The Tournament Draws Near

In the forging workshop of the Mingde Hall, Xiao Hongchen had been hammering iron for three hours straight.

The clanging of hammers echoed continuously.

He stood in front of the forging table, his training clothes soaked with sweat, but he showed no sign of stopping.

The piece of Thousand Refinement metal throbbed in his hands; with each strike, he could feel the resonance emanating from within the metal.

"Ah~~~ This is the thrill of blacksmithing!"

Then Xiao Hongchen saw Bao Liang being dragged back by Meng Hongchen.

That's right, Bao Liang was dragged back by Meng Hongchen.

From one commercial street to another, and then to the Red Dust Mansion, Bao Liang lost track of time. His legs were almost numb, and he was being dragged along by Meng Hongchen like a sack of flour.

"I'm talking about Sister Meng..."

Bao Liang's voice was weak and feeble.

"Could you... perhaps... have someone return those things to me next time...?"

Meng Hongchen's footsteps never cease, nor does he look back.

"That won't do."

"I picked these out myself, so of course I have to take them back myself."

Bao Liang: "..."

He felt as if his shoulders and legs no longer belonged to him.

Even spending three days hammering iron with Xiao didn't leave me this tired.

When they returned to the Red Dust Mansion, Xiao Hongchen had just put down his hammer and walked out of the workshop.

When he saw Bao Liang's half-dead state, he was stunned for a moment, then couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Bao Liang, what happened to you...? Who hit you?"

Bao Liang rolled his eyes listlessly.

"Stop talking..."

"From now on... I will never go shopping with women again..."

Xiao Hongchen laughed even louder.

He recalled the miserable experience he had when he accompanied Meng Hongchen shopping last time and nodded in deep sympathy.

"A wise choice."

"Women's talent for shopping is truly amazing."

Bao Liang: "..."

He didn't want to talk.

He silently memorized a life motto: Cherish life, stay away from shopping with women.

Time passed by day by day.

The Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament is drawing ever closer.

Bao Liang, Xiao Hongchen, and Meng Hongchen have officially joined the Sun Moon Team.

Ji Juechen also joined in.

Unlike Bao Liang and the other two who were substitutes, Ji Juechen joined as a regular player.

Jing Hongchen's reasoning was: Although Ji Juechen didn't understand Soul Tool, his pure combat ability was enough to make up for the team's shortcomings.

Moreover, this was Ji Juechen's first time using medicine to aid his cultivation.

He crammed all the cultivation medicines and Mystic Water Pill that the academy had owed him for years into his mouth.

The effect is immediate.

Ji Juechen's cultivation speed Juechen.

In less than three months, he broke through to level 60 and became a proper Soul Emperor.

Jing Hongchen even personally took action to hunt down a Soul Ring that was over 30,000 years old for him.

With this, the Sun Moon Team now has its second Soul Emperor.

Jing Hongchen had his reasons for doing this.

In his view, the championship of this competition was practically already in the hands of the Sun Moon Empire.

The prototype of the Battle Armor made of spirit metal has been created, Xiao Hongchen's strength soared after wearing it.

Not to mention Bao Liang, that monster; his basic form alone can reliably kill Soul Douluo.

Bringing Bao Liang two along serves several purposes: firstly, to broaden their horizons, make a name for themselves, and gather intelligence on other geniuses outside; secondly, as a form of insurance.

The roster for the upcoming Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament has been finalized.

Captain: Ma Rulong, Level 68 Soul Emperor.

Core members: Bao Liang, Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen.

Other team members: Ji Juechen, Mi Jia, Xiao Xiafeng, Chen Fei, Lin Xi, Chen An.

Apart from Ma Rulong and Ji Juechen, who are Six-Ring Soul Emperor, everyone else is Soul King.

Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen are not far from the sixth ring, and there is hope that they can break through before the start of the Soul Master Tournament.

As for Bao Liang...

There was no way around it; he had just too many mouths to feed.

Dragon Fang and Time Rift Dragon need to absorb Soul Power Soul Power spiritual power, as does Electrolux, and the Second Martial Soul Golden-Haired Lion Mastiff, also needs to absorb blood and qi.

It's impossible to divide them all; there's simply no way to divide them all.

The existence of the Time Rift Dragon was discovered by Dragon Fang.

There's no other reason than that it's terrible at brushing its scales, eats a lot, and is noisy.

Dragon Fang, unable to bear it any longer in the Sea of Consciousness, lashed it out with its tail.

Bao Liang looked at the small, silvery-gray dragon, then at Dragon Fang's disdainful expression, and remained silent for a long time.

After confirming that the Time Rift Dragon would not cause any trouble for him or those around him, Bao Liang allowed it to settle peacefully into his Spiritual Sea of Consciousness.

"From now on, you'll be working for me."

I'll name you Tiebing (Iron Soldier).

Time Rift Dragon: "Awooo?"

It wanted to protest, but when it thought of the Dragon Fang's terrifying tail, it obediently shut its mouth.

"Awoo? (Why is he called Iron Soldier?)"

Bao Liang explained earnestly, "While you were still alive, you withstood several of my Fist of Fury Immortality, and you even had the strength to think and Sacrifice. You truly deserve the title of Iron Soldier."

Time Rift Dragon: "..."

Bao Liang even considered calling it Iron Dragon.

However, the name "Iron Dragon" was too rustic and was disliked by Time Rift Dragon.

The Sun Moon Team is training intensively in preparation for the upcoming Star Luo City Soul Fighting Tournament.

It was during the preparations for war that the true prototype of the Battle Armor was unveiled in the Worship Hall.

The owner of this latest Battle Armor is none other than Xiao Hongchen.

Because only he could easily, directly, and intuitively sense whether there was any connection between the metal itself and the soul guidance matrix of the Battle Armor.

The moment Xiao Hongchen put on that Battle Armor, he clearly felt his strength rise by almost a whole level.

Even without using his Ultimate Gold attribute, he is now powerful enough to rival a level 69 Power Attack System Soul Emperor.

Jing Hongchen seized the opportunity to improve Meng Hongchen's full-body Soul Tool, transforming it into a new Battle Armor.

The metal used was Thousand Refinement cold jade metal personally forged by Meng Hongchen.

As for Bao Liang...

As I said before, if the materials aren't strong enough, they can't withstand the weight of his construction.

The power of the Battle Armor is beyond doubt.

During the preparation period, Bao Liang and his two companions engaged in numerous sparring matches with the seven-member regular team.

Currently, the three strongest fighters besides Bao Liang are Ji Juechen, who has already broken through to the Soul Emperor realm, and the Xiao Meng siblings, who can maintain their peak Soul Emperor cultivation for up to an hour after wearing Battle Armor.

As for Ma Rulong...

Alas, Old Ma still suffered from the disadvantage of being a pure Soul Engineer.

Besides, even without the Battle Armor, Bao Liang didn't think anyone could snatch the championship from him in this tournament.

Even if he were to fly solo, he could single-handedly kill seven people on the opposing team.

With the basic form capable of consistently defeating Soul Douluo, there's no way we can lose this tournament!

Moreover, Bao Liang felt that his first set of Battle Armor should be a perfect set that could accompany him as he grew.

Of course, all of this is predicated on Bao Liang finding a metal that can withstand the amount of metal he's going to produce.

After all, even the Calamity King Armor created by Bao Liang's Second Soul Skill Molten Fire Thousandfold Forging, couldn't withstand Bao Liang for three minutes.

Ma Rulong and his companions were utterly astonished by the "Soul Tool Armor" worn by Xiaomeng and her brother.

Everyone was speculating whether this was the Dean's latest research on a new type of Soul Tool.

Especially when faced with the amplification of Battle Armor that transcended level, everyone was so envious and jealous that Gil turned purple.

It looks so tempting... I really want it...

Ji Juechen did know about spirit metals and Battle Armor technology.

After each battle with Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, who were clad in Battle Armor, he would look at Bao Liang with expectant eyes.

Those eyes clearly said: Hurry, hurry, when are you going to make my sword stronger and more powerful?!

But Bao Liang always told him to wait a little longer.

He even asked Jing Hongchen to give him the Sword of Judgment, a level nine close-range Soul Tool, for temporary use.

It was all to prevent him from courting disaster and breaking that precious artifact that could unlock the gates of Spirit Forging.

That precious treasure is incredibly valuable! I don't know how heartbroken those elderly people would be if it were lost.

Although Ji Juechen was disappointed, he knew the importance of the matter and had no choice but to put away the meteorite iron sword that he always carried with him.

To be fair, this Level Nine Sword of Judgment is really smooth to wield.