There were fifteen teams participating in the Promotion round, with seven matches per day and one team getting a bye each round, making a total of fourteen rounds of competition.
The matchups for the first round had already been determined the previous night through a draw. The Blazing Fire Team had not drawn the bye, and their opponent was one of the two teams from the Silvis Kingdom: the Exotic Beast Academy Team. Their match was scheduled as the fourth of the seven matches for the day.
Scanning the competition, Mu Yang noticed that the teams from the five kingdoms and duchies were still significantly weaker than the Elemental Academy teams.
Not to mention the powerhouse teams of Blazing Fire, Sky Water, and Divine Wind Academies—just Thunderclap Academy alone was already leagues ahead of these teams.
For instance, the Exotic Beast Academy Team, which was Blazing Fire Team's first-round opponent, had only one four-ring Soul Ancestor, while the rest of the members were all three-ring Soul Elders.
And this wasn't just the case for Exotic Beast Academy—the remaining teams were in a similar situation. Even the strongest among them, the Plant Academy Team, only had three four-ring Soul Ancestors.
If Elephant Armored Academy, which failed to qualify in the preliminary round of the Heaven Dou Division, were placed among these five kingdoms and duchies, they would undoubtedly be a dominant force.
Barring any surprises, the top five rankings in the Heaven Dou Division advancement round should be identical to those of the preliminary round.
"Boss, our opponent is the Blazing Fire Team. Should we…"
Among the Exotic Beast Academy Team, a thin young man turned toward his burly captain and spoke.
Immediately, the rest of the Exotic Beast Academy members focused their gazes on him. Although he hadn't finished his sentence, they all understood what he meant.
"Hmph! How can you be so spineless?"
Before the captain could respond, the team's vice-captain, Meng Yiran, snorted coldly, her face filled with anger.
"Uh… I heard that this year's Blazing Fire Team is extraordinary. All of their main team members have reached at least level 40, and their lineup includes three five-ring Soul Kings. We… have no chance at all."
The thin young man shrank his neck slightly but still explained his reasoning.
Hearing this, the rest of the Exotic Beast Academy Team fell silent.
With all their main players above level 40 and three five-ring Soul Kings, even if they didn't count Mu Yang, a Food-type Soul King, the Blazing Fire Team could still field a lineup with two Soul Kings and five Soul Ancestors. With such strength, what could the Exotic Beast Academy Team possibly do?
If their opponents sent out Huo Wushuang or Huo Wu as the first player, their entire team would likely be wiped out in a one-versus-seven match, suffering a crushing defeat.
After a long silence, the burly captain sighed and finally said, "Let's at least try to put up a decent fight. This is our first match in the advancement round, and forfeiting right away would be an ill omen."
If this were the second round or any later match, facing an opponent far superior in strength, Exotic Beast Academy would undoubtedly choose to forfeit rather than suffer a one-sided beating.
But since this was their first match, conceding at the start would feel like a terrible omen.
Even if they lost, they couldn't afford to lose too disgracefully.
Half an hour later, Emperor Xue Ye rose from his seat in the VIP section and spoke loudly through a soul device, "I hereby declare the official start of the Heaven Dou Division Promotion round! Over the next fourteen days, I hope each academy team will give their best performance and display the true spirit of soul masters."
"Long live! Long live! Long live!"
As soon as Emperor Xue Ye finished speaking, the Royal Knights surrounding the training field raised their lances high and roared in unison, their voices booming like a landslide.
Shortly after, the first match began.
The first team to take the stage was none other than the Divine Wind Academy Team, and their opponent was the Barak Academy Team from the Barak Kingdom.
The match progressed quickly. Among soul masters, whenever there was an overwhelming gap in strength, the outcome was often decided in an instant. Whoever had the stronger soul skills and higher soul power level could easily overpower their opponent.
After all, in one-on-one matches, there was no opportunity for Martial Soul Fusion Techniques. Everything depended on one's own strength, and those with hidden trump cards were extremely rare.
The Divine Wind Team showed no mercy to the Barak Team. They went all out from the very beginning, sending their captain, Feng Xiaotian, as the first player.
Against Feng Xiaotian, a five-ring Assault-type Soul King, the Barak Team, whose highest-ranked member had only just reached the four-ring Soul Ancestor level, had absolutely no chance.
In just ten minutes, Feng Xiaotian used his overwhelming strength to finish the match, achieving a one-versus-seven victory and completely wiping out the Barak Academy Team.
And that ten-minute duration even included the time taken for the Barak Team members to enter the arena and the pre-match preparations. If only the battle time was counted, Feng Xiaotian had defeated all seven opponents in less than three minutes.
As time passed, three matches concluded, and it was finally time for the Blazing Fire Academy Team to face the Exotic Beast Academy Team.
"Captain, do your best!"
As the match was about to begin, the members of the Exotic Beast Team cheered for their captain.
Without any grand words, the burly captain of the Exotic Beast Team simply nodded silently and walked steadily into the arena.
Unlike most teams, the Exotic Beast Team had arranged their seven members in descending order of strength.
The reason for this was simple—to avoid losing too embarrassingly.
From their perspective, if the Blazing Fire Team, like the Divine Wind Team, sent out a five-ring powerhouse like Huo Wu or Huo Wushuang as the first player, then no matter how they arranged their lineup, they would inevitably be wiped out.
After all, a single Soul Ancestor with six Soul Elders would stand no chance in a battle of attrition against a five-ring Soul King.
However, if the Blazing Fire Team didn't start with a five-ring Soul King, then their chances of securing at least one or two wins would significantly increase.
Since the outcome was already decided, they had to try to lose in a more respectable manner.
Very soon, as the Exotic Beast Team's captain stepped onto the field and saw that the Blazing Fire Team's first player was neither Huo Wu nor Huo Wushuang—nor even a four-ring Soul Ancestor, but rather a three-ring Soul Elder—he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
A four-ring versus a three-ring—advantage in his favor!
Regardless of anything else, at the very least, their team wouldn't suffer a complete wipeout.
Not only did the burly captain relax, but the rest of the Exotic Beast Team members also felt relieved. Even their team leader secretly felt grateful toward Blazing Fire Academy.
There was no doubt that Blazing Fire Academy had the ability to wipe them out. This was evident from the first match between Divine Wind Academy and Barak Academy.
Blazing Fire Team was stronger than Divine Wind Team, and Barak Academy Team was stronger than Exotic Beast Academy Team. Since Divine Wind Team had completely crushed Barak Team, Blazing Fire Team could have easily done the same to Exotic Beast Team.
Yet, Blazing Fire Team had chosen not to do so, demonstrating the noble conduct expected of one of the Empire's top Elemental Academies.
Tsk~ Having strength but not being overbearing—they truly deserved their reputation as one of the top-ranked advanced soul master academies on the continent!
For additional chapters
Versatile mage {40 chapters}
Douluo Dalu:This Soul Master is to Weird {30 Chapters}
Patreon. Com/ALLISWELL123