"If they can chain other Soul Skills together, there's no way they couldn't incorporate those two powerful abilities as well. You lost because you got careless. The moment Tang San's Purple Extreme Demon Eye made you dizzy, you'd already lost your chance. These little brats would never give you time to fight back. All kinds of disabling skills kept pounding into you—what could you possibly do? Even if your strength far exceeded theirs, you couldn't withstand that kind of relentless bombardment. You were outplayed by them."
Liu Erlong whipped around to face the Shrek Seven Devils, who were celebrating their victory with great excitement. "Well, well, you little brats—did you plan this against me from the start?"
Oscar grinned. "Teacher Liu, you're way too strong! Otherwise, how could we possibly stand a chance against you?"
Liu Erlong fumed. "I should have just unleashed my Martial Soul Avatar right from the beginning and taught you a proper lesson."
"It wouldn't have worked. They have too many disruption skills. They wouldn't have given you the chance to use your Martial Soul Avatar. Your other skills alone aren't enough to take them all out in one hit either. With two support-type Soul Masters on the team, they can easily boost two or three of their members to the equivalent of Rank 50 and above. These little monsters' coordination has already become nearly flawless. Even if you put Flandre in there instead, the result would be the same."
The Great Master regarded the group of children before him with a satisfied expression. Over the past month, they had clearly grown once more—and faster than he had anticipated. Not just Tang San, but every single one of them.
At this moment, all seven of their Soul Power levels had been pushed to the critical threshold for the next rank under Liu Erlong's pressure during this period. They were not far from leveling up.
The Great Master casually draped an arm around Liu Erlong's shoulder. "These seven little monsters started plotting against you at least three days ago. With their combination, you can certainly beat them, but giving them the kind of beating you did a few days ago wouldn't be easy anymore. They were feigning weakness to lull you into lowering your guard. In terms of raw strength, they obviously can't match you. But when they're pretending to be weak, you'd never open with a powerful Soul Skill to take them by surprise. That's exactly why you lost today."
Liu Erlong glared viciously at the Shrek Seven Devils. "Fine, you seven little pests—you dare play me? You're dead meat! Come on, keep sparring. If I don't beat you all to tears today, my name isn't Liu Erlong!"
"Ah!" Before Liu Erlong could even charge, the Shrek Seven Devils had already begun wailing. Every pair of pleading eyes turned toward the Great Master.
The Great Master raised his gaze to the sky and said in a perfectly even tone, "Your tactics were decent, but you were scheming against your teacher's wife. Let her blow off some steam. Erlong, go easy on them."
The Shrek Seven Devils: "..."
For the next several hours, every classroom in the Shrek Academy teaching building could clearly hear the screams that kept ringing out. It was as if the forest behind the academy had been transformed into a world of misery.
The unluckiest of all were Tai Long and his three companions. They hadn't been part of the scheme against Liu Erlong, but they certainly didn't escape the beating either.
The advancement rounds of the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament were nothing like the preliminaries in terms of spectacle. To protect the privacy and safety of the Spirit Masters, no spectators were permitted to attend the advancement rounds.
The advancement rounds were still divided by the two major empires. The thirty teams that had passed the preliminary rounds would compete within their respective empires. The three teams that had already secured direct entry to the finals would not participate.
On the Tian Dou Empire's side, including the five teams from the Tian Dou City preliminary division, a total of fifteen teams had completed registration in the morning and gathered at the venue for the advancement rounds.
There were fewer teams, but those that had made it through the preliminaries were without exception the elite among elites.
The ten teams representing the five kingdoms and principalities had arrived even earlier, as they needed to familiarize themselves with the environment. They had also come bearing numerous promises from the kingdoms and principalities they represented. If they performed well, the rewards they could receive might even surpass Emperor Xue Ye's promises.
After all, those kingdoms and principalities were far more desperate for talent. Who wouldn't want more powerful Spirit Masters under their command?
In the wars of the Soul Land continent, Spirit Masters had long since become the decisive factor on the battlefield. And the number of high-level Spirit Masters was the fundamental measure of a faction's power. It was precisely because of this that Spirit Hall's position remained so supreme—even the two great empires didn't dare offend them lightly. Even knowing that those kingdoms and principalities secretly received Spirit Hall's support, they could only swallow their anger.
The Royal Hunting Grounds lay fifty kilometers southwest of Tian Dou City. The terrain within the hunting grounds was varied and the area vast. It served as a place for the royal family to hunt and train.
Ordinarily, no commoners were permitted to approach. Ten thousand members of the Royal Knights were assigned to patrol and guard the grounds while also conducting their own training there. They rotated every three months, alternating training duties to maintain their combat readiness.