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Several months passed, and the long-awaited Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament that Li Luochen had prepared for finally began.
This time, Li Luochen was thoroughly prepared—prepared even for the beating he might receive from his mother-in-law after winning the championship.
There was no helping it; the strength of the team members this time was extraordinary. Ma Hongjun had returned ahead of schedule, with his soul power reaching level 61.
Just a week before the tournament's opening, You Tianshang brought Ma Hongjun back. At a glance, Li Luochen could sense the extent of Ma Hongjun's cultivation.
The strength of the Shrek Academy team was also quite impressive.
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Shrek Academy Team
- Leader: Li Luochen, Level 88
- Vice Leader: Qin Ming, Level 78
- Captain: Oscar, Level 57
- Vice Captain: Ma Hongjun, Level 61
- Members:
- Yu Tianxin, Level 48
- Dai Mubai, Level 44
- Yang Wu, Level 49
- Niu Dun, Level 48
- Ning Rongrong, Level 47
- Zhu Zhuqing, Level 48
- Ye Lengleng, Level 47
- Reserve Members:
- Jiang Zhu, Level 42
- Jing Ling, Level 42
- Huang Yuan, Level 42
- Tai Long, Level 41 (Withdrawn)
This team was the result of Li Luochen's painstaking efforts and resource investment. Of course, Dai Mubai was an exception—he was already ruined. Ever since being defeated by Zhu Zhuqing in a direct confrontation, his spirit had been utterly crushed.
As for why Zhu Zhuqing had beaten him, Dai Mubai had wanted to perform a Spirit Fusion Technique with her. However, Zhu Zhuqing refused because their fusion technique had long since become invalid due to the evolution of her spirit. Enraged, Dai Mubai forcefully attacked her, intending to subdue her through sheer force. But to his dismay, he couldn't even touch Zhu Zhuqing.
With a single strike to the throat, Zhu Zhuqing knocked him down. Under Li Luochen's guidance (in a proper manner), Zhu Zhuqing's combat ability had grown the fastest among the team. Even Yu Tianxin found it difficult to defeat her in a one-on-one fight.
Zhu Zhuqing also possessed an external soul bone—the Eight Spider Spears. Due to her fourth soul ring being sourced from a nine-thousand-year Shadow Elf, the venom of the Eight Spider Spears had been replaced with darkness. The spears no longer resembled spider legs but actual spears, their color shifting from purple to dark purple. If Zhu Zhuqing absorbed another dark-attribute soul ring, they might turn completely black.
Li Luochen believed that the preliminary rounds and even the finals would be a breeze for his team—unless they faced the Spirit Hall Academy team, they were practically guaranteed to dominate.
All team members were at or above the Soul Ancestor level, with no Soul Masters among them. Moreover, Li Luochen's team boasted four auxiliary-type soul masters: Oscar, Ning Rongrong, Ye Lingling, and Jiang Zhu.
Of course, Oscar's role was primarily as a frontline battle soul master, but his auxiliary abilities couldn't be overlooked. He could allow all team members to temporarily use the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon spirit.
Thanks to Yu Tianxin's blood contribution, Oscar's "Copycat Sausage" could mimic his abilities for up to a month. Though it consumed a significant amount of soul power, Oscar had prepared enough sausages. They wouldn't need many during the preliminaries.
Oscar had prepared five sausages each for Ning Rongrong, Ye Lingling, and Jiang Zhu. As for himself, he could produce them on the spot whenever needed.
After consuming the sausages, Ning Rongrong and the others could achieve 70% of Yu Tianxin's strength, lasting for three minutes. Don't underestimate this 70%; with Yu Tianxin's current soul power at level 48, 70% equates to around level 42. For three minutes, Ning Rongrong and the others would possess the combat strength of a level 42 Yu Tianxin.
Coupled with the element of surprise, their sudden use of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon spirit would undoubtedly catch opponents off guard.
Under Li Luochen's training and sparring sessions with teammates, the combat abilities of these three female auxiliary soul masters had reached unprecedented heights, far surpassing their previous levels. They were no longer considered weak links.
Generally, agile attackers were responsible for targeting the backline. But when an auxiliary soul master suddenly transformed into a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, the agile attacker would find themselves face-to-face with a powerful offensive dragon spirit. The outcome was predictable.
During this period, Li Luochen had been designing uniforms for the Shrek Academy team. The uniforms needed excellent elasticity since their beast spirits often caused their clothes to tear, especially for Yu Tianxin. After transforming into the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon and undergoing dragonization, her clothes would inevitably rip.
However, the three beauties of the academy couldn't afford to have their clothes tear. Thus, Li Luochen specially prepared uniforms with exceptional elasticity, ensuring they wouldn't rip even after transforming into the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.
For men, showing off muscles after tearing clothes was cool, but for women? It was better to keep them protected. Li Luochen proudly remarked, "Where else can you find such a considerate teacher?"
What surprised Li Luochen, however, was You Tianshang, who announced he would accompany him to watch the tournament. You Tianshang claimed he was there for entertainment. What shocked Li Luochen even more was that after just a year, You Tianshang had already reached level 95.
It was truly terrifying. And Ma Hongjun breaking through to level 61 was equally surprising. Honestly, Li Luochen had thought that even with intense cultivation, Ma Hongjun would only reach level 58 at most. How had he improved so much?
You Tianshang explained that he had given Ma Hongjun a sixty-thousand-year left arm bone—the best treasure he could offer as a teacher. Specifically, it was a complete sixty-thousand-year Flame Incineration Explosive Left Arm Bone.
Li Luochen couldn't help but admire You Tianshang's generosity in nurturing his disciple. A single gesture worth "six" figures indeed.
Now, Ma Hongjun possessed three soul bones: a forty-thousand-year Mutated Earth King Left Leg Bone, a thirty-five-thousand-year Dark Golden Three-Headed Bat King Head Bone, and the sixty-thousand-year Flame Incineration Explosive Left Arm Bone.
Who else could match this configuration?
Currently, Li Luochen didn't think anyone in the tournament could surpass Ma Hongjun's setup. But there were always exceptions, and that exception might be Hu Liena.
Li Luochen had seen Hu Liena before; her soul power fluctuated at level 59, and she was likely now a Soul Emperor. He couldn't understand why Hu Liena had advanced so quickly.
Li Luochen speculated that the reason was likely soul bones—soul bones bestowed by Bibi Dong. With Bibi Dong already at level 99, it suggested she had indeed hunted down the three Qian Jun Ant Emperors. Could those ant emperors have dropped soul bones? It was plausible. Although their bloodline wasn't particularly high-tier, their age made up for it. Bibi Dong's attack style involved both poison and tearing—purely brutal methods.
Li Luochen boldly guessed that Bibi Dong had obtained three Qian Jun Ant Emperor soul bones, and Hu Liena had likely absorbed more than one. Such a teacher was truly remarkable.
Though Hu Liena's spiritual power was decent, it hadn't yet reached the Soul Sage level, meaning she hadn't absorbed a head bone. Bibi Dong wouldn't part with the Spirit Condensation Wisdom Skull easily.
Most likely, Bibi Dong was highly confident in Hu Liena's chances of winning the championship. A Soul Emperor-level Hu Liena paired with a Soul King-level Xie Yue—brother and sister wielding a Spirit Fusion Technique—would indeed pose a formidable challenge.
It seemed the Shrek Academy team's chances of victory weren't great. Take Tang San, for example—his victories were largely due to plot armor, and his opponents were always inexplicably weakened. How could he not win?
By the way, what were Tang San and Yu Xiaogang up to now? The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon family was in chaos, and apart from Yu Xiaogang, the entire Yu Yuanzhen lineage had been wiped out. Why hadn't there been any news about him?
Li Luochen sent someone to investigate Yu Xiaogang's current activities and recent developments. He wanted to know what was going on.
Not for anything else—he just wanted to see the clown. Li Luochen felt that Yu Xiaogang could head straight to Gotham City and take on Batman.
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