Round-Robin Tournament

Round-Robin Tournament

Because the Knockout Tournament had been held on the first day, the Shrek Academy team had been able to rest well over the next two days. Wang Yan had been the busiest during that time. It was not until the evening of the third day of the tournament that he gathered all the team members in the conference room for a meeting.

"Xiaotao, how are the three of you recovering from your injuries?" Wang Yan's gaze first fell on Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, and Ling Luochen.

Ma Xiaotao said, "We've been able to recuperate peacefully these past few days, so the recovery has been going quite well. There won't be any problem making a full recovery in half a month. If I have to fight, I should be able to do so in ten days, but it may aggravate the injury further."

Dai Yueheng said, "My situation is about the same."

Ling Luochen nodded as well. "Normal recovery."

"That's good," Wang Yan said.

Only then did he turn his attention to Ye Qingchen and the others. "In the first match, you showed the spirit of Shrek Academy. More accurately, you made Shrek's glory shine with incomparable brilliance. Over the past two days, I've been observing the other academies' matches while also listening to the various reactions to our first battle. The results have been far better than expected."

Ye Qingchen smiled faintly. "Of course. The Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring alone was enough to scare them to death, not to mention that mine is the real deal."

Wang Yan frowned slightly. "All right, then. Let's discuss our tactics for the upcoming Round-Robin Tournament. As I said before, there will be three battle formats during this stage. Given the strength we displayed in the first round, there is no doubt that our group will have only eight teams."

"A total of sixty-seven teams will enter the Round-Robin Tournament, divided into eight groups. Three groups will have nine teams, while the remaining five will have eight. In other words, we will play seven matches during the group stage. Each victory earns two points, a loss earns none, and a draw earns one point. Four groups will compete each day, with one round taking two days. After seven rounds, along with the additional matches for the nine-team groups, the Round-Robin Tournament is expected to last fifteen or sixteen days. Around the fourth round, Ling Luochen will return. If all goes well, Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng will also return by the sixth round. At that point, our strength will increase tremendously."

"We won't know our group or our opponents until tomorrow morning. Given our reputation, we will still be the first to compete in the Round-Robin Tournament. The foremost point of my tactical arrangement is to have Qingchen suppress our opponents as much as possible."

Seeing the surprise in everyone's eyes, Wang Yan explained, "Ye Qingchen's Soul Ring in the first match was indeed outrageous. To any ordinary soul master, it would seem impossible for something like that to truly exist. But we are Shrek Academy. That will lead some academies that do not know us well to misunderstand things somewhat. In the Round-Robin Tournament, as long as Ye Qingchen keeps fighting while holding back to some extent, the fear in their hearts will persist. That will be extremely beneficial to our overall battles."

"In the one-on-one knockout format, one person does not simply go up and fight a single match. The loser leaves the stage, while the winner can continue fighting until defeated. This continues until all seven members of one side have been eliminated."

"The final format is a two-two-three battle. Generally, there are first two two-versus-two matches, followed by a three-versus-three match. If we win both two-versus-two matches, then there will be no need for the third match."

"That is the basic arrangement," Wang Yan said. "For us, the latter two formats are actually the most advantageous."

"Yes," the Outer Courtyard members answered in unison.

Wang Yan rose to his feet. "Everyone, rest well tonight and bring yourselves to your best condition. No one is allowed to leave. Meeting adjourned."

The first round of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament had finally ended. The emotions of the spectators who had watched the matches in Star Luo City had also been thoroughly stirred.

To control the congestion of the queues, the Star Luo Empire naturally raised the admission fees and made another huge profit. There were no explicit rules regarding rewards, but no nation would make a joke of its own reputation. They would always produce some good prizes.

The knockout format made the matches exceptionally exciting and intense. Although the officials had done their best to prevent casualties, nearly two hundred participating team members still suffered injuries of varying severity after the first round.

With the Knockout Tournament over, the second stage, the Round-Robin Tournament, began next. Although the Round-Robin Tournament was not as intense as the Knockout Tournament, it had its own advantages: rich and varied rules. The three match formats would be decided by drawing lots, every match would offer its own kind of excitement, and after the first round of elimination, the remaining academy teams would be stronger as well.

Today was the fourth day of the tournament. Early in the morning, the spectators' cheers were already echoing continuously through Star Luo Square. The Shrek Academy team they most wanted to see was about to appear again.

The beginning of the Round-Robin Tournament also meant the competitors' rest areas were open. Today was only the first round of the Round-Robin Tournament, and four of the eight groups would compete.

When the dark green competition uniforms appeared at the entrance passage for the participating academies, all of Star Luo Square erupted.

Ye Qingchen walked at the very front of the team, intimidating their opponents. Shrek Academy's rest area was located at the northernmost side, closest to the imperial city wall, and it was visibly larger than those of the other academies.

There were a full twenty comfortable sofas in the area, along with dedicated attendants. The other academies' treatment was actually similar, but they had no attendants. More importantly, their rest areas were much smaller than Shrek Academy's.

At this moment, the host was already warming up the crowd. He first announced the list of academies that had passed the first round, then began introducing the groupings.

Just as Wang Yan had predicted, Shrek Academy's group contained a total of eight academy teams.

After a string of meaningless words meant to stir up the crowd, the host shouted in his most impassioned voice, "Next, please welcome the representatives of the continent's number one academy, Shrek Academy, and their opponents, the representatives of the Star Luo Empire's Cloud Luo Advanced Soul Engineer Academy, to the preparation area! At the same time, please invite the captains of both teams onto the stage to determine their match format!"

At Wang Yan's signal, Ye Qingchen stood and walked toward the stage. Cloud Luo Advanced Soul Engineer Academy's captain was a burly man. The two stepped onto the competition stage at the same time. The process of drawing the match format was simple. The referee brought a round lottery drum onto the stage and first had both captains inspect it carefully.

The referee inserted three small balls representing the different battle formats through an opening, then turned the opening upward and had the two men each brace the large sphere with one hand.

The referee shouted, "Three, two, one!"

Ye Qingchen and the opposing captain exerted force at the same time, flinging the large sphere into the air. The referee caught a small ball in one hand while retrieving the large ball as it fell. After showing the small ball to both captains, he signaled toward His Majesty the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire atop the imperial city wall, then loudly announced through the soul tool amplifier he carried with him.

"Shrek Academy versus Cloud Luo Academy will use the one-on-one individual knockout format. Please have both sides send out their first competitors."