At that moment, somewhere in Heaven Dou City, inside a lavishly decorated room spanning over two hundred square meters, Salas, clad in a platinum robe, sat in a luxurious chair, carefully examining a stack of documents on the ornate desk before him.
He slowly set the file down and closed his eyes, steadying the shock still lingering in his heart. This was already his fifth time reviewing the information, and even now, he found it hard to believe.
The documents detailed the members of Shrek Academy's team, and at the very top was the name Lin Jie.
Although Lin Jie's file wasn't as detailed as some of the others, it still included the essentials—his Spirit Master registration date, the date he acquired his first Spirit Ring, and the age and level of that first ring. However, there was no information after his third ring, only that he was currently a Spirit Ancestor.
Not only Lin Jie—files on Tang San, Xiao Wu, Ma Hongjun, and others were even more comprehensive.
Salas couldn't help but admit that the Spirit Hall's intelligence network was frighteningly efficient. From the start of the preliminaries until now, not even a month had passed, yet they had already compiled this detailed information on the entire Shrek team.
The most shocking part of all wasn't their Spirit Power or Spirit Rings—but their ages.
The youngest was only fourteen, the oldest merely seventeen.
And Lin Jie—the one with a ten-thousand-year Spirit Ring—was still fourteen, with five or six months left until his fifteenth birthday.
A fourteen-year-old Spirit Ancestor with a ten-thousand-year ring.
Salas rubbed his forehead, exhaling deeply to calm his nerves. As unbelievable as it sounded, the facts were right in front of him.
Standing up, he walked behind his desk to a massive bookshelf. Reaching up, he pulled on a platinum-bound book. With a soft click, the bookshelf slowly parted, revealing a hidden metal wall that emitted a faint Spirit Power pulse—clearly a soul tool.
Placing his hand on the metal surface, a pale blue light scanned across it, activating the mechanism. A square compartment slowly slid open, revealing a single folder marked Top Secret.
Salas retrieved the folder and skimmed through it until he found the document he needed. The wall quietly sealed itself shut again.
Returning to his desk with both files, he re-read them once more before picking up a pen and quickly writing a letter. On the envelope, he wrote six words in bold:
Top Secret — To Be Opened By the Pope Only.
Meanwhile, back at Shrek Academy, Lin Jie was sprawled across his bed—not cultivating for once. His mind wandered back to the tournament.
He could still clearly remember the ice phoenix's terrifying energy during the battle against Shui Bing'er—how it had penetrated his Lightning Armor and seeped into his body. Without his ice immunity and Ice Element Martial Soul, he might've suffered serious injuries.
Clearly, his Lightning Armor wasn't strong enough yet. He would need to develop and refine it further.
Two days passed quickly.
During that time, Lin Jie barely left his room, spending nearly every moment meditating and correcting the shortcomings he had discovered in the last battle.
Now, in the training grounds of Shrek Academy, all twelve team members stood assembled, along with Flender, Yu Xiaogang, Liu Erlong, and Zhao Wuji.
"All right, little monsters," Flender said with a grin. "Your two-day break is over. I trust you're all rested up, so it's time to resume training." He looked to Yu Xiaogang. "Xiao Gang, I'll let you explain."
Yu Xiaogang nodded and stepped forward.
"Over the next month, Zhao Wuji and Liu Erlong will oversee your potential development training. That's all I'll say. Wuji, Erlong, they're all yours."
Zhao Wuji chuckled. "Don't worry, Master. Leave them to me." He looked at Oscar and the others with a mischievous grin.
Oscar and Ma Hongjun shivered at the sight of his expression—memories of being "trained" by him still haunted them.
Liu Erlong, on the other hand, responded with a simple, "Understood."
Their Potential Development Training was straightforward: apply massive pressure to stimulate latent power.
Step one: Spirit Pressure Immersion. Zhao Wuji and Liu Erlong unleashed their Spirit Power to overwhelm each student until they couldn't stand it.
Step two: Sparring Rounds. The Shrek team members took turns facing off against the two Spirit Sages in combat.
One month passed in a flash.
Day after day, training under two powerful Spirit Sages had yielded significant improvements for every member of the team.
And now, the Advancement Round of the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament had officially begun.
To ensure participant safety and privacy, the Advancement Round was not held publicly like the preliminaries. Instead, it took place in a sealed-off section of the Heaven Dou Imperial Hunting Grounds.
Each empire—Heaven Dou and Star Luo—had 15 teams qualifying through their respective preliminaries. With three additional teams directly seeded into the finals, that brought the competition to full scale.
Today, all ten teams from the various duchies and kingdoms had completed registration and were now gathered at the Hunting Grounds, awaiting the tournament's start.
Located 50 kilometers southwest of Heaven Dou City, the Imperial Hunting Grounds were normally off-limits to civilians and were heavily guarded by the Heaven Dou Royal Knights—over 10,000 soldiers on constant patrol. It was also the Knights' primary training site, rotating personnel every three months to maintain peak combat readiness.
As Shrek Academy arrived, they were immediately greeted by the imposing sight of the Royal Knights in full formation.
One knight, clad in gleaming silver armor with a red-plumed helmet, stepped forward and blocked their path.
"Please present your credentials."
Flender pulled out the Advancement Round credential granted by Emperor Xue Ye and handed it over.
The knight carefully examined the document before straightening up and giving a respectful salute.
"Welcome, Spirit Masters of Shrek Academy. I am Roxen, Captain of the Fourth Squad of the Royal Knights. I will escort you to your quarters. Please, follow me."
With that, over fifty fully armed knights formed up and led Shrek Academy deep into the hunting grounds.
After crossing a small hill, a vast open plain came into view. In its center stood a massive military camp, arranged in a circular formation.
Roxen gestured ahead.
"This is the venue for the Advancement Round of the Continental Elite Tournament. Your safety and privacy are fully guaranteed here. Rest assured."
Lin Jie gazed at the imposing structure, feeling a twinge of admiration. Heaven Dou Empire really pulled out all the stops... Hosting the tournament here is clearly intended to let the Royal Knights learn from the battles and boost morale. It's a win-win for them.
Soon after, Roxen led the group to their assigned quarters.
Shrek's lodging wasn't shared with other academies, which puzzled the group.
Roxen noticed and explained,
"The separate housing is to avoid unnecessary conflict and to prevent other academies from spying on your strength. That's why everyone is placed in isolated quarters."
He clearly knew quite a bit about Shrek Academy. In fact, someone had spoken to him ahead of time, so he had arranged for Shrek to receive better accommodations than most.
Once they were settled, Roxen stood at attention and saluted.
"Please rest early. The Advancement Round begins tomorrow. A guide will escort you to the competition field."
"Thank you, Captain Roxen," Flender said with a polite nod.
"No need, sir. I'll take my leave." Roxen turned crisply and marched away.
Flender quickly sorted out room assignments.
There were five rooms total. Flender and Yu Xiaogang shared one. Liu Erlong and Xiao Wu took another. Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, and Jiangzhu shared the third. That left the eight boys with the last two rooms—four per room. It would be a bit cramped, but manageable.
To Lin Jie's surprise, the rooms were quite spacious, and the beds large enough for comfort.
The rooms formed a small private courtyard. After unpacking, the boys stepped outside to stretch.
Just then, two unexpected guests arrived: Ning Fengzhi, and someone Lin Jie had previously met—the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire.