Bibi Dong said, while waving the scepter in her hand. As her scepter waved, three points of light instantly appeared and enlarged in front of Bibi Dong, floating in mid-air.
Gasps of admiration rippled through the crowd, and everyone's gaze, even that of the Shrek Eight Devils, was fixed on the three points of light suspended in mid-air.
Soul bones!
Everyone's eyes burned with desire.
A right arm bone shimmering with a fiery red color, a skull exuding a light blue hue, and a left leg bone glowing a dark green.
Back in the preliminaries, Tang San had once obtained a head soul bone after defeating Shi Nian, a soul master from Cang Hui Academy who specialized in illusionary martial souls.
Now, upon seeing three soul bones simultaneously, Tang San's heart was filled with even greater shock and awe. He realized that the foundation of the Spirit Hall was likely far greater than he had ever imagined.
What they had seen thus far was merely the tip of the iceberg.
The three gleaming soul bones were incredibly enticing. Though some harbored greedy thoughts, none dared to show it.
There were at least several Soul Douluos present, not to mention Titled Douluos including the Pontiff. The options of immediate death and eternal infamy were quite substantial, so no one would be foolish enough to make a move on these three soul bones displayed so openly.
At this moment, Gui Mei, standing behind Bibi Dong, spoke in a low voice imbued with soul power, his voice resonating throughout the entire venue:
"These three soul bones are the Wisdom Skull of Mental Condensation, the Flame Right Arm of Explosive Burning, and the Chasing Wind Left Leg of Rapid Advance."
"All three soul bones originate from soul beasts that are over ten thousand years old. The Wisdom Skull of Mental Condensation, in particular, comes from a soul beast over fifty thousand years old, personally slain and obtained by the previous Pontiff. Its quality is second only to externally attached soul bones and the top-tier soul bones produced by hundred-thousand-year-old soul beasts."
As Gui Mei finished his introduction, Tang Sui noticed something amiss.
These three soul bones, in terms of both their attributes and types, were too perfectly suited for the three members of the Golden Generation of Spirit Hall.
While they were ostensibly being presented as rewards for the champion team, everyone knew that Spirit Hall had the greatest chance of winning. Frankly speaking, these three soul bones were clearly prepared for their own three individuals.
With this thought, Tang Sui's desire for these three soul bones waned significantly.
Bibi Dong nodded slightly and said calmly, "There is only ever one victor, and the same applies to the championship. These three soul bones will belong to the final winning team. I hope all three academies that reach the top three will go all out to earn this honor."
Even though they knew these were likely meant for Spirit Hall's own academy team, the seven members of the New Divine Wind Academy present still held a sliver of hope for the soul bones, thinking, perhaps... perhaps they could win!
"Next, your three academies will engage in a singles elimination tournament. Any team that has remaining participants will gain an advantage, proceeding directly to the championship match tomorrow. The other two teams will then compete for the final championship spot in the afternoon. Begin now."
After laying out the grand prize, Bibi Dong took her seat at the head, and the four Titled Douluos who had been following the Pontiff also took their seats.
After the drawing of lots, Jing Ling, who was scheduled to be the first to fight for Shrek, had good luck and drew a bye. However, to everyone's surprise, during the subsequent match between Divine Wind Academy and Spirit Hall, Spirit Hall chose to concede directly.
Master narrowed his eyes, a flicker of anger flashing within them. Just as Jing Ling was about to face Huo Wushuang of Divine Wind Academy, Master suddenly stood up and interrupted.
What followed was a spectacle for Tang Sui and the others to witness: a convoluted game of "you calculate me, I know you're calculating, I know you know I know," a back-and-forth negotiation that ultimately resulted in Shrek also being placed in the loser's bracket for the next round of contention.
Tang Sui mused thoughtfully.
The teacher's decision was not wrong, as the current tournament format, based on the draw, was singles matches, not team battles.
According to the originally planned order of appearance, Jing Ling was supposed to be the first to fight on their side. Even if Jing Ling's draw was lucky, allowing them to observe their opponents' strength from a later position.
However, Spirit Hall's concession would lead to two outcomes.
First: The Spirit Hall participant would be able to maintain their full combat strength, without any expenditure.
Second, Huo Wushuang of Divine Wind Academy would also maintain his full combat strength to face Jing Ling. After defeating Jing Ling, he would likely concede immediately when facing the second Spirit Hall participant.
This would then turn into a two-on-one situation. They would have to guard against two academies, and would be directly eliminated in the singles matches.
As for the remaining New Divine Wind...
Tang Sui didn't believe Divine Wind Academy would dare to directly confront the participants from Spirit Hall. Therefore, they would either make a token effort and concede, or concede directly, with Spirit Hall Academy ultimately emerging victorious.
All one could say was that those who played politics loved the thrill.
Returning to the team rest area provided by Spirit Hall, the group wasted no time and immediately began discussing the lineup for the afternoon's matches.
"Suisui, how is your recovery?" Although Tang San had given the medicinal herbs to Tang Sui, he was still somewhat concerned.
Tang Sui shook her head, "I still need some time."
This was a lie.
Even with the system's help in converting the medicinal power into demonic energy that nourished the soul, the system had informed her before the conversion that these medicinal herbs were far from enough. She needed herbs with longer years of growth or even stronger power to compensate. Otherwise, she would only appear to have recovered outwardly, while her soul injury would remain unhealed.
While she could still fight without issue, her offensive power would still be inferior to its former strength.
At that moment, Tang Sui felt a pang of regret for her impulsiveness earlier, not expecting such significant side effects.
— Author's Note —
Suisui: Regretful, but not entirely, would do it again (?).
The bonus update times tomorrow will be in the afternoon and evening chapters~