Undeniably, the Sun Moon Team possesses formidable strength, and they have been on a winning streak in the round-robin matches, securing victory in almost every game.
Until they encountered Shrek Academy, they lost to Cao Yu and his group in that match.
However, none of the remaining teams in this group were a match for the Sun Moon Team, so they still managed to squeeze into second place in this group based on their own strength.
In this group, Shrek Academy came in first place, while the Sun Moon Team came in second.
Therefore, two teams successfully advanced from this group. There are a total of four groups, and the first and second place teams from each group will be selected, resulting in eight teams.
The top eight have been determined. After a two-day break, the quarterfinals will officially begin. The quarterfinals will be completed in just one day, followed by another two-day break for the semifinals.
After a two-day break following the semifinals, the final will take place, at which point the entire tournament will conclude.
Today is the first day of rest before the quarterfinals begin, but all eight teams got up very early this morning.
Before the competition begins, a draw ceremony is held, which is extremely important for every team.
Many officials from the Sun Moon Empire had already arrived in the lobby of the Ming Yue Hotel.
The remaining eight teams are also among them.
At this moment, one of the officials stood up, smiling broadly, and said, "First of all, I would like to congratulate everyone present on making it into the top eight of this competition."
"Next, we will be holding the draw for the quarterfinals. This draw will not only determine your opponents in the next match, but also the range of opponents you will face afterward..."
The draw began shortly afterward, and most of the participants were a little nervous, after all, this was the closest they had ever come to winning the championship.
The official looked at the draw results for each team and announced loudly, " Shrek Academy, Upper Bracket."
" Snow Demon Sect, lower half of the bracket."
" Proud Sword Sect, Upper Half."
" Mingdu Soul Engineering Academy, Upper Division."
" Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, Lower Division."
"The draw for the quarterfinals will now take place, with the Shrek Academy drawing first."
Cao Yu stepped forward, took out a card from the lottery box, and the official glanced at it before reading it aloud.
" Shrek Academy's opponent is Mingdu Soul Engineering Academy!"
Mingdu Soul Engineering Academy ranks second among the academies of the Sun Moon Empire, its elder brother being the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy.
So when Shrek Academy selected them, the group from the Mingdu Soul Engineering Academy turned pale.
Why am I so unlucky?
The draw continued, but Cao Yu and his team didn't linger and headed to the competition venue to prepare for today's quarterfinals.
When Cao Yu and his team arrived at the competition venue, their opponents Mingdu Soul Engineer Academy Team, were already warming up.
A dozen minutes later, the referee shouted:
"In the first match of the quarterfinals, Shrek Academy Team versus Mingdu Soul Engineer Academy Team. Both teams' players enter the waiting area, and the first individual elimination match player enters the arena."
Upon entering the waiting area, both sides observed each other, with the members of the Mingdu Soul Engineer Academy on the other side clearly looking rather grim.
They were extremely reluctant to face this formidable opponent! Especially Cao Yu, who was truly difficult to contend with.
Especially after they defeated the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, led by Xiao Hongchen, who was the senior academy of the Mingdu Soul Engineering Academy!
Even the eldest brother lost, so how am I supposed to fare?
To make matters worse, we ran into them in the quarterfinals. What incredibly bad luck!
It seems this competition will just be a formality, and they'll have no chance of winning the grand prize.
"Both sides, prepare." The referee called out in a deep voice, glancing at both sides.
"The match begins."
With a loud shout, Cao Yu moved instantly, stomping his feet on the ground and rushing towards Lu Jun, who was a hundred meters away, like an arrow.
His astonishing speed was evident to everyone.
Xue Xiaoyue from the Mingdu Team had clearly planned this all along; he went all out when he jumped.
Cao Yu's face was cold and stern. He rushed to Xue Xiaoyue in the next instant. In terms of speed, even Flying Soul Tool with a thruster could not compare to him. Of course, if the distance was far, that would be another story.
In the blink of an eye, Cao Yu flew above Xue Xiaoyue and then kicked the soul-guided protective shield above Xue Xiaoyue's head like a cannonball.
Just as Xue Xiaoyue realized what was happening and was about to dodge, an irresistible force of gravity suddenly came from above her head.
Because of the soul-guided protective shield, Xue Xiaoyue was not seriously injured. She only felt a tightness in her chest and had some difficulty breathing.
As she was kicked and plummeted downwards, Xue Xiaoyue flipped her hands, and two Soul Cannon appeared on her forearms. She then fired the two rapid-fire Soul Cannon directly at Cao Yu above her head.
"Boom!"
Cao Yu also had Soul Tool Shield, which easily blocked the Soul Cannon.
Meanwhile, Xue Xiaoyue slammed hard onto the ground in just a few seconds, raising another cloud of dust around the competition stage.
The competition stage, which had just been repaired, has now developed another large crater.
Xue Xiaoyue's Soul Tool Shield had been completely rendered ineffective by the attack, so he now had no other defensive means to rely on.
He instantly pulled out an even larger Soul Cannon, a Level 7 Soul Tool, which was already covered with Milk Bottle Soul Tool.
With the continuous infusion of Soul Power, the blue light at the muzzle began to gather.
With a single shot fired, the air was already enveloped by the powerful explosion. Watching the massive burst of lightning engulf Cao Yu's body, Xue Xiaoyue suddenly breathed a sigh of relief.
However, his Soul Power had been exhausted, and he could only kneel weakly on the ground.
"He should have lost now, right?"
But when the light faded, he didn't see Cao Yu anywhere, not even his body on the ground.
Where did he go?
Just as he was thinking this, the referee's announcement echoed throughout the stadium.
"Match over! Shrek Academy wins!"
What?!!!
Xue Xiaoyue looked up in disbelief. Just as he turned around to question the referee, he suddenly realized that someone was standing behind him.
A black, sharp blade was pressed against the back of his neck.
Xue Xiaoyue instantly felt a chill run down her spine; his speed was simply insane!
Cao Yu merely used his Shadow Stream Avatar to appear behind his shadow; otherwise, if he had directly withstood the level seven Soul Cannon, he would have been injured to some extent.
A new opponent took the stage; this time it was a girl, and she was also the captain of the Mingdu Soul Guidance Team.
"Both sides state their names," the referee said, looking at the two.
" Shrek, Cao Yu."
" Mingdu, Xu Tianzhen."
Cao Yu's lips curled up slightly, and he couldn't help but smile. This was Xu Tianran's younger sister. She was old enough, but her height... well, she looked a bit like a little girl.
Xu Tianzhen tapped two fingers in front of her and said softly, "Little brother, you're so handsome, could you please be a little gentler?"
"I'm afraid of pain. If I lose, I'll give up on this competition."
(End of this chapter)