At the Heaven Dou Royal Academy!
Chen Yuan's gaze swept over Dugu Yan, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing before he smiled and said, "So, soon, Yan Yan and I will have to make another trip to retrieve the Crystal Blood Dragon Ginseng. Rongrong, Zhuqing, you two need to focus on your cultivation. If you don't reach the Soul King level, I won't dare let you take the second immortal herb."
Dugu Yan, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing all nodded in agreement, showing no objections to Chen Yuan's arrangements.
---
The days that followed were exceptionally comfortable for Chen Yuan. He was waited on hand and foot, with meals served and clothes laid out for him. Perhaps out of a sense of compensation, the care he received was meticulous.
About ten days later, the grand opening ceremony of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament arrived. Today was the day, and Chen Yuan, along with the three girls, decided to go and join in the excitement.
---
### Heaven Dou Grand Spirit Arena!
A month prior, the arena had been closed off for renovations. Now, it had been transformed into the venue for the preliminary rounds of the Heaven Dou Division. All advanced soul master academies within the Heaven Dou Empire would compete here for five qualifying spots.
The five academies that advanced from the preliminaries would then compete against the ten qualifying academies from the four kingdoms and one duchy in the晋级赛 (advancement rounds).
Finally, the fifteen academies from the Heaven Dou Empire, the fifteen from the Star Luo Empire, along with the directly advancing Heaven Dou Royal Team, Star Luo Royal Team, and the Spirit Hall Team—totaling thirty-three teams—would compete to determine the strongest team.
This was indeed a grand event for the entire continent, spanning several months, and the champion would gain immense fame.
However, Chen Yuan wasn't particularly interested…
---
### At the VIP Entrance!
Chen Yuan used his wealth to secure four VIP tickets, which was no difficult task for him.
Accompanied by Dugu Yan, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing, Chen Yuan walked through the VIP entrance under the envious gazes of onlookers and made his way to the VIP seats.
After finding their seats and settling in, Chen Yuan looked around at the packed, bustling arena and remarked with a smile, "It's really lively here."
Dugu Yan chuckled in response, "Even though it's just the preliminaries, the Soul Master Tournament is a once-in-five-years event. The population of Heaven Dou City has increased by fifty percent recently."
Chen Yuan smiled, but inwardly, he couldn't help but muse, 'In the original story, Tang San led Shrek Academy all the way to the finals and became the champion. But this time, they won't be so lucky. I really want to see how they'll fare against the Five Element Academies…'
---
Meanwhile, the very Shrek Academy that Chen Yuan was thinking about had just arrived outside the Heaven Dou Grand Spirit Arena, only to be met with a wave of mocking laughter.
"Look at that team! What are they wearing? It's so ugly, like they've been splattered with mud!"
"Yeah, how do they have the nerve to show up at the Soul Master Tournament? Are they here to be clowns?"
"And what's that on their backs? 'Advertising Space Available'? Hahaha! This is worth the ticket price alone—comedy before the battles even start!"
"..."
Amidst the laughter, the members of Shrek Academy—Dai Mubai, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, Tang San, Xiao Wu, and the former members of Blue Tyrant Academy—all hung their heads in shame and frustration. This was all arranged by Flender, and they had no choice but to comply.
Flender, dressed in casual clothes, stood beside Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong, who were also dressed normally. He spoke with an air of righteousness, "Don't pay attention to the noise around you. Right now, all they see are these uniforms. But once you prove your strength on the stage, they'll become your most loyal fans. Whatever you wear will become the trend. And personally, I think these uniforms look great."
At this, Ma Hongjun couldn't hold back his frustration and muttered, "If you think they're so great, why aren't you wearing them?"
Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong also thought the uniforms were hideous, but since it was Flender's idea and they didn't have to wear them, they hadn't objected. If Flender had tried to make them wear the uniforms, they would have never allowed it.
Flender, unfazed, replied with a sly grin, "Do you think we don't want to wear them? It's just that no one would pay attention to us if we did. Once you win on the stage and bring exposure to the academy, we'll be able to charge for advertising. When that happens, I'll wear the uniform with you."
In Flender's eyes, dignity was worthless. Only money mattered.
Hearing Flender's words, the students could only grit their teeth and continue walking forward, heads down.
---
However, as fate would have it, they soon ran into their old rivals, the Canghui Academy, and another conflict erupted.
Once again, the Canghui Academy's leader, Shi Nian, stepped in to stop the confrontation. But he wasn't doing it out of kindness. He had already planned how to secretly eliminate the Shrek Academy students to settle old scores and exact revenge.
The seeds of conflict planted by Shrek Academy in that small town outside the Star Dou Forest had now borne fruit.
And it wasn't just Shi Nian who had his eyes on Shrek Academy and Tang San. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and Xue Qinghe's subordinates were also watching closely. If not for the fact that Tang Hao's whereabouts were still unknown, Tang San would have already been sacrificed to the heavens.
But a Title Douluo lurking in the shadows was still a formidable deterrent, and no one dared to act rashly.
---
After this incident, the Shrek Academy team finally entered the Heaven Dou Grand Spirit Arena. From the rest area, they could see the packed stands and hear the roaring crowd.
While the others were preoccupied, Xiao Wu, the rabbit spirit, finally felt a wave of fear. There were too many people here, and many of them were powerful soul masters who might see through her true form.
As a 100,000-year spirit beast in human form, if she were exposed in such a setting, the consequences would be dire.
She would inevitably face relentless pursuit, with everyone wanting to claim her for her 100,000-year spirit ring and spirit bone. Such treasures could shake the entire soul master world.
She didn't know what had clouded her judgment, leading her to leave the remote wilderness and come to the densely populated Heaven Dou City to participate in this grand tournament filled with powerful soul masters.
It was as if she was willingly offering up her spirit ring and spirit bone, setting an example for all spirit beasts.
From another perspective, ever since she chose to take human form, her mind hadn't been clear.
What was her primary goal?
To take revenge on the Spirit Hall and Bibi Dong for killing her mother!
If that was her goal, she could have remained in the Star Dou Forest as the boss, with her two subordinates, Da Ming and Er Ming, and gathered a group of 50,000-year spirit beasts as her enforcers. She could have launched beast tides to attack the Spirit Hall or held her ground in the forest, killing any Spirit Hall members who dared to enter. Wouldn't that have been a better way to seek revenge?
But instead, she chose to take human form. Before obtaining her sixth spirit ring, she wasn't truly human. If killed, she would drop her spirit ring and spirit bone, allowing someone to become a Soul Sage. After reaching full maturity, she would become human, but in doing so, she would betray her spirit beast origins. For her seventh, eighth, and ninth spirit rings, aside from divine spirit rings, she would have to hunt spirit beasts to obtain them. This betrayal of her origins meant she could no longer lead spirit beasts in a war against the Spirit Hall.
Thus, taking human form was a foolish decision, driven solely by a twisted desire for a human-spirit beast romance…
(End of Chapter)
Word Count : 1,379
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