Wang Yan seemed to have thought of something, "By the way, Teacher Zhou, how is the Sun Moon Team doing now? They should have won their second match, right?"
Zhou Yi nodded. " The Sun Moon Team achieved a complete victory. They fielded five main players and two substitutes. Apart from the substitute named Xu Zhengyang, who is Soul Ancestor, all the others are Soul King."
Everyone was shocked to hear this. They hadn't expected the Sun Moon Team to be so powerful, with so many Soul King, especially since their captain hadn't even participated.
"By the way, I find it a bit strange. The Sun Moon Team is indeed very strong, but in their entire team, only that Soul Ancestor is Control Department Soul Master, and he even uses Soul Tool to control himself. This person is also carrying a long spear on his back."
Huo Yuhao, who was standing nearby, quickly asked, "Teacher Zhou, is this Xu Zhengyang the one who caught the thief?"
Zhou Yi nodded. "It's him. This kid's Soul Ring Configuration is very strange. He actually has one yellow, two purple, and one black Fourth Soul Ring that lasts for ten thousand years. No one in our Shrek Inner Court has achieved such Soul Ring Configuration."
"Moreover, this person has an extremely keen sense of combat. As Control Department Soul Master, he can detect the opponent's weaknesses immediately and use the Freezing Ray to control them. He does have some skill."
Huo Yuhao thought for a moment before speaking, "Teacher, is it possible that Xu Zhengyang caught the thief on purpose, deliberately letting their leader display the strength of Titled Douluo, just to test me?"
Zhou Yi shook her head. "That shouldn't be the case. Yuhao, your performance was perfect the whole time. You didn't give anything away. Besides, the thief was indeed stealing something. He couldn't have arranged for the thief to be there beforehand, could he?"
Just as everyone was wondering, Bei Bei suddenly spoke up.
"Teacher Wang, Teacher Zhou, I've met this Xu Zhengyang once before."
Wang Yan looked puzzled. " Bei Bei, how is this possible? Xu Zhengyang is a member of the Sun and Sun Moon Team. Judging from his age, he shouldn't have ever been to the Douluo Continent."
Bei Bei said, "I have indeed seen him before, especially the long gun he carried on his back. I remember it was about two years ago, just before the start of the school year. I saw him at a restaurant then, and Jiang Nannan also saw him then, but Jiang Nannan probably doesn't remember him."
"At the time, Xiao Ya and I thought this person was quite capable, so we invited him to join the Tang Sect. Unfortunately, he refused. Moreover, I even fought with him. His strength was excellent, and I was defeated by him."
"However, what he displayed back then wasn't the strength of Soul Engineer, but the pure strength of Battle Soul Master. He didn't even use Soul Tool throughout the entire match, and I lost miserably."
Everyone present was shocked again. They all knew Bei Bei's strength. Bei Bei not only possessed the top-grade Beast Martial Soul Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, but also had outstanding combat power. He was definitely one of the best among his peers. They never expected that he would lose to someone from the Sun Moon Team, especially when the opponent did not use Soul Tool.
Wang Yan said, "It seems that the Sun Moon Team is hiding their true strength. They are more terrifying and more powerful than we imagined."
The first round of elimination matches lasted for four days. During these four days, everyone trained at the Star Luo Grand Hotel and did not go to watch the matches.
Team leader Ma Rufeng was busy with personal matters and would disappear every night, his whereabouts unknown. Xu Zhengyang could roughly guess that Ma Rufeng had probably gone to the Starlight Auction House to auction off Soul Tool, and it seemed that his suggestion last time had been approved by Jing Hongchen.
There weren't any major upsets in the knockout stage; all the seeded teams basically dominated with overwhelming strength, while also holding back to some extent.
The round-robin tournament quickly progressed, with Shrek Team as the seeded team in Group A, Sun and Sun Moon Team as the seeded team in Group B, and Star Luo Royal Academy Team in Group C.
In the first match of the round-robin tournament, Shrek Team was the first to take the stage.
After a few days of rest, Huo Yuhao seemed to have returned to normal.
Shrek Team's opponent was the Star Luo Empire's Yunluo Soul Engineer Academy. The competition format was determined by drawing lots, and they ultimately drew a one-on-one elimination tournament.
A one-on-one elimination tournament is a competition where each side fieldes seven players, who take turns battling it out. The losers are eliminated, while the winners continue fighting until all seven players on one side are defeated.
Even though Huo Yuhao fainted after the first day of the competition because Ma Rufeng displayed the aura of Titled Douluo, Huo Yuhao was still the most anticipated contestant among everyone. Regardless of whether he fainted or not, everyone saw Huo Yuhao's terrifying six Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring. Even if people had some doubts, they were even more interested. In fact, everyone hoped that Huo Yuhao would perform the feat of defeating seven opponents at once.
Even within the Sun Moon Team, everyone seemed extremely puzzled, and there were even multiple discussions about how this configuration of six Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring was nothing short of a miracle.
Xu Zhengyang didn't say it outright; he couldn't very well say that he had read novels in his previous life and knew that Huo Yuhao was an imposter.
Team leader Ma Rufeng also began to have doubts. Although he exuded the aura of Titled Douluo that day, he did not deliberately target anyone. Logically speaking, someone with Huo Yuhao's strength should not have fainted.
In the individual elimination rounds, Shrek Academy sent out Xu Sanshi first. Defensive Soul Master like him are the most effective counter to low-level Soul Engineer.
With the Mysterious Underworld Turtle's formidable defense and his unique Soul Skill, Xu Sanshi defeated three Soul Ancestor from the Yunluo Academy in succession, easily securing victory. In particular, Xu Sanshi displayed some of the Tang Sect's ultimate techniques, leaving everyone in awe.
Although Xu Zhengyang could see these footworks clearly, he also knew that this was the Tang Sect Secret Arts technique, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. Xu Sanshi's perfect use of the Tang Sect's ultimate technique made Xu Zhengyang even more interested.
Xu Zhengyang had considered creating his own footwork techniques, but these things were too time-consuming. He always pursued extreme speed, so such unpredictable movement techniques wouldn't be very useful to him.
Compared to Xu Zhengyang, Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen seemed somewhat unconvinced. Both of them were exceptional geniuses and were roughly the same age as Xu Sanshi. Seeing Xu Sanshi's outstanding performance, they also wanted to make a name for themselves.
Xiao Hongchen sneered, "What's so great about it? A Soul Engineer academy like Yunluo Academy is no match for me. I could take on all seven of them by myself, and they wouldn't stand a chance. Besides, this Xu Sanshi is no match for me either."
Xu Zhengyang couldn't help but tap Xiao Hongchen: " Xiao Hongchen, when you were Soul Elder, could you easily defeat three Soul Ancestor? And three Soul Engineer at that?"
Xiao Hongchen quickly replied, "You know my strength. I could easily deal with those weaklings from the Yunluo Academy when I was Soul Elder."
Xu Zhengyang said, "Perhaps you can handle it, but can you be as composed as Xu Sanshi? Can you consume as little energy as Xu Sanshi? I bet Xu Sanshi still has at least 40% of his Soul Power remaining. If Yunluo Academy hadn't surrendered, he might have been able to defeat all seven of them at once."
"Especially the strange techniques he used, which are extremely useful at the low-level Soul Master stage, and can even enable him to fight opponents of higher levels."
Xiao Hongchen was speechless upon hearing this, and the others also seemed to be deep in thought.
Although they had all trained for several years and their physical fitness and individual combat abilities had improved considerably, they were still ultimately inferior to pure Battle Soul Master.
Xu Zhengyang continued, " Shrek Academy is not that simple. Their combat strength is basically the strongest among Soul Master of the same level, and they even have the ability to fight opponents of higher levels."
Xu Zhengyang had been observing Xu Sanshi's battle closely from beginning to end, especially the Tang Sect Secret Arts Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track Xu Sanshi was using. He knew that he was an enemy of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy, and that they would have to face each other sooner or later.
" Tang Sect Secret Arts? I'll get my hands on them sooner or later, especially the Mysterious Heaven Technique."
Xu Zhengyang murmured softly, a hint of longing in his eyes, along with a touch of calculation.
Soon it was the Sun Moon Team's turn to appear. Surprisingly, although Sun Moon Team opponents were not strong, the format they were drawn was a one-on-one elimination tournament.
Xu Zhengyang, Ma Rulong, and the others did not hesitate and sent Xiao Hongchen to the scene. This guy had been lonely for a long time and was particularly eager to show off.
Moreover, both Ma Rulong and Ma Rufeng tacitly agreed to some of the measures taken by Xu Zhengyang and Xiao Hongchen. After this Soul Master Tournament, Ma Rulong will graduate, and the team will be managed by Xu Zhengyang and Xiao Hongchen in the future.
After Xiao Hongchen stepped onto the arena, he not only displayed his Soul King level strength, but also demonstrated remarkable skill and ingenuity in using his Soul Tool.
In less than ten minutes, Xiao Hongchen had already achieved a one-versus-four victory, knocking all four opposing contestants to the ground, each of them seriously injured. In the end, the opposing team had no choice but to surrender.
Xu Zhengyang was also very satisfied with Xiao Hongchen's performance. Although this guy was a bit arrogant and conceited, his talent was undeniable. Not only was his use of Soul Tool extremely skillful, but his cultivation as Soul Master was also gradually improving, making him no less than Battle Soul Master of the same level. His combat experience was also outstanding.
The round-robin tournament didn't put much pressure on the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. Their opponents were generally not very strong, with the entire group consisting of at most two or three Soul King. Compared to the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy's all- Soul King lineup, the gap was simply too large.
In particular, all members of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy are Level 5 Soul Engineer, and their use of Soul Tool is extremely skillful. Their combat power surpasses that of Soul King of the same level, and they face no pressure when fighting against any opponent.
However, Xu Zhengyang was also very clear that the real difficulty of the Soul Master Tournament was not now, but five years later, when sect members would participate and the opponents would be much stronger than they were now.
Moreover, even five years later, Xu Zhengyang couldn't be sure if he would still be at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, or if he would have already joined the Imperial Dragon Soul Engineering Legion. Although the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy had a good training environment, it ultimately lacked pressure and the deadly threat of the Soul Beast Forest.
After the match, Xu Zhengyang, Xiao Hongchen, and Meng Hongchen, unusually, did not return to the Star Luo Grand Hotel to cultivate, but instead strolled around Star Luo City together.
As expected of the largest city in the Star Luo Empire, Star Luo City is not only exceptionally prosperous, but also attracts countless people due to the Soul Master Tournament. In terms of population, it probably exceeded 20 million during the Soul Master Tournament. Even the number of vendors is much greater than when Xu Zhengyang last visited.
After wandering around for half a day, the three of them arrived at the Starlight Auction House. This time, Xu Zhengyang didn't use the name Long Aotian.
However, when Xu Zhengyang saw the items Starlight Auction House, his lips twitched slightly. Many of these items were Soul Tool Soul Tool, and of a high level, generally level six or above. Soul Tool of this level were extremely valuable in the Douluo Continent, attracting countless people to bid against them.
Especially considering the sheer number of these Soul Tool Soul Tool, it's likely that they weren't just defective products from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy's manufacturing process; perhaps Jing Hongchen acquired a whole bunch of defective items from elsewhere.