking a closer look, Shrek Academy's first opponent in the round-robin stage was Everpeace Academy from the Star Luo Empire.

"Everpeace Academy's team consists of one Soul King and six Soul Ancestors. Their strength isn't particularly formidable." Wang Yan thought for a moment before saying, "We'll send three main team members and four reserve members."

"Main team members: Ling Luochan, Xi Xi, and Gongyang Mo."

"Reserve members: Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, Huo Yuhao, and Wang Dong. Do any of you have an issue with this arrangement?"

Everyone agreed that Teacher Wang Yan's lineup was reasonable. They nodded one after another, indicating that they had no objections.

"Good. If there are no objections, get ready to take the stage." Wang Yan spoke. Those selected all rose to their feet and prepared to head toward the competition platform.

In the spectator stands.

Yan Jingzhe concealed his aura and sat in the stands like an ordinary spectator. Seeing Shrek's lineup, he nodded in satisfaction. Wang Yan's arrangement was highly reasonable. He still remembered this battle from the original work: Huo Yuhao and Ling Luochan alone had won it. Not to mention that they were now at full strength. Moreover, Ultimate Ice provided Ling Luochan with an enormous boost. This would likely be another one-sided match.

Sure enough, things unfolded exactly as Yan Jingzhe expected when both sides took the stage.

Huo Yuhao quickly stepped forward and steadily pressed both hands against Ling Luochan's back, pouring Ultimate Ice into her body without reservation.

Ling Luochan directly activated her black Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

"Fifth Soul Skill, Icebound Thousand Miles!"

Biting, frigid cold exploded outward from the two of them. Pale blue ice mist instantly swept across the entire broad arena, sending the temperature plummeting by dozens of degrees. Even the front-row spectators below the stage could not help shivering. A thick ice-blue ring of light expanded outward wildly, giving the Everpeace team no chance to charge.

The Everpeace captain's expression changed drastically as he roared in panic, "Everyone, defend with all your strength! The power of a large-scale soul skill is limited. Hold through it, and we'll have the advantage in numbers!"

The seven immediately activated their defensive soul skills, layers upon layers of multicolored shields forming in front of them.

But Icebound Thousand Miles, amplified by Huo Yuhao's Ultimate Ice, had already surpassed the scope of an ordinary Ten-Thousand-Year soul skill. The ice instantly pierced through every soul power shield, freezing inward along their skin, martial souls, and Soul Rings.

In just an instant, all seven Everpeace members froze in place. Thick solid ice rapidly formed over their bodies, sealing them from head to toe into seven crystalline ice statues. Their consciousness remained clear, yet they could not mobilize even a trace of soul power. Their limbs, martial souls, and soul skills were all locked by the ice, leaving them unable even to surrender.

The remaining Shrek members also rushed forward, kicking them off the arena one by one and ending the battle.

"The winners are Shrek Academy!" the referee beside them shouted.