Early morning. The sky was clear, and the sun was shining brightly.

Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of the Daydream Hotel, the bustling scene of Haiyuan City was fully visible, with crowds thronging the distant seaside and waves of lively noise rising and falling.

The round-robin had ended, and the top sixteen teams were freshly announced. Next up was the round of sixteen, where sixteen teams would compete for the eight quarterfinal spots.

At this stage, the tournament was gradually approaching its finale.

Although the appearance of the Stigmata had caused a huge stir in the Soul Master world, for the average spectator, what they cared about most was still the upcoming exciting matches.

The round of sixteen would see four matches each day.

Unsurprisingly, as the reigning champions and hosts, St. Freya Academy was scheduled for the first match.

According to the competition rules, the first-place team from each group would face a second-place team from another group.

Thus, St. Freya Academy's opponent this time was Zheng Tian Academy, who had lost to Shrek Academy in the group stage and qualified in second place.

It had to be said, Zheng Tian Academy's luck was truly terrible.

As soon as Lu Jingming led his team out of the Daydream Hotel, he saw Shrek Academy and Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy also preparing to head to the arena.

Looking at Xiao Hongchen's dark face, it was clear he'd had a spat with someone from Shrek Academy and hadn't come out on top.

"What's going on, everyone? The match is about to start!" Lu Jingming glanced at Ma Xiaotao and then smiled.

"Lu Jingming!" Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen happened to have their backs to Lu Jingming and his group, but upon hearing his voice, they quickly turned around.

Meng Hongchen looked at Lu Jingming's handsome face, then at Wang Dong's delicate features—one masculine, one feminine, both equally outstanding. A conflicted expression appeared on Meng Hongchen's face.

"Hi, everyone, let's not argue!" March 7th greeted everyone in a lively, outgoing manner, her adorable, energetic appearance instantly winning everyone's favor.

"Yuhao, something's wrong. I sense the presence of our kind in that pink-haired girl—it's that soul bone, she's refined it!" In the spiritual sea, Ice Empress's voice was filled with surprise.

Huo Yuhao's expression changed as he looked at March 7th in disbelief.

He knew very well what it meant for the Ice Jade Scorpion soul bone to be refined by someone else. That seemingly harmless, lively and cute pink-haired girl, like him, was an owner of the Ultimate Ice.

Thinking of this, Huo Yuhao glanced at the quiet and soft Firefly, his eyes full of shock.

He felt lost. Weren't Ultimate attribute soul masters supposed to be seen once in a thousand years? How come St. Freya Academy was crawling with them? Could there be even more Ultimate attribute soul masters among their team?

Yuhao's gaze swept over Castorice, Jinhsi, Robin, and the others, his heart growing heavier.

"Everyone, let's go together. We're all young people. If there are any conflicts, why not settle them in the arena?" Lu Jingming smiled, inviting them. Without waiting for a response, he led his team toward the seaside.

"Hey! Brat!" Suddenly, Ma Xiaotao called out to Lu Jingming.

Lu Jingming's mouth twitched slightly. "Ma Xiaotao, is it that you can't remember my name, or have you forgotten your last lesson?"

Ma Xiaotao paused, recalling Lu Jingming's teasing words from before. Her pretty face instantly flushed red, and she retorted in embarrassment, "If you'd just call me Sister Xiaotao, maybe I'd change my tune—no, that's not the point! Listen up, this time, we definitely won't lose!"

"Oh? I'm rather looking forward to it!" Lu Jingming smiled indifferently. Even though Ma Xiaotao had broken through to Soul Sage, he didn't care. So what if she was a Soul Sage? Could she withstand his Black Abyss White Flower?

"Hmph! Just you wait, I will teach you a good lesson sooner or later!" Ma Xiaotao's cheeks flushed red with anger, most irritated by Lu Jingming's dismissive attitude.

"Senior Sister, you know him?" Xu Sanshi came over and asked in a low voice.

Anyone could tell from their conversation that Ma Xiaotao and Lu Jingming knew each other from before.

"More than just know—he's my old nemesis!" Ling Luochen's lips curled slightly. She had seen Lu Jingming, always following Zhang Lexuan and Keqing, in the last tournament, and knew that he was Ma Xiaotao's bane, always able to infuriate her.

"This Lu guy is really something!" Xu Sanshi waved his fan, sighing.

"How so?" Bei Bei asked, puzzled.

"Didn't you notice? When Senior Sister spoke to him, the girls from St. Freya Academy were looking at her oddly—and Senior Sister's attitude was really off! She's the famous volcano of the inner court. Since when is she so easy to talk to?" Xu Sanshi whispered to Bei Bei.

Bei Bei was taken aback, then realized something was off. But soon he said helplessly, "That's none of our business. If we gossip too much, we'll end up getting beaten!"

Xu Sanshi shivered instinctively at that, sneaking a glance at Ma Xiaotao. Seeing that she wasn't paying attention to him, he breathed a sigh of relief.

If Ma Xiaotao knew he was gossiping about her behind her back, he really would get beaten!

March 7th's charm was undeniable. Along the way, she chatted enthusiastically with Xiao Xiao, Jiang Nannan, and Meng Hongchen, and even the usually cool Ling Luochen responded to her, showing just how high her social affinity was.

Unlike Meng Hongchen and Xiao Xiao, who viewed the others as rivals, March 7th had no such thoughts.

To her, competition was just competition—friendship between girls was more important, and she loved making friends.

Thanks to her efforts, Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo also pulled Ye Guyi into the group, and Xiao Xiao even asked March 7th to get a signature from Robin, grinning ear to ear.

To outsiders, the girls from the three teams got along exceptionally well—nothing like a group about to fight to the death in the arena.

The boys, however, weren't so harmonious. Lu Jingming and Ma Xiaotao kept sniping at each other, while Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Hongchen stared at each other tensely.

Soon, escorted by City Guards along a cleared path, they pushed through the dense crowd and boarded the soul tool warship to the Eye of Abyss.

The three teams then split up, each entering their own waiting room.

As soon as they entered, Huo Yuhao eagerly shared his discovery.

"Wait! Yuhao, are you sure? March 7th is an Ultimate Ice attribute soul master?" Xiao Xiao was full of disbelief.

It was hard to imagine that the usually lively, cheerful girl was actually an Ultimate Ice attribute soul master—a rarity among rarities.

Jiang Nannan glanced deeply at Huo Yuhao, inwardly amazed that he could deduce March 7th's martial soul from sensing the Ice Jade Scorpion soul bone.

In fact, she had known even earlier but hadn't revealed it for her own reasons.

Bei Bei, Wang Yan, and the others were equally shocked, but they chose to trust Yuhao's judgment, since his martial soul was the Ice Jade Scorpion and had unique sensing abilities.

"So St. Freya Academy has more than one Ultimate attribute soul master—both Ice and Fire, and both restrain me!" Ma Xiaotao's mouth twitched as she recalled her boastful words to Lu Jingming, now feeling regret.

Ultimate Fire suppressed her; Ultimate Ice restrained her. She felt as if she'd violated some cosmic law—how did she end up so unlucky?

The waiting area for the tournament was much emptier than before, with only sixteen teams remaining.

To stand out from among so many academies and make it this far, nearly all were prestigious senior academies—there were no dark horses like St. Freya Academy in the last competition.

The round of sixteen would last four days, with four matches a day. Both team and individual elimination matches would be held, each taking two days.

The first day was for team matches. Even if a team lost the team match, as long as they could eliminate seven of the opposing team's members with just three in the individual matches, they could still turn things around and win.

Thus, the tournament emphasized individual strength.

As long as a team had one member with overwhelming power, they could still reverse the outcome in the individual matches.

Winning the team match also brought an advantage: in the individual round, the winning team only needed to defeat three of the opponent's members with seven of their own to secure overall victory.

Overall, the rules favored those with outstanding individual prowess.

"Round of sixteen team match: St. Freya Academy versus Zheng Tian Academy! Both teams, please enter the arena!"

The names and portraits of the two teams were displayed clearly on the soul tool screens for all spectators to see.

Dan Heng, the referee, appeared on the stage right on time.

This time, Lu Jingming made a lineup change, swapping out Jinhsi for Ye Guyi.

This was because Zheng Tian Academy had an Angel Martial Soul user, and Ye Guyi was interested in challenging her.

As the team members entered the arena, cheers erupted, sending the atmosphere to a fever pitch.

Compared to the calm confidence of Lu Jingming's group, the seven from Zheng Tian Academy looked grim.

They had no choice—facing St. Freya Academy likely meant the end of their tournament run, stopping at the top sixteen, a worse result than last time.

Lu Jingming glanced at the seven approaching opponents, quickly recalling their profiles.

The stern-faced youth at the front was their captain, Ye Wuqing, whose martial soul was the Golden Leaf—a level 59 power attack soul king.

If the tournament had been held a few months later, he might have participated as a Soul Emperor.

Next to him was a blonde girl named Yu Mengdi, whose martial soul was the Twin-Winged Angel. She was a descendant of the Angel Legion from the Hall of Spirits ten thousand years ago, currently a level 53 power attack soul king.

Although her martial soul was also Angel, her Twin-Winged Angel was inferior to Ye Guyi's Holy Angel, and lacked the passive ability to gain power by slaying evil soul masters.

As a result, even at nineteen, Yu Mengdi was only level 53.

Such talent would have been top-tier ten thousand years ago, but nowadays it was merely above average.

Nevertheless, Angel Martial Souls, even the weakest, were among the best—no less than top beast martial souls.

Zheng Tian Academy had three soul kings in total. The last was a handsome black-haired youth named Tang Xiaolei, martial soul Purple Radiant Bow, level 52 power attack soul king.

The other four members were: Shangguan Can (Soul-attracting Bell, level 46 control soul ancestor); the red-haired, braid-wearing and shapely Yan'er (Fire Element, level 45 power attack soul ancestor); the hooded Yang Yifan (Shadow Blade, level 46 agility attack soul ancestor); and the irritable Xue Lang (Bloodthirst Demon Wolf, level 47 agility attack soul ancestor).