After hearing Dai Mubai's words, Yu Xiaogang shook his head with great certainty, placing his hands behind his back as he spoke:
"Mubai, you youngsters are still too green; you simply don't know the height of the heavens or the depth of the earth. Your vision is still too narrow."
"I wouldn't dare claim anything else, but I can guarantee that among their seven regular members, there is one person whose strength is definitely far, far superior to Yu Tianheng!"
"That person is their captain, Lin Yuan!"
Flender keenly noticed the complex tone in Yu Xiaogang's voice when he mentioned Lin Yuan and asked in confusion: "Xiaogang, from your tone, could it be that you've known this Lin Yuan for a long time?"
Yu Xiaogang's expression stiffened slightly as he nodded and said in a heavy voice: "Yes, to tell you the truth, this Lin Yuan actually studied at Nuoding Academy many years ago, just like Little San."
Yu Xiaogang's memories seemed to travel back many years: "However, that Lin Yuan was simply a Prodigy. When he was only a bit over eight years old, his cultivation had already broken through the level 20 bottleneck!"
"Furthermore, because of that extraordinary talent, he was directly recruited into the Heaven Dou Royal Academy and left Nuoding City."
Yu Xiaogang sighed, "Now, in the blink of an eye, so many years have passed. With the terrifying Aptitude he displayed back then..."
"If his current cultivation has reached the high-tier Spirit Ancestor Realm, I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest."
Tang San, who had remained silent, fell into deep thought upon hearing his teacher mention Lin Yuan's name.
Tang San's hands were clenched tightly into fists, his nails nearly digging into his palms.
He shouted frantically in his heart: Why?!
Lin Yuan and he had clearly entered Nuoding Elementary Academy in the same year!
Moreover, the talent they both tested at that time was Innate Full Spirit Power!
But since their starting points were the same, why was there such a massive difference in their cultivation speed over these few years?!
He had fought tooth and nail, undergone so much hellish training, and was even dragged down by a ten-year spirit ring, only to barely reach the Rank of a level 29 Spirit Grandmaster!
Yet that Lin Yuan had actually been asserted by his teacher to most likely be a high-tier Spirit Ancestor?!
This huge disparity caused Tang San to feel a deep sense of powerlessness and jealousy.
And upon hearing Yu Xiaogang drop this bombshell...
Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Oscar, who were standing nearby, were so shocked their jaws nearly hit the floor.
"Breaking through to level 20 Spirit Grandmaster at age eight?!" Ma Hongjun's mung-bean-like eyes widened as he let out a cry of alarm. "Is he even human? He's a monster among monsters!"
Oscar also swallowed hard, his Face full of disbelief: "This... this cultivation speed... I was only level thirteen or fourteen when I was eight..."
Dai Mubai sucked in a breath of cold air and shook his head with a bitter smile: "It seems we really have been like frogs at the bottom of a well here at Shrek Academy. The geniuses of this continent are far more terrifying than we imagined..."
...
Meanwhile, inside the inner arena of the Great Spirit Arena.
The representatives of various major powers gathered here for the exchange competition were numerous. Those capable of sitting in the main seats were all powerful and influential top figures on the Douluo Continent.
As the host, the Heaven Dou Empire's imperial family naturally gave plenty of Face to this three-academy exchange competition.
Emperor Xue Ye and Prince Xue Xing, surrounded by royal guards, had arrived early and taken their seats on the main viewing platform.
Ning Fengzhi, the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, and Platinum Bishop Salas were arranged to sit slightly below Emperor Xue Ye.
In fact, besides Salas, the overt representative, Spirit Hall had also sent other people in secret.
In a corner of the inner arena, three young people appeared silently.
They were precisely the Spirit Hall Golden Generation: Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan.
The reason they appeared here was entirely because this public exchange competition between the three schools had created quite a stir, attracting the attention of Spirit City.
Therefore, Supreme Pontiff Bibi Dong personally ordered the three of them to come to Heaven Dou City to scout out the "reality" of their opponents.
Looking at the bustling scene below, Yan frowned with some confusion.
He crossed his arms and muttered in a low voice, "I don't know what the Supreme Pontiff is thinking, making us travel all this way."
"Even if the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's high-profile declaration of war means they are prepared, with just those people, could their true strength really be greater than our Spirit Hall?"
Hearing Yan's complaint, although Xie Yue didn't speak up in agreement, his slight nodding motion showed that he inwardly agreed with Yan's words.
Setting aside that he and Yan were both at Rank 47 or 48, only one step away from the level 50 Spirit King Realm and far exceeding their peers in strength.
Just looking at Hu Liena, she was a true peerless Genius. Today's Hu Liena had not only broken through level 50 long ago but had even reached the Realm of a high-tier Spirit King!
Thinking back, Xie Yue also felt it was somewhat incredible. Starting from about six years ago, his sister's cultivation speed had become faster and faster.
Then, Hu Liena had not only easily surpassed him, her older brother, but the spirit power level gap between them had now widened completely.
However, regarding his sister's abnormal Breakthrough speed, Xie Yue didn't suspect much.
After all, his sister was Bibi Dong's only Personal Disciple.
To Cultivate her future successor, Bibi Dong must have privately used various top-tier resources from Spirit Hall to give Hu Liena special training; this was quite normal.
...
Inside the Heaven Dou Team's preparation area.
Lin Yuan looked at the list in his hand, his eyes flickering slightly.
He knew very well that facing this ridiculous participant list, if he didn't quickly write some appropriately shocked content in his diary, it would definitely be inappropriate and might even arouse the suspicion of those women.
[Holy crap! I must be seeing ghosts! What on earth is going on?!]
[Why would the Star Dou Great Forest's Emperor Auspicious Beast appear openly on the Blazing Team's list under the name "Di Qiuer"?!]
[And the Ice Empress and Snow Empress of the Extreme North, Zi Ji of the Star Dou Great Forest, and even that unfathomable Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena—how did all these Vicious Beasts end up huddling together in the Heaven Water Team?!]
[With this lineup, as long as the Gods don't appear, they could steamroll the entire Douluo Continent! And besides these Vicious Beasts...]
[Whether it's Heaven Water's captain Shui Binger or Blazing's vice-captain Huo Wu, how is their spirit power cultivation so much higher than in the original work?! This is completely illogical!]
[Could it be... that in this Douluo World, which was supposed to develop step-by-step, some unforeseen change has occurred in the shadows?!]
[Is that why such a ridiculous butterfly effect was triggered, causing Gu Yuena, the Ice Empress, the Snow Empress, and the other Vicious Beasts to appear directly in the human World?!]
When this diary entry, filled with shock and disbelief, simultaneously appeared in the minds of those Vicious Beasts who possessed a diary instance...
Gu Yuena, the Ice Empress, the Snow Empress, the Auspicious Beast, Zi Ji, and the others, who were all resting with their eyes closed in their respective lounges, all simultaneously curled their lips into a smug smile.
Gu Yuena laughed inwardly: "It seems our sudden transformation and entry into the World has indeed completely terrified this kid who thought he controlled everything."
The Ice Empress snorted coldly, thinking haughtily: "Hmph, didn't you human brat like to comment on everything in your diary? Now you know that plans can't keep up with changes!"
The Auspicious Beast was full of excitement: "Heehee, Lin Yuan definitely wouldn't have guessed I'd use this method to find him!"
However, Lin Yuan's diary didn't stop there. He began to perform a "reasonable" self-deduction and analysis in the diary.
[No, I need to calm down and think carefully. Could it be... because of the Auspicious Beast?!]
[Right! The Auspicious Beast is born with the Power of Destiny to control the Luck of the Star Dou Great Forest!]
[And when I was obtaining spirit rings, I personally went to the periphery of the Core Area of the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt Spirit Beasts!]
[Could it be that at that time, the aura emitted by my god slaying spear Spirit was accidentally and keenly sensed by the Auspicious Beast who controls destiny?!]
[If that's the case, then everything makes sense!]
[So, the Auspicious Beast, Gu Yuena, and these Vicious Beasts chose to collectively transform, and then specifically used the Blazing and Heaven Water Teams to send an invitation for a public exchange competition to our Heaven Dou Royal Academy.]
[Is it highly likely that their elaborate actions are specifically aimed at me, a variable who possesses the god slaying spear? Are they here to scout out my background?]
[But even if this guess holds true and the Star Dou Vicious Beasts are after me...]
[Why would the Ice Empress and Snow Empress of the Extreme North inexplicably appear in the Heaven Water Team?]
[Could it be... that they reached some kind of secret cooperation with these Vicious Beasts from the Star Dou Great Forest?!]
[And if there is help from people like Gu Yuena and the Ice Empress...]
[Then it would be completely understandable for Shui Binger and Huo Wu's levels to be much stronger than in the original work!]
Looking at Lin Yuan's wild yet logically consistent analysis in the diary, Gu Yuena and the others were first stunned, and then they were all somewhat caught between laughter and tears.
In truth, their blatant appearance this time was indeed intended to use the excuse of the Auspicious Beast's Power of Destiny to dispel Lin Yuan's doubts about them.
But they never expected that before they could even think of how to voice their excuse, that guy Lin Yuan would actually deduce it for them directly in his diary!
How could these Spirit Beasts, who were kept in the dark, know that this was actually all because Lin Yuan didn't want to actively expose their identity as diary instance holders?
Thus, he had racked his brains to come up with a reason in the diary that seemed a bit forced but was somewhat reasonable, just to give them an out.
They were all thousand-year-old foxes, all acting for each other.
Before Lin Yuan could write a few more emotional sentences in the virtual diary, waves of deafening cheers came from outside the preparation room.
This meant that today's highly anticipated three-school exchange competition was about to officially begin!
At this moment, the central stage of the Great Spirit Arena was already brilliantly lit.
The well-known host, dressed in a magnificent suit, stood in the center of the stage, seeing that the enthusiasm and atmosphere of the entire audience were fully in place.
He raised the amplification spirit tool in his hand and announced loudly with passion:
"Distinguished guests! Enthusiastic audience members! The moment everyone has been waiting for has finally arrived!"
"Next, please welcome the captains of the three top high-tier academy teams participating today to come on stage and draw lots!"
"The first highlight of our day will be the individual round-robin matches, which test individual combat capabilities!"
The host's voice spread throughout the arena: "The special rules for this individual competition are: in each match, each team can assign a maximum of three members to participate."
"As long as a participating member defeats the opponent before them, they can freely choose whether to stay on stage to accept the next challenge or step down to let a new teammate take over!"
Actually, the reason the organizers specifically set the number of participants for a single match to a maximum of three...
...instead of the conventional seven-person round-robin format used in the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Elite Competition...
...was because only by compressing the number of participants per match could they ensure that everyone from the three teams would have enough time to spar within a single day.
After all, today's individual competition, which tested personal strength, adopted a round-robin format rather than a single-elimination tournament.
This meant that every team among the three participating squads would have to Face the other two teams head-on on this stage.
Imagine if they followed the convention of having up to seven participants.
Then the team that had just finished a fierce first match would, after a short rest, immediately have to play a second match against another team.
They would undoubtedly be at a disadvantage due to depleted stamina and spirit power.
After all, if all seven members participated in the first match, their spirit power consumption would be very high. To then proceed to the second individual match would clearly be unfair.
Then, amidst thunderous applause from the audience...
...the captains of the three teams—Lin Yuan, Shui Binger, and Huo Wushuang—walked onto the stage to begin the drawing of lots.
After a tense and exciting blind draw, the host looked at the numbers in his hand and announced loudly:
"The results are out! The two teams for the first match are the Heaven Dou Team and the Blazing Team!"
The Heaven Water Team would temporarily have a bye in the first round and would be scheduled after the individual match between the Heaven Dou Team and the Blazing Team had concluded.
Hearing this result, the Blazing Academy captain, Huo Wushuang, couldn't help but take a deep breath.
Huo Wushuang never expected that for their very first match, they would draw the Heaven Dou Team!
...