Chapter 128

While in the black market, no one felt too sleepy, but once they came out and saw that it was dark, sleepiness immediately and uncontrollably surged up.

Yan Yuting also chuckled, "Okay, let's go back to sleep."

By the time we returned to the villa, it was already late at night.

Xu Jintang had originally planned to go straight upstairs, suddenly remembered something and called out to everyone, "I haven't shown you that Soul-Seizing Bell yet."

Yan Yuting, who was about to go upstairs, immediately pulled her leg back, turned around quickly, and surrounded them with expectant eyes.

Xue Zhongqi and Song Tianqi also quickly came over.

Jiang Shiyi also turned her gaze over.

Xu Jintang took out the Soul-Seizing Bell from his spatial storage, and its tinkling sound spread in all directions.

The weak mental attack caused Yan Yuting and the other three to momentarily lose their senses.

"This bell... it's a bit eerie." Song Tianqi quickly shook his head.

Yan Yuting snapped out of her daze, slapping her forehead. Once fully conscious, her gaze towards the Soul-Seizing Bell became wary. "No wonder it's called the Soul-Seizing Bell; such a soft ring almost made me lose consciousness."

Afterwards, Xue Zhongqi and Jiang Shiyi also recovered from the shock.

Jiang Shiyi frowned slightly. "The attack of this Soul-Seizing Bell is indeed difficult to detect."

Even with her Fourth Tier mental strength, she couldn't defend against the attack just now, and she was almost controlled by the bell.

Xu Jintang put the Soul-Seizing Bell back into his spatial storage. "I'll study this bell when I get up tomorrow. It's getting late, everyone should go to bed early."

The group then dispersed and returned to their rooms to rest.

After returning to his room, Xu Jintang took out the Soul-Seizing Bell again.

The Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx was going crazy after being cooped up in the pet space all day, so it came out for some fresh air. "What the heck is that bell of yours? How does it have such strong mental power?"

The Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx flapped its wings, circled in the air, flew to the other side, and stared at the Soul-Seizing Bell with a suspicious look.

Xu Jintang raised an eyebrow. "What kind of mental power/consciousness?"

The Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx paused for a moment, then spread its wings and transformed into its original form, the humanoid bird's silhouette projected onto the floor.

He spread his arms, creating a vortex of energy that struck the Soul-Seizing Bell directly.

A "crack" sound was heard, as if something had broken.

Xu Jintang frowned and shifted his gaze to the Soul-Seizing Bell.

The bell was still intact, so the cracking sound just now must have been the spiritual consciousness that the Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx was talking about.

After dealing with the mess, the Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx clapped its hands smugly, "It has to be me, otherwise this spiritual consciousness would have to keep following you."

Xu Jintang frowned deeply, "What kind of mental power/consciousness?"

"It's a wisp of spiritual consciousness separated from a high-level ability user and attached to this Soul-Seizing Bell. It can serve a stabilizing function, and in crucial moments, this wisp of consciousness can also transmit sound. It's essentially a small clone of that high-level ability user."

The image of Gu Xiuwen immediately flashed into Xu Jintang's mind, and her eyes gradually became serious.

The Green-Membrane Archaeopteryx added, "The owner of this wisp of consciousness should already be at the Ninth Tier. If I were to encounter his true form, I probably wouldn't be able to defeat him. You'd better be careful."

"Knew."

After calming down, Xu Jintang got up and went into the cultivation room, where he quickly entered a state of cultivation.

The next morning, a notice for the Ability User Competition came down, requiring all team members to come to the competition venue that afternoon to draw their opponents for the next round of elimination matches.

Xu Jintang was still toying with the Soul-Seizing Bell in his hand.

Once the Soul-Seizing Bell has recognized its master, it will no longer attack indiscriminately.

Moreover, because Xu Jintang possesses double the spiritual sea of consciousness, although her spiritual power level appears to be only at the Peak Third Tier, her actual spiritual sea of consciousness reserves have already reached the Fourth Tier.

At this time, the Soul-Seizing Bell also reached the Fourth Tier.

"Ding-dong..."

The ringtone, carrying a sonic attack, reverberated in all directions.

Wu Jinghong, who had just pushed open the door, heard the bell ring. She raised an eyebrow and looked at the Soul-Seizing Bell. "This is the Soul-Seizing Bell?"

Xu Jintang quickly stood up and replied with a smile, "Yes, I got it yesterday at the black market."

Wu Jinghong examined the Soul-Seizing Bell for a moment. "This Soul-Seizing Bell isn't cheap. Keep it safe."

She turned her gaze away and called upstairs, "Everyone, assemble in the conference room immediately!"

Ten minutes later, Xu Jintang and the other four sat around the conference table.

"Next up is the knockout stage to advance to the round of 16. To be honest, every match from now on will definitely not be as easy as the ones before. I hope the five of you can stay focused and fight your way to the end."

Xu Jintang and the other four answered in unison, "Yes!"

After speaking, Wu Jinghong activated the floating light screen, "Today I'll introduce you to the teams that haven't been eliminated yet in the upper bracket."

Xu Jintang group of five listened for a full hour and a half, thoroughly learning about each team that could potentially become their future rivals.

Among them, the strongest is the Soul Awakening Team, a terrifying team whose overall average strength exceeds that of Fourth Tier team.

Other teams aren't as strong, but they're generally at least Third Tier.

Overall, their knockout rounds will only get tougher in the future.

In the afternoon, it was time for the teams to be matched with their opponents.

Outside the competition venue, fans of each team occupied a designated area to show their support, holding banners and signs and chanting slogans in unison.

When the five members of the Mask Squad appeared outside the venue, the fans immediately screamed excitedly.

Xu Jintang casually raised his hand to greet the fans on both sides.

Song Tianqi also followed suit and waved to the fans around him in a friendly manner.

Xue Zhongqi was even more prepared; he had somehow bought several boxes of throat lozenges to treat sore throats, and he gentlemanly began handing out candy to the fans on both sides, saying, "Everyone, please don't shout so loudly; you should take care of your throats."

"Ahhh, the Big Watermelon man is so thoughtful!"

"Thank you! But could you please get my captain's autograph for me?"

What should have been a two-minute walk took ten minutes to get into the venue because of the five members of the Mask Squad.

Once inside the passage, the fans' shouts were shut out.

Many teams have already arrived at the team rest area.

As the Mask Squad entered, all sorts of gazes were cast their way.

Xu Jintang five companions resumed their aloof demeanor and silently walked to the team rest area.

Many teams have already been eliminated, resulting in fewer people waiting in the waiting area. The tournament organizers have also made the rest area more attractive.

Each team has its own sofa rest area, with snacks and refreshments laid out on the coffee table.

Xu Jintang and the others sat down on the sofa one after another.

Before long, Li Xiang walked into the team's rest area.

"It's great to see you all again! Today we'll be matching opponents for the round of 16. As usual, let's get straight to the random draw."

After speaking, Li Xiang pointed to the floating light screen behind him.

The text on the light screen began to flash and bounce wildly.

Members of each team looked up at the light screen.

A few seconds later, the flashing of the light screen stopped, and the opponents matched by each team were displayed above.

Xu Jintang raised her eyes and glanced at it.

[Mask Squad vs. Spirit of Wood Squad]

This morning, Teacher Wu talked to them about this team. Their overall strength is considered to be above average among the remaining teams. The team leader, Wang Yuexin, has wood-type superpowers and is at the Fourth Tier level of mental strength. All the other team members are also at the Third Tier or above.

They are even stronger than the Prosperous Age Women's Team they faced in the previous match.

Yan Yuting and the others standing nearby all became serious.

The team matchmaking process is also streamed live.

After seeing the match results for the Mask Squad, many viewers in the live stream started making sarcastic remarks again:

[The Mask Squad has met their match again. Surely they'll have to use their powers eventually?]

[Who knows? The only thing I'm really looking forward to is the Spirit of Wood Squad knocking their masks off, so I can see just how handsome the Mask Squad really is.]

[The Mask Squad will win!]

Li Xiang was also watching the Mask Squad. After seeing the matchmaking result, he raised an eyebrow, smiled, and surveyed the room. "This matchmaking phase is now complete. I look forward to seeing how everyone performs next."

As the competition progressed, the organizers gave each team more preparation time.

After the matchmaking process, the organizers gave everyone three days to prepare.

After Xu Jintang and the others returned to the villa, they all took off their ghost face masks, and all five of them had somewhat somber expressions.

After a moment of silence, Yan Yuting spoke first, "Our opponents this time are even stronger than the five members of the Prosperous Age Women's Team."

Xue Zhongqi's expression was also grave. "If we continue to draw 1v1 matches, we should be fine. But I'm afraid..."

Xu Jintang rubbed his hands together, walked to the sofa and sat down. "Don't think too much, just do it."

Song Tianqi was also very enthusiastic, "Yes, let's do it! And I've had a feeling these past two days that I should be breaking through to the Third Tier."

These words made Yan Yuting and Xue Zhongqi immediately turn to look at them. "You're about to break through to the Third Tier?" Their voices were full of surprise.

Song Tianqi puffed out his chest proudly, "That's right, I've given up all games these past few days and have been practicing every day."

Yan Yuting and Xue Zhongqi immediately felt the pressure.

After lunch, Xu Jintang and the other four returned to their rooms and began to immerse themselves in cultivation.

Wu Jinghong and Zhuang Silin arrived together in the afternoon.

Inside the meeting room, several people sat in a circle.

Zhuang Silin stood at the very front, with a replay of the Silver Light Military Academy Squad's previous elimination match playing on the floating light screen behind her.

"You all saw it, right? After advancing to the top 32, the Silver Light Military Academy Squad's strength is no longer quite up to par. And then there's the Mechanical Technology Military Academy Team."