The emcee on one side of the VIP platform announced in a loud voice, "Now, please welcome His Majesty the Emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire to declare the competition open."
Just as Tang San had guessed, His Majesty the Emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, seated in the center of the first row of the VIP section and wearing a crimson-gold robe, slowly rose amidst thunderous applause.
He raised his right hand and waved lightly towards the audience and the participating Soul Master below. The applause quickly stopped, and the huge square became silent.
A deep, resonant voice echoed throughout the arena through the loudspeakers, "I, Xue Ye, Emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, on behalf of the Heaven Dou Empire and the organizers of this competition, hereby declare the Continental Elite Tournament of Advanced Soul Master Academy now open."
Applause erupted, followed by a series of activities: speeches, drawing lots, and explaining the rules. Jun Yi had absolutely no interest in any of it. During this Jun Yi noticed that Qian Renxue's presence was nowhere to be seen in the entire Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena. Normally, as the newly appointed Crown Prince, she should have been present on such an important day, so why was she nowhere to be seen?
As is customary, after the draw, the only match of the day will take place: the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Second Team will face their first-round opponent, Shrek Academy.
Immediately, boos and jeers erupted. Many spectators were shouting the word "cheating." In their eyes, the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Second Team was clearly picking on an easy target. Shrek Academy, on the other hand, didn't seem like a Soul Master team at all; they looked more like a bunch of clowns.
After the draw concluded, the Platinum Bishop Salas surveyed the entire hall and stated calmly, "My draw was entirely truthful. I swear on the honor of the Spirit Hall."
Upon hearing this, the audience's gasps subsided. Salas then returned to the VIP section, closed his eyes, and ignored everything that was happening on stage.
"Alright, the first match of the first round of the preliminary rounds will now be between the Heaven Dou Royal Academy and Shrek Academy. All participating academies, please leave the stage. The two academies scheduled to play later, please prepare yourselves. The match will officially begin in half an hour."
As the host's voice rang out, the students from various colleges began to leave. Since other colleges did not have any matches today, they left the rest area and, led by staff, went up to the stands prepared for the players to watch the game. Jun Yi was not particularly interested and intended to go back directly, but Dugu Yan wanted to see the excitement, so he and Dugu Yan sat in the first row of the audience.
The outcome of this match was practically a foregone conclusion. In the original story, the seven Shrek Seven Devils consumed the Immortal Herb and defeated them in less than a minute. In this life, however, they did not consume the Immortal Herb and were much weaker than in the original story. But defeating a second-team member was still a piece of cake. After all, their academy's so-called second team was just a prestigious title for the wealthy, and it had no real value. Anyone with ability was directly assigned to the first team as a substitute.
On the Shrek Academy side, during their break, Tang San discussed their tactics. He addressed the group, saying, "This time, we must win easily and decisively. We suffered such humiliation at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Although it was Prince Xue Xing who brought it upon us, the Heaven Dou Royal Academy symbolizes royalty. Dean Flender and the teachers aren't here, but I understand their meaning: if we want to have a good future, we must utterly crush our opponents today. I think, even without using Hidden Weapon, three minutes should be enough for us."
Dai Mubai paws together, his evil eyes flashing with a fierce light. "That's right, we only need three minutes."
An invisible, chilling aura quietly spread from Tang San and Dai Mubai. The scene of their helpless retreat from the Heaven Dou Royal Academy in front of Dugu Bo would never be erased from their minds. Although Tang San didn't say it explicitly, everyone understood that they not only wanted to defeat the second team of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, but also to deliver a crushing defeat to them.
Before long, the staff arrived and urged everyone to come out. The organizers clearly didn't have high hopes for them, as there was only one staff member to guide them. As soon as they reached the exit of the passage, the Shrek Academy students could hear the master of ceremonies outside loudly announcing the names and Martial Soul of each person entering from the Heaven Dou Royal Academy. A special golden beam of light shone down from the high platform set up on one side of the Great Soul Arena, escorting the members of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Second Team out one by one.
Regardless of their actual strength, the members of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy were already quite impressive in appearance. Their light gold uniforms featured the characters "Heaven Dou " embroidered on the left chest and seven silver stars on the back—the symbol of the Heaven Dou Empire. Each member was dashing and looked to be in their early twenties. Bathed in the light of their Soul Tool, even in daylight, they seemed to radiate a dazzling brilliance, like tiny golden suns attracting the attention of the audience.
Then the lights went out, and the Shrek Academy contestants slowly entered the arena amidst a chorus of boos.
As expected, they were being treated differently. Tang San narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression remaining calm. Together with Dai Mubai, he led nine members of the Shrek Academy in a row in the center of the arena, facing off against the members of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Second Team.
The second team of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy had a total of sixteen members. Shrek Academy's stay at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy was very short, so these people naturally didn't recognize Tang San and his group. These noble children naturally looked down on the Shrek Academy members' attire. If this weren't on the arena, many of them would probably have burst out laughing.
The two sides started exchanging verbal sparring, while Jun Yi on the arena showed a hint of doubt on his face. Since he met Xiao Wu, he had not sensed any Soul Beast aura from her. What was going on? He increased the output of his Observation Haki again and found that she also had the aura of a herb. Although it was very faint, Jun Yi could sense that it was not an ordinary herb.
"It seems Tang San has had another extraordinary encounter. Is he really the chosen one, able to find all sorts of good things?" Jun Yi thought to himself.
Both sides bowed, and the non-competitors stepped down from the ring.
Both the Heaven Dou Royal Academy and Shrek Academy reluctantly bowed to each other. The extra team members left the arena, leaving only the seven members from each side who participated in the first round of the preliminaries.
On the Shrek Academy's side, standing at the front were Dai Mubai, Tai Long, and Huang Yuan. Tang San was in the middle, with Xiao Wu and Jing Ling on either side. Jiang Zhu stood at the very back.
Meanwhile, the Heaven Dou Second Team adopted an unusual single-line formation, leaving everyone wondering what they were up to.
"The first match of the first round of the qualifiers has officially begun."
As soon as the referee's voice fell, each member of the Heaven Dou Second Team emitted a blue light, and protective shields formed by blue Soul Power appeared, enveloping them.
"That's Defense-Model Soul Tool!"
(End of this chapter)