"Greetings, Your Highness, Second Prince." Yin Zhang gave a slight nod.
Although he knew very well that the person standing before him was Qian Renxue in disguise, Yin Zhang still joined Qiangu Yunying, Zhou Wu, and the others in offering a courteous greeting.
At the same time, Yin Zhang was somewhat curious about the purpose of Xue Qinghe's visit. After all, Xue Qinghe had yet to be established as Crown Prince.
"Greetings, everyone. I am here today on my Imperial Father's orders to inform the Spirit Hall Academy Team that you are not to depart immediately after the conclusion of the Elite Spirit Master Tournament."
"The Heaven Dou Empire will host a grand imperial banquet for the members of the top three teams in this tournament. Afterward, the champion team will receive a Spirit Bone reward, and each of the top three teams will be granted one quota to send a member into the Heaven Dou Imperial Treasury to select a treasure."
"Oh, and a friendly reminder," Xue Qinghe added calmly. "This Spirit Bone has a minimum age of twenty thousand years."
As soon as he finished speaking, the atmosphere in the room noticeably changed—everyone's breathing grew heavier.
Zhou Wu looked at Yin Zhang and Qiangu Yunying with unconcealed envy.
Although Spirit Hall did possess Spirit Bones in its treasury, they were tightly controlled and reserved exclusively for those who had rendered great service to Spirit Hall. A Spirit Bone—especially one with a minimum age of twenty thousand years—was something countless Spirit Masters across the Douluo Continent could only dream of.
Not to mention, even a hundred-year Spirit Bone would already be considered an unimaginable treasure… if such a thing even existed.
As the captain and vice-captain of the Spirit Hall Academy Team, it went without saying that the Spirit Bone reward would most likely go to one of them.
However, Yin Zhang's attention was not on the twenty-thousand-year Spirit Bone.
What truly concerned him was the chance to enter the Heaven Dou Imperial Treasury and choose a treasure.
In the original story, the key to Tang San initiating the Seagod's Nine Trials was a Divine Artifact—the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud.
This item came with four attached abilities, each one incredibly powerful and extremely practical—divine-tier skills that any Spirit Master would yearn for.
Of course, that was secondary. The true value of the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud lay in the fact that it served as the key to triggering the Seagod's inheritance.
Although the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud was regarded as a national treasure of the Heaven Dou Empire, according to the original account, after countless years of research, the imperial family had never discovered its true function. As a result, it eventually became a treasure of mostly symbolic significance.
Otherwise, if the Heaven Dou Empire had truly understood its value, there was no way they would have handed it over to Tang San later on.
Still, as a national treasure, it was unlikely to be casually placed among the items for selection, which made things slightly troublesome.
But then Yin Zhang thought again.
Following the original trajectory, the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud was destined to fall into Tang San's hands sooner or later. Until that moment, it would simply remain in the Heaven Dou Imperial Family's possession.
Now that Yin Zhang had entered the picture, the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud would, at most, stay with the Heaven Dou Empire for a few more years before inevitably ending up with him.
As for becoming the Sea God himself, Yin Zhang had little interest. Fortunately, he had no shortage of potential candidates around him.
What? You say the attributes and Spirit don't match?
Tang San's Blue Silver Grass would beg to differ.
After seeing off "Xue Qinghe," Yin Zhang led Qiangu Yunying, Zhou Wu, Zhou Yuanyuan, and the others down to the competition passage to await the start of the match.
Meanwhile, in the passage on the opposite side, the Huang Luo Team, though far from high-spirited, was not overly dejected either.
This was due to the information brought back by Dai Yuqing and Zhu Mengran: in a normal match, their opponents would not employ the lethal tactics used against the Thunder Academy Team.
Even so, the remaining members of the Huang Luo Team still felt uneasy.
Soon, the time arrived. Both teams stepped out beneath the enormous Spirit Dueling Platform.
"Charizard, possess!"
Yin Zhang summoned his Spirit, Charizard, and merged with it. With a powerful flap of his wings, he soared into the air amid the thunderous cheers of nearly twenty thousand spectators and landed on the platform.
Qiangu Yunying's jumping ability was astonishing. She summoned her Spirit, the Flame Plundering Spear, stabbed it into the ground, and used it as a foothold to leap upward, following closely behind Yin Zhang as she landed on the Spirit Dueling Platform.
Zhou Wu summoned a massive rock, stepped on it, and vaulted onto the ring. Zhou Yuanyuan summoned her Spirit, the Healing Egret, and gracefully flew up, drawing even louder cheers from the audience.
At Emperor Xue Ye's side, only Ning Fengzhi and Gu Rong remained.
As for Dugu Bo, since he was not a member of Spirit Hall, he could not represent them and simply stood quietly in a corner, observing the match.
When Ning Fengzhi saw that the color of Yin Zhang's third spirit ring had turned into that of a ten-thousand-year ring, his expression changed instantly, shock flashing through his eyes.
Impossible! Just a few days ago, Yin Zhang's third spirit ring wasn't ten thousand years old! It's only been a few days—and now it is? What kind of method or reason could possibly cause such a change?
Ning Fengzhi was filled with curiosity—and so was Gu Rong.
Gu Rong transmitted his voice to Ning Fengzhi, his tone full of regret.
Fengzhi, what a pity. This kid is becoming more and more unfathomable. Tang Zhen just happens to be away right now, and if it weren't for Dugu Bo standing so close to Yin Zhang, we could've killed him without anyone knowing—eliminating a future enemy of the Spirit Master world and Spirit Hall's greatest prodigy.
Hearing Gu Rong talk about killing Yin Zhang yet again, Ning Fengzhi felt a headache coming on. He sent back a helpless reply.
Uncle Gu, your thinking is still too reckless. Even if we did kill Yin Zhang, it would be extremely easy to trace it back to our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School. That would truly be a loss far greater than any gain.
However, when Qiangu Yunying's spirit ring configuration was revealed, Ning Fengzhi's expression turned solemn once more.
A Spirit Emperor?!
The moment Qiangu Yunying—already at the Spirit Emperor Realm—appeared, the audience erupted in shocked cries.
"A Spirit Emperor?! How is that possible?! Even with Innate Full Soul Power, her cultivation speed can't possibly be this fast! This is… this is a true prodigy!"
Even Emperor Xue Ye couldn't help but exclaim in astonishment.
As for Dai Yuqing and Zhu Mengran, they felt utterly helpless.
There was already one Yin Zhang—now there was an additional Qiangu Yunying, and she was a Spirit Emperor.
What was this? Did the Spirit Hall Academy Team just love falsifying their data, only to shock everyone at the most critical moment?
Once both teams—fourteen people in total—stood on the stage and had summoned their Spirits and revealed their spirit rings, the referee, who possessed a flying-type Spirit, announced that the grand finale of this Spirit duel had officially begun.
"First Spirit Ability—!"
As the match started, voices rang out one after another as Spirit Abilities were activated.
Yet the most eye-catching figures on the battlefield were still Qiangu Yunying and Yin Zhang.
Yin Zhang faced Dai Yuqing and Zhu Mengran head-on. The clash between the three did not appear particularly intense—rather, it seemed evenly matched.
At first glance, everything looked normal.
But those who had witnessed Yin Zhang's terrifying performance against the Thunder Academy Team couldn't help but frown.
There was no doubt about it—
Yin Zhang was holding back.