After their chance encounter on the street, the three teams returned to their respective residences. The hustle and bustle of the qualifiers had completely subsided, and the pressure of the qualifying rounds hadn't yet weighed on their shoulders. This two-week break should have been a rare opportunity to catch their breath. But for the teams that successfully advanced, no one truly stopped.
The students of the Godwind Academy were the first to get into the swing of things. Feng Xiaotian divided the team into two groups—those who were close to the level 50 bottleneck went into seclusion to break through, while the rest maintained their daily training.
Jiang Lin, Cheng Luo, and Lu Qing had already reached the threshold by the end of the preliminary rounds. Now everything is ready, except for the push from the Barrier-Breaking Pill.
After each of them took the pills, they broke through the level 50 barrier and then headed to the Soul Beast Forest to obtain their Fifth Soul Ring.
Feng Lingtian and Su Mei'er also completed their breakthroughs before the start of the promotion competition. On the day they returned with their Fifth Soul Ring, they happened to run into Jiang Lin and his two companions, who were also returning from Soul Hunting, at the academy gate. The five of them glanced at each other's newly acquired Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, said nothing, and just smiled.
With this, all five new Soul King of the Godwind Academy have arrived. Su Mei'er is level 53, Feng Lingtian is level 52, and Jiang Lin, Cheng Luo, and Lu Qing are all level 51. Zhong Yue has just entered level 49, and Shi Yan, Ji Ning, and others are also making steady progress.
Feng Xiaotian is still holding back at level 58. He doesn't need to participate in the promotion matches; his battlefield is the finals— the Spirit Hall team has Soul King, and he has to cover for the Godwind Academy. If he breaks through to Soul Emperor, the Spirit Hall will definitely prevent him from participating.
-
The atmosphere at the Blazing Fire Academy was much more somber than at the Godwind Academy.
After returning from the commercial street, the entire Blazing Fire Academy team threw themselves into cultivation. But a few days later, problems arose.
First, Chen Lie frowned during training, saying that his Martial Soul was a beat slower to control than before. Then Huo Yun and Huo Lie also reported that the speed of their Soul Power improvement was significantly slower. The increase they could feel after one cycle of the cycle was now barely noticeable even after three cycles.
It might be accidental for one person to have a problem. But if three people have problems, then there's a real problem.
Huo Xiao came to see for himself. He had the team members release their Martial Soul one by one, and carefully observed the Soul Power fluctuations of each person. The more he looked, the more his brows furrowed.
He had Huo Wushuang invite the physician from the Nine Heart Begonia Clan. The middle-aged woman had a gentle face, but her expression during the diagnosis silenced everyone.
She examined the Martial Soul of the seven members of the Blazing Fire Academy one by one, spending the entire afternoon before giving her diagnosis. "The essence of all seven Martial Soul is damaged, a deficiency at the foundation. To repair them, they need elixirs or rare and precious materials that can replenish the Martial Soul Origin."
Blazing Fire Academy has no shortage of medicinal herbs, but there are only a few pills on the entire continent that can replenish the Martial Soul Origin.
Huo Wushuang suddenly remembered something. He had been assigned a Primordial Martial Awakening Pill, Fire, by the Pill Pavilion. At the time, he felt it was unfair to his teammates to use the pill alone since there was only one available, and he also didn't have time to refine it properly during the preliminaries, so he had put it aside.
He took out the pill, paused for a few seconds, and said, "I'll try it first. If it works, I'll think of another way; if it doesn't—at least I've wasted my time."
He swallowed the pill. An hour later, he opened his eyes and released a cluster of golden flames— the Ultimate Fire. His foundation, previously eroded by the poison, had not only recovered but was even more stable than before he was poisoned. He was already only one step away from the Ultimate Fire, and this pill helped him cross that final hurdle.
Everyone saw it.
Huo Xiao at the golden flame in his son's palm, remaining silent for a long time. Then he turned and left the training ground. He went to find Feng Qingxuan.
Huo Xiao and Feng Qingxuan's friendship wasn't particularly deep, but it wasn't shallow either. Back when the Five Elements Academy was allied, the two had interacted quite a few times.
Huo Xiao was a proud man who rarely asked for favors. But this time, for the sake of his academy's students and his daughter Huo Wu, he set aside his usual stubbornness and shamelessly asked for help.
Feng Qingxuan did not refuse. The second Primordial Martial Awakening Pill, Fire, was quickly delivered to the Blazing Fire Academy.
Following the advice of Physician Nine Heart Begonia, the pill was dissolved in water and shared among the six team members. While the effect of the medicine being dispersed was not as good as taking it whole, it was enough to compensate for the damage to their Martial Soul essence caused by the toxins.
After Huo Wu drank the bowl of water infused with the medicinal pill, she remained quiet for a full hour. Then, her flames turned golden—the same Ultimate Fire as Huo Wushuang's.
She was already the most talented person in the Blazing Fire Academy, and the qualitative change brought about by the medicinal power of the Primordial Martial Awakening Pill was almost a natural outcome.
The other five team members did not evolve into the Ultimate Fire, but the deficiencies in their Martial Soul essence were completely filled, and the purity and temperature of their flames were significantly improved. The sluggishness and dullness they experienced during previous cultivation completely disappeared, replaced by an unprecedented sense of smoothness.
This time, Blazing Fire Academy owes Pill Pavilion a huge favor, and everyone feels a bit awkward, but mostly excited.
-
The two-week break at the Shrek Academy was anything but peaceful.
Yu Xiaogang quickly learned about the street conflict. It wasn't the Shrek Academy members who reported it—it was someone from the Spirit Hall who came to inquire about Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer and casually mentioned, "Your academy's members had a verbal altercation with other academies in the street."
After listening, Yu Xiaogang didn't get angry, nor did he ask for more details. He just remained silent for a while, then said "I understand," and continued to look through the tactical notes in his hand.
But the atmosphere inside Shrek changed after that.
Oscar trained for longer hours each day, but spoke less. He no longer complained about the intensity of the training, nor did he make those carefree jokes.
After training, he just sat alone in his dormitory, staring blankly at the ceiling. He was thinking about what Shui Yue'er had said—"Has any of you ever been truly valued?" He couldn't find the answer.
Ning Rongrong looked no different than before, but when she released the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, there was a hint of reservation in her eyes. She no longer expected Yu Xiaogang to change anything; she just hadn't figured out what to do next.
Dai Mubai noticed these changes. As the team leader, he saw Oscar's silence, the subtle distance in Ning Rongrong's eyes, and that Ma Hongjun had become much more obedient these past few days—he was the one who caused the trouble, and at least he felt guilty. But Dai Mubai didn't point it out.
-
Half a month passed quietly in meditation and silence.
On the opening day of the qualifying rounds, the Royal Hunting Ground Heaven Dou City were packed with people early in the morning. The spectator stands for the preliminary rounds were set up inside the Soul Fighting Arena, but the number of people that could be accommodated was ultimately limited.
The Royal Hunting Ground are different—the outer perimeter has been transformed into a circular arena with stands capable of accommodating tens of thousands of people. The arena is paved with bluestone slabs engraved with soul-guiding array patterns, strong enough to withstand a direct impact from Soul King level opponent.
The teams that advanced from each competition area arrived one after another and took their seats in the designated area.
On the Heaven Dou Division side, the five teams Godwind Academy, Skywater Academy, Thunder Academy, Blazing Fire Academy, and Shrek sat together, opposite the five qualifying teams and two guaranteed-admission teams from the Star Luo Division, separated by a fairly wide passage.
The referee's platform was set up on a high platform directly opposite the arena, and the same experienced referee from the preliminaries was presiding over the qualifying rounds. His voice, Amplifying Soul Tool, resounded throughout the hunting grounds, announcing the format of the qualifying rounds once again.
After the announcement, the draw ceremony began. The captains of the teams that advanced from each region walked onto the stage one by one and drew their pairing numbers for the first round from the referee.
The qualifying rounds are different from the preliminary rounds. The preliminary rounds are only for teams within the Heaven Dou Empire, with 28 teams competing for five qualifying spots.
The qualifying rounds are a mixed battle between all the qualifying teams from the two empires—this year, the Heaven Dou Empire is in charge, so all the qualifying teams from the Star Luo Empire's various regions have also come to the Royal Hunting Ground.
Standing on the arena were twelve captains—five teams each from the Heaven Dou Division and the Star Luo Division, plus one guaranteed team from each of the two great empires. The Spirit Hall team, having been directly guaranteed a spot in the finals, did not attend.
Feng Xiaotian stood on the arena, clutching the slip of paper he had just drawn, and glanced down at the number on it.
The first round opponent of the Godwind Academy was a team from the Star Luo Empire. He had seen the team's name in the information, but had never played against them before.
Feng Lingtian sat in his seat at the Godwind Academy, looking at his brother on the arena and then glancing at the other teams.
On the other side of the Blazing Fire Academy, golden flames faintly flowed around Huo Wushuang's body. These were the Ultimate Fire that had recently evolved and had not yet been fully subdued.
On Shrek's side, Tang San sat next to Yu Xiaogang, with an arm's length between them, neither of them looking at the other.
The opponents in the qualifying rounds came from two great empires, and no one knew who they would be drawn against in the next round. But he had a feeling that it was only a matter of time before these teams from the Heaven Dou Division clashed.