As long as the other academies had no Soul Sage-level contestants, Ma Xiaotao was likely to wreak havoc in the arena.
Thus, the key was to hold out until Ma Xiaotao recovered, which wouldn't take too long, since her injuries weren't severe—mainly the troublesome process of expelling toxins.
Seeing Wang Yan's expression, Bei Bei and the others immediately realized reinforcements were unlikely—they'd have to tough it out themselves.
"What are you afraid of? You're all elite disciples. Aside from those top academies, the others can't threaten you. As long as luck isn't too bad, you won't run into the strongest teams in the early rounds," Ma Xiaotao said gruffly, trying to boost morale.
"Exactly. Although there are many teams, very few have Soul King-level members, and Bei Bei, He Caitou, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan are all Soul Ancestors—enough to handle the early matches," Dai Yaoheng chimed in, pale but supportive.
Having participated in the previous tournament, they knew the competition's intensity and the teams' strengths.
Except for the later stages, most teams' main members were Soul Ancestors and Soul Elders, with Soul Kings rare.
With the combined power of Bei Bei, He Caitou, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan, there was little need for worry.
Besides, Xiao Xiao had twin martial souls, and Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong possessed a powerful martial soul fusion skill. As long as they avoided the strongest teams early on, their lineup was more than sufficient.
After reassuring the reserve team, Wang Yan began to explain the tournament format.
Although the venue had moved from Star Luo City to Haiyuan City, the format remained unchanged.
After all, changing the format required agreement among all four empires.
…
Meanwhile, as the Shrek Academy group nervously discussed strategies, in the top suite Cloud Rest Heaven of Daydream Hotel, Lu Jingming quietly listened to March 7th's animated recounting of their trip to the Mingdou Mountains.
As one of the participating teams, St. Freya Academy was also staying at the Daydream Hotel.
After all, this hotel was painstakingly built by Lu Jingming with enormous resources; everyone wanted to experience its luxury and uniqueness.
"Xiao Ming, you don't know how despicable those evil soul masters were—they didn't even spare infants! If I ever meet such scum again, I'll freeze them into ice sculptures!" March 7th declared, waving her little fists in fury.
"Yes, yes, if the chance comes, I'll let you vent your anger," Lu Jingming replied with a wry smile. He'd only heard rumors of such evil deeds.
With March 7th and the others' upstanding characters, they could never tolerate such acts.
Still, Lu Jingming hadn't expected that even after being injured by Jingliu and then struck down by Mobius, Shrek would still send Xuan Zi as team leader!
He was speechless: Did Shrek really have no one else? Didn't they know Xuan Zi's flaws?
If nothing went wrong, maybe it'd be fine, but when trouble arose, Xuan Zi was the least reliable person.
Moreover, Ma Xiaotao had already reached Soul Sage, yet still suffered a setback this time—the strongest Soul King in history title was truly deserved.
However, Shrek's luck wasn't bad this time.
The Mingdou Mountains were close to Haiyuan City, and the city boasted the continent's best medical soul tools.
Those tools, based on Lu Jingming's White Flower and crafted by Herta, couldn't regenerate limbs, but their healing efficiency was on par with specialized healing soul masters.
Thus, except for the permanently crippled Chen Zifeng and Gongyang Mo, even the badly injured Xi Xi still had a chance to recover before the tournament ended.
…
Night fell over Haiyuan City, city lights flickering to life, turning it into a sea of lights.
Standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows, Lu Jingming, dressed in black, held a pink-furred little fox in his arms.
The fox lazed in his embrace, occasionally nuzzling his arm with its head.
Lu Jingming gently stroked its fur, gazing out at the swarming crowds below, a smile curling on his lips.
He didn't believe anyone who visited Haiyuan City wouldn't be captivated by life here.
In terms of quality of life, job opportunities, and safety, Haiyuan City was second to none on the continent.
Here, Title Douluos stood guard, the Soul Master Corps' Golden Guards patrolled day and night, and there were all kinds of powerful soul tools—defensive, offensive, detection, and more.
Such security far surpassed any thick city wall.
In Lu Jingming's view, as long as the flow of people kept growing, Haiyuan City would eventually surpass the Sun Moon Empire's Mingdu—it was only a matter of time. Herta's research had much yet to be unveiled, and now Mobius had joined them.
Although Mobius specialized in biology, she had some knowledge in other domains. Her arrival was another boon for Haiyuan City's development.
"Amazing. This city changes every day," Gu Yue said, appearing beside Lu Jingming to gaze out at the city, her eyes full of wonder.
She had lived here for three years, witnessing Haiyuan City's growth and transformation, with new marvels every day.
She also knew well the girls around Lu Jingming—each one was frighteningly strong.
Thinking of Firefly, Castorice, Jinhsi, and the others, Gu Yue couldn't help but feel a little emotional.
As the incarnation of the Silver Dragon King, she should be top-tier among humans in talent and strength.
Reality, however, was humbling; at the same age and level, she couldn't defeat Firefly and the others.
Lu Jingming was even more powerful—in that seven-person team, aside from the support Robin and the team's darling March 7th, Gu Yue couldn't beat anyone.
Sometimes, she even lost simulated battles against March 7th!
Such results left her doubting herself—was she really the divine incarnation, or were they?
"Not bad, right? Have you come to like it here?" Lu Jingming's gaze fell on the black-haired girl beside him.
Gu Yue's beauty was different from Robin and the others' radiant allure. Her unique aura was like a secluded orchid, quietly captivating.
He also knew that the appearance Gu Yue showed others was not her true face—Gu Yuena was her real form, famed as the most beautiful woman on the Douluo verse.
What's more, Gu Yuena had silver hair, making Lu Jingming all the more eager for the day she opened her heart to him.
"At least, I don't hate it," Gu Yue replied coolly.
She harbored deep resentment toward humans, given their relentless hunting of soul beasts.
But after years of interaction with Robin and the others, she gradually realized not all humans were the same.
Robin, March 7th, and the others were kind and pure, with no prejudice against soul beasts; the development of Haiyuan City gave her hope.
Often spending time with March 7th and others, and with Lu Jingming not hiding much from her, she'd already discovered some secrets about the Golden Guard.
Every year, some students with mediocre talent from St. Freya Academy applied to join the Golden Guard, and astonishingly, their strength soared soon after joining, with some even experiencing changes to their martial souls.
This deeply moved Gu Yue, indicating that Haiyuan City's research into martial souls had reached an unimaginable peak.
Every year, Lu Jingming gathered the city's top leaders for meetings—even Ji Yingying and Ningguang, who were far away, would return.
Gu Yue had even met Herta at these gatherings, and she realized that this was the true core of Haiyuan City's growth.
With Herta's extraordinary wisdom and knowledge, Gu Yue had already guessed that the Golden Guard's creation was closely linked to her.
This sparked hope in her heart—could Herta develop a way for humans to gain soul rings and advance without hunting soul beasts?
If such technology existed, the relationship between humans and soul beasts could at least be eased, if not peaceful. Soul beasts could have more time to thrive, rather than face extinction at the hands of endless human hunting.
She had no intention of destroying humanity—not only would the divine realm never allow it, but with her current strength, she couldn't contend with the divine realm.
She inherited the Dragon God's wisdom and creation power, but in terms of combat, she was no match for the Golden Dragon King, who possessed destruction power.
Even the Golden Dragon King had been suppressed by the divine realm; with her wounds, she stood no chance.
So, besides her original goal of probing Lu Jingming's power, she now sought to use his and Herta's strength to find a way to save the soul beast race.
Lu Jingming smiled faintly.
After spending so much time together, he already had an inkling of Gu Yue's motives for coming to Haiyuan City.
After all, Gu Yue was always eager to challenge and fight him, even though she always lost.
But Lu Jingming was certain she wasn't a masochist or a battle maniac—her persistence must have another reason.
Thinking it over, since he'd never revealed his true authority to Gu Yue, she was most likely after the Black Abyss White Flower.
He thought of the Black Abyss White Flower in his hand—two forces, utterly opposed, yet coexisting in harmony—and became almost certain of Gu Yue's intentions.
Despite Gu Yue's true form as a god-king-level Silver Dragon King, her situation was poor.