Douluo Unrivaled: The Beginning Materializes the Black Abyss and White Flowers

Chapter 137 Social Anxiety March 7th

Early in the morning, the sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly.

Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Daydream Hotel, the bustling scene of Haiyuan City can be seen in full view, and the beach in the distance is crowded with people, with noise rising and falling.

The round-robin tournament has ended, and the list of the top 16 has been released. Next up is the round of 16 to 8.

At this stage, the competition is gradually coming to an end.

Although the appearance of the Holy Mark has caused a huge stir in the Soul Master world, ordinary viewers are more concerned about the exciting competitions to come.

The round of 16 to 8 will be held four times a day.

Unsurprisingly, St. Freya Academy, the reigning champion and host, was scheduled to play the first match.

According to the competition rules, the opponent of the group winner must be the runner-up from another group.

Therefore, St. Freya Academy's opponent this time is Zheng Tian Academy, which lost to Shrek Academy in the group stage and advanced as the second-place team in the group.

It has to be said that Zhengtian Academy was really unlucky.

As soon as Lu Jingming led his team out of the Daydream Hotel, they saw Shrek Academy and Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, who were also preparing to head to the arena.

Look at Xiao Hongchen, his face is as black as the bottom of a pot. He has obviously had a quarrel with the people from Shrek Academy and did not gain any advantage.

"What's going on, everyone? The competition is about to start!" Lu Jingming glanced at Ma Xiaotao and then said with a smile.

"Lu Jingming!" Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen, who happened to have their backs to Lu Jingming and the others, turned around quickly upon hearing his voice.

Meng Hongchen glanced at Lu Jingming's handsome face and then at Wang Dong's beautiful face. One was yin and the other yang, and both of them were so outstanding. This made Meng Hongchen's face show a conflicted expression.

"Hi everyone, let's not fight!" March 7th greeted everyone in a friendly manner, and her lively and cute appearance instantly won everyone's favor.

"Yuhao, something's wrong. I sensed the aura of someone from the same clan on this pink-haired girl. It's that soul bone; she's refined it!"

In the mental space, Hyotei's voice carried obvious surprise.

Huo Yuhao was stunned and looked at March 7 in disbelief.

He knew very well what it meant for the other party to refine the Ice Jade Scorpion Soul Bone. This seemingly harmless, lively and cute pink-haired girl was actually a possessor of ultimate ice, just like him.

Thinking of this, Huo Yuhao glanced at the quiet and gentle Liu Ying again, his eyes filled with deep shock.

He was somewhat bewildered. Wasn't it said that only one in a thousand years could be a Soul Master with the ultimate attribute? How come they were appearing in droves at St. Freya Academy? Could there be other Soul Masters with the ultimate attribute among the rest of them?
Huo Yuhao's gaze swept over Xia Die, Jin Xi, Robin, and the others, and his heart suddenly felt heavy.

"Everyone, let's go together. We're all young people. If there's any conflict, let's settle it in the ring."

Lu Jingming extended an invitation with a smile, and without waiting for a response from the others, he took the lead and headed towards the seaside.

"Hey, little brat!" Ma Xiaotao suddenly called out to Lu Jingming.

Lu Jingming's lips twitched slightly, and he said irritably, "Ma Xiaotao, can't you remember my name, or can't you remember the lesson we learned before?"

Ma Xiaotao was stunned for a moment. Recalling the teasing words Lu Jingming had said to her, her pretty face flushed red. Then, she said with embarrassment and annoyance, "If you call me Sister Xiaotao, I'm not against calling you something else. No, that's not the point. Listen to me carefully, this time, we will definitely not lose!"

"Oh, I'm actually looking forward to it!" Lu Jingming smiled indifferently. Although Ma Xiaotao had broken through to become a Soul Saint, he didn't really take it seriously. So what if she was a Soul Saint? Could she stop his Black Abyss White Flower?

"Hmph, just you wait, Sister Xiaotao will teach you a lesson sooner or later!" Ma Xiaotao's cheeks turned red with anger. She couldn't stand Lu Jingming's condescending attitude towards her.

"Sister Xiaotao, you two know each other?" Xu Sanshi leaned forward and asked in a low voice.

After all, anyone could tell from Ma Xiaotao and Lu Jingming's conversation that the two knew each other before.

"More than just acquaintances, we're practically old enemies!" Ling Luochen's lips curled up slightly. She had seen Lu Jingming, who was with Zhang Lexuan and Ke Qing, in the previous competition. Naturally, she knew that Lu Jingming was Ma Xiaotao's nemesis, and he could always make her furious.

"This student, Lu, is truly talented!" Xu Sanshi exclaimed, fanning himself with his folding fan.

"What do you mean?" Beibei asked, looking puzzled.

"Didn't you notice? The girls from St. Freya Academy were looking at Sister Tao strangely when she struck up a conversation with them. And Sister Tao's attitude was also unusual! She's known as the 'active volcano' of the inner academy, when did she become so easy to talk to?"

Xu Sanshi leaned close to Bei Bei's ear and whispered something.

Beibei was slightly taken aback, and then realized that something was indeed not quite right.

But he quickly added helplessly, "These are things we shouldn't be worrying about. If we keep gossiping like this, we might get beaten up!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Sanshi instinctively shivered, secretly glancing at Ma Xiaotao. Seeing that she wasn't paying attention to him, he breathed a sigh of relief.

If Ma Xiaotao finds out that he's making wild guesses behind people's backs, he'll really get a beating!

March 7th's charm is truly extraordinary. Along the way, she not only chatted enthusiastically with Xiaoxiao, Jiang Nannan, and Meng Hongchen, but even the usually aloof Ling Luochen responded to her, which shows how approachable she is.

With this kind of attitude, Xiao Sanyue is definitely a "social terrorist"!
Unlike Meng Hongchen and Xiaoxiao, who see each other as rivals, Xiao Sanyue has no such thoughts at all.

In her opinion, competition is competition, but friendship between girls is more important, and she has always enjoyed making friends.

With Xiao Sanyue's help, Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo also pulled Ye Guyi into the group. Xiao Xiao even asked Xiao Sanyue to help her get an autograph from Zhibingniao, and she was overjoyed.

To outsiders, the girls from the three teams got along remarkably well, not at all like they were about to fight to the death on the field. However, the boys weren't so harmonious. Lu Jingming was busy teasing Ma Xiaotao, while Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xiao Hongchen, and others stared at each other, creating a rather tense atmosphere.

Soon, they passed through the dense crowd on the road cleared by the city guards, boarded the Soul Guidance Warship again, and reached the Eye of the Abyss.

The three teams then separated and entered their respective rest areas.

As soon as he entered the lounge, Huo Yuhao couldn't wait to tell the others about his discovery.

"Hey! Class monitor, are you sure you're not mistaken? Little March is actually an ultimate ice attribute soul master?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Xiao's face was filled with disbelief.

It's hard to imagine that the usually lively and cheerful girl is actually an ice-attribute soul master, and even more so, an extremely rare ultimate ice attribute.

Jiang Nannan gave Huo Yuhao a deep look, secretly marveling at him. She hadn't expected that he could sense the Ice Jade Scorpion Soul Bone and thus determine that San Yueqi was an ultimate Ice Soul Master.

In fact, she knew this information earlier than Huo Yuhao, but for certain reasons, she did not reveal it to anyone.

Bei Bei, Wang Yan, and the others were equally surprised, but they still chose to believe Huo Yuhao's judgment, since his martial soul was the Ice Jade Scorpion, which gave him a unique perception ability in this regard.

"So, St. Freya Academy has more than one Soul Master with extreme attributes. They have both ice and fire, and both of them are effective against me!" Ma Xiaotao's lips twitched slightly. Recalling the harsh words she had just uttered to Lu Jingming, she couldn't help but feel a little regretful.

The extreme fire attribute suppressed her, while the extreme ice attribute countered her. She felt as if she had broken a divine law, how could she encounter so many unlucky things?

The rest area for the competition was much quieter than before, since only sixteen teams remained.

Those who were able to stand out among the many academies and successfully stay were almost all prestigious academies with a long-standing reputation on the continent. This year, no dark horse team like St. Freya Academy in the previous competition emerged.

The round of 16 to 8 will last for four days, with four matches each day. The competition is divided into team matches and individual elimination matches, which will be held on two separate days.

The first day is the team competition, and even if the team loses the team competition, as long as one side can eliminate the other side's seven people with three people in the individual elimination round, they can still turn the tide and win.

Therefore, the Soul Master Competition actually focuses more on individual combat strength.

As long as there is a highly skilled Soul Master in the team, even if the team loses the team competition, there is still a chance to make a comeback in the individual elimination rounds.

The winning team also has a certain advantage. In the individual elimination rounds, they only need to defeat three opponents with the strength of seven people to ensure the final victory.

Overall, the competition rules are more favorable to players with strong individual skills.

"The Round of 16 team competition, St. Freya Academy versus Zheng Tian Academy, please enter the arena!"

The names of the two teams and their members' portraits were clearly displayed on the Soul Guidance Screen, making it easy for all viewers to understand.

Dan Heng, the referee, also appeared on time in the center of the competition table.

This time, Lu Jingming made personnel adjustments, replacing Jin Xi with Ye Guyi.

This is because there is an angelic martial soul possessor in Zhengtian Academy, and Ye Guyi is very interested in sparring with him.

As the players from both sides took to the stage, cheers erupted instantly, pushing the atmosphere to its peak.

Compared to the composure of Lu Jingming and the others, the seven people from Zhengtian Academy looked particularly grim.

This is truly unfortunate. Facing St. Freya Academy, their competition will most likely end there, and they can only stop at the top 16, a result that is even worse than the previous year.

Lu Jingming looked at the seven people walking towards him, and their information flashed through his mind.

The serious-looking young man at the head of the group is Ye Wuqing, the captain of Zhengtian Academy. His martial soul is the Golden Leaf, and he is a level 59 power attack type soul king.

If this competition had been held a few months later, he might have been able to participate as a Soul Emperor.

The blonde girl beside Ye Wuqing is named Yu Mengdi. Her martial soul is the Twin-Winged Angel. She is a descendant of the Angel Legion of the Spirit Hall from ten thousand years ago and is currently a level 53 Power Attack-type Soul King.

Although both are angelic martial souls, Yu Mengdi's Twin-Winged Angel is still inferior to Ye Guyi's Holy Angel, and it does not have the passive effect of increasing cultivation by killing evil soul masters.

That's why, even though Yu Mengdi is nineteen years old, her soul power is only level fifty-three.

Such talent would have been considered top-tier ten thousand years ago, but in the present day, it wouldn't be considered exceptionally outstanding.

However, even the weakest Angel Martial Soul is still a top-tier Martial Soul, no worse than a typical top-tier Beast Martial Soul.

Zhengtian Academy has three Soul Kings. The last one is a handsome young man with black hair named Tang Xiaolei. His martial soul is the Purple Flower Bow, and he is a level 52 power attack type Soul King.

As for the other four members of Zhengtian Academy, they are Shangguan Can, who is not good-looking, whose martial soul is the Soul-Capturing Bell, and who is a level 46 control-type Soul Master.

Yan'er, with her red hair, braids, and beautiful figure, possesses a fire elemental spirit and is a level 45 offensive soul master.

Yang Yifan, wearing a hood, possesses the Shadow Blade as his martial soul and is a level 46 agility-based Soul Master.

Finally, there was the somewhat irritable young Blood Wolf, whose martial soul was the Bloodthirsty Demon Wolf, and who was a level 47 agility-based Soul Master.

March 7

(End of this chapter)