Royal Hunting Grounds

The Royal Hunting Grounds are located fifty miles southwest of Heaven Dou City.

Shrek and his group left the academy before dawn and arrived at the camp by morning. The journey was not far, but Flender only hired two carriages, and the students squeezed together, with their luggage tied to the roof.

Ma Hongjun's body was half-covered by the blankets, and he had been fighting with Oscar for a window seat the whole way.

"I need to deal with flying Soul Master in the Promotion Tournament, so I need to figure out the wind direction first."

Oscar clung to the window frame. "What you're looking at from the window is a roadside barbecue stand."

"Whichever direction the smoke drifts, that's the wind."

Xiao Wu grabbed his collar from behind and gave the window to Ning Rongrong was about to be squeezed out of her seat.

Yuan Yu didn't squeeze in with them. He sat on the carriage shaft outside the carriage and helped the Coachman hold the reins. After reaching level 75, his perception of the surrounding elements had expanded considerably. The carriage was still a few miles away from the Hunting Ground when Rock Pattern sensed the strong earth element in the mountains ahead.

This environment is well-suited to the Wheel Rock Aspect.

The entire Hunting Ground were built against the mountainside, surrounded by white tents stretching for miles. The Royal Knights patrolled between the camps, their armor, saddles, and lances gleaming.

Ordinary viewers are not allowed to enter this area.

Aside from the Royal Family, tournament officials, and teachers and students from various academies, only knights were on duty at the sidelines. The Promotion Tournament didn't rely on ticket sales for revenue; it was meant to allow the empire's high command to clearly see the individual combat capabilities of each young Soul Master.

The five teams that qualified from Heaven Dou City were assigned to the east side of the camp. The camps of Divine Wind and Blazing Fire were very close to each other. Feng Xiaotian was helping Huo Wu carry a large wooden box. Huo Wu's hands were empty, and she didn't seem very grateful.

At the Thunderclap Academy, a rain shelter was being erected, with several students working together to set up wooden pillars, occasionally flashing tiny bolts of electricity between their fingers. Meanwhile, the girls from the Skywater Academy pulled up a curtain outside their tent, shielding themselves from curious glances.

To the west were the troops from the Kingdom and the Duchy. Their school uniforms were very different from those of the academies in Heaven Dou City, and many of them wore accessories and weapons bestowed by their respective royal families.

Flender glanced around once, but made a few extra notes on all the groups adorned with gold and silver.

Liu Erlong asked, "Are you looking at your opponent?"

"I'm looking at which college has the most money."

"What's it to you?"

"We can charge more tuition fees when we enroll students in the future."

Liu Erlong ignored him.

The two teams met at the camp entrance.

Barak Academy's captain, Luofuji, walked at the front. He was tall and had the Royal Academy's gold badge pinned to his chest on his school uniform. He glanced at the Shrek students' green uniforms a few times but didn't move to the side.

The vice-captain Aor Bai, stood to his right and shoved a camp servant carrying a wooden crate to the side of the road.

"Don't block the way when you're moving things."

The wooden crate tipped over to the ground, spilling the medicine bottles inside.

Yuan Yu twitched his finger slightly.

A gust of wind lifted the wooden box from below, returning it along with a dozen or so medicine bottles to the servant. The man, still shaken, repeatedly expressed his gratitude.

Aor Bai looked at Yuan Yu: "Mind your own business."

Yuan Yu waited for the servants to leave before putting his hand back on the Wine Gourd.

"If you could move yourself out of the way too, I could have one less thing to worry about."

The servant's hand was cut by the corner of the wooden box. Jiang Zhu quickly went over and used the light of her Healing Scepter to stop the bleeding, and also made sure that the medicine bottle was not broken.

When Barak's teammates saw this, some of them showed signs of impatience.

"Does a servant need Healing-Type Soul Master to help him?"

Jiang Zhu withdrew her Scepter without turning back. "My Soul Power is cultivated by myself, and I can give it to whomever I want."

Yuan Yu gave her a thumbs up.

He had been smiling, but when he looked at Aor Bai, the smile in his eyes had faded.

Aor Bai could feel a Gravity on his shoulders. The ground beneath his feet sank half an inch, and his knees buckled.

Yuan Yu only used a wisp of Rock Pattern power, without even summoning his Martial Soul.

"The Promotion Tournament aren't open to spectators. If you lose badly, the people outside might not hear us," Yuan Yu said. "Don't worry, we'll remember."

A few cold laughs rang out from Barak's team.

Luofuji raised his hand to stop Aor Bai, who was about to step forward, his gaze lingering on the Sun Wheel Blade at Yuan Yu's waist.

"Shrek's Seven-Ring Soul Sage?"

"Level 75," Yuan Yu reported directly, stating his Soul Power.

Aor Bai's words caught in his throat.

At the end of the Preliminary Tournament, I was at Seventy-third Level. A month later, I was promoted two levels.

Luofuji's expression also changed. Before he could speak, Liu Erlong had already stepped out from behind the Shrek team.

The Soul Sage's aura pressed forward, causing the dozen or so students from the Barak Academy to stop in their tracks.

"There are two paths, each go their own way. Whoever wants to fight, I'll spar with them."

Barak's teacher arrived quickly and called the team members to the other side of the road.

As the two teams passed each other, Aor Bai lowered his voice and said, "Don't think that just because you're a higher level you can dominate the Promotion Tournament. One person against seven, I can wear you down."

Yuan Yu turned around and said, "Let's figure out Wheel's my turn."

After Barak's group had gone some distance, Qin Ming led everyone into the camp.

He explained the rules of the Promotion Tournament as he walked.

"The Heaven Dou Empire has a total of fifteen teams. Five are from Heaven Dou City, and ten are selected from the five great Kingdom and Duchy. Only one player can compete in each match, and the winner stays to continue fighting. A player can only be substituted if the player loses, concedes defeat, or becomes incapacitated. The team that leaves the field with the first seven players loses."

Dai Mubai asked, "Can support-type characters be used?"

"Yes, but off-field support won't do," Qin Ming said. "This competition format places more emphasis on individual ability and will expose everyone's Soul Skill more clearly. Before the Finals, you need to learn how to win while holding back some of your trump cards."

"The entire roster needs to be submitted before the match; the order cannot be changed at the last minute," Qin Ming continued. "If the players at the front are countered by the opponent, the players at the back can only play according to the roster. Therefore, the order in which they are ranked may be more important than their individual strengths."

Tang San asked, "If someone voluntarily concedes defeat midway, can the next person immediately step in?"

"After the Referee's confirmation, it's acceptable. Leaving the field due to injury doesn't count as the entire team conceding defeat."

Tang San nodded.

The tactics for the Promotion Tournament are very different from those for team battles. Placing the strongest players at the front may give them a chance to win consecutively, but their Soul Power and stamina will be continuously depleted. Placing them at the back is safer, but if the players at the front are countered by the opponent, they may not even get a chance to play.

With Yuan Yu at the back, Shrek can be bolder in the rankings. However, Tang San doesn't want every match to become a situation where "the first six try to wear down the opponent, and then Yuan Yu finishes them off." If that happens, by the time they reach the Finals, everyone in Shrek except Yuan Yu will lack experience in dealing with strong opponents on their own.

Yuan Yu didn't intend to hide his level and Martial Soul, but since the Wheel Rock Aspect just appeared, there was indeed no need to use it in every match.

They were assigned to a camp near the foot of the mountain.

Before he could finish tidying up, Qin Ming walked in with the results of the first round of the draw.

Seeing his expression, Flender immediately asked, "Did you draw the Five Elements Academy?"

"No."

Qin Ming spread the note out on the table.

"Round 1: Shrek Academy vs. Barak Academy"

There was a moment of silence in the tent, then everyone laughed.

Flender flipped the slip over and looked at it. "The draw at the Royal Hunting Grounds was very fair."

Liu Erlong crossed her arms. "Is it fair to draw them?"

"At least today is fair."

Tai Long chuckled, clenching his fist. "They just said they wanted seven people to wear down Yuan Yu?"

Tang San picked up Barak's list and looked it over.

"Don't let him go yet."

Yuan Yu leaned back in his chair. "I have no objection."

Tai Long immediately stood up straight. "Third Young Master, give me the first seat."

Tang San placed the list in the center of the table.

"Okay. You go first, Jing Ling second."

He paused, then pointed to Captain Barak's name, Luofuji.

"This person is for Yuan Yu."