Kong Xuan strongly suspects that the group assignments for the round-robin tournament were manipulated behind the scenes; otherwise, how could these strong teams have been placed in different groups?
Even if there are some shady dealings involved, most people would probably welcome this arrangement.
After all, it's better than having a strong team eliminated right from the start; nobody knows they won't be the unlucky one.
After several rounds of matches, Shrek Academy, with two more Soul King, maintained a perfect record without paying any heavy price, relying entirely on overwhelming strength.
Of the three remaining members of the main team from the incident in the Ming Dou Mountain Range, Ling Luochеn has already recovered, making them even stronger in terms of combat strength.
Qualifying as the top-ranked team is absolutely no problem.
The next match is between the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy and the Zhengtian Academy from the Heavenly Soul Empire!
In fact, when Qianling Academy and Zhengtian Academy appeared on the group list, Kong Xuan was a little surprised, wondering if they had taken the script that originally belonged to the Shrek Academy.
After all, in the original story, both of these academies were Shrek Academy's opponents in the back-to-back matches!
However, faced with absolute strength, the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy feels no pressure no matter what kind of opponent they encounter.
In the rest area of the round-robin tournament, not everyone from each college comes to watch each match.
Today's match saw the rest area packed with people, clearly showing their high expectations for the game.
The Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy goes without saying; it currently maintains an undefeated record.
Their opponents this time were no weaklings either, consisting of three Soul King and four Soul Ancestor.
The academies watching the battle also wanted to see if Zhengtian Academy could force Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy to reveal more of its trump cards.
As the official team captain, Ma Rulong was always the one who did the drawing of lots.
After the draw, the referee announced, " Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy versus Zhengtian Academy, a one-on-one match has been drawn. Both sides, please prepare yourselves!"
The lap race has been going on for ten days, and everyone is familiar with the process of the individual competition.
The game involves two teams each sending out one player to fight. If a player loses, their teammate is substituted in. The team that defeats all seven opponents first wins.
In the preparation area, Xiao Hongchen stood up abruptly. " Elder Ma, the opposing team has three Soul King. We don't know who will be the first to go. Shouldn't it be our turn to send out our main players this time?"
Having watched the reserve team members win victory after victory on the stage, Xiao Hongchen, who always loved to show off, was really itching to get back at them.
In Xiao Hongchen's eyes, today's individual competition was exactly the opportunity he had been waiting for!
Ma Sheng did not give a direct answer, but instead frowned and pondered.
Clearly, he has approved the proposal to field the starting players.
However, who to send is still under discussion.
Just then, a voice rang out, attracting everyone's attention and interrupting Ma Sheng's thoughts.
"I'll take this one!"
All eyes turned to Kong Xuan, for it was he who had said those words.
Kong Xuan, as the captain of the reserve team, had participated in many matches but had never actually made a move.
They hadn't expected that Kong Xuan would volunteer to go on stage this time.
Ma Sheng frowned as he looked at Kong Xuan, clearly not wanting Kong Xuan to fight.
He said, "There's no need for you to go on stage now. Concealing your strength and saving it for last to deal with the Shrek Academy is the right thing to do!"
It seems that even though their strength this time is arguably the strongest in history, Shrek Academy's perennial number one title still puts enormous pressure on Ma Sheng.
Kong Xuan did not accept this suggestion, saying, "To defeat Shrek Academy, we need absolute strength, not how much strength we are hiding now."
"Furthermore... these people from the Zhengtian Academy don't require me to reveal my trump cards!"
Looking at the confident Kong Xuan, Ma Sheng felt a flash of annoyance. He felt that no matter how strong Kong Xuan was, he was still a bit arrogant. After all, he was a Titled Douluo.
Just as he was about to say something more, Ren Jun spoke up, " Elder Ma, let Kong Xuan go. He's not someone who doesn't know what's important."
In crucial moments, even one's own teacher has to step in.
Compared to Ma Sheng, Ren Jun clearly understood Kong Xuan better.
"All right!"
Ma Sheng said this, but his tone betrayed his reluctance.
Seemingly resigned, he couldn't help but shout sternly, "If we fail to defeat Shrek in the end, even if your grandfather is the Lord of the Worship Hall, Laozi 'll still teach you a lesson!"
He's disliked Kong Xuan for a long time!
Kong Xuan, however, laughed dismissively, " Elder Ma, you won't have that chance."
After saying that, Kong Xuan walked onto the ring at the referee's command to "both sides enter the arena".
When Kong Xuan appeared on the stage, a murmur of discussion arose in both the audience seats and the rest area.
People who were initially indifferent to the competition suddenly turned their attention to it.
And all of this, naturally, is because of Kong Xuan!
These people were incredibly curious about him, the captain of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's reserve team!
The team members have all demonstrated exceptional skill, so just how strong will their captain be?
The lap race has already gone through several rounds, and the participants are now quite "familiar" with each other.
Even if we haven't communicated, at least we know each other's names.
Kong Xuan looked at his opponent, who was one of the three Soul King of the Zhengtian Academy, Tang Xiaolei.
The reason why Zhengtian Academy sent Tang Xiaolei to the first stage was twofold: firstly, because of his Soul King strength, and secondly, because his Martial Soul and Soul Skill were not actually suitable for individual battles. Even if he couldn't eliminate his opponent by going first, he could still wear them down.
Tang Xiaolei originally thought that the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy would send a regular member to the competition this time, but unexpectedly it was a reserve member.
However, Tang Xiaolei did not underestimate Kong Xuan, the mysterious captain who had never made a move before.
As the referee announced, "The match begins," Tang Xiaolei instantly completed his Martial Soul Possession, and five Soul Ring— two yellow and three purple—rose from beneath his feet.
In his hand appeared a longbow, 1.8 meters long, bright purple in color, with a halo of light flowing over its ornate patterns; it was his Martial Soul, the Purple Splendor Bow.
He held the bow in his left hand and rested his right hand on the string. The arrow was drawn but not released, but the imposing presence of the man indicated that its power was extraordinary.
Just as Tang Xiaolei was about to fire the arrow first, his eyes suddenly narrowed, his expression changed, and his hand trembled as he drew the bow.
The arrow, which was aimed at him, almost missed its mark.
Not only him, but everyone in the audience and rest area also had an incredulous look on their faces, as if they had seen a ghost.
All these changes were naturally caused by Kong Xuan.
Kong Xuan stood at one end of the arena, tall and with an extraordinary air about him.
He now held a long spear in his hand, as clear and bright as crystal. The sharpness emanating from it could be felt by everyone, even through the protective barrier of the arena.
With just one glance, they knew that this could not be Soul Tool, but rather Kong Xuan's Martial Soul, which he had never revealed before.
The soul master with good eyesight has already noticed the word "Qingtian" engraved on the barrel of the gun in Kong Xuan's hand.
Kong Xuan's Martial Soul, the Atlas Spear, made its first appearance on the arena!
However, what truly caused everyone's expressions to change drastically was not this Martial Soul, but the Soul Ring that had appeared on Kong Xuan's body at that moment.
Two purple and three black, five Soul Ring!