Three Seeded Teams Take the Stage One After Another
After the draw results for the third round were announced, the atmosphere in the Grand Finals suddenly became tense.
Shrek Academy's good luck seemed to have run out in the first two rounds. Their opponent in the third round was the Star Luo Royal Advanced Soul Master Academy, the one selected by the Star Luo Empire among the three seeded teams.
In contrast, another match was even more surprising, between the Spirit Hall Advanced Soul Master Academy and the Heaven Dou Royal Advanced Soul Master Academy.
Without a doubt, both matches are of paramount importance. The clash between the two seeded teams seems to prove the fairness of the Grand Finals.
With half an hour to go before the start of the competition, the top ten finalists have entered the arena to make their final preparations.
Every time Huo Lei rested in the Blazing Fire Academy's rest area, he would carefully observe the Soul Master watching the matches from the surrounding stands. The reason was simple: he was looking for someone. He was looking for his teacher Jin Shan and his friend Lin Yin, while also keeping an eye on Marshal An Jun, who was secretly protecting him.
Because the Grand Finals were restricted to Soul Master only, the number of attendees was only a few thousand. He believed that with such a lively event and his presence, Jin Shan would definitely come to watch.
Persistence pays off; Huo Lei quickly spotted Lin Yin, whose green clothes made him easily identifiable among the Soul Master. As for Jin Shan and An Jun, they remained undetected.
"The teacher's refusal to show himself is probably a deliberate attempt to avoid Dugu Bo. This is a good thing, as it avoids friction," Huo Lei analyzed the reasons to himself.
Half an hour passed quickly.
The first match to take place was between the Shrek Academy and Star Luo Royal Advanced Soul Master Academy.
Since the start of the Soul Master Tournament, the Shrek Seven Monsters had never competed together. When they appeared on the stage, the remaining Soul Master teams from the Heaven Dou Empire all froze for a moment.
Aside from Huo Lei, who seemed unsurprised, the other six members of the Blazing Fire Academy were filled with astonishment. They hadn't expected Shrek Academy to have two trump cards up their sleeves.
Huo Wu muttered to herself, "Could this be Shrek Academy's strongest team?"
Feng Xiaotian exclaimed, "Shrek Academy really knows how to hide their cards! They're only revealing their trump card now."
These two teams are different from the others. Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun of the Star Luo Royal Academy are siblings of Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing, two of the seven members of the Shrek Academy.
The meeting between the two parties lacked the joy and affection of a long-awaited reunion between family members; instead, it was filled with sarcasm and a tense atmosphere of glaring at each other.
Thousands of eyes in the stands were focused on the match, eager to see what kind of sparks would fly between the two sides.
With the referee's whistle, the match officially began.
All seven members of the Shrek Academy were at the level of Four-Ring Soul Ancestor. Xiao Wu had already broken through to level forty and successfully obtained her Fourth Soul Ring.
The Star Luo Royal Advanced Soul Master Academy was equally formidable, with all its members possessing Four-Ring Soul Ancestor and optimal Soul Ring Configuration.
When Oscar's four Soul Ring lit up, the students of Blazing Fire School didn't react much. But when Ning Rongrong's Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda appeared and four Soul Ring emerged, everyone was shocked once again.
The number one auxiliary Martial Soul on the continent, the inherited Martial Soul of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Upper Three Sects of the Seven Great Sects. Even if Soul Master has never seen it, they have at least heard of it. As long as Soul Master team has Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Master, their combat power will be significantly enhanced.
Everyone from the Blazing Fire Academy turned to look at Huo Lei in unison. Huo Lei, however, stared calmly at the arena, his expression completely unwavering. No one spoke, and all turned their attention back to the arena.
Dai Mubai directly confronted his brother Dai Weisi, while Zhu Zhuqing rushed towards her sister Zhu Zhuyun.
The others each found their own opponents and unleashed their full potential, resulting in fierce battles between the two sides.
The battle was exciting, but also very short.
In the end, Star Luo Royal Advanced Soul Master Academy lost to the Shrek Academy.
The Star Luo Team lost not because of a lack of Soul Power, but because of a lack of overall team coordination.
Shrek Academy had two powerful support characters, Oscar and Ning Rongrong, who could continuously sustain their teammates' energy expenditure. Then, Tang San's control played a crucial role; he used the Blue Silver Prison to restrict Zhu Zhuyun, preventing her and Dai Weisi from using their Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Meanwhile, Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing from the Shrek Academy successfully fused, directly defeating the six opponents. When Zhu Zhuyun broke free from the Blue Silver Prison, all her teammates were defeated, leaving her alone. A one-against-seven situation was an inevitable defeat for her.
The match ended in complete silence. The reason for this result is easy to understand: it was an accident. Who could have imagined that an unknown Shrek Academy could defeat the strongest Soul Master team of the Star Luo Empire?
"The Star Luo Empire's team of Soul Master has been defeated like this? Their strength is too weak! After fighting for so long, they only managed to injure Dai Mubai from the Shrek Academy. It's truly shameful. Huo Lei, what do you think?" Feng Xiaotian mocked from the Blazing Fire Academy's rest area, then turned to look at Huo Lei beside him.
Huo Lei remained calm and casually said, "Just watch it normally! What else can we watch? The seven from the Shrek Academy cooperated quite well and have some skills, but that's about it. If our Blazing Fire Academy performs well, beating them won't be difficult. Now I'm really looking forward to the Spirit Hall's performance."
Feng Xiaotian was somewhat amused and exasperated, remarking, "As expected of the Soul King, his tone of voice is truly different."
The most anticipated match began at noon. When the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Team and the Spirit Hall Academy Team stepped onto the stage, the entire arena fell silent.
In the second round of the competition, none of the seven members of the Spirit Hall Academy Team were from the Golden Generation, yet they still easily won the match.
At this moment, three new faces appeared in the Spirit Hall Academy Team.
The three walked slowly at the head of the Spirit Hall Academy Team. Huo Lei recognized them at a glance. Although it was their first meeting, Huo Lei still identified them. The reason was simple: they were easily recognizable by their appearance and style.
In the middle of the three was a man, about 1.9 meters tall, with short black hair, a calm expression, a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth, and a confident look in his eyes. Huo Lei would not be able to tell who he was just by looking at him; it was mainly the man and woman beside him who were very conspicuous.
The man had long, fiery red hair that cascaded down his back. His eyes were dark red, but his appearance was rather ordinary.
The only woman among the three had long black hair and her appearance was somewhat similar to the man in the middle. At first glance, she didn't seem very pretty, but if you looked closely, you could feel a strange charm about her.
In terms of attire, all three were dressed in the Spirit Hall's white team uniforms, pure white, embroidered with six symbols representing the Spirit Hall. Each of them wore a purple medal resembling a book on their left chest.
Based on all these factors, Huo Lei concluded that the woman was Hu Liena, who possessed the Fox Martial Soul; the man in the middle was Hu Liena's brother, Xie Yue, whose Martial Soul was the Moon Blade; and the man with long red hair was Yan, who possessed the Flame Lord Martial Soul. All three were Five-Ring Soul King.
"So this is what the three members of the Golden Generation look like. They're not even as good-looking as the characters in anime; they're just better than average. The men aren't incredibly handsome, and the women aren't as irresistible as I imagined. No wonder Tang San only likes Xiao Wu. It seems it's not because he's particularly devoted, but because his rabbit transformation into human form was too successful."