A Graceful Finish, Heading to Spirit City
Shui Bing'er, held in Huo Lei's arms, didn't resist. She was too weak to fight back. Their eyes met; her gaze was filled with disappointment, but she still managed a weak smile. "Thank you for your cooperation, but I still couldn't beat you. I keep my word; Skywater Academy concedes."
Huo Lei looked at Shui Bing'er in his arms, his heart filled with mixed emotions. He comforted her, "You lost the match, but you didn't lose in spirit, so this battle is a draw. You're very weak right now, so don't say anything."
Huo Lei looked up at the referee beside him and lied, "Referee, this round is a draw! We've exhausted all our Soul Power."
The referee knew that Huo Lei still had the ability to fight, but he didn't expose it. After all, since the other party, as a contestant, had made such a request, there was no need to take it too seriously.
"Please wait a moment, gentlemen. Based on your situation and performance, I need to make an application to the judges." The judge said politely, then quickly headed towards the direction where Xue Ye was.
"Did Shui Bingren collude with the people from her academy? Anyone with eyes can see that her Soul Power is exhausted, but she hasn't taken the initiative to admit defeat. Instead, she has remained silent, and none of her teammates have moved closer to the arena. It's really strange. Could it be that they did it on purpose? Oh well, I'm not at a disadvantage anyway." Huo Lei was a little puzzled by the Skywater Academy's unusual behavior, but then he felt relieved.
The referee quickly ran back to the competition area and announced loudly, "At the request of the participants and with the approval of the judges, the match between the Blazing Fire Academy and Skywater Academy ends in a draw. The Promotion Round is now over."
The referee's voice echoed throughout the entire competition venue, startling everyone from each academy, who clearly hadn't expected the competition to end this way. However, they gradually accepted the result. Since both sides and the judges had agreed, the spectators had no further objections.
The Promotion Round consisted of fourteen matches, resulting in a thirteen-game winning streak and one draw. Among all fifteen teams, Blazing Fire Academy ranked first, achieving the best ranking in the Heaven Dou Empire's division slot. This time, Blazing Fire Academy defeated strong teams such as Godwind Academy, Thunderclap Academy, and Shrek Academy, proving their strength with their results.
After the match, Xue Ye gave a passionate and inspiring speech.
After his speech, Xue Ye announced that Crown Prince Xue Qinghe would represent him as the envoy of the Heaven Dou Empire to participate in the judging of this competition. The fifteen teams from the Heaven Dou Empire would be personally accompanied by Crown Prince Xue Qinghe to a city at the border of the two empires for the final Grand Finals. The Grand Finals would be hosted by the Spirit Hall.
"Each academy team has only three days to adjust. After three days, a total of fifteen teams, along with their teachers and five hundred Royal Knights soldiers, a group of over a thousand people, will depart for the venue of the Grand Finals — Spirit City."
All nine people were present in the Blazing Fire Academy barracks. Xie Chong relayed the information he had just received from the meeting to the academy members.
Xie Chong asked with a hint of doubt, "The Grand Finals weren't originally scheduled to be held in Spirit City, but for some reason, the Spirit Hall suddenly changed the venue."
"I don't know about other things, but one thing is absolutely true: the Spirit Hall plans to ambush Shrek Academy on the way, with the aim of killing Tang San." Huo Lei's thoughts flashed through his mind, but he didn't care about this.
Spirit City is located at the border of two great empires, and the city belongs entirely to the Spirit Hall. Neither of the two empires owns it. Most importantly, the Papal Hall, one of the two great halls symbolizing the highest honor of the Spirit Hall, is located in Spirit City. Because of the existence of the Papal Hall, Spirit City has become a holy land for all Soul Master.
It takes about twenty days to travel from Heaven Dou City to Spirit City. The Grand Finals with a total of thirty-three teams, and the winner will be decided in less than ten days.
The Spirit Hall attached great importance to this Grand Finals, not only opening a new venue but also issuing a decree that during the competition, no one other than Soul Master was allowed to enter and watch the matches, not even nobles.
Xie Chong recounted in detail all the relevant information about the Soul Master Tournament.
Three days later.
A group of over a thousand people set off in a grand procession.
To ensure the participating team members could rest better, the Heaven Dou Empire specially commissioned fifteen luxurious giant carriages for them to ride and rest.
The carriage carrying the Blazing Fire Academy team members was positioned at the very front of the caravan, followed by the Skywater Academy, while Shrek Academy was placed in the middle of the caravan.
"The Heaven Dou Empire is truly wealthy and powerful, actually manufacturing such a huge carriage for us to ride in," Huo Wu exclaimed from inside the carriage.
Xie Chong smiled and said, "Our fifteen teams are all elites of the Heaven Dou Empire, the future pillars of the empire, so naturally we are willing to invest heavily. These carriages are not ordinary; besides their large size, they must have used some Soul Tool technology related to shock absorption, which is why it feels so stable inside."
After a moment of silence, Xie Chong looked at everyone in the car and spoke again, "Throughout the competition, whether it was the Preliminary Round or the Promotion Round, we have consistently held first place. Obviously, the fourteen teams competing with us are not enough to threaten us. The real threat to us comes from the team sent by the Spirit Hall. Only by defeating them will we have a chance to win the final championship. Everyone needs to be mentally prepared and get themselves into top form."
Huo Lei and the others nodded in agreement.
"The Spirit Hall's team has three Soul Kings, and the other four are all above the fourth ring. Moreover, Hu Liena is not only skilled in control, but she and her brother Xie Yue also know Martial Soul Fusion Skill. With the current strength of the Blazing Fire Academy, it will indeed be difficult for them to deal with us. As for the Shrek Academy, it is still unknown whether Tang San can make it to Spirit City alive. We need to come up with a foolproof plan." Huo Lei sat in a corner of the carriage, thinking about how to deal with the situation.
The caravan heading to Spirit City mostly traveled on the official roads, only taking shortcuts along less traveled paths. However, while attempting to take a shortcut, a minor incident occurred when the caravan passed through a canyon.
A large number of masked men in black ambushed the convoy, numbering over a thousand, more than the total number of people in the convoy. Among them were Soul Douluo and Soul Sage powerhouses, and even more terrifyingly, there were two Titled Douluo in command.
Others might not know, but Huo Lei knew perfectly well. This raiding team was sent by Bibi Dong, the Pope the Spirit Hall, to assassinate Tang San.
Leading the group were Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan and his old partner Ghost Douluo Gui Mei.
With such a powerful team and the element of surprise, victory should have been assured, but the attack only caused minor damage to the Royal Knights and virtually no harm to the Soul Master team.
Huo Lei believed that facing Dai Mubai, who hadn't consumed the Immortal Herb, and Xiao Wu, who wasn't protected by the Lovesick Heartbreak Red, Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan wouldn't be delayed, and killing Tang San should be a sure thing. However, the result greatly surprised Huo Lei; Tang San was still alive.
After the enemy retreated, Huo Lei learned from the Royal Knights that a masked man in black had appeared during the attack. Although he did not use his Martial Soul, he repelled Lor Diarra and held back Chrysanthemum Douluo Yue Guan. He only left when Dugu Bo arrived.