This year's competition looks promising. As long as other academies don't have Soul Saint-level contestants, Ma Xiaotao has the potential to dominate the arena. The current priority is for Ma Xiaotao to recover, which shouldn't take too long since her injuries aren't severe. The main challenge is removing the lingering toxic gas from her system.
Seeing Wang Yan's expression, Bei Bei and the others felt a sudden sinking feeling, instantly realizing that external support was likely out of the question. They'd have to brace themselves and go it alone.
"What's there to be afraid of?" Ma Xiaotao said, trying to lift their spirits. "You're all elite disciples carefully trained by the academy. Besides a few top-tier academies, no others pose a threat to you. As long as your luck isn't too terrible, you won't encounter those strong teams in the preliminary rounds."
Dai Yaoheng, looking a bit pale, echoed Ma Xiaotao's words, hoping to instill some confidence in Bei Bei and the others. They had all participated in the previous Soul Master Grand Competition and were well aware of its intensity and the strength of the various competing teams.
Beyond the later stages of the competition, most of the main team members in the early rounds were at the Soul Sect or Soul Grandmaster level; Soul Kings were extremely rare. Given the strength of Bei Bei, He Caitou, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nan'nan, there was indeed no need to worry excessively. Moreover, besides these four, Xiao Xiao possessed twin martial souls, and Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong had powerful martial soul fusion abilities. With such a lineup, as long as they didn't run into those truly formidable academies, they would be more than capable of handling the competition.
After reassuring the reserve team, Wang Yan began to detail the competition format. Although the competition venue had moved from the original Star Luo City to Hǎiyuān City, the format remained unchanged. After all, altering the competition rules required consensus among the four great empires.
Meanwhile, as the Shrek Academy team nervously discussed strategies, in the Cloud Perch Sky Realm, the top-floor suite of the Daydream Hotel, Lu Jingming quietly listened to March 7th's lengthy account of her trip to the Ming Dou Mountain Range. As one of the participating academies, St. Freya Academy naturally chose to stay at the Daydream Hotel. After all, this hotel was meticulously built by Lu Jingming, using vast resources, and everyone wanted to experience its luxury and uniqueness firsthand.
"A'Ming, you wouldn't believe how despicable those Evil Soul Masters are! They don't even spare infants! If I ever run into Evil Soul Masters like that again, I'll freeze them into ice sculptures!" March 7th waved her small fists, her face filled with indignation. Clearly, she had an utterly terrible impression of the Evil Soul Masters' actions.
"Yes, yes, yes. I'll definitely give you a chance to vent your anger," Lu Jingming replied with a helpless smile. He had heard about the depravity of some Evil Soul Masters, though he hadn't witnessed it personally. With the upright nature of March 7th and the others, they naturally couldn't tolerate such evil deeds.
However, Lu Jingming genuinely hadn't expected that even after being injured by Jingliu and then severely wounded by Möbius, Shrek Academy would still send Xuan Zi to lead the team! He was somewhat speechless. Did Shrek Academy truly have no one else? Were they unaware of Xuan Zi's flaws? On ordinary days, all would be well, but in a sudden emergency, Xuan Zi was definitely the least reliable person. Moreover, Ma Xiaotao, who had already broken through to the Soul Saint rank, still stumbled during this operation. Her title as the "strongest Soul King in history" truly lived up to its name!
Still, Shrek Academy had been quite lucky this time. Ming Dou Mountain Range was close to Hǎiyuān City, and Hǎiyuān City boasted the continent's top-tier medical soul tools. These were medical soul tools that Herta had created based on Lu Jingming's Abyssal White Flower. While they couldn't achieve miraculous effects like regrowing severed limbs, their efficiency in treating other injuries was extremely high, no less effective than specialized healing soul masters. Thus, apart from Chen Zifeng and Gongyang Mo, who were left permanently disabled, Xixi, whose injuries appeared serious, still had a chance to recover before the end of the competition.
Night enveloped Hǎiyuān City. As lights began to illuminate, the entire city transformed into a sea of lamps. By the floor-to-ceiling window, Lu Jingming stood tall in black clothes, cradling a pink-furred fox cub. The fox cub curled lazily in his arms, occasionally rubbing its head against his arm. Lu Jingming lowered his head slightly, gently stroking the cub's pink fur, then looked out at the bustling crowds below the hotel. A faint smile unconsciously lifted the corners of his lips. He was confident that once people experienced Hǎiyuān City, they would be drawn to its way of life.
Whether it was quality of life, job opportunities, or safety, Hǎiyuān City was unparalleled on the entire Douluo Continent. It had a Titled Douluo overseeing it, soul master legions of Golden Guards patrolling day and night, and various powerful soul tools—defensive, offensive, and detection types. The sense of security these provided far surpassed what a mere thick city wall could offer. In Lu Jingming's opinion, as long as the flow of people continued to increase, it was only a matter of time before Hǎiyuān City surpassed Ming Capital of the Sun-Moon Empire. After all, many of Herta's research achievements had yet to be fully revealed, not to mention the recent arrival of Möbius. Although Möbius specialized in biology, she also had some knowledge of other research fields, and her arrival undoubtedly provided further assistance to Hǎiyuān City's development.
"This is truly astonishing. This city changes every single day," Gu Yue approached Lu Jingming at some point, also looking down at the entire city, her eyes filled with wonder. She had been in this city for three years, witnessing Hǎiyuān City's growth, developing and transforming step by step, with astonishing changes occurring every day. At the same time, she also deeply understood the girls around Lu Jingming; each of them was terrifyingly powerful.
Thinking of Firefly, Castorice, Jinhsi, and the others, Gu Yue couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion. As the incarnation of the dignified Silver Dragon King, in human terms, shouldn't her talent and strength be top-tier? But reality brought her immense frustration. At the same age and cultivation level, she couldn't even defeat Firefly and the others. Lu Jingming was even more formidable; in that seven-person team, besides the support Robin and the pampered March 7th, she truly couldn't beat anyone. Sometimes, she even lost during simulated battles with March 7th! This situation often led her to self-doubt: was she truly the incarnation of a deity, or were they?
"It's good, isn't it? Have you grown to like it here?" Lu Jingming's gaze fell upon the black-haired girl beside him. Gu Yue's beauty differed from the vibrant allure of Robin and the others. Her unique aura, like a secluded orchid in a deep valley, unknowingly captivated him. He also knew that the appearance Gu Yue presented to others was not her true form; Gu Yuena was her real self, someone renowned as the most beautiful woman on the Douluo Continent. What excited Lu Jingming even more was that Gu Yuena had white hair, making him look forward even more to the day Gu Yue opened her heart to him.
"At least, I don't dislike it!" Gu Yue said faintly. Deep down, she held a strong animosity towards humans, as their hunting of soul beasts had never ceased. However, her interactions with Robin and the others over the past few years gradually made her understand that humans couldn't be generalized. Robin, March 7th, and the others were kind and pure, without any prejudice towards soul beasts, and Hǎiyuān City's development even offered her a glimmer of hope.
She often spent time with March 7th and the others, and Lu Jingming hadn't deliberately hidden too much from her. At least regarding the Golden Guards, she had already uncovered some unknown truths. Each year, some students from St. Freya Academy with less-than-ideal talent would apply to join the Golden Guards. However, astonishingly, their strength rapidly improved in a short time after joining, and some even had their martial souls undergo changes. This phenomenon deeply moved Gu Yue, meaning Hǎiyuān City's research into martial souls had reached an unimaginably extreme level.
Because Lu Jingming held annual gatherings for Hǎiyuān City's high-ranking officials, even Ji Yingying and Ningguang, who were far away, would return to attend. Gu Yue was fortunate enough to meet Herta at one of these gatherings, and she understood that this was the core reason for Hǎiyuān City's development to this day. With Herta's displayed extraordinary wisdom and profound knowledge, Gu Yue had vaguely guessed that the Golden Guards' existence must be related to her. This sparked a glimmer of hope in her heart: could Herta research a method for humans to obtain soul rings and advance their cultivation without hunting soul beasts?
Once such a technology existed, even if the relationship between humans and soul beasts couldn't achieve peaceful coexistence, it could at least alleviate the survival pressure soul beasts currently faced, giving them more time to develop and grow strong, rather than slowly heading towards extinction under endless human hunting. She currently had no intention of destroying humanity. Firstly, the God Realm would absolutely not allow it, and with her current strength, she simply couldn't contend with the entire God Realm. Secondly, she inherited the wisdom and creation power of the Dragon God. In terms of combat strength, she truly couldn't compare to the Golden Dragon King, who inherited the Dragon God's power and destruction. Even the Golden Dragon King was suppressed by the God Realm; a severely injured her had even less chance of resisting the God Realm. Therefore, besides her initial goal of exploring the essence of Lu Jingming's power when she first came to Hǎiyuān City, she now had a new idea: to use the power of Lu Jingming and Herta to find a way to save the soul beast race.
Lu Jingming's lips curved slightly, a soft laugh escaping him. Having spent more time with Gu Yue, he had already made some guesses about her purpose for being in Hǎiyuān City. After all, Gu Yue was always eager to challenge him, to fight him, even if he always defeated her with no chance of retaliation. But Lu Jingming was sure Gu Yue wasn't a masochist or a battle maniac. Thus, her persistence must have another motive. After much thought, he realized he had never exposed his true authority in front of Gu Yue. Therefore, what Gu Yue was after was most likely the Abyssal White Flower. Thinking of the two completely opposite yet harmoniously coexisting powers within his Abyssal White Flower, Lu Jingming was almost certain of Gu Yue's intentions.
Despite Gu Yue's true form being the God King-level Silver Dragon King, her current situation wasn't good.