A day and a half passed in the blink of an eye, and the atmosphere in Star Luo City reached its peak as the tournament opened.
Soldiers of the Star Luo Empire controlled every street within ten li of the Star Luo Imperial City plaza. The route from the plaza to the Star Emperor Hotel was even more heavily guarded, forming a forest of steel along the road.
At dawn, a ring of soldiers stood ready around the entire plaza. As the morning sun rose, the academies staying at the Star Emperor Hotel headed toward the plaza one after another.
Naturally, Xu Tianchen did not walk with the students. He had already ascended the imperial city's gate tower with Xu Jiawei, claiming the best vantage point overlooking the entire arena.
Two luxurious chairs stood about a meter and a half apart, with their respective attendants standing on either side.
In principle, the seats should not have been arranged this way, since one occupant was merely a crown prince, while the other was already an emperor. But as the saying went, weak nations had no diplomacy. Who could blame anyone when the Star Luo Empire could not defeat the Sun Moon Empire?
Once the students from every academy had arrived, Xu Jiawei delivered a long-winded opening address.
After Xu Jiawei finished his lengthy speech, an official approached him and said respectfully:
"Your Majesty, all arrangements are complete, and the draw results are out. The first match will be the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy against the Dou Ling Empire's Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy."
The reigning champion always played the first match of each tournament. It was a longstanding tradition.
In every previous tournament, Shrek Academy had opened the competition. This time, however, Xu Tianchen had led the Sun Moon