After the entire preliminary round concluded, there was a full month of rest time. Yu Xiaogang planned to organize everyone for intensive training. It seemed everyone respected this, especially Yu Tianheng, who almost deferred to Yu Xiaogang in everything.
However, Yang Xiong directly requested a month's leave from Yu Xiaogang, mainly stating that he had encountered a bottleneck in his cultivation and wanted to go into seclusion. Initially, Yu Xiaogang had some reservations, but Tang San had already requested leave for the same reason, so it was impossible to show favoritism. In the end, he had no choice but to agree.
The entire preliminary round was a significant blow to Tang San. He originally thought his talent was unparalleled, but his performance in the preliminary round was not satisfactory.
Many people had conducted some research on Tang San's Blue Silver Grass and devised quite a few methods to counter it, especially using Fire attribute Soul Masters. Blue Silver Grass was basically quickly burned to ashes upon encountering fire, disrupting both formations and tactics.
It could be said that the Shrek team stumbled through the entire preliminary round. Even though their average soul power level was the highest in the Heaven Dou Area, they didn't gain any advantage in strong matchups. Their crushing defeats against the Divine Wind Academy and Heavenly Water Academy teams, in particular, caused Tang San to lose face completely.
Compared to Tang San, Yang Xiong had also been contemplating various issues recently, especially regarding his future development. So, he simply requested leave to return to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and planned to go into seclusion for cultivation.
Of course, the Shrek team had another issue. Currently, the entire team had three Soul Masters at level thirty-nine. It was possible they could break through again in a short period, and by the time the finals arrived, their strength would increase significantly.
Originally, according to Yang Xiong's plan, all his Soul Rings would absorb Strength-type Soul Rings, and he would extend from this aspect. All his Soul Rings would possess the Five Elements of Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, and finally add some high-level attributes like Space, Light, Darkness, and so on.
But after going to the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well again this time, Yang Xiong felt that he had underestimated the method of Five Elements Soul Rings and also underestimated the power of Body Martial Souls.
Although he had completely absorbed the two Silver Horn Tyrant Dragon External Soul Bones this time and even gained quite a bit, Yang Xiong always felt that this world was not as simple as he imagined. His pair of claws seemed to represent some kind of power, especially that unexpected sensation at the Ice Fire Yin Yang Well.
And the Body Martial Soul was even more profound than he had imagined. Since the Martial Soul was his own body, and everyone's body contained infinite potential, it was completely different from ordinary Martial Souls.
For example, it was very difficult for ordinary Martial Souls to change form, and even more difficult to evolve. But Body Martial Souls seemed to be getting stronger every moment. From awakening at the age of six to now at fourteen, the originally very weak Martial Soul had gradually become comparable to top-tier Martial Souls after Yang Xiong's diligent training and significant investment in body refinement.
And the changes in his pair of Dragon Claws could prove the terrifying plasticity of Body Martial Souls. In particular, Body Martial Souls encompassed a vast amount of content: skin, blood, muscles, bones, bone marrow, pores, and even hair. These were all part of the Martial Soul, and each part seemed to have the potential for development and awakening.
One must know that in later generations, Body Martial Souls were extremely rare and equally powerful, like an opportunity bestowed by heaven.
And Body Martial Souls were also known as the Martial Souls with the highest compatibility between body and Martial Soul. One must know that in the entire Douluo world, only the three ultimate Douluo could perfectly integrate their bodies and Martial Souls, but Body Martial Souls could achieve this realm without any cultivation, which was a miracle.
And a full-body Body Martial Soul had another great advantage, which was that both the eyes and the brain were part of the Martial Soul. With body refinement and growth, spiritual power also grew very rapidly, which could be said to far exceed Soul Masters of the same level.
In the following month, Yang Xiong went into seclusion for meditation, contemplating the development and changes of his Martial Soul, as well as his plans for the future, and even some subsequent strategies.
According to the current situation, going to Spirit City this time was probably unstoppable, but what role should he play? Should he let Spirit Hall win the championship and reach the peak of their power to dominate the world, or should he truly fight a good battle?
After two years of getting along, Yang Xiong had some feelings for the Shrek team. Although his relationship with Tang San, Xiao Wu, Dai Mubai, and others was not deep, and these people each had their flaws, it had not reached the point of mutual hatred.
Especially Tang San, although his behavior was somewhat extreme, and he was a little bit double-standard, he was far from being as disgusting as he was in later generations. It could only be said that power inflated people and distorted human nature. Perhaps this was the influence of the martial arts world on people's hearts.
...
Time flew by, and soon a month had passed. The Promotion Tournament was also about to begin.
After this month of seclusion, Yang Xiong felt as if he had reacquainted himself with his Body Martial Soul. His entire body and mind became incredibly clear, and things he couldn't figure out before were now much clearer.
One of the biggest gains was that his Purple Demon Eyes had finally cultivated to the peak of the Minute Observation realm. It could be said that in terms of spiritual power, he had surpassed Tang San, but there was still a considerable gap from the third realm, Mustard Seed. To reach the Mustard Seed realm, spiritual power needed to undergo a qualitative change and be released externally. According to estimates, it would probably require reaching the Soul Saint level to achieve this. Of course, if he had a head Soul Bone, it should be possible to significantly advance this.
The entire Shrek team seemed to have undergone some changes. Liu Erlong and Xiao Wu seemed to have become closer, and the biggest change was Tang San.
Tang San had actually broken through to the Soul Ancestor realm within this month, and he had even absorbed his fourth Soul Ring, reaching soul power level forty-one.
According to Ning Rongrong, Tang San's fourth Soul Ring was from a six-thousand-year-old Man-Faced Demon Spider, absorbed beyond the Soul Ring's age limit. The soul skill was called Spider Web Restraint, which was a good control-type soul skill. He could use Blue Silver Grass to form a huge spider web to trap enemies. It could control individuals and also groups, depending on his personal use.
However, this Man-Faced Demon Spider did not give Tang San an External Soul Bone. Yang Xiong felt that Tang San's Blue Silver Grass seemed to have become much tougher, but its weaknesses were still obvious.
If the preliminary round was a test of team coordination, then the Promotion Tournament was a pure test of individual ability.
The Promotion Tournament was held on the training grounds outside Heaven Dou City, surrounded by tens of thousands of troops. It was also a completely closed competition. Besides the relevant participants, only some high-ranking officials and nobles of the empire could attend. It was not open to ordinary people.
The lineup for the promotion tournament was still arranged by Tang San. It was clear that Yu Xiaogang had put in a lot of effort to cultivate Tang San, to the point where his favoritism was obvious. At least Dugu Yan, who was also a control-type Soul Master, didn't receive such treatment.
Whether intentional or not, Yang Xiong was always arranged as the seventh player in every match, serving as the team's final trump card. This basically ensured that the team wouldn't lose.
Compared to their stumbling performance in the preliminary rounds, the Shrek team's performance in the promotion tournament was excellent, practically crushing their opponents.
The entire Heaven Dou Royal Academy Shrek Team had six Soul Ancestors. In particular, Yu Tianheng, Dai Mubai, Dugu Yan, and Tang San were extremely powerful in combat and could basically perform impressive one-against-many feats.
Half a month passed quickly. There were no major upsets in the promotion tournament. The Shrek team unsurprisingly ranked first. Both Yu Tianheng and Tang San performed exceptionally well.
Yang Xiong was very casual about the lineup arrangements and didn't care if he played or not. After all, the promotion tournament was more like a selection process for talents by nobles and sects, which held no meaning for him.
Compared to Yang Xiong, who didn't participate in any matches from start to finish, Tang San was definitely the most dazzling presence in the entire promotion tournament, either being arranged as the first player or the third.
There were a total of fifteen teams in the promotion tournament from the entire Heaven Dou Empire. Besides the five teams from the Heaven Dou Area, the teams from other areas were relatively weaker. Tang San and a few others repeatedly achieved one-versus-three or one-versus-four victories, their formidable combat power astonishing everyone.
The most exciting battle in the entire promotion tournament was Tang San against Feng Xiaotian. Unfortunately, even though Tang San gave his all, he ultimately lost to Feng Xiaotian, despite revealing his Mantis Leg External Soul Bone in that battle.
But the Blue Silver Grass was ultimately too fragile, and the Clear Sky Hammer had no Soul Rings.
After a bitter struggle, Tang San's body finally couldn't hold on and he ultimately fell to Feng Xiaotian's Gale Wolf Thirty-Six Consecutive Slashes.
Tang San's confidence was once again dealt a blow, but in comparison, Tang San's talent and opportunities were even more valued by Salas and others.
However, although Feng Xiaotian won the individual battle against Tang San, both of them were only the first to fight. Feng Xiaotian himself was also greatly exhausted, and the other members of Divine Wind Academy did not have Feng Xiaotian's combat power. The team was quickly defeated by the Shrek team, not even requiring Yang Xiong to make a move.
It was clear that Feng Xiaotian was quite frustrated. No matter how strong his individual ability was, it couldn't compete with the sheer number of Shrek Soul Ancestors.
Tang San's performance also attracted the attention of those with ulterior motives, especially the host of the tournament, Spirit Hall's Platinum Bishop Salas.
From every perspective, with his Twin Martial Souls and External Soul Bone, Tang San would likely be Spirit Hall's number one enemy in the future.
But neither Tang San nor Yu Xiaogang seemed to understand the undercurrents at play. Of course, Yang Xiong cared even less about such things.
Yang Xiong carefully observed this match. Tang San's Tang Sect techniques were indeed very good, especially the Mystic Jade Hand and Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. The Mystic Jade Hand allowed Tang San to directly block Feng Xiaotian's ordinary wind blades with his bare hands, while the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track allowed Tang San to contend with Feng Xiaotian in terms of speed.
However, Yang Xiong was also very clear that the foundation of all Tang Sect techniques was actually the Mystic Heaven Skill. Without the Mystic Heaven Skill as a base, cultivating other techniques would be much slower, and it would be even more difficult for the Purple Demon Eyes to reach a higher realm.
Ning Rongrong had also cultivated the Purple Demon Eyes for over a year. Although she had entered the Minute Observation realm, her cultivation speed had significantly slowed down after that, at least not showing the same talent and speed as when she first started learning.
However, Yang Xiong felt that his Yin-Yang Meditation Method seemed to have a complementary effect with the Purple Demon Eyes. Both the Yin-Yang Meditation Method and the Mystic Heaven Skill originated from Taoism. In terms of level, the Yin-Yang Meditation Method seemed to be more profound and extensive, basically the foundation of everything in Taoism, just like the source of all techniques.
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