Tang Hao Shut Himself Away, Sect Drawings
The next day.
The Sect Grand Competition has officially begun.
Yu Mingxiao and Yu Yuanzhen arrived at the judges' table, where three important figures— Qian Daoliu, Qian Xunji, and Tang Chen— were already seated, making quite a grand entrance.
Behind Tang Chen stood Tang Hao and Tang Wei, while behind Qian Xunji stood two Titled Douluo from the Spirit Hall.
Yu Mingxiao was not surprised that Tang Chen would appear here. After all, he was Limit Douluo, and the Spirit Hall couldn't possibly remain silent.
The two took their seats.
Tang Hao watched as Yu Mingxiao sat down, and seeing that Qian Xunji had no objection and looked as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he clenched his fists and his heart sank.
His strength might really be as terrifying as his grandfather described.
How is he supposed to catch up?
It really is true what they say: I'll give you time to catch up, until you can't see me anymore.
Perhaps Yu Mingxiao never really cared about him from the beginning.
They are no longer from the same world...
Since Heaven was born, why was Heaven born...?
Everyone looked down at the participating teams.
This Sect Grand Competition invited the Seven Great Sects of the continent, plus several sects with potential to participate.
The so-called potential means that there are Soul Douluo within the sect.
The competition was held on the outskirts of Spirit City, where the Spirit Hall had specially built an arena.
A circle of stone pillars stood around the arena, each carved with the Martial Soul of a different sect, dividing the arena into sections.
The group from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect found the stone pillar engraved with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda pattern and settled in the corresponding area.
"Strange, where are the Clear Sky Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan?" Ning Fengzhi looked around and was puzzled when he saw that there were few people in the other two sect areas.
Ning Dingling's focus was different from his; she said, "Fengzhi, the people from the Clear Sky Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan are sitting on the judges' panel."
"Huh?" Ning Fengzhi was taken aback upon hearing this, and looked towards the judges' table, where he indeed saw Yu Yuanzhen and his son, along with Tang Chen.
What puzzled him most was that Yu Mingxiao was actually sitting with Qian Xunji. What was going on?
What's wrong with this world?
"Why are they sitting there? Aren't they supposed to be competing?!" Ning Fengzhi frowned, utterly puzzled.
"Don't rush, let's assess the situation first." Ning Dingling remained calm.
Although she couldn't understand why Yu Mingxiao was chosen to sit on the judging panel, now was not the time to investigate.
Ning Fengzhi nodded outwardly, but inwardly he felt extremely distressed, feeling that the Spirit Hall was being too unfair.
Although they are all from the Upper Three Sects, the Clear Sky Sect and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon were able to serve as judges, while the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect didn't even receive any information.
This is clearly aimed at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect; they're not even bothering to pretend anymore!
After the sect fell into decline, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's status in the Soul Master World plummeted, and he couldn't even see if the sect had a future.
On the other side, in the Starry Sky Sect Sect's area.
Ye Lingshuang came here specifically to compete for a spot among the Upper Three Sects, bringing along all three Titled Douluo she had brought from the Sun Moon Empire.
"Sect Master, it seems that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the Clear Sky Sect are not participating, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect does not have Titled Douluo combat power. We estimate that we can become Upper Three Sects this time," Toad Douluo said with a soft laugh.
He voluntarily followed Yu Mingxiao to the Douluo Continent, and when he left Sun Moon Continent, he decided to settle down here, moving his entire family over as well.
"Okay." Ye Lingshuang nodded and instructed, "Once we get to the Soul Fighting Platform, give it your all. Don't underestimate your opponents or be careless. Show the spirit of our sect."
"Yes!" everyone responded.
Seeing that most of the sects had arrived, Qian Xunji stood up and said with a smile, "Everyone, welcome to Spirit City for this Sect Grand Competition!"
"The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the Clear Sky Sect possess profound foundations and outstanding strength; their positions among the Upper Three Sects remain unchanged."
"The remaining Upper Three Sects will be decided through this competition. I wish you all the best in achieving good results."
"Next, please welcome Demon Bear Douluo to explain the competition rules."
Qian Xunji raised his hand, gesturing for the Demon Bear Douluo behind him to step forward, and then sat down directly.
As soon as he finished speaking, an uproar erupted around him.
"Why aren't the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the Clear Sky Sect participating? What's going on?"
"You still want these two sects to participate in the competition? Does our sect even have Titled Douluo? Are you that brave?"
"Let's not participate. If our sect ends up facing those two sects, wouldn't that be a free win?"
Discussions rose and fell.
Most sects secretly breathed a sigh of relief, believing that excluding the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the Clear Sky Sect was a good thing.
Only a few exceptionally powerful sects and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect harbored significant prejudice against the two major sects for not participating.
Ning Fengzhi and puzzled. "Why don't the other two sects have to participate and retain their spots in the Upper Three Sects? Is it because their sects have Titled Douluo?"
Only at this moment did he truly understand how crucial Titled Douluo. A sect needs top experts to have status, which means real power and influence.
Ning Dingling's face turned ashen. Such blatant discrimination would make anyone uncomfortable.
However, she knew that since they were currently on the Spirit Hall's territory, complaining would only cause them trouble. She raised her hand and patted Ning Fengzhi on the shoulder. "Fengzhi, right now the sect is weak and powerless. We have no choice but to bow our heads when we are under someone else's roof."
Ning Fengzhi pursed his lips and remained silent.
Demon Bear Douluo stepped forward and said, "Everyone, the rules of the competition are very simple. All participating sects will be divided into groups by drawing lots, and each sect in the same group will play against each other once."
"The winner gets three points, the loser gets no points, and a draw gets one point for each side. The total score is calculated after the matches, and the top two from each group advance, while the remaining sects are eliminated."
"The advancing sects will fight one-on-one, with the loser being eliminated immediately, until the final winner is determined to compete for the remaining Upper Three Sects spots in the upper sects."
Demon Bear Douluo pointed to the wooden box beside him. "Draw lots from here in ten minutes."
As soon as he finished speaking, the major sects erupted in an uproar.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect School area.
Ning Dingling sighed, "Fengzhi, why don't you go up and draw lots later?"
Thankfully, it seems they drew lots themselves, not on behalf of the Spirit Hall; otherwise, who knows if they would have pulled some dirty tricks.
Now she just hopes she won't be drawn into the Starry Sky Sect's group; if she is, she's doomed.
Even though they are in the same group as the Starry Sky Sect, as long as they play steadily, they should not be eliminated in the group stage and should have no problem advancing to the next round as the second-place team.
The concern is that after the battle, the sect's Soul Douluo powerhouses might be in poor condition, and it would be troublesome if they had problems with their bodies or mentality.
In the end, they couldn't even hold onto their position among the Lower Four Sects.
That's right. The competition hasn't even started yet, and Ning Dingling has already given up hope of keeping her place among the Upper Three Sects. She'd be grateful if she could just squeeze into the Lower Four Sects.
When a sect's strength is not commensurate with its own status, occupying a high position will only bring disaster.
The ten minutes were over in no time.
Demon Bear Douluo summoned all the major sects to come up and draw lots.
Ning Fengzhi a deep breath, stepped forward under the watchful eyes of all the sect members, and pulled out a lottery ticket from the wooden box, which read "A4".
In other words, he was assigned to Group A, number four, but he still doesn't know how many sects are in Group A.
On the other side, in the Starry Sky Sect's team, Toad Douluo drew a lot that read "A1".
"Am I going to be assigned to Group A? Hehe, I wonder how many Good Fortune I'll run into in this group..."