Upon hearing this name, Qi Ling was completely dumbfounded. How did her team suddenly become the Qilin Team? Can you just change the name of something like that?
But seeing Dugu Bo's smug smile, Qi Ling knew it must be his doing. She wondered what method he had used to get both the organizers and the Heaven Dou Empire to agree to the name change; it was simply unbelievable.
After all, Qi Ling's team, although it was called the second team, everyone knew that they were the official team representing the Heaven Dou Empire. In other words, they represented the Heaven Dou Empire themselves, and it wasn't something that could be renamed casually.
Moreover, anyone who hears this name will know it's a variation of his own name, " Qi Ling "—isn't that a bit too arrogant? Even if he doesn't care about showing off, would the Emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, Xue Ye, approve?
Thinking of this, Qi Ling couldn't help but look towards the VIP stage. There, besides Prince Xue Xing and other royal nobles, as well as the three instructors from the Heaven Dou Academy, the most eye-catching people were undoubtedly the three people sitting in the first row.
The man in the middle, though aged, possessed an undeniable aura befitting an emperor; he was undoubtedly the emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, Xue Ye.
What puzzled Qi Ling was that when Xue Ye heard about his " Qilin Team," he didn't show any surprise, as if he already knew about it beforehand. This made Qi Ling wonder, could that old man Dugu Bo be so capable that he even had connections with the emperor?
What Qi Ling didn't know was that Dugu Bo actually had a relationship with the emperor, but it was through negotiations conducted by Meng Shenji, and the content of those negotiations included asking Qi Ling to change the team name.
The Heaven Dou Empire is now desperately seeking talented individuals, so Xue Ye is willing to pay any price to attract them.
When he heard everyone praising Qi Ling's excellence, he had already decided to recruit him. So he agreed to many of their conditions, but his condition was that Qi Ling must win the competition, or else he would be convicted of deceiving the emperor.
Naturally, Dugu Bo also knew that even if Qi Ling didn't win, as long as he showed his talent, Xue Ye wouldn't be willing to kill him. At most, he would punish him a little, since Qi Ling had boasted to him that he would definitely win first place in the competition.
Sitting on either side of Xue Ye were the bishop of the Spirit Hall and Ning Fengzhi, the sect leader of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Not only did they have special identities, but they also served as judges for this competition, which is why they were able to sit in the same row as Xue Ye.
After the introduction of the Qilin Team, the other teams began to enter in turn. Once all the teams had entered, the emcee announced loudly, "Now, please welcome His Majesty the Emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire to declare the competition open!"
Amidst thunderous applause from the audience, Xue Ye, dressed in a crimson-gold robe, slowly rose and walked to the podium. His deep and resonant voice rang out as he delivered a seasoned and composed speech.
Inspired by Xue Ye, the Soul Master present felt their blood boil, their eyes gleaming with fervor. For them, this competition was the best stage to showcase their abilities.
After Xue Ye finished his speech, Ning Fengzhi also gave a speech as usual. Then, the Platinum Bishop of the Spirit Hall, Salas, conducted the draw for the first round of the preliminary rounds.
Watching the old man slowly walk to the master of ceremonies and begin drawing the spots for the two teams, Qi Ling couldn't help but feel a surge of tension. If things had gone according to the original script, they should have drawn Shrek Academy's name right now. If that were the case, should she win or not?
Since today is the opening ceremony, only one match will be held, namely the match of the Qilin Team, which is enough to prove the importance of this match. After careful consideration, Qi Ling decided that if that were really the case, she would not take sides and leave the outcome entirely to fate.
Fortunately, fate seemed to be less cruel. Salas quickly drew the match order for all 28 teams. The first opponent of the Qilin Team was a team called the Purple Star Team.
Qi Ling didn't have any impression of this team. It seemed that there were no outstanding players in it, and it could only be considered a cannon fodder team.
Shrek Academy was drawn against an unknown team called Oakland Academy, and judging from the current situation, they should be able to win easily.
"Not bad luck." Qi Ling smiled slightly, then looked in the direction of Shrek and found that everyone was looking at her as well, and smiled back at the same time.
All the teams were naturally very satisfied with the result. However, after drawing the lots, Bishop Salas did not immediately return to his position. Instead, he faced all the Soul Master and said, "Since none of you have any objections, then on behalf of the Spirit Hall, I hereby declare that these battle slots are officially in effect!"
"At the same time, I hereby announce that all the contestants present who ultimately make it to the finals will be exceptionally granted direct membership in the Martial Soul Temple by the Spirit Hall!"
These words caused an uproar not only among the Soul Master, but also changed the expressions of Xue Ye and Ning Fengzhi, because this was a direct challenge to the prestige of the Heaven Dou Empire, completely disregarding the two of them.
At the same time, Qi Ling also understood why Xue Ye had agreed to so many requests just to recruit her. If she won the championship and joined the Spirit Hall, it would probably be a disgrace to the Heaven Dou Empire forever.
Those with keen senses present also sensed the subtle tension. The conflict between the Spirit Hall and the Heaven Dou Empire seemed to have reached an irreconcilable point, and a conflict was imminent. They would have to make a decision on which side to stand on as soon as possible.
Although the empire is powerful, everyone knows that in this world, whoever controls more Soul Master has more say, and when it comes to the number of Soul Master, the Spirit Hall can completely crush any other force in the world.
However, even so, for now, everyone still has to maintain a semblance of peace. Xue Ye is still the supreme emperor, someone Salas cannot afford to offend.
So after saying that, he returned to his seat and did not do anything further.
"Alright, the first match of the first round of the preliminary rounds will be between the Qilin Team and the Purple Star Team. The other academies will then leave in turn. The two academies that will be playing later, please prepare yourselves. The match will officially begin in half an hour."
Since there were no matches, the other colleges all left the rest area directly, but none of them left. Instead, they were led by staff to the viewing area specially prepared for the players.
They naturally knew that the more information they had about their opponents, the higher their chances of winning would be. Moreover, everyone knew what the Qilin Team represented, and this information would be of great importance to them.