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"The greatest benefit of this observatory, naturally, is for cultivation."
Li Zhilong stopped beating around the bush and directly revealed the observatory's primary function.
"Once the large soul-guided formation in the observatory is activated, it can channel the power of the stars from outer space into the observatory, providing the purest energy to aid our students' cultivation."
"Since activating the soul-guided formation consumes a great deal of resources, only outstanding disciples are allowed to cultivate here during specific times. Most of the time, it's used by graduate-level students who refine themselves and their battle armor through the power of the stars."
"Graduate-level students?" Xu Yuan caught an unfamiliar term.
Li Zhilong smiled and explained, "Similar to Shrek Academy's Inner Court, our graduate-level students aren't really a class in the traditional sense. They're the core layer of our academy, responsible for research work and dedicated cultivation."
At this stage, no academy was purely academic anymore. Each had quietly evolved into its own small faction.
Especially for academies like the Celestial Star Soul Academy, which wasn't small by any means—this academy even collaborated with the military and produced its own specialized products, giving it independent qualifications.
As such, they established the graduate-level program.
First, to maintain their leading position in existing fields, and second, to ensure the strength of the Celestial Star Soul Academy.
The graduate-level students were all battle armor masters.
"Please wait a moment. I've already arranged for it, and our students will be here shortly."
Xu Yuan walked to the edge of the observatory on his own, examining the patterns and rare metal structures on the surrounding walls.
Even the selection of rare metals was carefully considered, with combinations that matched the engraved patterns on the surface. Moreover, these likely corresponded to the soul-guided formations inside the rare metals, enabling the observatory to fulfill its greatest function.
Across the entire continent, this observatory was the most successful example of utilizing star power.
Xu Yuan observed the patterns at the edge of the wall, hoping to glean some insights.
Unfortunately, the internal portions of the rare metals, which likely contained arrays guiding spiritual energy, were invisible to him.
Even so, he still carefully studied the outermost patterns, analyzing them in detail and sensing the underlying design philosophy.
"A formation as intricate and complex as this might not have been completed in a single generation," Xu Yuan murmured.
Li Zhilong approached and confirmed Xu Yuan's speculation.
"That's correct. This observatory was built by our Celestial Star Soul Academy a thousand years ago. It took three hundred years to construct, with successive generations of powerful individuals and soul-guided experts discussing and experimenting repeatedly to create this formation. Afterward, it underwent seven hundred years of refinement and updates to become what it is today."
Xu Yuan nodded.
For this observatory to be recognized as the pinnacle of star power utilization on the continent, it undoubtedly had a profound origin.
Moreover, during those three centuries, countless genius soul-guided experts must have emerged from the Celestial Star Soul Academy to construct such a complex and refined formation.
It wasn't just the formation itself—its placement also factored in various considerations.
They didn't keep the Shrek group waiting long. Soon, the students from the Celestial Star Soul Academy arrived at the observatory.
Since Xu Yuan's group consisted of thirteen people, Li Zhilong had notified ten students.
Three of them belonged to the academy's reserve team—the strongest three.
All were young men and women aged twenty.
At the Celestial Star Soul Academy, the uniforms were black, with star-shaped embroidery on the chest. Silver stars represented cultivation levels, with each additional star indicating one level of soul power.
The ten students before them all wore silver stars. The strongest among them had a full forty-six silver stars, while the others had over forty each—not only meeting Shrek's requirements but exceeding them significantly.
"Let me introduce you. These are the finest students of our Celestial Star Soul Academy, and these are the talented students from Shrek Academy," Li Zhilong stood in the middle, gesturing with his hand. "Next, you can introduce yourselves to each other."
"Hello, welcome to the Celestial Star Soul Academy. I'm Xiao Tiantian, the captain, and I'm a close-combat system battle soul master," a tall youth from the Celestial Star Soul Academy stepped forward and smiled.
"Hello, I'm Xu Yuan, the class monitor of Grade One, Class One at Shrek Academy, and I'm also a close-combat system battle soul master."
Behind Xu Yuan, the members of Grade One, Class One introduced themselves one by one, stating their names and specialties.
Meanwhile, the students standing behind Xiao Tiantian from the Celestial Star Soul Academy also introduced themselves.
"The format of our matches is simple. We'll start with three one-on-one duels, followed by a seven-versus-seven team battle."
"Wait, Director Li, do you mean that our ten people will fight their ten? What about the remaining three?"
Li Zhilong smiled and explained, "Xu Yuan and the other two are special cases. Their opponents aren't your group. If you're still interested after the exchange matches, you can challenge any one of them."
Li Zhilong had barely graduated from Shrek's Outer Court, but precisely because of that, he understood Shrek's caliber.
Even though they were first-years and hadn't undergone screening yet, he already knew that these thirteen people were undoubtedly the cream of the crop among this year's first-year students—at least above average.
Their ability to fight beyond their rank wouldn't be lacking.
Especially Xu Yuan, Wu Siduo, and Xu Yucheng. Two of them were at level forty-four, and one at level forty-nine in their first year, meaning they had reached level forty before entering the academy.
Such performances couldn't be dismissed lightly.
Xiao Tiantian frowned.
"You're not participating?" He looked at Xu Yuan.
Xu Yuan smiled and shook his head.
"I, Wu Siduo, and Xu Yucheng won't be participating in the upcoming exchange matches."
With that, he stepped aside with Wu Siduo and Xu Yucheng.
Xiao Tiantian was confused but could only focus his determination on performing well and defeating the remaining ten from Shrek, forcing Xu Yuan and the other two to step up.
Seeing the mindset of his students, Li Zhilong sighed inwardly.
Without experiencing storms, how could one see rainbows?
He hoped that today, his students would witness truly gifted soul masters and work harder in their future cultivation.
"Wulin, you take command next."
"Alright."
Xu Yuan handed over command to Tang Wulin.
The battles were intense.
But the outcome was overwhelmingly one-sided.
Whether it was the three one-on-one duels or the subsequent seven-versus-seven team battle, Shrek's side achieved total victory.
The Celestial Star Soul Academy fell silent.
Including Captain Xiao Tiantian, all the students felt immense pressure and an indescribable sense of defeat.
These battles won't be described in detail to avoid being labeled as filler. Instead, we'll skip ahead. The most important part of this segment lies in the opportunities that follow.
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