The Tournament Begins

Breakfast had barely ended, but the roar of the crowd had already ridden the wind across half of Star Luo City.

The opening match of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament was set for Star Luo Plaza, and the Star Luo Imperial Family had turned this premier event in the Soul Master World into a full-fledged business.

The stands were divided into tiers by status. The public section was packed so tightly that not a drop of water could get through, noble seats fetched astronomical prices, and even the academy teams' sections were assigned distances from the arena according to past rankings. The smell of money-making nearly drowned out the incense drifting across the plaza.

Huo Yuhao swept his gaze over the sea of heads and listened to the team chants rising one after another. Has the Star Luo Imperial Family gone mad for money...?

Shrek Academy's seats were at the very front of the Core Zone. Their dark-green team uniforms stood out sharply in the crowd.

The uniforms had been passed down for generations and altered by more than a dozen deans. The fabric was tough enough to take a beating, but its color was as murky as aged moss and glared under the sunlight. To Huo Yuhao, the sight was bitterly ironic—

Shrek Academy always proclaimed itself neutral and above worldly affairs, yet here it was in another nation's capital, making a bigger show of itself than the imperial family without the slightest hint of restraint. And you call yourselves neutral?

He did not join the others. Instead, he led Ning Tian behind a pillar along the less crowded side of the corridor. Once they stopped, he turned to face her, his gaze serious. "Ning Tian, I won't let you use the ability the Gold