The Spirit Master Tournament officially began.
The first match was between Shrek Academy and the Tian Ling Advanced Spirit Master Academy from the Dou Ling Empire.
The entire arena erupted with cheers.
"Shrek!"
"Shrek!"
"Shrek!"
Aside from Su Yunlin, the other six members of the reserve team were all extremely nervous.
After all, this was their first time experiencing something like this.
"Class Monitor, I'm so nervous…"
"Mascot" Xiao Xiao truly was nervous right now. With both hands, she tightly clutched the corners of Su Yunlin's and Wang Dong's clothes.
"What's there to be afraid of? With me here, do you really think we'll lose? Don't joke around.
"Show them your best spirit and energy!
"Tell them the number one academy on the continent has arrived.
"They should be trembling."
Su Yunlin did not care about something like this in the slightest.
At the end of the day, the Spirit Master Tournament was nothing more than a child's game to him.
The core of the reserve team was Su Yunlin.
Not only was he the strongest among them, but he had also beaten the entire reserve team into submission—and even defeated Ma Xiaotao, the strongest member of the official team.
During the bandit suppression mission, Su Yunlin had fought side by side with the official team members.
The number of bandits he had personally killed was astonishing, and the official team members had witnessed it all firsthand.
His individual strength alone was enough to earn their respect.
Not to mention that strength was far from the only thing Su Yunlin possessed.
Chen Zifeng looked toward him.
"Junior Brother Su, do you need me to go on stage? I've mostly recovered already. I can still fight."
Su Yunlin shook his head.
"They're just a bunch of trash. Do we really need Senior Brother Chen to make a move? Leave it to us."
Though Wang Yan still felt somewhat nervous inside, seeing Su Yunlin so calm and composed reassured him greatly.
He then turned to Huo Yuhao and instructed him carefully. "Yuhao, you'll handle battlefield control. Remember to use your second Spirit Ability properly."
"Please welcome the number one academy on the continent! The kings among academies—Shrek Academy's representative team!"
The host shouted loudly.
The seven reserve team members walked onto the competition stage.
Su Yunlin led the group at the front.
His expression radiated overwhelming confidence—even bordering on arrogance.
Wang Dong followed closely behind him.
Wherever Su Yunlin went, she followed.
Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Jiang Nannan walked side by side behind them, while Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao brought up the rear.
The moment Su Yunlin's group stepped onto the stage, competitors from every academy were stunned.
This was obviously Shrek Academy's reserve team.
Were they not afraid of losing?
Both sides gathered at the center of the stage.
Su Yunlin crossed his arms and looked at the members of Tian Ling Academy before letting out a mocking chuckle.
"Heh."
"What are you laughing at?"
The captain of Tian Ling Academy frowned.
As team captain, his mentality was naturally steadier than the others.
Su Yunlin spoke indifferently.
"A bunch of people who already look like they're about to piss themselves from fear still want to oppose me?
"Just surrender.
"Losing to us isn't shameful."
Even the referee was shocked.
This year's Shrek team was way too arrogant.
After explaining the rules, the referee signaled both sides to retreat.
Tian Ling Academy arranged themselves in a standard spirit battle formation: a three-two-one lineup.
Their Spirit Rings appeared.
Five Spirit Ancestors and two Spirit Elders.
Their lineup was actually fairly decent.
Judging from the fluctuations of Spirit Power, their captain was roughly Level 47.
By all accounts, he was quite outstanding.
Meanwhile, Shrek Academy's formation was incredibly loose.
There was no discernible strategy whatsoever.
"The match begins!"
Su Yunlin stretched his body, just about to make his move—
when the corner of his eye caught a flash of red light.
He immediately saw Huo Yuhao, this absolute madman, instantly giving himself six hundred-thousand-year Spirit Rings.
Right afterward, circles of red Spirit Rings appeared around Su Yunlin as well.
A full eight hundred-thousand-year Spirit Rings.
Beside him, Wang Dong also gained seven hundred-thousand-year Spirit Rings.
"Class Monitor, stop spacing out! Hurry up!"
Huo Yuhao sounded anxious.
Simulating this many hundred-thousand-year Spirit Rings consumed an enormous amount of Spirit Power.
Su Yunlin curled his lips helplessly.
Then he grabbed Wang Dong's hand.
Their Spirit Power fused together instantly.
In the next moment, a blast of black-and-gold intertwined energy erupted forward, instantly blasting every member of Tian Ling Academy off the stage.
A mini version of Eternal Night Dawn!
"Sigh… You couldn't even dance for me a little?
"How boring.
"Referee, announce the result."
Su Yunlin spoke blandly.
"Ah? O-Oh! Victory goes to Shrek Academy!"
The entire arena fell silent.
Everyone was still too shocked to recover from what they had just witnessed.
After ending the battle, Su Yunlin simply held Wang Dong's hand and prepared to leave.
As they passed by Huo Yuhao—
Huo Yuhao suddenly shouted loudly,
"Remember this! We come from Shrek Academy! We come from the Tang Sect!"
Then the seven members of Shrek Academy departed from the competition stage.
...
Rest Area.
Smack!
Su Yunlin slapped Huo Yuhao on the head.
"Why the hell were you shouting so loudly? You nearly scared me to death!"
Huo Yuhao held his head and grinned foolishly.
"I just thought… we should say something cool, you know?"
"Let's go. I'll deal with you once we're back at the hotel."
The Shrek team then left the arena and returned directly to the hotel.
The seven of them sat together.
With one leg crossed over the other, Su Yunlin looked at Huo Yuhao.
"I was prepared to settle them with words, then you come out with hundred-thousand-year Spirit Rings. Thank you for not forgetting me."
Huo Yuhao scratched his head awkwardly. "I thought your speech just now was really intimidating, so adding the Spirit Ring simulation would make the effect even more shocking."
Su Yunlin crossed his arms.
"And in the end, didn't it still rely on me and Wang Dong?
"The moment those hundred-thousand-year Spirit Rings appeared on you, I almost stepped aside and let you knock them off the stage yourself."
The others burst into laughter as well.
None of them had expected Huo Yuhao to be this ruthless.
Starting the match by pulling out hundred-thousand-year Spirit Rings—and even giving them to Su Yunlin and Wang Dong too.
Wang Yan looked toward Su Yunlin.
"Yunlin, was that just now a Martial Soul Fusion Skill between you and Wang Dong? Why did it feel different from before?"
Leaning lazily against the sofa, Su Yunlin replied,
"Just a simplified version. We simply fused our Spirit Power together and released it outward. Is that difficult?"
Wang Yan's mouth twitched.
"Not difficult? Freely controlling the release and withdrawal of Spirit Power is a technique only high-level Spirit Masters possess.
In our inner court, the minimum requirement for that is Spirit Sage level. For other experts, at the very least they'd need to be Spirit Douluos to achieve it. What you're doing is absurd."
"As I said, with me and Wang Dong here, winning is guaranteed. The seniors don't even need to take the field; I'll carry us! I don't believe anyone can stop my Dark Devilgod Tiger," Su Yunlin said dismissively.
Wang Yan looked at him seriously.
"Yunlin, it's best if you don't use that move during the Spirit Master Tournament.
"Keep it as your trump card for the future.
"After all, the Dark Devilgod Tiger is an evil Spirit Beast. People could easily mistake you for an evil Spirit Master."
"Tsk. Do I need validation from those pieces of trash? They get a little bit of status and start critiquing people? How annoying. Sooner or later, I'll wipe them all out."
Wang Yan merely shrugged. As Su Yunlin's homeroom teacher, he understood Su Yunlin's personality fairly well.
He possessed the arrogance of youth—
but also the mind of someone mature beyond his years.
As long as Su Yunlin was present, everyone felt strangely reassured.
"For the upcoming matches, let Senior Brother Bei handle the command duties.
"I'm just a brute who's only good at fighting."
Su Yunlin directly handed command authority to Bei Bei.
Bei Bei looked speechless.
"You just want to slack off, don't you?"
Su Yunlin looked at him seriously.
"Come on, how can you call this slacking off?
"You're the senior brother, and I'm the junior brother.
"Command responsibilities should obviously go to the older one."
The corner of Bei Bei's mouth twitched.
Older?
He was only fifteen years old too, damn it!
Still, there was no helping it.
Su Yunlin really was the junior brother.
And now that everyone knew Wang Dong was a girl, she naturally became the junior sister.
Wang Yan smiled faintly.
"Then you all can arrange things yourselves.
"As for Xiaotao and the others, focus on recovering as quickly as possible."
"Mm."
Chen Zifeng remained behind with them.
His injuries had nearly fully healed already.
With just one more day of rest, he would completely recover and be able to fight again.