Five months later.
At the foot of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy mountain.
A very handsome youth of about thirteen or fourteen years old, possessing an elegant temperament, looked at the familiar mountain gate with a sense of helplessness in his eyes. Why on earth did he have a sudden whim to participate in history! Now he had to come here to clock in for work. But it was too late to think about that now; he had already given his word to others, so he could only finish the job before going to find his girlfriend.
The youth was none other than Yun Ming, who had been away from Heaven Dou City for five months.
Back when Yun Ming left with the Empire Team and Ya Li, for the first three months, the group followed the Heaven Dou Empire southward, traveling along the paths closest to the Martial Soul Main Hall and the various Martial Soul Branch Halls.
During the day, Yun Ming would accompany Ya Li as she performed her duties as the Saintess of Martial Soul Hall, visiting various branches to save the dying and heal the wounded, helping the people and accumulating grassroots prestige. The main combatants of the Empire Team were responsible for their own cultivation, though sometimes they would help out; Oscar or Ning Rongrong were the ones who helped most often, as they were Support System soul masters and their skills were professionally suited for the task.
At night, Yun Ming would take the Empire Team to the city's Soul Arena. Using money and influence to pave the way, he would directly arrange suitable opponents for team soul fights. Yun Ming would then provide on-site guidance based on the flow of the battle, while Ya Li would help them treat their injuries and detoxify.
In their spare time, Yun Ming and Ya Li would stroll hand-in-hand to enjoy the scenery of various cities, experiencing the local customs, the myriad aspects of the human world, and observing the living conditions of the empire's lower classes.
Every day was fulfilling and pleasant.
After the three-month team training period ended, Yun Ming set the final training plan for everyone, letting Oscar and Dugu Yan lead the team back to Heaven Dou City on their own to train hard and prepare for the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament, which would begin in just over two months.
For the next two months, during the day, Yun Ming continued to accompany Ya Li in helping others and doing good deeds, incidentally farming more prestige. At night, without the "lightbulbs" from the Empire Academy around, Yun Ming and Ya Li had more time for dates, making their lives even more colorful.
Yun Ming once again felt the sensation of his past life, where he and Ya Li lived and cultivated in peace, far removed from the affairs of the world.
After that, it was now. The Advanced Soul Master Academy Competition was about to begin. Yun Ming had to return to lead the team and take charge of the big picture. After agreeing to meet Ya Li at the Finals in Martial Soul Hall, Yun Ming set off and returned to Heaven Dou City.
After clearing away his cluttered emotions, Yun Ming entered the academy and walked toward the Empire Team training ground, wanting to see how the members were training.
Before he even arrived, he felt intense fluctuations of soul power coming from the nearby training ground, followed by the sounds of fists and feet colliding, shouting, and some intermittent explosions.
Yun Ming's heart stirred. Judging by the number of people and the characteristics of the soul power fluctuations, the Empire Team must be sparring with the Royal Fight Team! Perfect, he could see their current combat performance.
A purple soul ring appeared beneath Yun Ming's feet. With a flash of silver light, he vanished from his spot and appeared on the viewing platform of the Empire Team training ground.
Watching the group fighting fiercely on the Soul Fight Stage, Yun Ming began to quietly observe the progress everyone had made over the past two months.
Although seven of the Empire Team members were on the stage, excluding Oscar, the only ones actually fighting were Feng Xiaotian, Gong Ming, and Yang Yi.
After finding his path, Feng Xiaotian was exerting his combat talent to the fullest, currently suppressing Yu Tianheng and the Ghost Leopard, Osler. When facing Yu Tianheng, he fully utilized his speed advantage; when fighting Osler, he further leveraged his strength advantage. Coupled with the personal soul fighting tasks Yun Ming had assigned him, he had accumulated enough combat experience in the Soul Arena. Now, Feng Xiaotian had officially embarked on the path Yun Ming had planned for him.
Gong Ming didn't fire many arrows, but his deterrent effect on everyone in the Royal Fight Team was significant. He had learned to read the battle; he no longer fired ineffective shots. Every arrow he fired was either to injure or to force the enemy into a position where they had to defend. Even when he didn't attack, he could increase the defensive pressure on his opponents. Although in Yun Ming's eyes he still lacked a bit of refinement, he was much better than when he first saw him fight.
Finally, there was Yang Yi, who was currently fighting the Black Tortoise Turtle, the Shi Family Brothers, and the Royal Fight Team's new Control System soul master all by himself, and he held the absolute upper hand.
As a member of the Breaking Clan who had also consumed an Immortal Herb, Yun Ming naturally had high hopes for him. Furthermore, since Yun Ming's own martial soul was also a spear, he had much to teach Yang Yi. In addition to irregular guidance on the inheritance of the new Yang Family, he was also guiding Yang Yi to explore his own spear path.
With the guidance of a grandmaster of the spear path like Yun Ming, who could be considered the pinnacle of the human world, and combined with the further improvement of his talent after consuming the Immortal Herb and his own decent comprehension, Yang Yi's combat power had caught up to and was now on par with Feng Xiaotian, even if his soul power wasn't the strongest yet. Considering his short cultivation time, being able to catch up to Feng Xiaotian's years of accumulation was truly no small feat.
Yun Ming sensed the soul power fluctuations of the others and noticed they had also improved compared to two months ago; it seemed they hadn't been slacking off. Yun Ming was quite satisfied with this. Cultivation was for their own benefit; if they had let themselves go while he was away, their value for further cultivation would have been greatly discounted.
Before long, the five members of the Royal Fight side who were resisting Feng Xiaotian and Yang Yi were gradually defeated, and Yu Tianheng signaled his surrender.
"That's enough."
"Royal Fight. Lost!"
Seeing Yu Tianheng admit defeat, the three from the Empire Team immediately stopped. Feng Xiaotian stepped forward and extended his hand toward Yu Tianheng.
"You conceded."
Yu Tianheng knelt on one knee, looking up at Feng Xiaotian in front of him with some unwillingness. Clearly, a year ago, when Feng Xiaotian didn't use his self-created soul skill, the win-loss ratio between them was four to six. Now, with the same amount of time passed and having cultivated very hard, the gap between them hadn't narrowed; instead, it had widened significantly.
Even if Yu Tianheng didn't want to admit it in his heart, he knew that if Feng Xiaotian didn't hold back, he would have no chance of winning at all.
Yu Tianheng sighed inwardly, grabbed Feng Xiaotian's hand, used the leverage to stand up, and finally looked at Feng Xiaotian to offer his congratulations.
"I hope you can win the championship this year."
After witnessing the combat power of the Empire Team, Yu Tianheng had abandoned any thought of winning. He then turned and left with the rest of the Royal Fight Team, all of whom wore disappointed expressions.
Seeing Dugu Yan remain indifferent, Ning Rongrong asked.
"Yan-jie, aren't you going to comfort your boyfriend and former teammates?"
Dugu Yan shook her head and said.
"Let them calm down on their own for a bit! I'll go later."
"Well fought," Yun Ming said, appearing before the Empire Team in a flash of silver light.
Seeing the suddenly appearing Yun Ming, the members of the Empire Team were overjoyed.
Oscar jumped onto the Soul Fight Stage and said.
"Boss, you're finally back."
"I thought you were planning to let us enter the competition on our own!"
Gong Ming also chimed in.
"Yeah! Captain, we were really panicking without you."
Ye Qingyin and Ning Rongrong also stared at Yun Ming with bright eyes and nodded.
Only Niu Bi, the mood-killer, said something inappropriate.
"A bunch of timid little brothers and little sisters, a big tough guy like your Brother Niu is never afraid."
Yun Ming and the others: "..."
Seeing that Niu Bi still wanted to speak, Feng Xiaotian forcibly covered his mouth to mute him.
"Alright, alright, you big tough guy, just pipe down!"
Seeing that the scene had quieted down again, Yun Ming scanned the crowd and spoke.
"Regardless of whether I return or not, the hard work you have put in over this past year will not fail you."
"So you have no need to fear; it will bring you flowers and applause."
Hearing Yun Ming's words, everyone recalled their arduous training over the past year, and the unease they felt regarding the approaching Soul Master Competition faded by more than half. That's right! They were so strong, what the hell were they afraid of!
Yun Ming smiled slightly.
"That's good!"
"In two days, the continent will witness your strength!"
ps: The Soul Master Competition arc officially begins tomorrow.
Seeking monthly tickets, seeking recommendations.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: DaoistReader