Soto City, Grand Soul Arena!
TheShrek Academy team of twelve entered.
Eight students, including Ma Hongjun, wore matching masks.
At the front desk, they took out their Soul Badges and changed their names, replacing their real names with newly chosen nicknames.
However, an unexpected problem arose when registering their team.
"What? We're registered as a Silver Soul Team right away!"
"And we're at level 40, the Silver Soul tier!"
This was a problem everyone had overlooked.
Before this, Ma Hongjun, Xiang Chengxian, Dai Mubai, and Oscar had started participating in Soul Battles two years prior. From the beginning, Ma Hongjun had won every single and double Soul Battle, maintaining a winning streak.
In
the second month after joining Soul Battles, Ma Hongjun had already reached the Silver Soul tier due to his winning streak.
Later, because he couldn't find any Silver Soul tier Soul Masters in the level 30 range, Ma Hongjun quickly felt isolated at his high level.
It was precisely because his rank was too high that he couldn't find teammates.
Generally, accumulating points is a gradual process; winning streaks are rare, and those who accumulate points as quickly as Ma Hongjun are few and far between.
He also broke the record at the Soto City Grand Arena.
Now that he's reached level 40, he should be able to find opponents at the Silver Soul Master level.
However, his team is in a difficult position.
Team battles are calculated based on the highest Soul Master level and highest Soul Power level among team members. This means that if they have a level 40 Silver Soul Master member, they can only be matched against Silver Soul Master opponents, specifically those in the level 40 tier.
But their team only has two level 40 members.
This is quite awkward; the team includes members from three different levels, from level 20 and 30 to level 40.
This makes it very difficult for the organizers to arrange opponents.
"Given the unique nature of your team, it's difficult for us to arrange opponents for you. There are only two level 40 Silver Soul Teams registered in our Soto Grand Soul Arena.
But because they lack opponents, they haven't appeared in the Soto Grand Soul Arena for a long time.
Therefore, we can only post your team information and see if any teams will challenge you.
After all, your team's strength is uneven."
Originally, the Grandmaster planned for everyone to participate in one team battle each day, but now it seems that being able to arrange anything is already a blessing.
"Hongjun, your level has increased too rapidly; your teammates can't keep up,"
Oscar sighed.
"That's all we can do. Hongjun, don't participate in other Soul Battles for now. With your strength, I think no one at level 40 is your match. Participating in more Soul Battles wouldn't be very meaningful; it would only push your Soul Level too high, which is detrimental to team Soul Battles," the Grandmaster said to Ma Hongjun.
Indeed, Ma Hongjun could feel it too. At level 30, he could barely use his third Soul Skill in one-on-one combat.
It felt good to be bullying weaker opponents of the same level, but it didn't really hone his skills.
It would be more practical to spar with Zhao Wuji.
Although it was a bit of a shame that Ma Hongjun's level was too high to find teammates, this didn't affect the team's goal.
High strength could never be a bad thing.
The team's goal was the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament, which required participants to be under 25 years old.
Under 25, the higher the strength, the better the results.
Soon, as required by the organizers, the Shrek team registered and accepted challenges.
The Soul Battles here were team battles for seven-person teams. Shrek had eight members, but only the seven participating members needed to be registered.
The points were also calculated based on the seven participating members.
Oscar and Xiao Yuanyuan's Soul Fusion Skill, because of its long casting time, wasn't very effective in team battles, and their support effects overlapped somewhat, so they served as substitutes for each other.
However, because Oscar provided meat, his support effect was much better than Xiao Yuanyuan's.
Therefore, Xiao Yuanyuan was Grandmaster's substitute.
The real Soul Master Tournament is also conducted in seven-person team battles, but it's difficult for seven people to go all the way. Usually, a team has around seven substitute members.
Currently, their team only has one substitute, but Grandmaster isn't worried; he already has his own plan.
Team battles are held by registering Soul Masters for challenges, and the team battles are held last.
Therefore, everyone except Ma Hongjun participates in Soul Battles.
Ning Rongrong, Oscar, and Xiao Yuanyuan, being support Soul Masters, will only team up with Dai Mubai and the others for two-on-two battles after they finish their one-on-one matches.
The one-on-one Soul Battles proceed quickly, and the group is scheduled to battle in different Soul Battle arenas.
Ma Hongjun goes to watch Zhu Zhuqing's Soul Battle.
Her opponent is an agility-type Soul Master with a leopard spirit, and their Soul Power is similar to hers.
Encountering a Soul Master of the same type is the most challenging and best reflects one's own strength.
Agility-based attacks rely heavily on speed, agility, and reaction time.
This leopard-spirited soul master was older, and although his soul rings were white and yellow, his combat experience was extensive. In terms of speed and agility, the cat-like spirit was far superior to the leopard.
Therefore, after sensing Zhu Zhuqing's advantage in speed and agility, he adopted a strategy of
waiting for Zhu Zhuqing to attack first before counterattacking.
He believed he would have the upper hand in terms of strength. After all, although he was developing an agility-based attack style, the leopard spirit itself had a certain foundation in power attacks.
However, he clearly underestimated Zhu Zhuqing's attack power.
As a beast spirit on par with the top-tier White Tiger spirit, how could her attack power be weak?
Coupled with her recent breakthrough in movement technique, her strength increased again. Her
agile movements left the leopard-spirited soul master with no time to react. Finally, under the relentless onslaught of Zhu Zhuqing's first and second skills, the leopard-spirited soul master had no choice but to concede defeat.
"Not bad, Zhu Qing, you've improved a lot."
As soon as Zhu Zhu Qing appeared, Ma Hongjun rushed up to her, showering her with compliments.
Soon after, Xiang Chengxian, Dai Mubai, and Tang San also finished their one-on-one soul battles.
Fortunately, they all won their one-on-one battles today.
Although Xiang Chengxian was level 41, she faced a level 47 opponent, but her fourth soul skill, the Black Tiger Demonic Sound, with its unique sonic attack, left her opponent defenseless, allowing her to win despite being a level above her opponent.
Next were two-on-two soul battles. To boost their rankings with support characters, Dai Mubai teamed up with Oscar, Tang San with Xiao Yuanyuan, and Zhu Zhu Qing with Ning Rongrong.
Ma Hongjun watched Zhu Zhu Qing and Ning Rongrong's Seven Treasures Spirit Cat team battle again.
With Ning Rongrong's powerful support, Zhu Zhu Qing displayed strength comparable to a Soul Master, easily securing a victory.
The other two teams also won as expected. Tang San was strong enough to handle two opponents at once, and Dai Mubai, at level 39, was practically unbeatable at level 30, so they also won.
Now we're just waiting for news about the team battle.
Meanwhile, on the other side, at the team battle rankings:
"There are so few Soul Fighting teams in Soto City! We've only won seven matches, and we haven't even advanced to Bronze Soul Fighting Team yet, and we have to wait for a Soul Fighting appointment."
This was a team of seven—six men and one woman—and one of their members complained.
"There's nothing we can do. It's like this in a small city like Soto City. There are very few level 30 Soul Master teams; it's impossible for them to be in the Soul Fighting Arena every day. They all need to make appointments in advance."
"Boss Kuangxi, how about we challenge some high-level teams? With our current strength, dealing with high-level teams is no problem at all.
If it weren't for the lack of Soul Fighting appointments, we probably would have already advanced to a Bronze Soul Fighting Team, or even a Silver Soul Fighting Team."
The man called Boss Kuangxi was a burly man over two meters tall, appearing to be in his thirties, shirtless, revealing exaggeratedly dark muscles.
"With the aid of the Ruyi Disc, our strength can even rival that of a Soul Master. Among Soul Venerable-level teams, I think we'll have a hard time finding an opponent."
"Hey, boss, look, there's a team here that's only nominally accepting challenges."
"A Soul Master-level team with Silver Soul Fighting Spirits—that's not a team we can challenge."
"Take a closer look."
Nominal teams will disclose some information, including the Soul Master's level and Soul Fighting Badge. But their Martial Soul information won't be revealed.
"They just registered today, and their record is zero."
"Look at their team members."
"Two Soul Masters, three Soul Venerables, and even two Great Soul Masters. What a strange team."
"Only one of them has a Silver Soul Badge, and the other six have three Bronze and three Iron Soul Badges."
"We're all above level 35. Although they have two Soul Masters, they also have two bottom-tier Great Soul Masters.
With the help of the Ruyi Disc, dealing with two Soul Masters shouldn't be a problem. Besides, they're a new team, so their teamwork definitely won't be as good as ours."
"Boss, I think we can challenge them.
And the chances of victory are high."
"Boss, this is just a Silver Soul Badge team of Soul Master level, only two Soul Master level Soul Masters. This team is way too weak."
"They can even be a Silver Soul Badge team?"
"They became a Silver Soul Badge team because of the captain with the Silver Soul Badge."
"I think if we face them, we only need to take down the Silver Soul Badge captain, and the rest are easy for us to handle."
"Haha, this is a chance for our Berserker Team to make a name for ourselves, boss!
If we can defeat this Silver Soul Master level team, we'll be known throughout the Great Soul Arena!" "
Moreover, the gold soul coins earned from actively challenging higher-level teams are ten times higher than usual."
The team members chattered amongst themselves, all eager to challenge the Shrek Academy team.
This was a golden opportunity—points, gold soul coins, and fame—delivered to their doorstep. They were all incredibly excited, feeling like they'd stumbled upon a great opportunity.
The burly captain, Mad Rhino, looked at the only female Soul Master beside him, seeking her opinion.
The female Soul Master nodded slightly.
"I agree too. I think we can win."
The opposing team only had two Soul Masters; she was confident. Her control was something even ordinary Soul Masters couldn't escape.
Finally, amidst the expectant gazes of her teammates, the naked and powerful Mad Rhino delivered the decisive blow.
"Alright, then we'll challenge the Shrek Academy team."
(End of Chapter)