pdf-ebookys Chapter 750 Shrek, Internal Strife
Chapter 750 Shrek, Internal Strife
Chapter 750 Shrek, Internal Strife
Two martial spirits, one black and one white, stood silently behind Ye Qifeng, continuously emitting a soft black and white halo.
Bibidon lay quietly on the papal throne, her beautiful face flushed, a faint smile playing on her red lips, immersed in boundless comfort and peace.
As her breathing gradually calmed down, Bibi Dong completely shed her fatigue and drifted off to sleep.
Ye Qifeng stopped what he was doing, gently picked her up, and placed her against his shoulder. Then he turned and went back to the Pope's private rest room behind the papal throne.
…………
In order to hold the finals of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament, Wuhun City specially set up a venue.
This site is located in the center of Wuhun City.
The enormous arena is entirely constructed of granite and has a diameter of 100 meters.
To prevent damage, the massive arena is reinforced with a large number of soul tools, enough to withstand any attack from soul masters below the Soul Emperor level without breaking.
Only a wealthy and powerful organization like the Spirit Hall has the ability and willingness to make such an arrangement.
If it were the two great empires of Tiandou and Xingluo, they would certainly be unwilling to expend such enormous resources and wealth to do such a laborious but unrewarding task.
After all, the nature of imperial nobles is greed. It's good enough if they don't exploit and bleed them dry. Trying to squeeze resources and wealth out of them is harder than climbing to heaven.
Directly in front of the arena is the Papal Palace, less than a kilometer away.
At the same time, the rules of the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament also stated that the final three finalists would compete in front of the Pope's Palace.
At that time, Bibi Dong, the Pope of the Spirit Hall, will personally appear to crown the final champion and award him with prizes.
This would be an unparalleled honor that any Soul Master could be proud of for a lifetime.
Led by specialists from the Spirit Hall, all participating academies arrived at the prepared competition venue early in the morning.
Each advanced Soul Master academy has a separately built rest area.
The rest area is built around the competition venue, while on the opposite side from the Papal Palace is the VIP judges' seat.
The envoys representing the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires watched the battle there, as did the people from the Spirit Hall.
A total of 33 teams participated in the finals. As soon as the teams from the various advanced soul master academies arrived at the competition venue, their respective team leaders were called away to draw lots.
The first round of drawing lots is undoubtedly very important.
Drawing a relatively weak opponent is highly advantageous for any team.
Especially the team that wins first place in the qualifying rounds is entitled to a bye in the second round.
If they can win easily in the first round, they can skip the second round and prepare for the third round.
In other words, the real competition begins in the third round.
…………
It didn't take long.
The draw ceremony for the first round of the competition has concluded.
Flander quickly returned to the Shrek Seven Devils' private rest area.
His expression was somewhat strange, and his look of confusion and bewilderment made Yu Xiaogang, Qin Ming, and the Shrek Seven Devils' hearts skip a beat.
Just as a bad feeling was beginning to creep into everyone's hearts, Flander suddenly grinned and said to them:
"One bad news, one good news."
Which one do you want to hear first?
Everyone was stunned for a moment, their eyes twitching slightly, realizing that they had been tricked by him.
Tang San stepped forward from the crowd and said:
"Dean Flander, let me tell you the bad news first."
Flander's expression changed, and his voice became serious:
"The bad news is that your first-round opponent is Blazing Academy."
"What?! Blazing Fire Academy?!"
As expected, the Shrek members frowned, their expressions turning serious.
Ever since their crushing defeat to Blazing Academy in the preliminaries, the Shrek Seven Devils have developed a psychological aversion to Blazing Academy, which led to them easily losing to them in the subsequent qualifying rounds.
The Blazing Academy team is clearly one of the strongest teams among all the participating teams in the Heavenly Dou Empire region and even the entire finals.
After all, a level 50 Soul King level combat power is definitely top-tier in this Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament.
Although the current Shrek Seven Devils may not be unable to defeat them, to be honest, encountering such a strong team in the first round of the finals is by no means a good draw, and may even be the worst draw.
Tang San frowned deeply, his face looking extremely unpleasant.
Upon hearing this news, Ma Hongjun and Oscar, who were standing nearby, even covered their heads in despair.
"How come we always run into them in every match? Isn't that too strange? Is there something wrong with the draw?"
Dai Mubai couldn't help but begin to suspect that the Shrek Seven Devils were being targeted and that the lottery ceremony was rigged.
Yu Xiaogang, standing to the side, also looked displeased, but he maintained his composure as a master, remaining calm and collected. Only after everyone had finished venting their frustrations did he turn to Flander and ask:
"Flander, what's the good news?"
Flanders chuckled, his feigned serious expression vanishing instantly.
"The good news is that Blazing Academy has withdrawn from the finals and automatically forfeited."
"What? They abstained?"
The expressions of all the Shrek Seven Devils froze almost simultaneously; they were taken aback and stared in disbelief.
After a moment of stunned silence, Qin Ming couldn't help but ask:
"Blazing Fire Academy is so strong, and they put in a lot of effort to reach the finals, so why did they suddenly withdraw from the competition?"
Flander spread his hands, giving him a "don't ask me" look:
"I don't know either; the news just came out suddenly."
"But no matter what, this is great news for us Shrek Seven Devils."
"A bye in the first round, and going straight to the second round, isn't that wonderful?"
Yu Tianheng nodded silently.
"That's really good. We weren't supposed to get a bye, but now we've gone straight into the second round without even playing a match. It's like we're getting the same treatment as the three seeded teams."
"It seems Dean Flander has a good run of luck."
Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and the others nodded in agreement.
Listening to the compliments from his teammates, Friend looked pleased, but he didn't forget to offer a few words of advice and instructions:
"The competition is about to begin, so you should get ready."
"Although we don't have to participate in the first round, you all need to carefully watch the other teams' matches and gather information."
As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated."
"This is a knockout stage, so it's not easy to hide your strength. We can take advantage of our opponents' forfeit to figure out the strength of other teams, find their weaknesses, and prepare for the later matches."
"After the first round, the teams that make it to the next round will not be weak, at least not weaker than the Kamikaze Academy that we defeated in the qualifying round."
The Shrek Seven Devils listened attentively to Flander's reprimand and responded in unison:
"Yes, Dean Flander!"
…………
Time flies by so quickly.
The day has finally come for the grand finale of the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament.
There was no grand opening ceremony like in the qualifiers, no lengthy speeches, and the number of spectators was pitifully small, at most only a few thousand.
After all, those who are not at least level 20 Great Soul Masters are not allowed to watch the game.
Of course, all of this is a prelude to the final three-way match held in front of the Papal Palace; that will be the real climax of the finals.
All procedures should be kept simple.
Only one cardinal from the Spirit Hall took the stage to announce the start of the finals, along with the draw for the matchups and the teams that received byes.
The competition began under the supervision of referees specially selected by the Spirit Hall.
In the first round of the finals, the three seeded teams received a bye, while the remaining thirty teams competed in pairs for the fifteen qualifying spots, with the losers being eliminated.
Because Blazing Fire Academy and Skywater Academy exploited a loophole in the rules and voluntarily gave up their spots in the finals, they joined Divine Wind Academy instead. The three elemental academies formed a brand new team and participated in the finals under the name of Divine Wind Academy.
Therefore, the original thirty teams were reduced to twenty-eight, but this did not affect the progress of the competition.
Besides the Shrek Seven Devils drawing Blazing Fire Academy and becoming the lucky ones to receive a bye in the first round, the Beast Academy drawing Skywater Academy also became another lucky team to receive a bye.
As a result, the Beast Academy, which was originally ranked fourth in the qualifying round, was relegated to second place and earned a bye in the third round.
With this first round, Meng Yiran's Beast Academy has essentially earned two byes, making them arguably the chosen ones in the finals of this Elite Soul Master Competition.
If they can get through the second round, they can directly enter the top six.
Of course, it will be quite difficult, unless you don't encounter the three seeded teams in the second round, as well as the Spirit Hall Second Team, Fire-Water-Wind Team, and Shrek Seven Devils Team that competed in the Heaven Dou City Division.
Compared to the qualifiers and qualifying rounds, the finals were much more intense.
After all, it's an elimination tournament; if you lose, you have to go home.
In order to secure a spot in the next round, almost every team pulled out all the stops, determined to defeat their opponents.
The two sides in the first match were not very strong. Although the battle was intense and exciting, it felt like a clash of weaklings.
Fortunately, the match ended quickly, and the second match followed immediately.
The second match was between Shenfeng Academy and Longkui Academy of the Xingluo Empire.
However, when the Kamikaze Academy team entered the arena, all the Shrek Seven Devils watching the match stood up in surprise.
To their astonishment, members of Blazing Fire Academy and Heavenly Water Academy were among the lineup of Shenfeng Academy.
Among them, there were three from Blazing Fire Academy, two from Skywater Academy, and only two from Divine Wind Academy. Even more unbelievable was that they even changed their team name to "Fire, Water and Wind Team".
The three people who appeared from Blazing Fire Academy were Huo Wushuang and the twin brothers Huo Yun and Huo Yu, whose martial souls were fire cranes.
The two students from Tianshui Academy were Shui Bing'er's younger sister, Shui Yue'er, and Xue Wu, the vice-captain of the support department.
The two students from Shenfeng Academy who appeared were of ordinary appearance, but they were both powerful attack-type Soul Masters at the Soul Master level of level 40 or above.
Seeing this, the Shrek Seven Devils were completely dumbfounded, their faces filled with disbelief.
The dozen or so teams from the Star Luo Empire were fine, but the Heaven Dou Empire was in an uproar. How could members of the Blazing Fire Academy and the Heavenly Water Academy be in the Divine Wind Academy?
However, these uproars did not affect the course of the game.
Xue Wu stayed behind to provide support, while Shui Yue'er was responsible for protecting her.
Feng Xiaotian led the two offensive-type Soul Masters from Shenfeng Academy at the very front of the group, while Huo Yun and Huo Yu, both agile-type Battle Soul Masters, were positioned on either side.
When they all revealed their spirit rings, their opponents felt a chill run down their spines.
There is no doubt that all seven people representing Shenfeng Academy are Soul Masters of level 40 or above.
The entire match was practically a one-sided massacre; Shui Yue'er and Xue Wu's Martial Soul Fusion Skill couldn't even be used.
…………
The results of the first round of the finals were quickly announced.
As expected, the teams that qualified from the preliminary rounds in the Tiandou City region of the Tiandou Empire all advanced easily, while the ten teams from the five kingdoms and duchies fared much worse.
Apart from the Beast Academy, Silas Academy, and Plant Academy advancing, the other seven teams were all eliminated.
With only the first round of the finals over, more than half of the fourteen teams from the Heavenly Dou Empire have already been eliminated, leaving only five teams.
Of course, this also includes Blazing Fire Academy and Skywater Academy, which voluntarily gave up their spots in the finals.
Such a dismal result led to the Heavenly Dou Empire being blatantly ridiculed and mocked by the Star Luo Empire, yet they had no way to refute it.
After the match.
The Shrek Seven Devils team, competing under the name of the second team of the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy, did not forget to fight among themselves. They even protested to the competition organizing committee, demanding that Blazing Fire Academy, Heavenly Water Academy, and Divine Wind Academy be severely punished, saying that they had violated the competition rules and their participation qualifications must be revoked.
If successful, they will eliminate three formidable competitors, so why not?
However, the actions of the Shrek Seven Devils nearly made Prince Xuexing, who had come as the envoy's leader, furious.
In Prince Snowstar's view
Although the three elemental academies merged into one, giving up two spots in the finals, the Heavenly Dou Empire still benefited in a sense.
After all, the expanded Divine Wind Academy still nominally belongs to the Heaven Dou Empire. If they can achieve good results, it won't be bad for the Heaven Dou Empire.
Fortunately, the Spirit Hall and the three major elemental academies were secretly in cahoots, and in response to the Shrek Seven Devils' protest, they only gave a simple reply:
"The organizing committee will not interfere within the scope permitted by the rules."
Yu Xiaogang and Flander of the Shrek Seven Devils were dissatisfied and gathered several academies from the five kingdoms and duchies to launch another protest.
The result was only an even more forceful response from the Spirit Hall, and it consisted of only one sentence from beginning to end:
"You can withdraw if you don't want to participate; the organizing committee is absolutely fair!"