The Legend of the Dragon King (Web Novel)
chapter-1485

Chapter 1485: The Elimination Round Begins

The day of the elimination rounds of the Joust For A Spouse Festival for the Spirit Pagoda’s Silver Dragon Princess had finally arrived.

After the earlier trials, half of the participants were eliminated. However, all the participants had fresh memories of the Ten Thousand Beast Platform. They had all gained some benefits from their experiences. Hence, even those who were eliminated did not have any complaints regarding the Spirit Pagoda. Indeed, they were left with an even better impression of the Spirit Pagoda.

In many of the soul masters’ eyes, though it had great prestige, the Spirit Pagoda was also a bloodsucker. The spirit souls they sold were expensive, and the fee they had to pay to enter the spirit ascension platform was an astronomical figure. The mid to lower-ranked soul masters were often unable to bear these costs.

However, those who participated in the Joust For A Spouse Festival this time were mid-high-ranked soul masters with six-ringed cultivation bases and above. At their stage, it was rare for one to be short of funds. They focused more on ways to improve their cultivation bases and make themselves stronger.

The Federation’s society was very realistic and stable. A person’s status, identity and income was pretty much determined by his or her cultivation base. The more powerful a person’s cultivation base was, the higher the possibility of reaching the top of the social ladder.

The thing that attracted the most attention throughout the entire Joust For A Spouse Festival was undoubtedly the Ten Thousand Beast Platform. The improvement of spirit souls within the Ten Thousand Beast Platform, particularly that growth was unlimited, gave many soul masters hope.

Hence, even the high-ranked soul masters who were already eliminated did not leave Mingdu City. They wanted to see what kinds of prizes the Spirit Pagoda would be able to produce as the festival progressed.

With the Ten Thousand Beast Platform, the soul masters paid less attention to the Silver Dragon Princess Gu Yuena. After all, out of the many soul masters who participated, only a single person could end up being the one for this Silver Dragon Princess. Without an outstanding cultivation base, that was virtually impossible.

If one wanted to be among the top ten and have a chance to be picked by the Silver Dragon Princess, one must at least be a Title Douluo.

The elimination rounds started today and there were a total of four. Compared to the round-robin tournament after this, the elimination rounds were clearly more intense. This was because the winner of every round would receive different prizes. The Spirit Pagoda had poured a lot of resources into this festival and the soul masters had seen it themselves. Everyone wished to use this opportunity to obtain something useful for themselves. With the experience in the Ten Thousand Beast Platform, they believed that Spirit Pagoda would definitely produce prizes of good quality.

Hence, all the soul masters preparing for the elimination rounds were eager to begin.

The first elimination round had the highest number of participants, and it needed five days. Tang Wulin did not appear in the competition grounds. Instead, he was on the bleachers. His ticket was prepared by the Tang Sect long ago.

As he sat on the bleachers, he replayed the participants’ information which he read before this. The younger generation was not the only one attracted by this Joust For A Spouse Festival, so there were some participants who exceeded his expectations.

According to the Joust For A Spouse Festival’s rules, anyone who was younger than thirty-five years with a cultivation base of at least six rings could participate. However, if the person’s cultivation base was higher than seven-rings, then they would be more lenient regarding the person’s age.

The participating age for seven-rings was forty, forty-five for eight-rings, and fifty for a Title Douluo. In other words, all high-ranking soul masters between the ages of twenty and fifty could participate in this Joust For A Spouse Festival.

Fifty was not a young age especially for the soul masters with unparalleled talents. Hence, when Tang Wulin saw the name list given to him by the Tang Sect, Title Douluos were not the only ones that stood out, as there were even Hyper Douluos in their forties.

A Hyper Douluo in his forties would not be considered old. On the contrary, a soul master in his forties was still considered a youth. This was especially true for experts who were at the rank of Title Douluo and above. They were in their prime, the pinnacle of their life. It was a period where they improved by leaps and bounds.

If a person was able to attain the rank of a Title Douluo before he reached fifty years of age, this meant that the person’s talents far surpassed that of his peers. He would be a very powerful soul master.

The number of opponents whom Tang Wulin would be facing was more than what he had expected.

Naturally, he would not be fighting alone.

In an elimination round with more than a thousand and six hundred participants meant that they would have to carry out more than eight hundred rounds. Even if they had five days, they would have to carry out more than a hundred and sixty rounds every day.

Currently, ten competition stages were set up in the Mingdu Coliseum. This was the largest coliseum in the whole of the Federation. Other locations would not have such spacious lands.

Every competition stage had an area of a hundred square meters. They were all equipped with the highest-ranked protection barriers.

The rules of the competition had already been announced, and the announcement was that there were no rules. This was because the Spirit Pagoda felt that everything in a person’s arsenal, including soul devices and mechas, were parts of their strength. They were allowed to use it as they pleased without any restrictions.

The only requirement was to defeat one’s opponent. In truth, in the elimination rounds, it would have been difficult to operate a mecha on this hundred-square-meter stage. The area was too small and room for maneuvering was very limited. However, that could not be helped. That was how the competition grounds were. The soul masters had no choice but to adapt. They could not possibly adjust the grounds to the soul masters.

The soul masters in the first round had started making their way into the competition grounds. Tang Wulin’s gaze was set upon stage number six.

There were already two participants standing atop stage number six. One of them was tall and muscular with his arms exposed, revealing his bronze tan. His arms were as thick as a normal person’s thigh, and his short, fiery red hair stood erect like steel needles. As he stood there, he seemed to give off an imposing aura even though he was not angry.

This was Chi Shanming, controller of the fire element. It was said that when he was born, he set the delivery room on fire. He had Innate Full Soul Power. He was thirty-seven years old this year and a rank-91 Title Douluo.

He combined his fire element martial soul’s cultivation with his soul skills and opened up a path of violent attacks. His Title was the Domineering Fire Douluo Chi Shanming.

During battle, he would often display incredible combat strength which always surpassed his opponents’. He was known for his attacks.

Opposite him stood an ordinary young man of average appearance. He seemed to be twenty-seven or eight years old, and there was nothing outstanding about the way he looked.

So far, Chi Mingshan was the most powerful participant in this elimination round. This competition not only attracted Tang Wulin’s attention, but also many spectators as well. The opportunity to witness a Title Douluo’s power was a delightful affair.

Chi Mingshan’s opponent had a registered cultivation base of rank-83 soul power. His name was Yuan Hui, and he was a person who did not reveal much about himself. Not much about him was in the records either.

Only Tang Wulin knew who this Yuan Hui was. Speaking of which, he could not help but think to himself, ‘Yuanen truly has rotten luck. To have been paired up against a Title Douluo in the very first match.’

That was right. This Yuan Hui was the Shrek Seven Monster’s Yuanen Yehui!

Other than Tang Wulin, the most powerful of the Shrek Seven Monsters were Yuanen Yehui and Ye Xinglan. This time, both of them had participated. Yuanen Yehui appeared ordinary enough when she dressed as a male. When she had put on a disguise, it was only natural for her to not have captured the crowd’s attention.

Nine-rings against eight-rings. Many among the audience were guessing how long this competition would last.

In their eyes, this was a match in which the outcome was pretty much guaranteed. There was a moat-like gap between a Title Douluo and a Soul Douluo. Everyone knew that a soul master would experience a transformation when they reached the rank of Title Douluo. Title Douluos truly stood at the pinnacle of the soul masters’ realm.

However, an eight-ringed Soul Douluo was also very powerful. They only wished that this Yuan Hui could hold out a little longer under the Domineering Fire Douluo’s attacks.

Because of the high number of consecutive matches, there was no commentating in the elimination rounds. After a brief electronic countdown, the first competition round officially started.

Almost eighty percent of the audience fixed their gaze on competition stage number six. They were prepared to witness the explosive strength of a Title Douluo.

Chi Shanming looked at his opponent before him. From the start, he did not let his guard down. Unlike most of the audience, he did not think that his victory was certain.

He did not cultivate to the rank of a Title Douluo in his forties by being gifted with natural talent alone. He had also been working hard and honed his skills through actual combat.

When he first set eyes on Yuan Hui, he knew that his opponent was not all that he seemed to be. Why? This was because his opponent appeared too ordinary. He was so ordinary that he had no characteristics whatsoever.

Also, he could not even sense the slightest wave of energy coming from Yuanen Yehui. That was the most shocking part about Yuan Hui.

Naturally, he had done some research on his opponent before this. Although he was confident in his own cultivation base, he would not be careless. Also, his reason for participating in this Joust For A Spouse Festival was not winning the fair lady’s hand or to get some prize. He merely wanted to hone his skills.