The academies from the Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire arrived in Spirit City on the same day.
Spirit City, the sacred land in every Soul Master's heart, now opened its arms to welcome the favored children of heaven from across the continent.
Teams from the various academies streamed down the broad main street.
Matching uniforms, orderly ranks, and young faces filled with curiosity, pride, or nervousness formed an extraordinarily lively scene.
Along both sides of the street, Soul Masters from Spirit Hall maintained order. Occasionally, local residents stopped to watch, pointing at the young Soul Masters in unfamiliar uniforms.
"Look, those are the people from Star Luo Royal Academy!"
"Heaven Dou Royal Academy is here too! Who's that girl in the white dress? She's gorgeous!"
"I heard there are a frightening number of geniuses in this tournament. There are even several Soul Kings..."
Waves of chatter rose and fell as the young contestants followed Spirit Hall's reception staff toward their respective lodgings in an orderly fashion.
The lodgings Spirit Hall had arranged for all participating academies were clustered near the tournament venue, close to one another yet separate.
This made both the competition and surveillance more convenient.
The Star Luo Royal Academy team was assigned a five-story building.
Dai Weisi stood on the third-floor balcony with his arms folded, gazing at the distant street.
Sunlight fell across his sharply defined profile, and the academy teams arriving one after another were reflected in his deep eyes.
Behind him, Zhu Zhuyue leaned against the doorframe with a faint smile on her lips.
"Your Highness, what are you looking at?"
Dai Weisi did not turn around. He merely said softly, "They're here."
"Who?"
"Dai Mubai."
Zhu Zhuyue raised an eyebrow slightly, walked to the balcony, and followed Dai Weisi's gaze.