Chapter 103: Promotion Tournament
After the entire preliminary round ended, there was a full month of rest time. Yu Xiaogang planned to organize intensive training for everyone, and it seemed like everyone respected this plan, especially Yu Tianheng, who followed Yu Xiaogang's every lead.
However, Yang Xiong directly asked Yu Xiaogang for a month off, claiming that he had hit a bottleneck in his cultivation and needed to meditate and train in seclusion. Yu Xiaogang was initially displeased, but since Tang San had already taken leave with the same excuse, it wouldn't be fair to treat Yang Xiong differently, so he finally agreed.
The preliminary tournament was a huge blow to Tang San. He had originally thought his talent was unparalleled, but his performance in the tournament had been far from satisfying.
Many people had researched Tang San's Blue Silver Grass and come up with several ways to counter it. Particularly, fire-element soul masters were very effective against Blue Silver Grass, as it was quickly burned to ashes upon contact with fire, and any formation or strategy using it was soon disrupted.
It could be said that the Shrek Team had stumbled through the preliminary round. Even though their average soul power level was the highest in the Tiandou region, they didn't gain any advantage in strong encounters, especially after being severely defeated by Divine Wind Academy and Tianshui Academy, which caused Tang San to lose a lot of face.
In contrast, Yang Xiong had been reflecting on various issues lately, especially regarding his future development. So, he asked for leave to return to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to train in seclusion.
Of course, the Shrek Team had another issue. Now, there were three soul masters at level thirty-nine, and there was a chance they could break through in a short period, which would greatly improve their strength by the time the finals arrived.
Originally, Yang Xiong had planned to absorb only power-type soul rings for all his spirit rings, and then extend from there. His soul rings were supposed to include the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, and then add some higher-level attributes, like space, light, and darkness.
But after returning to the Ice-Fire Yin Yang Eyes, Yang Xiong felt like he had underestimated the method of using the five-element soul rings and the power of his body martial spirit.
Although he had fully absorbed the two external soul bones from the Silver Horn Tyrannosaurus, and had gained some valuable insights, Yang Xiong still felt that the world wasn't as simple as he had imagined. His claws seemed to represent some kind of power, especially with the unexpected feeling he had experienced in the Ice-Fire Yin Yang Eyes.
His body martial spirit seemed even more mysterious than he had initially thought. Since the martial spirit was his body, and everyone's body contained boundless potential, it was fundamentally different from ordinary martial spirits.
For example, it was incredibly difficult for an ordinary martial spirit to change forms, and even more difficult for it to evolve. However, his body martial spirit seemed to grow stronger with every passing moment. From the time it awakened at the age of six until now, at fourteen, his originally weak martial spirit had been honed through hard work and extensive body refining, and was gradually becoming comparable to top-tier martial spirits.
The changes in his dragon claws actually proved how terrifyingly malleable the body martial spirit was. His body martial spirit encompassed so many things—skin, blood, muscles, bones, bone marrow, pores, and even hair. Each part seemed to have the potential for development and awakening.
It was important to note that in later generations, body martial spirits were extremely rare but incredibly powerful, regarded as a gift from the heavens.
Body martial spirits were also known as the martial spirits with the highest compatibility with the body. In the entire world of Douluo, only the three Limit Douluos could perfectly fuse their bodies with their martial spirits. But body martial spirits could reach that level without any cultivation, making it a miraculous occurrence.
Another great advantage of body martial spirits was that both the eyes and brain were part of the martial spirit. As the body refined and grew, so did the spirit power, which allowed for rapid growth in mental power—far surpassing that of soul masters at the same level.
Over the next month, Yang Xiong meditated in seclusion, contemplating the development and changes of his martial spirit, as well as his future plans and some subsequent steps.
Considering the current situation, the trip to Soul Master City seemed unavoidable, but what role should he play? Should he let the Spirit Hall take the championship and reach the peak of its power, then dominate the world, or should he fight to win in earnest?
After spending two years with the Shrek team, Yang Xiong did feel some attachment. Although his relationships with Tang San, Xiao Wu, Dai Mubai, and others weren't particularly close, and despite the fact that each of them had their flaws, there was no deep hatred between them.
Especially Tang San, although his behavior was somewhat extreme and he had some minor double standards, he wasn't as repulsive as in later generations. It could be said that power inflated one's ego and twisted one's nature. Perhaps this was also the influence of the martial arts world on the human heart.
…
Time passed quickly, and soon the month was over. The promotion tournament was about to begin.
After a month of seclusion, Yang Xiong felt like he had a newfound understanding of his body martial spirit. His entire being felt incredibly smooth, and things that had previously been unclear now seemed much clearer.
One of his greatest achievements was that his Purple Extreme Magic Eyes had finally reached the pinnacle of the Subtle Realm. Mentally, he had already surpassed Tang San, but there was still a significant gap to the third realm, the Mustard Seed Realm. To reach this level, his mental power would need to undergo a qualitative transformation and external projection. It was estimated that he would need to reach the Soul Sage level to achieve this. Of course, if he had a head soul bone, it could speed up the process.
The Shrek team seemed to have changed a little. Liu Erlong and Xiao Wu seemed to have become closer, but the biggest change was in Tang San.
Tang San had broken through to the Soul Sovereign realm during this month, and he had absorbed his fourth soul ring, bringing his soul power to level forty-one.
According to Ning Rongrong, Tang San's fourth soul ring came from a six-thousand-year-old Man-faced Demon Spider. It was a soul ring that surpassed the normal age limit, and his soul skill was called "Spider Web Bind." This was a great control-type skill that could create a massive spider web with Blue Silver Grass to trap enemies. It could be used for single-target control or group control, depending on how Tang San used it.
However, this Man-faced Demon Spider did not grant Tang San any external soul bones, and Yang Xiong felt that Tang San's Blue Silver Grass seemed to have become more resilient, though its weaknesses remained evident.
If the preliminary round had been a test of team coordination, the promotion tournament was purely a test of individual abilities.
The promotion tournament was held in a training field outside Tiandou City, surrounded by tens of thousands of soldiers. It was also a completely closed competition, with only the participants and some high-ranking imperial officials and nobles allowed to attend. It was not open to the general public.
Once again, Tang San arranged the lineup, and it was evident that Yu Xiaogang had invested a lot of effort into training Tang San. He had even become somewhat biased. At least, compared to Dugu Yan, who was also a control-type soul master, she didn't receive this level of treatment.
Perhaps by design, Yang Xiong was assigned to be the seventh contestant in every match, making him the final trump card for the team, which ensured the team's victory.
Compared to the stumbling performance in the preliminaries, the Shrek team performed very well in the promotion tournament, sweeping through their matches without any difficulty.
The Tiandou Royal Academy's Shrek team had six Soul Emperors, and their battle power was incredibly strong, especially with Yu Tianheng, Dai Mubai, Dugu Yan, and Tang San. They could all handle multiple opponents simultaneously.
Time passed quickly, and half a month went by. There were no surprises in the promotion tournament, and the Shrek team finished in first place without any suspense. Both Yu Tianheng and Tang San performed brilliantly.
Yang Xiong was very casual about the arrangement of the battles and didn't care whether he fought or not. To him, the promotion tournament seemed more like a selection process for the aristocracy and sects. It didn't hold much significance for him.
Compared to Yang Xiong, who didn't fight at all, Tang San was definitely the brightest star in the promotion tournament. He was either the first to fight or the third to enter.
The Tiandou Empire had fifteen teams in the promotion tournament. Besides the five teams from the Tiandou region, the other teams were relatively weak. Tang San and his teammates often had one-on-three or one-on-four situations, and their formidable combat abilities were truly astonishing.
The most exciting match of the tournament was Tang San's fight against Feng Xiaotian. Unfortunately, despite putting in his best effort, Tang San still lost to Feng Xiaotian. Even though Tang San had revealed his Mantis Leg external soul bone in this match.
But in the end, Blue Silver Grass was still too fragile, and the Clear Sky Hammer didn't have any soul rings.
After a long battle, Tang San's body couldn't keep up, and he was eventually defeated by Feng Xiaotian's Thirty-Six Slashes of the Gale Wolf.
Tang San's confidence was once again shaken, but compared to that, his talent and opportunities attracted the attention of people like Salas, the Platinum Bishop of the Spirit Hall.
No matter how you looked at it, Tang San's Twin Martial Spirits, along with his external soul bone, made him a future top enemy of the Spirit Hall.
But neither Tang San nor Yu Xiaogang seemed to realize the undercurrents flowing beneath the surface. As for Yang Xiong, he didn't care about it at all.
Yang Xiong carefully observed this duel. Tang San's Tang Sect techniques were indeed quite impressive, especially the Xuan Jade Hands and Ghost Shadow Misty Steps. The Xuan Jade Hands allowed Tang San to block Feng Xiaotian's ordinary wind blades with his bare hands, and the Ghost Shadow Misty Steps allowed Tang San to match Feng Xiaotian in speed.
But Yang Xiong also understood that all Tang Sect techniques were based on the Xuantian Gong. Without the foundation of Xuantian Gong, the other techniques would take much longer to master. This was especially true for the Purple Extreme Magic Eyes, which would be even more difficult to improve without it.
Ning Rongrong had also been practicing the Purple Extreme Magic Eyes for over a year. Although she had entered the Subtle Realm, her training speed had noticeably slowed, and she no longer showed the same innate talent and speed as when she first learned it.
However, Yang Xiong felt that his Yin-Yang Meditation method seemed to complement the Purple Extreme Magic Eyes. Both the Yin-Yang Meditation and the Xuantian Gong originated from Taoism. In terms of depth, the Yin-Yang Meditation seemed even more profound, essentially being the foundation of Taoism, like the origin of all martial arts techniques.
(END CHAPTER)
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