The match had yet to officially begin, and in the resting area, Mu Yang was observing the participating academy teams from the Star Luo Empire division.
"Five Rings?"
Suddenly, Mu Yang's gaze landed on a golden-haired young man in the Star Luo Royal Academy battle team's resting area, whose appearance bore a seventy percent resemblance to Dai Mubai.
Perhaps to gather intelligence on their opponents, the three seeded teams—who did not need to participate in the first round—had all come to the arena.
Judging purely from the soul power aura emanating from him, Davis's soul power level had already reached the five-ring Soul King stage.
"Tch~. Dai Mubai is done for."
Glancing at Dai Mubai in the Shrek Team's resting area, Mu Yang couldn't help but think to himself.
If this were the same period as in the original story, where the entire Shrek Seven Devils had reached the four-ring level, then facing Davis—who had stepped into the five-ring stage—and the Star Luo Royal Academy battle team, they might still have a chance to win.
But looking at Shrek Team's current strength, they had absolutely no chance.
After all, with Tang San and Xiao Wu missing from the competition, Dai Mubai was now the only four-ring Soul Ancestor in the entire Shrek Team. The rest were all just three-ring Soul Elders—completely outmatched compared to the Star Luo Royal Academy battle team.
However, Dai Mubai's situation had nothing to do with him. Mu Yang quickly shifted his gaze away and turned to the resting area of the Spirit Hall battle team.
"All at level 54?"
Carefully sensing the soul power levels of Spirit Hall's 'Golden Generation' trio, Mu Yang couldn't help but be surprised.
If he remembered correctly, in the original story, during the Soul Master Tournament, the three members of the Golden Generation were only at level 52, with Xie Yue and Yan at 52 and Hu Liena at 51. Now, Xie Yue and Yan had gained two levels, while Hu Liena had even jumped up by three.
With two level 54 Soul Kings combining their Martial Souls into a fusion skill, plus both of them possessing at least one soul ring beyond the age limit for their fifth rings, their Martial Soul Fusion Skill Demonic Charm could definitely reach the level of a seven-ring Soul Sage.
With this kind of power in a tournament restricted to soul masters under 25 years old, they would be practically unstoppable.
And it wasn't just the Golden Generation trio that had shown notable improvement—the rest of the Spirit Hall team was also incredibly strong. Even their weakest member was above level 45, and they even had a level 49 Soul Ancestor.
Unfortunately, this year's Soul Master Tournament finals were destined not to be a stage dominated by Spirit Hall alone.
While Mu Yang was observing others, there were also people studying the various participating academy teams.
Coincidentally, this year's Blazing Battle Team was quite formidable. Not only did all their main members surpass level 40, but they also had three five-ring Soul Kings—making them strong contenders for the championship.
And sure enough, just as Mu Yang was about to withdraw his gaze, he met the eyes of the Golden Generation trio from Spirit Hall.
"Not white-haired? Disappointing~!"
Automatically skipping over the silver-haired guy and the red-haired bootlicker, Mu Yang playfully gave a mocking rating to a certain orange-haired fox in his mind.
The finals did not have the kind of grand opening ceremony one might expect. Everything was kept simple. A red-clothed bishop from Spirit Hall took the stage, announced the start of the finals, and simultaneously revealed the matchups for the first round, including which teams had received a bye.
Soon, under the referee's guidance, the first match of the finals officially began.
Although all the teams that made it to the finals could no longer be described as weaklings pecking at each other, to Mu Yang, the two teams on stage were barely stronger than that. It was hard to get excited about watching them.
Half an hour later—
"Finals, Round One, Match Four: Blazing Academy versus Thunderclap Academy. Both teams, please take the stage!"
Upon the referee's announcement, Mu Yang straightened his back and confidently led the Blazing Battle Team onto the competition platform.
By the time they reached the finals, Mu Yang had stopped allowing the three substitute members to play. Only the main team would take the stage.
Unless some unforeseen situation arose, the three substitutes were essentially just cheerleaders for the rest of the tournament.
On the spacious competition platform, compared to the Blazing Battle Team, who stood tall with confidence, the Thunderclap Battle Team looked dispirited and unmotivated.
They had no choice—Blazing Battle Team's strength was something they had already experienced firsthand during the qualifiers. Whether or not they could win the championship was one thing, but against them, the outcome was already certain.
They wouldn't even need to go all out. Just Huo Wu or Huo Wushuang alone could probably take on all seven of them.
Huo Wu's third soul skill, Repelling Fire Ring, was not only an instant-cast ability but also had a wide area of effect—an absolute god-tier skill in arena battles.
As for Huo Wushuang's Crimson Flame Crystal Dragon martial soul, aside from their captain Yu Tianxin, who possessed the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon martial soul, every other beast martial soul user in Thunderclap Battle Team would suffer varying degrees of suppression. If they could still unleash 60-70% of their full strength, they could already be considered elite among their generation.
In short, for Thunderclap Battle Team, drawing Blazing Battle Team in the first round of the finals meant their tournament journey would end in a single day.
As both teams reached the center of the platform, the referee declared, "Both teams, release your martial souls. The match is about to begin."
In an instant, Beast Souls possessed their users, Tool Souls materialized, and the arena lit up with dazzling rings of yellow, purple, and black.
Of course, the black ten-thousand-year soul rings only appeared in the ranks of Blazing Battle Team. The highest level among Thunderclap Battle Team's seven members was merely at the four-ring Soul Ancestor stage—they had no ten-thousand-year soul rings.
—Spirit Hall Battle Team Resting Area—
"Ten-thousand-year fourth soul rings… I wonder how they managed to obtain them."
Watching as Mu Yang, Huo Wu, and Huo Wushuang all displayed two ten-thousand-year soul rings each, Hu Liena couldn't help but sigh in amazement.
Since she was a spiritual-type soul master, Hu Liena had always felt that by the time she broke through to level 40, her spiritual power wasn't far off from an average level 50 battle soul master. Combined with the physical enhancements from consuming whale gelatin, in theory, she should have been able to withstand the attachment of a ten-thousand-year fourth soul ring.
However, since her Demonic Fox martial soul followed a spiritual control path, her hunting targets naturally had to be spiritual-type soul beasts.
At the same level, spiritual-type soul beasts possessed far stronger mental power than most non-spiritual soul beasts. This meant that to resist the soul beast's lingering will and the resulting mental shock, the soul master needed even greater spiritual strength.
Because of this, Hu Liena hadn't dared to take the risk. Though her fourth soul ring exceeded the typical age limit, it did not quite reach ten thousand years, appearing as a deep purple with hints of black—just over nine thousand years old.
Still, her cautious decision had led to an unexpected gain. During the hunt for a nine-thousand-year-old Three-Eyed Demon Fox, she had obtained an exceptionally rare treasure.
"Don't worry, Nana. The championship title is definitely ours!"
At that moment, Yan, standing beside her, spoke up.
"That's right! With that trump card in our hands, we fear no one!"
Xie Yue added with unwavering confidence.
"Mhm."
Hu Liena nodded slightly.
Indeed, with their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, even if their opponents had more than one five-ring Soul King, Spirit Hall Battle Team feared no challenge.
The championship reward—those three soul bones—would undoubtedly belong to the three of them!
Only then could they live up to their teacher's expectations.
For additional chapters
Versatile mage {40 chapters}
Douluo Dalu:This Soul Master is to Weird {30 Chapters}
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