The semifinal draw

"We got it! Twenty million Gold Soul Coins—how generous of you, Sect Master Du!" Song Que laughed heartily.

Huo Yuhao hurriedly bowed in thanks. "Thank you, Master."

Du Busi rolled his eyes at Song Que and said irritably, "You chatty little brat. It's only twenty million. Our Body Sect is the greatest sect in the world. That bit of money is nothing."

"No need to stand on ceremony with your master. Since you became my disciple, I haven't given you a proper gift. Consider this left arm bone your apprenticeship gift."

Song Que chuckled, his gaze fixed on the hazy mass of white vapor on the screen, his eyes brimming with anticipation.

He silently considered, That should be the Snow Empress, all right.

Yuhao has already left Shrek, so naturally, he won't have another chance to study at Virtue Hall. We absolutely can't let them take this thing away.

Electrolux has already taught us the Soul Spirit Method, but we haven't had a chance to try it. If we can get her this time, it'll be the perfect opportunity.

If Yuhao can successfully absorb the Snow Empress as his soul spirit, I won't have to worry so much about him afterward.

As Song Que pondered, a sudden commotion in the VIP lounge snapped him out of his thoughts.

"One hundred and fifty million! Jing Hongchen really is willing to throw money around!"

Everyone in front of the screen stared wide-eyed, stunned by Jing Hongchen's wealth.

"As expected of the master of Virtue Hall. He certainly has deep pockets," Vena remarked softly.

Du Busi, however, was utterly unconcerned. He smiled faintly. "No matter. Let them hold on to her for us for a few days."

With the final lot settled, the auction came to a successful close.

Huo Yuhao secured the Ice Jade Scorpion Left Arm Bone, just as he had hoped.

And, just as everyone had expected, the night's final centerpiece, the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Embryo, was ultimately won by the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy.

With the auction over, everyone went their separate ways.

The competitors from each team returned to their hotels early to rest and prepare for the next day's matches.

The following morning.

Star Luo Plaza was packed with people, a dense sea of spectators crowding the entire area around the arena.

The round of sixteen was also in full swing.

The three favorites to win the championship—Shrek Academy, Just Sky Academy, and Sun Moon Academy—had all been fortunate enough to avoid one another.

As a result, there was no suspense over the outcome.

The quarterfinals that followed continued the same trend, with no upsets.

All three teams advanced smoothly to the semifinals.

The final semifinal berth went to the hosts, Star Luo Royal Academy.

Whether any behind-the-scenes manipulation had been involved was anyone's guess.

Several days passed in the blink of an eye.

On the day of the semifinals, in the Sun Moon Team's preparation area.

After learning the results of the draw, Xiao Hongchen couldn't help shaking his head, a note of wonder in his voice.

"I have to say, Shrek's luck really is incredible."

"They actually managed to avoid both us and Just Sky Academy in the semifinal draw. Unbelievable."

"But that's fine. It'll mean even more when we eliminate Shrek ourselves in the final and take the championship."

Beside him, Jing Hongchen smiled and nodded approvingly. "Exactly. That's the confidence you need—the conviction that no one can do it but you."

"I believe this year's championship will belong to you."

Elder Ma, the teacher leading the team, nodded and stepped in front of everyone. His expression turned serious. "Just Sky Academy is strong. None of you can afford to be careless."

"Their strongest member, Ye Wuqing, has reached rank fifty-eight in soul power. His martial soul, the Golden Leaf, excels at both attack and defense, making him extremely troublesome."

"Next is Yu Mengdi. With Soul King-level strength and an angel martial soul passed down for ten thousand years, she's not to be underestimated either."

"Then there's Song Que. His abilities are rather unusual, but he should have a wind-attribute tool martial soul. He's extremely fast and may even possess a teleportation skill."

"Also, Song Que and his teammates Xu Sanshi, Bei Bei, Tang Ya, Huo Yuhao, and Wang Dong all withdrew from Shrek."

"Several of them have exceptionally powerful martial souls and outstanding talent, especially Huo Yuhao. Someone like him is exceedingly rare. Fortunately, they're still young, and their soul power isn't high."

"I just don't know why they withdrew from Shrek..."

At the same time, in Just Sky Academy's competitors' rest area.

Ye Wuqing returned with the freshly released draw results in hand, his expression grave.

Seeing him, Yu Mengdi asked, "What's wrong? You don't look too happy. Did we get a bad draw?"

Ye Wuqing sighed softly. "We did. Our semifinal opponent is the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy."

"And our match has been scheduled first, taking the slot originally assigned to Shrek's match against Star Luo Royal Academy."

Song Que remained calm and offered some reassurance. "It's fine. We were going to face them sooner or later. It makes no difference whether we fight them now or afterward."

"The Sun Moon Team's overall strength might be a little greater than Shrek Academy's current strength, but the gap isn't large."

"As for the lineup for the first team battle..."

Song Que lowered his head slightly and pondered for a moment. Just as he was about to speak, Tang Ya cut in. "Let me fight. It'll be a good chance to test my skills."

As she spoke, light flashed in Tang Ya's hand, and her blue silver grass martial soul appeared.

"What's this?!" Song Que's pupils contracted slightly in surprise.

Tang Ya smiled. "Hehe, I did it. My martial soul successfully evolved into a blue silver king martial soul."

After studying it closely, Song Que clicked his tongue in wonder. "The blades are much broader and thicker than before, and they seem tougher too. Most importantly, the veins have changed—they've turned silvery white. Overall, it looks much sturdier than ordinary blue silver grass."

Bei Bei smiled. "I have to say, we really should thank you. If you hadn't given Xiao Ya that advice back then, she might have..."

Song Que waved a hand. "Actually, having her use her mutated blue silver grass to devour the life energy of other blue silver grass was only a guess on my part. There was no guarantee it would work."

"I was just worried she'd grasp at straws and recklessly try devouring things. It would've been trouble if she accidentally became an Evil Soul Master."

Tang Ya shook her head. "Either way, thank you."

"Over the years, the method you gave me has helped my soul power grow rapidly. With this successful martial soul mutation, it jumped straight to rank forty-five. I'm already close to catching up with Bei Bei and the others."

Xu Sanshi teased, "Bei Bei, you'd better get your act together. It'll be embarrassing if Tang Ya overtakes you."

Bei Bei rolled his eyes at him. "You talk too much. Go away."

"Xiao Ya and I don't care about that. Whether I surpass her or she surpasses me, it's all the same. Hehe."

Song Que smiled. "In that case, let's have Tang Ya fight."

"Today's team battle lineup will be me, Ye Wuqing, Yu Mengdi, Tang Xiaolei, Tang Ya, Bei Bei, and Xu Sanshi. The seven of us will start."

"We'll leave the individual matches undecided for now and adapt when the time comes."

Everyone nodded in agreement.