If this were not the Papal Hall, if there were not several Titled Douluo present as a deterrent, someone would have long since lost control of the greed in their heart and rushed forward to seize the Soul Bones.
The Soul Bone Tang San had obtained when he used the Yan Wang Tie to kill an enemy was also a skull bone. So when he first laid eyes on the three Soul Bones before him, even his ironclad resolve wavered momentarily.
These were Soul Bones! The most precious things a Soul Master could hope for. Unobtainable by mere effort — they could only be found through extraordinary fortune.
Among Soul Bones, there were ranks of quality and value. The inherent grade of the bone was critically important. The higher the level of the Soul Beast that produced the Soul Bone, the greater its power. External Attached Soul Bones were the exception, of course.
External Attached Soul Bones were the rarest of all, and their growth potential made them the most valuable among all Soul Bones — second only to hundred-thousand-year Soul Rings in the overall hierarchy.
Ordinary Soul Bones came in six types: skull, torso, and the four limbs. Among the six, the most valuable was the torso bone, followed by the skull, and then the right arm, left arm, left leg, and right leg in that order. Soul Bones of the same grade but different positions held different values.
Although the three Soul Bones that Pope Bibi Dong produced this time did not include the most valuable torso bone, there was a skull bone among them. The right arm bone was second only to the skull and torso in value, and even the weakest piece — the left leg bone — was not the lowest-valued of the six types.
All three of these Soul Bones had clearly come from Soul Beasts of ten-thousand-year rank or above.
For a Soul Master, these were supreme treasures.
Standing behind the Pope, Ghost Douluo Gui Mei spoke in his characteristically low voice: "The three Soul Bones are as follows: the Spirit Condensing Wisdom Skull, the Explosive Burning Flame Right Arm, and the Swift Pursuit Wind Chasing Left Leg. All three come from ten-thousand-year Soul Beasts. Of these, the Spirit Condensing Wisdom Skull in particular originated from a Soul Beast exceeding fifty thousand years. It was personally slain and obtained by the previous Pope. It is a supreme treasure among Soul Bones, second only to External Attached Soul Bones and the top-tier Soul Bones produced by hundred-thousand-year Soul Beasts."
The Pope spoke evenly: "There is always only one victor, and the champion is no different. Therefore, all three of these Soul Bones will belong to the final championship team. I hope the three academies that have reached the top three will give their all to win this honor."
No Soul Master, regardless of rank, could gaze upon Soul Bones without their eyes turning red — and there were three of them here. A fierce battle spirit surged almost instantaneously from all twenty-one participating Soul Masters.
The Pope continued: "This morning will be the individual elimination tournament, with each team fielding seven fighters. The last team standing will gain the advantage and advance directly to tomorrow's championship match. The two losing teams will compete this afternoon for the remaining spot in the finals. You may now send out your first competitor."
It was the same individual elimination tournament as in the qualifying rounds, but this time all three teams participated simultaneously. Although this was not the final championship match, it was equally important.
Victory meant not only securing a place in the top two, but also the ability to rest and prepare before tomorrow's decisive battle.
At the level of the top three, the differences in strength between teams were not vast. Competing multiple times in a single day would inevitably drain their energy significantly and risk injuries. Recovering to peak condition for tomorrow's finals would be nearly impossible. Therefore, the team that won this individual tournament was very likely to become the ultimate champion.
Spirit Hall putting up three Soul Bones would only intensify the competition. On the surface, Spirit Hall appeared selfless and impartial, but anyone with eyes could see that these three Soul Bones had been prepared specifically for Spirit Hall's own academy team.
Spirit Hall's team possessed an almost overwhelming advantage. Although Shrek's Tang San also had a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring, the truth was that Spirit Hall's three Soul King-level powerhouses each had a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring for their fifth ring as well. An extra Soul Ring created an enormous gap in power between Soul Masters, let alone when the difference involved three additional opponents.
Every member of the top three teams was at least level forty, which made Spirit Hall's three experts above level fifty stand out all the more. If there had been only one, perhaps there would have been some chance of a lucky upset. But with three of them standing there — and after witnessing the strength they displayed when they defeated the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy team — everyone could see just how terrifying they truly were.
In that match, Spirit Hall had only fielded two fighters, ending the battle with a single dazzling Martial Soul Fusion Technique. Though they had used a Martial Soul Fusion Technique, the unique nature of the skill made it impossible for observers to see what had truly transpired inside, making its inner workings even more inscrutable. In the end, its effect was little more than a display of overwhelming deterrence.
Even the members of the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy team who had been caught within that Soul Skill had only a vague sense of what had happened. Yu Tianheng had sought out Tang San the previous day, but he too had been unable to offer any constructive advice.
Whenever Spirit Hall's academy team was mentioned, he wore an expression of helpless resignation. Although there had been a gap between them and their opponents, they had not even been able to bring their true strength to bear in that match.