"Round six of the Round-Robin Tournament, group one, first match: Shrek Academy versus the Heaven Dou Empire's Di'ao Academy. Both captains, please draw the match format!"
At Star Luo Plaza, the head referee stood in the center of the arena and loudly announced the opposing teams.
Two figures strode onto the stage. Ma Xiaotao radiated heat like volcanic lava, rolling waves of heat spreading from her Evil Fire Phoenix. Around her fiery, extravagantly curved figure, the air faintly blurred and twisted.
Across from her, Di'ao Academy's captain, Jiang Peng, stood firmly with an expressionless face, showing no fear of the active volcano that could erupt at any moment.
Di'ao Academy, also known as the Heaven Dou Empire's imperial academy, was a long-established advanced soul master academy. Reaching the tournament's final four was commonplace for it.
So far, three Soul Emperors had appeared in this Soul Master Tournament: Ma Xiaotao of Shrek Academy, Ma Rulong of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, and Jiang Peng of Di'ao Academy.
As a fellow Six-Ring Soul Emperor, Jiang Peng had no fear of the Evil Fire Phoenix. Moreover, Di'ao Academy had assembled its strongest lineup in a century: one Soul Emperor and six Soul Kings. On paper, its strength far surpassed Shrek Academy's.
As time passed and battle followed battle, Shrek Academy had thoroughly exposed its true nature: strong on the outside, hollow within. However peerless Ma Xiaotao might be, she could not conceal the reserve members' meager soul power.
In fact, by the sixth round of the Round-Robin Tournament, the qualification picture was largely clear. Shrek and Di'ao would inevitably advance together from group one to the final sixteen. Victory or defeat would scarcely affect the overall situation, but the two academies clearly disagreed.
In Shrek Academy's preparation area, Dai Yueheng and