bookbashuk Chapter 18: The Tournament Begins, Snow Empress and Ice Empress
Chapter 18: The Tournament Begins, Snow Empress and Ice Empress
A few days later, the Soul Master Competition began.
The arena for this year's Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament is not located in the center of Star Luo Square, but in front of the main gate of the Imperial City.
Crowds of people.
Xu Xinghan looked around and couldn't see a single complete person, only their heads.
One by one, the cabbages were jumping around.
The square was not large, so to save space, all the spectators stood while watching the game.
Besides these, there are the preparation areas for each participating academy.
Xu Jiawei, as the Emperor of Xingluo, delivered a speech in the imperial city.
As a prince, Xu Xinghan stood beside Xu Jiawei.
His outstanding appearance naturally attracted the attention of many of his peers.
Among them, naturally, were students from Shrek Academy.
Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, and Ling Luochen exchanged glances, all seeing worry on each other's faces.
The handsome young man on the high platform left an impression on them that was unprecedented and unparalleled.
Five years ago, they participated in the previous tournament as Shrek's reserve team.
It was around that time that I met Xu Xinghan.
A Soul Master with no offensive capabilities managed to defeat the seven members of the reserve team without giving them a chance to fight back!
It was at that time that they learned what it meant to be outmatched by others and to be in a world beyond our understanding.
……
After a passionate and inspiring speech, the opening ceremony began.
"Next, let's welcome the legendary Shrek Academy team, the champions of the previous Soul Master Competition, to the stage!"
The host's voice was filled with enthusiasm as he enthusiastically praised Shrek Academy.
……
The opening sequence follows the same formula as the original work.
Huo Yuhao took the stage.
Then, relying on the simulated soul skill, and after processing with the real ferocious beast aura of the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, five 100,000-year soul rings were simulated.
This configuration of spirit rings immediately attracted everyone's attention upon its appearance.
At the same time, he and Wang Dong also demonstrated the terrifying deterrent power of their Martial Soul Fusion Skill.
With just one Golden Path, he defeated the Heavenly Spirit Advanced Soul Master Academy.
But at the same time.
Xu Xinghan's mental world had erupted in chaos.
Xue Di's voice was sharper than ever before:
"This aura... is it Hyotei?!"
"No, impossible! How could Hyotei be in the body of a boy whose soul power is barely in his early twenties?!"
Huo Yuhao used the power of the Ice Emperor, and the Snow Emperor in the Sea of Spirit immediately sensed it.
She was all too familiar with that aura.
The neighbor of the far north for hundreds of thousands of years, the second of the three great kings of the far north, and the emperor of the Ice Jade Scorpion clan.
Xu Xinghan did not answer immediately.
He stood beside Xu Jiawei, a few strands of his silver hair blowing in the wind, his eyes, hidden behind his dark glasses, calmly watching the slender figure on the fighting stage.
"Can't you tell?" he thought to himself, "Hyotei made the same choice as you."
silence.
"She's also gambling on the path to godhood." Xu Xinghan's tone was as calm as if he were stating the weather, "except the person she chose was that boy named Huo Yuhao."
The atmosphere in the sea of spirit changed in an instant.
Xu Xinghan's tone remained calm, but Xue Di sensed something different.
That wasn't the boy she usually bickered with, but a prince standing at the top of the empire, holding the fates of countless people in his hands.
"The Ice Emperor chose Huo Yuhao, and you chose me." Xu Xinghan paused. "The two paths to godhood will eventually converge."
"What do you mean?"
"The literal meaning," Xu Xinghan said. "My position and that person's are completely different, and perhaps a battle is inevitable."
Xue Di fell silent.
She understood what Xu Xinghan meant.
It's not because of personal grudges, it's about stance.
The relationship between Xingluo and Shrek Academy is already complicated, not to mention that Xu Xinghan and Huo Yuhao are essentially on the same path.
Two tigers cannot share one mountain.
An era cannot accommodate two people who attempt to reach the top.
She began to think.
In her long life of 700,000 years, she had witnessed too many life-and-death separations, but Hyotei was different.
He was the only person in the far north who could stand on equal footing with her; he was a neighbor, a friend, and, in a sense, an old acquaintance.
But old friends are still old friends.
"Sisters are good," Xue Di's voice lowered, carrying a hint of barely perceptible melancholy, "but rest assured, when it comes to matters of principle, I can distinguish what is more important."
Xu Xinghan did not speak.
There's no need to speak at times like this.
Xue Di remained silent for a long time, long enough that Huo Yuhao had already defeated Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy on the Soul Battle Stage.
The crimson light surged like a sea of blood, and the entire audience erupted in uproar.
Her voice rang out again, much calmer than before.
"But could I possibly see her?"
"Can."
……
That night.
As dusk settles, the city lights begin to twinkle.
The top floor of the Star Luo Hotel, the Shrek residential area.
"Knock knock knock".
There were three knocks on the door, neither too loud nor too soft.
The person who opened the door was a middle-aged man, around thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old, with a thin face and wearing gold-rimmed glasses. He was wearing Shrek Academy's dark blue teacher's uniform, with the silhouette of the green monster embroidered on the chest.
Wang Yan.
The instructor leading the team at Shrek Academy was a theoretical Soul Master whose cultivation level wasn't top-tier.
When Wang Yan saw the person standing at the door, his pupils contracted slightly.
He had seen this person at the Imperial City Gate when the competition started in the morning.
Prince Xuanxing, Xu Xinghan.
"Your Highness," Wang Yan's tone was polite but distant, his body unconsciously blocking half of the doorway, "What brings you here so late at night?"
Xu Xinghan took off his sunglasses, revealing his signature sun and moon eyes.
"Find someone."
"Who?"
"Huo Yuhao".
Wang Yan's eyebrows twitched.
He didn't answer immediately, his gaze quickly sweeping over Xu Xinghan's face, as if trying to determine whether the statement was true or a test.
In that brief silence, the doors on both sides of the corridor opened one after another.
Dai Yueheng was the first to come out, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes when he saw Xu Xinghan.
Following closely behind was Ling Luochen, whose long, icy blue hair cascaded down her shoulders. Her expression was indifferent, but her gaze was already fixed on Xu Xinghan's location.
Ma Xiaotao was the last to come out, her long, fiery red hair cascading down her back, and a faint red glow emanating from the palm of her right hand.
Besides Dai Yueheng, the other two people spread out in a fan shape, subtly surrounding Xu Xinghan in the middle.
"Prince Xuanxing," Ma Xiaotao's voice was low, carrying an undisguised hostility, "During the competition, outsiders are not allowed to enter the academy's residences at will. You should know this rule better than we do."
Ling Luochen was even more direct: "If Your Highness has come to gather intelligence, please leave."
Xu Xinghan's lips twitched slightly.
These people are so arrogant!
"I'm not here to gather intelligence."
"Then what are you doing here?" Ma Xiaotao took a step forward.
While the group was arguing, the doors to the other rooms opened one after another, and the rest of the reserve team emerged from them.
Looking at the scene before them, they were completely baffled.
Xu Xinghan then raised his right hand, joined his index and middle fingers together, and gently tapped the air.
Moment.
Everyone present froze at the same time.