Yan Shaozhe leaned back, comfortably resting on the back of his chair. He said, "Most of you have the optimal soul ring configuration. Everyone has a thousand-year soul ring. Do they? What's more, among you, there are several little monsters whose absorption year limits exceed the norm. I can tell you that in many advanced soul master academies, even the teachers rarely have a level above Soul King. Your opponents, although their age is around twenty, in general, to be able to ensure that the entire team's cultivation exceeds three rings is already very difficult. Opponents with four rings are already very rare."
"I dare say, unless you encounter the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy in the first round, otherwise, you will not encounter a five-ring Soul King level at all. The ones who need to be nervous are your opponents. Alright, all of you go back and rest, build up your energy. Tomorrow, give me a good thrashing. Let the other academies see that our Shrek Academy, even with students under the age of fifteen, can beat them until they have no chance. In addition, I must tell you that we are bound to appear on the first day of the knockout tournament. As the previous champion, we will also be the first to appear."
Xu Sanshi said with some surprise, "Dean Yan, are you and Teacher Wang not making any tactical arrangements?"
Wang Yan snorted irritably and said, "Deploy what? Are you insulting me or insulting yourselves? Facing such an opponent, do you still need deployment? All of you, go. Yueheng, you four from the inner court who have not been treated by Elder Zhuang, stay for a while. I will find some more pills for you."
The seven members of the preparatory team all stood up and went back to their rooms to rest. After this talk from Wang Yan, the tension in their hearts had weakened a lot.
It seems that's how it is! We are the elites of Shrek Academy. So what if we are a preparatory team? We are not weaker than anyone.
After all seven had left, Wang Yan stood up and closed the door of the conference room. The relaxed look on Yan Shaozhe's face at the side instantly disappeared.
Wang Yan let out a long breath. When he sat back down in the head seat, the look on his face was already very grave.
Dai Yueheng sighed and said, "Teacher Wang, Dean Yan, is there any meaning in comforting them like this? Although what Dean Yan said is all correct, the ones representing the other academies are also the most elite among their students. Perhaps there are weaker ones, but the average strength of the vast majority of our opponents is at least at the Soul Ancestor level. And, tomorrow's first match is a knockout tournament. Even when facing our Shrek Academy, our opponents will surely fight with all their might."
Chen Zifeng and Xixi looked at each other and said, "Teacher Wang and Dean Yan did the right thing. If they didn't say this, they wouldn't have any morale at all, let alone fight tomorrow. We can only completely trust them now. Is it you who can make a move, or the two of us?"
Wang Yan glanced at Yan Shaozhe, then turned his head back to the four and said in a deep voice, "I have left you four behind to ask you how long it will take for your current injuries to be able to participate in the battle? I need a precise time."
Xixi and Chen Zifeng said, "If we cultivate and recuperate with all our might, with Elder Zhuang here, it will still take a week."
Ling Luochen said, "My injuries are lighter. I estimate it will take about five days to be fine."
Wang Yan's mood became heavier and heavier. This was the first time he had led a team to participate in the tournament. He also had no idea in his heart!
Dai Yueheng suddenly said, "My cultivation is a bit stronger. It won't take too long. About three days."
Finally, there was some better news. After a slight calculation, Wang Yan said, "In other words, if everything goes smoothly, when the competition progresses to the third match of the knockout stage, Yueheng, you can fight."
After a little contemplation, Yan Shaozhe nodded and said, "Now we can only hope that they can win the first match. Only by entering the knockout stage will the children have a chance to continue moving forward. Our reinforcements are actually just a matter of the outer court disciples. You must keep this a secret. Even if they rush over, they can only serve as temporary substitutes. I hope that the children participating tomorrow have the ability to defend the glory of our Shrek Academy."
The group looked at each other, speechless.
—
Xu Sanshi and Wang Dong went back to his room together.
Closing the door, Wang Dong couldn't help but say, "Third Senior Brother, do you think what Teacher Wang said just now is true?"
Xu Sanshi smiled faintly and said, "Whether it's true or not, we must treat it as true. Because we simply have no other choice. Come on, let's start cultivating. After the knockout tournament draw tomorrow, the competition will officially begin. What we can do now is to give ourselves confidence. There is no other way!"
"Mmm." Wang Dong directly sat down opposite Xu Sanshi. The two of them pressed their four palms together and began to circulate their "Power of Shi Hao" soul power to cultivate.
The "Shi" was from Xu Sanshi's "Shi" (石). The "Hao" was naturally from Wang Dong's Clear Sky Sect (昊天宗) background's "Hao" (昊). This was because Wang Dong felt that putting her name together with Xu Sanshi's name in this fused soul power name was too ambiguous and would not be conducive to Senior Brother Sanshi's pursuit of Senior Sister Jiang Nannan.
It wasn't just the Shrek Academy representative team that was holding a meeting. At this time, almost all participating academies were doing mobilization work. The Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, which was staying on the same floor as Shrek Academy, was also the same.
In almost every tournament, they were second place, so their treatment at the Star Emperor Grand Hotel was almost the same as Shrek Academy's. Their goal was also only one, and that was to strive for first place and crush the Shrek students.
In the conference room, two old men sat at the head of the table. A total of fourteen students sat on both sides. The students on the left side were clearly older, while the age on the right side was slightly younger. Obviously, the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy had also sent an official team and a preparatory team prepared for five years later.
The old man on the left side of the head seat had a straight nose and square mouth, a dignified appearance, and a face like a dark red jujube. His broad shoulders gave people a very solid feeling when he sat there. He said in a deep voice, "According to our observation, Shrek Academy has come with more than a dozen people this time. Among them, only six look to be around twenty years old, and their state is low. The others are all younger."
"We have activated the people we planted inside the Star Luo Empire and have already received accurate news. When they registered, only the six injured ones were nineteen years old. The other seven were all under fifteen. In other words, this time Shrek Academy has not sent seven official team members to participate at all. Of the seven from the preparatory team last tournament, only four have come. Do you know what this means?"
The fourteen students on both sides were somewhat puzzled.
The old man on the right side of the head seat had a full beard and was also tall and large. His white short hair was like steel needles, and the hair on his temples connected with his full beard, giving him a very fierce look.
He slammed the table fiercely, stood up, and said, "It means contempt! Contempt for us! They all look down on us. They think that just by sending a preparatory team, they can defeat us. This is a slap in the face, you know? This is the most direct slap in the face. According to the tournament rules, registration has already closed today. They are going to contend with us with such a lineup. Ma Rulong!"
"Present." A male student sitting at the head of the official team members suddenly stood up. His appearance was somewhat similar to the angry old man. He was very tall and sturdy, also with short hair, just without the full beard. His two eyes shone brightly, and his whole body seemed to be bursting with inexhaustible power.
"If you lose to such a lineup in this year's competition, you, this captain, can get the hell out of the Illustrious Virtue Hall for me."
"Yes." Ma Rulong's answer was still just one word, but his loud voice was already full of killing intent.
"Old Ma, don't be so anxious. I don't think things are that simple," sitting opposite Ma Rulong, the captain of the preparatory team, who was less than fifteen years old, was a delicate and pretty youth. His pair of large blue eyes were very bright, and his figure was slender and tall. The pair of hands resting on the table was even more extremely fair and slender, with a jade-like color that even a girl would find difficult to possess. He seemed to care about his hands very much. Even when talking to that Old Ma, he was always looking at his own hands, as if admiring the most exquisite work of art in the world.
Old Ma frowned slightly and looked at him. "What do you mean, 'not that simple'?"
The delicate and pretty youth still looked at his own fingers and said, "Shrek Academy is not a fool. Do you think they don't know that sending a few people is definitely not our opponent? I have great confidence in Brother Rulong. I think they might have encountered an accident. Isn't Shrek Academy always attach importance to us? Would they be so careless?"
Old Ma was made to blush a little by his words. Of course, he had this thought in his heart too. It was just that the words he had said before were to boost the students' morale.
"That's of course for the best. Xiao Hongchen, you'd better put your energy on those students from Shrek Academy who are under fifteen. In the next tournament, they will be your opponents."
The delicate and pretty youth, Xiao Hongchen, finally raised his head and smiled faintly. The smile actually gave people a feeling of peerless beauty. "Old Ma, my only opponent is myself."
---
Author's Note: I'll pad a chapter first, holding back a big move. Readers, don't always feel sorry that Wang Dong'er was taken by Xu Zong. Wang Dong'er has the divine sense of the Tang Buddha on her. The Sea God's Trident rune is on her head. If the protagonist gets too close, he'll be done for, brainwashed into a loyal dog by the Buddha. No matter how pretty she is, it's best not to even touch her.