After Juzi's speech concluded, the head referee took the stage to formally announce the tournament rules. Of course, Zhu Ziyang and the others were already familiar with the regulations, so there wasn't much worth noting. Once the rules were read out, the tournament officially began.
Traditionally, the opening match would feature the reigning champions—Shrek Academy's team. However, since Shrek had drawn a bye in the first round and advanced directly to the second, the honor of the opening match was passed on to the previous tournament's runner-up—Sun Moon Imperial Soul Academy.
Thus, the first match of the tournament: Sun Moon Imperial Soul Academy vs. Dragon Slayer Sect.
Zhu Ziyang barely glanced at the Sun Moon team—they were all familiar faces. What caught his eye was the Dragon Slayer Sect's seven contestants. All of them looked supremely confident, showing not even a hint of fear. It wasn't as if they didn't know the reputation of Sun Moon Imperial Soul Academy; the only explanation was that they were genuinely overconfident and looked down on the academy system.
This was not uncommon. Historically, sect-trained soul masters had generally outperformed their academy-trained counterparts. That said, perhaps these sect members were too isolated—and a little too self-assured?
Zhu Ziyang shook his head with a helpless smile, as if feeling sorry for the Dragon Slayer Sect.
As the match began, the first contestant for Sun Moon Imperial Soul Academy was none other than the vice-captain, Meng Hongchen. Being the opening match, and on home turf no less, they naturally wanted a spectacular and decisive victory.
Meng Hongchen took to the stage amid a thunderous wave of cheering. Her beautiful figure was projected in the air on a massive soul tool screen above the arena, accompanied by a simple line of text:
"Meng Hongchen, 19 years old, Vice-Captain of Sun Moon Imperial Soul Academy's team, student of the Academy, member of Mingde Hall."
Just this brief introduction was enough to ignite the passion of the Sun Moon Empire's citizens. In that moment, Meng Hongchen became the embodiment of national pride.
By contrast, the Dragon Slayer Sect contestant received no such treatment. In fact, this privilege was reserved solely for members of the Sun Moon team. It was a simple matter of home-field advantage. Such displays only affected the audience's morale; for the contestants themselves, it meant little.
"Tch, such a grand production," Ma Xiaotao couldn't help clicking her tongue. "Makes me a little jealous. I wonder if we'll get the same treatment."
"Heh, don't count on it, Sister Xiaotao," Zhu Ziyang chuckled. "If we did get that kind of treatment, then I'd really start to worry."
"Brother, watch the match. Stop talking!" Jiang Nannan gently pulled Zhu Ziyang's gaze back to the arena, her pretty face pouting just slightly in protest.
The match was, frankly, one-sided. The Dragon Slayer Sect sent out a Soul King with optimal soul ring configuration—but against Meng Hongchen, who not only had optimal rings but was already a Soul Emperor, the difference was overwhelming. She easily defeated the first opponent, then swiftly took down the second with equal ease.
However, just when everyone thought she would sweep all seven opponents, Meng Hongchen suddenly chose to concede and step down.
Sun Moon's second contestant was a Soul King—or rather, a Fifth-Class Soul Engineer. The Dragon Slayer Sect responded by sending out their captain, also a Soul King. After a hard-fought match, the Sun Moon team member narrowly emerged victorious, thanks to clever and flexible use of soul tool tactics.
With their captain defeated, Dragon Slayer Sect lost any hope of advancing. This first clash between Academy and Sect ended in a clean sweep for the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Academy!
Indeed, Sun Moon finished the round with 11 points, easily advancing. No one was surprised—except perhaps some sects still clinging to their arrogance and isolation.
As the opening match concluded, the second match immediately followed. With 366 teams and 183 matches to complete in five days, the schedule was extremely tight—requiring at least 38 matches per day.
Despite the tight pacing, the matches were thrilling and full of excitement. As elimination rounds, every team gave their all—at least on the surface. The intensity led to a few violent clashes, but thanks to the professionalism of the Sun Moon Empire's referee corps, no deaths occurred.
By noon, the first twelve matches had concluded. Twelve teams advanced to the second round, and twelve were eliminated—out of the tournament for good.
Among the advancing teams, aside from Sun Moon Academy, only the Snow Demon Sect from the Heaven Soul Empire stood out. They too earned 11 points. As the Heaven Soul Empire's de facto royal team, their captain was naturally Princess Wei Na, though the one who took the field was the young woman always trailing behind her—Mu Xue, the Snow Demon Sect's young sect mistress and a Soul King.
The midday break was brief—just half an hour. Most spectators remained seated, though the contestants scattered to rest.
The afternoon featured 15 more matches, even more intense than the morning. After a short dinner break, the evening session began with 11 matches. This time, the audience was stunned once again by the Sun Moon Empire's soul tool technology.
The arena was as bright as day. Nearly a hundred soul tool lamps were suspended overhead, casting a soft, non-blinding light that made the whole venue feel like daytime.
Around 9 p.m., the first day of competition concluded—38 matches total, 38 teams advancing. Among them were both veteran academy teams and rising sect dark horses. However, to the crowd's slight disappointment, there were no 1v7 sweeps. The question of which team would earn the first full sweep remained unanswered.
Back at the hotel, Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan relaxed in the tea lounge. They ordered drinks and sank into the plush sofa, eyes half-lidded as they lazily watched the passersby.
"Brother, I wish we could stay like this forever," Jiang Nannan murmured, curling into his arms. Her slender arms wrapped around one of his, and her delicate fingers traced the lines of his palm in playful idleness.
"Sure. I'll listen to whatever you say," Zhu Ziyang replied, gently pressing his chin to the top of her head, voice full of pampering warmth.
"Zhu Ziyang, Nannan—you two are just too much!" A familiar voice interrupted. "Showing off your love like this in public? Ever think about the rest of us?" They didn't even need to look—it was obviously Tang Ya.
"You're back late, Xiao Ya," Jiang Nannan stayed nestled in Zhu Ziyang's arms, not even bothering to get up. Her voice was as languid as her posture.
Tang Ya flopped down on the sofa across from them, her pretty face torn between exasperation and envy. "We were out gathering intel on potential opponents. Unlike you two, we can't afford to slack off. So jealous…"
"Senior Brother, Senior Sister Nannan." Huo Yuhao walked over, holding hands with Xiao Xiao. They followed the couple's example—Xiao Xiao curled into Huo Yuhao's lap, and he gently held her in his arms.
"You too, Yuhao? Xiao Xiao?" Tang Ya stared, stunned.
"Heehee, Teacher Xiao Ya, it's really comfy this way," Xiao Xiao said with a sweet smile. "Right, Yuhao?"
"Mhm!" Huo Yuhao nodded earnestly. Their relationship had been progressing rapidly for the past six months. Though there was still the wildcard of Wang Dong'er, the bond between Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao had only grown stronger.
As for Wang Dong'er… well… Huo Yuhao could only scratch his head in awkward silence. He was trying to learn from his idol and senior brother—and was already making some progress.
(End of Chapter)
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