The eyes of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Tool Academy contestants were wide as copper bells, fixed intently on the magnificent structure standing upon the sea before them. They seemed as if their souls had been extracted, completely shattered by what they saw. If even the Sun Moon Royal Soul Tool Academy members were like this, imagine the other contestants from all over the continent. Many of them still felt like they were dreaming; everything before their eyes was simply too shocking, too unbelievable.
What lay before everyone was a massive artificial island with a diameter of 3.2 kilometers—the Eye of the Sea Abyss. It presented a unique hexagonal honeycomb floating island cluster design, composed of 1080 meticulously crafted soul tool metal floating plates. These plates were tightly interconnected through soul power interlocking technology, while seven enormous soul tool chains anchored their base, deeply embedded in the seabed, reaching into the abyssal trenches to ensure the stability of the entire island.
Above the island, nine circular suspended viewing platforms spiraled gracefully upwards, each platform separated by fifty meters and connected by anti-gravity cloud ladders. This colossal viewing platform could accommodate a total of 420,000 spectators, and when filled, it would become an ocean of cheers and shouts. The main arena, encased within a transparent spatial layer, floated precisely at the center of the island's base. This transparent space not only perfectly isolated combat fluctuations, ensuring spectator safety, but also allowed them to watch the thrilling and intense matches without obstruction.
Furthermore, a 360-degree circular water wall encircled the island. This water wall was truly ingenious; every drop of water was specially treated to become an independent projection unit. Through exquisite soul tool technology, it could clearly project the arena's visuals, allowing spectators on the coast to clearly watch the battles as if they were present, without having to board the island. Moreover, the spectator seats were specially equipped with soul power sensing chairs. Spectators only needed to lightly grip the pressure sensors embedded in the armrests to synchronously feel the soul power fluctuations from the arena, as if they themselves were in the midst of fierce combat, personally experiencing the thrilling power of soul skill clashes without suffering any harm.
The entire arena was constructed from 250 million precious memory metal units. These memory metals possessed miraculous properties, capable of generating any topographical scene according to the match's needs in just 30 seconds. Whether it was ice and snow glaciers, lava-spewing volcanoes, or sand-swept deserts, they could all be perfectly simulated, providing diverse combat environments for contestants and enriching the visual experience for spectators.
This artificial island—the Eye of the Sea Abyss—condensed countless efforts and wisdom from Sea Abyss City. It was created after Lu Jingming spent enormous sums of money, endured countless difficult negotiations, and signed who knows how many unequal treaties to gain the personal assistance of the Herta. The Herta dispatched a large number of tireless Herta puppets, working day and night to rush the construction. Under Keqing's design, this globally renowned arena was finally created. It's no exaggeration to say that the Eye of the Sea Abyss represents the pinnacle of soul tool technology in Sea Abyss City at this stage. It could also be said to be the pinnacle of soul tool technology for the entire Douluo Continent, as the Sun Moon Empire, at least, could not build such an artificial island at sea.
For the Herta, creating such a structure might not be difficult, but for the Douluo Continent, with its limited resources and relatively backward technology, the Eye of the Sea Abyss was undoubtedly a miracle, a crystallization of human wisdom and soul tool technology perfectly combined. To construct this building, and to bring an unprecedentedly shocking spectacle to everyone during the competition, Lu Jingming even employed the power of true reality. The memory metal comprising the arena did not originate from the Douluo Continent, but transcended time and space, coming from a distant alternate world. This Eye of the Sea Abyss, which defied physical laws and was filled with fantastical elements, was Lu Jingming's carefully prepared trump card for this Soul Master Tournament.
And judging from the massive crowds lining the coast and the expressions of uncontainable shock on all the contestants' faces, his objective had clearly been achieved, and the effect far exceeded expectations.
Under Lu Qingluan's orderly guidance, the contestants streamed onto the soul tool battleship that lay quietly docked at the coast. The soul tool battleship gleamed with a cold metallic luster, its streamlined hull design not only showcasing technological beauty but also embodying powerful propulsion. As the battleship slowly started, the sea breeze caressed their faces, and waves churned by the ship's side. The contestants, filled with both tension and anticipation, set off towards the Eye of the Sea Abyss.
Upon arriving at the Eye of the Sea Abyss, Lu Qingluan elegantly waved her hand, and a dozen tall Jinwei guards immediately stepped out in perfect formation. With steady strides, they each led a team of contestants towards the exclusive resting area for participants. Members of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Tool Academy and Shrek Academy were also led by the Jinwei guards to their respective resting areas. Prior to their arrival, many other teams had already boarded the Eye of the Sea Abyss. At this moment, the members of these teams were in their designated resting areas. Despite being in a resting place, their eyes were still filled with shock and curiosity as they constantly looked around this place full of technology and fantasy. The strange devices emitting soft light from the walls, and the mysteriously textured floor—every detail stirred their strong desire to explore.
After safely escorting the participating teams into their resting areas, the Jinwei guards withdrew swiftly and orderly, their movements clean and efficient, leaving no trace of dawdling. Wang Yan led Ma Xiaotao, Beibei, and the other members of Shrek Academy into the luxurious resting area. The moment they stepped into the space, a strong technological aura permeated the air. Large projected light screens hung suspended, gently shimmering, seemingly awaiting activation, and various uniquely shaped, unknown soul tools were arranged throughout.
Along the way, Wang Yan and the others had already witnessed too many astonishing advanced technologies from Sea Abyss City. At this moment, although they were still shocked, they had gradually adapted to this impact.
"What is this?" Xiao Xiao's clear voice suddenly broke the brief silence as soon as they entered the lounge. She immediately noticed an exquisite small booklet placed quietly on a gleaming metal table. Wang Yan walked over, picked up the booklet, and casually flipped through a few pages. He instantly understood its purpose and couldn't help but marvel inwardly at how meticulously Sea Abyss City had prepared, even providing such comprehensive instructions for the lounge.
Soon, following the instructions in the manual, Wang Yan discovered the many powerful hidden functions of this lounge. The projection function could display real-time match footage from the arena with ultra-high clarity, and also use an intelligent analysis system to deeply analyze opponents' combat styles and tactical characteristics for the team members. The Soul Tool Knowledge Base was a treasure trove of information, storing detailed data from previous tournaments and various types of martial soul information, all collected by Sea Abyss City. They could use the knowledge base to understand the specific details of their opponents' martial souls, as not everyone knew all martial souls. At least for Xiao Xiao and the others, many martial souls were unknown, and the knowledge base could provide them with detailed martial soul data. Of course, the martial soul data in the knowledge base was only partial, not complete, as martial souls on the Douluo Continent were myriad and strange, with various mutated martial souls appearing every year, so the knowledge base could not possibly be entirely accurate.
The soul tool treatment pods placed in the corner were for the team members' health. Lying inside them allowed for rapid treatment of injuries and effective relief of fatigue, enabling team members to enter matches in optimal condition. The most delightful feature was the sand table simulation function, which could create virtual combat scenarios based on the information collected by the team members, allowing them to conduct simulated battles beforehand and familiarize themselves with opponents' fighting methods. However, all of this depended on the accuracy of the information they collected.
Such complete and powerful lounge functions sent shockwaves through the hearts of team members like Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yaoheng, and Ling Luochen, who had participated in the previous tournament. They clearly remembered that the Soul Master Tournament held by the Tianhun Empire had rudimentary lounge facilities, which were worlds apart from the luxurious, high-tech lounge before them. In contrast, for Beibei, Xu Sanshi, and others participating for the first time, the impact was relatively smaller due to a lack of past comparison, but their eyes were equally filled with wonder and curiosity.
As the contestants gradually finished entering the arena, spectators also began to stream onto the viewing platforms suspended above the Eye of the Sea Abyss. These spectators were the lucky ones who had purchased tickets early. Due to the limited capacity of the Eye of the Sea Abyss, only those holding tickets were qualified to board this maritime marvel and experience the passion and excitement of the competition up close. Other spectators who could not obtain tickets could only watch from afar on the coastline, or return to Sea Abyss City to watch the matches on the large projection screens set up within the city. Of course, this viewing method was a world apart from the on-site experience, as the live audience had paid real money for a unique, immersive experience.
"This is truly astonishing, City Lord. You've given us all a huge surprise!" On the viewing platform, Wei Qianqian and Lan Yu sat on luxurious soul tool seats, gently stroking the armrests, feeling their delicate and comfortable texture, and couldn't help but exclaim sincerely. Their daughters, Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo, as members of the St. Freya Academy reserve team, were about to step onto the stage of this Soul Master feast, and they naturally wouldn't miss this rare opportunity. Moreover, the arena configuration for this tournament was unprecedented. No matter what, they had to experience this unparalleled spectacle themselves.
"Ah! It's Miss Robin!" Suddenly, a deafening cheer erupted from the crowd. All eyes were instantly drawn, uniformly looking at the last team to board the Eye of the Sea Abyss. A team dressed in splendid white and light purple uniforms slowly walked forward under everyone's gaze. At the very front of the team, Lu Jingming stood tall and dignified, followed by Robin, March 7th, and nine other team members. As the host, St. Freya Academy's stunning grand entrance instantly ignited the atmosphere of the entire venue.
Robin was extremely well-known among the populace; her gentle and sweet image was deeply ingrained in people's hearts. Moreover, this was Sea Abyss City, and as a local academy, St. Freya Academy had a natural home-field advantage, with countless fanatical admirers of Robin. At this moment, Robin had her characteristic gentle smile on her face, gently waving her arm, warmly interacting with the enthusiastic cheering spectators on the stands. Every one of her actions triggered even more fervent screams and shouts from the audience, pushing the atmosphere to one climax after another.
"Sister Robin's popularity is truly terrifying!" March 7th said, covering her ears with her hands. The thunderous cheers just now made her eardrums hurt and buzz. But her eyes sparkled with excitement; being in such a passionate atmosphere made her incredibly thrilled.