125: Zheng Family Girl

Everyone followed the light to their next companion. Soon, the first group of contestants to find their teammates appeared. A blue-haired youth from Heaven Dou Imperial Academy and a red-dressed girl from the Star Luo Empire simultaneously held up cards engraved with the same number. The girl then released her Spirit—a flower vine entangled with thorns instantly spread out through Binding.

The blue-haired youth's pupils shrank slightly, and a faint Dragon shadow appeared behind him, but he did not attack. He only controlled the Dragon's might to form an invisible barrier: "control system? My power attack can cover you."

Such testing was taking place throughout the contestant seating area. For example, the two youths who drew card number ninety-two: one was a defense system Spirit Master completely covered in metal armor, while the other was an Agility Attack System Soul Master capable of flight. The two were gesturing tactical signs. Meanwhile, the two girls who drew number one hundred and five were actually both support system Spirit Masters, currently frowning as they discussed how to deal with the upcoming battle.

Qiangu Dongfeng watched the surging crowd below, a barely perceptible arc curling at the corner of his mouth. This randomness was precisely the best interpretation of the Spirit Pagoda's concept of teamwork—spirit soul researchers can adapt to different colleagues, and true Geniuses should also be able to adapt to any battlefield.

He slowly raised his hand, and the sixteen preliminary round venues were instantly reorganized into eight circular arenas floating in mid-air. A Soul Power barrier flickering with electricity rose at the edges of the arenas.

"Now, all contestants get ready. Watch the random numbers on the big screen. It's not just your teammates that are random, but your opponents as well." Following his command, each soul guide card suddenly lit up with a guiding light, leading the paired contestants toward their respective battlefields.

"Remember, the elimination rounds test not only your actual combat ability but also whether you can turn a strange teammate into your most trusted back in an instant."

Qiangu Dongfeng stood high in the sky, his gaze sweeping across the eight arenas. This elimination round, full of randomness, would give birth to more exciting duels than the preliminaries and allow those Geniuses who truly understand collaboration to leave their own mark on the history of the Youth Genius Competition.

The three hundred and twenty youths who passed the preliminaries filed in. Eight venues, four people on each venue, meaning ten battles would take place at each venue.

These ten two-on-two matches would conclude within two days. Overall, the preparation time for these contestants was quite ample.

As the elimination rounds began, the entire venue gradually began to boil with excitement. No matter the era, battles between Spirit Masters were always the most eye-catching.

"Principal, how are the scores for this second stage calculated?" Zhou Hanyou and Zhou Tianer asked, confusion in their beautiful eyes.

Zhang Zhenpeng glanced at them and calmly explained, "It's simple. It depends on the outcome. No matter the performance, the result is the most critical factor."

"The winning side, no matter how poorly they perform, will get at least sixty points per person. Conversely, the losing side, no matter how excellent their performance, can only get a maximum of sixty points per person."

"To successfully qualify, the final score of the first two stages must reach at least one hundred and sixty points. In other words, if Xian Lin and the others lose in this elimination round stage and didn't get a perfect score in the first stage, they can pack their bags and go home after the second stage ends."

Beside them, Wang Dongqi's face turned pale. "Then if Xian Lin and the others are directly matched with a Spirit King or Spirit Emperor, no matter how well they perform, it'll be useless..."

Zhang Zhenpeng just smiled. "Do you really think the Spirit Pagoda wouldn't think of that? Look closely at the two sides currently fighting; the average Soul Power Rank of both sides will not differ by more than ten. The Spirit Pagoda's backend has made adjustments to this matching mechanism."

Hearing his words, Hanyou and the other two were relieved. Regardless, they certainly didn't want to see people from their own academy lose the match.

"I'm going back first," Shen Guyan suddenly stood up and said. He had been full of anticipation for today's two-on-two matches, but after watching a few, he instantly lost interest.

The reason was simple: whether it was the previous selection trials at the academy or the current Youth Genius Competition, no one had appeared who could make his eyes light up.

To put it bluntly, these three or Fourth Ring Spirit Masters were just repeatedly blasting each other with those few Spirit Abilities. No one had developed new skills by combining their own abilities.

Even the Tang Sect ultimate techniques performed by Xian Lin and the others, such as Tracer Step and Controlling Crane Catching Dragon, were actually just the basics of the Tang Sect's Outer Sect in Shen Guyan's memory.

The Tang Clan of Shu had been a prestigious family since the Wei and Jin dynasties. During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, the Tang Sect Young Lord traveled to Jiangnan and even passed the imperial examination, becoming a civil and military double Jinshi of the Southern Tang, famous throughout the world. Later, he became close friends with the Last Ruler of Southern Tang. After Southern Tang was destroyed by the Song, the Tang Sect Young Lord infiltrated Kaifeng, using the Hidden Weapons techniques recorded in the Southern Tang secret manual, the Flying Flower Records, to secretly assassinate the Grand Ancestor. He then used miraculous mechanical arts to quietly vanish without a trace.

After that, the Tang Sect of Shu became famous in the Martial Forest, and its Hidden Weapons, mechanical Formations, and arts of using and neutralizing poison were all peerless. They were definitely not comparable to these child-like flashy moves... "Tianya, won't you watch a bit more? Maybe there are a few very powerful contestants..." Zhou Tianer grabbed Shen Guyan's hand and advised.

Hearing this, Shen Guyan just smiled. "There's nothing to see. It's just so-so."

"Just so-so? You're quite arrogant, aren't you?"

Just then, from the other side of the seats, three figures walked over.

Walking at the front was a girl with a radiant face. Her appearance was not much inferior to Zhou Hanyou and Zhou Tianer, but she looked much more arrogant. An emerald-green snake was coiled around her right arm, and her whole body emitted a dark aura.

The two boys following behind her were of medium build and ordinary appearance, but they looked exactly the same.

Seeing them, Shen Guyan couldn't help but think of the Zhou twin sisters. These two were also clearly twins; surely they didn't have a Martial Soul Fusion Skill too?

The girl said, "My name is Zheng Yiran. Remember my name. You'd better withdraw from the competition yourself to save me the trouble of acting, lest you suffer too much pain. I'm taking that spot on the ranking list!"

Listening to her words, Shen Guyan couldn't help but turn his head to look at the sisters, Hanyou and Tianer. "Is this person sick?"

Zhou Tianer immediately burst into laughter.

"Very well, I remember you. State your name," the girl's face turned green with anger, and she said bossily.

Just as Shen Guyan was about to ignore the girl, an urgent voice suddenly came from deep within his sea of consciousness.

"Found it, I finally found it! A girl with a snake-type Spirit, and her talent seems quite good!"

Shen Guyan's eyes moved slightly. He naturally knew who the owner of this voice was, but he hadn't expected her to actually take an interest in the silly girl in front of him named Zheng Yiran.

"Her Spirit is a snake-type?" Since the other party hadn't activated her Spirit, Shen Guyan naturally couldn't tell.

"That's right, that's right!" Medusa seemed very excited. "As long as I take Possession of her, after a period of Fusion, I will definitely be able to come back to life using her body!"