Time flies like a white steed, swiftly passing by.
In the blink of an eye, Lu Jingming had turned fourteen, and at the same time, the 2024 All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament was about to commence in Sea Abyss City.
Months ago, the Empire had meticulously prepared and sent invitations in advance to all invited Soul Master Academies.
All participating academies were notified that this year's Soul Master Tournament would no longer be held in their familiar capital, but in a somewhat unfamiliar city—Sea Abyss City.
For many Soul Master Academies, the change in venue seemed to have little impact.
They came for the Soul Master Tournament, solely focused on showcasing their strength and contending for glory on the field. Where the competition was actually held seemed less important.
Although some perceptive individuals vaguely sensed something unusual about the change in the tournament's venue, they ultimately didn't pay too much attention, as everyone understood that this was, after all, an internal affair of the Empire.
To host such a continent-wide top-tier event with the power of a single city, the difficulties involved were unimaginable.
Tournament preparations, security, logistical services, and various other matters were complicated and required comprehensive and meticulous consideration. Even a slight error could lead to chaos.
The Emperor and Princess were well aware of this, so they specially dispatched an experienced and highly professional team to Sea Abyss City to assist them with the overall planning of the tournament.
Initially, when the news of the Soul Master Tournament being moved to Sea Abyss City broke, the entire upper echelon of the Empire was shaken.
The interests involved in this event were intricate and complex, with various forces intertwined. The change in the tournament's venue triggered a series of chain reactions.
However, with the Emperor's full support, Sea Abyss City ultimately succeeded in securing the hosting rights for this Soul Master Tournament.
With the full backing of the Imperial Family, the Protector Douluo—a Rank 98 Super Douluo, personally came forward to express his support, coupled with Sea Abyss City making significant concessions in profit distribution, voluntarily giving up most of the benefits, this finally quelled the uproar caused by the venue change.
Subsequently, Sea Abyss City acted swiftly, fully dedicating itself to the tournament preparations.
In an extremely short period, a brand new competition venue sprung up, and various配套 hotels and restaurants were also rapidly constructed like mushrooms after rain.
Thanks to the Emperor ceding large tracts of surrounding territory to Sea Abyss City, Lu Jingming was able to undertake extensive expansion of Sea Abyss City.
Today, Sea Abyss City had a fresh new look, with its urban scale greatly expanded, its layout more rational, and its infrastructure more complete.
With the current conditions, it could easily accommodate five million people without pressure.
If temporary high-rise buildings were included, the city's maximum population capacity would exceed twenty million.
All of this was due to Sea Abyss City's advanced soul tool technology and Keqing's tireless efforts in planning.
The nearly modern architectural style allowed for the full utilization of every inch of space, planning more residential and activity areas.
Although Sea Abyss City had achieved rapid development in a short period, it had to be admitted that there was still a certain gap compared to other major cities.
Currently, Sea Abyss City's permanent population was no more than one million, while Star Luo City's permanent population had reached eight million, and Shrek City's permanent population also numbered five million. As for Ming Dou, hailed as the continent's number one city, it was simply incomparable.
According to Lu Jingming, Ming Dou's occupied area was vast and boundless, larger than the combined area of the capitals of the original three kingdoms, with a permanent population exceeding twenty million.
Its economy was prosperous, with a huge flow of people, and various soul tool technology products were dazzling, its prosperity truly living up to its reputation as the continent's foremost city.
Compared to it, cities like Star Luo City, Heaven Dou City, Dou Ling City, and Shrek City all lagged far behind.
However, Lu Jingming was full of confidence in Sea Abyss City's future.
Based on the current development trend, as long as this Soul Master Tournament could be successfully held, it would certainly attract a large influx of people into Sea Abyss City, bringing unprecedented development opportunities.
This was exactly what Lu Jingming hoped for. He valued not only the influence of the event itself but also the enormous benefits hidden behind it.
In his opinion, population growth is the core driving force of urban development. As long as Sea Abyss City's population continued to increase, the economy would naturally prosper, and those temporarily ceded benefits would eventually be earned back twofold.
"Hmm? Where's March 7th?"
At St. Freya Academy, as the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament drew closer, Gu Yue, Robin, Jinhsi, and other official team members representing the academy had been frequently gathering to practice team coordination.
Lu Jingming, however, held a different view. In his eyes, with their seven powerful strengths, even if they fought independently in this tournament, they would be enough to sweep away their opponents and easily win the championship, so there was no need to spend a lot of time on coordinated training.
Nevertheless, March 7th was filled with enthusiasm for this tournament, showing great interest.
Participating in such a grand continent-wide event for the first time, little March displayed an extraordinary level of seriousness.
As one of the team's darlings, March 7th was deeply loved by everyone, her favored status no less than that of the pink-haired fox.
Therefore, both Robin and Jinhsi were very cooperative with March 7th, taking precious time out of their schedules to practice with her.
Even the usually aloof Gu Yue was no exception. After all, among the seven, her relationship with March 7th was the closest, and she simply couldn't refuse little March's request.
But today, Lu Jingming was surprised to find that the usually energetic March 7th was nowhere to be seen.
"Little March went out with Guyi. It seems they heard that an evil soul master has been entrenched in the Ming Dou Mountain Range for a long time but hasn't been wiped out by the White Tiger Army. Guyi wants to purify those evil soul masters to improve her cultivation, and little March just went along for the fun."
Robin gently explained.
Although Ye Guyi hadn't been with the academy for long, she had become one of the few A-rank students due to her outstanding strength.
Moreover, she had a resilient personality and consistently challenged Firefly, Gu Yue, and others head-on. After many sparring sessions and exchanges, she gradually became familiar with Robin and the others.
Not only that, Ye Guyi, Lan Susu, and Lan Luoluo were all selected as members of the academy's reserve team and frequently joined the team practice activities initiated by March 7th.
"Evil soul masters in the Ming Dou Mountain Range! Who went with them?" Lu Jingming's brows instantly furrowed upon hearing this.
He had been cultivating Ye Guyi, and had even specially instructed the Underworld to search for evil soul masters everywhere, capturing them for Ye Guyi to purify, to help her improve her cultivation.
If he remembered correctly, the evil soul master entrenched in the Ming Dou Mountain Range was no simple individual; it was the "Death God's Emissary," hailed as the strongest "Soul King" in history!
This Death God's Emissary, with the power of a Soul King, almost annihilated Shrek Academy's seven main team members.
Even in front of a Rank 98 Titled Douluo, he could move as if unimpeded, brazenly snatching Huo Yuhao and then retreating completely unharmed.
Such a brilliant record was truly exceptional across the entire continent. Even the Holy Spirit Church, upon learning of it, would probably give him a thumbs-up in admiration.
"Don't worry, Dan Heng went with them."
The corner of Robin's mouth curled slightly upwards, her eyes gleaming with a smile, as she softly said.
Although Ye Guyi was brave, little March was timid. The legends of evil soul masters were widely circulated in the Soul Master world, and those bloody and terrifying stories were enough to make one's hair stand on end just by listening.
But strong curiosity still drove little March to go with Ye Guyi. However, before setting off, she had an extra thought and specifically pulled along Dan Heng, who had recently been manifested by Lu Jingming.
As a companion of the Express crew, Dan Heng possessed both strength and composure. With him by her side, little March's courage grew considerably.
"I see, with Dan Heng there, I'm relieved."
Lu Jingming nodded. Ye Guyi was reckless, and March 7th was simple-minded. If it were just the two of them, he truly wouldn't be at ease. Dan Heng was much more composed, and his strength was sufficient. When summoning Dan Heng, he hadn't stinted on Truth Power.
Being in his full power was impossible, as the Truth Power required for that was beyond Lu Jingming's means, but the Titled Douluo level was perfectly fine.
Dan Heng was not some great elder of the Holy Spirit Church; he was merely an evil soul master, a Soul King. He couldn't imagine Dan Heng ever failing.
Hearing Robin and Lu Jingming mention Dan Heng, Gu Yue's expression became strange. After so many years of living together, she had also discovered the peculiarities of Sea Abyss City and Lu Jingming's mystery.
One Jinhsi was already a lot, and now there was another Dan Heng. Both of them gave her a sense of déjà vu as if they were dragons.
And each one was stronger than the last, making her, the Silver Dragon King, doubt her own life!
Lu Jingming noticed Gu Yue's expression and chuckled inwardly. He wondered what her expression would be like when she found out Castorice also raised a dragon. The thought made him feel a little expectant.
As for summoning Dan Heng, one reason was for this Soul Master Tournament, and the other was because he felt that Sea Abyss City was a bit too yin-heavy.
Besides him, the City Lord, almost all the high-ranking officials in Sea Abyss City were women. Although they were all pillars of Sea Abyss City, Lu Jingming still felt the need to add some masculinity.
Moreover, summoning Dan Heng would make little March very happy. As for Jingliu, without her Mara-Struck state, she was no longer so extreme.
Dan Heng didn't believe himself to be Dan Feng, and Jingliu couldn't define Dan Heng as Dan Feng. She hated Dan Feng who desecrated Baiheng and forced her into Mara-Struck, committing a great sin, not Dan Heng.
Lu Jingming was well aware that the Cloud Knights' Five Elders, once renowned as legendary heroes, were now a thing of the past.
Even if he had the ability to summon Baiheng, the lost time could not be reversed, and the past beauty and camaraderie could ultimately not be brought back.
However, Lu Jingming still planned to summon Baiheng at an appropriate time. At the very least, Jingliu should be happy.
After all, Baiheng had self-detonated and died in front of her to save her and Dan Feng, which remained a lifelong regret for Jingliu.