Douluo Continent: From Seven Treasure Glazed Tile to Crescent Moon's Solemnity

Chapter 314 The Tournament is Coming | The Unstoppable Tianshui

After a grand opening ceremony that lacked substance, the preliminary rounds officially began.

However, as mentioned before, Ning Feiliu will not be playing in this stage of the competition, so let the original seven-person team from Tianshui Academy do the work.

He, on the other hand...

Along with Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, and Zhu Zhuqing, who was not participating in the competition because she had not joined any academy, they watched the Tianshui Academy's match from the sidelines.

Tianshui Academy's opponents in the first round of the competition were very weak, belonging to the kind of ordinary soul master academy that focused on participation. The strongest captain in the entire team was actually only a Soul Master with a soul power of level 34.

That's naturally even worse than rotten fish and shrimp.

It's worth noting that the predecessor of Shrek Academy, which was resurrected through possession, had three substitutes besides Tailong, such as Huang Yuan and Jing Ling, who all possessed level 35 soul power.

As it turns out, even the captain of this nameless soul master academy is lower than these.

This further proves that Douluo Continent is not a place where you can just grab any young soul master and they can reach level 40 soul power at the age of 20.

A person who can break through to level 40 in soul power at the age of twenty is considered a top genius by conventional standards.

However, that's just in general terms. Those who get into Tsinghua and Peking University are definitely top-tier geniuses in the conventional sense.

However, there are some characters, like those in academic novels, who seem to have superpowers, publishing Science papers and making significant achievements without even going to university...

Ning Feiliu is the kind of person who's incredibly powerful, and she even brings Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling along with her.

One was already a Soul Saint at the age of twenty-one, and the other two were also Soul Emperors.

The three Soul Kings of the Golden Generation were already beyond the norm, but then three even more outrageous ones came along.

However, this does not mean that ordinary Soul Masters can reach this level normally.

Although Ning Feiliu created the Profound Water Pill and alchemy potion to accelerate cultivation, currently only a small group of people at the top can afford the Profound Water Pill and alchemy potion for cultivation.

Moreover, although alchemical potions such as upgrade potions and soul power recovery potions can also increase cultivation speed and help break through realms, they are not as expensive as Xuan Shui Dan.

But you should know that... Xuan Shui Dan is usually bought by the powerful figures of various forces for their own rising stars and younger generation to consume.

However, these potions are not necessarily only for the younger generation. These powerful individuals can also take upgrade potions and soul power recovery potions when they are cultivating or breaking through.

As a result, although many people can still afford alchemy potions, it is difficult to buy these potions in soul master academies outside of Heaven Dou City due to the high price and low supply.

After all, this is a monopolistic industry, and Douluo cannot achieve industrialized production.

Ning Feiliu could actually explore the technology tree and create a production chain, but he didn't have the time or inclination to waste on that, just to produce more alchemical potions to sell and benefit the Douluo Continent.

There's no need. He created the alchemical potion to become stronger. He already has enough money, so having more wouldn't make a difference.

As the saying goes, in Douluo Continent, no amount of money will be of any use.

First, it cannot be used to buy soul bones or equipment, and second, it cannot be used to convert strength.

No matter how much money you earn, it's all for nothing.

Moreover, these alchemical potions, along with some ordinary soul storage tools sold to the public, are enough to sustain the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School can no longer be described as being richer than a country.

Even the two great empires might not be as wealthy as the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School—not the royal family, but the empire.

The annual fiscal revenue of the Heaven Dou Empire or the Star Luo Empire may not even be as much as that of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School in a year.

This is the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School today, and its income is truly enviable. The treatment of disciples and elders inside and outside the school is also extremely enviable.

After all, besides money, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School now also has elixirs that can improve talent, cultivation, and the probability of breakthroughs, as well as the privilege of having storage soul tools for everyone.

After all, Ning Feiliu has now taught the entire Wuliu Pavilion the method of refining storage soul tools.

Therefore, the current treatment of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School is indeed extremely enviable, which has attracted more Soul Masters, and even the two Soul Douluo powerhouses mentioned earlier, who brought their entire families to join them.

The key point is that everyone knows that the direct inner disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School are all support-type Soul Masters, so even if they join the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School as outer disciples, they are not worried that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School will mistreat them.

On the contrary, joining the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School resulted in better treatment than some inner disciples of other sects.

Therefore, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School is already quite good; there's no need to be greedy for anything more.

Maintaining the status quo is actually better, because the supply of alchemy potions and Xuan Shui pills is insufficient. Only by joining the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School can those commoner soul masters or soul master families who are struggling to obtain Xuan Shui pills and alchemy potions be brought in.

Because they couldn't obtain the Profound Water Pill and the Alchemy Elixir, they fell behind the Soul Masters of the major powers who could obtain these items.

This year's All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Tournament is a microcosm of this involutionary phenomenon. Most of the members of those unknown or previously mid-level Soul Master academies are still around level 30 in terms of Soul Power, just like in previous years.

However, teams like the Five Elements Academy, the vice-captain of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, and the Barak Royal Academy and the Plant Academy, which are not in the Heaven Dou City preliminary competition area, have seen their members generally improve their soul power by two to three levels!

For example, Blazing Fire Academy, which originally only had two Soul Masters, now has five!

In the original storyline, besides Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang, there were actually three other Soul Masters: Huo Bao Soul Master, Huo Yun Huo Yu, and Huo Wushuang. Their cultivation levels were around level 38 or 39.

Just one step away from breaking through, and it just so happens that... Soul Power Restoration Potions can increase cultivation speed, and Upgrade Potions can increase the probability of breaking through realms.

Therefore, after purchasing and consuming soul power recovery and upgrade potions, the three of them went into seclusion and broke through to level 40.

The same applies to the Elephant Armor Sect. Originally, there were only three Soul Masters, but now there are five. The cultivation levels of the other two Soul Venerables have also increased by two to three levels compared to the original work.

Needless to say, schools like Shenfeng Academy and Leiting Academy gained even more members at the Soul Master level, and even the second team of Tiandou Royal Academy gained two more Soul Master level members as a result...

It can be said that thanks to Ning Feiliu... the top teams in this year's All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Tournament have all become a bit overpowered.

To be precise, apart from the Soul Master Academy on the Star Luo Empire's side, there was a significant gap in cultivation level and combat power between the top and middle-to-lower-tier teams on the Spirit Hall and Heaven Dou Empire's side.

After all, the Star Luo Empire is too far away from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School. Not to mention the Profound Water Pill, even a few alchemical potions are hard to obtain.

For mid-to-lower-tier teams, it's like the sky has fallen. Fighting against a bunch of drug-using gods is like a normal athlete competing against the little purple people of the Free Beacon – it's not fair!

However, this has led to the introduction of new rules for this year's All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Tournament.

That means... no drugs!

It's not that we can't give them soul power recovery potions or upgrade potions to improve their strength, but rather that they can't use drugs during the competition, such as soul power recovery potions and other alchemical potions that increase combat power, such as clarity potions, "glimmer", "agility potions", "stealth potions", and so on.

After all, what's the point of playing if someone takes drugs on the spot during a real competition?

Is it about who's richer? Or who has more alchemical potions from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School?

This is perfectly reasonable, and no one will protest.

After all, the Soul Arena had long ago established such a rule that prohibits the use of drugs or weapons other than martial souls during Soul Battles.

It's reasonable for this competition to introduce such rules.

However, this still cannot bridge the huge gap between the top teams and the mid-to-lower-tier teams in this competition.

For example... the first match of the opening game, the second team of the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy, against...

Blue Tyrant Academy.

That's right, even if Blue Tyrant Academy hadn't been resurrected by Shrek Academy, it would still be the opponent of the second team of the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy in the opening ceremony of the first battle.

And the result, naturally, was still...

Although Titan's grandson, Tyron, unexpectedly broke through to the Soul Master level, the other team members were basically all at the Soul Venerable level.

However, since Blue Tyrant Academy's uniforms were normal, unlike the shit-green uniforms in the original story, the second team of Heavenly Dou Royal Academy did not mock them, nor did they have any grudges.

However, Tyrone was ultimately no match for the overwhelming force. Perhaps due to the high admission standards, the overall strength of the students at the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy was uneven.

However, in such competitions, the most outstanding Heaven Dou-level students from the Heaven Dou Royal Academy will definitely be the ones to participate.

They are definitely stronger than Blue Tyrant Academy. In addition, there are two Soul Masters in the second team, and the other members are also outstanding members from powerful forces and noble families. Although their cultivation has not reached the Soul Master level, their strength has greatly increased due to the alchemy potion and the Xuan Shui Pill, which is incomparable to the other members of Blue Tyrant Academy.

Even if Blue Tyrant Academy has Tai Long, it's still the same. After all, that's just Tai Long who has broken through to the Soul Master realm, not Tang San. No matter how powerful he is, so what?

Therefore, they were still defeated by the second team, and the defeat was quite severe.

There was a clear difference in skill level. It was like a diamond player accidentally entering a gold-level match. The second team members were completely outmatched.

The first round of the competition is always like this: when top teams encounter mid-to-lower-tier teams, they're basically like dragons in flight, not going to play around with you.

This is the kind of opponent Tianshui Academy faced in the first round: seven Soul Masters against four Soul Grandmasters and three Soul Kings from Tianshui Academy. How could they possibly win?

However, the opposing team clearly intends to "show their skills" and even if they can't win, they'll still try to impress others.

In addition, all the players from Tianshui Academy were girls...

Therefore, the opponent did not admit defeat at the beginning, but insisted on being knocked off the stage by Tianshui Academy.

But in the end, they did win the applause of the audience.

After all, viewers certainly don't want to see a match where the opponent surrenders at the start and doesn't play anymore. It's like a crucial best-of-five series where the opposing team loses 3-0 because their mid laner doesn't show up.

What does this mean?

In the second round, Tianshui Academy encountered another weak team and won without any suspense.

In the third round, they finally encountered an upper-tier team that they could exchange blows with – Xiangjia Academy.

However, they only exchanged a couple of moves. Hu Yanli had obviously taken the Xuan Shui Pill, and his soul power had reached level 48, a boost that was even more significant than that of other soul masters from the top teams.

In addition, he also has a head soul bone, so he can exchange a few blows with Shui Bing'er and the others.

But faced with absolute strength, this was nothing. Shui Bing'er and her companions fought fiercely and passed the test without any major incidents.

Judging from appearances, Elephant Armor Academy has something going for it; it's quite impressive.

But everything was under the control of Tianshui Academy. Shui Bing'er and the others did not quickly deal with Xiangjia Academy, but only wanted Shen Liuyu and the others to exchange a few moves with Hu Yanli and the others.

In the end, it was discovered that Hu Yanli was indeed quite powerful, especially after his soul bone was exposed. Shui Yue'er took action alone and directly killed the opponent.

In the following matches, Tianshui Academy showed an unstoppable trend, winning all twenty matches and ranking first in the Tiandou City division, far ahead of Shenfeng Academy, which they had not yet encountered.

Below are Elephant Armor Academy, Blazing Fire Academy, and Thunder Academy. They have lost one out of nineteen battles. Elephant Armor Academy and Blazing Fire Academy both lost to Heavenly Water Academy, while Thunder Academy lost to Divine Wind Academy.

With Shrek Academy gone, it's clear that Elephant Armor Academy is a shoo-in for qualification.

The five spots in the Tiandou City division have always belonged to their Five Elements Academy.

While Tianshui Academy appears to be tied for first place with Shenfeng Academy, everyone knows that... Tianshui Academy is the undisputed number one!

The reason why Shenfeng Academy has never lost is because they have not yet encountered Tianshui Academy.

When they encounter Tianshui Academy, they'll be in deep trouble.

After all, the strongest among them, Feng Xiaotian, only had level 49 soul power. Although he was still a step away from the Soul King realm, he was far from being a true Soul King.

Even if Feng Xiaotian breaks through to the Soul King realm, he is still two levels lower than Shui Bing'er, who is at level 53. At the Soul King realm, a difference of one level of soul power may not be significant, but a difference of two levels of soul power is quite substantial.

And... some people still remember that Ning Feiliu, the most terrifying existence in this competition, hasn't even made an appearance yet!

Soul Saint is joking with you, right?!

Even if Feng Xiaotian can defeat Shui Bing'er... wait, there's still Ning Feiliu.

Of course, Ning Feiliu couldn't possibly come on halfway through the game.

But who can be sure that Ning Feiliu won't just play in the next match because of this...?

However, in the later matches, Tianshui Academy and Shenfeng Academy finally faced off!

But... Feng Xiaotian couldn't even defeat Shui Bing'er.

Even... he couldn't force out Shui Bing'er's Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Ice and Snow Drifting. Although Feng Xiaotian's self-created Soul Skill was very powerful, Shui Bing'er only used her fifth Soul Skill—Eternal Freeze Curse Barrier—and Feng Xiaotian shattered it.

This also made Feng Xiaotian a little frustrated...

Because he had wasted several years on his self-created soul skill, the Thirty-Six Consecutive Slashes of the Gale Wolf. During those years, all his thoughts were focused on this self-created soul skill, and he halved his daily training time to spend on creating it.

As a result, it was shattered by Shui Bing'er's fifth soul skill.

He couldn't accept it. He had thought that his self-created soul skill could still make up for the gap in cultivation between him and Shui Bing'er, but...

From this perspective, it's better to focus on cultivation; perhaps you'll break through to the Soul King realm by now.

(End of this chapter)