Although he outwardly respected Xiao Hongchen, deep down, he never truly saw him as a real threat.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have allowed Xiao Hongchen to seize the initiative, set up his formation, and unleash his firepower freely.
After defeating Ji Juechen and Xue Nu, he had indeed become arrogant, forgetting that soul engineers and soul masters were fundamentally different.
Once a soul engineer was given an opportunity, their suppressive firepower could even restrain a Soul Emperor like Xiao Hongchen for a time.
Looking at the blood on his fingertip, Liuxing shook his head. He took this as a lesson, pride and arrogance were unacceptable.
However, with his Life Domain, such a minor injury took only a dozen seconds to heal completely.
Hearing Liuxing's words, Xiao Hongchen froze for a moment. After a brief silence, he pressed down the brim of his hat, smirked, and said in a deep voice, "The title of number one genius, I'll let you hold onto it for now, but I'll come to reclaim it."
"Tch! If it's in my hands, don't even think about getting it back." Liuxing sneered.
Xiao Hongchen's mouth twitched, his expression twisting. As expected, he still found this brat annoying.
"Pfft!"
Originally worried, Meng Hongchen couldn't help but laugh when she heard their bickering, instantly sweeping away her concerns.
Jing Hongchen, seeing this scene, revealed a satisfied smile.
Although Xiao Hongchen had suffered a setback, he hadn't been defeated entirely. Meanwhile, Liuxing had shed the arrogance in his heart. It was a win-win situation.
"Young people need to go through challenges to grow," Lin Jiayi also smiled, realizing that the headmaster was even more farsighted than he had expected.
Jing Hongchen nodded. He was quite pleased with this selection tournament. However…
His gaze fell on the dejected Xu Tianzhen, and he felt a slight headache.
This little princess was another troublesome character, he absolutely couldn't let her find out that the tournament had been secretly manipulated by him.
---
With the selection tournament concluded, the seven reserve team members were officially determined.
The final winners, Liuxing, Liuying, Meng Hongchen, Gu Yuena, Xue Nu, Ye Guyi, along with Xiao Hongchen, who won the revival match, made up a total of seven members.
Barring any special circumstances, these seven would form the reserve team for this tournament.
After a brief rest, the seven, now back in their school uniforms, once again stepped onto the trial field amidst the anticipation of the entire student body of Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy.
The six battle platforms had disappeared, replaced by a massive square stage.
Led by Lin Jiayi, the seven stood at the center of the stage.
At this moment, they were truly the center of attention.
As the headmaster of Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, Jing Hongchen wore a beaming smile as he congratulated the seven students who had emerged victorious from among hundreds.
To him, nothing was more gratifying than seeing the academy brimming with talent.
"First of all, congratulations to you, the geniuses of our Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy."
"From this moment on, you are officially the reserve team of our academy. You will train alongside the main team and represent both our academy and the Sun Moon Empire in the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament."
"You will receive the same treatment as the main team, with a Rank 9 Soul Engineer assigned to mentor you."
"What you have gained is not just glory, but also responsibility. Though you may not necessarily compete in this tournament, as part of the reserve team, you now bear the hopes of the academy and all its students."
"As you all know, since our academy began participating in the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament, we have never won a championship. Our best result was only second place. As the number one soul engineering academy on the continent, this is our greatest shame."
"As headmaster, I hope you will always remember to train hard and bring home the championship trophy for our academy."
Jing Hongchen's impassioned speech ignited the students' fighting spirit.
He was right, who among them didn't want to bring the championship trophy back to their academy?
Liuxing was no exception. He disliked being second. No matter what, he refused to lose.
Over the past year at Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, he had made many friends beyond just Liuying and the others.
Some of them even hailed from other empires, Heavenly Soul, Star Luo, and Douling.
Even Gu Yuena's teacher, the Rank 8 Soul Engineer Xuan Ziwen, was originally a refugee from the three Douluo empires.
Yet, despite this, he had been accepted by Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy and had even apprenticed under the Sun Moon Empire's strongest Rank 9 Soul Engineer.
As an academy, Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy was already quite remarkable.
At the very least, refugees from other empires could still find a place here.
Because of this, Liuxing had a good impression of the academy. If he could win the championship and help the school shed its reputation as "perennial runner-up," he was more than happy to do so.
---
The next morning, instead of attending their usual classes, Liuxing and the others were summoned to the Soul Engineering Department's experimental area.
As they departed, Xu Tianzhen gave them a pitiful look, her small face filled with grievance, with only Nana staying by her side to comfort her.
Soon, Liuxing and his teammates arrived at the testing grounds, where both Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen were already present.
Once again, the seven members of the reserve team had gathered.
Not long after, an elderly figure slowly approached.
"I am a Rank 9 Soul Engineer from Illustrious Virtue Hall. You may call me Elder Ma. I am also the supervising teacher for this year's Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. Starting today, with only two months left before the competition, I will be leading your training. I hope you all seize this opportunity to improve yourselves as much as possible."
"Greetings, Elder Ma."
A Rank 9 Soul Engineer held an extremely high status in the Sun Moon Empire.
Normally, they were elusive figures, rarely seen in public.
Now that such a person was assigned to guide them, the seven members of the preparatory team, even the siblings Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, maintained a respectful attitude.
Elder Ma nodded slightly and said, "Alright, I won't say anything unnecessary. As members of the preparatory team, you will all be teammates in the future. Take this opportunity to introduce yourselves and get to know one another."
The seven members of the team exchanged glances. Get to know one another? Weren't they already familiar enough?
At that moment, the oldest among them, Xiao Hongchen, stepped forward first and spoke in a loud voice.
"Xiao Hongchen, fourteen years old, Rank 5 Soul Engineer, Rank 53 Soul King."
As the eldest and the one with the highest cultivation level present, he took the initiative.
Meng Hongchen followed closely after, her voice crisp and melodious.
"Meng Hongchen, fourteen years old, Rank 5 Soul Engineer, Rank 52 Soul King."
"Gu Yuena, twelve years old, Rank 4 Soul Engineer, Rank 37 Soul Elder."
"Xue Nu, twelve years old, Rank 37 Soul Elder."
"Ye Guyi, twelve years old, Rank 35 Soul Elder."
"Liuxing, twelve years old, Rank 42 Soul Ancestor."
"Liuying, twelve years old, Rank 42 Soul Ancestor."
…"
Once everyone had finished introducing themselves, Elder Ma nodded slightly and said, "Among you, Xiao Hongchen has the highest soul power. How about he serves as your preparatory team captain?"
"Elder Ma, I object."
The first to raise his hand was none other than Xiao Hongchen.
"Hmm?"
Elder Ma was slightly taken aback. "Why?"
Xiao Hongchen looked toward Liuxing and said seriously, "Soul power level does not determine everything. Until I defeat him, I am not qualified to be captain."
"Then… Meng Hongchen?"
Elder Ma turned to Meng Hongchen.
Meng Hongchen raised her hand and said, "Elder Ma, I recommend Liuxing as our captain."
The corner of Elder Ma's mouth twitched. He had lived for so many years, but this was the first time he had encountered a situation like this, where the two highest-ranked members didn't want to be captain.
However, he had heard of Liuxing's name before. Looking at him, Elder Ma said, "Then Liuxing shall be the captain of the preparatory team."
After speaking, Elder Ma glanced at Gu Yuena and the others, wary of another potential "I object" popping up.
"I agree."
"I support it."
"No problem."
None of them were particularly interested in being captain. Since Liuxing was chosen, they had no objections.
With the captain decided, Elder Ma led the team into training. The focus was primarily on teamwork, practicing in pairs, groups of three, or as a full seven-member squad.
There was also specialized guidance on soul tools: how to maximize their advantages and fully unleash their power.
As a Rank 9 Soul Engineer, Elder Ma answered every question without reservation.
The team seized this rare opportunity to ask about any doubts or confusion they had regarding their cultivation and knowledge.
Since the members were already somewhat familiar with one another, their teamwork was relatively smooth.
Elder Ma was relieved. He had trained many preparatory teams before, but this was by far the strongest and the most well-connected one he had ever led.
Fortunately, there were no troublemakers; otherwise, even he would have had a hard time managing them.
What Elder Ma did not realize was that it wasn't that there were no troublemakers, it was that the troublemakers had already been subdued.
After losing to Liuxing, Xiao Hongchen had become much more restrained.
While still proud, he no longer displayed it as recklessly as before.
Xue Nu and Gu Yuena also had difficult personalities.
However, since Liuxing was the captain, they would listen to him. If Xiao Hongchen had been the captain, things might have turned out differently.
The seven of them had only just started working together as a team, so full synergy would take time.
However, compared to previous preparatory teams, they were already far ahead.
---
Time passed quickly, and a month flew by in the blink of an eye.
During this period, Elder Ma provided meticulous guidance, and the academy supplied an abundance of valuable resources to aid their cultivation.
Although the higher-ranked members like Liuxing didn't level up, Gu Yuena, Xue Nu, and Ye Guyi each gained one level, reaching Level 38 and Level 36 respectively.
With the academy's resource support, Liuxing and Liuying were also close to breaking through to the next rank.
By now, the seven had achieved a high level of coordination. Naturally, conflicts and disagreements had occurred along the way.
However, with Liuxing acting as a mediator, tensions within the team were always quickly resolved.
Elder Ma was very pleased with Liuxing as a captain.
The team required no extra supervision from him, Liuxing could manage them all on his own.
He also realized that the so-called "troublemakers" in the team only listened to Liuxing.
If he had gone with his initial choice of making Xiao Hongchen the captain, the team would likely have been in chaos by now.
It wasn't just Xiao Hongchen, Ye Guyi and Meng Hongchen were relatively obedient, but Xue Nu and Gu Yuena were highly independent, even domineering.
They expected others to accommodate them, not the other way around.
As for Liuying, she seemed gentle, soft-spoken, and delicate on the surface.
But in reality, she was even more self-centered than Xue Nu and Gu Yuena.
During battle, she fought with a wild, reckless abandon, completely disregarding her teammates, except for Liuxing.