Pre-Registration

The Gate to Blue Tyrant Academy was packed from early morning.

A notice for the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament's Pre-Registration had been posted on the Bulletin Board. Black characters covered red paper, and the corners rattled in the wind. Students crowded around it, their discussion growing louder by the minute.

Flender stood outside the crowd and pushed up his glasses. His eyes went nowhere near the Competition Rules.

They went straight to the registration fee.

He read it three times, his face growing grimmer each time.

Liu Erlong stood beside him with her arms folded. After holding back for ages, she finally said, "Could you at least act like a dean?"

Flender sighed. "How many Gold Soul Coins is acting like a dean worth?"

Grandmaster looked down at the Registration Form, his expression more serious than either of theirs. "Pre-Registration is only the beginning. The real trouble is eligibility verification. Academies across Heaven Dou City will send teams, and Spirit Hall will be watching too."

Tang San stood behind them, memorizing the rules one by one.

Age limits, academy eligibility, team size, substitute rosters, Soul Power Registration...

Every requirement seemed perfectly ordinary.

But the more ordinary they looked, the more he felt something was hidden behind the words on the page. The Ghost Face Society had recently set its sights on the Great Soul Arena, and the Elite Tournament would use it for part of its verification. The timing was too neat.

Grandmaster had clearly thought of that too.

He folded the Registration Form and looked up at the others. "From today on, treat yourselves as official Competitors. Training can hurt. It can exhaust you. But no one in the arena will wait for you to get yourselves ready. Tang San, handle the team's tactics during matches.