Douluo Dragon King: I'm creating a golden age behind the scenes!

Time flew by, and the day of the Tianhai Alliance Grand Competition's opening ceremony arrived quickly. Liu Tianran and Xu Xiaoyu got up early, stood together in front of the mirror to brush their teeth and rinse their mouths, then changed into their Donghai Academy uniforms and went out.

In the first-floor living room, teachers and students from all the participating colleges had already gathered. Liu Tianran and his companion quickly found the location of the teachers and students from Donghai College in the crowd.

"Oh dear, we're a little late."

Tianhai Stadium is a massive stadium capable of holding 80,000 people. It is also the largest stadium in all cities within the Tianhai Alliance.

When the Donghai City team arrived at Tianhai Stadium, the largest stadium in the eastern part of the Federation, apart from Liu Tianran and several teachers who were already familiar with the locals, even Gu Yue among the students was amazed by its scale.

The Tianhai Alliance Grand Competition is the biggest event in the East China Sea economic zone and attracts attention from the entire Federation. Every year, outstanding talents emerge from the competition. Therefore, Tianhai City, as the host city, puts in the most effort to prepare, striving to recruit new talents to join Tianhai City before and after the competition each year.

In fact, the original intention of the Tianhai Alliance Grand Competition was to select outstanding talents for the Tianhai Alliance and cultivate them so that they could become pillars of the Federation and strengthen the Tianhai Alliance itself.

The Federation is divided into numerous political parties, and the Skysea Alliance itself is a powerful force. Especially in the economic sphere, it can be considered one of the alliance's major players.

Unfortunately, the Tianhai Alliance has always suffered from a lack of talent, and has consistently been outmatched in competition with major inland cities. After all, inland cities have many large families with a history spanning thousands or even tens of thousands of years, possessing a deep reserve of talent and rich cultural heritage.

After recalling some relevant content from the original work, Liu Tianran also explained to his teammates the importance that the Tianhai Alliance attached to this competition and the background of the competition.

Following the teams from Donghai City, Liu Tianran and his group also saw teams from other cities.

Among them, the students from the local Tianhai City team stood out the most. Their faces were filled with high morale. Although they could not beat most of the teachers and students from the inland academies, they were still among the strongest in the alliance.

"Squad leader, if we beat them before the finals, will they still be so energetic after the competition?"

He Qing watched as the students from Tianhai City passed by, their expressions showing a hint of eagerness.

"Alright, don't overthink it. Teacher Lin wants us to go to the preparation room."

"Okay, it's coming."

[Are the young geniuses of the Tianhai Alliance ready to face the unevenness of this world?]

While Liu Tianran was thinking about these things, the stadium stands were already full of spectators, and then the opening ceremony began amidst the noise.

Just then, the broadcast reached the entire venue, including the lounge where Liu Tianran was.

"Greetings, fellow young talents!" Just then, a loud and authoritative voice echoed throughout the stadium, instantly attracting the attention of all the athletes present.

The speaker was none other than the governor of Tianhai City. He did not appear next to the number selection machine in front of the screen, but was on the dais with a wide view. His figure was projected onto the huge screen through high-definition camera equipment and clearly presented to everyone.

"First of all, on behalf of the Tianhai Alliance, I would like to welcome you all."

To demonstrate the importance we place on this competition, we have specially invited Mr. Li Ziming, a master craftsman from the Forging Masters Association, to attend the opening ceremony. Let us warmly welcome him!

Amid applause, a man appeared on stage. He was handsome, tall, and his short, platinum blonde hair shone brightly under the lights, as if flowing with metallic luster, making him highly recognizable.

"That's...that's Master Li!"

Someone suddenly exclaimed, instantly breaking the silence in the room.

The news of Li Ziming's advancement to the Saint Craftsman had already swept through the entire Soul Master world like a hurricane within the past year, becoming the hottest topic recently.

Needless to say, those who can stand here to participate in the Tianhai Grand Competition are all young talents carefully cultivated by the major forces of the Tianhai Alliance. They are well-informed and naturally cannot be unaware of Li Ziming's name.

"And I have some good news to share with you all."

To motivate all participants, Mr. Li Ziming and the organizers have decided that, in addition to the valuable resources prepared by the tournament organizers for the champions, each of the individual champions in the junior and youth groups of this year's Tianhai Alliance Grand Tournament will have a custom-made set of battle armor.

"I hope everyone will give their all in the upcoming round-robin matches, show their best form, and strive to stand out from the crowd."

The moment the host finished speaking, an uproar ensued.

"It really is Master Craftsman Li Ziming! The Tianhai Alliance actually managed to invite him here this time!"

"A divine craftsman tailor-made battle armor? Damn it! Why didn't I ever get such a good reward in my year?"

"Quick! Bring all those youngsters from the family over! Even if they can't win, it'll be good for them to show their faces in front of the Master Craftsman!"

"Where is the registration area? I want to register!"

Many of the participants looked shocked, and murmurs of discussion arose one after another.

Even the self-proclaimed geniuses and arrogant teachers and students of Shrek Academy suddenly became incredibly eager, their eyes filled with excitement and longing as they looked at the platinum-blonde-haired man, even more so than their reaction at the opening ceremony.

They couldn't help but turn their eager and expectant gazes toward the teacher in charge—Shen Yi.

"Go ahead, this is a very good opportunity."

Shen Yi understood that this opportunity was rare and precious, and the chance to obtain the exclusive custom-made battle armor from the Saint Craftsman was of immeasurable value. Even she herself couldn't wait to go on stage and participate.

Many Soul Masters from powerful factions, who were sitting in the VIP rooms accompanying their juniors to the competition, also cast envious glances at those juniors.

After all, the Tianhai Alliance Tournament is just a competition among young people. They originally just came here to show their faces and see if there were any promising talents.

They understood the importance of battle armor to soul masters better than the people of the Tianhai Alliance, and naturally they also understood the status and ability of a Saint Craftsman better.

I also understand what a stroke of luck it is to have the opportunity to meet a prodigy who has achieved mastery at the age of 21.

Master craftsmen are generally extremely busy, with orders booked for years ahead. Even at Shrek Academy, they are not even qualified to communicate with master craftsmen, let alone commission them to create battle armor.

This unexpected surprise instantly stirred the minds of all the Soul Masters present, their gazes towards Li Ziming filled with eagerness and anticipation—perhaps this was the perfect opportunity for them to get close to the Saint Craftsman and obtain the Battle Armor.

After a period of commotion, the governor of Tianhai City, seeing that the atmosphere had heated up, began the next step of the process.

"Ladies and gentlemen, today marks the start of the Tianhai Alliance Grand Tournament. We have specially invited a team from Shrek Academy to exchange and hone their skills with our previous champions."

Given Shrek Academy's formidable strength, this exchange will be a cross-age group competition. Our Tianhai Alliance's seven-member youth team champions will challenge Shrek Academy's seven-member junior team.

Now, please welcome both sides to the stage.

The group looked up at the center of the stadium, where the platform had been completed. Seven young men and women in silver team uniforms walked confidently onto the platform; this was the defending champion team of the Tianhai Alliance Tournament.

"Hey, look! Isn't that the chubby kid who was talking to the captain just now?"

Xu Xiaoyan suddenly raised her hand and spoke after seeing the seven teenagers who appeared on the other side, and Tang Wulin looked up.

All seven were wearing green tracksuits and looked to be around thirteen or fourteen years old. However, two of them, Xu Lizhi and the blonde girl named Xinglan, stood out more because they both looked to be around ten years old.

"So they're both students from Shrek Academy!"

Tang Wulin paused for a moment before speaking, and Xu Xiaoyan and Xie Xie were also stunned. They were all around ten years old, so how could they represent Shrek Academy in the competition?

"There's nothing to envy. If I have the chance, I'll take you guys to challenge the legendary Shrek Academy students."

Wu Changkong interrupted Tang Wulin and the others' thoughts with a serious tone before saying, "Focus on watching the competition. I'm serious, but we need results."

With just a few words, Wu Changkong helped Tang Wulin and the others escape their feelings of inferiority and return to reality.

On the high platform, the two sides from different colleges had already exchanged greetings, and the obvious age difference between the two sides excited countless spectators in the stands.

The Shrek Academy team was led by a boy of about fifteen years old, whose temperament was as solemn as the waters of an abyss, and he quickly became the focus of the entire arena.

As Tang Wulin focused his attention on the two sides on the stage, preparing to absorb the experience of seven-on-seven team battles and apply it to them.

Liu Tianran was also recalling the information about the Shrek Academy team.

[Besides Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi, the captain's martial soul should be the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex, and there's also a girl whose martial soul is the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda. I genuinely don't know anything about the other three, since they're just background characters.]

Soon, as the referee announced the start of the match, both sides on the platform released their spirit rings and spirits. Then, the boy with the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex spirit used a sky full of lightning to cover everything that was happening on the platform.

The match ended about a minute later.

All seven players representing the Tianhai Alliance lay collapsed on the playing platform. The group representing Shrek Academy maintained their initial formation, with the youngest, Xu Lizhi, and Ye Xinglan at the very back. Ye Xinglan, it seemed, hadn't made a single move throughout the entire match.

As the entire arena fell silent, the Shrek Academy team members bowed slightly to the audience before gracefully leaving the stage.

"If you win the championship, I will give you a chance to publicly challenge me."

Behind Liu Tianran came Wu Changkong's cold voice. Wu Changkong stepped out from the crowd and stood before Liu Tianran and Tang Wulin, saying to them:

"They are just students from the outer court of Shrek Academy. Only the two younger students at the back are likely to be designated as inner court disciples."

"Challenging students from other departments can prove your abilities, but those two are your biggest rivals."