Quan Yi gazed at the Heaven Dou Emperor, but he saw the forced smile that Xue Ye was putting on.
On such a celebratory day, the Emperor seemed somewhat unhappy.
Fortunately, he didn't show it too obviously.
But this was understandable, as most of the participating academies present didn't have direct ties to the Heaven Dou Empire.
Apart from the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, the advancement of other academies didn't offer any substantial benefits to the Empire.
However, in the end, Xue Ye still had to encourage all participating Soul Masters in the name of the Emperor and the Empire to display their strength and achieve good results.
Following His Majesty the Emperor, the Master of Ceremonies invited Ning Fengzhi to deliver a speech.
Quan Yi was also extremely curious about the number one Support System Soul Master in the Soul Master world.
Ning Fengzhi's speech was nothing new.
He spoke of how Soul Masters were the noblest profession and how their growth required much tempering.
However, at the end of his speech, Ning Fengzhi emphasized the importance of the Empire.
"I hope you can bring glory to the Empire and to your academies.
The Empire needs you."
It was this statement that brought a more genuine smile to Emperor Xue Ye's face.
Ning Fengzhi's address was very interesting. As one of the Seven Great Sects independent of the Empire, he would publicly support the royal family and the Heaven Dou Empire.
Normally, this shouldn't align with the interests of the Sect.
The stronger the royal family, the narrower the Sect's living space would become, and the greater the constraints it would face.
However, it now seemed that the Heaven Dou royal family and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had a deeper connection.
"Sect Master Ning, you are the strongest Support System Soul Master. May I ask, among the twenty-eight participating teams in this Preliminary Competition, which one do you favor the most?"
At the Master of Ceremonies' question, Ning Fengzhi slightly restrained the smile on his face and pondered for a moment.
"This year's participating teams are truly full of hidden talents. Besides the main team of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, many other academies have emerged as dark horses. To be honest, this has greatly subverted my expectations.
However, I can say with certainty that the champion team of this Continent Soul Master Competition is very likely to come from the Empire."
In fact, Ning Fengzhi had a favored team before the competition, but after seeing the brilliance of the Blazing Fire Academy and the Divine Wind Academy, his internal choice wavered.
But regardless of the outcome, the overall quality of the Heaven Dou Empire this time was very high, and it was entirely possible to contend for the championship.
"Although it's a bit of a pity, we can indeed understand Sect Master Ning's difficulty in making an easy choice.
However, this also means that the level of the Empire's participating teams is very high this year, which may be a happy problem for us."
The Master of Ceremonies subtly praised the strength of Heaven Dou, and then invited Platinum Bishop Salas to conduct the draw for the first round of the Preliminary Competition.
Salas behaved very arrogantly, and after drawing each pair, he directly asked the Master of Ceremonies to convey the results.
Today was the opening ceremony, and only one match would be held in the first round of the Preliminary Competition.
That was the exhibition match between the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's sub-team and an academy drawn at random.
And the list of opponents began to be announced one after another.
The name of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy appeared in the third group.
"First round of the Preliminary Competition, Heaven Dou Royal Academy versus Shrek Academy."
As soon as this draw result came out, boos rang out in the arena.
"Cheat, cheat, cheat."
It wasn't surprising that these spectators were heckling. The negative impression that Shrek Academy had given the audience was too deep. This looked like they were picking on the weak.
Salas ignored them and continued to draw lots at a steady pace.
The name of the Blazing Fire Academy appeared very late.
Their opponent academy was called Fire Star Academy.
From the name, one can guess that this academy, like the Blazing Fire Academy, is a Soul Master Team composed of Fire-attribute Soul Masters.
However, in terms of the overall quality and strength of the academy, it is completely inferior to the powerful Blazing Fire Academy.
It can be said that this academy is a lower substitute for the Blazing Fire Academy.
Hearing the opposing academy, Quan Yi was neither sad nor happy. No matter who the opponent was, it made no difference to him.
However, when their pairing was announced, a sigh of regret echoed throughout the arena.
This was an even more obvious victory than the Heaven Dou versus Shrek match.
The difference in strength was too obvious, only provoking the audience's pity.
The Fire Star Academy members in the back row also accepted this unfortunate fate with bitter faces.
The draw ended quickly.
Salas, who had been silent all along, finally spoke.
He first swore on the honor of the Spirit Hall, stating that the draw was absolutely fair.
Immediately afterward, he actually stood in front of the Heaven Dou Emperor and openly poached the Soul Master Academies.
"All participating students who can enter the finals, the Spirit Hall will exceptionally allow them to join the Martial Soul Holy Hall."
This sentence was extremely attractive to the vast majority of Soul Masters present.
There are only two Martial Soul Holy Halls in the Continent. Being able to enter one is equivalent to a student being admitted to Tsinghua or Peking University in the original world.
For Soul Masters, they can not only receive the highest level of treatment and cultivation assistance, but also gain honor.
Salas's words directly stirred the hearts of the Soul Masters in the arena.
Quan Yi immediately paid attention to Xue Ye's reaction.
Obviously, such a performance that did not take the royal family seriously naturally made Xue Ye's face darken.
However, Ning Fengzhi gently shook his head to Xue Ye, signaling him to be patient.
Through the subtle reactions of these three, Quan Yi seemed to see a microcosm of the continental situation.
The three people in the front row of the VIP seats represented the Empire, the Sect, and the Spirit Hall respectively.
From Salas's performance, it could be seen that the contradiction between the Spirit Hall and the Empire had intensified to an irreconcilable degree.
He was not even willing to make any pretense in public, and openly recruited excellent Soul Masters.
And the reactions of Xue Ye and Ning Fengzhi also made Quan Yi realize that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect seemed to have chosen the Empire between the Empire and the Spirit Hall.
The Sect and the royal family do not get along very well. Standing in the position of the royal family, seeing a powerful force within the territory that is out of control will of course make them unhappy.
Standing in the position of the Sect, maintaining independence, the existence of the royal family will sometimes become a restriction.
However, the fact that two forces that do not get along very well can come together is enough to show how great the threat the Spirit Hall poses to them.
An opening ceremony that was usually a formality allowed Quan Yi to see many interesting scenes.
It was a good thing he came, otherwise, he might not have been able to discover these subtle changes.
The storm is coming.
Seeing this opening ceremony, Quan Yi had such a feeling in his heart.
The things he was worried about might be closer than he imagined.
"Preliminary Competition, first round, first match, Heaven Dou Royal Academy versus Shrek Academy.
Please have the other academies leave the arena. The match will officially begin in half an hour."
Except for the two opposing sides, the other academies were led to a special spectator stand for the competitors. The Blazing Fire Academy rightfully stood in the front row with the best view.
Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye.
In the open space, a towering cylinder with a diameter of more than thirty meters and a height of ten meters stood tall.
This was the dedicated Arena for the Preliminary Competition.
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