Chapter 113: The Promotion Matches Begin
Back when he first read Douluo Dalu, Lin Beiya had seen Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun provocatively antagonize Blue Sunshine Academy for no apparent reason, and had thought it was simply the result of Flender's saying—those who don't cause trouble are mediocre.
Now, it seemed that wasn't entirely the case. The White Tiger clan appeared to be born with an innate tendency to look down on others.
Upon entering the venue, the stands—shaped much like those of a coliseum—were already packed with Heaven Dou City's eager onlookers.
With relatively comfortable lives and a serious lack of entertainment, how could they possibly miss this once-every-five-years Soul Master grand event, especially when it was being held right in Heaven Dou City?
The chaotic chatter instantly made Lin Beiya frown. With his extremely sharp hearing, he promptly wrapped a layer of telekinesis around his ears, blocking out part of the noise.
Lei Ying and Shi Nuo, beside him, had also trained their five senses, so they likewise had to rely on spiritual power to block the noise.
"So noisy…"
"Better get used to it early. We'll be fighting in environments like this in the future anyway."
After offering a brief word of comfort, Lin Beiya began scanning the surrounding stands.
Not far away, the Heaven Dou Royal Academy team had indeed arrived early as well, watching the matches unfold.
The Spirit Hall team Lin Beiya belonged to could ignore the Five Element Academies—but the Heaven Dou Royal Academy could not.
The strength gap between the Royal Team and the continent's top academies wasn't large. They still needed to come early and do their homework.
Seemingly sensing Lin Beiya's gaze, a brown-haired young man at the head of the Royal Team looked over.
When his eyes met Lin Beiya's, he froze slightly, then quickly shifted his gaze away, his expression turning solemn.
From that fleeting glance alone, Qin Ming already understood who the greatest opponent in this tournament would be.
"What terrifying pressure… So this is Invincible Lin, the acknowledged number-one of the younger generation?"
Clearly, Lin Beiya's reputation had already spread throughout the Heaven Dou Empire, and some basic information about him was well known among his opponents.
However, he rarely took action, and every time he did, he crushed his enemies outright, revealing very few of his true methods.
Of course, even if all his combat techniques were completely exposed, Lin Beiya wouldn't be afraid. Knowing was one thing—finding a way to counter them was another entirely.
Not bothering with this minor interlude, Lin Beiya began scanning the area for Qian Renxue's figure.
After a moment, he finally spotted the little angel disguised as Xue Qinghe on the organizer's viewing platform.
Qian Renxue had already locked her gaze onto him the moment he entered. Seeing Lin Beiya look her way, she immediately returned a warm, spring-breeze-like smile—exactly how Xue Qinghe usually behaved, always wearing a gentle, approachable expression toward everyone.
Returning the smile, Lin Beiya withdrew his gaze and began waiting for the promotion matches to begin.
At the same time, Yu Quan immediately started briefing him.
"Boss, the draw for the promotion matches was completed long ago. The opening match will be the Heaven Dou Second Team versus the Star Luo Second Team."
"Oh? Anyone worth paying attention to?"
"Not really. Star Luo Second Team only has one Soul Ancestor, their captain, while the Heaven Dou Second Team doesn't even have a single Soul Ancestor."
After hearing Yu Quan's explanation, Lin Beiya instantly lost interest. This level of battle held no appeal for him at all.
"When do the Element Academies go on?"
"The second match. After the opening bout ends, Blazing Academy will face the Star Luo Empire's Ao Si Academy."
"Alright. Then we'll wait and see."
Gradually, many of the participating teams noticed the three seeded teams sitting in the stands. Some were filled with fighting spirit, others looked solemn, and a very small number of weaker teams showed disdain when they saw the youthful faces of the Spirit Hall team members.
Words like "not even fully grown" and "little lolis" were constantly thrown around.
The loli senior sister beside him had already started gnashing her little fangs, making "kaka" sounds, clearly very displeased.
"Captain, we agreed that I'd be the first to go up in the finals. Those annoying guys had better be strong enough to make it into the finals."
"Alright. When the time comes, we'll let Senior Sister properly teach them a lesson."
Lin Beiya held back his laughter and directly agreed to Qiu Tete's request, while Yu Quan, wearing a helpless expression, explained:
"Senior Sister, don't you ever look at the competition format? The promotion matches only determine rankings—no academies are eliminated. That means those people mocking us will definitely run into us in the finals."
"Oh? Then that's even better. I'm short, so don't blame me if my arrows end up greeting their lower regions."
"Hiss."
The moment those words were spoken, every male present instinctively clamped their legs together and looked toward the little loli with horror, silently reminding themselves that women truly must not be offended.
Which young soul master here wasn't trying to make a name for themselves and fight for a future? It would be disastrous if they failed to gain fame and instead lost their lifelong happiness.
Meanwhile, Lei Ying and Si Min fully supported their good sister's stance. The blatantly lecherous gazes from certain teams made them feel utterly disgusted.
While the group was chatting, the host at the center of the arena began announcing the start of the matches and invited the host nation's representative—the Crown Prince, Xue Qinghe—to deliver the opening speech for the promotion round.
Listening to the string of official platitudes, Lin Beiya couldn't help yawning. His gaze once again swept over the organizer's platform. He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but the little angel seemed to shoot him a fierce glare.
Ten minutes later, the Crown Prince's "just a few words" finally came to an end, and the audience's attention at last returned to the arena.
"Alright, once again, thank you to the Heaven Dou Empire for its strong support of this Continental Elite Soul Master Tournament."
"We believe that all the outstanding young soul masters participating will join hands to present us with a spectacular soul master feast."
"And now, I hereby announce—the promotion matches of the Continental Elite Soul Master Tournament officially begin!"
"The opening match will be between the host, Heaven Dou Royal Academy Second Team, and the Star Luo Royal Academy Second Team."
"Contestants, please enter the arena."
As the host finished his announcement, thunderous cheers erupted across the venue.
The second teams of the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Royal Academies stepped onto the arena amid roaring applause.
The promotion match format was a round-robin battle: both sides would send out seven members in succession to fight one-on-one, and whichever side still had members standing in the arena at the end would be declared the victor.
Just as Lin Beiya had expected, this highly hyped opening match was nothing more than a rookie brawl. Still, it entertained the Heaven Dou City audience quite well, with nonstop applause and thunderous cheers whenever something remotely exciting happened.
"So weak," Wei Xu curled his lips and delivered his blunt evaluation, his personality leaving no room for saving face.
Yu Quan glanced at his senior helplessly.
"Senior, you can't expect every academy to be on our level."
"But they can't be this bad, can they? If everyone's like this, I might as well stay in Spirit Hall and cultivate."
"Don't worry, Senior. Strong opponents will show up later."
As they spoke, the battle in the arena drew to a close. After a fierce exchange, the Star Luo Second Team's captain ultimately defeated the Heaven Dou Second Team's captain, securing the opening victory for the Star Luo Empire.
At the same time, Dai Moheng in the stands cast a smug look toward Qin Ming's group.
That expression seemed to say: This is the strength of the Star Luo Team. You still have a long way to go.
Stopping his indignant teammates who wanted to step forward and argue, Qin Ming coldly glanced at Dai Moheng and silently resolved that if the two teams met in the finals, he would make them pay for it.
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End of Chapter