"Teacher Wang, are we really going to be allowed to participate in the elimination round?"
The person who asked this question was Huo Yuhao. He and Wang Dongning were the youngest, and he was a little afraid that the reserve team would lose in the knockout round. The number one academy on the continent would be eliminated in the first round, and they would probably never be able to hold their heads up in this life.
Wang Yan smiled bitterly and said, "It's about right. Let Ling Bai play with six substitutes in the knockout round. As long as they don't encounter the four major royal academies and a few particularly powerful academies, winning should be no problem.
By the way, we are the defending champions and will be the first to play in the opening match of the tournament the day after tomorrow."
Upon hearing this, the reserve team's faces suddenly tensed. Even though they hadn't even entered the field yet, it felt like there was an invisible pressure like a mountain coming from all directions that made it difficult for them to breathe. They couldn't help but lick their dry lips.
"Squeak—"
The door of the Shrek conference room was suddenly pushed open, and Ling Bai walked in, carrying two large bags of colorful fruits. He said calmly,
"I heard some noise inside when I passed by. You guys are much faster than I expected."
"Brother Bai, where have you been?" Ning Tian asked curiously.
"Buying local specialties." Ling Bai said as a matter of course, "The Xingluo Empire is located in the south, and the fruits there are much sweeter than in other places. Here, do you want to try some?"
Two large bags of fruit were piled in the middle of the round table in the conference room. Wang Yan and the reserve team looked at each other in amusement and helplessness. They were as anxious as ants roasting on an iron plate, and this guy actually had the leisure to go out shopping and buy fruit.
They especially admired Ling Bai's mentality. Shrek was about to die, but he remained calm.
"Xiaotian, give me a blue spirit fruit."
Ignoring the various looks from the crowd, Ling Bai picked out the largest and most juicy blue fruit and calmly handed it to Ning Tian.
"Forehead..."
Ning Tian held the blue spirit fruit in her hands, her face slightly flushed. She was embarrassed to eat it alone, and the atmosphere didn't seem suitable for eating.
Wang Yan scratched his head, sighed, and said, "Ling Bai, you're back just in time. The elimination round will be decided by a team fight. Shrek Academy's tactics are based on you. Who do you want to play with you?"
Ling Bai was stunned and asked in confusion: "Teacher Wang, the elimination round is a competition for the regular players. Since Xiao Taoyueheng and the others are temporarily unable to fight, it will be the same for me alone."
"What!"
Wang Yan's eyes widened, and he slammed his palm on the table. The loud noise startled the reserve team, and his expression twisted as he said, "This is too childish. You are not representing yourself, but the ten thousand year reputation of Shrek Academy. If you lose, who will take the responsibility!"
"We resist!"
As soon as the words fell, three figures slowly walked into the conference room. Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yuheng, and Ling Luochen were the three main candidates of the Shrek Seven Devils!
The wounds had not healed yet and the face was pale, but this did not affect the domineering side of the Evil Fire Phoenix at all. With just a glance, Wang Yan's anger instantly waned. Ma Xiaotao said in a deep voice:
"The Soul Master Competition is the home court of the main candidates of the Shrek Seven Devils. As long as there is one person in the main candidates who can fight, the reserve team will not be asked to bear the responsibility that they should not bear at this age!
On behalf of the main team, I unconditionally support Ling Bai's decision. If he loses the knockout round, the four of us will shoulder the responsibility together. Teacher Wang Yan, you and the reserve team don't have to worry about the knockout round. You have been exhausted from traveling all the way. Please go back to your room and rest early!"
"That's right." Dai Yueheng added, "Ling Bai is the strongest among all the people present. He is qualified to decide the fate of Shrek Academy."
"All they said were my words." Ling Luochen said faintly.
"You…you guys…"
Looking at the three stubborn men in front of him, Wang Yan was so angry that he almost had a heart attack. His body kept shaking and he couldn't utter a complete sentence.
"Teacher Wang, eat some fruit to cool down your body."
Ling Bai kindly handed over a red sweet and spicy fruit and said with a smile: "Think about it from another angle. If I can't handle the team, it's like a mantis trying to stop a chariot even if you send in the reserve team. It's better to throw a smoke bomb and I'll go on the field alone to cover up the fact that the regular players were injured."
This made sense. Wang Yan began to ponder. In the previous opening matches, Shrek Academy would always send out its regular players to crush the opponents with overwhelming force, demonstrating the power of the number one academy on the continent.
The fact that the reserve team barely managed to defeat the enemy after a fierce battle made it very easy for people to think that there was a problem with the main team. More importantly, he understood that due to his own weakness, he could not command the four main teams at all. Especially today, he saw Ling Bai's true face. He usually looked gentle and modest, but in fact, he was the most arrogant among them. He even threatened to challenge a team alone.
"It's settled. Ling Bai will go alone."
Ma Xiaotao didn't give Wang Yan a chance to refute. She reached out and grabbed Ling Bai's sleeve, then turned around and left the meeting room with Dai Yuheng and Ling Luochen, leaving the reserve team staring at each other. Xu Sanshi leaned his elbow on the dazed Bei Bei and said with a smile:
"Xiao Bei, what are you thinking about?"
Beibei pulled away Xu Sanshi's pig's trotter, looked at the closed door of the conference room, and said sadly:
"I just feel a little dazed suddenly. I knew Ling Bai earlier than you, and I was the one who brought him to Shrek Academy. I just realized one thing. In fact, he is younger than us. He is the same age as Yu Hao, Wang Dong and Ning Tian.
The reserve team will not be asked to bear responsibilities that they should not bear at this age, but Ling Bai took the initiative to shoulder this responsibility on his own. "
Xu Sanshi smiled and said, "So... you have realized the difference?"
"Yeah, it's really powerless to have a monster among my peers. But I have to admit... With him in the front, the burden of our reserve team seems to have been lightened. Maybe this is what they call winning without effort..."
"What are you talking about? What are you talking about?"
Xu Sanshi said righteously: "Whoever wins by doing nothing, the cheerleading team is so tired!"
"Get away from me, you shameless bastard!"
Swish, swish, swish!
On the other side, the three selected players moved quickly and dragged Ling Bai into Ma Xiaotao's room. The three of them formed a semicircle and stared at Ling Bai with burning eyes. It felt like a mother teaching her son.
Ma Xiaotao suddenly grabbed Ling Bai's shoulders, her stunning face almost close to him, and said seriously: "Promise us that you must win the elimination round!"
The woman's warm breath hit his face, but Ling Bai didn't feel any romantic feelings in his heart. He said strangely: "No, do you believe me or not..."
Dai Yaoheng cleared his throat and said seriously, "Seven monsters are one body. We will definitely support you outside, but let's speak the truth behind closed doors. The elimination match is related to the reputation of the academy and ourselves. You must win, and you must win beautifully. We know that you must have a lot of cards hidden. If you have any secret methods of the angel clan to open the match, show them now!"
"What if I'm drawn against the four royal academies in the opening match and I lose?" Ling Bai joked. Taking the excitement of the competition into consideration and for political reasons, the seeded teams will not meet in the first round, and even the round-robin tournaments will be deliberately divided into different groups, and they will not meet until the quarterfinals.
The three of them actually took the joke seriously. After looking at each other, they said in unison: "Then the three of us will kill you first, and then jump off the top floor of the Star King Hotel and go to hell together!"
"...Okay, okay, you're so cruel!"
Ling Bai wiped the spit on his face and said, "Having said that, I can solve the elimination match by myself, and the next round-robin match is the highlight. There is no need to say much about the individual and team battles. I will naturally do my best, but the 223 tactics are two wins in three games and cannot be repeated. No matter how strong I am, I can only win one game. This is a difficult test for the reserve team.
When will you three be able to fully recover and share some of the pressure on the reserve team?"
Ma Xiaotao crossed her arms and gave a precise time: "Go all out to recuperate for twelve days."
Dai Yaoheng added: "My cultivation is not as good as Xiaotao's, about fifteen days."
Ling Luochen said calmly: "There were not many corpses around me at the time, so the damage from the corpse explosion was relatively light, about seven days."
Ling Bai did some calculations and said to Ling Luochen confidently, "You can almost play in the third round of the round-robin tournament. It's only two rounds. I'll draw the lots myself. Well, I'm sure you won't get 223."
Ling Luochen frowned: "I heard that your luck seems to be a bit..."
"stop!"
A slender index finger blocked the harsh words that Ling Luochen was about to blurt out, and Ling Bai shook his head slowly and firmly:
"Stop talking. It's impolite to say more."
Ling Luochen: ...
In the early morning, when the first ray of sunlight shone into Xingluo City, this ancient empire with a history of ten thousand years revealed a solemn atmosphere.
All the streets around Xingluo Square were blocked by soldiers in distinctive armor. As the accommodation area for players from various colleges, Xinghuang Hotel was given great attention by the Xingluo Emperor, who sent thousands of soldiers to guard it with a wave of his hand.
Audiences from all over the mainland arrived early in the audience seats, looking forward to the competition. The crowds were so huge that many contestants felt a great deal of pressure when they saw them. The young talents under the age of 20 held their chests high to maintain their persona and walked gracefully into the rest and preparation areas of the various colleges around the square.
A giant competition venue was built in the center of Xingluo Square, with 108 metal pillars erected on the edge. These metal pillars are a kind of soul guide shield. 108 high-level soul masters constantly inject soul power to form a protective shield to prevent the overflow of soul skills, avoid harming innocent people or destroying the city.
The Emperor of Xing Luo, Xu Jiawei, dressed in a bright yellow robe, came to the viewing platform with the Queen and the civil and military officials. He looked at his people with a gentle but majestic gaze and gave a pre-match speech:
"The All-Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Competition is a grand event held every five years in Douluo Continent. I am very happy that this competition is held in the Xing Luo Empire. On behalf of the Xing Luo Empire, I welcome all the academies who have come from afar. I hope you will show your due elegance in the one-month competition.
I declare that the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Competition has begun! "
With the impassioned announcement of Xing Luo Emperor Xu Jiawei, the curtain of this continental grand ceremony was officially opened. Representatives of each team of students came on stage to draw lots for opponents in the first round of eliminations, secretly praying in their hearts that they would not run into Shrek Academy and the major royal academies.
The referee team of the competition confirmed the situation of the match and shouted through the loudspeaker soul guide: "The first match of the elimination match will be between the first academy of the continent, Shrek Academy, which has won all the championships of the competitions in the past ten thousand years of Douluo Continent, and the Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy of the Fighting Spirit Empire. Please invite the players of both sides to come on stage!"
"Shrek! Shrek! Shrek!"
On the Douluo Continent, both civilians and soul masters have a sense of admiration for the strong. The ten thousand years of glory of Shrek Academy just meets this requirement. For other academies, they usually just come to the Soul Master Competition to compete for the second place. Before the rise of the Sun and Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy, the three empires could not even find an opponent who could compete with them.
Following the announcement by the referee team, the atmosphere in the entire Xingluo Square immediately reached its peak, with voices calling out for Shrek echoing in almost every corner of the square. As for the Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy, it was merely a stepping stone for Shrek to warm up the atmosphere, and no one cared about them at all.
At the back of the contestant area, a group of pale-faced young men walked out. They were trembling and wished they could quit the competition right then and there. When they stepped onto the competition field trembling, they suddenly found that there was only one figure on the opposite side.
The light turned into a golden veil, draped over the young man who was walking slowly. The faint light illuminated his handsome face, so delicate that it looked like an oil painting. Just by looking at him, it seemed as if all the noise around him had been cleared away.
There was no extraneous color on his face, and he climbed up the platform step by step with great calmness.
We are doomed to fail.
An indescribable feeling of loss filled the hearts of the seven people.
"Xiao Hongchen, look quickly! Doesn't he look like your future brother-in-law?"
In the rest area of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy below the stage, Meng Hongchen excitedly held Xiao Hongchen's hand.
Xiao Hongchen shook his head, dumbfounded, "No, sister, you scolded me like a son for two days, calling me a pervert and a love-brained person! What's wrong with you? I need a perfect explanation!"
"Explain yourself, you big head ghost! Look here, handsome!"
Meng Hongchen waved to Ling Bai frantically. The brother and sister were both obsessed with looks and could not refuse the opposite sex who touched their XP.
The rest area of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy was very close to the competition stage. Ling Bai clearly heard Meng Hongchen's shout and thought to himself that trouble had come again.
Even though he didn't want to admit it in his heart, but the six-winged angel and the light goddess butterfly were both light-related martial spirits, and there was a slight similarity in the auras of Ling Bai and Wang Dong. The difference was that Ling Bai's golden hair and golden eyes were more in line with people's fantasy of light, and Ling Bai looked more mature than Wang Dong, so Meng Hongchen naturally couldn't take his eyes off him and was even more excited.
"Just shut up!"
A sharp shout suddenly sounded, and the eighth-level soul instructor Ma Lao pointed at the figure standing straight on the stage, his thick eyebrows twisted into a "川" shape:
"Shrek is not a fool. Since he dared to send only one student to compete in a single elimination match, it already shows two things.
First, this student is very powerful and once easily defeated seven opponents at once.
Second, Shrek Academy was unwilling to expose the abilities of other team members in advance and use him to attract the attention of competitors.
Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, you two will not appear before the finals. You are also our trump cards. You must observe his abilities carefully!"