Champion Tournament Begins

Over the next few days, Ye Xunhuan and Xu Qingqing cut out all their leisure time.

They arrived at the training grounds before dawn every day and did not return until the sun had set.

Ye Xunhuan practiced transforming and compressing the Prison Dragon Lock, while Xu Qingqing trained her control over the Star Crown martial soul's mental force field.

The two went from unfamiliar to perfectly coordinated, their teamwork becoming smoother by the day.

A week was neither long nor short, and it passed in the blink of an eye.

The day of the Champion Selection arrived.

The usual training grounds had been rearranged.

Temporary arenas had been erected across the grounds, surrounded by railings. The stands had expanded from three sides to all four, packed with spectators.

The academy teachers sat in the front rows, with students from every class behind them, a vast sea of heads.

At the very highest point of the stands, an ornate grand chair had been placed in the center.

An elderly man in a platinum bishop's robe sat upon it. His beard was streaked with gray, his expression stern, and his aura unfathomable.

His name was Kalon, a Platinum Bishop from Spirit Hall headquarters. Both his cultivation and status surpassed Salas, the bishop of the Heaven Dou Empire's Spirit Saint Hall.

Cao Feng stood at his side, slightly bent at the waist and nodding deferentially, his face full of respect.

Naturally, the Pope's Palace had sent more than one observer, but this Platinum Bishop was undoubtedly the highest-ranking among them.

In previous Champion Selections, sending a Spirit Saint had been more than sufficient. This showed just how highly Bibi Dong regarded Ye Xunhuan.

Qian Shuang stood in the referee's position, his bald head gleaming under the sun. His fleshy face was expressionless.

After a while, Kalon rose to his feet.

The arena instantly fell silent.

"There are two rules for the Champion Tournament's individual matches." Kalon's voice was not loud, yet it carried clearly throughout the entire venue. "First, you may not kill your opponent. Second, you may not use weapons other than your martial soul."

Brief and direct.

"Begin the draw."

Cao Feng held out a draw cylinder to him.

In the individual matches, Xu Qingqing had good luck and received a bye in the first round.

After drawing her lot, she smiled so broadly that her eyes narrowed into slits.

Ye Xunhuan was not nearly so fortunate.

His lot read one versus two.

His opponents were Zhao Dayong and He Xiaohui from the Ordinary Class.

A stir rose from the stands.

"Why does Ye Xunhuan have to fight two people by himself?"

"Don't you know? That was demanded by the Pope's Palace. Apparently, every one of Ye Xunhuan's matches has been made more difficult. Of course, if he withstands the pressure and wins the championship, his reward will be more generous than that of any previous champion."

Ye Xunhuan let out a long sigh.

Right. Why was he fighting one against two? Because that damn woman Bibi Dong was targeting him.

The others drew their opponents as well.

Zhao Lie was matched against a First-Ring Soul Master from the Elite Class.

Shen Qingyue and Huyan Li, meanwhile, were each matched against two First-Ring Soul Masters from the Ordinary Class.

Ever since Ye Xunhuan had defeated Zhao Lie, the top student of the Genius Class, despite possessing only one ring, his reputation had spread throughout the academy.

The moment he stepped onto the arena, the stands erupted.

Cheers surged like a mountain tsunami.

"Ye Xunhuan! Ye Xunhuan!"

"Behemoth! Behemoth!"

Every kind of shout rang out.

Xu Qingqing covered her ears in the stands and laughed, but she could not help joining in.

On the opposite side of the arena, the two First-Ring Soul Masters who had just stepped up had their legs turn weak from the overwhelming cheers.

They exchanged a glance and saw despair in each other's eyes.

They were from the Ordinary Class and were not even upper-year students. They had never expected to graduate early; they had only entered the tournament to broaden their horizons.

Who could have known that their first match would show them the biggest spectacle of all?

Ye Xunhuan had no idea what they were thinking.

He stood still, his tone serious as he clasped his hands in salute.

"Ye Xunhuan. Martial soul: Behemoth. Level twenty-three assault-type Battle Soul Master. Please advise me."

As his words fell, one yellow and one purple Spirit Ring rose beneath his feet.

A deep yellow first Spirit Ring and a light purple second Spirit Ring.

The entire venue fell silent for a moment.

Then discussion erupted, louder than the previous cheers.

"What did I just see—a Millennium Spirit Ring as his second ring?!"

"Wasn't he only level seventeen three months ago? He's level twenty-three now?"

"What kind of cultivation speed is that...?"

"No, that's not the point! His second ring is purple! A Millennium Spirit Ring! He absorbed a ring beyond his limit for his second one!"

The stands descended into chaos.

On a nearby arena, Zhao Lie, who had already begun fighting, darkened.

His fists clenched tightly.

Level twenty-three. One yellow, one purple. With that configuration, he had basically no chance of getting even in the individual matches for his public defeat at Ye Xunhuan's hands three months ago.

Shen Qingyue stood at the edge of another arena, her expression growing more solemn. She had approached Ye Xunhuan before and tried to recruit him, only to be rejected. Now that they stood on opposing sides, the pressure was imaginable.

Huyan Li simply sighed. The Diamond Mammoth's defense was no different from paper before the Behemoth's claws.

The legs of the two First-Ring Soul Masters on the stage became even weaker.

They had initially planned to exchange a few moves at least, so they could say they had participated.

But then Ye Xunhuan introduced himself: level twenty-three, with a Millennium Spirit Ring as his second ring.

How the hell were they supposed to fight that?

The two looked at each other.

"We surrender!"

They shouted quickly and in unison, afraid that if they spoke too slowly, Ye Xunhuan would send them flying with one punch.

The entire venue went quiet for a second.

Then everyone burst into laughter.

Ye Xunhuan froze for a moment.

He looked at the two Soul Masters across from him, their faces filled with relief, then looked at the two Spirit Rings beneath his feet and helplessly shook his head.

Fine.

Winning without fighting was still a victory.

Qian Shuang stepped forward. "First individual match: Ye Xunhuan wins. His opponents concede."

Another wave of cheers rose from the stands, mixed with laughter and whistles.

The Platinum Bishop nodded slightly from the high platform. His gaze lingered on Ye Xunhuan as he left the arena for a moment before he turned and quietly said something to Cao Feng. Cao Feng immediately departed, still carrying the draw cylinder.

Several more rounds were fought that morning.

Ye Xunhuan's draw luck remained terrible.

In the second round, he faced a team of one two-ringed and one one-ringed opponent, and the third round was the same.

They were clearly much stronger than the pair from the first round.

Of course, that was only relative. Ye Xunhuan still defeated both of them with overwhelming ease.

Xu Qingqing was no better off. She did not receive another bye afterward.

She was a control-and-support type, and the rules stated that she only needed to hold out for ten minutes against her opponents to advance.

But her opponents were not fools. They all targeted her.

After several rounds, she had avoided being hit thanks to her control, but her soul power consumption was immense. By lunchtime, even her hands were trembling.

Ye Xunhuan glanced at her condition. "Can you still manage this afternoon?"

"I can hold on." Xu Qingqing clenched her fists. "I'm just running low on soul power."

Ye Xunhuan said nothing more. He could not help her with insufficient soul power. If only they had soul tool milk bottles like in Douluo 2.

That afternoon, the elimination round narrowed the field from sixteen to eight.

When the draw results came out, Ye Xunhuan froze.

His opponents were Shen Qingyue and Zhao Lie.

Ye Xunhuan looked up toward the stands. Cao Feng was winking at him, a smug smile tugging at his lips.

Rigged.

Now he understood.

Cao Feng had taken the draw cylinder away that morning to tamper with it.

He had arranged for Zhao Lie and Shen Qingyue, two of the academy's top three experts, to join forces against him alone. Ruthless.

But Ye Xunhuan had thought something like this would happen in the finals.