Douluo: In an extraordinary world, with unparallel understanding!

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Su Yu had a chance encounter with the main members of the two major teams from Tang Sect and Shrek. At this point, there was only one day left before the Soul Fighting Tournament began.

Upon returning to Sun-Moon Hall, Su Yu received a notification from Jing Hongchen to finalize the distribution for the upcoming competition.

"Captain will still be Su Yu, that hasn't changed. This tournament isn't just for Shrek; Tang Sect's team will also be competing. Although it's called Tang Sect, it's essentially another team from Shrek. They have two main teams, two reserve teams, which means a total of twenty-eight participants."

Yesterday, upon returning to Sun-Moon Hall, Su Yu also reported his experiences, sharing the soul power levels he sensed from Shrek with Jing Hongchen.

"Pfft, using two teams to represent the same academy," Jing Hongchen scoffed disdainfully. "They claim to be two separate teams, yet they act as though they are one. They're practically advertising the same academy under different names. What's the difference between this and Shrek opening a side account? If they're afraid of losing, they should just admit it."

"Shut up!"

Hearing his grandson's words, Jing Hongchen naturally agreed in his heart but still stopped him from continuing.

"Shrek is still very strong. You must not underestimate them. The Tang Sect team is composed entirely of Soul Kings, with a Soul Emperor in command. As for Shrek's team, it's even more exaggerated. They have a Soul Saint at the helm, and multiple Soul Emperors. Even their Soul Kings are high-level, with at least mid-tier Soul Kings among the reserve team."

After receiving Su Yu's report, Jing Hongchen also conducted an investigation into Shrek's team composition for this tournament.

There were fourteen of them in total, which was a highly noticeable number. There were plenty of spies in Sun-Moon Hall who could gather such information.

It had to be said that the two teams Shrek had formed for this tournament, based on the history of the Soul Fighting Tournament, were among the most elite in the entire continent.

Shrek was still incredibly strong.

However, unfortunately...

This year's tournament was different.

Religious sects were participating, and Soul Emperors were leading teams. Having a full team of Soul Kings wasn't something only Tang Sect could achieve. According to Jing Hongchen, there were two or three sects within the Sun Moon Empire capable of such configurations.

As for Shrek's Soul Saint?

In the past, Jing Hongchen would have been stunned, but now he was more composed. He could only marvel at Shrek's soul masters and their extraordinarily rare talent for martial soul cultivation.

"Your mission remains unchanged. Each of you must still complete at least one Seven-Stringed Soul Skill!" Jing Hongchen's gaze swept over the seven team members, his tone filled with pride.

Even though there were three Soul Kings who could be considered a burden to the team, the support of their Primary Battle Armor made them equivalent to peak-level Soul Emperors. Combined with the appropriate combat soul tools and battle techniques, they could be considered Soul Emperors in peak form.

Furthermore, they weren't just any ordinary level 69 Soul Emperors; these were Soul Emperors with top-tier martial souls.

In essence...

Jing Hongchen then passed on his meticulously thought-out plans for displaying the Battle Armor in the most shocking way possible to the seven team members.

The tournament committee had established new rules. Contestants couldn't be older than twenty, and at least one member from every sect's team had to have no more than a four-ring cultivation. After several rounds of filtering, a total of 168 teams made it to the competition.

"The rewards for this tournament have also changed. Instead of soul bones, the prize is now soul tools. The champion team will receive a ninth-grade soul tool, the runner-up will get an eighth-grade one, and the third-place team will receive a seventh-grade one."

"This victory isn't just about Shrek's honor; it's about the future development of our soul tool system. That ninth-grade soul tool will have significant research value for the soul tool field. Everyone, you must give it your all!"

"And Tang Sect, you must do your best too. Even the eighth-grade soul tool is of great importance to Shrek's research into soul tools."

Don't even mention the eighth grade—any soul tool above the seventh grade produced by Sun-Moon Hall would be significant for research in the soul tool field across the three countries of Douluo.

Even if the tools were damaged, valuable insights could still be gained.

The more that is acquired, the greater the investment required, but it's always possible to reverse-engineer some techniques.

*The Next Day*

*The Sun-Moon Soul Fighting Arena*

For this tournament, the Sun Moon Empire constructed a massive Soul Fighting Arena on the outskirts of Sun-Moon in the eastern part of the city.

Not only for this competition, but this arena would also remain open in the future for soul engineers and soul masters within Sun-Moon to spar and hone their skills.

This was also part of the preparation for the eventual introduction of battle armors, signaling a return to a focus on soul master cultivation.

Previously, Sun-Moon had only hosted soul engineer competitions, and Soul Fighting Tournaments were a rare occurrence. Without the presence of pure combat, even within the academy, the training and screening for each Soul Fighting Tournament mainly involved students using combat techniques for preliminary selections and training. The rest of the time was spent on research and experimentation with soul tools.

Oh, and there was also the Soul Hunting—perhaps there would be opportunities for battle there as well?

Due to the future importance of the Soul Fighting Arena, Sun-Moon's overall area was gradually expanding.

Though Sun-Moon was already considered grand in scale, the Sun Moon Empire spared no expense in expanding hotels to accommodate the massive influx of people for the tournament. The entire city's expansion was also planned accordingly.

On the outskirts of the arena, a large number of hotels were simultaneously constructed, and around the perimeter of the arena and the outer city, a security line had been set up—an initial defense for the expanded city walls.

*The Soul Fighting Arena*

A full 30,000 soldiers were stationed to maintain order on-site.

The competition platform stood 3 meters high, with a diameter of 150 meters.

In past Soul Fighting Tournaments, the platforms were rarely larger than 120 meters, but this year, the diameter was expanded to 150 meters.

Even the platform in the Royal Soul Engineer Academy of the Sun Moon Empire had a diameter of 200 meters, but the arena for the tournament itself had a diameter of only 150 meters.

It wasn't due to a lack of funding.

It was because excessively large platforms posed various challenges for the combatants.

With a 200-meter diameter platform, the distance between both sides at the start of the match would be at least 150 meters, and with a soul cannon positioned, it would just be a matter of firing. That would be far too advantageous for soul engineers.

The Sun Moon Empire did propose constructing a 200-meter diameter platform, but other empires strongly opposed it.

Fortunately, under the strong demand from the Sun Moon Empire, this year's platform was still expanded.

It was enlarged to a 150-meter diameter.

To avoid the aforementioned issues, both teams were required to position themselves 100 meters from the center of the platform before the match began, ensuring a fair starting distance.

This rule was in line with the standard regulations of previous Soul Fighting Tournaments, with the main difference being an added option for retreat after the match commenced.

The entire platform exuded a silvery metallic sheen, making it appear to be constructed from some kind of metal.

Looking at the competition grounds, the members of both the Tang Sect and Shrek teams couldn't help but feel amazed.

"That platform... it's likely an entire soul tool," said Fan Yu, the leader of both teams, his gaze fixed on the faint patterns visible on the platform. His voice was solemn.

"How much rare metal must have been used for this?" Ning Tian, who had previously fought Su Yu over a magic-blocking crystal the size of a fist, also spoke up.

She deeply felt the power of the Sun Moon Empire.

In the Three Nations of Douluo, even the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School would likely struggle to build such a platform.