"The twenty-first round of the Preliminary Tournament is about to begin. Will the two teams competing in the first match please prepare to take the stage!"
The official host's booming voice rang throughout the arena through the Amplification Soul Tool, reaching the competing academies' private rest areas with equal clarity.
"It's time. Let's go."
On Skywater Academy's side, Shui Bing'er rose first, then led her team out of the rest area toward the Main Central Spirit Fighting Platform.
Shui Wuxiang, their supervising teacher who never actually supervised anything, also rose leisurely from her seat and followed the team.
Before leaving the rest area, however, she deliberately glanced toward the distant VIP Seating Area, hoping to find the handsome figure she had privately designated as her daughter's future husband.
Yet she found nothing.
Ever since the opening ceremony, His Highness the Holy Son had not appeared in the VIP Seating Area again, much to Shui Wuxiang's regret.
Before Shui Bing'er and the others took the stage, Blazing Academy and Godwind Academy, which shared roots and branches with Skywater Academy, naturally came over to offer encouragement.
Huo Wu took Shui Bing'er's little hand and drew her aside, whispering with her for quite some time. Huo Wu seemed to have promised her something, turning Shui Bing'er's hazily beautiful face rosy red.
Meanwhile.
In a somewhat secluded corner of the rest area, Tang San stood and looked around at the six teammates gathered beside him, speaking with the authority of the team's guiding spirit:
"There isn't much time. The match is about to begin, so I'll say a few final words."
"Skywater Academy is difficult to deal with. Since the Preliminary Tournament began, they've lost only one match, and even that was a voluntary forfeit, not a defeat through inferior strength."
"Results like