The next day, the sun shone brightly over Tianhai City, and the various events of the Tianhai Alliance Grand Competition officially kicked off.
The first to be held was the Blacksmith competition.
Inside the massive sub-venue, hundreds of forging tables were neatly arranged, and the air was filled with the scent of metal and flames.
The content of the junior group's preliminary round was relatively basic, testing the fundamental skills of a Blacksmith—the Hundred Forging purification.
For Huo Yuhao and Tang Wulin, this was naturally as simple as could be.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Crisp and rhythmic hammering sounds rang out one after another in the area where the two were located. After just a few strikes, the metal in their hands had its brilliance restrained, reaching a purity far exceeding the Hundred Forging standard, easily passing the assessment.
The two submitted their finished products almost one after the other, and under the slightly surprised gaze of the invigilator, they left the noisy competition scene early.
Huo Yuhao didn't have much interest in the individual Spirit Master battle events, but Tang Wulin not only had to participate in the subsequent individual battles but also serve as the main force for Class Zero's three-person team Spirit Master competition; his schedule was quite tight.
The Tianhai Alliance Grand Competition is a grand event for the southeast coastal region. Not only are there many participants, with elites from dozens of cities gathered together, but the competition events also cover everything, encompassing all aspects of the Spirit Master field.
From individual Spirit Master arena battles, to three, five, and seven-person team battles, to skill competitions for the four major secondary professions, and then to Mecha Piloting Competitions, even Battle Armor Master competitions... the variety was staggering.
Therefore, the schedule for this day was packed, and the various venues were bustling with noise and excitement from morning till night.
By the time the dust settled on the final match, the sky had already darkened, and the giant clock hands in the stadium were already pointing to seven o'clock in the evening.
The Tianhai Stadium was magnificent in scale. Besides the vast competitive area below and the surrounding ordinary spectator seats.
On the highest level of the spectator stands, there was also a ring of VIP private rooms with excellent views, specifically for Alliance high-level officials and specially invited guests, offering excellent privacy.
At this moment, in the high-level circular corridor surrounding the entire stadium, Huo Yuhao was holding Gu Yue's hand, walking unhurriedly.
Occasionally, Tianhai Alliance staff members hurried past in the corridor, but the two of them were like air, not attracting anyone's attention.
Some people even almost brushed against Huo Yuhao's shoulder as they passed, yet they remained completely unaware, as if there were no one there at all.
In the eyes of these people, they didn't see Huo Yuhao or Gu Yue at all.
Because at this moment, Huo Yuhao was quietly operating his Simulation Soul Skill!
This powerful spirit-attribute Spirit Ability could not only simulate various environments but also distort light, create visual deception, and even simulate Auras.
Right now, Huo Yuhao had perfectly "simulated" his and Gu Yue's figures, Auras, and even the faint sounds they made while walking to blend in with the surrounding environment.
Unless one possessed mental force far exceeding Huo Yuhao's or perceived them through other special means.
Otherwise, through vision alone, it was impossible to discover their existence.
Finally, the two stopped outside a private room door.
Gu Yue glanced at Huo Yuhao beside her and lowered her voice, saying, "This Simulation Soul Skill of yours... has extremely high practical value. If used in battle, unless the opponent's mental force is far superior to yours, they probably won't even be able to touch your shadow."
Upon hearing this, Huo Yuhao only smiled slightly and didn't say much.
The reason he hadn't used the Simulation Soul Skill in previous battles was partly to hide his capabilities and not expose all his trump cards too early.
Secondly, he indeed hadn't encountered a troublesome opponent who truly required him to use this "invisibility" ability to handle.
Huo Yuhao's Spirit Eyes narrowed slightly, and his invisible Mental Detection had already spread out silently, easily penetrating the thick private room door in front of him to see the scene inside clearly.
"Just a Spirit Ancestor... that's fine."
Huo Yuhao secretly breathed a sigh of relief, while also gaining a bit more confidence for the action they were about to take.
Outside, as the final match ended, the voice from the broadcast echoed over the entire Tianhai Stadium.
"Thank you to all the contestants for your wonderful performances today! The first day of the competition officially ends here. Let us look forward together to..."
However, the sentence stopped abruptly halfway through!
Immediately after, a short exclamation from the host came over the broadcast, the voice filled with surprise and a hint of panic.
"You... who are you people?! What are you doing?! Ah...!"
This sudden turn of events instantly shattered the original peace of the stadium!
Whether it was the contestants who hadn't left yet or the staff members packing up equipment, they all stopped what they were doing in unison.
After all, this was much more interesting than the monotonous closing remarks from before!
Everyone's curiosity was instantly ignited.
The culprits behind this incident were, naturally, Huo Yuhao and Gu Yue.
Relying on the "Simulation" Spirit Ability, the two of them made their way into the core broadcast control room on the top floor of the stadium without hindrance.
Huo Yuhao's Mental Shock was like an invisible heavy hammer, striking into the host's mind, making him black out and slump down softly before he could even react.
Beside him, Gu Yue dragged the unconscious host off the chair and tossed him aside.
Huo Yuhao stepped forward and sat down without ceremony.
Huo Yuhao took a slight breath, leaned forward, and brought his lips close to the silver microphone on the control console, sending his voice out clearly.
His voice, through the Soul Tool Amplification System spread throughout the Tianhai Stadium, instantly rang through every corner, echoing across the empty arena and over the crowds that had not yet dispersed.
"Donghai Academy, Class Zero. Hereby officially challenges Shrek Academy! Five-person team battle, arena duel."
In the last sentence, he specially emphasized his tone: "Shrek Academy... do you dare to accept the challenge?!"
"Whoa!!!"
This sudden declaration of challenge was like a giant boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly whipping up a massive wave across the entire venue!
The spectators who had already packed their things and were preparing to leave stopped dead in their tracks, their faces showing expressions of unbelievable shock, followed by an explosion of massive clamor and discussion!
The vast majority of them had never even heard of "Donghai Academy Class Zero," but the five words "Shrek Academy" were like thunder to their ears!
Challenging Shrek?!
And right after Shrek had just displayed crushing strength yesterday?!
This was simply... audacious, yet filled with an indescribable sense of excitement and drama!
"Bang!!!"
Just as the entire venue was boiling with clamor because of this sudden challenge, the heavy soundproof door of the broadcast room was slammed open from the outside with great force!
A group of people rushed in aggressively, led by a grim-faced middle-aged man in his forties, who was clearly part of the Tianhai Alliance Grand Competition Organizing Committee.
He completely hadn't expected that someone would dare to break into the core broadcast room and make such a "lawless" public provocation!
Seeing Huo Yuhao sitting in the announcer's seat, his face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
He then lunged to the control console and, with a "snap," cleanly cut off all external broadcast lines.
After doing all this, he spun around, his eyes almost spitting fire as he glared at Huo Yuhao, his chest heaving violently with anger, and shouted sternly, "You?! You're from Donghai Academy?!"
Huo Yuhao had long anticipated such a swift and angry reaction from the official Alliance personnel.
He stood up from his seat unhurriedly, meeting the other's burning gaze without evasion, and announced his identity.
"That's right. Donghai Academy, Class Zero student... Huo Yuhao!"
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There was a short delay in uploads due to laptop issues on my end, so I couldn't post chapters for the past few days.
Uploads are now resuming, and I'll be doing my best to maintain a regular schedule over the next few days despite the situation.
All pending chapters will be released, along with bonus chapters as compensation for the delay.
Thank you for your patience.
You can read advanced chapters here: patreon.com/GregariousLion