The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament had officially begun.
On the morning of the opening ceremony, Zhu Ziyang stepped out of his bedroom. A few seconds later, Ma Xiaotao followed. Her face was glowing, clearly well-rested from the previous night.
A few minutes later, the Shrek team assembled in the living room. They formed two rows, with main team members in front and reserve members in back. The front row, from left to right, consisted of Jiang Nannan, Qian Lingyi, Diwu Huan'er, Ning Tian, Chu Hua, and Zhou Tianhe. Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao stood facing them.
Zhu Ziyang did his best to avoid looking at the expressions of the three girls—Jiang Nannan, Qian Lingyi, and Diwu Huan'er—all of whom wore faces full of resentment and frustration. These past few days, he'd been monopolized by Ma Xiaotao, and they were not happy about it. Diwu Huan'er was relatively fine with it—she and Ma Xiaotao had a sisterly relationship, and her bold personality didn't shy from showing affection to Zhu Ziyang regardless of who was watching.
But Jiang Nannan and Qian Lingyi were different. Both were shy and reserved, not yet bold enough to act openly. So they had voiced their complaints to Zhu Ziyang, though Ma Xiaotao brushed them off as "official matters" and remained unfazed.
Fortunately, this situation only lasted a couple of days. With the tournament starting, the three girls had to rein in their jealous antics.
"Ahem." Zhu Ziyang cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention. He said, "The draw results came out yesterday. We've received a bye in the first round and earned twelve points directly."
"Uh…" Everyone exchanged looks, unsure whether this was good or bad.
"Senior Brother, isn't getting a bye a good thing?" Reserve team member Cao Jin Xuan raised his hand with a puzzled expression, not understanding why the main team looked so conflicted.
"It's both good and bad," Zhu Ziyang said with a smile. "The good is obvious: we advance directly to the second round and save our energy. The bad? We lose the chance to make a strong first impression. In previous tournaments, the opening match has always been fought by Shrek Academy. That's a matter of pride."
"Then we really lost out, didn't we?" Reserve team member Xie Huanyue exclaimed.
"Heh, it's not a big deal. The reason behind the Sun Moon Empire's decision isn't hard to guess. Most likely, they want their Sun Moon Imperial Soul Academy to take the spotlight in the opening match. After all, they have home-field advantage—it's understandable," Zhu Ziyang continued. "It's a provocation, yes. So when we meet them in later rounds, don't hold back. Daring to provoke Shrek Academy means they must be prepared to pay the price. Understood?"
"Understood!" everyone shouted in unison.
"Alright then, let's get moving," Ma Xiaotao said with a smile. "Even though we're skipping the first round, we still need to attend the opening ceremony. It's also a chance to size up the strength of the other sect teams."
Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao walked side by side, leading the Shrek team as they departed the hotel and headed straight to the tournament venue.
The Sun Moon Empire had built the competition grounds on the open plains east of Mingdu. The wide expanse could hold a massive crowd and allowed for a grand arena capable of supporting fierce battles.
A total of 367 teams were participating. The first round would eliminate half of them. Excluding Shrek Academy's bye, only 183 teams would proceed to the second round. Including Shrek, that made 184. Another elimination would leave 92 teams for round three. From there, 46 teams would compete for the top 32. Once the number reached 32, the preliminary rounds would end and the tournament would enter the group stage.
Every stage would include both individual knockout matches and team battles. The theoretical maximum score for a round was twelve points. In the final round of the preliminaries, team points would determine advancement—those with the lowest fourteen scores would be eliminated.
When the Shrek team arrived at the venue, the area was already packed. Normally a sparsely visited place, the outskirts of Mingdu were now a sea of people. The Sun Moon Empire had dispatched over 30,000 soldiers just to maintain order—an indication of the massive crowd.
The grounds were divided into two major zones: spectator area and competition area. The spectator area was split into many smaller blocks, each able to hold up to 5,000 people. These surrounded the central competition zone, which prominently featured the massive arena.
The arena itself stood ten meters high with a diameter of around 120 meters. It shimmered with a metallic silver sheen, clearly built entirely from metal—a testament to the Sun Moon Empire's formidable national strength.
What caught everyone's attention even more was the circular trench around the arena. From it, translucent golden energy barriers rose high into the sky. Looking up, one couldn't even see the top. Zhu Ziyang estimated these barriers reached at least 5,000 meters into the air!
That kind of energy output was terrifying. Even a Soul Sage would be needed to project soul power to that height. That meant each of these trenches emitted Soul Sage-level power. Maybe Soul Sages were stationed underneath every trench? That would be insane—there were at least 300 such trenches. Could the Sun Moon Empire really afford to stage such a display with 300 Soul Sages?
Surely their rulers weren't that brainless.
These energy walls acted as the arena's boundaries. Their towering height made ring-out victories nearly impossible. Victory could only be achieved through outright defeat of the opponent.
Surrounding the arena, every 100 meters stood a giant soul screen supported by a towering metal frame. Each screen was over 20 square meters in size and would display the match in full detail. Over a hundred of these screens were evenly distributed across the spectator zones.
Only the Sun Moon Empire could pull off such a feat. The other three nations would be lucky to provide even a hundred soul screens total.
The competitor rest area was located east of the arena and divided into distinct tiers. The closest zones had the best amenities—awnings, sofas, and personal attendants. Only two such top-tier areas existed: one for Shrek Academy and one for the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Academy. Behind them were areas with only awnings and regular chairs. The furthest had nothing but benches.
When Zhu Ziyang and company arrived, many teams were already seated. Some sat on benches, others on chairs. Seeing the Shrek team, many looked on with envy, resentment, or both.
Zhu Ziyang ignored these stares and calmly walked to the best rest zone, sitting at the central sofa like he belonged there—because he did. The rest of the team followed suit. With Ma Xiaotao and Jiang Nannan on either side, Zhu Ziyang looked like he was enjoying the attention—because he was.
Ignoring the jealous looks from the other male teammates, Zhu Ziyang turned his attention to the incoming teams. Some were familiar faces: the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Academy, just across a thin curtain from them. Meng Hongchen's flirtatious glances were intercepted immediately by both Ma Xiaotao and Jiang Nannan.
Others included the Star Luo Imperial Academy led by Xu Jiuyou, the Snow Demon Sect team led by Wei Na, and the Tang Sect team with Tang Ya and Huo Yuhao. Lastly, there was the Falan Academy team led by Yang Zhenzhen, who had already visited on the day Shrek arrived. Jiang Nannan had even taken her sightseeing around Mingdu.
Soon, all the teams arrived. Every seat in the rest area was filled, indicating all officially recognized teams were present.
At this moment, something new occurred…
(End of Chapter)
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