With a roar from the Frost Giant Bear, an astonishing wave of cold air erupted across the entire competition arena.
An Lengye's blue hair turned white, and even her eyes took on an icy, frosty hue. The cold wind in the air transformed into a massive icy tornado, sweeping toward Ye Guyi.
"What's this? A soul bone skill? I didn't expect that beauty on the other side to have a soul bone, and it's the rarest head soul bone at that."
Xiao Hongchen's eyes lit up. He had thought this would be a boring match, but it turned out to be full of surprises.
Liuxing and Liuying exchanged glances. Ye Guyi also had a soul bone, and hers was even rarer.
Facing the icy tornado, which carried the force of a Soul King-level attack, Ye Guyi flapped Heaven's Wings on her back.
A thick layer of white light spread out, colliding with the powerful icy tornado.
In the next moment, to An Lengye's disbelief, her full-powered icy tornado instantly shattered into countless ice crystals, dissipating into the air above the arena.
An Lengye's face turned pale as she stiffly looked down at the Angel's Holy Sword resting against her snow-white neck.
Ye Guyi had somehow appeared behind her and placed the sword at her throat.
"I surrender," An Lengye whispered, her lips trembling as she tasted the metallic tang of blood in her mouth. She spoke unwillingly.
Losing to a Soul Elder, and a girl at least five years younger than her, An Lengye felt her pride had been deeply wounded.
Even as she stepped off the arena, An Lengye remained in a daze. She couldn't understand how her icy tornado had been broken so easily.
Ye Guyi stood in the arena, holding her sword, and took out a bottle-shaped soul tool to replenish her soul power.
This was a recovery Bottle, a recovery-type soul tool. As a member of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, she was never short of such tools.
"Sister An, leave it to me. I'll avenge you," said a red-haired girl with cute twin tails from the Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Master Academy team. She grabbed An Lengye's hand to comfort her.
"Don't push yourself. Preserving your strength is the most important thing. Our goal isn't to defeat the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy but to secure a spot in the next round," the team's instructor said sternly.
"Got it," the red-haired twin-tailed girl said, sticking out her tongue before walking onto the arena.
"Little sister, even though you hurt Sister An, I'll still go easy on you. Oh, by the way, my name is Fei Yuyan. It's a nice name, right?" Fei Yuyan said, placing her hands on her hips and looking at Ye Guyi with a friendly demeanor.
Ye Guyi looked at Fei Yuyan and, for a moment, saw a bit of Xu Tianzhen in her.
Instantly, she felt a slight fondness for this lively and cute older sister.
As the referee announced the start of the match, Fei Yuyan summoned a fierce crimson tiger.
This was her soul, the Blazing Flame Tiger. Unlike An Lengye, she didn't use soul possession but instead summoned a simulated soul form.
Looking at the fierce Blazing Flame Tiger and recalling An Lengye's Frost Giant Bear, Liuxing began to understand why the two girls had chosen to use soul simulation.
Two delicate and beautiful girls, yet their souls were a ferocious bear and a tiger. If they had used soul possession, it would have been quite a sight.
Fei Yuyan was also a four-ringed Soul Ancestor, a fire-type control soul master. Unfortunately, compared to An Lengye, her strength was slightly weaker.
As Ye Guyi activated the soul skill attached to her Angel's Holy Sword, the Holy Spirit Slash, a massive platinum holy sword cleaved through the flames in front of her, bringing the match to an end.
Fei Yuyan could only walk off the arena with her head hanging low.
The third member from the Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Master Academy to step onto the arena was their captain, Shen Ce, a Soul King with the Thousand Strike Spear soul. Although Shen Ce's fifth soul ring was only purple, it was still beyond what Ye Guyi, who had already fought two matches and expended a significant amount of soul power, could handle.
After Ye Guyi's defeat, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy sent out Michael to face Shen Ce.
Despite Shen Ce's strong attack power and speed, he was ultimately defeated by Michael's barrage of soul cannon fire.
Even so, Michael nearly lost. If it weren't for his soul armor protecting him, he might have been defeated by Shen Ce's fifth soul skill, Thousand Strikes Splitting the Sky.
After all, Shen Ce was the captain of the Thousand Spirits Academy.
Compared to Michael and the others, he wasn't far behind in strength.
Once he reached the Soul Sage level, Michael and the others at the same level would no longer be a match for him.
Soul engineers only had the advantage in the early stages, relying on their soul tools to overpower others.
Once soul masters reached the Soul Sage level, the advantage of soul engineers would disappear entirely.
With Shen Ce's defeat, the Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Master Academy conceded the match.
Their remaining four team members were all defense-type soul masters.
Facing the soul engineers of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, they would only be target practice, so there was no point in humiliating themselves further.
After defeating the Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Master Academy, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy concluded the first round of the group stage.
With their first victory in the group stage, they accumulated two points and temporarily took the lead in their group.
...
The group stage matches were held every other day, and their next match was in two days.
In those two days, the first round of the group stage had concluded. Compared to the elimination rounds, the group stage was much more relaxed.
The various academies adjusted their strategies, and since losing one match in the group stage didn't mean elimination, the teams no longer fought with everything they had. Instead, they began to conserve their strength.
The first round of the elimination stage had still affected the group stage.
Teams whose main members were injured used this first round of the group stage to adjust their overall condition.
Therefore, in summary, the first round of the group stage wasn't particularly exciting. It wasn't yet the time for teams to reveal their full strength.
But those with a keen eye could see that this was just the calm before the storm.
As the group stage progressed, the intensity would undoubtedly match that of the elimination rounds.
At night, Elder Ma gathered everyone.
"Elder Ma, what's the matter at this late hour?"
Xiao Hongchen asked, puzzled.
Tomorrow was their second round of the competition. Although they didn't need to participate, they had been conserving their energy.
Why were they being summoned so late instead of resting? Moreover, even Ma Rulong and others who needed to compete were present.
Elder Ma smiled and said, "To prevent you all from being too tense, I'm taking you out to relax."
Relax?
Although somewhat confused, they still followed Elder Ma out of the Star Emperor Grand Hotel. After all, Elder Ma was their team leader, and they trusted him.
Since the start of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Combat Tournament, the originally spacious Star Luo City had become crowded.
Amid the bustling crowd, their progress was slow, especially on the streets near Star Luo Square, where it was always crowded.
Fortunately, Elder Ma was very familiar with the area and quickly led them through several streets to an inconspicuous building.
Compared to the tall buildings nearby, this one was much smaller. Above the main entrance hung a signboard with a hammer pattern adorned with golden lines.
So it was an auction house!
Seeing this pattern, Liuxing and the others suddenly understood.
They were no strangers to auction houses, as they often visited them in Mingdu to gain experience and join in the excitement.
They also hoped to find some good items.
"This is the Star Light Auction House, established by the Star Luo Imperial Family. Although most of the items auctioned are soul tools, occasionally they auction some precious natural treasures, even soul bones. During this period, there's a high chance that rare treasures will appear. If there's anything you need, the academy can help you purchase it."
Elder Ma said with a smile. Before coming out, Jing Hongchen had instructed him to take Liuxing and the others to the auction house, preferably to buy something, with the academy covering the costs.
Liuxing and the others' talents were undeniable.
The academy couldn't teach them much, so they could only provide resources. Thus, today's expenses were all on the academy.
Hearing that the academy was footing the bill, Liuxing and the others immediately perked up. Even if they weren't short on money, getting something for free was always a thrill.
Of course, it wasn't entirely free. After all, it was a favor from the academy. But since they were students of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, what did it matter if they owed a favor?
Those who were stubborn and refused everything made it hard for the academy to trust them.
Without any personal ties to the academy, such people might cut ties after graduation, making their cultivation meaningless.
Therefore, Liuxing and the others didn't refuse the academy's goodwill.
They even decided to buy a couple of items even if there was nothing they particularly wanted at the auction.
Although the Star Light Auction House looked unremarkable from the outside, its interior was a different world, it was built underground.
Under Elder Ma's guidance, they descended about twenty meters underground before reaching the registration and reception area.
Here, Liuxing also saw people from other academies, even from Shrek Academy.
All the members of Shrek Academy's reserve team were present, except for the blue-pink-haired boy Wang Dong, who could perform a soul fusion with Huo Yuhao.
As for the three main team members, since Liuxing had noticed they were injured, he knew they wouldn't appear until they recovered.
Of course, he only briefly paid attention to Shrek Academy and had no intention of approaching them. After all, they were long-standing rivals, and it was hard to get along.
After Elder Ma completed the formalities and handed each of them a token, they were led by a red-clad hostess towards the auction hall.
The passage to the auction house was lavishly decorated, even more luxurious than the Star Emperor Grand Hotel where they were staying.
As expected of an auction house established by the Star Luo Imperial Family, it was indeed extravagant.
Entering the auction hall, the light dimmed slightly. After receiving masks from the staff and putting them on, they were led by the red-clad hostess into the auction hall.
This was just a small auction, and everyone sat in the main hall without any private rooms.
However, the hall was furnished with over two hundred luxurious sofas, far from shabby.
The hall was already eighty percent full. Liuxing and the others sat together, ordered some drinks, and waited for the auction to begin.
"Welcome, distinguished guests, to the Star Light Auction House. Our auction is about to begin."
They didn't have to wait long before a melodious voice announced the start.