Chapter 297: Five Great Element Academies, Blazing Academy
Xiao Wu rubbed against Lin Qingmo's embrace for a long time before reluctantly letting go of him.
At this moment, Xiao Wu's nose gently twitched.
She was a transformed hundred-thousand-year Soft Bone Rabbit, and her sensitivity to scents far surpassed that of ordinary soul masters.
She clearly smelled it on Lin Qingmo's body; besides his own unique scent, there was also a faint, cold trace of a woman's scent, mixed with the fragrance of violets.
!!!
She had a very deep impression of this scent.
It was Ah Qing's teacher!
A trace of slight jealousy appeared in Xiao Wu's heart, along with a hint of helplessness.
Ah Qing really had been staying with that woman again.
She secretly planned that when they returned tonight, she would definitely completely remove this trace of scent from Ah Qing's body, leaving not even the slightest bit behind.
Inside the training field, the reactions of the others varied.
Yu Feng leaned against a pillar, curled his lips, and muttered quietly, "Tch, he only went out for a while and came back. Is there a need to be so clingy?"
Liu Erlong swept her gaze across the scene, a smile appearing at the corner of her lips.
She cleared her throat and coughed lightly twice, interrupting the commotion inside the training field.
Everyone turned toward Liu Erlong, and the training field instantly quieted down.
"Alright, you'll have plenty of time to catch up later."
Liu Erlong walked to the center of the training field and stood there, her tone becoming extremely serious.
"I called all of you here today because there is a very important matter I need to announce."
She swept her gaze across everyone present and said word by word:
"Three days later, our Heaven Dou Academy's Royal Fighting Team will have an official exchange match with Blazing Academy."
The moment these words fell, everyone in the training field froze.
Expressions of surprise appeared on each of their faces.
Blazing Academy?
The Blazing Academy, one of the Five Great Element Academies?
Why would they suddenly have an exchange match with Blazing Academy out of nowhere?
"Blazing Academy? The one from the Five Great Element Academies?"
Ning Rongrong was the first to regain her senses. She cried out in surprise, her face filled with disbelief.
"Teacher Erlong, why are we having an exchange match with them?"
"That's right. It is the Blazing Academy from the Five Great Element Academies."
Liu Erlong nodded, then dropped even heavier news.
"In this exchange match, Emperor Xue Ye of the Heaven Dou Empire will personally attend and watch."
The moment these words fell, the entire training field became completely silent.
Everyone's faces revealed shocked expressions.
Emperor Xue Ye!
As the ruler of an entire empire, he was actually going to personally come watch an exchange match between academies?
"Emperor Xue Ye will personally watch?"
Zhu Zhuqing frowned slightly, her voice carrying a trace of seriousness.
"Blazing Academy is one of the academies with the strongest offensive power among the Five Great Element Academies."
"All of their students possess fire attribute martial souls and follow an extreme attack style. The explosive power of their soul skills far surpasses that of soul masters of the same level."
"In the previous Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament, they consistently reached the semifinals or finals. Their strength cannot be underestimated."
Her words brought everyone present back to their senses.
The Five Great Element Academies are the top five advanced soul master academies on the continent.
They correspond to the five major elements: fire, water, wind, earth, and lightning.
Each academy possesses its own unique inheritance.
The strength of their students far surpasses that of students from ordinary advanced soul master academies.
And among these, Blazing Academy is especially famous for its offensive power.
Their students all possess fire-attribute martial souls.
They follow an extreme path focused on ultimate offense.
Every soul skill seeks maximum destructive power, and their combat style is extremely fierce.
Dugu Yan frowned, her tone carrying a trace of confusion. "There's still an entire year before the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament. Even if it's a warm-up match, isn't this too early?"
"Exactly! And it even alarmed Emperor Xue Ye!"
Ning Rongrong hurriedly nodded in agreement.
"As the ruler of an empire, he deals with countless affairs daily. How would he have time to watch an exchange match between our two academies? Could there be something hidden behind this?"
"I think there's definitely something going on here."
Yu Feng crossed his arms, his tone tinged with vigilance.
Even Yu Feng sensed that something was off.
"Could it be related to the changes in our Royal Fighting Team?"
Ye Lingling said softly, awakening everyone present with her words.
Lin Qingmo stood at the side, gently rubbing his chin with his fingertips, remaining silent throughout.
Listening to everyone's questions, he had already sorted out the entire sequence of events in his mind.
He nodded slightly and expressed his judgment:
"The root of this exchange match is probably the changes in the original Royal Fighting Team."
Lin Qingmo's voice was calm, but his reasoning was flawless.
"The original Royal Fighting Team was the ace team personally cultivated by the Heaven Dou Empire's imperial family. It has always been the face of Heaven Dou Academy and was the designated team for the Heaven Dou Empire to participate in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament."
He swept his gaze across everyone and continued:
"Now, the captain of the original Royal Fighting Team, Yu Tianheng, along with Osler and the Shi brothers, have all left the team. The Royal Fighting Team has undergone a major overhaul."
"Our new team has been formed for less than three months and has never shown its true strength before the imperial family."
"Emperor Xue Ye naturally wants to see how capable this new Royal Fighting Team really is."
The moment Lin Qingmo finished, Liu Erlong immediately nodded, her expression approving.
"Qingmo is exactly right."
Her tone was serious.
"In short, this exchange match is a test arranged for us by Emperor Xue Ye."
"He wants to personally verify whether our newly formed Royal Fighting Team has the qualifications to represent the Heaven Dou Empire and participate in next year's Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament."
"The tournament has always been more than just a competition between academies."
Liu Erlong added:
"It's also a hidden contest of strength between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire, the two great empires."
"The Heaven Dou Empire will never allow a team of unknown strength to represent it."
"So, we must win this match."
"Not only must we win, but we must do so convincingly—leaving Emperor Xue Ye with nothing to criticize."
Lin Qingmo nodded slightly, no surprise on his face.
This kind of situation was entirely normal.
The imperial family would never make a losing investment.
Since they invested so many resources in the Royal Fighting Team, they naturally wanted to see a return on their investment.
This match was a test of their value.
Lin Qingmo himself was not particularly interested in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament.
Even if he won, the reward of three soul bones held little attraction for him.
After all, he possessed quite a few high-quality ten-thousand-year soul bones and didn't lack this small championship reward.
However, the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud in the hands of the Heaven Dou imperial family was extremely important to him.
He absolutely could not allow it to fall into Tang San's hands.
He had to find a way to obtain the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud.
And the key was first gaining access to this treasure; only then would he have the opportunity to get it.
"After this, I will organize all the detailed information on Blazing Academy's participating members and hand it over to you."
Liu Erlong's voice interrupted Lin Qingmo's thoughts.
She turned to him.
"Qingmo, as the current captain of the Royal Fighting Team, I leave this task to you. Lead everyone to study Blazing Academy's information thoroughly and develop countermeasures."
"The match three days from now will depend on your performance."
"Don't worry, Teacher Erlong. Just leave it to me."
Lin Qingmo raised his eyes, confidence shining in his tone.
He had no idea how they could lose, nor did he consider how to win—they only needed to avoid exposing the team's true strength.
End of Chapter