In just three days, Sea Abyss City reaped enormous profits from this Soul Master Tournament. Although the profits had to be shared with various parties, the wealth that ultimately flowed into Sea Abyss City's coffers was still an astronomical and astonishing figure.
Even more surprisingly, merchants who had originally opened hotels and restaurants in Sea Abyss City temporarily for the Soul Master Tournament, after witnessing the city's prosperity and potential firsthand, were drawn to it. They resolutely decided to stay and develop long-term in Sea Abyss City, taking root there.
Regardless of which academy ultimately claimed the championship of this Soul Master Tournament, Sea Abyss City was undoubtedly the biggest winner. During the tournament, Sea Abyss City showcased its cutting-edge soul tool technology, its awe-inspiring top-tier combat power, and its disciplined, formidable Jinwei guards, who were in no way inferior even when compared to the soul master legions of the great empires. All of this attracted the attention of countless interested parties and became the focus of everyone's heated discussions. Lu Jingming had a premonition that with the conclusion of this tournament, Sea Abyss City was about to enter a golden age of rapid development. Both a significant increase in population and a booming economy were on the horizon.
The All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament of Soul Battles entered its fourth day. As dawn broke, Sea Abyss City was already bustling with people. Spectators, filled with high spirits, found their spots early, and the entire Sea Abyss City echoed with their excited discussions and cheers, setting a fervent atmosphere for this top-tier soul master event.
Star Luo Emperor Xu Jiawei, accompanied by the Empress and Xu Jiujiu, also ascended the main platform early. Their early arrival undoubtedly showed great respect for the contestants, clearly indicating Xu Jiawei's emphasis on this tournament.
Today's sky was sunny and as blue as a gem. However, few knew that it was originally supposed to be cloudy. To ensure the smooth progress of the event, Sea Abyss City specifically utilized soul tools capable of controlling the weather, forcibly dispelling the gloom to create an ideal competition environment for both spectators and contestants. After all, during such a grand event, heavy rain would be a major disappointment for those spectators who couldn't board the "Eye of the Sea Abyss" and could only watch the matches from the coastline and other corners of Sea Abyss City.
For the first round of the group stage, although there were only four matchups, all sixty-seven teams that successfully advanced to the group stage were present, arriving early at the arena. Each team understood that understanding opponents and gathering intelligence beforehand was crucial, especially since Sea Abyss City had prepared sand table simulations for them, which required detailed and accurate information as support.
At this moment, a huge projection screen slowly emerged above the arena, clearly displaying the group allocations for the various academy teams in the group stage. As expected by many, several powerful academies were cleverly separated, with St. Freya Academy, Shrek Academy, and Sun Moon Royal Soul Tool Academy each placed into different groups. After all, with eight groups and only two qualifying spots per group, ultimately only sixteen teams could break through to enter the fierce competition of the top sixteen.
St. Freya Academy was placed in Group 1, which consisted of eight teams in total. Among them, Dou Ling Royal Advanced Soul Master Academy was particularly eye-catching. As a strong contender for the top four in previous tournaments, their placement in the same group as St. Freya Academy instantly ignited the spectators' enthusiasm. The clash between the previous champion and a previous top eight team was undoubtedly highly anticipated, and everyone was eager to witness this spectacular duel.
As the previous champion and host, St. Freya Academy naturally entered the first match of the group stage. On the arena's large screen, St. Freya Academy's name was first locked on the left, while the names of the seven academies in Group 1 quickly flashed and switched on the right, finally settling on Thousand Spirits Academy. Soon, the screen flickered again, and the words "St. Freya Academy vs. Thousand Spirits Academy, Team Battle" clearly appeared.
"First round of the group stage, St. Freya Academy versus Thousand Spirits Academy. Please, both teams, enter the arena."
Chang Li's magnetic voice resonated through the arena. At the same time, Dan Heng's figure appeared silently like a flowing wind in the center of the combat stage. As Lu Jingming and the other six walked out of the lounge, the audience erupted in frenzied cheers. Perhaps due to Lu Jingming's strong performance in the first elimination round, amidst the fervent shouts of "Robin," he faintly heard his own name. But his expression remained calm, completely unfazed, his gaze directly fixed on the seven members of the Thousand Spirits Academy opposite him.
Despite the overwhelmingly one-sided cheers from the audience, the members of Thousand Spirits Academy appeared surprisingly composed. This steady mindset was clearly superior to some of the previous academy teams. Lu Jingming had detailed information on Thousand Spirits Academy at his disposal. In fact, he had a complete grasp of all participating contestants' information. As long as these contestants had used the Simulated Universe for training, their information would be fully recorded in the Simulated Universe's database.
The captain of Thousand Spirits Academy was Shen Ce, who was slightly thin but had a stern look on his face. His martial soul was the Thousand Strike Spear, and he was a Level 53 Assault-type Soul King with extremely powerful offensive capabilities. Beside him was the vice-captain An Lengye, who had a waterfall of blue long hair, wore a gray-silver Taiji team uniform on her upper body, and silver full-length pants on her lower body. She was quite beautiful, and her aloof demeanor was evident from her appearance alone. Her martial soul was the Ice Frost Giant Bear, a Level 45 Control-type Soul Sect.
Beside An Lengye was a young girl named Fei Yuyan. Her black hair had a few strands of red highlights, and her hairstyle was exquisite and beautiful. Her upper body attire was similar to An Lengye's but adorned with red strings, while her lower body wore orange full-length pants. Her features were delicate, and her smile was sweet, making her appear lively, adorable, approachable, and spirited. Fei Yuyan's martial soul was the Weaving Flame Tiger, also a Level 45 Control-type Soul Sect. It was hard to imagine that these two beautiful young girls had ferocious bear and tiger martial souls.
Besides Shen Ce, An Lengye, and Fei Yuyan, the three core members, the other four members of Thousand Spirits Academy—Yang Ming, Song Hu, Bai Chen, and Ye Mao—all came from the same sect, the Lingxi Sect. Their martial souls were all the defensive Lingxi Shield. Therefore, the Thousand Spirits Academy team also had a well-known nickname—"Ice and Fire Dual Control Thousand Strike Spear."
As soon as both teams entered the arena, without Dan Heng needing to remind them, they quickly spread out, standing a hundred meters apart. Thousand Spirits Academy immediately adopted a defensive formation. Four burly defensive soul masters stood at the forefront, Shen Ce was in the center of the formation, while An Lengye and Fei Yuyan covered the rear. Meanwhile, St. Freya Academy remained casual, not deliberately forming a specific formation, with its members standing freely.
"Match start!" With Dan Heng's command, the four individuals at the front of Thousand Spirits Academy simultaneously released their martial souls. In an instant, four soul rings—two yellow, two purple—appeared in succession, encircling their bodies. Under the shroud of dark yellow light, their already tall bodies became even more imposing, as if covered in an invisible armor. At the same time, heavy, armor-like dark yellow shields appeared in their right hands. Each Lingxi Shield was over a meter long. The four of them stood in close formation, like an impregnable city wall, firmly protecting the three behind them.
A silver light flashed, and a silver long spear appeared in Shen Ce's hand. The spear emanated a chillingly sharp aura, a stark contrast to the heavy defense of his four teammates in front. Five soul rings—two yellow, three purple—also appeared around his body. Although it wasn't the optimal soul ring configuration and was slightly inferior, considering he had reached Soul King level strength at less than twenty years old, he was undoubtedly a genius. It was only a pity that his soul ring configuration held him back; otherwise, his strength would be no less than some of Shrek Academy's Inner Court disciples.
The moment Shen Ce released his Thousand Strike Spear, two lights, one blue and one red, rose behind him. Immediately after, two deafening beast roars rang out, and an Ice Frost Giant Bear three meters tall and a Weaving Flame Tiger two and a half meters tall appeared out of thin air on the combat stage. An Lengye and Fei Yuyan did not choose martial soul possession like traditional beast martial soul users. Instead, they mimicked their martial souls in a summoned form. Lu Jingming understood their reasoning; after all, for two delicate young beauties, transforming into a bear and a tiger through martial soul possession would indeed be quite incongruous.
Although martial soul mimicry would mean losing the physical enhancement of beast martial souls, the summoned mimicked martial souls could fight independently. Furthermore, they followed a control-type path, so physical stat bonuses were not crucial for them. To maintain their image and temperament, these two girls, who would normally be suited for an assault-type path, ultimately chose the control-type route. However, the fact that their respective powers allowed them to pursue the control-type path clearly indicated that they were indeed suited for it.
Thousand Spirits Academy stood ready, presenting a seemingly impenetrable defense, the atmosphere taut. At this moment, Lu Jingming's soul power surged around him, and he decisively released his martial soul. A deep black long spear—Abyss—instantly appeared in his hand. Unlike the overtly sharp sense of the spear in Shen Ce's hand, Abyss's aura was extremely restrained. Though it didn't display strong aggression, it gave off a feeling of directly facing death, making one's breathing uncomfortable. Around Lu Jingming, five soul rings—two purple, two black, and one red—were arranged in order. This undoubtedly placed a heavy pressure on the seven members of Thousand Spirits Academy, causing their breathing to unconsciously become heavier.
The four defensive soul masters at the front of Thousand Spirits Academy reacted quickly, immediately unleashing their soul skills. The four Lingxi Shields overlapped with extreme speed, yellow light and shadows intertwining like lightning. Countless layers of light shields stacked upon each other, instantly forming a tall, thick yellow shield wall, completely blocking the vision of Lu Jingming and his six teammates, guarding their own formation impenetrably.