Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
At the center of Spirit City stood a colossal angel statue, its six pristine white wings spread wide behind it.
The thirty teams that had successfully advanced were already seated according to their assigned sections.
The first round was a thirty-to-fifteen elimination match.
Spirit Hall and the seed teams from the two great empires received byes.
Beneath the angel statue, at the Pope's seat.
Bibi Dong wore a purple Pope's robe embroidered with gold, a scepter in her hand with a magnificent gemstone set at its tip.
The moment she appeared, the previously clamorous arena fell utterly silent.
"Greetings, Your Holiness the Pope!"
The Spirit Hall guards and the Soul Masters living in Spirit City all dropped to one knee, their voices respectful.
Bibi Dong gave a slight nod, her gaze sweeping across the thirty-two teams below.
Other than the Spirit Hall Team, every team was here.
Her lips parted slightly. Though her movement was minimal, her cold voice rang clearly through every corner:
"Continental Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament."
"Officially begins."
The host immediately took over in a booming voice. "First match: Godwind Academy versus Longkui Academy!"
"Why are people from Red Fire Academy in Godwind Academy's team as well?"
Osler frowned tightly.
"Maybe... they merged?"
Yu Tianheng guessed.
Di Lintian said nothing. In the original story, they had merged in order to deal with Shrek Academy.
But that had been because Tang San's "fire immunity" had enraged Huo Wu, and Feng Xiaotian had been Huo Wu's lapdog.
They had only merged in order to defeat Shrek Academy.
Di Lintian shook his head and stopped dwelling on it.
The merger between Godwind and Red Fire greatly boosted their strength, bringing them to the level of an entire team of Soul