Another day slipped by.
Dawn broke, illuminating the entire Martial Soul Holy City.
With Douluo Mountain at their center, thirty-one qualifying teams in bright, splendid attire, each with a distinct manner of moving, poured out from across the Martial Soul Holy City and headed toward the foot of Douluo Mountain.
Because the Continental Elite Soul Master Tournament-its ranking matches-
Was about to raise its curtain!
On this special festive day, angel Soul Masters constantly swooshed through the air above the streets, making the bustling atmosphere even livelier.
"Mom, are they all genius Soul Masters?" a child asked over their shoulder, pointing at those young people striding with heads held high and chests out.
"Yes!" The woman nodded with a smile. "Little one, you should strive to become one of them someday, too."
A flight of white stone steps ran along Douluo Mountain, connecting Spirit Hall's outer plaza above to the streets of the Martial Soul Holy City below.
Less than a thousand meters directly in front of these steps stood an enormous plaza.
The plaza measured a full hundred meters across and was built entirely from massive blocks of granite fitted together.
Ordinarily, this hundred-meter plaza was where the Angel God's commoner worshippers prostrated themselves toward the summit and prayed.
Now, to welcome the Elite Soul Master Tournament's ranking matches, this hundred-meter plaza had officially become the Soul Fighting Plaza.
As everyone knew, every Soul Tool on the Douluo Continent was a relic of ancient times, and each was exceedingly precious.
But...
Hundreds of Soul Tools were currently humming softly above, below, and all around the Soul Fighting Plaza, continuously reinforcing every brick and foundation stone.
This ensured that the vast arena could withstand Soul Emperor-level combatants unleashing their full strength.
Led by Holy City volunteers, all the participating academy teams arrived at the competition grounds.
Large, single-story buildings stood close around the Soul Fighting Plaza, providing a rest area for every academy.
Unfortunately, a ring of temple knights surrounded the Soul Fighting Plaza, keeping all the commoners who had flocked there at least ten meters away.
The Elite Soul Master Tournament's ranking matches were not open to the public. Even during the subsequent finals, outsiders would not be permitted to approach and watch.
A judges' stand had been set up on the side of the Soul Fighting Plaza facing Douluo Mountain.
Representatives of the two empires' ruling classes and the continent's various sects would watch from those seats.
Among them was the Elephant Armor Sect, which had been disqualified for a serious violation.
However, the ranking matches did not have the grand opening ceremony one might have imagined. Instead, everything was kept simple-
A red-robed bishop took the stage to announce that the ranking matches would soon begin, then read out the academy matchups.
Including Spirit Hall's first and second teams, thirty-three teams were participating in these ranking matches, so one team was bound to receive a bye and advance directly to the next round.
At that moment, Xu Zi stood to the right of the judges' stand, leading Spirit Hall's second team.
With the roughly three-meter-high stand between them, he naturally could not see Spirit Hall's first team on its left, nor could he see the Golden Generation trio.
But he could see those important figures who had appeared repeatedly in the book seated on the judges' stand.
They included the Heaven Dou Crown Prince, "Xue Qinghe," Heaven Dou's state preceptor, "Ning Fengzhi," Star Luo Empire's Nether Grand Duke, the Elephant Armor Sect's "Huyan Zhen," and others...
One difference from the original story, however, was that the senior figure Spirit Hall had sent to oversee today's ranking matches was not the Holy City's Platinum Bishop, but Ling Yuan Douluo.
Presumably, that was because of Xu Zi.
Ling Yuan wanted to see how Xu Zi performed and whether she had placed the right bet, so she had volunteered to oversee the competition.
Looking toward the competitors' rest areas in the distance, Xu Zi found his view blocked by buildings, thwarting his plan to locate Shrek Academy and catch a distant glimpse of the Shrek Seven Monsters' main cast.
"Spirit Hall Academy's first team versus Heaven Dou Royal Academy's first team."
When the red-robed bishop read out his own faction's name, Xu Zi withdrew his gaze and began listening.
"The Heavenly Star Academy Team receives a bye."
"Spirit Hall Academy's second team versus the Skywater Academy Team."
Bibi Dong had indeed arranged the matchups. Xu Zi glanced back at the seven people standing ramrod straight behind him and said bluntly, "I specifically asked Her Holiness to arrange our matchup against Skywater Academy. Any objections?"
As he spoke, Xu Zi deliberately looked at the second team's former captain, Shi Xing, a grandson of Revered Lion.
Of these seven, he was the only fire-attribute Soul Master and would suffer the most from the Skywater Team's attribute suppression, so he was certain to resent Xu Zi's arrangement.
Shi Xing's thick brows rose. After several seconds of silence, he uttered two words: "No objections."
Having received the former team leader's response, Xu Zi swept his gaze over the remaining six in turn, receiving a "No objections" from each.
This was a good beginning-the beginning of obedience.
As a newly parachuted-in captain, Xu Zi had never practiced coordinating with the seven, so the best approach to the upcoming matches was to make himself the core and counter each move as it came.
And as a team that placed in the top ten in every tournament, the Skywater Team was not an opponent the Spirit Hall Second Team, which struggled to reach even the top fifteen, could hope to challenge.
So today-Xu Zi would have to take the field.
"The Blazing Fire Academy Team versus the Shrek Academy Team."
This sudden announcement snapped Xu Zi out of his strategic planning.
But shortly after the words fell, a middle-aged man with fiery red hair rushed out of the nearby competitors' rest area.
As the man approached, he called out, "Blazing Fire Academy voluntarily relinquishes its place in this year's ranking matches!"
At those words, the entire judges' stand fell silent, and disbelief appeared in the eyes of quite a few powerful figures.
Even the red-robed bishop stopped speaking before asking for confirmation, "Dean Huo, are you certain?"
After coming closer, Dean Huo repeated, "I am. Blazing Fire Academy relinquishes its place in this year's ranking matches."
"Very well." The red-robed bishop made a stroke with his pen and announced loudly on the spot, "Blazing Fire Academy's final placement in this year's Elite Soul Master Tournament: thirty-third."
"Shrek Academy advances directly."
It seems the main developments haven't diverged much from the original book's plot, Xu Zi thought with deep conviction.
Because Blazing Fire Academy intended to exploit a tournament loophole and combine with the Godwind students to form the "Wind Fire Team."
With thirty-three teams, the red-robed bishop needed only to announce sixteen matchups to finish the pairings.
Next, referees began appearing around the Soul Fighting Plaza, along with young Soul Masters in groups of seven.
Both sides took their places. At the red-robed bishop's cry of "Begin!", an astonishing rumble immediately erupted across the Soul Fighting Plaza as countless streams of Soul Power began intertwining in a dazzling tangle.
Just as everyone around them was gradually becoming absorbed in watching the Soul Fighting-
A warm breeze blew toward Xu Zi, and Ling Yuan Douluo flew down beside him.
After returning the seven's greetings, she held out a sheet of information and said to Xu Zi, "You haven't looked into the members of this year's Skywater Team yet, have you?"
"Here, this is the detailed information on the Skywater Team sent back by Salas, the Heaven Dou region's Platinum Bishop. Take a look."
"All right." Xu Zi accepted the sheet, and seven names, along with all manner of detailed information, immediately came into view.
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