Exhibition Match: Qi Ji vs. Shrek

The opening ceremony of the Skysea Alliance Grand Tournament was held at Skysea Stadium.

It was a massive stadium capable of accommodating eighty thousand people at once. Its circular stands rose layer upon layer, while its dome was assembled from translucent soul-conducting glass. Sunlight streamed through the dome, bathing the entire venue in a gentle glow.

It was also the largest and most advanced sports venue among all the cities of the Skysea Alliance, the very face of the alliance.

For the Eastsea Economic Circle, the Skysea Alliance Grand Tournament was the biggest annual event. It attracted not only elite Soul Masters from every city under the Skysea Alliance, but also the attention of the entire Federation.

Major media outlets, academies, and factions all sent representatives to watch, while even the War God Temple and Spirit Pagoda symbolically dispatched high-ranking delegates.

This year, because of Qi Ji's participation, the tournament drew noticeably more attention than in previous years—there were more than three times as many reporters registered to conduct interviews as there had been at the last event, and the popularity on every major platform had reached unprecedented heights.

As the tournament's unofficial central figure, Qi Ji naturally did not miss the opening ceremony.

Of course, he could not possibly have been the sole star of the opening ceremony. He had merely appeared as a special representative.

He stood on the podium for a short while and waved at the audience, and that was considered his task complete.

Still, it had to be said that fans of Soul Masters could be terrifying.

When Qi Ji appeared, all eighty thousand people in Skysea Gymnasium shouted in unison. The waves of sound rose higher and higher, nearly lifting off the entire dome. It would not have been an exaggeration to say a general had arrived.

After the opening ceremony came the exhibition match.

Following the tradition of previous years, the organizers invited a prominent outside team to face a local team in an exhibition match, warming up the crowd for the official competition to come.

If Qi Ji had not been there, the exhibition match would probably have ended with the Shrek Academy Team invited by the organizers crushing Skysea Academy's team—Shrek students rarely showed local teams any mercy.

But this time, the Skysea Alliance had not invited Qi Ji for nothing.

They had paid a hefty price to bring him here, so naturally they intended to make full use of him.

Thus, this exhibition match was arranged as Qi Ji versus the entire Shrek Academy Team.

Originally, the Skysea Alliance had planned to add Qi Ji to Skysea Academy's team and have them compete under the name Skysea United Team, but Qi Ji refused.

To be honest, he did not think he needed teammates to deal with that bunch of nobodies. To him, teammates would only be a burden.

Rather than dividing his attention to coordinate with others, it was easier to go up alone and settle the battle cleanly.

Before long, the exhibition match began, and the announcement echoed throughout the stadium.

"Today marks the start of the Skysea Alliance Grand Tournament. We have specially invited an elite team from Shrek Academy to face the pride of the Skysea Alliance and the Federation's number one genius—the Seven-Colored Dragon Emperor, Qi Ji—in an exhibition match. Please welcome both sides to the stage!"

The instant the announcement ended, deafening cheers erupted from the stands of Skysea Stadium.

Some shouted Qi Ji's name, but most shouted for Shrek. After all, over twenty thousand years, Shrek Academy's reputation had become far too deeply ingrained in people's hearts.

Even though Qi Ji came from the Skysea Alliance, and its people naturally felt close to him and viewed him through a favorable lens, that lens still seemed rather powerless before the word "Shrek."

After all, it was the holy land in the hearts of Soul Masters across Douluo Continent for ten thousand years, a place countless geniuses dreamed of reaching.

In Eastsea Academy's spectator section, Xie Xie and the others heard the news as well.

"Teacher Wu—Big Brother Qi is going to fight people from Shrek Academy?" Xie Xie turned worriedly toward Wu Changkong, his brows tightly furrowed. "Can he win?"

Although Qi Ji was the undisputed number one genius of the present day, first on the Young Genius Rankings, the Seven-Colored Dragon Emperor, and the pride of the Federation, he was fighting Shrek Academy's elite team! Seven against one—even the strongest person could slip up, right?

"There is no suspense." Wu Changkong did not even turn his head. His gaze remained fixed on the arena, his tone cold and certain.

"Of course... Even Big Brother Qi might not necessarily win. It's Shrek Academy, after all..." Xie Xie sighed, though he did not seem too disappointed.

After all, it was one person against seven. He felt that in a one-on-one fight, Qi Ji, who could even defeat Teacher Wu, would definitely not lose.

But one person against seven... that was harder to say.

"What are you talking about?" Wu Changkong finally glanced sideways at Xie Xie. There was a trace of disdain in his golden eyes. "When I said there was no suspense, I meant Shrek would lose without suspense."

"Th-That can't be right, can it?" Xie Xie froze for a moment, then scratched his head.

"Teacher Wu, don't you always stress the importance of teamwork? Big Brother Qi is alone, while there are seven of them! And Shrek's seven definitely aren't ordinary people."

"Teamwork is indeed important." Wu Changkong turned back, his eyes settling once more on the solitary figure standing in the arena.

"But that only applies to ordinary people. Before a true powerhouse, so-called teamwork is merely the weak huddling together for warmth. None of today's powerhouses reached the summit through teamwork. So-called teams exist only to help Soul Masters through their weaker stages. Because true powerhouses never huddle together for warmth."

"So that's how it is..." Xie Xie nodded, half understanding, yet he felt as if his worldview had been rearranged once again.

He looked down at the arena. Qi Ji stood alone in its center, while Shrek Academy's seven-person team had already formed up neatly opposite him. The two sides faced one another from dozens of meters apart.

Qi Ji's solitary figure formed a stark contrast with Shrek's orderly formation of seven, creating a tragic image of one man standing against an army.

Yet Xie Xie could not see the slightest trace of panic in Qi Ji.

The young man stood in the center of the arena without even taking a fighting stance. His hands remained in his pockets, and his expression was as calm as though he were taking a stroll through his own backyard.

It was as though the seven Shrek elites before him were not even worth worrying about, as though this so-called seven-against-one exhibition match was merely a relaxing break between classes.

"Is this what a true powerhouse is?"

Xie Xie stared at that back and could not help murmuring softly.

His voice was swallowed by the sea of cheers from eighty thousand people, but his eyes remained firmly fixed on Qi Ji, never shifting away for even a moment.