Even with Ma Shan's powers, he was unable to progress beyond the round-robin stage. One had to realize that he was a two-word battle armor master who was also an eight-ring Soul Douluo! He only needed to complete his suit of three-word battle armor before he could become a three-word battle armor master.

Even so, Ma Shan still lost two matches in the round-robin stage and failed to progress to the final 16.

In terms of overall power, the group that Tang Wulin was a part of was one of the weaker groups, but he was still considered to be a hot favorite due to the strange and powerful abilities he'd displayed. No one knew what his true cultivation rank was as he was always able to hide it using the disguise skills he'd learned on the demonic island.

Every single match, the colors and numbers of his soul rings were constantly changing, and that was one of the main talking points surrounding him.

Of course, there were some familiar faces who had also made it to the top 16, two of which he was extremely familiar with...

……

Ye Xinglan sat within her silent cultivation chamber with her legs crossed and her eyes closed. Even though she was meditating, there was still an indescribably sharp aura emanating from her body.

Her blue military uniform indicated that she was currently part of the navy, and the two bars and two stars on each of her epaulets reflected a lieutenant colonel military rank.

She and Xu Lizhi had made it into this navy after passing the new soldier selection trials with their own powers. This was the Eastsea Fleet, which was widely renowned as the invincible fleet, and it was also the most powerful fleet in the entire federation.

In terms of overall numbers, the Eastsea Legion didn't have many more soldiers than the Northsea Legion. However, the Northsea Legion couldn't even begin to compare with the overall powers of the soldiers here, as well as the equipment they'd been given.

The soldiers here were truly the elites of the elites.

Standing behind the Eastsea Legion was the federation's Battle God Hall, and the commander of the legion was a general, so he was truly one of the most powerful and influential beings in the entire military.

The mantra of the Eastsea Legion was very simple; one's power determined their rank. As long as one was powerful enough, it was very easy for them to be promoted multiple ranks at a time. No one dared to do anything shady or out of line under the supervision of the Battle God Hall. Furthermore, among all of the legions in the federation, the Eastsea Legion was the one that revered individual power the most. Ye Xinglan and Xu Lizhi had both disguised themselves before joining the legion and participating in the trial.

A six-ring food system Soul Master was naturally instantly held in extremely high regard, and when they'd first arrived at the legion, Xu Lizhi had actually been held in even higher regard than Ye Xinglan. The reason for that was very simple; during a battle, a six-ring food system Soul Master could support the entire fleet's energy expenditure on his own. As long as there were enough Soul Masters on the fleet, they could virtually keep battling forever.

As such, Xu Lizhi was given the major rank as soon as he joined the legion, and among all of the members of Shrek’s Seven Monsters, he was the one who had received the highest military rank after just joining the military.

Now, he was already a lieutenant colonel in the Eastsea Legion's logistics department. Furthermore, he had performed extremely well during a training drill, using his steamed buns to greatly benefit the entire fleet. As a result, he received the highest reward that the legion had to offer, and it would take him three more months at most before he would be promoted to the colonel rank.

It had already been over a month since that training drill, but it was still quite a hot topic on everyone's lips. At the time, Xu Lizhi had stood atop a vantage point, creating all types of steamed buns before using the Tang Sect's hidden weapon hand techniques to hurl the buns toward important battle stations. On that occasion, the most effective bun wasn't actually his Recovery Pork Bun. Instead, it was his Agility Mini Soup Bun, which had drastically improved the movement speed and efficiency of all of the battle units. The mecha units on the fleet had also benefited immensely from his Bloodthirsty Red Bean Buns. During a battle against the other half of the mecha squad on the fleet, they had absolutely crushed their opponents when it should've been an even battle.

It could be said that Xu Lizhi had completely transformed the entire dynamic of the battle on his own.

This was the advantage of having a high-grade food system Soul Master, and following that training drill, he had already become an extremely hot commodity in the fleet. This was why he'd managed to rise up the ranks so quickly, and he was now widely renowned as the new rising star of the fleet's logistics department. Once he reached the Soul Sage level, he would only be held in higher regard.

The Eastsea Fleet was hoping to nurture him into a food system Titled Douluo in the future. There were only records of two food system Titled Douluos on the entire continent, but both of them were over 80 years of age, so there was no way that they'd serve in the military. If their fleet could have a food system Titled Douluo on their side, then they could almost be referred to as the unkillable fleet!

As such, Xu Lizhi was being regarded as one of the most important talents in the entire fleet.

Compared to Xu Lizhi, Ye Xinglan had walked a completely different path. As a six-ring Soul Emperor, it wouldn't be impossible for her to have received a major rank if she had joined any other legion, but that didn't apply to the Eastsea Fleet. The Eastsea Fleet had extremely rigorous requirements, and they already had many powerful beings to begin with. As such, not only did one have to possess a lofty cultivation rank, they also had to possess sufficient combat prowess, and those two weren't always equivalent to one another. There were many scholarly Soul Masters with little to no practical combat experience, and they were often next to useless after joining the military.

As such, the Eastsea Legion had a clear-cut rule, which stated that the highest military rank that could be given to pure battle Soul Masters when first joining the legion was the captain rank. As such, Ye Xinglan received the captain rank, and she climbed all the way to the lieutenant colonel rank in such a short time purely through her own powers.

The Eastsea Legion revered individual power, and there were all types of competitions constantly being held within the legion. Ye Xinglan quickly swept through three individual competitions with her immense powers, securing three consecutive championship titles that finally drew attention from the higher-ups.

She was extremely beautiful, and had displayed ultra-powerful combat prowess, so the higher-ups of the legion naturally began to pay more and more attention to her.

Not long after that, she was able to use her unstoppable sword intent to defeat a Soul Douluo, who was also a two-word battle armor master, and she was promoted to the lieutenant colonel rank as a result. During that battle, Ye Xinglan herself had also sustained severe injuries, and she had adopted an extremely reckless method of battle where she was risking her life to take down her opponent. In the end, her opponent succumbed to her devastating sword intent.

From that day forth, Ye Xinglan also received the nickname of Battle Goddess. Everyone in the legion knew of the Starlight Battle Goddess, and as opposed to the Stargod Sword, the martial soul that Ye Xinglan had reported to the legion was the Starlight Sword.

After joining the legion, she and Xu Lizhi were split into different departments, but both of them had heeded Tang Wulin's advice and began to practice mecha piloting. They had already grasped the basics at this point, and Xu Lizhi was taking this particularly seriously. The legion gave him extensive support when it came to resources, so he was able to improve very quickly in his mecha piloting skills.

Even as she was in silent meditation, Ye Xinglan's heart was currently filled with raging battle intent. There was a Star Cabin close beside her, and it was the most expensive model currently on the market.

She had represented the Eastsea Legion in the competition, and she was the only member of the legion who had progressed to the top 16. The higher-ups of the legion had already promised her that they would promote her to the colonel rank if she were to make it into the final 8, and if she could secure the championship title, they would promote her to the senior colonel rank.

……

At the summit of a mountain. A figure that wasn't particularly tall nor broad was slowly throwing one punch after another. Wind and clouds suddenly began to surge around the mountain summit, and the vast expanse of clouds in the air gradually converged to form a massive fist projection. Even though the projection only lasted for a second, it was extremely clear and spectacular to behold.

The figure turned around before throwing another punch, and it didn't appear to be all that powerful, but howling winds erupted over the entire mountain summit once again. It was as if she were a Great Beast who was capable of manipulating the wind and clouds!

Every punch she unleashed was extremely slow, but every single one of these punches was stirring up the entire surrounding space. A vortex that was constructed from cloud and mist gradually began to take shape in the sky. At the same time, her movements gradually sped up, and with every punch she unleashed, the air would tremor violently, and the vortex would also expand slightly.

A series of soul rings emerged from beneath her feet, consisting of two purples and four blacks, a top-grade soul ring configuration for a Soul Emperor.

All of a sudden, she raised her head and let loose a long cry. The sound lingered in the air and refused to fade, and the clouds in the sky suddenly descended before being drawn into her fists. Every punch that she unleashed thereafter formed a cloud vortex that was visible to the naked eye, and each successive punch was more powerful than the previous one. The air was trembling violently in the face of her fists, and it seemed that even the mountains in the distance were quaking before her power.

Only after around a quarter of an hour did she finally stop what she was doing and allow her hands to hang by her sides in a relaxed manner. However, as a gust of wind blew past, a large plume of powdered stone rose up into the air, and the mountain summit had been lowered by an entire foot. All of this was the result of the impact of her fists.