The Soul Contract Tournament in Baiyun City was scheduled to span three days.
On the first day, the 100 contestants would face off in one-on-one battles. The winners would advance, while the losers would be eliminated.
The second day would proceed in the same manner. The 50 remaining contestants would duel again, with the winners moving forward and the losers eliminated.
On the third day, since the number of contestants would be an odd number, a drawing would be held. One lucky individual among the 25 remaining would directly enter the final championship match!
The remaining 24 would be divided into 12 pairs to battle simultaneously.
The winners would advance!
This format would continue until only three contestants remained. The lucky one from earlier would then join them, forming a group of four. These would be split into two teams for another round of matches, and finally, only two contestants would remain to compete for the championship title.
Victory would crown the champion.
It's worth mentioning that after every match, an Auxiliary Soul Master would restore the contestant's condition using soul techniques. This ensured that all participants would remain in peak form. After all, it would be extremely unfair if someone had to face a fully-rested opponent while still fatigued from a previous battle.
…
In the blink of an eye, the first day of the competition arrived.
That day—
At the tournament venue.
The arena was packed with spectators who had gathered from all across the land. The venue was enormous, designed similarly to a football stadium, with seating rising high on all sides and packed to capacity.
"Crowded" wasn't nearly enough to describe the scene.
The atmosphere was lively and buzzing, even though the contestants had not yet entered. The stands were already filled, with many audience members accompanied by shrunken soul beasts—clearly fellow Soul Contract Masters. Some may have been random onlookers, while others could have been eliminated during the preliminary rounds.
After quite a wait—
"Dong!"
A loud bell rang!
The many staff who had long been on standby swiftly began moving according to prearranged plans.
Beams of light lit up the vast arena.
Amidst the dazzling glow—
One contestant after another began to enter the field.
These contestants were male and female, tall and short, lean and stout—each unique. The only commonality was that they were all accompanied by a soul beast. Of course, these soul beasts had been shrunk. After forming a soul contract, not only did the beasts gain vastly improved intelligence, but they also acquired the ability to shrink or enlarge their bodies, making it easier to live alongside their human partners.
Otherwise, with the massive size of some soul beasts, coexisting in human society would be impossible.
Eventually, all the contestants finished entering the arena.
At that moment, the guests of honor—representatives of the event's organizing forces—also began to take their seats. At the head sat Ye Cheng, followed by Qian Renxue, the Angel God of the Spirit Hall; then the current emperor of the Star Luo Empire, father of Zhu Zhuqing; and the Empress of the Heaven Dou Empire, Xue Ke. The rest, being of lesser importance, weren't worth listing individually.
In short, everyone seated in the VIP section was a leader of significant influence.
In the front row of the VIP seats, only two people were present—Ye Cheng and Qian Renxue, both gods. No one else had the qualifications to sit alongside them.
Even emperors had to settle for the second row. Other factions didn't even come close.
After all the honored guests had taken their seats—
The master of ceremonies loudly proclaimed, "Now, let us welcome the City Lord to officially declare the opening of the tournament!"
As the audience erupted in passionate cheers and applause—
Ye Cheng, seated at the center of the VIP section, slowly rose amidst the thunderous ovation. With a wave of his hand, the entire venue instantly fell silent. The vast plaza turned completely still.
Ye Cheng's gaze swept across the audience. Regardless of the distance, every person present felt as though his eyes were looking directly at them. For a moment, many froze, uncertain whether to feel ecstatic or terrified.
After all, this was the gaze of a god!
After a sweeping glance, Ye Cheng's calm and magnetic voice echoed through the entire stadium.
"I won't waste words."
"Here and now, I declare—"
"The First Soul Contract Master Tournament—officially starts!"
With that, he sat back down.
Not a word of fluff—just as he had promised.
The crowd paused briefly—
Then boom! Thunderous applause and cheers erupted again, louder and more enthusiastic than ever.
At the center of the arena, the Soul Contract Masters' eyes blazed with determination. For them, this tournament was the perfect stage to showcase their talents!
At this moment, the master of ceremonies announced again, "Next, let us welcome the Angel God to deliver the opening address."
As Qian Renxue stood, yet another round of applause followed.
She smiled gently. As someone well-accustomed to such scenes, she raised her hands in a calming gesture. "I'm honored to be invited as a guest for the opening of this tournament. The unity of humans and soul beasts is the trend of the times! Soul Contract Masters are the future of the world! All of you who've made it past the preliminaries to be here are undoubtedly the elite of the elite. I hope you'll all put on a spectacular performance. The future of Douluo belongs to you young people—the hope of defeating the Abyss also rests on your shoulders."
As she finished, the applause thundered once more!
Still smiling, Qian Renxue took her seat.
With speeches from the two foremost guests concluded, the tournament officially began. As for the second-row VIPs, they weren't even granted a chance to speak—nor did the audience care what they had to say. Everyone was eagerly awaiting the battles to begin.
As the crowd watched with anticipation, ten arenas rose from the previously empty battlefield at the center of the arena.
Today was the first day—100 contestants in total, matched in 50 battles. To prevent the attention of spectators from being spread too thin, only ten pairs would fight at a time. The others would wait backstage for their turn.
Soon, following a lottery draw on the VIP platform—
Each contestant received a number and learned who their opponent would be.
Ten pairs of fighters quickly stepped onto the ten arenas.
But as they entered, the audience noticed something unusual.
Despite the arenas appearing only about ten meters in diameter, the contestants vanished as soon as they stepped in.
At the same time, a clear projection appeared above each arena, displaying the interior view.
Without a doubt, this was the latest advancement in soul guide technology.
And the contestants hadn't truly vanished—they had been shrunk.
A ten-meter arena might seem small for combat, but once the fighters became thumb-sized miniatures, it suddenly offered ample space.
In truth, the contestants hadn't shrunk at all—the space inside each arena was a unique spatial construct. Though it appeared small from the outside, the interior was vast. To onlookers, it only seemed as though the fighters had been miniaturized.
This was a precautionary measure, ensuring that the intense battles wouldn't affect the spectators. Each arena had been modified in advance using specialized technology to create an isolated space, allowing the contestants to fight freely without interfering with nearby battles.
All possible contingencies had been carefully accounted for.
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