Not long after, the Star Luo Continent Youth Soul Master Tournament officially began.
Xu Yuan and the others didn't participate in the preliminary elimination rounds. Instead, they spent their days at the hotel, racing against time to craft battle armor.
As two weeks passed, Xu Yuan provided a summary of their progress.
"Ye Xinglan has completed two more pieces of battle armor, bringing her total to seven. Tang Wulin also gained two more, bringing his total to six."
In just half a month, four pieces of battle armor had been crafted, showing that Ye Xinglan's abilities were quite impressive—especially considering that both his and Tang Wulin's battle armor were challenging to produce.
Even Le Zhengyu, who was highly skilled, had only managed to craft four pieces of battle armor during this period. Three of these were for himself, and one was for Wu Siduo. At this point, Le Zhengyu now had eight pieces of battle armor, while Wu Siduo had only three.
Of those three, two had just been made by Xu Yuan for her.
Wu Siduo hadn't started crafting her battle armor early; she was simply following the normal progression of the academy's curriculum.
As for Xu Yuan, he had crafted seven pieces of battle armor in total. Three belonged to Yuanen Yehui, who now possessed nine pieces—the most complete set among the group.
Two more pieces were crafted for Fang Yuan.
In half a month, Wu Siduo and Le Zhengyu had each only produced four pieces of battle armor, while Xu Yuan had crafted a total of seven pieces for three different individuals!
This highlighted the difference in skill levels.
This was also why Xu Yuan was close to breaking through to become a sixth-rank mech builder.
Using his mental link, Xu Yuan had excellent control over spirit-infused metals. Moreover, most of the materials he used were spirit-infused alloys he had forged himself, making it easy to guide their spiritual properties. Under these conditions, Xu Yuan's practice efficiency was extremely high, rapidly improving his mech-building skills.
"The tournament is about to begin. I've checked, and the round-robin stage is straightforward. Teams will compete in a round-robin format within their groups, and the team with the highest score will advance. Fortunately, our team isn't in the same group as the Heavenly King Team."
Xu Yuan explained the rules of the competition to everyone.
Then, he led the eight of them to the competition venue.
---
Inside the Exclusive Viewing Box
"There's nothing special to note for the team battles. Eight of you will select seven participants, and victory is guaranteed. What we need to focus on are the doubles matches and individual battles."
Xu Yuan pointed to the screens displaying multiple arenas.
"For the doubles matches, all nine of us—except for Xu Lizhi—will form pairs and register as teams. As for the individual battles, Gu Yue won't participate due to her lack of combat capabilities, and Xu Lizhi, being a food-based soul master, can't compete either. That leaves the seven of us to register individually."
Xu Yuan looked at everyone.
"Choose your teammates."
Wu Siduo hesitated, wanting to step forward and partner with Xu Yuan. However, Xu Yuan spoke first: "Yuanen and I have the strongest individual strength, so we'll pair up to aim for the championship in the doubles matches."
Yuanen Yehui nodded, indicating no objections.
"Then I'll partner with Wu Siduo," Le Zhengyu said.
He actually wanted to team up with Yuanen Yehui. Although they had conflicts in the past, their relationship had improved over the last two years, and they had developed powerful combination techniques. The synergy between the Holy Angel and the Fallen Angel could achieve an effect greater than the sum of its parts.
But since Xu Yuan had already paired with Yuanen Yehui to aim for first place, Le Zhengyu settled for the second-strongest option, Wu Siduo.
Wu Siduo could only nod and accept the pairing. If they were forming teams based purely on combat strength, Le Zhengyu was indeed the best choice.
Xu Yuan was speechless.
He still didn't fully understand Gu Yue's mindset. If she had a competitive streak, he would definitely choose her.
Aside from Xu Yuan, if anyone here unleashed their full potential, no one could match Gu Yue.
"I'll pair with Gu Yue. We work well together," Tang Wulin said.
Fang Yuan and Ye Xinglan exchanged glances and agreed to team up as well.
"Alright, that's settled," Xu Yuan said.
Since Shrek Academy was participating by invitation, they enjoyed many conveniences. After finalizing their decisions, Xu Yuan notified the organizers, and staff soon arrived to handle the necessary procedures.
Their team information was successfully recorded, and they were added to the round-robin lineup.
The system updated quickly, and soon a match was displayed.
"Huh? Class President, you've been matched in the individual battles—your opponent is Dai Yun'er!" Wu Siduo's surprised voice caught Xu Yuan's attention.
Looking at the screen displaying individual match information, the latest matchup indeed showed him facing Dai Yun'er.
The individual battle between Xu Yuan and Dai Yun'er was scheduled for the afternoon.
As for the other matches—whether doubles or team battles—they had already been assigned but weren't scheduled for today.
"Please welcome the two competitors to the arena!"
The referee announced: "Please welcome Xu Yuan and Dai Yun'er to the stage."
Xu Yuan exited the viewing box and walked directly onto the massive square arena, which measured 300 meters on each side—more than enough space.
On the opposite side, Dai Yun'er slowly stepped forward, glaring at Xu Yuan with an expression of barely contained frustration.
"Hmph, you've run into me today, so—" Before she could finish her threat, Xu Yuan interrupted her.
"Today, you're going to lose to me?"
Dai Yun'er's face flushed red as she stared at Xu Yuan, unable to respond. She had already learned from her father, Dai Tianling, about Xu Yuan's strength and knew she couldn't possibly defeat him.
"Competitors, prepare yourselves," the referee interrupted their exchange.
"The match begins!"
Xu Yuan and Dai Yun'er simultaneously released their martial souls.
A pair of cat ears appeared on Dai Yun'er's head, and her slender figure was surrounded by dark soul power. Sharp claws extended from her fingertips.
Around her body, four soul rings emerged—one black and three purple.
The black ten-thousand-year soul ring!
After releasing her soul rings, she wore a confident expression.
This ten-thousand-year soul ring had been obtained after much persuasion, with her father agreeing to personally hunt down a genuine ten-thousand-year soul beast for her.
Her spiritual power and physical strength had both been pushed to their limits to support two martial souls and eight soul rings. Her spiritual power wasn't an issue—her innate talent was strong enough to handle it—but her physical conditioning had required significant resources from the royal family.
Still, it was all worth it.
At the forty-level threshold, this ten-thousand-year soul ring had allowed her to leap four levels in a single go, granting her soul power of level 46 at just fifteen years old!
Within a year, she was confident she'd break through to the Soul King level.
Yes, within a year.
Of course, this included the benefits she'd gain from the upcoming Dragon Valley operation.
Even so, this was an incredible achievement.
A sixteen-year-old Soul King—this was historic for the Star Luo Continent. Even on the Douluo Continent, it would be a record-breaking feat if not for Xu Yuan.
However, her confidence faltered when she saw Xu Yuan's soul rings.
Black.
Black.
Black.
Black.
Black.
All five soul rings were black.
Five ten-thousand-year soul rings!
With the Heavenly Origin Five Elements Spear held at his side, Xu Yuan stood motionless, yet he exuded an overwhelming pressure.
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