Chapter 109 The Finals Begin
Three days later, the fourth round of the finals began, and the competition between the top six officially started.
In the first match, Heaven Dou Team 1 faced off against Tianxing Academy. The entire process was devoid of suspense, and Heaven Dou Team 1 secured a clean and swift victory.
In the second match, Thunder Academy faced off against Star Luo Royal Academy, with Star Luo Royal Academy emerging victorious.
Thunder Academy's strength was not weak; in fact, they were even stronger than everyone had anticipated, and they originally had a chance to enter the top three.
However, Star Luo Royal Academy was also hiding its trump cards.
Previously, during the preliminaries and the promotion qualifiers, Star Luo Royal Academy's lineup was similar to Heaven Dou's, consisting of four Soul Sects and three Soul Elders.
But their support system was completely incomparable to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, so they appeared to be a cut below in strength.
As it turned out, only when they reached the finals did they reveal their true trump card: a team composed entirely of Soul Sects.
Although no one exceeded level 45, up to this point, besides Spirit Hall, they had the highest number of Soul Sects in their team.
When Emperor Xue Ye saw this, his expression did not look good.
From the configuration of the academy teams, one could see the gap between the two Empires in cultivating top-tier talent.
To enter Star Luo Royal Academy, one could only rely on their own talent and strength; there, status and power were the most useless things.
The style was exactly the same as the consistent iron-blooded approach of the Star Luo Empire.
Cold and ruthless, respecting only strength.
And what about Heaven Dou Royal Academy?
It had almost become a vanity fair for noble children to gild their resumes.
It was only because the three Faculty Committee members and Emperor Xue Ye used strong-arm tactics to curb this unhealthy trend that the academy's situation wasn't even worse.
As for the third match, the Spirit Hall team faced off against Blazing Academy, which ended in a miserable defeat for Blazing Academy; they didn't even force out the Soul skills of that Soul King.
The fifth round of the finals adopted the individual format from the promotion qualifiers.
Unsurprisingly, both the Heaven Dou and Star Luo teams tacitly chose to forfeit this match.
In the individual competition, Spirit Hall held too much of an advantage.
Unless Lin Yang was willing to complete a one-versus-seven, but that would have no benefits other than exposing his own strength, so they simply gave up.
As for Star Luo Academy, they didn't want to let the Heaven Dou team pick up an easy advantage.
In the end, Spirit Hall was temporarily ranked first, and Heaven Dou Team 1 and the Star Luo Royal Academy team would decide the second place.
After the match began, the others in Heaven Dou Team 1 all looked at Lin Yang.
Lin Yang shrugged, "Why are you looking at me? Play freely. If you can't hold on, just jump down yourselves; don't push too hard."
Everyone heard this and didn't feel anything was wrong, as this was how they had always done it before.
"The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile has a name: first is Martial Soul, second is Power, third is Speed!"
Several streaks of light flashed and landed on everyone.
After applying the buffing Soul skills to everyone, the Soul Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda turned pale, looking as if their Soul Power had been exhausted.
"Boss Lin, I'm heading down first."
After saying this, they actually turned around and voluntarily jumped off the arena.
On the highest viewing platform, Ning Fengzhi smiled, "It seems Heaven Dou Team 1 wants to end this quickly."
Emperor Xue Ye turned his head and asked, "School Master Ning, how much chance of winning do you think Heaven Dou Team 1 has?"
Ning Fengzhi pondered for a moment and said softly, "Before, maybe thirty percent, but now... eighty percent."
"Oh?"
Emperor Xue Ye's mouth curled up slightly; he knew full well that Ning Fengzhi was saving face for Heaven Dou, as it was a question whether the previous Heaven Dou could even make it into the top three.
Fortunately, he had foresight.
"However, I think the chances of winning could be even higher, say ninety percent."
"It seems Your Majesty has a lot of confidence in that student named Lin Yang."
Emperor Xue Ye did not respond, just smiled, and his gaze returned to the arena.
On the arena, the other team members found their respective opponents, while the one Lin Yang faced was the strongest captain of the Star Luo team.
"Martial Soul Possession."
The opposing captain did not underestimate Lin Yang and immediately used Martial Soul Possession right from the start.
His Martial Soul was called the Red Gold Lion, possessing dual Gold and Fire attributes; even among top-tier Soul Beasts, it was a very formidable existence.
His level 44 Soul Power further confirmed that his talent was not lacking.
"Third Soul skills, Furious Lion's Violent Aura!"
A massive golden lion phantom condensed behind him, spitting a thick, red-gold beam of light at Lin Yang.
This beam of light was shockingly fast, piercing through Lin Yang's body in the blink of an eye.
"Hmph!"
The captain of the Star Luo team couldn't help but sneer. He had watched the opponent's previous matches; their strength was indeed very strong, but they were too arrogant.
Wanting to win the match with bare hands without even using their Martial Soul?
Who do you think you're looking down on?
Now, pay the price for your arrogance.
Furious Lion's Violent Aura was his strongest single-target piercing skill; even a Soul King would have to temporarily avoid its edge, let alone an undefended Lin Yang.
But just at this moment, a voice quietly came from behind him, "Not bad attack power!"
The captain of the Star Luo team was shocked, a layer of cold sweat instantly breaking out on his back.
This voice... when?
He hadn't noticed anything at all?
There was no time to think; he instinctively turned around, his right hand resembling a real lion's paw, carrying the force to shatter gold and split stones as it clawed toward Lin Yang's chest.
Not seeking to injure the enemy, just needing to regain distance.
Bang!
Lin Yang casually swiped, effortlessly grabbing the opponent's wrist, his long, powerful fingers glowing with a faint silver light.
The moment he was grabbed, the Star Luo captain's face changed instantly.
He only felt that his hand seemed to be tightly clamped by an iron pincer, unable to pull away at all.
If he forced it, the final result would definitely be his wrist being torn off.
"Get down!"
Lin Yang gave a slap, instantly sending the opponent off the stage, where he slept very peacefully.
When the rest of the Star Luo team saw their captain defeated, they didn't concede; instead, they attacked even more fiercely, even wanting to take a few down with them.
Star Luo could lose, but don't think you, Heaven Dou, will win too comfortably.
Lin Yang naturally couldn't let them succeed; he spent a little effort and sent them down one by one.
The moment Heaven Dou Team 1 won, a deafening cheer erupted throughout the entire arena.
After all, this was Heaven Dou Team 1's home turf, and they had defeated their old rivals.
As people of Heaven Dou, who wouldn't be dancing with joy?
Emperor Xue Ye also made no secret of his appreciation for Lin Yang; he was already very satisfied that Heaven Dou Team 1 could make it this far.
As for the final championship, it didn't matter even if they lost.
Trading a ten-thousand-year Soul Bone for a Genius who could lead an era was a profit no matter how you looked at it.
The next day, the finals of the Martial Soul Elite Tournament finally arrived.
The competition venue, which could accommodate a full eighty thousand spectators, was now packed, with heads as far as the eye could see—a sea of black.
On the side of Heaven Dou Team 1, apart from Lin Yang, who looked calm, the other team members were also quite excited at this moment.
Regardless of how they performed, just being able to stand on this top-tier competition on the entire continent was an experience they could brag about for a lifetime.
Lin Yang's gaze was calm. When he swept across the spectator stands, he immediately caught sight of Xiao Wu, Dugu Yan, and Ye Lengling sitting in the best viewing positions.
Not only that, weren't Dugu Bo and Ye Xuanyin sitting next to them?
Weren't the two of them in secluded cultivation?
Did they come specifically to watch his match?
"Kid Lin, don't give Spirit Hall a single chance."
Dugu Bo's voice rang in his ears, and Lin Yang smiled nonchalantly.
Lose?
That doesn't exist.
He was determined to get the Soul Bone; even if the people from Spirit Hall came, they wouldn't be able to take it away.
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