It had been nearly six weeks since the start of the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament, and the energy in the Heaven Dou City arena had reached a boiling point. With each day, the audience grew larger, the battles fiercer, and the stakes higher. Among the academies competing, Azure Dragon Academy stood proudly at the top, undefeated across all twenty-two matches they had fought. However, today was not their day to compete.
Today, all eyes were on Shrek Academy and their crucial 20th match against Canghui Academy.
The rankings had begun to solidify.
Azure Dragon Academy: 22 wins, 0 losses — Ranked 1st. Divine Wind Academy: 21 wins, 1 loss — Ranked 2nd. Tianshui Academy: 21 wins, 1 loss — Ranked 3rd. Thunderclap Academy: 20 wins, 2 losses — Ranked 4th. Blazing Fire Academy: 18 wins, 4 losses — Ranked 5th. Shrek Academy: 18 wins, 1 loss — Ranked 6th. Armored Elephant Academy: 17 wins, 5 losses — Ranked 7th. Their unexpected loss to the much weaker Jade Pine Academy had shocked the crowds.
Shrek's gained reputation of being a dark horse because of their only loss to Blazing Fire Academy. Tang San's Blue Silver Grass, once thought to be a joke, was respected in battle — but it had proven vulnerable to Huo Wu's fire-based onslaught. For the first time, doubts flickered in his heart. Had he made the right choice to focus on Blue Silver Grass first, rather than the Clear Sky Hammer ?
The two teams entered the soul competing ring and the screen above showed their data and information to all people.
---
Today's Combatants — Shrek Academy:
Tang San (Level 41 Control) — Blue Silver Grass Martial Spirit.
Dai Mubai (Level 42 Power Attack) — White Tiger Martial Spirit.
Oscar (Level 36 Support) — Sausage Martial Spirit.
Xiao Wu (Level 39 Assault) — Soft Bone Rabbit Martial Spirit.
Yu Xuan (Level 36 Agility) — Silver Feathered Falcon Martial Spirit.
Jiang Zhu (Level 35 Healing) — Healing Staff Martial Spirit.
Jing Ling (Level 36 Agility) — Skeleton Martial Spirit.
Unknown to most, the upcoming battle was stained with blood long before it began.
Flashback — Three Weeks Ago, Outside Heaven Dou City
It was late evening. The setting sun painted the skies crimson as Tang San walked alone along a quiet forest path outside Heaven Dou City. He had just finished a day of cultivation and was returning to the inn where Shrek Academy was staying.
Suddenly, the air grew cold.
From behind the trees, a figure emerged — an old man with narrow, hawk-like eyes and a long gray beard. Though his face bore the calmness of experience, something sinister coiled beneath his expression.
"Are you Tang San?" the man asked, his voice carrying a strange softness that chilled the air further.
Tang San didn't stop walking but replied calmly, "And you are?"
The man smiled faintly, revealing yellowing teeth. "Shi Nian. Dean of Canghui Academy."
Tang San's eyes narrowed. He stopped.
Shi Nian stepped forward, his aura shifting subtly. "You insulted my students before the tournament. Your words were... harsh."
"They tried to harm others in the name of strength," Tang San replied. "If anything, they should be grateful they were only humiliated."
The smile faded.
"You're young and arrogant. I've lived long enough to know that people like you, with your talent and your pride, will bring disaster. I'll say it plainly — people like you must be removed early."
Tang San's eyes turned cold.
Shi Nian's soul rings flared — seven in total. "Let's see how well you fare without your team to shield you."
A shadow separated from the fog—a tall, sinister figure in black robes, appeared behind Shi Nian. Seven soul rings shimmered around him: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black—a terrifying lineup that instantly made Tang San's breath catch.
Seven soul rings lit up.
With a twisted grin, Shi Nian raised his hand—and the atmosphere warped.
"Nightmare Domain."
Suddenly, Tang San's vision distorted. The trees bent unnaturally, shadows turned into living phantoms, and a crushing mental force assaulted his consciousness. He tried to push it back, but the overwhelming pressure of a Soul Saint's spiritual domain bore down like a tidal wave.
Even with Purple Demon Eye and mental fortitude, Tang San was losing ground.
"I can't beat him… not like this…" he thought, clutching his head as the world trembled around him.
The hallucinations became worse. He saw Xiao Wu lying dead. He saw Grandmaster's face contorted in disappointment. He saw Shrek Academy burning.
"No... these aren't real…!" Tang San roared, Blue Silver Grass surging in defiance, but his knees buckled.
Shi Nian raised a hand gleefully, black mist swirling around his fingers.
"It's over."
But in that moment—a thunderous boom shattered the forest silence.
A hand, calloused and powerful, grabbed Shi Nian by the throat from behind.
"You dare touch my son?"
Shi Nian's eyes widened in horror. He turned to face a man cloaked in grey robes, his presence like an immovable mountain. A single black ring shimmered beneath his feet, but it pulsed with power that dwarfed all seven of Shi Nian's.
"You—! Who are you?!"
But he didn't have a chance to run.
With a dull crack, Tang Hao's hand crushed Shi Nian's throat. Before the corpse even hit the ground, it disintegrated into ash, save for a flickering light that dropped into the grass.
Tang Hao turned, eyes softening as he looked at his unconscious son.
"Still too soft, San'er. But you'll grow."
He vanished, the forest returning to silence.
---
Later That Night
Tang San awoke groggily near the charred ground. The air smelled of blood and spirit power. As he slowly stood, he saw Shi Nian's body—or what was left of it—half-destroyed, eyes still wide in terror.
"What happened…?"
He examined the corpse and immediately sensed it—traces of extremely dense soul power still lingering. Tang San's instincts screamed. Something was hidden.
With great effort, he carefully pried open the corpse, removing layers of spiritual suppression. And there, embedded within the remains of the skull, glowed a translucent white bone, pure and refined with intricate lines flowing like ice crystals.
"A soul bone…"
He held it with trembling hands. A spirit-type skull bone, clearly over 10,000 years old.
He returned at his hotel where his team was resting and went to his Master Yu Xiaogang and told him about this, after listening that Tang San got a 10000+ years spiritual skull soul bone he became agitated and told him not to reveal about it to anyone , even to his sister Xiao Wu he can't tell her. And he also advised not to absorb it because if somehow they can win the championship. They can get three soul bones and one of them is skull soul bone of over 50000+ years.
Flashback ends.
The Spirit Arena buzzed with tension as the next teams stepped onto the battlefield.
On one side stood the Shrek squad — Tang San, Dai Mubai, Xiao Wu, Oscar, Yu Xuan, Jiang Zhu, and Jing Ling — each with sharp gazes, calm expressions, and unified resolve.
On the opposite end, Canghui Academy's team filed in like puppets on strings, their movements eerily synchronized. Seven students — all lean, robed in grey with angular features and cold eyes. They said nothing.
At the center was their captain — a narrow-eyed, pale-skinned youth named Xu Shuo. His gaze swept over Shrek Academy, but when it landed on Tang San, it hardened like steel.
'You're alive,' he muttered under his breath, voice a whisper of venom. 'Shi Nian said he'd kill you himself… but he never returned. I searched the meeting place. All I found… was blood—and a charred corpse.'
He clenched his fist.
'That soul bone was real. And if he's dead—then you have it.'
His eyes blazed.
'Then I'll kill you. And take it.'
The referee raised his hand. "Teams ready?"
Neither captain responded with words. Only stiff nods.
"Begin!"
The moment the word echoed, the seven Blue Sunshine students moved as one. They didn't attack — they stood in formation, their orbs glowing with synchronized pulse.
"Seven Asura Dreamland!" shouted their captain, his voice cold and trembling with hatred.
'Tang San… the soul bone belongs to me!'
A massive ripple of soul power spread from their circle — not physical, but spiritual.
The world dissolved into twisting shadows and shimmering blood mist. The arena vanished. The audience, sky, and platform all melted into darkness.
Shrek's seven members stood alone — each separated, isolated, and assaulted by visions from their own subconscious.
---
Inside the Illusion
Dai Mubai saw himself chained in a cell, his muscles decaying, women laughing at his impotence.
Oscar was gagged and caged, his tongue rotting, his spirit useless.
Xiao Wu watched helplessly as she and her both friends from stardou forest being killed and becoming soul ring for Bibi Dong.
Yu Xuan saw himself flightless, wings torn, mocked by birds of prey.
Jiang Zhu saw corpses lined around her, people she failed to save.
Jing Ling saw himself forgotten, his existence erased, bones scattered.
Within the depths of the Seven Asura Dreamland, Tang San stood alone in a familiar yet distorted world.
Stone walls, tall mountain peaks, bamboo groves swaying in the wind — it was the Tang Sect, just as he remembered from his past life. But something was wrong.
The familiar elders who once praised his talent now looked at him with cold, disgusted eyes. His former disciples pointed fingers, voices full of scorn.
"You betrayed the Sect's honor!"
"You dared to steal forbidden techniques!"
"A disgrace like you deserves to die!"
Tang San stood frozen as his former master — the one who had guided his path — stepped forward, eyes filled with bitter disappointment.
"You were my pride, Tang San. But in the end… you've shamed us all."
Then came the whips. The cold iron chains. The crushing weight of a thousand accusations.
He fell to his knees, body trembling not from pain, but from the ache in his heart.
"Enough," Tang San said.
It was in that moment — as the illusion wrapped itself around his soul — that his eyes snapped open, glowing a deep, piercing purple.
"You are not real. You are nothing but shadows of my guilt!"
"You think I haven't seen worse?"
"Purple Demon Eye !"
A burst of powerful mental energy surged out from Tang San's pupils — not aimed at illusion, but toward the real Blue Sunshine students, whose spirits were all connected to the dreamland.
—
Outside the Illusion
In the physical world, the seven Blue Sunshine students stood trembling, foam leaking from their mouths as their orbs flickered violently. Tang San's Purple Demon Eye bypassed the illusion and attacked their brains directly.
"Ugh—!" The captain groaned, soul power destabilizing.
"What… is this?!"
Tang San's eye strength was already formidable. Coupled with his mental discipline and comprehension of illusion, his counterattack was devastating.
With precision born of spirit energy control, he surgically shattered their inner spiritual core one by one.
—
Illusion Collapses
In an instant, the Seven Asura Dreamland crumbled like ash.
Each Shrek member gasped as the illusion fell.
Oscar vomited.
Xiao Wu collapsed to her knees.
Dai Mubai roared, body covered in sweat.
Jiang Zhu instinctively cast a healing spell.
Tang San stood alone, calm, though blood streamed from his eyes and ears.
Across the field, the seven members of Blue Sunshine Academy lay collapsed, blank-eyed and twitching — their minds shattered.