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Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, the one-month break was over.
The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite tournament finally began on this fine and sunny day.
The Royal Hunting Ground was a large hunting ground located in the western part of the city. It was vast and filled with dense forests. Many wild animals were reared there, and it was specially used for hunting when the Royal Family was bored.
And now, this vast hunting ground would be used as the venue for the Soul Master Advancement Tournament.
Other than the five teams from the Heaven Dou Empire, the Five Great Kingdoms and Dukedoms had also selected ten teams. There were a total of fifteen teams participating in the Heaven Dou Region's Advancement Tournament.
Fifteen squadrons, according to the single-cycle competition system would take turns fighting against the other squadrons. In total, there would be fourteen rounds of competition.
The Advancement Tournament would last fourteen days, and there would be one round per day.
The Advancement Tournament was different from the group battles in the qualifiers. This tournament placed more emphasis on individual strength. The rules of the tournament were: each team would send seven members to participate. Every member would have to fight until they were defeated. If they won, they could continue to challenge. As long as they were strong enough, no one would care if they wiped out their opponents one by one.
This promotion competition was a luxurious one-man show.
This sort of competition was similar to the All-Star competition was held after the end of a major competition. In any case, the promotion competition wasn't an elimination competition, so no team would be eliminated. The fifteen teams that participated in the
promotion competition would be able to participate in the finals in the future regardless of the outcome.
The purpose of the Advancement Tournament was to display individual strength and determine the ranking in the finals in the future. It was said that the top two teams would be able to skip a round in the finals in the future, saving them a lot of trouble.
In the middle of the Hunting Ground was a vast training ground. Tens of thousands of Royal Knights surrounded it, and they were in charge of patrolling and guarding the safety of the participants.
Early in the morning, the light red sun rose from the east. Its gentle and bright light cut through the fog and illuminated the earth. The flowers and trees on the ground were still asleep, and there were still sparkling dewdrops on the tips of their leaves.
A young team passed through the forest and arrived at the Hunting Ground. There were both men and women in this team, and most of them were only sixteen or seventeen years old. The men were tall and handsome, while the women were young and beautiful. The leader was a young man in his thirties.
"Stop! Please show your proof of entry"
The two guards at the gate had an ice-cold expression on their faces as they extended their hands to stop everyone who was about to enter the hunting ground.
The young man leading the team was slightly taken aback. He raised his hand and was about to take out his qualification certificate, but when the guards noticed the lazy black-haired youth in the team, their expressions changed. They quickly knelt on the ground and respectfully said, "Greetings, Your Highness"
"Huh?"
Fang Xuan yawned lazily with his hands behind his head. He glanced at the two guards and said, "Then, you may rise"
I remember that's how it's played on TV …
"Fang Xuan, only the Emperor and the Crown Prince are allowed to talk about rising. You can't talk about it. Otherwise, you'll attract criticism, and they'll kick you out" An adorable silver-haired loli with her hands clasped behind her back gave Fang Xuan a meaningful look. It was Ye Lingling.
"Oh, then … continue kneeling," Fang Xuan muttered.
"Yes, Your Highness." The two guards grimaced.
"You should say 'please rise' now." Ye Lingling reminded him.
"Uh … why is it so troublesome? Alright, alright, get up. I'm not Your Highness yet." Fang Xuan muttered.
This team was naturally the Emperor Team of the Heaven Dou Academy.
Ever since the soul master preliminaries ended, Heaven Dou's Team One and Team Two merged to form a new super-strong team. Of course, Fang Xuan was still the
captain. The main members of Team One were mostly from Team One since they were seeded participants.
Everyone in Team One was already a Soul Ancestor, so their strength was obvious.
Long Aotian, Ye Liangchen, and Da'Er were members of Heaven Dou's Team Two. Naturally, they became substitutes and were occasionally allowed to fight.
However, they weren't disappointed. Long Aotian and the others were overjoyed to be able to participate in the qualifiers and the finals. Even if they didn't have many chances to fight, they could still see the world in this pinnacle tournament and accumulate experience. It would be very helpful for their cultivation in the future.
With Fang Xuan, the prince of the empire, they could enter the qualifiers and save a lot of unnecessary trouble. Many of the noble royal knights knelt to greet Fang Xuan when they saw him.
It had to be said that this feeling was quite good, Fang Xuan almost floated in the air.
"Wow! Fang Xuan, I didn't expect you to be so respected. These royal knights are all elite soldiers, but they knelt to you."
A purple-haired girl was a little surprised. She smiled at Fang Xuan and said, "When you become the emperor tomorrow, remember to confer me a high-ranking official."
"Yanzi, don't talk nonsense"
Qin Ming's face darkened. He glared at Dugu Yan sternly. This girl didn't have a filter. She said such rebellious words in front of everyone. If this spread out, even if the Emperor could tolerate it, would Xue Qinghe, who had been the Crown Prince for more than a decade, be able to tolerate it?
It was guaranteed that he would bring disaster upon Fang Xuan again.
"Oh …"
Dugu Yan stuck out her tongue. She also realized that her words were a little inappropriate. If it was heard by someone with ulterior motives, it would probably cause a lot of trouble.
"Yanzi, you don't have a filter. You just say whatever you want …"
Yu Tianheng shook his head helplessly. He couldn't do anything about Dugu Yan.
Under the lead of a royal guard, the Emperor Team entered the center of the hunting ground and arrived at the exclusive resting area of the Heaven Dou Academy.
There was less than an hour before the start of the competition.
The fifteen participating teams arrived one after another.
The originally deserted training ground gradually became lively. The various academies were tit for tat.
Their battle intent was awe-inspiring. The smell of gunpowder had already begun to permeate the air before the competition had even begun.
However, Fang Xuan had no interest in the open and veiled struggles of the various teams.
Currently, Fang Xuan only has one intense and exciting task — basking in the sun.
Basking in the sun happily.
Fang Xuan was lying comfortably on a white lounge chair, enjoying the beautiful sunlight. He didn't feel the slightest bit of nervousness before the competition. He was very relaxed.
… …
Next to the Heaven Dou Academy was the resting area of the Shrek Academy.
Grandmaster and Shrek Seven were sitting cross-legged on the clean grass. They were explaining the battle strategy to everyone.
After close to two months of training and cultivation, Shrek's Seven Monsters had made a lot of progress. Dai Mubai was the first to break through to the Soul Ancestor rank in the team. He was now ranked 43. Tang San and Xiao Wu had also obtained their fourth soul rings after the end of the preliminaries and broken through to the Soul Ancestor rank.
After that, during the month of rest before the competition, everyone worked hard to digest the experience and results of the preliminaries. Shrek Seven's strength increased very quickly and broke through to the Soul Ancestor rank. Even Ning Rongrong, a support-type soul master had just broken through to rank 41 yesterday and became a fourteen-year-old Soul Ancestor.
Looking at the astonishingly talented Shrek Seven, Master revealed a gratified smile. He nodded and said,
"You guys did very well. You did even better than I expected. To be honest, I didn't think that you guys would improve so much in the past month. You've all advanced to the Soul Ancestor rank. Especially you, Xiao San. Your fourth soul ring will be our trump card. We can't casually reveal it"
At this point, Grandmaster looked meaningfully at Tang San.
This disciple of his had worked hard during this period. His strength had improved by leaps and bounds, reaching an extremely frightening level. Maestro felt that there were less than three people in the entire fifteen teams that could match up to Tang San.
"Yes, teacher"
Tang San's black hair was thick as he nodded seriously.
In the past month, he had madly immersed himself in cultivation to avenge his humiliation. He had already advanced to rank 42 and obtained a ten thousand-year fourth soul ring.
His eyes were deep as he clenched his fists. His heart was filled with confidence. During the preliminaries, the Shrek Academy had suffered several setbacks. They had suffered quite a bit against the Five Elemental Academy and had almost lost their chance to advance.
In the end, they had obtained the qualification to advance by a narrow margin.
This time, Tang San's strength had increased greatly. He definitely wouldn't let the same thing happen again. He wanted to defeat the Five Elemental Academy and … the Heaven Dou Academy in one go. Fang Xuan.
"I'm really happy to see you guys so outstanding. But then again, before you entered the preliminaries, most of you were already at rank 38 or 39. With your talent, the tempering of the preliminaries, and the accumulation of experience and the one month of rest, I wouldn't be surprised if all of you advanced to the Soul Ancestor rank"
Maestro straightened his back, his face brimming with a confident smile. He said seriously, "This year's preliminaries will be the best stage for our Shrek Academy. Let's make up for our regrets in the preliminaries in the preliminaries. Our Shrek Team will only fight for the championship this time"
His impassioned and powerful words ignited the Shrek Team's thirst for victory.
Wasn't the reason they had been training so hard these past few days for today's preliminaries?
"Championship! Championship!"
Dai Mubai, Tang San, Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, Ma Hongjun, Oscar, and Ning Rongrong. The seven of them had sparkling eyes and clenched fists. They were ready to display their prowess in the preliminaries and win the championship.
"Teacher, do we have a strategy for the preliminaries? What's the lineup for the preliminaries?" Tang San asked Master.
The preliminaries were a round-robin tournament with one-on-one matches. Every team had to decide on the order of their members first. Otherwise, they'd be in a mess when the tournament started.
"Don't worry, I've already thought about it."
Master's eyes swept across each of the youthful faces.
Finally, his eyes landed on a beautiful face. "Xiao Wu, you're up first"
"Me?"
Xiao Wu was stunned. She blinked her eyes, her face full of confusion. In the past competitions, her third brother and Dai Mubai had always been the vanguard. She followed behind the two of them to provide support. She didn't expect Master to make her go first in today's preliminaries.
As the saying goes, the Emperor takes turns. Next time, it's my turn.
Was it Little Rabbit's turn to show her prowess today? With that thought, Xiao Wu smiled slyly. She looked at Master with a questioning gaze and muttered, "Can I?"
"Yes, you're the first one." Master nodded seriously.
"Alright, let Big Sister Xiao Wu teach them a lesson!"
Xiao Wu smiled arrogantly. She put her hands on her hips and rubbed her palms together, eager to give it a try.
"Tang San, give me a carrot I need to calm down first …"
Tang San was speechless. He raised his hand and pressed Xiao Wu, who was about to jump up in joy, to the ground. He fiercely attacked … messing up her hair.
Hearing Master's arrangement, Tang San was a little confused. He couldn't help but ask,
"Teacher, why are you sending Xiao Wu out first? Shouldn't Mubai and I, who are stronger, go first?"
"Little Three, what are you talking about? Your Big Sister Xiao Wu is also very strong. Don't underestimate me"
Xiao Wu's face was full of indignation. She raised her small fist in protest. In the end, she was suppressed by Tang San again. After another round of crazy attacks, Xiao Wu's soft hair became a mess. She lay listlessly on the ground, feeling as if her body had been emptied.
"Hehe, that's right, Little Three. Don't underestimate Xiao Wu"
Master explained gently, "Apart from you and Mumbai, Xiao Wu should be the strongest person in our Shrek Team. Letting Xiao Wu go first can not only show the strength of our Shrek Team but also show some strength. This is my decision after careful consideration"
"Okay, Teacher, I understand."
Tang San nodded seriously. He understood the real purpose of Master's arrangement.