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Star Luo Empire, Star Luo Imperial City, Grand Arena.
On the central golden throne in the VIP section sat an extremely old man.
He wore a golden crown and a gold-red imperial robe.
This was the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire—Dai An.
As the highest authority and most prestigious figure of the empire, he was unusually restless. His gaze kept drifting toward the black-haired middle-aged man seated on the adjacent dragon throne.
That man radiated the domineering aura of a king. His golden pupils looked down on all things, as though nothing in this world was worthy of his attention—not even the emperor of the Star Luo Empire.
Only those on the arena stage could draw his focus.
"Let us welcome the team with twenty-four wins and two losses—Kun Yuan Academy!!!"
"Captain: Kun Kun. Martial Soul: Basketball Kun. Level 42 Assault-type Soul Sect!!"
"And now entering the stage—undisputedly the strongest team in the history of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament! Twenty-six matches, twenty-six wins in the qualifiers—the undefeated Wan Beast Academy!!!"
"Captain: Yue'er. Martial Soul: Silver Dragon Spear. Level 59 Assault-type Soul King!!!"
"Bi Ji. Martial Soul: Emerald Swan. Level 58 Support-type Soul King!"
"Wan Yao. Martial Soul: Demonic-Eyed Magic Tree. Level 58 Control-type Soul King!"
"Xiong Jun. Martial Soul: Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear. Level 57 Assault-type Soul King!"
"Bing'er. Martial Soul: Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion. Level 55 Assault-type Soul King!"
"Wang Chi. Martial Soul: Three-Headed Red Demon. Level 55 Assault-type Soul King!"
"Zi Ji. Martial Soul: Hell Demon Dragon. Level 55 Assault-type Soul King!"
"Wan Beast!!"
"Wan Beast!!"
"Wan Beast!!"
Beside the silver-haired young woman stood a voluptuous, fair-skinned beauty with green hair and jade-colored eyes. She respectfully asked, "Young Master, how should we arrange this battle?"
A tall, burly man with white hair and black eyes cracked his knuckles excitedly. "Bi Ji, what's there to arrange? Just let me go alone. These people are really weak—are human soul masters always this pathetic?"
"Xiong Jun, mind your words," the brown-haired, red-eyed man said seriously.
"Haha, Wan Yao, sorry, sorry! These academy teams are just too weak." Xiong Jun scratched his head awkwardly. Making him pretend to be human was really too much—he'd barely even lived among humans for two years.
In human terms, he was practically an infant.
How could an infant learn so many social rules overnight?
Truly, being a soul beast was better—you could nap all day.
"Let me! Let me! Fighting with this body is an exhilarating thrill I just can't get enough of!!" the purple-haired girl said, eyes full of battle intent.
"Young Master, I can go too!"
"Young Master, let Bing'er handle it!"
The Ice Emperor and the Red King were eager as well. After reincarnating as humans, they experienced joys they'd never known as soul beasts.
Every time they finished fighting, countless spectators would cheer for them.
After the matches, they even received gifts.
These little trinkets were things they had never seen as soul beasts!
"That's enough," the silver-haired girl said.
The moment she spoke, the other six fell silent, waiting for her instruction.
"Xiong Jun, a soul fight isn't a war. Don't use excessive force. If not for Bi Ji stopping you, who knows how many would've already died because of your recklessness?"
"If we start killing people in the arena, how will Wan Beast Sect continue to stand in the Star Luo Empire? Reflect on your identity and behavior," she said sternly.
"Yes, Youn—Young Master…" Xiong Jun lowered his head in dejection.
Once upon a time, the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear had a violent temper and obeyed no one—not even Di Tian.
Back then, he once caught the Beast God off guard and even left a scar on the so-called "former ruler of all soul beasts."
Now, before the Silver Dragon King, he could do nothing but obediently accept the scolding.
"Wan Yao, you go. End it quickly," the silver-haired girl ordered.
"As you command, Young Master," the brown-haired, red-eyed man nodded.
Once both sides were ready, the referee announced the start of the final qualifier in Star Luo Imperial City!
As soon as the call was given, a red soul light flared from Wan Yao.
Countless black-red tree roots erupted across the arena floor, and in moments, Kun Kun's team was completely engulfed.
Thick roots coiled around the joints of every member of Kun Yuan Academy. At first, the seven tried to struggle.
Their yellow and purple soul rings flashed as several roots were blasted apart.
But the roots unleashed by the Demonic-Eyed Magic Tree—blessed with the Extreme Wood attribute—were endless. Before the opponents' soul power even ran dry—
The toxin had already taken effect, and the seven collapsed unconscious.
From start to finish, the match lasted less than thirty seconds.
"Bi Ji, heal them," the silver-haired girl said.
Green soul light emerged from Bi Ji, and astonishingly, she didn't even use a soul ring skill.
A mist of emerald haze drifted over the fallen members of Kun Yuan Academy, and moments later, green light shone from their bodies as they regained consciousness.
"Let us congratulate Wan Beast Academy for qualifying with an undefeated record!!! Folks, this is without a doubt our best chance in years to win the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament! Cheer for Wan Beast Academy!!!" the referee shouted excitedly.
"Wan Beast!!"
"Wan Beast!!"
"Wan Beast!!"
"Senior Di Tian, congratulations to Wan Beast Academy for winning the preliminary championship! To better cooperate with your sect, I, as Emperor, confer the title of Star Luo Earls upon Yue'er, Bi Ji, Wan Yao, Wang Chi, Xiong Jun, Bing'er, and Zi Ji. What does Senior Di Tian think? These future pillars of Star Luo are absolutely worthy of the rank of earl!" Dai An said.
"No need," Di Tian vanished instantly, leaving only the platinum bishop of Star Luo and the emperor staring at each other in silence.
Dai An truly did not realize that granting a noble title to the Silver Dragon King was not an honor—but an insult.
Should the ruler of all soul beasts accept the title of a mere earl?
If anyone should be given a title here—it would be the Star Luo Emperor instead!
At Di Tian's abrupt departure, Dai An was furious but dared not show it.
Though he was the strongest in the Star Luo Empire, a Level 92 White Tiger Titled Douluo, he could not sense the depth of Di Tian's strength.
All he could feel from Di Tian was an overwhelming oppression.
Dai An understood that this meant Di Tian's power was far above his own. Even the esteemed master of the Clear Sky Sect, an honored guest of Star Luo Empire, had never left him feeling this terrified.
Beside the emperor, Platinum Bishop Kasper tapped the armrest of his seat rhythmically.
He was thinking about how to report the situation regarding Wan Beast Academy to the Pope.
Originally, he paid little attention to the Star Luo qualifiers. He didn't even attend the opening ceremony.
This was because, unlike the Heaven Dou Empire, the Spirit Hall had no major plans in Star Luo. The main purpose of establishing a branch hall here was simply to increase influence among commoner soul masters.
Most talented commoner soul masters were recruited into the Hall's reserve during their time in junior academies.
The academies in Star Luo were nearly all noble institutions, so the Spirit Hall had little opportunity to recruit talent from them.
Thus, by tradition, the Star Luo City Spirit Hall would not attend the qualifiers to support the royal family.
However, after Wan Beast Academy's string of victories, Kasper realized something was off.
Where did this Wan Beast Sect come from?
The sect master's oppressive presence was so intense that Kasper didn't even dare probe his strength, so even now he had no idea how powerful Di Tian truly was.
A Super Douluo? Or an Ultimate Douluo?
He had searched through all the Spirit Hall's records and found no information on the seven members of Wan Beast Academy, nor on the Wan Beast Sect master.
This brought him unease.
But as the only Platinum Bishop of the Spirit Hall in Star Luo, he suppressed his fear and tried to gather information on Wan Beast Academy.
He attended every match day of theirs.
What humiliated him most was that Wan Beast Academy had not used a single soul ring.
Even so, they had achieved a perfect record—twenty-seven wins, zero losses.
Because of this, he wasn't even certain if the levels they reported were real.
Yet even those reported levels were startling—a full team of Soul Kings…
This year, the Spirit Hall Academy might have no hope at all.
Even if their "Golden Generation" showed up, they could not compare with Wan Beast Academy.
If their team was the so-called Golden Generation…
Then what should Wan Beast Academy be called?
The "First Generation of Douluo"?
Unable to figure out any clues about Wan Beast Academy, Kasper decided to report every detail about the academy and the sect truthfully, and let the Pope's Hall and the Douluo Hall worry about it.
Knock, knock, knock!!
"Ye Lan!! Wake up!! The qualifier advancement list is out!!" Ning Rongrong pounded on Ye Lan's door excitedly.
A moment later, Ye Lan opened the door, yawning.
Ning Rongrong immediately threw herself into his arms, rubbing her face against him.
What's going on!!?
"Rongrong, stop rubbing me. I haven't even brushed my teeth yet!" Ye Lan said helplessly.
"Hehe, let me hug you a bit longer~" Ning Rongrong said happily.
She had finally found an excuse to leave the group and rushed alone to the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy just to spend time with Ye Lan.
She would not waste such a rare chance to be alone with him.
After a long while, Ning Rongrong reluctantly released her embrace.
She handed Ye Lan the list of the advancing teams.
The list was as follows:
Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, twenty-six wins and one loss—the loss was to Shrek Academy.
Godwind Academy, twenty-five wins and two losses—lost to Blazing Academy and Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
Shrek Academy, twenty-five wins and two losses—lost to Godwind Academy and Tianshui Academy.
Thunderclap Academy, twenty-four wins and three losses—lost to Godwind Academy, Shrek Academy, and Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
Tianshui Academy, twenty-four wins and three losses—lost to Godwind Academy, Thunderclap Academy, and Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
Blazing Academy, twenty-three wins and four losses—merged into Tianshui Academy.
Ye Lan glanced over the list and let out a sigh of relief.
As long as Shrek Academy qualified for the ranking tournament, it was fine—even though he had no interest in watching their matches.
But he knew, even without thinking, that as long as Tang San performed well, the Eight Spider Lances alone could carry Shrek to victory.
Tang San, your good days are numbered, Ye Lan murmured to himself.
(End of Chapter)