Douluo's ice devil Yuhao

Chapter 595 Prelude to the Competition
In the center of Lingdou City, in front of the imperial city, lies a wide plaza.

This is the Heavenly Spirit Square in Spirit Battle City, the venue for this competition. Although it is not as large as the original Star Luo and Sun Moon, it is still large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of people to watch the competition.

A luxurious hotel next to the square served as the registration point for the competition, where teams from various academies were constantly registering. However, the moment the Mingdou Academy team entered the hotel lobby, they immediately attracted everyone's attention.

"Mingdou Academy, let's register." Huo Yuhao led a group of young students to the registration desk and spoke to the staff with practiced ease.

This was his third time participating in the competition, but he remained as calm as ever. On the contrary, the students behind him, who were still quite far from the competition, were already nervous before even registering.

Watching them fill out the relevant information one by one, Huo Yuhao gently comforted them, "Relax, participation is the most important thing. Show your true abilities. No matter the result, you are all the glory of the academy."

"Yes, team leader." Although the team members all agreed verbally, the excitement and elation in their emotions were undeniable.

Most of these trainees come from well-off families, have impressive backgrounds, and should have seen many grand occasions, but this first opportunity still puts them under immense pressure.

Only Qianfeng maintained her placid expression, calmly filling out her personal information and handing it to the staff without changing her demeanor.

Ning Yuan also submitted an application form and asked him, "Aren't you nervous?"

Qianfeng countered, "Why should we be nervous? Will the academy punish us if we lose the competition?"

Ning Yuan sighed: "Of course there won't be any punishment, but we are, after all, representing the academy, and we're the first team to participate since the school's founding. Our performance will definitely have a huge impact!"

Qianfeng nodded slightly, agreeing with his words: "You're right. We are the first pioneers of Mingdou Academy. No matter how we perform, countless people will remember us in the future."

"Just like how Shrek Academy has produced countless generations of Shrek Seven Devils over the past ten thousand years, each of them was a prodigy, but to this day, everyone only remembers the original seven."

He paused for a moment, then continued calmly, "But even failure is a way for the academy to accumulate teaching experience. Sometimes, the lessons learned from failure are more valuable and more telling than those learned from success."

Ning Yuan looked at his youngest teammate with mixed feelings, unsure whether he was convinced or thought the other was spouting nonsense.

Huo Yuhao, on the other hand, highly respected Qian Feng. Rankings weren't important to him or Ming Dou Academy; there was no need to force it. However, this didn't mean the participating team members could be passive. Giving their all and showcasing their true abilities would be enough to leave no regrets.

Just as Mingdou Academy finished its registration, another team entered the hotel. They were dressed in luxurious clothes, and as soon as they entered the hotel, the staff at the registration desk bowed to them.

"Your Highness."

Xue Lan, who was at the head of the group, gestured for them to drop the formalities and smiled, "Please don't be nervous, everyone. There is no Princess Xue Lan here today. I am just a member of the Douling Royal Academy team, at most a captain. You don't need to bow."

He walked to the registration desk: "Please register us."

"Yes." The staff did not delay and immediately processed the procedures for everyone from the Douling Royal Academy.

Huo Yuhao raised an eyebrow and turned his head slightly to observe the prince of the Douling Empire.

He wasn't really familiar with the Douling Empire's royal family and domestic forces; aside from the fact that the Douling royal family's surname was Xue, he didn't seem to have much of an impression of them.

He only vaguely remembered the name Douling Royal Academy, because he had fought against Douling Royal Academy in the previous competition, but that was all.

The competition was ten years ago; all of our opponents back then have probably graduated by now.

A staff member handed Huo Yuhao a key and said respectfully, "Sir, registration is complete. Your room is on the third floor."

Huo Yuhao was about to invite the others upstairs when he saw Xue Lan walking towards him, bowing warmly and saying, "This must be the leader of Mingdou Academy, right? I am Xue Lan, a prince of the Douling Empire. You must have had a long and tiring journey. Thank you for your hard work."

Seeing Xue Lan's enthusiasm, Huo Yuhao smiled in return: "Thank you for your concern, Your Highness. Consider it a test of their character."

In fact, they no longer traveled long distances like the previous teams. They first used flying soul tools to enter the Spirit Battleground, and then took soul-guided vehicles directly to Spirit Battle City, so there was almost no hardship in the journey. Xue Lan continued to flatter, "I have long admired the name of Ming Dou Academy. It is an honor to meet you today. If there is an opportunity, I hope we can exchange skills in the upcoming competition."

His attitude was very sincere, which made people feel very friendly.

However, Huo Yuhao knew that these were just polite words, meant to appease the other party. But just then, a familiar figure suddenly burst into the hall, causing Huo Yuhao to raise an eyebrow.

There was only one person, not a team. Her tall figure and long, dark blue ponytail added to her aloof and arrogant air.

She slowly walked into the hall, stood against the wall, and kept her eyes fixed on Huo Yuhao.

"Then I won't disturb your time any longer. Please get some rest." Xue Lan didn't say anything more, bowed, and returned to the group.

Huo Yuhao casually handed the key to Ning Yuan: "You guys go upstairs and get assigned rooms first. I'll go find out about the competition rules and other details."

Ning Yuan took the key, responded, and led everyone upstairs. They had arrived early, so they had more time to prepare their tactics.

Currently, their team is relatively balanced, with Ning Tian, ​​who is skilled in both support and soul mastery, as the core of the team. Besides Qian Feng, Huo Yuhao is most concerned about him.

Huo Yuhao slowly walked towards the familiar figure leaning against the wall, watching him. It was Huo Qiu'er, whom he hadn't seen for several years since returning to the Star Dou Great Forest.

"How did you end up in the Douling Empire?" Huo Yuhao asked.

Huo Qiu'er snorted lightly: "I ran into some humans in the Star Dou area. I heard that the new competition is about to begin. I thought you wouldn't miss such an occasion, so I came out to take a look."

"Does Di Tian know?"

"When have I ever gone out to tell him?" Huo Qiu'er asked rhetorically, pausing for a moment. "But he probably knows everything, he just always lets me have my way."

Huo Yuhao sighed, "Well, it really has been a long time."

"Is it long? It feels like I only slept a few times." Huo Qiu'er paused for a moment, then said softly, "I still think human life is more interesting, at least more interesting than life in the Star Dou Great Forest."

The life of a soul beast is monotonous every day, and she was already tired of it. She had only transformed into human form to enter human society for the sake of novelty. The ferocious beasts of Xingdou were all very kind to her, but Huo Qiu'er only felt bored.

Although they hadn't seen each other for several years, the two seemed so familiar with each other that it didn't look like a long-awaited reunion, but rather like they had only been apart for a short while.

Huo Qiu'er glanced around the hall, where even more teams were queuing at the registration desk: "Speaking of which... no one recognized you. Weren't you the focus of the last competition?"

In the previous competition, Huo Yuhao single-handedly fought against several teams and even defeated Shrek Academy, shocking all the viewers. But this genius Soul Master, who has created so much news, is now unrecognized by anyone, even though he hasn't deliberately concealed his identity.

"Aren't you the same?" Huo Yuhao said nonchalantly. "Humans are different from you soul beasts. There are too many people who have heard of them, and their lifespans are too short."

"Most people have only heard that there was a very powerful Soul Master named Huo in the last competition, but once they heard about him, they forgot about him as soon as they turned their heads, and no one cared what he looked like."

Huo Qiu'er suddenly blurted out, "Would you secretly use simulations to participate in the competition? Or assist them from the sidelines with mental detection?"

"How could that be?" Huo Yuhao glanced at her speechlessly. "You know me so well, would I do such a thing?"

Huo Qiu'er stated bluntly, "Then I think their chances of defeating Shrek Academy are slim."

She wasn't just looking at Huo Yuhao, but also observing the young students of Mingdou Academy. They were outstanding, but not yet absolutely dominant.

"Not big is not big, huh?" Huo Yuhao was about to say something when his mental detection sensed another familiar team outside the hall.

(End of this chapter)