The next day, the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament resumed exactly on schedule.
For every other competing academy in the bracket, Tianshui Academy—who had effortlessly obliterated the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy's Second Team the previous day—had instantly skyrocketed to become their most terrifying obstacle. Furthermore, because Tianshui had casually flexed two distinct Spirit Fusion Skills during the opening ceremony, countless coaches and tacticians spent the entire night frantically studying how to counter their overwhelming line-up.
Up on the highest row of the VIP platform, Fu Ye relaxed comfortably in his luxurious seat. Flanking him on either side were the little cat girl Jiang Jing and the young princess Kari.
Whenever Kari stood alongside others, her unique appearance drew every eye: she was a young female child with a distinct, toddler-like short stature, a remarkably small petite frame, short limbs, and tiny girl proportions. Despite her slender build and pale skin, she carried herself with an unmistakable royal aura. Her short brown hair was cut into a clean, simple bob, framing a face dominated by large, deeply expressive brown eyes that caught the glaring stadium lights with a beautiful, high-gloss reflection.
Right next to them sat Emperor Xue Ye. His ancient face was deeply weathered and utterly haggard, looking so profoundly miserable that one might think he was attending his own father's funeral.
"Heehee! Brother Fu Ye, look down there! Those three buffoons from the Heaven Dou Imperial Team... aren't they the exact same losers who were violently thrown out onto the street by the brothel bouncers last night?"
Kari giggled softly, speaking without a single filter. She was acutely aware that her imperial father didn't possess a fraction of the courage required to raise his voice or anger her savior.
"Heehee, it really is them!" Jiang Jing covered her mouth, snickering along. As a former noble lady herself, she knew exactly what kind of degrading night those three degenerate fools must have experienced.
Looking closely at the arena floor, one didn't even need to guess the extent of their physical and psychological trauma; throughout their entire pre-match warm-ups, Tang San, Tang Chuan, and Oscar were awkwardly and instinctively clutching their backsides, their faces pale with lingering horror.
"Ahem! You two young girls shouldn't be filling your minds with such vulgar, backstage matters," Fu Ye coughed lightly, offering a mock-serious reprimand. "As civilized individuals, we must learn to respect other people's unique personal interests and hobbies."
Hearing Fu Ye's comment, Emperor Xue Ye's face visibly turned a shade darker.
Every single old fox sitting within earshot—including Ning Fengzhi and Platinum Bishop Salas—could easily read between the lines. Respecting personal hobbies? Getting broke and assaulted at a low-end capital brothel counts as a hobby now?
👑 Shifting the Imperial Blame
Unlike the previous day, the Crown Prince, "Xue Qinghe," had also arrived at the stadium. He stood elegantly right behind Emperor Xue Ye's throne, a subtle, highly amused smile playing at the corners of his lips.
Seeing "his son" standing there with a look of quiet entertainment while the prestige of the imperial family was dragged through the gutter, Xue Ye's temper flared. He turned around, his tone heavy with authoritative strictness.
"Qinghe! Those boys are students representing our primary Heaven Dou Imperial Academy! You—"
Before the old emperor could even formulate his lecture, "Xue Qinghe" offered a flawless, polite bow, his voice smooth and entirely unbothered.
"Imperial Father, the academy's current operational staff and recruitment are handled entirely by Uncle Xue Xing. I am merely a nominal proxy figurehead tasked with managing the tournament's bureaucratic registrations."
With a single, masterfully crafted sentence, the Crown Prince completely deflected the toxic sludge, dumping it squarely onto Prince Xue Xing's lap. From his lightning-fast response, it was clear he had long anticipated Xue Ye attempting to use him as a political scapegoat.
Prince Xue Xing's face instantly twisted into an expression of sheer panic. After all, Tang San and Tang Chuan were indeed personal recruits brought in under his jurisdiction. Because his internal political faction had grown severely weakened, the moment he saw a high-level Spirit Saint like Flend, a Spirit Emperor like Li Yusong, and a food-system Spirit Saint like Shao Xin offering to affiliate with the academy, he hadn't hesitated for a single second. He had readily accepted all of their outrageous conditions, including allowing them to remain as independent contractors who only taught their own hand-picked disciples.
Xue Xing had foolishly assumed this would play out exactly like his past recruitment of the Poison Douluo, Dugu Bo—hoping that treating them with absolute luxury now would secure their absolute loyalty to his faction later.
"Your Majesty... their faculty consists entirely of full-fledged Spirit Saints," Xue Xing stammered defensively, his voice dropping into a tense whisper. "They explicitly stated they would only offer their combat services to our empire if we absorbed their personal students as well, so I..."
Emperor Xue Ye felt an overwhelming wave of exhaustion wash over him. It felt like delivering a full-power punch into a massive block of soft cotton—profoundly frustrating and completely hollow. He let out a long, defeated sigh and turned away.
Down on the combat field, under the desperate "coordination" and raw tactical maneuvering of Tang San and Tang Chuan, their team managed to systematically pick apart a minor opponent, securing their very first victory of the qualifiers.
As a scattered wave of polite applause rippled through the lower spectator rows, an incredibly piercing, high-pitched voice suddenly erupted right next to the VIP platform.
"Superb! Little San! Little Chuan! Magnificently executed! We won! My two personal disciples are absolute, peerless geniuses of this generation! Bwahaha!"
The voice was shrill, grating, and utterly bizarre. The speaker possessed a bloated, soft physique, his thick fingers twisted into a delicate, effeminate orchid hand gesture as he cheered with an intensely theatrical, flamboyant expression.
"Brother Fu Ye... that creature is so incredibly repulsive," Jiang Jing remarked first, her entire body shivering with genuine goosebumps.
"Mm-mm! He looks and sounds like a complete sissy," Kari agreed, wrinkling her cute little nose as her large expressive eyes filled with absolute distaste.
Fu Ye himself was momentarily stunned. It had only been a short while since he last checked on him, yet Yu Xiaogang's behavioral transformation had reached such an extreme level. Looking at him gave off the vivid, disturbing psychological impression of a massive, burly monk leaning over to whisper coyly into your ear that she was just an innocent, eighteen-year-old maiden.
Even the sophisticated Sect Master Ning Fengzhi frowned deeply. He had witnessed countless grotesque political maneuvers in his life, but an individual this visually and aurally blinding was an absolute first.
"Tsk, I never realized he was a distinguished educator employed by your prestigious Heaven Dou Imperial Academy," Fu Ye remarked casually, casting a deeply mocking look toward the throne.
Emperor Xue Ye snapped his head around, staring at Prince Xue Xing with a gaze filled with absolute, murderous disbelief. Xue Xing immediately lowered his head as far as his neck allowed, muttering in a trembling voice.
"Y-Your Majesty, you truly cannot place the blame on me for this one either... He is Yu Tianheng's biological uncle and the designated young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. When he first arrived at the capital, I explicitly requested your guidance, and Your Majesty personally commanded me to bring him into the imperial faculty and ensure he was served with the utmost luxury..."
Xue Xing felt an unprecedented level of intense grievance. He had broken his back trying to secure powerful assets for the future of the empire, yet every single time a disaster occurred, he was the one left holding the bag! He mentally swore a fierce oath: the absolute moment this tournament concluded, he was resigning from his position as the academy's director, no matter what.
"Heh, I must say, Emperor Xue Ye possesses an exceptionally... unique and eccentric palate for talent. This Fu guy is deeply impressed," Fu Ye chuckled, offering a polite, mocking arch of his hands.
Ning Fengzhi: Mentally casts a +1 vote to the mockery.Platinum Bishop Salas: Mentally casts a +1 vote.
Emperor Xue Ye's wrinkled face rapidly cycled through a spectacular spectrum of crimson and bruised purple. The old ruler was practically suffocating from pure, unadulterated rage, but the absolute terror of Fu Ye's strength forced him to violently swallow his fury back into his stomach.
"Next match: Tianshui Academy versus the Elephant Armored Academy! Will both teams please take the stage!"
Following the referee's booming announcement, seven towering, colossally built youths from the Elephant Armored Clan (Xiangjia Zong) marched out in perfect, synchronized unison.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Their massive weight caused the reinforced stone stage to groan and vibrate violently. On the opposite side of the field, however, a completely different scene was taking place. Under the completely flabbergasted gazes of the entire stadium, the eleven beautiful Tianshui girls were huddled in a tight circle... playing rock-paper-scissors again.
"Yay! I get to rest and slack off today! Good luck, sisters!" Wu Ling cheered happily, skipping backward.
"Make us proud, little sisters. Big sister is rooting for you from the benches," Zhu Zhuyun smiled gently, waving her hand.
"Crush them into dust, girls," Dugu Yan added with a smirk.
"Bing'er, the squad leadership is entirely yours for this round!" Xue Wu stated, patting her captain's shoulder.
Before the referee could even process the situation, the four winners happily held hands and skipped straight off the field toward the lounge, leaving the remaining seven Tianshui members standing on the stage with looks of mild annoyance.
"How much time should we give them?"
"They look like heavy-armored tanks, which is a bit tedious, but five seconds should be more than enough to wrap this up."
"Mm! Let's do exactly that!"
Shui Bing'er, Shui Yue'er, Yu Hairou, Shen Liuyu, Zhu Zhuqing, Meng Yiran, and Ning Rongrong exchanged quick nods before stepping forward to face their gargantuan opponents.
"Nine Treasure Turning Glass Pagoda!" Ning Rongrong chanted, her hands moving in a graceful blur. "First Boost: Strength! Second Boost: Speed! Third Boost: Soul Power!"
A cascade of brilliant, nine-colored auxiliary light instantly rained down upon her six teammates. Seeing their opponents ready, the seven giants of the Elephant Armored Clan stamped their feet, charging forward like a literal wall of living muscle and steel.
Without a single trace of hesitation, Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er stepped into each other's embrace, their soul powers seamlessly intertwining into an absolute vortex of elemental energy.
"Spirit Fusion Skill: Ice Phoenix!"
A breathtakingly beautiful, colossal ice phoenix materialized in the skies above the arena, unleashing a majestic, piercing cry that shook the stadium rafters before diving head-on into the charging vanguard led by Huyan Li.
BOOM!!!
There were no elaborate martial arts choreographies, no prolonged back-and-forth strategies—it was a display of pure, unadulterated elemental and soul power crushing the opposition into oblivion. As full-fledged Spirit Kings possessing the legendary Ultimate Ice attribute, their combined Spirit Fusion Skill easily unleashed a destructive force capable of rivaling a high-level Spirit Saint!
The terrifying, absolute sub-zero chill instantly enveloped the entire seven-man formation. Before Huyan Li could even process the drop in temperature—let alone find the time to activate his specialized defensive head spirit bone skill—he and his entire team were frozen solid into massive, transparent blocks of pristine ice, instantly losing consciousness.
The entire coliseum fell into a stunned, breathless stupor.
The battle had started and concluded within a literal five-second window.
Meanwhile, hiding deep within the pitch-black shadows of the upper spectator corridors, a middle-aged man with a deeply wretched, sinister countenance and narrowed, venomous eyes fixed his gaze entirely upon Shui Bing'er and the Tianshui girls. His face twisted into a mask of pure, unbridled greed and murderous malice. Shi Nian licked his dry lips, his mind already spinning with dark calculations.