On the training ground in the early morning, the sounds of colliding Soul Power rang out continuously.
Flender stood on the sidelines, hands behind his back, watching the seven people training. A rare look of satisfaction appeared in his eyes behind his glasses.
Tang San and Xiao Wu were fighting when Xiao Wu stomped her foot and quickly closed in on Tang San, sweeping her right leg towards his waist without hesitation. Tang San dodged to the side, and Blue Silver Grass spread out from the ground, with several vines wrapping Xiao Wu from different directions.
At that moment, the Soul Ring rose from beneath his feet.
White, yellow, and purple.
The three Soul Ring pulsed slowly.
Flender's smile froze for a moment.
His gaze fell directly on the white Soul Ring at the bottom, and the more he looked at it, the more his brows furrowed. Then he turned to look at Yu Xiaogang, who was sitting not far away.
Yu Xiaogang leaned on a wooden crutch, his left leg clearly unable to bear weight properly. Noticing Flender's gaze, his expression immediately became somewhat unnatural.
Flender endured it for a long time, but in the end he couldn't hold back anymore.
" Xiaogang."
"What's wrong?"
Flender pointed at the glaring white Soul Ring at Tang San's feet, and said with exasperation, " Little San has such great talent, with Innate Full Soul Power and Twin Martial Souls. What were you thinking back then, giving him a ten-year spirit ring for his First Soul Ring?"
Yu Xiaogang's face darkened.
That was an accident.
"Unexpected my ass."
Flender rolled his eyes without hesitation. "Such a promising talent, and his First Soul Ring is white. If I were Little San's father, I'd get angry too."
As he said this, his gaze swept over Yu Xiaogang's obviously unsteady leg.
"Thinking about it that way, it's no wonder they broke your leg."
Yu Xiaogang's grip on his cane tightened instantly.
" Flender!"
"Okay, okay, I won't say anymore."
Flender readily agreed, but his expression didn't suggest he was truly ready to shut up.
In the training ground, Tang San naturally heard their conversation but could only pretend not to hear it. Xiao Wu, however, couldn't help but laugh out loud. In a moment of distraction, she was immediately entangled by the Blue Silver Grass around her ankle.
Just as Tang San was about to retract his Martial Soul, Xiao Wu glared at him.
"You're really going to hit me?"
"Didn't you tell me to be serious?"
"You can't attack me while I'm laughing!"
The two started arguing again.
Flender watched this scene unfold, and a smile returned to his lips.
Although there were some headaches, he had to admit that these seven Little Monster were indeed the most satisfying group of students he had seen in all these years.
Early the next morning.
All Shrek Seven Devils were summoned to the training ground.
Flender stood in front of the seven people, holding the competition notice from the Heaven Dou Division in his hand.
"I already mentioned what needed to be said yesterday, so I'll just say one thing today."
The seven people fell silent.
Flender glanced at them.
"We at Shrek will be participating in this Continental Soul Master Academy Exchange Tournament."
Ma Hongjun was the first to laugh.
"Dean, are we finally going to officially compete with the other colleges?"
"That's right."
Flender rolled up the notice and patted it on his palm.
"Moreover, this competition is different from previous ones. The Heaven Dou, Star Luo Empire, and Spirit Hall regions are holding selections simultaneously, and the truly capable academies will ultimately go to Spirit City."
A fighting spirit had already appeared in Dai Mubai.
Tang San listened attentively.
Flender continued, "The seven of you don't represent yourselves, you represent Shrek. You all usually think you're monsters, that there aren't many people your age who can make you take things seriously, so take this opportunity to go out and see the world."
" Blazing Fire Academy, Skywater Academy, Godwind Academy, Thunder Academy, and Heaven Dou Royal Academy —these places are never short of geniuses."
He paused for a moment.
"Of course, I still have confidence in you."
Flender's lips curled into a smile.
"With the strength of you Little Monster, getting a good ranking shouldn't be difficult. If you really fight your way into Spirit City, or even win the championship, it won't just be a matter of the academy becoming famous."
Oscar asked, "Anything else?"
" The Astral Express, the Xianzhou Alliance, and that Interastral Peace Corporation will all have representatives present."
Upon hearing this, the expressions of the seven people changed.
These days, news about extraterrestrial civilizations has spread throughout the mainland, and they have naturally heard quite a bit about it.
Ma Hongjun immediately perked up. "So, in other words, if we play well enough, we might even be able to make contact with those people from beyond the stars?"
"That's right."
Flender looked at them.
"So, show me what you've got."
Dai Mubai clenched his fist.
"Then let's march on Spirit City."
Xiao Wu scoffed, "It's just a competition, who's afraid of who?"
Tang San looked at the people beside him and a smile appeared on his face.
Weeks later.
The Heaven Dou Division competition has officially concluded.
Shrek Academy fought their way through the preliminaries, never stopping even when facing teams from different academies. The teamwork of the seven members matured rapidly through repeated battles, and they finally secured their qualification to go to Spirit City for the finals.
The academies that advanced from the Heaven Dou Division quickly assembled.
The convoy left Heaven Dou City and headed towards Spirit City.
Several days later.
The towering walls of Spirit City finally came into view.
However, once they got closer, the teachers and students from various academies of Heaven Dou quickly discovered that the city was completely different from what they had imagined.
The city gate still retains its original heavy stone structure, but once inside the city, a large number of previously unseen metal facilities appear on both sides of the street. Huge light screens hang on the exterior walls of buildings, with text and images constantly changing. Several vehicles without Soul Beast pulling them move along the neatly paved road on their own, and there are also strangely shaped metal terminals along the street.
Dai Mubai looked up at the metal tracks extending above the street and was visibly stunned for a moment.
"Is this really Spirit City?"
Oscar glanced around.
"It feels like I'm in a completely different place."
The Spirit Hall staff member in charge of receiving them smiled.
" Spirit City is currently undergoing its first phase of renovation, and many of the facilities are provided by Interastral Peace Corporation."
Flender barely spoke the entire way.
Because he kept looking at those things.
Especially those massive metal buildings.
Finally, the group was led to an enormous, silver-gray building.
The entire building is circular, with its exterior constructed of a large amount of silver-white metal, and the logos of the Spirit Hall and the Interastral Peace Corporation hanging at the top. Just standing in front of the entrance, one can feel just how enormous this building is.
The Shrek team all stopped.
The receptionist turned and introduced, "This is the venue for the final stage of this year's Continental Soul Master Academy Exchange Tournament. The entire venue was equipped with technology and facilities provided by Interastral Peace Corporation, and it can accommodate a large number of spectators at the same time. The internal competition area has also been specially reinforced for Soul Master battles."
Flender looked up at it for a long time.
Finally, he managed to utter a sentence.
"My goodness..."
He adjusted his glasses.
How much will this cost?
The receptionist's lips twitched slightly. Without answering the question, she simply took a stack of cards from the staff member next to her and handed them over.
"These are your room keys for your respective areas, one per person. The official competition will begin in a few days. During this time, you can rest and freely explore Spirit City. However, some areas of the Cutting Domain are temporarily closed to the public, so please do not enter them without permission."
Flender took the room key and nodded.
After checking in, the young people couldn't sit still.
The Shrek Seven Devils soon left their residence and strolled along the main street of Spirit City.
Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu walked at the front, clearly very interested in the light screens that changed images on their own. Oscar and Ma Hongjun looked around, wanting to take a look at anything new they saw.
As he was walking, Ma Hongjun suddenly stopped.
He stared at the street corner for a few seconds, then reached out and touched Dai Mubai.
" Boss Dai."
"Look over there."
Dai Mubai looked in the direction he was pointing.
Tang San and the others also turned their heads at the same time.
A huge metal trash can stood on the street corner.
The lid of the trash can had been lifted off the side by someone.
A leg wearing a boot was sticking out of the bucket opening, occasionally kicking twice.
The group stood still, their expressions gradually becoming strange.