Why It Is Considered a Good Omen

Why It Is Considered a Good Draw

In the following days of the round-robin tournament, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy faced no real difficulties, though they did not draw another team battle. In one of the one-on-one matches, Lin Xi, a defense-type soul master, borrowed a cannon from Ma Rulong and took out four opponents in a row. After the fourth opponent was eliminated, the opposing captain could not help but concede.

Facing the weaker pure soul master team mentioned earlier, they drew the two-two-three battle format. In the second two-on-two match, Wang Dong teamed up with Xiao Xiafeng; facing one Soul Ancestor and one Soul Elder, they won quite smoothly.

A clean sweep in the round-robin was no surprise.

On the other side, Shrek Academy also remained undefeated. The tactics provided by Wang Yan played a significant role, and Ling Luochen was pushed to the brink of exhaustion in almost every match. In the final two-two-three match before Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng were cleared to play, the three-on-three lineup consisted of Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, and Jiang Nannan. In the end, Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu were forced to use the Hell White Tiger to barely secure a victory.

During this time, Dai Huabin always felt a stabbing pain in his head whenever he manifested the Hell White Tiger.

In the later matches, once all three starting members were able to compete, Shrek's situation improved significantly. With two Soul Emperors, Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng, holding the line, the number of people betting on Shrek to win the championship in the casinos increased once again.

Since both teams advanced as group winners, it was impossible for them to meet in the round of sixteen. For the first team battle, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy sent out a lineup of six starters plus Huo Yuhao; Ma Rulong did not participate.

With six starters on the field, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy easily secured victory simply by carpet-bombing the area with soul tools. Under Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing, even though the opponents set up a defensive formation, their positions remained impossible to hide.

These carpet-bombing soul tools were specifically chosen by Ma Rulong and Xiao Hongchen, two people with plenty of devious tricks up their sleeves. While Ma Rulong didn't show it on the surface, he had just as many wild ideas as Xiao Hongchen.

They selected a batch of soul tools with flashy effects but average power, along with another batch that possessed genuine lethality, and mixed them together for the participating members. Even Huo Yuhao was equipped with two third-level soul tools.

However, the lethality of Huo Yuhao's two pieces against the opponents was effectively zero, though they made quite a racket—they were essentially used as fireworks.

Until now, Huo Yuhao had never truly made a move. Every time he appeared in a team battle, he looked like a mere accessory, but as the tournament progressed, other teams grew increasingly wary of him. After all, if he were truly useless, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy would have no reason to have him stand in as an accessory for every team battle.

Consequently, the opponents did not dare to be the least bit negligent toward Huo Yuhao's soul tools.

Watching the opponents scramble to set up defenses, only to have the explosions against their shields turn out to be nothing more than crackling firecrackers, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but secretly mock the two captains: Too devious, but worth learning from.

The subsequent individual matches were handled by Li Yan, another starter who was not very close with Huo Yuhao. After Li Yan defeated three opponents, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy's clean sweep in the round of sixteen was declared.

The children's perfect victory was within Yu Rufeng's expectations, but he frowned repeatedly while watching Shrek's matches.

In the match against the Dou Spirit Royal Academy, Shrek's two Soul Emperors finally appeared together, bringing great shock to the audience. Ma Xiaotao, in particular, seemed to have been pent up for too long; she unleashed several of her soul skills right from the start, and in coordination with Xu Sanshi's Mysterious Underworld Displacement, she crushed the opponents. In the individual matches, Dai Yueheng also displayed astonishing combat power.

He was quite familiar with Dai Yueheng; the information provided by the academy included this student's performance data from the previous tournament. However, this was his first time seeing Ma Xiaotao's abilities. Seeing the terrifying flames on the field, he couldn't help but feel a sense of trepidation.

After the round of sixteen concluded, the draw for the quarterfinals was held immediately, followed by a few days of rest to allow the teams time to prepare.

Ma Rulong went to handle the draw again. As he walked onto the stage, Xiao Hongchen was still teasing his elder brother from the side: "Who knows what kind of draw his luck will get us this time? Anyway, it won't be..."

He stopped mid-sentence. Everyone's eyes were fixed on the slip Ma Rulong had pulled out, their expressions each more colorful than the last. Huo Yuhao felt his right eyelid twitch as he watched Ma Rulong hand the slip to the host.

The host glanced at the slip and announced loudly:

"Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, versus Shrek Academy!"

Instantly, the entire arena erupted.

"He actually drew them!" Xiao Hongchen's voice trembled with excitement.

"Are you still going to talk about him?" Huo Yuhao looked at the excited captain beside him.

"So it turns out Ma's bad luck all this time was just him saving up his fortune for this very moment!"

On the Shrek side, the atmosphere turned heavy upon hearing the draw results, whereas the mood on the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy side was soaring.

This was, of course, a good draw. Meeting Shrek in the quarterfinals meant they could face them at their peak condition, as the round of sixteen hadn't drained their stamina. However, if they had met other teams in the quarterfinals or semifinals, they would inevitably have been worn down. While the teams that made it this far likely couldn't defeat them, they all possessed the strength to put up a fight.

Yu Rufeng walked toward the team members with his arms spread wide: "Children! A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity has arrived. Especially for you starters, this should be your only chance to defeat Shrek in this tournament."

Hearing this, the six starters nodded heavily, each of their eyes burning with fighting spirit.

"Children of the reserve team, if you win this match, you will also earn the honor of being the first to defeat Shrek in ten thousand years. Furthermore, under the tactics I have devised, someone other than Huo Yuhao will be participating in the team battle."

Amidst everyone's curious gazes, Yu Rufeng named two people:

"Chi Qiu, Xiao Hongchen."

Hearing his name, Xiao Hongchen chuckled, a familiar look of pride appearing on his face, as if this were a result he had long foreseen. Chi Qiu also nodded calmly, indicating she accepted the arrangement.

Meng Hongchen and Wang Dong both looked a bit displeased. Wang Dong spoke up first: "Teacher Yu, what about me and Senior Sister Meng?"

She was clever enough to see that Meng Hongchen's expression was unhappy and dragged her into it directly.

"You just finished the round-robin not long ago; stay back and recover your strength. If we win, you can play in the semifinals or the finals," Yu Rufeng explained patiently. "Besides, the opponent's He Caitou is a fourth-level soul engineer; he will definitely play in the team battle. Are you confident that you can face a soul tool battery without any mishaps?"

Wang Dong was scolded into silence. She did indeed have an impression of He Caitou's soul tools.

"Meng Hongchen, you will be playing in the individual matches," Yu Rufeng turned to Meng Hongchen. "Your combat style leans toward one-on-one. Regardless of the team battle results, their two Soul Emperors will likely play in the individual matches. It is difficult for any of us to face those two head-on, but your power can deflect a thousand pounds with a four-ounce force."

Upon hearing that she could also participate, Meng Hongchen's displeasure vanished instantly.

"For the team battle starters: Ma Rulong, Lin Xi, Mi Jia, Chen Fei. Any objections?"

The starting members all indicated they had no objections. This combination of four was indeed the best mix of offense, defense, and mobility.

"Then it's settled," Yu Rufeng said.

As for the specific tactics, Yu Rufeng intended to lay them out once they returned to the conference room. But the group couldn't wait; as soon as the drawing ceremony ended, they hurried back to the hotel conference room, ready to hear how they would fight against Shrek.

Just as everyone had taken their seats and were about to begin discussing tactics, a knock sounded at the conference room door.

"Who is it?" Yu Rufeng asked with a sour tone, as he wanted to start formulating the tactics immediately.

A pleasant female voice came from outside the door: "Apologies for the intrusion, I am from the Starlight Auction House."