Dean Flender spoke first, "In another two weeks, the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament will begin. Now, team leader Xiaogang will explain the rules to you."
As he spoke, Flender kicked his dozing disciple Ma Hongjun in the backside and continued, "Don't take it lightly. Rules are limitations, but they can also be used as advantages. Skill is important in a match, but you must also understand all the rules. Otherwise, you could easily be exploited by others and lose everything."
At this moment, Grandmaster Yu, who had been keeping a straight face, put his hands behind his back and began to explain, " The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament is initiated and hosted by the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empire Empires, with the Spirit Hall as a co-organizer. The tournament is divided into preliminary rounds, qualifying rounds, and the final competition."
"Our first challenge is the preliminary rounds against the Heaven Dou Empire. The preliminary rounds are conducted in a team battle format, with each academy facing off against the others. The five academies with the highest scores will advance to the next round."
"During the competition, the aim is to engage in friendly sparring, avoid injuring or crippling opponents as much as possible, and absolutely no deaths will be tolerated; otherwise, the participant will be expelled from the Soul Master Tournament."
"Furthermore, any weapons other than those Martial Soul are also prohibited. Therefore, Tang San's Hidden Weapon and Oscar's practice iron rod cannot be used in this competition; otherwise, they will be directly expelled from the competition."
Does anyone have any questions about these rules?
Dai Mubai raised his hand and asked, " Grandmaster, Soul Skill are blind. What if they accidentally kill someone? If both sides are evenly matched, casualties are inevitable in a full-scale battle."
Grandmaster Yu looked at Dai Mubai and said solemnly, "What you said is true. However, the purpose of the two great empires holding this high-level Soul Master Academy Tournament is not to have the various academies fight to a draw, but to select the best talents to recruit."
"Training a Soul Master is no easy task. While prohibiting the killing of opponents may impose certain restrictions, it also serves as a safeguard for you young people. From this perspective, this rule is absolutely correct."
Grandmaster Yu paused for a moment, then continued, "Having just explained the rules, now I'll introduce the competition format."
"Across the two great empires, there are approximately one hundred high-level Soul Master Academy, and each academy has one spot in the competition."
"The two major empires' official and the Spirit Hall's high-level Soul Master Academy each occupy two spots in the competition. For example, the Heaven Dou Royal Academy of the Heaven Dou Empire's main team directly advances to the finals, while the vice-team participates in the preliminary rounds along with other academies."
"The preliminary rounds will be team battles held in the divided slots. Academies not belonging to a kingdom or duchy will participate in the preliminary rounds in the Heaven Dou City divided slot. Academies from each kingdom and duchy will participate in the preliminary rounds according to their national divided slots."
"Our Heaven Dou City division, due to its numerous academies and its direct imperial control, will have five qualifying slots. The other four kingdoms and one duchy will each have two qualifying slots."
"The qualifying rounds are one-on-one Soul Fighting. The results do not affect the final spots in the grand finals, only the final ranking draw. The reason for the qualifying rounds is to allow the two great empires and the Spirit Hall to better identify some exceptionally talented young Soul Master from among these participating students."
"In other words, as long as we rank in the top five in the preliminary rounds, we can participate in the finals."
After Grandmaster Yu finished explaining all the details, everyone was still a bit confused, not expecting it to be so complicated.
Finally, Flender concluded, " Little Monster, don't worry about these details. We'll remind you during the process. Just focus on showing your best in the ring! I only have one requirement for you: win the qualifiers! Are you confident?"
"Yes!" the Shrek students shouted in unison.
Half a month later, in Heaven Dou City, the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire.
The opening ceremony of the All-Continent Elite Tournament for Advanced Soul Master Academy, Heaven Dou Empire Division, was held in Heaven Dou City.
As the grandest Soul Master Tournament in the Soul Master World, it attracts not only the attention of Soul Master, but also the attention of every citizen of Heaven Dou City, from royalty and nobles to commoners. They regard this tournament as the grandest festival.
The opening ceremony was held in the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena in Heaven Dou City. Tickets for the opening ceremony had already sold out a month in advance. It should be noted that these tickets were priced the same as the admission price for the main Soul Fighting Center of the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena.
As the main arena for the Heaven Dou division, the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena suspended all Soul Fighting Battles a month ago for internal renovations. All the sub-arenas within the Great Soul Arena were merged with the main Soul Fighting Center to form a massive competition venue.
Apart from the VIP area remaining on the north side of the entire competition venue, the renovated Great Soul Arena can accommodate 80,000 spectators at the same time.
For the next period of time, all the preliminary rounds of the Heaven Dou Segment will be held here.
Before dawn, when the sun had even risen in the east, the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena had already welcomed a huge crowd of spectators. The audience arrived so early so that they could see the young Soul Master participating in the competition up close on the first day of the opening ceremony.
As more and more students from various academies arrived at the academy corridor, Shrek Academy also made its way there. However, all the Shrek students had their heads down, because their uniforms were a uniform, dingy green, with a "Seeking Sponsorship" sign pasted on the back. Compared to the other academies, they were truly an eyesore.
It was precisely because of their bizarre attire that the Shrek Team immediately received 'extra' attention as soon as they entered the crowd, almost causing a conflict with the Canghui Academy.
The organizers quickly began arranging for each academy to enter, and Shrek Academy was once again placed last, truly a stroke of bad luck, leaving everyone indignant.
"The last team to enter is the Shrek Academy team. Shrek Academy, formerly known as Blue Tyrant Academy, changed its name to Shrek a year ago. Look how distinctive their unique attire is! A total of eleven students are participating. Their slogan is 'The Champion Without Opponents.' What a clever slogan! I hope they can deliver an outstanding performance."
As the emcee introduced them, the Shrek team entered the arena. Upon seeing their team uniforms, the audience in the stands erupted in laughter and jeers. The Shrek team members were beginning to lose control of their anger.
Finally, all the participating academies had entered the arena. The Shrek Academy group stood at the very back of all the teams.
On the VIP platform, there were only three people in the first row. The person in the center was Xue Ye, to his left was Salas, the Hall Master of the Martial Soul Temple of Heaven Dou City and the Platinum Bishop, and to his right was Ning Fengzhi, the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect School. The second row consisted of the three members of the teaching committee of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Prince Xue Xing, and Bone Douluo, who was protecting Ning Fengzhi every step of the way.
A moment later, 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 opening of this competition."
Xue Ye rose to his feet, his steady and resonant voice carrying throughout the arena via Amplifying Soul Tool, "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 Pan-Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Competition open."
Then he started rambling on and on in official jargon. Next came Ning Fengzhi's speech, which was also full of polite and encouraging official remarks.
Finally, Salas, the Platinum Bishop of the Spirit Hall, will draw lots for the first round of the preliminary rounds. After the draw, the vice-team of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy will play against their opponents drawn in the first round. This will also be the only opening match of the day.
After a series of flashy maneuvers by Salas, the first round draw results were in. Whether it was genuine coincidence or Salas's doing, the Shrek Team was drawn against the vice-captain of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy in the first round. This was the opening match of the Soul Master Tournament, the only match of the day, and the sole focus of the entire event. It was truly a case of enemies meeting on a narrow road.
The Shrek Team and their teachers were also extremely excited. They never imagined that they would have the opportunity to retaliate so soon for the humiliation they suffered at the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, especially in front of so many high-ranking officials of the Empire and more than 80,000 spectators.
The ridicule, slander, and humiliation they had endured all morning finally found an outlet, and everyone was itching to rush forward and crush their opponents.