The Great Master habitually made his way to the team battle registration counter and produced the Shrek Seven Devils' team battle registration emblem, handing it to the staff member. "Excuse me, I'd like to register for team battle."
The staff member habitually accepted the emblem, but the moment he saw the characters engraved upon it, his expression changed drastically. He let out a low gasp. "The Shrek Seven Devils?"
The Great Master's brow furrowed slightly. The staff at the Grand Battle Arena were generally well-trained — even when encountering high-ranking duelists, they rarely showed much emotion. This staff member's reaction was clearly less than satisfactory.
"Forgive me, sir. Are you the team leader of the Shrek Seven Devils?" the staff member asked cautiously.
The Great Master nodded slowly. "More or less. Could you hurry things along, please?"
"One moment, sir." To the Great Master's mild surprise, the staff member quickly left his post and hurried toward the back of the work area, still clutching tightly to the Shrek Seven Devils' team battle emblem.
Though the Great Master was quite displeased, the staff member had already taken the emblem needed for registration. Even if he wanted to switch to a different division, there was nothing to be done — he could only wait here patiently.
What the Great Master didn't realize was that as long as he presented that emblem at the Sotuo Grand Battle Arena today, no matter which division he registered in, he would receive the same treatment.
He didn't have to wait long. Before long, the same staff member returned to the registration counter, accompanied by someone else.
"Sorry to keep you waiting." The staff member politely handed the team battle emblem back to the Great Master.
The person the staff member had brought was someone the Great Master recognized — it was Director Ao, the same host who had been present when the Shrek Seven Devils fought their first team battle at the Sotuo Grand Battle Arena. Since Tang San had later told the Great Master that Director Ao had kindly warned them about the Mad Team's strength, the Great Master had formed a fairly solid impression of the man.
Director Ao wore a pleasant smile. "Hello, respected team leader. I wonder if we might have a word. I won't take up too much of your time."
The Great Master replied coolly, "Are you speaking on your own behalf, or on behalf of the Sotuo Grand Battle Arena?"
Director Ao hastened to answer, "On behalf of the Sotuo Grand Battle Arena, of course."
The Great Master nodded. He had anticipated something like this, after all. The Shrek Seven Devils' achievements over the past month had been far too outstanding to go unnoticed. Especially Tang San, who had performed the most brilliantly of all — winning every single one of his duels throughout the entire month — he was certain to be the focal point of attention.
Though the Great Master had no desire to deal with the Grand Battle Arena, its influence was so vast that even the government treaded cautiously around it. He naturally wouldn't go out of his way to offend them, so he nodded and followed Director Ao to a quiet room behind the registration counter.
"Team leader, I'll get straight to the point," Director Ao said with a somewhat grave expression. "On behalf of the Sotuo Grand Battle Arena, we would like the Shrek Seven Devils' team battle today to take place in the central main battle arena."
"Oh?" The Great Master showed no surprise, simply saying in a flat tone, "That doesn't seem to follow the rules, does it? According to arena regulations, only Soul Masters of Silver Soul Badge rank or above may appear in the main arena, and the Shrek Seven Devils are all Iron Soul Badge holders."
Director Ao smiled wryly. "There's no need to be modest. Given the Shrek Seven Devils' record this month, once today's duels conclude, every one of them will receive a Silver Soul Badge. Becoming Silver Soul Badge holders a day early shouldn't be a problem."
The Great Master's expression remained as calm as still water. "In that case, you shouldn't mind waiting just one more day."
Director Ao sighed and said, "Then I'll be completely honest. Three days ago, a Soul Master team arrived. They're all Silver Soul Badge holders, apparently summoned by several of Sotuo City's great nobles. For two consecutive days, those nobles placed enormous bets on them, and they won their duels without any suspense, inflicting massive losses on the Grand Battle Arena. Since you're familiar with the arena, you should know that Soul Masters who reach Silver Soul Badge rank typically possess forty or more levels of cultivation. However, every member of this team is a Soul Venerable. We can't break the rules by pitting a forty-level Soul Ancestor team against them. But if this continues, the Grand Battle Arena simply can't sustain the ongoing losses. Perhaps emboldened by their success, those nobles have increased their bets even further today. If we lose again, I'm afraid..."
The Great Master saw through the situation as clearly as a mirror. He immediately understood what Director Ao was implying, and after a brief moment of contemplation, said, "Soul Venerables who've already achieved Silver Soul Badge rank — it seems their strength must be considerable. So, what kind of teams did the arena send against them these past two days?"
Director Ao replied, "Because we don't have any Silver Soul Badge teams at the Soul Venerable level here at the Sotuo Grand Battle Arena, we had no choice but to send Soul Venerable-level Bronze Soul Badge teams to duel them. One of those teams was the Mad Team — they had only recently been promoted to Bronze Soul Badge rank and had previously faced the Shrek Seven Devils. But they were utterly defeated."
The Great Master's brow furrowed slightly. "Among Soul Venerable-level teams, the Mad Team's rank was already quite respectable. Are the members of this Silver Soul Badge team even higher level than them?"
Director Ao shook his head. "No, it's not a matter of Soul Power level. The gap lies primarily in their Soul Rings. This Silver Soul Badge team, just like the Shrek Seven Devils, possesses the optimal Soul Ring combination. The overwhelming advantage in Soul Skills left the Mad Team without a shred of opportunity."
Hearing this, the Great Master's expression finally showed some change. As the most renowned theoretical master in the Soul Master world, he knew full well what the so-called optimal Soul Ring combination meant — the first Soul Ring being a hundred-year ring, the second a five-hundred-year ring or above, and the third a thousand-year ring directly. Displayed on a Soul Master, this appeared as two yellow rings and one purple ring, exactly as Dai Mubai, Tang San, Oscar, and Xiao Wu each had.
"Even so, what makes the Grand Battle Arena believe that our Shrek Seven Devils can definitely win this duel? After all, we only have four Soul Masters above the thirty-level threshold, while the remaining three haven't even reached thirty levels yet."
Director Ao smiled faintly. "You're being modest again. Everyone knows that in terms of raw Soul Power level, the Shrek Seven Devils rank among the very lowest of all Soul Venerable-level teams. Yet across their twenty-seven team battles so far, they've achieved a perfect record of all victories. That's unprecedented even here at the Sotuo Grand Battle Arena. There's a reason for everything that exists. I believe the Shrek Seven Devils team absolutely has the ability to compete against this Silver Soul Badge team."
A gleam flickered in the Great Master's eyes. After a moment's deliberation, he said, "If I recall correctly, participating in the central main battle arena comes with additional rewards, doesn't it?"
Director Ao's heart leapt with quiet delight the moment he saw that the Great Master seemed interested. He hurried on, "Of course. For every Soul Master who participates in a main arena duel, there's a direct reward of five hundred Gold Soul Coins. And since your side has been personally invited by us, should you win this battle, the arena is willing to pay an additional ten thousand Gold Soul Coins as a bonus. However, since the Shrek Seven Devils haven't officially received their Silver Soul Badge yet, their points will still be calculated using the previous method. Fortunately, their team battles have been on a continuous winning streak, so they've already accumulated quite a number of points."
Without waiting for the Great Master to speak, Director Ao continued, "For the sake of this duel, I'd ask that the Shrek Seven Devils refrain from participating in any one-on-one or two-on-two duels today. While we can't add extra points for them and break the rules, within our authority, the arena can count their one-on-one and two-on-two duels today as victories. Their registered opponents will forfeit on their own. That way, the Shrek Seven Devils can face their opponents with their full strength."
The Great Master was never one to haggle over trifles, and the terms offered were already quite generous. More importantly, what truly caught his interest in this duel wasn't the points or the money — it was the training it would provide for his students. A Silver Soul Badge team that the Sotuo Grand Battle Arena took this seriously, combined with an optimal Soul Ring combination — such an ordeal could only benefit the Shrek Seven Devils.
The Great Master nodded slowly. "Very well, I accept. Please prepare the opponent's information, and I'll go recall my students."
"No need to trouble yourself. Our staff can handle recalling the Shrek Seven Devils. I've already prepared the opponent's data. You can study it with them first. I'll come back shortly to escort you into the central main battle arena for preparation."
With that, Director Ao quickly turned and left, clearly going to report to his superiors that the Shrek Seven Devils had agreed to participate, and to make the necessary arrangements. There was still a full hour before the team battle was set to begin — plenty of time for the Sotuo Grand Battle Arena to make extensive preparations.
Before long, not only had the Shrek Seven Devils been brought to the room by arena staff, but Flandre and Zhao Wuji had also been invited over — a clear indication that the Sotuo Grand Battle Arena had been observing their group for quite some time.
The Great Master calmly repeated what Director Ao had told him earlier, while spreading the newly obtained information across the table in the room.
Standing off to the side, Tang San suddenly noticed something new in the Great Master's eyes — a kind of flame-like radiance, and a flame of battle. Even he was seeing such intense fighting spirit in the Great Master's gaze for the very first time.
(End of chapter)