Douluo, my clone Groudon

Chapter 388 Competition Participants
When Gula received the notification to participate in the Spirit Pagoda competition, he was stunned for a moment, and then asked his avatar, Qing Liuli, about the cause and effect.

When he learned that it was because he had purified Devil Island ahead of time that the various powers of the Federation had their eyes on the resources there, thus triggering this competition, he couldn't help but feel a little amused and exasperated.

"Does this count as me creating trouble for myself?" Gula stroked his chin, hesitating slightly.

The exchange program for the Douluo Continent II: The Peerless Tang Sect is still in the planning stages, and there's still some time before departure. Going to participate in this competition can be a good way to relax and take a break.

He returned to the registration office at the Spirit Tower headquarters in Shrek City, only to be told that he still needed to go through internal selection to determine the final list of participants.

Gula was speechless for a moment, then directly showed off the special badge that represented Leng Yaozhu's personal disciple, and said to the staff in a low voice, "What, the disciple of the deputy tower master doesn't even have this kind of privilege?"

The staff member thought to themselves, "Of course they have special privileges. But how am I supposed to respond when you say it so bluntly..."

On the surface, he could only force a smile and quickly noted the special status on Gula's registration form. He believed that his superiors would never offend the deputy tower master's disciple for the sake of a single spot.

As it turned out, registration was just a formality; one's strength or weakness could not be hidden within the Spirit Pagoda.

Three days later, Gura successfully received the notification to officially represent the Spirit Tower in the battle and was asked to meet up with his teammates.

Shrek Academy originally intended to use their most proficient seven-player team battle mode for this competition, but this was immediately opposed by other forces led by Qian Gu Dong Feng.

The reasons are quite valid: high-level Soul Masters are all proud and arrogant, and it is difficult to find teammates who are a perfect match. Team competitions are too unpredictable, so it is better to compete in individual competitions.

The final decision was that the competition would primarily use an individual format. Each faction could send three players to participate at each major level: Soul King, Soul Emperor, and Soul Saint.

The scoring rules are as follows: 1 point for a Soul King-level victory, 2 points for a Soul Emperor-level victory, and 3 points for a Soul Saint-level victory. The final score will be used to determine the distribution of Devil Island's benefits proportionally to the total points earned by each party.

In addition, as a concession to Shrek, a three-on-three team competition was added, but its weight in the points is low, only three points, which minimizes Shrek's influence.

Anyway, Yunming can't possibly fight them for a little bit of resources, can he?

As a representative of the Soul Emperor level, Gula arrived at the preparation area of ​​the Spirit Pagoda.

He saw Gu Yue and Qing Liuli, who were also representatives.

The team was led by Han Tianyi, the Illusionary Brain Douluo who had a strong interest in studying strange and unusual energies. His purpose in coming here was not only to lead the team, but also to personally investigate the peculiar energy residue on Devil Island and the soul beasts affected by it.

Including Gula, the Spirit Pagoda had ten people on this trip. After everyone was ready, they boarded the Spirit Pagoda's high-speed mechs and headed directly to Devil's Island—taking the Soul Guidance Train was simply too slow.

On the way, Gula met two Soul Emperor-level teammates: a pair of twin "brothers" named Bai Haoze and Bai Zhicen.

Gula could tell at a glance that they were women disguised as men, but he didn't point it out.

Their martial souls are quite rare, namely the Light Unicorn and the Space Unicorn, and they also possess a powerful martial soul fusion skill—Instant Light.

This martial soul fusion skill combines the characteristics of light and space, making it ever-changing. Moreover, because the fusion rate exceeds 80%, its duration is quite considerable.

They were all four or five years older than Gula, and possessed a capable demeanor. As for the other four Soul King and Soul Saint level members, Gula didn't pay them any special attention; they also seemed to have refrained from approaching him due to Han Tianyi's arrangement to "interact more with those of the same level." The mecha landed on the edge of Devil Island.

The three mech pilots did not leave, but stayed behind temporarily as guards.

As soon as Han Tianyi stepped onto the island, she closed her eyes and began to sense it, a look of fascination on her face: "What a wondrous island! Two completely opposite forces have been able to coexist in balance here for thousands of years... I really want to know the secret behind it right now!"

Gu Yue looked at the island with a slightly complicated expression.

Her hazy memories of the Dragon God told her that the lingering aura here seemed to be related to two very powerful deities—the God of Destruction and the God of Life.

Meanwhile, the Shrek Academy team also arrived. Their leader was the hot-tempered Feng Wuyu.

To Gula's surprise, he actually saw Tang Wulin in the group! This kid hadn't been trapped in Dragon Valley, and in just half a year, his soul power level had skyrocketed, reaching the Soul King realm!

"It seems those old guys at the Sea God Pavilion are really heartbroken. Ah Yin must have used the Golden Tree's source energy to infuse him with it without regard to cost... The past leaders of Shrek Academy died tragically."

Gula pondered to himself, "I only absorbed 20% back then, while Tang Wulin's energy consumption for condensing his soul ring and that Seed of Nature is probably several times that of mine..."

"Now the Golden Tree's energy reserves are probably less than half gone. Yun Ming... I wonder if he'll contact me? He should have had some premonition about my prediction back then."

Tang Wulin also saw Gula, nodded to him, and his eyes held a hint of curiosity and fighting spirit.

Gula nodded in response. The Shrek Academy team also included Gula's avatar, Bai Yuan, who had broken through to the Soul Emperor realm, and another Soul King, Wu Siduo.

The Northern Navy Legion had already arrived and were busy setting up the competition venue. The soul-guided aircraft of the Temple of War and the Federation team also landed one after another, and all sides gathered here.

Knowing that their position within the Federation was delicate, the Tang Clan chose to keep a low profile and did not step forward to participate in this struggle.

With all five forces present, the team leaders gathered for a brief discussion and unanimously decided to start the competition as soon as possible. They were all in high positions and had a lot of important matters to attend to. If it weren't for the fact that the Forbidden Zone of Life was so special, they wouldn't have made such a big fuss.

Staff quickly installed soul-guided recording equipment that could transmit the match footage back to the headquarters of the major factions in real time.

The contestants then proceeded to the draw area to determine their opponents and order of appearance.

Gula randomly drew a fortune stick, and looking at the simple number and opponent information on it, he couldn't help but mutter a complaint under his breath:
"...This was probably the most hasty and straightforward competition I've ever participated in; there weren't even many spectators."

He was number fifteen, the last of the fifteen Soul Emperors. However, since the number of contestants was odd, he received a bye in the first round.

Gula sat down in the stands and waited for the match to begin.

The air was thick with the tension and directness characteristic of resource competition; there was little pretense or politeness, and everything was decided by strength.

The first "spoils division meeting" on Devil Island is about to begin in the most Soul Master-like way.

(End of this chapter)