"Round-robin, first group match: St. Freya Academy versus Dou Ling Royal Academy. Will both teams please take the field."
Dan Heng's calm voice echoed through the arena via the soul tool loudspeaker system, instantly pushing the crowd's cheers to a new climax and igniting the atmosphere to the boiling point.
Lu Jingming stood up, glanced at Firefly and the others beside him, nodded slightly, and then led his team out of the rest area, stepping onto the floating stage and heading straight for the arena.
At the same time, the Dou Ling Royal Academy team, led by their captain, marched energetically onto the stage.
Compared to St. Freya's one man and female-dominated team, Dou Ling Royal Advanced Soul Master Academy's lineup included two women and five men.
Dou Ling Royal's captain was a tall, thin young man. He strode to stand beside Dan Heng, staring intently at Lu Jingming across from him, a flash of peculiar light in his eyes. He said in a deep voice, "You're strong, but we're no weaklings!"
His words carried an unyielding spirit.
Lu Jingming's lips curled into a confident smile. His tone was calm yet intimidating: "I know, so come at us with everything you've got!"
Hearing this, the captain, Gu Zhu Jian's, face darkened, feeling an undercurrent of provocation in Lu Jingming's words.
He stared deeply at Lu Jingming, as if to engrave his image in memory, then introduced himself in a proud voice: "Dou Ling Royal Academy, Gu Zhu Jian."
"St. Freya Academy, Lu Jingming," Lu Jingming replied just as simply, in a flat tone.
Gu Zhu Jian forced a stiff smile onto his thin face. "Then let's have a good match!"
Though polite on the surface, he was fired up inside.
"No problem!" Lu Jingming chuckled lightly, his relaxed manner suggesting victory was already in hand.
Gu Zhu Jian's face grew even gloomier, a cold light flickering in his eyes.
However, when his gaze happened to fall on Robin, he couldn't help but twitch.
This singer was immensely popular among commoners and had a legion of fans in the audience. He definitely didn't want to provoke Robin and risk a flood of criticism. He'd have to be extra careful during the fight.
"Both sides, fall back and prepare to fight!" Dan Heng ignored the crackling tension, remaining the impartial referee and a member of Haiyuan City—fully aware of St. Freya's overwhelming strength.
From his perspective, although Dou Ling Royal Academy was formidable, they were nowhere near powerful enough to pose a real threat to St. Freya.
Lu Jingming also knew the Douling Royal Academy's details inside out.
That was the hidden advantage brought by the simulated universe—using its database, he had collected extensive information on many soul masters.
At this rate, it was only a matter of time before every soul master on the continent was within his grasp, making it easier for him to establish a new order.
Douling Royal Academy's lineup: Captain Gu Zhu Jian, a level-57 Assault System Soul King, Martial Soul: Purple Radiant Bamboo.
Vice-captain Qian Yuan, level-53 Assault System Soul King, Martial Soul: Terrorclaw Bear.
Core team member Xiao Feng, level-54 Control System Soul King, Martial Soul: Mystery Bead—a rare spiritual martial soul.
Chi Hengyu, level-52 Defense System Soul King.
Han Linger, level-51 Agility System Soul King.
The remaining two, both Soul Ancestors, were the Support System's Tang Niuniu and the Control System's Qing Feng.
Five Soul Kings and two Soul Ancestors—no wonder they were a top-eight team last tournament, a truly formidable lineup.
"Begin!"
No sooner had Dan Heng's voice fallen than he vanished from the stage like a gust of wind, moving so fast he was a blur.
"Boom!"
At the signal, Lu Jingming, Gu Yue, and Firefly instantly released their martial souls.
Scarlet lightning crackled densely over Lu Jingming's body, and at the same time, a black spear slowly coalesced out of thin air, its shaft shimmering with dark light.
Around Gu Yue, several differently colored orbs hovered, circling each other and radiating a gentle glow. Five soul rings appeared in sequence, each brimming with powerful energy.
Firefly transformed in an instant, explosive flames erupting around her like a miniature sun, flooding the stage with light.
The air distorted from the heat, the temperature of the entire stage skyrocketing, as if it were submerged in a sea of fire.
Clearly, the three of them would be the main attackers in this match.
"Let's start with a greeting!" Lu Jingming smiled confidently.
He activated his fourth soul ring, which burst forth with a deep black light. The Black Abyss Spear in his hand lit up with a strange glow.
In a blink, the spear, enveloped in that light, transformed into a jet-black energy lance, as if it could devour all light.
The surrounding light seemed drawn toward the lance by a mysterious force, making it exude a chilling aura of death.
"Not good—defend!" Gu Zhu Jian's pupils shrank, a flash of terror in his eyes.
Just from the aura of the black lance, he knew: if Lu Jingming unleashed this attack, one or more of his teammates could be wiped out instantly.
But with both sides separated by over a hundred meters, it was too late to charge forward and stop him. Their only option was all-out defense.
Defensive Soul King Chi Hengyu reacted swiftly. As Gu Zhu Jian spoke, he swung his arm.
Instantly, a massive, heavy metal shield appeared before him—his martial soul, the Diamond Shield.
The shield was two meters tall and nearly a meter wide, broad at the top and narrow at the bottom, like a small fortress.
Even with Chi Hengyu's burly frame, he had to tilt his body to lift it off the ground, a testament to its weight.
He drove the shield into the platform, his fifth soul ring erupting in bright black light.
As the black light shone, something incredible happened.
The immense Diamond Shield seemed to come alive, splitting and duplicating. In a blink, countless smaller metal shields formed, tightly interlocking to create an impregnable silver wall, sheltering his team behind.
This was his fifth soul skill, the ten-thousand-year soul skill—Diamond Bastion.
Even with such a powerful defense, the Dou Ling Royal team dared not slack off.
After all, Lu Jingming was also a five-ring Soul King with an extraordinary soul ring configuration, and the move he was unleashing was a ten-thousand-year soul skill—the power was unimaginable.
As Chi Hengyu set up the defense, two teammates quickly joined him.
Petite Tang Niuniu instantly entered martial soul possession. Her ears grew soft fur, and her body became plumper; her delicate face rounded into cuteness. But no one underestimated her.
She swiftly unleashed her third soul skill—green light gathered in her hands and condensed into a dazzling pillar, enveloping Qing Feng.
Tang Niuniu's martial soul was the raccoon. As a support-type martial soul, her third skill greatly enhanced her teammates' soul skills.
With her boost, Qing Feng immediately activated his fourth soul skill.
The ground beneath him glowed yellow and trembled faintly.
Sharp earth spikes erupted, shooting up like bamboo shoots after rain.
The spikes encircled the Diamond Bastion, forming an additional defensive line.
Thick earth walls rose from the ground, echoing the shield formation, building a three-dimensional defense that inspired awe.
Such a tough barrier, created by two Soul Ancestors and a Soul King at full strength, would be hard to shatter even for a Soul Emperor.
"Ready? Then try this—Fourth Soul Skill: Judgment Sky Spear!" Lu Jingming stopped charging up, the black lance in his hand trembling as if storing final power.
The next moment, he hurled it. The lance became a black meteor, hurtling forward at astonishing speed.
"Whoosh!"
The black lance, like a meteor tearing through the sky, twisted the very light around it, as if a black hole swallowed it all.
The arena fell silent. All eyes were fixed on that streak of darkness, hearts in their throats as if time itself had stopped.