However, to Lin Mo's surprise, when the teacher in charge of the lottery at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, he brought back news that had not caught them off guard.
Heavenly Water forfeited their match.
"What?!" Yu Feng was the first to jump up from his seat. "Teacher, please say it again? Skywater Academy —has admitted defeat?"
The middle-aged teacher nodded, his tone certain, "That's right, Skywater Academy voluntarily withdrew from the third round of the competition."
According to the competition rules, this is considered a forfeit, and our Heaven Dou Royal Academy will directly advance to the fourth round.
The room fell silent instantly.
Osler frowned and continued, "The final stage of the competition is all knockout matches; if you lose, you're out immediately. There's no such thing as strategic forfeit like in the qualifiers—"
What's wrong with the Skywater Academy? Didn't they win the last round?
Yu Feng stroked his chin, his eyes darting around before glancing at Lin Mo, who sat quietly to the side. "Could it be... that she's taken a liking to our boss?"
"Wow, our leader's charm is amazing! Even the beautiful captain of the Skywater Academy couldn't resist him and was willing to let us advance in such a crucial competition!"
His words were clearly a joke, but as soon as he finished speaking, he received a light but firm tap on the head.
Dugu Yan withdrew her hand and glared at him irritably. "What nonsense are you talking about? Shui Bing'er isn't that kind of person."
They must have their reasons for choosing to abstain.
Yu Feng rubbed his head, chuckled twice, and didn't continue teasing him.
No one dwelled on this too much, because there was no need to.
If a real fight breaks out, Heavenly Water will be no match for them. Even if Heavenly Water possesses the Martial Soul Fusion Skill: Ice and Snow Drifting, the outcome will not change.
However, being able to enter the fourth round without any cost is naturally the best of luck.
After all, during the finals, teams are only given one day of rest between each round of matches.
Winning without a fight and advancing directly means having an extra day of precious rest time, which is certainly a welcome development.
1
Soon, before the afternoon match between the Shrek Academy and Star Luo National Academy began, the students from the Heaven Dou Royal Academy arrived at the exclusive viewing area in Spirit City.
Regardless of whether Shrek or Star Luo National Academy advances in this round, there's a good chance they'll become each other's opponents in the next round.
It's never a bad idea to come to the venue beforehand to observe the opponent's strength.
A considerable number of people have already arrived in the spectator area.
Incidentally, in the eyes of many viewers, the strongest contenders for the final championship, besides the three seeded teams— the Spirit Hall Academy Team, the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Team, and the Star Luo National Academy Team —are Shrek Academy.
As for the top two teams from the two empire regions— the Godwind Academy of the Heaven Dou Empire and the Di'ao Academy of the Star Luo Empire —although their strength was not weak, almost no one believed they could successfully advance to the final.
The reason is simple: although their team has several Soul Ancestor, compared with the four teams mentioned above, they lack the crucial Soul King level combat power.
In a match, a team lacking Soul King will find it difficult to withstand the onslaught of an opponent with Soul King -level combat power.
Therefore, in most people's eyes, Godwind Academy Di'ao Academy are more like "testing stones for strong teams".
It's already quite an achievement that they've come this far; the hope of taking it any further is slim.
Lin Mo sat down in the front row of the spectator area, his gaze sweeping across the arena.
His gaze lingered for a moment on a spot not far away.
Several girls dressed in light blue team uniforms were sitting there; they were members of the Skywater Academy.
Lin Mo got up and walked over. When he got closer, he greeted him.
"Captain Shui Bing'er."
Shui Bing'er stood up, and Xue Wu and the others beside her also looked at Lin Mo.
Shui Yue'er's eyes lit up even more, and a smile appeared on her face without any attempt to hide it.
"Captain Lin Mo."
Shui Bing'er's voice remained cool and aloof, "Congratulations on advancing."
Lin Mo nodded and directly asked the question that had been on his mind, "I'm just curious, why did your Skywater Academy choose to concede defeat so readily?"
Shui Bing'er glanced at him and replied frankly, "Although we won the last round, everyone was exhausted. One day is simply not enough time to recover to our best condition."
"While the Ice and Snow Drifting' technique can be Sheer Force executed, its power will be greatly reduced. Moreover—"
At this point, Shui Bing'er paused, a complex emotion flashing in her icy blue eyes, "Your Charizard is absolutely type-counter to my Ice Phoenix."
We both know this very well: even when we were in top form, we had no chance of winning, let alone now.
"Since that's the case, I might as well do you a favor."
Since we can't win anyway, why make a fool of ourselves on stage, wasting energy and potentially getting injured?
At this point, she suddenly blinked, the cold expression on her face fading slightly, revealing a hint of girlish mischief. "Besides, it's a rare opportunity for your genius Lin to owe me a favor, I can't let it pass."
Upon hearing this, Lin Mo raised an eyebrow. "Captain Shui Bing'er, you flatter me. In any case, thank you."
At this moment, Ye Lingling, who had been standing quietly beside Lin Mo, looked at Shui Bing'er and asked softly, "Captain Shui Bing'er, as the captain, you represent Skywater Academy in conceding defeat. Won't the academy have any problems with that?"
Voluntarily forfeiting the finals is no small matter.
In particular, Skywater Academy is a long-established powerhouse in the Heaven Dou Empire, shouldering the responsibility of winning honor for the academy.
Shui Bing'er smiled. "No. Our Dean of Heavenly Water Hospital is my aunt."
"I see." Ye Lingleng and didn't ask any more questions.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" a lively voice chimed in.
Shui Yue'er peeked out from behind Shui Bing'er, raised her small fist at Lin Mo, and smiled brightly. " Lin Mo, I didn't think as much as my sisters! I just think, if you can't beat them, you can't beat them!" Her big eyes blinked as she looked at Lin Mo, her tone full of undisguised trust and admiration. "I've always believed in you! I believe that you and the Charizard are definitely stronger than that plain-looking Tang San!"
He's only able to show off in front of others because of his Clear Sky Hammer and Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring. In a real fight, he definitely wouldn't be a match for you!
Shui Yue'er stuck out her tongue and shrank back behind her sister, but her eyes were still sparkling.
Lin Mo shook his head helplessly, but his tone was very certain. "Don't worry, the championship will be ours."
"Yes! I believe you!" Shui Yue'er nodded vigorously.
After exchanging a few more words, Lin Mo returned to the viewing area where the Heaven Dou Royal Academy was located.
By this time, preparations on the stage were nearing completion, the audience seats were gradually filling up, and the noise was deafening.
The teams from the Shrek Academy and Star Luo National Academy are about to make their appearance.
For both Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing of Shrek and Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun of the Star Luo National Academy, this match was not only about which team would advance to the next round, but also about their survival and future.
Because of the Star Luo Empire's cruel system of succession to the throne, the outcome of this match directly determined the fate of both sides.
The winner takes all, while the loser loses everything, including their life.