After stepping onto the stage, Huo Wushuang noticed his opponent hadn't arrived yet. He stood there, arms crossed, eyes closed.
A moment later, the Fabea Academy team sent up their first fighter—a black-haired man in green robes, a Spirit Elder.
Seeing Huo Wushuang standing there so casually, eyes shut as if ignoring him completely, the Fabea Spirit Master's fury rose. Was he being looked down on? There had to be a limit to disrespect.
The referee glanced at both participants and announced the match start.
As soon as the referee gave the signal, the furious Fabea Spirit Master launched his attack without hesitation. His three Spirit Rings—two yellow and one purple—flared brightly as his Martial Soul possessed him. Clenching his sandbag-sized fists, he hurled a punch straight at Huo Wushuang's head.
But even as the attack reached him, Huo Wushuang didn't open his eyes. He merely tilted his head slightly, narrowly dodging the punch.
As a Spirit Ancestor ranked above Level 40, Huo Wushuang was easily among the top fighters in this tournament. This kind of opponent clearly wasn't enough to make him go all out.
When Spirit Masters had a level disparity, battles often ended in the blink of an eye.
And that was exactly the case here. Less than thirty seconds later, the fight was over. Huo Wushuang emerged victorious, barely using any Spirit Power at all.
There was no rest between matches. As soon as he defeated the first opponent, the Fabea team sent up their second. This one was also a Spirit Elder, but clearly stronger. Huo Wushuang had to spend significantly more effort and Spirit Power to defeat him. By the time he overcame the third opponent, his Spirit Power was too depleted, and he voluntarily stepped down.
Next up for Blazing Academy was Huo Wu. After a month of training, she had shed some of her arrogance and gained a greater calm. As a Control-Type Spirit Master, she fought with sharp precision, eliminating four opponents in a row with clean, efficient tactics.
In total, Blazing Academy used only two people—Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu—to win the match.
After defeating the final opponent, Huo Wu walked back to her team. Though her face was pale from Spirit Power exhaustion, she still carried an air of pride.
Lin Jie had been watching the entire time. He had to admit—Huo Wu's strength had improved significantly since the last round. Her pressure was greater, and her explosive power was notably sharper.
As she passed by Lin Jie, Huo Wu suddenly paused and looked at him. With a confident smirk, she raised her hand and pointed straight at him.
Seeing the blatant challenge, Lin Jie simply smiled and didn't respond.
Still, the gesture drew the attention of many onlookers, and now quite a few eyes turned toward Lin Jie.
Once the first match ended, the second match soon began.
Lin Jie didn't recognize the team competing, but one person did catch him off guard.
She had neat short hair, a delicate oval face, willow-leaf brows, and sharp phoenix-like eyes. Her school uniform hugged her tall, slender figure tightly, showing off every curve with elegant athleticism.
It was Meng Yiran, the granddaughter of the renowned "Unrivaled Dragon Serpent."
Lin Jie hadn't forgotten the agreement he'd made with her grandfather back in the Star Dou Forest—and it wasn't far from its deadline now.
Meng Yiran took the field as the vice-captain of the Beast Spirit Academy. She started off as the first fighter. With her Tool-Type Martial Soul and her overwhelming physical power, she easily defeated her first opponent, then followed up by defeating three more in a row before stepping down, full of confidence.
As she walked off the stage, her eyes found Lin Jie. Just like Huo Wu before her, she pointed directly at him.
Originally, Meng Yiran hadn't noticed Lin Jie was present. But after seeing Huo Wu's earlier challenge, she looked in the direction of her finger—and immediately recognized him.
She had not forgotten how Lin Jie and his teammates had robbed her of her Spirit Ring back then. Now that her strength had improved, she was determined to settle the score.
With Meng Yiran's challenge added to Huo Wu's earlier one, half the arena was now staring at Lin Jie.
Even with his thick skin, Lin Jie couldn't help but raise a hand to his forehead in mild embarrassment.
At his side, Ma Hongjun elbowed him and teased, "Damn, Lin Jie. You've really stirred up a lot of beauties. And don't forget Shui Bing'er from Tianshui Academy. Look at this—half the arena's watching you. I bet some people already see you as the enemy of all women. The rest probably think you're a scumbag who breaks hearts and walks away."
"Quit it, Fatty," Lin Jie said irritably. "I'm innocent."
He glanced back—sure enough, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and the other girls were all staring daggers at him with expressions full of questions.
Lin Jie sighed, turned around, and focused on the ongoing match. Let them think what they wanted.
Despite Meng Yiran's early dominance, her teammates didn't measure up. They were quickly overwhelmed in the mid-to-late rounds. Eventually, in the ninth round, their captain took the stage and managed to secure a narrow win for Beast Spirit Academy.
After observing the first two rounds, Lin Jie had already come to a conclusion—the kingdom and duchy teams were clearly weaker than the five Elemental Academies.
In fact, among all the teams from those regions, only one Spirit Ancestor had appeared. Even Meng Yiran herself was still only around Rank 37. If they hoped to make it to the finals, they had no chance.
Now came the third match: Shrek Academy vs. Balak Academy.
Balak Academy hailed from the Balak Kingdom and was a royal institution—similar in structure to Heaven Dou Imperial Academy. They only admitted nobles, no commoners.
Fueled by the confidence of their teammates, Tang San stepped onto the stage.
Balak Academy sent a young man, about twenty years old, with tall stature, black-gold uniform, and thick black hair tied in tight braids.
As Tang San approached, he narrowed his eyes slightly—he could sense that this opponent wasn't weak.
With the referee's signal, both sides released their Martial Souls.
The young man from Balak sneered when he saw Tang San's Blue Silver Grass. "Blue Silver Grass? That trash Martial Soul can actually be cultivated? You must be here just to make up the numbers."
"An ignorant fool," Tang San said coldly. As he spoke, his first Spirit Ring lit up.
The opposing Spirit Ancestor barely reacted, still looking scornful. In his eyes, Blue Silver Grass was worthless—even if it could be cultivated, how strong could it be? He was a Spirit Ancestor. Tang San only had three rings. There was no way he could lose.
But the moment Tang San's first ring activated, his Blue Silver Grass shot forward, instantly binding the tall youth.
The moment the Balak Spirit Master tried to struggle, he realized the grass wasn't weak at all. In fact, it was unbreakably strong.
After a full month of intensive training, Tang San had made significant progress. Previously, he focused mostly on Spirit Abilities and neglected his Tang Sect secret arts. But during the last month, he'd come to understand—his Tang Sect techniques were just as powerful as any Spirit Ability.
Now, he had trained to combine them seamlessly.
With his opponent immobilized, Tang San activated Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and darted forward. With a burst of Spirit Power, the Blue Silver Grass suddenly launched the man into the air.
Then came Shoulder Throw—Tang Sect's Close Combat Grapple.
The Spirit Ancestor crashed hard to the ground. A sharp cry of pain followed.
Tang San didn't stop. He saw his opponent could still move, so he quickly bound him again, then used Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon, swinging the opponent through the air and slamming him down even harder than before.
The man's body twitched violently and then lay still.
Match over.
Three rings vs. four rings—Tang San had utterly dominated.
From start to finish, Tang San had been the only one moving. His opponent had never even fought back. The whole match took less than thirty seconds.
The crowd was stunned. Even their breathing had paused for a moment.
Even the four Elemental Academies, who had already fought Shrek once, were left speechless. How could a Spirit Elder overpower a Spirit Ancestor so completely?
Tang San's close combat prowess was terrifying.
At the edge of the stage, the defeated Balak Spirit Master's body trembled slightly—a delayed spasm from the impact.
Tang San turned to the Balak team and calmly said,
"Next."
The sheer ease with which Tang San crushed their Spirit Ancestor ignited fury among the Balak students. And his words—those three simple syllables—were like a match to dry straw.
Eight or nine of them exploded with anger and stormed toward the stage.