Opening of the Preliminary Rounds

Shui Bing'er spent an hour absorbing and fusing her soul ring.

With the soul ring attachment complete, Shui Bing'er's Soul Power Level reached level fifty-two.

The fifth soul skill she acquired was named Ice Phoenix Cold Mist.

It was very similar to the ice mist skill previously released by the Crystal Prism Snow Spider, but with far greater might.

Within the range of the cold mist, the enemy's movement speed decreased drastically, and the extreme cold qi contained within the mist could even freeze soul power.

Moreover, the Ice Phoenix Cold Mist could also disrupt the enemy's spiritual perception.

Within the range of the cold mist, the power of any other soul skill Shui Bing'er released would increase by at least fifty percent.

The range of the cold mist would continuously change with Shui Bing'er's movement, and once an enemy fell into it, it would be very difficult to break free.

Ning Chuan experienced it firsthand and could only rely on the Elemental Flow's Fire Element skills and his understanding of the Ice Element to briefly avoid being controlled by the ice mist.

"Not bad, this group-control soul skill is simply tailor-made for the Soul Master Tournament!" Ning Fengzhi praised.

The tournament had spatial restrictions, yet Shui Bing'er's cold mist range could achieve full-field coverage even on the largest competition stage.

Now, in a one-on-one situation, Shui Bing'er's strength definitely surpassed that of the Spirit Hall Golden Generation.

With Shui Bing'er's soul ring hunt complete, next came Xiao Yun.

Led by the Sword Douluo, they found a Flame-Armored Fire Rhinoceros just over twenty thousand years old half an hour later.

A twenty-thousand-year soul beast possessed strength already very close to that of a human Soul Saint.

Therefore, this time the Glazed Wave Team attacked together to just test the team's coordination ability.

This time, Ning Chuan took charge of suppression and containment, Shui Bing'er provided control, the others flanked, and Xiao Yun acted as the main attacker as they engaged in a fierce battle with the fire rhinoceros.

A twenty-thousand-year soul beast had undeniable strength, and even with everyone joining forces, they could not gain much of an advantage.

In the end, it was only by having Xiao Yun and Shui Bing'er execute a Martial Soul Fusion Skill that they managed to take it down.

The Martial Soul Fusion Skill of the two of them possessed two skills.

The first skill was named Dragon Phoenix Roar Across the Nine Heavens; it belonged to sonic attacks while simultaneously carrying soul deterrence.

Enduring this move, the fire rhinoceros only resisted for dozens of seconds before falling into a dazed state.

Seeing this, Ning Chuan immediately extracted the fire rhinoceros's spirit thought and gifted it a Creation Spirit Seal.

Subsequently, the second skill of Xiao Yun and Shui Bing'er's Martial Soul Fusion Skill followed closely behind.

The second skill was named Ice-Fire Dragon Phoenix Tribulation; after execution, phantom images of an ice phoenix and a fire dragon would appear, their dual-attribute dragon and phoenix energies merging and intertwining, rotating and circling like the Taiji Bagua, ultimately deriving an ice-blue fire disk.

The fire disk flew and spun at extreme speed, automatically locking onto enemies. Upon hitting, the erupting ice flames would ignite upon contact, and the thick scales of the fire rhinoceros could not withstand the burning of the ice flames, directly getting burned into ice-colored powder; in less than a moment, the physical body of the fire rhinoceros was completely burned away, leaving only a black soul ring.

"So strong!" Shui Yue'er and the others exclaimed in admiration.

The Sword Douluo and Ning Fengzhi were also dazzled, both of them well aware that the strength of this Martial Soul Fusion Skill was something even a Soul Saint would find difficult to handle.

A single Ice-Fire Dragon Phoenix Tribulation could still be resisted with soul power; but coupled with Dragon Phoenix Roar Across the Nine Heavens, as long as one could not withstand it, they would simply be reduced to a living target.

The battle ended, and Ning Chuan released Origin Restoration to replenish everyone's condition to full before letting Xiao Yun go absorb the soul ring.

Half an hour later, the soul ring absorption was complete, and Xiao Yun's Soul Power Level reached level fifty-three.

Her fifth soul skill was named Saint Dragon Flame Prison.

Upon release, four dragon flame pillars would rise around the opponent to trap them, firmly locking down the target's activity space; then the four dragon flame pillars would continuously spit holy flames toward the center, causing high-intensity fire damage.

At the same time, this skill could also be released in a wide area. As long as the four dragon flame pillars were extended and spread outward, the confinement effect would weaken accordingly, but a sea of fire would form in the center of the flame pillars, continuously inflicting scorching heat on enemies within the range of the flame pillars.

The strength of the skill went without saying, fully capable of rivaling or even surpassing the sixth soul skill of an average Soul Emperor.

With everyone's soul rings acquired, the group returned to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

Three months later, the elite tournament of the Advanced Soul Master Academy of the entire continent officially opened.

The day before the tournament opened, the side quest arrived on schedule.

"Ding: Side quest issued, please lead the team to win the championship of this Soul Master Tournament!"

"Quest completion reward: Formation-Five Elements Mountain-Suppressing Formation! (Mountain-Guarding Formation)"

"Reward: Formation Mastery!"

"Reward: Participating member adaptation reward!"

Seeing the quest rewards, Ning Chuan immediately smiled.

Previously he still had some worries about the sect's safety, but as long as he could obtain the Mountain-Guarding Formation, he would not have too many misgivings.

Formation Mastery coupled with the Mountain-Guarding Formation gave Ning Chuan absolute certainty to forge the sect into a stronghold of iron.

As for the final participating member adaptation reward, he could only wait until the quest was completed to see it.

"System, do the team-leading teachers count as participating members?" Ning Chuan asked immediately.

The system replied, "They do!"

Hearing this, Ning Chuan immediately had Ning Fengzhi, the Sword Douluo, the Bone Douluo, and Dugu Bo go to the Glazed Azure Academy to complete their onboarding procedures, listing all of their names under the column of team-leading teachers during registration.

The Heaven Dou Empire had a total of fifteen qualifying spots.

The preliminary rounds were held in partitioned zones, with the Heaven Dou City competition zone featuring a total of twenty-eight teams competing for five qualifying spots.

The rules of the preliminary rounds were team matches, single round-robin, and a points system, with the final top five teams in points qualifying to advance to the promotion rounds alongside the qualifying teams from other kingdoms and dukedoms.

The promotion rounds were a gauntlet match, mainly to showcase individual talent and make it convenient for the state, sects, and nobility to scout and recruit talent from within.

As the grandest event in the Soul Master World, its appeal naturally went without saying.

As early as a month ago, the tickets for the opening ceremony had been sold out in advance.

Ning Chuan entered along with the Glazed Azure Academy team. As soon as they stepped inside, the surrounding discussions followed one after another.

The Glazed Wave Team consisted entirely of women, with him as the only male member, making it somewhat difficult not to attract attention.

"This Glazed Azure Academy is actually the original Skywater Academy, right? Didn't their academy not recruit male students?"

"You must not know this, but the Glazed Azure Academy is now supported behind the scenes by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and they long ago abolished this rule!"

"Is that so? I wonder who that young man is?"

"Good lord, the whole team has only him as a male, training every day with so many beauties-what kind of immortal treatment is this? It's so enviable."

"Don't just envy; to be able to squeeze into this all-female Glazed Wave team, his strength definitely isn't bad!"

"Yet his appearance seems familiar, like I've seen it somewhere... Hey... Wait... He... He seems to be Ning Chuan..."

"Ning Chuan? No way, isn't his martial soul plagued by a Malignant Mutation and unable to cultivate?"

"Oh damn, could he be trying to sneak into the team to freeload off the tournament rankings?"

"Shh... Hush, we can't afford to provoke the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect!"

The surrounding discussions continued endlessly. Whether it was the spectators or the teams that had already entered, gazes were cast toward the entering Glazed Wave Team.

Ning Chuan had long anticipated this situation, and Xiao Yun, Shui Bing'er, and the others did not speak out in refutation, because they were well aware that as long as Ning Chuan displayed his strength, everyone would shut up.

All participating academies were in the contestants' public waiting area, an independently partitioned zone set apart from the general spectator stands.

After Ning Chuan's group entered, they walked toward the area belonging to the Glazed Azure Academy.

Just as he sat down, Ning Chuan sensed a familiar aura. Turning his head, he saw Dugu Yan and Yu Tianheng walking up close.

"Aren't you seeded contestants exempt from the preliminary rounds? Why are you in the contestant participation area as well?" Ning Chuan asked with a smile.

Dugu Yan smiled and said, "We sneaked in following the Thunder Team, here to cheer you on!"

As she spoke, she pulled Yu Tianheng to sit beside them.

Yu Tianheng nodded toward Ning Chuan, then looked toward Xiao Yun and asked, "I wonder what Miss Xiao Yun's Soul Power Level has reached now?"

Seeing this, Dugu Yan immediately interrupted him, "Yu Tianheng, what's the rush? Once Xiao Yun takes the stage, you'll naturally find out! Besides, I brought you over today not for you to scout the Glazed Wave Team's combat intelligence!"

"Alright!" Yu Tianheng withdrew his gaze, then looked toward Ning Chuan and said, "Ning Chuan, Yan'er said you're going to give everyone a huge surprise this time. Might I ask what it is?"

"Would it still be a surprise if I said it out loud!" Dugu Yan interrupted him once more.