...
Because of the sudden arrival of Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling, the atmosphere in the private room returned to harmony after a period of playful banter, but Xuan Hao did not stay in the Great Soul Arena for too long tonight.
After waiting for about half an hour, the referee's announcement came from the arena below.
In this battle where she didn't use any Soul Bone skills and relied solely on her agility-based assassin instincts, Zhu Zhuqing suffered a slight setback at the start due to her opponent's extremely tricky tactics.
However, thanks to her ruthlessness and extraordinary perseverance, she ultimately secured victory in her individual match without any major incident.
When Zhu Zhuqing returned to the private room with a little sweat and slightly out of breath, Xuan Hao did not arrange any further training for her.
That's all for today.
Xuan Hao stood up, handed Zhu Zhuqing a clean towel, then turned to the women in the private room and said with a smile, "Yan Yan and Ling Ling have come all the way from Tian Dou City, they must be tired.
Let's finish work early tonight, go back to the hotel and get some rest, and also give them a welcome dinner."
The women naturally had no objections.
The group left the Soto Arena in a grand and conspicuous manner and returned to the Soto Grand Hotel.
...
at the same time.
The other members of the Royal Fighting Team also checked into the Soto Grand Hotel smoothly, under the arrangement of their team leader, Qin Ming.
As elites of the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy, they were naturally not short of money, and directly booked an entire high-end suite not far from Xuan Hao and his group.
In the hotel lobby.
Yu Tianheng, the Shi brothers, Yu Feng, Aosilu, and others, who had just finished checking in, were gathered together, their expressions revealing an undisguised ease and arrogance.
"This Soto City Grand Soul Arena looks quite large, but I wonder what the quality of the Soul Masters inside is like."
Yu Feng leaned back on the sofa, arms behind his head, his tone extremely arrogant, "Hopefully we'll have a few capable teams, instead of the ones from those previous cities that we wiped out in one wave. That would be too boring."
"Yes, our Royal Fighting Team has maintained a perfect record all the way, and there hasn't been a single team that has forced us to use our full strength." Osro also chimed in with a laugh.
Listening to his teammates' extremely confident, even somewhat arrogant, discussion, Qin Ming, standing to the side, frowned slightly, almost imperceptibly.
As the leader and mentor of this group of outstanding students, he was naturally happy to see his students making great strides and winning every battle.
However, a heavy stone always weighed on Qin Ming's heart.
He actually desperately wanted the Royal Fighting Team to suffer a crushing defeat in this training trip!
This is not because he is psychologically twisted and cannot stand to see his students succeed, but rather because he has the extremely long-term vision and foresight of an excellent mentor.
Because he knew all too well the backgrounds and talents of these children.
Yu Tianheng, heir of the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex family; Dugu Yan, granddaughter of Poison Douluo; Ye Lingling, the only successor of Nine Heart Begonia... Every member of this team is a top genius born with a silver spoon in their mouth and raised with flowers and applause from childhood!
Their growth trajectory was too smooth!
So smooth that they almost never experienced any real setbacks!
On the path of Soul Master cultivation, talent alone is not enough; mental fortitude is often more important than the rank of one's Martial Soul.
Geniuses who have never experienced setbacks or tasted the bitterness of failure have an arrogance that is like a castle built on the sand—seemingly magnificent and grand, but actually incredibly fragile.
If they continue to win smoothly while they are still developing, their arrogance will gradually swell into fatal conceit.
If, in the future, they suddenly encounter an extremely devastating setback in the All-Continent Elite Tournament of Advanced Soul Master Academies, or on a true battlefield of life and death...
The sheer magnitude of the fall from grace, from the heights of success to the depths of despair, would be absolutely devastating for these proud and ambitious geniuses!
It could even directly shatter their Dao heart, causing them to never recover and become completely useless.
On the contrary, if there were a team that could defeat them fairly and squarely on the arena of this Great Soul Arena, and thoroughly crush their arrogance...
The members of the Royal Fighting Team are still young, have good mental resilience, and are highly adaptable.
Experiencing setbacks at this time and recognizing the reality that there are always people more capable than oneself is definitely a great thing for their future growth.
"well..."
Qin Ming sighed inwardly, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes as he looked at Yu Tianheng and the others who were still chatting and laughing.
The idea was good, but the reality was rather harsh.
Along their journey, the Soul Arena in the major cities they challenged had relatively weak Soul Master teams at the bottom level.
Occasionally, they might encounter a few passable opponents, but under the combined suppression of Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan, they couldn't cause any trouble at all.
Finding a hard enough "whetstone" to teach these proud little monsters a lesson is easier said than done.
Qin Ming stood with his hands behind his back in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window in the hotel lobby, looking at the bustling streets outside the window that were gradually being shrouded in night.
However, his gaze seemed to penetrate Soto City and land on a remote village outside the city.
"Judging by the time, it's been more than ten years since I graduated and left Shrek Academy..."
Qin Ming murmured to himself.
I wonder how Dean Flander and Teacher Zhao Wuji are doing now?
How many exceptional students, worthy of being called "monsters," have been recruited by the academy this year?
Thinking of this, a flash of inspiration suddenly appeared in Qin Ming's mind.
That's right! Shrek Academy!
If there is any place in the world that can produce geniuses and monsters who don't play by the rules and can even defeat top-level martial souls across different levels, then Shrek Academy is definitely the place to be!
Perhaps, Shrek Academy is hiding a monster genius who is even more outstanding and extreme than Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan!
If we could arrange an exchange match between the Royal Fighting Team and Shrek Academy, using those little monsters from Shrek to thoroughly hone these prodigies...
This is absolutely a perfect whetstone!
At this thought, Qin Ming could no longer contain his excitement. He turned around and said to Yu Tianheng and the others who were still chatting on the sofa:
"Tianheng, you must be tired after arriving in Soto City.
Please rest well at the hotel tonight and get some rest.
I have some personal matters to attend to and need to go out of the city to visit an elder I haven't seen for many years, so I won't be here tonight."
"Okay, Teacher Qin, you can go without worry." Although Yu Tianheng was a little curious, he nodded very calmly.
After giving his instructions, Qin Ming didn't waste a moment.
He walked out of the Soto Hotel and, under the cover of night, his figure transformed into a gust of wind, rushing towards Shrek Academy outside the city at full speed.
...
Half an hour later.
Qin Ming stopped and, by the faint moonlight, looked at the academy gate standing at the end of a remote village.
Compared to the simple yet tidy academy in my memory, Shrek Academy in front of me hasn't changed much.
If I had to point out any difference... it would be that it's much more dilapidated than it was when he was studying here more than ten years ago.
The wooden plaque with the five large characters "Shrek Academy" engraved on it is now covered with cracks from the passage of time, hanging crookedly on the archway, as if a night breeze could blow it down.
The surrounding walls were also pitted and overgrown with weeds.
Standing before the rickety wooden plaque, Qin Ming couldn't help but let out a deeply complex sigh.
He knew Dean Flander's character all too well.
With Flander's Soul Saint cultivation level of seventy-eight, coupled with the illustrious reputation of the "Golden Iron Triangle" that once shook the continent, if he were willing to lower himself even slightly, even if it was just a tiny bit of compromise...
Whether it's those extravagant noble families, the Barak royal family who rule this land, or even the all-powerful and wealthy Spirit Hall, they would all be extremely willing to invest and sponsor Shrek Academy with large sums of gold spirit coins.
With just a nod from Flander, this dilapidated village could be transformed overnight into the most magnificent high-level soul master academy in the entire Barak Kingdom.
But Flanders was like a rock in a latrine, both smelly and hard.
He did not want to be bound by those powerful forces and complex interests, nor did he want his hard-earned genius students to prematurely wear the heavy shackles imposed by those forces.
The current situation on the mainland may seem calm, but it is actually turbulent and extremely complex.
The power struggle between the two great empires and the Spirit Hall intensifies, and the atmosphere in the entire spirit master world is eerily quiet, like the calm before a storm.
If we rashly get entangled with these deeply entrenched and powerful forces, no one knows what changes might occur tomorrow.
If you accept investment and support from these forces and take other people's money, you will inevitably be forcibly drawn into those cruel conflicts of interest and power struggles.
Once you board that ship, you will completely lose your precious freedom.
At that time, Shrek Academy's proud monster geniuses will likely become sharp knives used by others to fight for power and profit, or even pawns that can be sacrificed at any time in political games.
"Dean Flander, your pride, which you've upheld for half your life, is truly admirable, yet heartbreaking..."
Qin Ming took a deep breath, straightened his clothes, and with a feeling of extreme reverence and trepidation, stepped into the dilapidated academy that held the most passionate memories of his youth.
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