In the blink of an eye, the promotion matches of the Soul Master Tournament had begun.
Early this morning, the teams from the Tiandou Empire region and several kingdoms and duchies within its borders gathered at the gates of Tiandou City.
Following the designated order, all the teams lined up single file behind the Royal Knights.
The venue for this promotion round was the Royal Hunting Grounds.
During peacetime, this was the training ground for the Royal Knights. When royal family members needed to hunt, they would come here, protected by the Royal Knights.
However, royal family members rarely chose to hunt here. Even when they did, they preferred places like Sunset Forest rather than the heavily guarded Royal Hunting Grounds.
The Seven Treasures Team led the way among the teams and were the first to reach the hilltop.
As they arrived, they saw the soldiers of the Royal Knights neatly arranged on both sides of the road, their discipline impeccable, their movements precise.
The Royal Knights, also known as the Imperial Guard, were responsible for protecting the royal family. Naturally, they were the strongest army in the Tiandou Empire.
Most of these soldiers weren't soul masters, but when fighting together, they could still hold their own against ordinary soul masters.
Ning Tianchen and the others paid no attention to the soldiers and quickly entered the competition grounds.
Around the competition grounds, there were numerous tents. Since they had entered the venue early, they had the first pick of locations.
"How about choosing one on the side? It's a bit far from most of the other tents, so we won't be disturbed by others," Ning Tianchen suggested.
The Royal Hunting Grounds wasn't very large, and with the tents for each team placed closely together, noise was inevitable.
No one objected, and everyone nodded in agreement.
After assigning rooms, teachers Ke Jie and Sun Buyu quickly approached the referee to submit the team roster and prepare for the upcoming draw.
"No audience means it'll be much quieter," Feng Xiaotian said lazily, leaning back in his chair.
The preliminary rounds were held indoors, where echoes were common.
And since the arena stage was located in the center of the venue, sounds came from all directions, making it quite noisy.
Chen Huayu stretched out on the sofa and yawned. "I hope we don't face the Shrek Team in the first match. Otherwise, it'll be too boring."
Ning Tianchen scolded him, "You can't just lie around. The schedule for the promotion matches is tight. After the opening ceremony ends, the matches will begin immediately."
"The team that finishes first in the promotion matches will have a bye in the second round of the finals. In this tournament, the Spirit Hall Team is our main rival. This bye will give us a chance to observe their strength."
"In the finals, our opponent will most likely be the Spirit Hall Team. We need to especially figure out their abilities."
The Spirit Hall publicly claimed that there was no cheating in the draw.
But in reality, in the previous two tournaments, the strong teams only faced each other after the third round.
Anyone with eyes could see they were manipulating the results, but such draws suited everyone's interests, so no one ever brought it up.
After all, it would be frustrating if a team with the potential to finish second ended up facing the eventual champions in the first round.
Aside from the three teams that advanced directly to the finals, the strengths of the other teams were fairly clear after the preliminary and promotion rounds.
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The fifteen qualifying teams gradually entered, and the opening ceremony for the promotion matches began.
Each team had a separate rest area below the arena. Before the opening ceremony started, they had already moved from their respective tents to this location.
On the high seats above, Ning Fengzhi, Xue Ye, and Salas were once again present.
The difference this time was that Xue Ye didn't seem to plan on staying long—there were fewer attendants by his side. Moreover, he was actively courting members of the major kingdom and duchy teams.
Of course, before these teams even arrived at the venue, their respective kings had already promised them benefits, sometimes even more enticing than what Xue Ye offered.
Compared to the Tiandou Empire, these kingdoms and duchies were even more lacking in talent.
After the opening ceremony concluded, the principals or head instructors of each team went up to the stage to draw lots.
It's worth noting that the Seven Treasures Team's rest area was right next to the Beast Academy Team's.
While waiting for the draw results, Chen Huayu poked Ning Tianchen's sleeve and whispered, "Boss, the way that woman is looking at you seems a bit off. Could it be—"
Before he could finish, Yu Die pulled him aside and reminded him, "Don't talk about this kind of thing in front of Rongrong."
Chen Huayu gave an awkward smile and didn't dare say more.
Ning Tianchen deliberately stood behind his teammates to avoid being seen by Meng Yiran.
There was no emotional connection between him and Meng Yiran—they weren't even friends.
Her actions were likely authorized by her family, aiming to use this opportunity to build ties with the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.
This kind of situation wasn't something Ning Tianchen could openly address. He couldn't exactly tell Meng Yiran, "Stop looking at me, and don't like me."
If he did, it would just make things awkward.
Not long after, Sun Buyu returned early to the team's rest area.
"Teacher Sun, how did the draw go?" Everyone hurriedly asked.
Sun Buyu replied, "The draw isn't over yet, but in the first match of the first round, our opponent is the Beast Academy Team from the Haagen-Dazs Kingdom. The principal instructed me to inform you first. Once the draw ends, we'll prepare for the match."
The Beast Academy—just hearing the name made it clear that the team's members primarily had beast-type martial souls. And their fighting style was undoubtedly going to be quite wild.
"This team hasn't seemed to participate in any duels at the Tiandou Grand Spirit Arena recently, so we don't know much about them," Ning Tianchen mused, stroking his chin as he thought about the lineup.
Feng Xiaotian pointed into the distance and said, "That's the Beast Team's rest area over there. Those burly guys might be their members."
Chen Huayu exclaimed, "Wow, they're even taller than the guys from the Elephant Armor Team!"
Their towering builds obviously indicated they were power-type soul masters.
This wouldn't be an easy fight!
Sun Buyu, who had some knowledge, added, "The Beast Academy was founded by a reclusive sect. Their inherited martial soul is the Snow Mountain Mammoth, which is different from the Diamond Mammoth of the Elephant Armor Sect. This martial soul has impressive defense, and its attack power and strength are exceptionally formidable."
Ning Tianchen patted Chen Huayu on the shoulder. "You're the power-type soul master in our team, so you'll take the lead and test their strength. Second, Huang will go up.
"I'll go third, and Xiaotian will guard the final position."
On the first day of the promotion matches, the teams didn't know much about each other. Completing a seven-match sweep was simply unrealistic.
"Yu Die, Cai Die, and Zhu Qing, you three are agility-attack type soul masters with weaker defenses. If you can't break through your opponent's defense, just concede directly to avoid getting injured."
Bao Zhen was a control-type soul master, and she had no advantage against power-type soul masters, so she wouldn't participate in this match.
Feng Xiaotian added, "Looking at the fluctuations of their soul power, there are at least six Soul Ancestors among them. This Beast Team, in past years, would have been at least a top-six contender in the tournament."
"Unfortunately for them, they've run into us. This match—they're destined to lose!"
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