Amidst the deafening, mountain-and-sea-like cheers of the audience, the seven contestants from both sides simultaneously ascended the competition stage, facing each other from afar.
In an instant, a dragon's roar suddenly echoed, and a gentle green breeze softly caressed the entire arena like a thin veil.
Within this agile current of air, Dan Heng's figure appeared at the center of the competition arena.
His expression serene, he calmly stated, "I am Dan Heng, serving as the referee for this Soul Master Tournament. Both sides, prepare yourselves."
As Dan Heng's calm voice faded, the teams, who had been standing at opposite ends, quickly moved to the center of the competition stage, standing face-to-face.
When the contestants from Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy saw the seven members of St. Freya Academy, their eyes involuntarily showed admiration.
There was no helping it; the seven members of St. Freya Academy were all remarkably handsome men with extraordinary temperaments, and beautiful, charming women. Every single one of them possessed strikingly high attractiveness.
In comparison, the members of Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy instantly appeared dull and lackluster in terms of appearance and aura when standing next to the seven from St. Freya Academy.
And when their gazes focused on Robin, a surge of awe filled their hearts.
They vaguely understood why the audience was so fervent.
Robin's unique aura, which made people instinctively want to approach her, coupled with her gentle smile, her breathtakingly beautiful face, her celebrity status, and her consistently upheld noble philosophy of aiding the weak, made it no wonder that she had gained the recognition and affection of most commoners in the Star Luo Empire within just a few short years.
"First round of elimination, team battle. Soul tools can be used during the match, but once one side concedes, the other side may not launch further attacks. Is that clear?"
Dan Heng's tone remained calm, his face devoid of any extra expression, completely professional and businesslike.
"Understood!" Both teams responded in unison, nodding simultaneously.
"Good. Retreat and create distance. Listen for my command!" Dan Heng was concise and to the point.
In the blink of an eye, both sides quickly retreated, creating a distance of over a hundred meters.
The members of Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy were well-trained and quickly formed a formation. From their positions, it was a very traditional three-two-one formation.
The three in the front were clearly the main force for offense and defense, the two in the middle were likely agility-type soul masters skilled in speed, and the last two were undoubtedly support and control-type soul masters.
With offense, defense, speed, control, and support, it could be said that Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy's team was very well-rounded.
However, looking at St. Freya Academy's side, Lu Jingming and the seven others' positions seemed unusually casual, without any common team battle formation.
Seeing that both sides were ready, Dan Heng, standing in the center of the arena, slowly raised his right hand.
At this moment, the entire audience stand instantly fell silent. Everyone held their breath, their eyes fixed intently on the competition stage, afraid to miss any exciting moment.
That tense yet expectant atmosphere instantly enveloped the entire arena.
Not only the people in the audience stands, but also the dense crowds along the coastline, and countless spectators within Abyss City watching the projected screens, were all intently focused on this moment.
After all, this was the first match of the 2024 Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament, a significant opening match. How could such an important event not fill people with anticipation?
"The match begins!" Under the gaze of countless eyes, Dan Heng's calm yet penetrating voice spread to every corner of the arena.
As Dan Heng's words just fell, both teams released their soul rings almost simultaneously.
For a moment, various colored lights intertwined and shone, illuminating the entire arena like a dream world.
Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy's strength was indeed not to be underestimated, with five Soul Sects and two Soul Elders among them.
Such strength could firmly be considered mid-level among the over one hundred participating teams.
For many soul masters, reaching the Soul Sect level before the age of twenty was already a remarkable achievement.
However, at this moment, everyone's attention was completely diverted from the members of Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy.
All their gazes, as if drawn by an invisible force, were collectively concentrated on the seven members of St. Freya Academy.
A blood-red light instantly illuminated the entire arena, dazzling and shocking, also reflecting the pale faces of the seven members of Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy's team, due to their shock.
All seven members of St. Freya Academy were actually Soul Kings!
But this wasn't the most shocking part. The most important thing was that each of their soul ring configurations completely defied common understanding, practically going against all logic.
"Th-this, how is this possible?"
"How did they do it?"
On the spectator stands, an uproar of exclamations erupted.
Because what appeared before them was the St. Freya Academy's seven members' incredibly unbelievable soul ring configuration.
Lu Jingming's soul rings were two purple, two black, and one red. Such a terrifying combination was already astonishing.
As for Robin and the others, although their soul ring configuration couldn't compare to Lu Jingming's, it was also an incredibly strong combination of two purple and three black, which was extremely rare in the entire soul master world.
"This is impossible!" In the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy's lounge, Xiao Hongchen's forehead throbbed with bulging veins. His right hand clenched the armrest tightly, the veins on the back of his hand protruding due to the force.
He stared intently at Lu Jingming and the others on the competition stage, his eyes filled with disbelief.
At the same age and both being five-ringed Soul Kings, his soul ring configuration was vastly inferior to theirs.
This meant that in terms of physical quality, spiritual strength, and soul skill power, he was far inferior to those seven monster-like beings on the stage.
This made Xiao Hongchen, who had always been arrogant and considered himself the most outstanding genius of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, temporarily unable to accept this cruel reality.
But the truth was right before his eyes, leaving him no room for disbelief.
"So handsome!" Meng Hongchen's eyes sparkled like little stars. Her gaze was currently fixed on the most attention-grabbing person on the entire field—Lu Jingming.
In her eyes, even the shocking hundred-thousand-year soul ring wasn't as attractive as Lu Jingming's handsome face.
Hearing Meng Hongchen's words, Xiao Hongchen's face instantly darkened further. He spread his five fingers and fiercely gripped Meng Hongchen's head, single-handedly suppressing his infatuated younger sister, leading to a momentarily chaotic scene.
"How is this possible? With this kind of soul ring configuration, are all of them twin martial souls? But even twin martial souls couldn't achieve this level!"
In Shrek Academy's lounge, Wang Yan's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief.
As a theoretical soul master specializing in martial soul research, he understood better than anyone how difficult it was to absorb soul rings beyond one's rank.
Even twin martial souls, whose physical qualities were naturally stronger than ordinary soul masters, could never have such an outrageous soul ring configuration.
Moreover, all members of St. Freya Academy possessed such terrifying configurations.
Therefore, there could only be one conclusion: St. Freya Academy must possess a secret method to increase the age of soul rings.
Secret methods for increasing soul ring age actually existed in many factions, and Shrek Academy was no exception.
However, the cost involved was often too great, often outweighing the benefits, so very few factions would readily use it.
But St. Freya Academy was completely different. Not only did they have this secret method, but they actually dared to use it on their students on a large scale.
This made many people inwardly sigh, marveling at St. Freya Academy's immense wealth and unimaginably profound heritage.
For the first opening match, Lu Jingming had no intention of holding back.
One could only say that the people from Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy had exceptionally bad luck, drawing St. Freya Academy for their first match.
Lu Jingming's expression was calm. He slowly extended his left hand, pressing it virtually downwards towards the seven members of Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy, and calmly spoke, "Eight million divine might, illuminate my being—this world, all shall be my subjects!"
"Kneel before me!"
As his voice fell, an invisible, terrifying gravitational force instantly enveloped the seven members of Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy.
Their faces instantly turned ashen. Under the immense gravitational suppression, their legs gave way, and their bodies uncontrollably collapsed onto all fours, kneeling heavily on the ground.
It could be clearly seen that in the area where they stood, the entire stage visibly caved in by several inches due to this terrifying power. The indentation silently spoke of the gravity's horror.
"Whoa!" The entire audience erupted in an uproar, everyone incredulously looking at the scene unfolding in the arena.
With just a raised hand, the seven people from Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy were easily suppressed. How could a Soul King possibly accomplish something like this?
"No soul skill was used, that's a soul bone skill!" Wang Yan and the others, who had been closely watching the arena, now widened their eyes, their faces filled with shock.
Because after careful observation, they hadn't seen any of Lu Jingming's soul rings light up, which meant that what he had just used was not a soul skill, but a soul bone skill.
"This effect, it should be a hundred-thousand-year soul bone skill!" Wang Yan pushed up his glasses, forcing himself to calmly deduce.
However, from his slightly trembling fingertips, one could still tell that his heart was not at peace. While appearing calm on the surface, his mind was already in turmoil.
A hundred-thousand-year soul ring, a hundred-thousand-year soul bone—this meant Lu Jingming possessed four hundred-thousand-year level soul skills.
Coupled with his soul power cultivation, which was close to the Soul Emperor level, even the strongest among Shrek Academy, Ma Xiaotao, might not be his match if they fought one-on-one.
While Soul Sages possess Martial Soul Avatars, once activated, their strength increases exponentially.
However, hundred-thousand-year soul rings and soul bones can also significantly boost a soul master's combat power, causing a qualitative leap in their strength.
Therefore, Shrek Academy's initial advantage of having a Soul Sage instantly became no longer threatening in the face of these monsters from St. Freya Academy.
Furthermore, the other six members of St. Freya Academy were also super monsters with excessively configured soul rings, and Shrek Academy's lineup was incomplete. This greatly increased the pressure on Wang Yan, almost making him unable to breathe.
Bei Bei and the others exchanged glances, a hint of bitterness in their eyes.
They never imagined that they would have to fight against such a terrifying team to compete for the championship.
At the same age, all seven of their opponents were Soul Kings, and their soul ring configurations were unimaginably terrifying, while they were merely Soul Sects.
The pride of being elite disciples of Shrek Academy suffered an unprecedented heavy blow at this moment.
"You're already discouraged? Don't forget, they, like you, can participate in the next Soul Master Tournament. This year, we still have our main team members. If you concede now, how will you face them in the next tournament?"
Ma Xiaotao, seeing Bei Bei and the others' expressions, couldn't help but let out a cold snort.
While her expression was also solemn, her eyes, as she looked at Lu Jingming, burned with intense battle intent.
She refused to believe that she, who had already broken through to Soul Sage, would be unable to defeat this Soul King, Lu Jingming.