Xue Qinghe continued, "Not only that, the sect leader of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, one of the Upper Three Sects, who is also my teacher, has prepared a speech for all the participants today."
Xue Qinghe turned around, bowed respectfully to the right side of the platform, and said in a respectful voice, "Teacher, please."
The moment Xue Qinghe bent down, Jun Yi saw a tall, handsome, and refined middle-aged man in a blue robe walking slowly towards him. It was Ning Fengzhi, the sect leader of Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.
"Huh? How come I didn't sense Uncle Ning's presence just now? It's like he appeared out of nowhere?"
Jun Yi, standing below the arena, was somewhat curious. Then, he sensed a familiar spatial fluctuation. Looking up, he saw Bone Douluo smiling at him from the seat below the platform.
"Oh, it's Grandpa Bone. Then it's alright." Seeing Bone Douluo arrive, Jun Yi understood that it was Bone Douluo who brought Ning Fengzhi to the high platform.
As Ning Fengzhi appeared, applause erupted again in the arena, with even more attention drawn to him. After all, Ning Fengzhi could be considered the number one support Soul Master in the current Soul Master World, and everyone wanted to see his prowess.
Ning Fengzhi slightly, his equally gentle voice reaching everyone's ears through his Soul Power, "I am very pleased to be invited as a guest to open the exchange competition. Whether you are a team member participating in the competition or a spectator in the stands, you are all the fresh blood of the future Soul Master world of our Heaven Dou Empire. I hope you will achieve brilliant results in the future and create great achievements together."
As Ning Fengzhi uttered his last few words, he was immediately greeted with enthusiastic applause.
"Of course, as the sect leader of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, I certainly won't come here for nothing. Each participating student will also receive 500 Gold Soul Coin sponsored by our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect a reward. In addition, the first place winner of this competition will receive a Soul Bone as the grand prize. I hope all students will work hard and strive to win first place."
These words immediately caused a stir in the square. Although everyone present knew that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was wealthy and powerful, they did not expect Ning Fengzhi to offer a Soul Bone as the top prize for the exchange competition. After all, it was Soul Bone! A priceless treasure with no market value.
"Why is it that the first-place reward in every competition is a Soul Bone? Did I come to a fake Douluo Continent? I remember there weren't many Soul Bone in the original novel, but here they're like Soul Bone, everywhere I go."
Jun Yi inwardly complained, only to see Ning Fengzhi slightly raise his hand, and a Soul Bone, emitting a faint purple light and resembling a torso, appeared in Ning Fengzhi's palm.
"This Soul Bone comes from a Man Faced Demon Spider that is over ninety years old. Although it is relatively young, this Soul Bone is a rare Torso Bone, which can make up for the lack of age to some extent," Ning Fengzhi explained to everyone.
"So that's what it was. I didn't expect Rongrong to give it to Uncle Ning in the end. The little girl is becoming more and more sensible. This Soul Bone is indeed quite suitable as a reward. It's rare despite its low age. For Uncle Ning, it's like something he can't quite eat but can't bear to throw away, but for a student, it's an excellent reward." Jun Yi understood everything after seeing the Soul Bone in Ning Fengzhi's hand.
On the high platform, Xue Qinghe smiled and announced, "I hereby declare the competition officially open. All participating students from each academy, please take the stage."
As soon as he finished speaking, Jun Yi and his group stood up and walked towards the arena. Since the academy was jointly founded by the royal family, Jun Yi and the others were the first to step onto the stage.
Jun Yi and his group of seven, along with Qin Ming, a total of eight people, arrived on the arena under the watchful eyes of everyone and stood in the very center of the arena.
Next up was Heaven Dou Second Team. They and Team 1 took to the stage one after the other. However, Team 2 was located quite far from Jun Yi and his team. The two teams were clearly separated, about ten meters apart, indicating that they were not very familiar with each other.
Following them, other academies took the stage one after another: the Four Elements Academy, Divine Wind, Blazing Fire Academy, Heavenly Water Academy, and Thunder Academy. Next came the Elephant Armor Academy, the Exotic Beast Academy, and the Canghui Academy, making a total of ten academies. Every academy with a name in the original work participated in this competition.
The referee then went up to the arena and asked the captains of each college team to draw lots. Since Yu Tianheng was injured and not present, the vice captain of Jun Yi's team, Dugu Yan, went up to draw lots.
This team competition is divided into three groups, with three colleges in each group. The remaining college will receive a bye and advance to the next round. Within each group, teams will compete against each other, and the team with the highest score will advance to the next round.
Dugu Yan was lucky and didn't get a bye, but one of their group's opponents was a weak team: Canghui Academy and Thunder Academy. Godwind Academy and Blazing Fire Academy were in different groups. Skywater Academy got a bye and advanced directly to the next round.
After the draw ceremony was completely over, everyone left the ring and returned to the competition rest area in the audience, waiting for the match to begin.
Jun Yi was incredibly curious, because no one had mentioned anything about the individual competition of this exchange tournament from beginning to end, not even any rewards. It was as if this exchange tournament only had a team competition.
" Teacher Qin, why haven't we heard anyone mention anything about the draw or rewards for the individual competition?" Jun Yi asked his team leader, Qin Ming, curiously.
"It should be announced soon. There have been some changes to this year's individual competition, so you might have to put in some effort." Qin Ming looked at Jun Yi with some sympathy.
"What trouble? What happened?" Before Jun Yi could ask clearly, Xue Qinghe on the high platform stepped forward and raised the Soul Tool microphone again.
"There have been some changes to the individual competition of this exchange tournament, which may cause dissatisfaction among some people. We ask for your understanding."
As she spoke, Xue Qinghe looked at Jun Yi with a hint of apology in her eyes, and Jun Yi immediately sensed that something was amiss.
Xue Qinghe continued, "For this individual competition, I think we should still choose the arena format. However, this time the contestants will participate as individuals, not representing their respective academies."
Upon hearing the words "challenge," Jun Yi had an outrageous thought, "Does that mean I'll be the only one left to defend the title until the very end?"
"This arena match will last for two and a half hours. After that time, the contestant standing on the stage will be the winner of this individual match. In other words, there will only be one winner in this individual match."
Upon hearing this, Jun Yi had only one thought in his mind, "I've been tricked again!"
(End of this chapter)