Douluo Continent: Starting with a Heavenly Fire Judgment

Chapter 318 Graduation Party

Yan Shaozhe watched them until they disappeared into the distant sky before turning his gaze back. He then smiled and surveyed the trainees who had completed their exchange program. "Children, welcome home..."

A simple sentence, yet it warmed the hearts of all the Soul Guidance Department students, some even with tears in their eyes. Yes! It's time to go home.

Yan Shaozhe and his group returned to Shrek Academy without any of the ambushes that occurred in the original story. This was because Huo Yuhao and his group at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy were genuinely studying soul tool knowledge diligently. Although they gained a lot, it was still within Jing Hongchen's acceptable range. Without Huo Yuhao's extortion in the original story, there was no ambush by the Holy Spirit Cult.

The return of the exchange student from the Soul Guidance Department made Seagod Island lively for a few days, but Ji Lin was busy with his graduation exams and only took the time to welcome Huo Yuhao. In two and a half years, Huo Yuhao had already broken through to the Soul King level. However, Ji Lin discovered that his foundation was unstable and that he had obviously relied on taking pills with side effects to break through to the Soul King level so quickly. Huo Yuhao said that he had decided to take the path of Soul Guidance Master. He could no longer take the path of Soul Master. His aptitude was too poor. He only had first-level innate soul power. If he were an ordinary person, he would be grateful if he could break through to the Soul Master level.

Ten thousand years ago, Master Yu Xiaogang possessed only half-level innate soul power. If he hadn't consumed the immortal herb, he would likely have remained at level twenty-nine for his entire life, never able to break through to the Soul Venerable realm.

Huo Yuhao's innate first-level soul power was better, but not by much. After breaking through to the Soul Master level, he found it difficult to improve his cultivation. In the end, he accepted the suggestion of his teacher from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy and took pills to improve his cultivation. Rather than sticking to the bottom line of a Soul Master and forever stopping at the Soul Master level, he might as well become a Soul Master.

As long as the soul tool he creates is strong enough, he can also become a powerful person. Only then will he have a chance to take revenge, clear his mother's name, make the White Tiger Duke acknowledge his mother's status, and make Dai Huabin and the Duchess pay the price.

Although Fan Yu didn't entirely agree with Huo Yuhao's choice, he couldn't help Huo Yuhao improve his aptitude either. Such things were too precious, and even if he had them, using them on Huo Yuhao would be a waste. In the end, he agreed to Huo Yuhao's choice to give up the Soul Master path and abandon the so-called foundation and combat power. The Soul Master path was more suitable for Huo Yuhao. He didn't need a foundation or combat power. Before reaching a certain level, a weak foundation wouldn't affect Huo Yuhao, and combat power could be made up for with Soul Tools. However, if he didn't take drugs, Huo Yuhao would be stuck at the Soul Master level, and he would never be able to take revenge or clear his mother's name.

On the third day after Huo Yuhao and the other exchange students returned, Wang Qiu'er, Wang Dong'er, and Xiao Xiao also successfully completed their last monitoring mission. They will graduate with Ji Lin and leave Shrek Academy.

Upon learning that Ji Lin and Wang Qiu'er were about to graduate, Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi booked a private room in Shrek City to see them off.

Besides Ji Lin and the other three, Bei Bei only brought Huo Yuhao, the junior brother of the Tang Sect, along with Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, and Ma Xiaotao.

The group of nine sat in the private room, the atmosphere somewhat silent. Bei Bei smiled gently, raised her glass and said, "In any case, congratulations to all the junior students on their successful graduation. I'll drink to that first."

After saying that, Beibei downed the wine in her glass in one gulp. Seeing this, Xu Sanshi also raised his glass and laughed, "Come on, everyone, let's have a drink first."

Ji Lin and the others also raised their glasses, and everyone toasted together.

Beibei put down her wine glass and sighed, "Junior Brother Ji Lin, are you really not going to participate in this year's Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament with us? There are only a few months left before the tournament starts."

Xu Sanshi chimed in, "Yeah! Remember when we won the Soul Battle Tournament together? Everyone was still here then. Now, Senior Sister Ling Luochen and Senior Brother Dai Yueheng have graduated and left the academy. And now the four of you are leaving too, leaving just Nan Nan, Bei Bei, and me. It feels a bit lonely!"

Ma Xiaotao laughed and scolded, "Xu Sanshi, have you forgotten about me? I'm still at the academy."

Xu Sanshi shrank back and said awkwardly, "Sister Xiaotao, aren't you already past the age to participate in competitions? Besides, you're already the Dean of Studies in the Foreign Languages ​​Department, so strictly speaking, you've already graduated."

Ji Lin said with a smile, "Senior Bei Bei and Senior San Shi, you probably don't know yet, but this year's All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament is different from the previous ones."

Xu Sanshi asked curiously, "Oh! Different? How are they different?"

Ji Lin organized his thoughts and said, "As you all know, the new Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament will be held in the Sun Moon Empire. I have received news that the Sun Moon Empire recently consulted with the three kingdoms that originally belonged to the Douluo Continent. They want to make some changes to the tournament's format and are widely soliciting opinions from numerous academies and sects across the continent."

"Change the competition rules?" Bei Bei's eyes sharpened. For Shrek Academy, which had dominated the continent-wide Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament for thousands of years, the Sun Moon Empire's proposal to change the competition rules of the tournament undoubtedly had a target in mind.

Ji Lin nodded and said, "Yes, they're changing the competition format. The first thing they want to change is the eligibility for the competition. The age limit for participants remains unchanged, still under twenty. That doesn't have much impact. But they've expanded the scope to include all sects. In other words, the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Battle Competition will be changed to the All-Continent Youth Soul Master Competition. The number of participating teams will also increase significantly. If the new format is ultimately approved, then the number of participating teams will at least double."

Bei Bei and the other two looked surprised, as did Ma Xiaotao. Clearly, even she, as the head of the outer academy's teaching department, had not yet received the news. Ji Lin, on the other hand, had received the firsthand information after a long time, since the Sun Moon Empire had first approached the original Douluo Three Kingdoms.

Bei Bei frowned and said in a deep voice, "Introducing sects to participate in the competition? What is the Sun Moon Empire's purpose in this? What benefits would it bring them? Can this proposal for a new competition format be approved?"

Ji Lin knew why the Sun Moon Empire was doing this: it wanted to take the opportunity to wipe out all the sects that originally belonged to the Douluo Three Kingdoms, weaken their fighting force, and prepare for the war to come.

With the lineup Ji Lin currently has, the Sun Moon Empire can't keep him here. Chi Yuan, Gu Yue Na, and the ferocious beasts—even with the help of the Holy Spirit Cult, the Sun Moon Empire still can't keep him. So he's not afraid to participate in this competition.

The only thing that worried him was the Qiankun Wenqing Valley, a place left behind by the Holy Spirit Cult to trick people. There was a contingency plan left by a certain God King there. In the original story, it was also there that the God King trained Huo Yuhao and completely destroyed the Eternal Tower that Electrolux left for Huo Yuhao, destroying the last glimmer of hope that Electrolux's divine consciousness had gathered.

Furthermore, a certain god-king did many disgusting things in the Valley of Love and Destiny, causing Bei Bei and the others great suffering. Ji Lin did not want to be disgusted by such people, and he always kept his distance from such places. At worst, he could stay away from the western part that the Sun Moon Empire had deliberately left behind and launch a strong attack from other directions. In any case, with their combat strength, they could break through from either side.

Faced with Bei Bei's doubts, Ji Lin nodded and said, "There's a high chance it will pass. The emergence of this new competition system has already garnered support from various sects across the continent, especially powerful ones. The competition is the best opportunity to showcase oneself, and for these sects, it's naturally an invaluable publicity resource. They're naturally willing to participate. For example, a sect like the Body Sect, wouldn't they be confident of winning the championship? This is also why I plan to graduate."

Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi fell silent. They both knew that Ji Lin had established a sect long ago, and many people in the academy had already joined the Zizai Sect, including Ling Luochen and other former Shrek Seven Devils who had already graduated. It was understandable that Ji Lin wanted to lead his own sect to participate in the competition and make a name for himself.

However, this would attract other sects to participate, and Ji Lin would also bring Wang Qiu'er and others to participate, which would put a big question mark on Shrek Academy's almost certain championship.

Not to mention that top-tier sects like the Body Sect also participated in the competition.

Beibei's eyes dimmed slightly. To be honest, when he heard the news, he even wanted to bring the Tang Clan to the competition, not for any other reason than for Tang Ya. If the Tang Clan's reputation resounded throughout the continent, he wondered if Tang Ya would be able to hear it.

Unfortunately, only a few of them remained from the Tang Clan. Even with Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, and He Caitou, who were recruited by Huo Yuhao, there were only five people left. The Tang Clan couldn't even gather enough people, so how could they participate in the competition and make a name for themselves? Moreover, the glory of Shrek Academy was very important to him. Shrek Academy held a place in his heart no less important than the Tang Clan. He couldn't abandon Shrek Academy and fight wholeheartedly for the Tang Clan, which made him feel very sorry for Tang Ya.

Beibei couldn't ask Ji Lin and the others to fight for Shrek Academy. Ji Lin was different from him. He had grown up in Shrek Academy and considered it his home, while Ji Lin was just a student. Zizaimen was his home. He respected Ji Lin's choice and didn't blame them.

A smile returned to Beibei's face as she said, "Then we'll be rivals from now on."

Ma Xiaotao could see the pressure in Bei Bei's heart, and said while resting her chin on her hand, "Don't be too stressed. It doesn't matter whether you win or lose this time. Just do your best. Shrek's glory is not something that can be lost after one defeat."

Ma Xiaotao knew how strong Ji Lin was. He represented the Zizai Sect in the competition and had a high chance of winning the championship. Bei Bei and the others had no hope, not to mention that they might not even be able to get past the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy and the Body Sect. Ma Xiaotao also knew that Meng Hongchen had broken through to the Soul Saint level with Ji Lin's help, and her Martial Soul had evolved into an Ultimate Martial Soul just like hers. Ma Xiaotao, who possessed an Ultimate Martial Soul, knew very well how strong Meng Hongchen was now.

(End of this chapter)