Traditional Skills
The two teams quickly recovered and, after several days of arduous travel, finally arrived at Star Luo City. Star Luo City is the capital of the Star Luo Empire, as well as its political, cultural, and economic center. Of course, compared to the status of the imperial capital, Star Luo City's economic influence is not significant.
Lacking other industries and not being a hub of trade routes, Star Luo City's economic influence stems from the investments and consumption of two groups: nobles and Soul Master. Simply put, it comes from land, luxury goods, and commercial taxes.
In reality, the consumption level in Xingluo Star Luo City is basically at the same level as that in Shrek City, and sometimes even much higher.
The real estate in Star Luo City is one of the most important assets of the Star Luo Empire nobles, second only to the noble fiefdoms. After thousands of years of reconstruction and expansion, more than half of the land and real estate in Star Luo City now belong to the Star Luo Empire nobles, including hotels, apartments, hospitals, and auction houses.
Naturally, most of the residents of Star Luo City are either rich or noble. As the competition is about to begin, many Soul Masters have flocked to Star Luo City, including some dangerous individuals. As a result, the number of soldiers in Star Luo City has increased sharply. Near Star Luo Plaza, where the competition is being held, there are even 30,000 soldiers stationed to maintain order.
Shrek Academy, as the defending champion of the previous competition and the number one academy, enjoyed luxurious treatment, with the Star Emperor Hotel providing an incredibly luxurious top-tier suite.
The Star Emperor Hotel, a property under the Star Luo Imperial Family, has seven floors. It was specially cleared out for this competition to accommodate the participants.
Of course, there are as many as 133 participating academies in this competition. The Star Emperor Hotel is short of rooms. Except for a few academies that can enjoy VIP treatment and each teammate has a private bedroom, such as the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy of the four empires, Shrek Academy, Elemental Academy, and the affiliated academies of first-class sects, the rest of the academies have to squeeze together and are divided into communal rooms according to gender.
After checking into the Star Emperor Hotel, Wang Yan immediately gathered the team members and began explaining the competition process.
In reality, excluding the seven reserve players, more than half of the seven main players are first-time participants with limited experience. Moreover, the competition format varies depending on the country and city, so it is not entirely the same.
The first round of this competition was an elimination tournament, a seven-on-seven team battle. It lasted three days from the draw to the end, eliminating more than half of the teams. After that, the teams were divided into groups of nine.
The second round is a round-robin format, and it is a randomly selected round-robin format, with one of three modes drawn: Single Battle, two-on-two and three-on-three cooperative battles, and seven-on-seven team battles.
The first round of the competition is practically a leisurely affair for the seven main players. Unless they encounter a few academies, they are certain to win easily.
Even after ten thousand years, with continuous innovation in cultivation theories, those who reach the Soul King level before the age of twenty are still considered super geniuses. In each competition, even in the era of the strong, there are still fewer than twenty such individuals.
All seven members of the main team are at least Soul King, and some even have two Soul Emperors. In a seven-on-seven team battle, unless they encounter Seven-in-One Fusion Skill or Soul King -level Martial Soul Fusion Skill, they will never be able to suffer an unexpected defeat.
Of course, once you enter the second round, you still need to be careful in the game to prevent the use of exchange tactics.
If the second round involves random coordinated attacks, then a piece-trading tactic is very likely to emerge.
In coordinated operations, three matches are required: two 2v2 matches and one 3v3 match. The three teams should typically be paired with teams of varying strengths in order to achieve more victories.
However, if the opponent possesses Soul King, they can use a strategy of exchanging pieces, using Soul Ancestor against a Soul Emperor, or Soul King against Soul King. If our side is careless, we might even suffer an unexpected defeat.
Shrek's students are elites, but they can only defeat some Soul Master the same level, not all of them. Moreover, most Soul Master have trump cards, and it is not uncommon for the weak to defeat the strong. For example, the leader of the bandits on the surveillance mission almost seriously injured the seven main members, including two Soul Emperors and five Soul Kings.
While possessing elite strength and the strongest overall abilities, they are not invincible among their peers.
After explaining the competition rules, Wang Yan called out the captain and vice-captain and proposed replacing some team members. Of course, Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng, both Soul Emperors, immediately refused. The seven of them had been training together for a long time, and how could they accept being replaced so abruptly?
Wang Yan argued forcefully that the selected team represents the dignity of the academy and needs to ensure a successful defense of their title.
The core of the main team consists of two Soul Emperors. In the event of unforeseen circumstances, such as a special Soul Skill, if either of the two Soul Emperors were to perish, who among the remaining teammates could shoulder such a responsibility?
Chen Zifeng is Power Attack System, but weapon Soul Master have high attack but low defense, so they cannot be used as front-line tanks. Without Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng, the main team would collapse as soon as they charged in.
Yao Haoxuan is a Beast Soul Master, but all his Soul Skill are control-based, making him unsuitable as a front-line fighter. Moreover, Beast Soul Master cultivate control-based skills, and their control range is inferior to that of Weapon Soul Master, resulting in many disadvantages. For example, the Jade Phosphorus Snake's rare area control is indiscriminate, affecting both friend and foe.
Under such circumstances, once the enemy replaces two of our Soul Emperors and five Soul Kings, none of them will be able to put up a fight.
A favorable Tailwind makes you strong, while an unfavorable wind makes you weak. However, a competition is not always Tailwind, nor is it always as expected. Ten thousand years ago, in the battle that made Tang San famous, the three Soul Kings of the Spirit Hall's Golden Generation were still overturned. This shows that even in a crushing situation, precautions must be taken.
Jiang Nannan's third Soul Skill, Instant Movement, combined with her fourth Soul Skill, Invincible Golden Body, serves as a safety net. In a Tailwind or overwhelming situation, it is naturally not as powerful as a Soul King, but it can certainly prevent a disadvantageous situation and prevent an unexpected upset.
Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng had no way to refute this argument. As the captain, he not only needed to consider his teammates, but also shoulder his responsibilities. The Shrek Seven Monsters' responsibility was of course to defend their title. Unless it involved matters of principle, other things should give way to this.
Unable to refute the claims, Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng separately approached Chen Zifeng and Yao Haoxuan to explain the situation privately.
The two players were dejected, but they still expressed their understanding. Even though they might miss the finals, and even though the decision was extremely painful, they both offered to substitute themselves to save the other team.
Chen Zifeng believes that in seven-on-seven team battles, control skills are much more important, and he should be replaced.
Yao Haoxuan suggested that Power Attack System are more effective, and that he is inferior to Ling Luochen in both range and distance, so he should be replaced.
Seeing this, Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng were unwilling to make a decision, so they simply pushed the question back and replied to Wang Yan with the same words.
Wang Yan decided to compromise: Jiang Nannan would join the main team to train teamwork, while Chen Zifeng and Yao Haoxuan would retain their spots and play normally in matches. However, if they encountered a strong team, Jiang Nannan would randomly replace one of them to ensure the team would not have any problems.
Chen Zifeng and Yao Haoxuan, the two team members, were overjoyed and readily agreed. Thus, Jiang Nannan left the reserve team to participate in the regular training. Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, Ning Tian, and Wu Feng remained hostile towards each other, spending their days idly by.
Anyway, they lack playing time, so it doesn't matter whether they win or lose. Unless the seven main players suffer a serious injury, their daily routine is either serving tea and water or cheering. Whether they are leisurely or busy, it's still a day. Fighting among themselves is more fulfilling.