Thanks to Blazing Fire Team's sportsmanship, their first player was the Defense-type Soul Elder, Huo Yu, followed by the Support-type Battle Soul Masters Huo Chui and Huo Jun. Only after them did the true Battle Soul Masters take the stage.
As a result, although the Exotic Beast Team lost, they didn't lose too disgracefully.
The four-ring captain of the Exotic Beast Team defeated Huo Yu and tied with Huo Chui. Then, the six three-ring team members took turns entering the match, defeating the exhausted Huo Jun before being defeated by Huo Lie. In the end, their final record was eliminating three members of the Blazing Fire Team.
For the Exotic Beast Academy to achieve such a result—whether or not Blazing Fire Academy had deliberately held back—it was still commendable, especially considering that another academy had already been completely wiped out by an Elemental Academy team.
After securing victory against the Exotic Beast Team, the Blazing Fire Team's bench player, Huo Lin, finally had a chance to be useful.
In a Soul Battle, injuries were inevitable. Back when he was only at Rank 35, Huo Lin was able to become a member of the Blazing Fire Team solely because he was a Healing-type Soul Master. Otherwise, in terms of strength and rank, there were many students in Blazing Fire Academy stronger than him.
Of course, Mu Yang could also act as a Healing-type Soul Master using his second soul skill, Orange Jade Blood-Replenishing Ginseng, but he had to give his teammates some opportunities to shine, didn't he?
In less than two hours, all seven matches of the first round of the advancement tournament were completed.
Except for Thunderclap Academy, who had the luck of drawing a bye and didn't need to compete today, all the teams that had qualified from the preliminary round won their first matches without any surprises.
Especially Divine Wind Team—they claimed the honor of securing the first complete wipeout of this Soul Master Tournament's advancement round.
Barak Academy: "..."
Honestly, among the three phases of the tournament—the preliminary round, the advancement round, and the finals—the advancement round was the stage where conflicts between teams were most likely to arise.
The reason was simple. Take the match between Divine Wind Academy and Barak Academy as an example. Due to the significant gap in strength, Divine Wind Team completely wiped out their opponents. This was a glorious moment for Divine Wind Academy, but for Barak Academy, it was a nightmare.
If the members of Barak Academy were narrow-minded, it wouldn't be surprising if they ended up holding a grudge against Divine Wind Academy because of this.
Of course, Divine Wind Academy didn't care at all. The resentment of the weak was meaningless.
Even though Barak Academy held a status in Barak Kingdom equivalent to that of Heaven Dou Imperial Academy within the Heaven Dou Empire, at the end of the day, Barak Academy was merely a kingdom-affiliated academy. In terms of faculty and influence in the soul master world, they were far inferior to Divine Wind Academy, one of the Elemental Academies.
Beyond Barak Kingdom, how many soul masters had even heard of Barak Academy?
After the match concluded and the Blazing Fire Team returned to their camp, they soon received a visitor.
"Brother Qinghe, Senior."
Mu Yang stepped forward and greeted "Plastic Brother" Qian Renxue, as well as the burly female bodyguard standing behind her, leading them into the courtyard.
Perhaps Qian Renxue had taken a liking to his potential. During the preliminary round and the one-month rest period before the advancement tournament, she had approached him multiple times.
Although Qian Renxue never explicitly demanded that he join the Heaven Dou Empire, her words always carried the implication of: "Follow me, and you'll have a bright future."
So, Mu Yang wasn't particularly surprised that she came looking for him again.
After preparing some tea, the two sat on stone stools in the courtyard and casually chatted.
After a long time, once enough small talk had been exchanged, Qian Renxue finally brought up the real topic.
"Brother, you need to be careful from now on."
"Oh? What do you mean?"
Mu Yang raised an eyebrow, curious.
Qian Renxue's expression grew solemn as she explained, "The Soul Master Tournament is hosted by the two great empires and co-organized by the Spirit Hall. Because of this, the finals of the tournament are prepared in turns by these three forces, rotating between Heaven Dou City, Star Luo City, and Spirit City.
Brother, you may not know this, but originally, this year's tournament finals were scheduled to be held in Star Luo City, as it was Star Luo Empire's turn to host.
However, something changed on the Spirit Hall's side. For reasons unknown, they managed to take the hosting rights from Star Luo Empire at some cost. As a result, this year's tournament finals have been moved from Star Luo City to Spirit City."
Hearing this, Mu Yang pretended to be deep in thought for a moment before asking, "Could this be a trap for Clear Sky Douluo?
Earlier, during the preliminary rounds, the Spirit Hall sent assassins after Tang San. If Clear Sky Douluo is indeed Tang San's father, then it makes sense that he would retaliate by destroying the Spirit Hall's sacred hall in Heaven Dou City that very night.
Now, with the finals being moved to Spirit Hall's headquarters, it's likely they're planning to trap Clear Sky Douluo there, isn't it?
But then again, what does the Spirit Hall's grudge against Clear Sky Douluo and Tang San have to do with me?"
Qian Renxue shook her head. "That's not quite right!
Brother, you and Bing'er possess extraordinary talent, yet you don't belong to the Spirit Hall. Given your potential, it's inevitable that they'll see you as a future threat.
If it weren't for Clear Sky Douluo destroying the Spirit Hall's sacred hall in Heaven Dou City, they might not have acted so aggressively. After all, they still have to consider their public image.
But now that this has happened, the Spirit Hall will undoubtedly send powerful individuals against Clear Sky Douluo. When that happens, they may also take the opportunity to eliminate you and the others as well."
"Then, Brother Qinghe, I ask for your guidance."
After a brief hesitation, Mu Yang sincerely sought advice.
Qian Renxue's words weren't without merit.
Tang Hao was no weakling. If the Spirit Hall truly planned to ambush him, they would certainly deploy at least one of their worship elder powerhouses—perhaps even more than one.
If that happened, with his current backing, even his three strongest allies might not be able to guarantee his safety.
That said, this problem wasn't without solutions.
The first option was to withdraw from the Soul Master Tournament and skip the finals entirely.
But if the Spirit Hall truly considered him, Shui Bing'er, and the others as threats, then not competing wouldn't change anything. Unless they chose to go into hiding and train in seclusion, only emerging once they had reached the pinnacle of strength and stood unrivaled in the world, they would always be in danger.
As for the second option...
Since Qian Renxue had come to him and said all this, it meant that at the very least, she herself didn't see him as a threat.
If Mu Yang became close to Qian Renxue—the daughter of the Spirit Hall's Supreme Pontiff Bibi Dong, the granddaughter of the Grand Worship Elder Qian Daoliu, the sole heir of the Angel Clan, and the young master of the Spirit Hall—then it would be unreasonable for the Spirit Hall to continue treating him as an enemy, wouldn't it?
Conveniently, Qian Renxue had a dual identity.
In the eyes of Bibi Dong and Qian Daoliu, if he got close to Qian Renxue, then he would undoubtedly be considered an ally of the Spirit Hall.
As an ally, they wouldn't need to worry about eliminating him.
In the eyes of Emperor Xue Ye, if he stayed close to Xue Qinghe, then he would naturally be seen as a friend of the Heaven Dou Empire.
And as far as Mu Yang himself was concerned, as long as the Spirit Hall didn't treat him as an enemy, there was no harm in being friendly with the Heaven Dou Empire as well.
If, in the future, he grew strong enough to no longer fear the Spirit Hall, and if Qian Renxue's identity as the Spirit Hall's young master was eventually exposed—revealing that "Brother Qinghe" had deceived his feelings—then it would only be natural for him to distance himself from both the Spirit Hall and the Heaven Dou Empire.
For additional chapters
Versatile mage {40 chapters}
Douluo Dalu:This Soul Master is to Weird {30 Chapters}
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