Chapter 114: Worthy Opponents, Returning to Sunset Town
After the opening match concluded, it was time for the highly renowned Blazing Academy to take the stage.
The audience immediately began cheering loudly for them, as they belonged to the Heaven Dou Empire.
Blazing Academy's lineup for the round-robin battle consisted of two Soul Ancestors and five high-level Soul Elders. Their captain, Huo Lingyun, had reached level 47—a high-level Soul Ancestor—making her a truly rare existence in this tournament.
As Huo Lingyun was the first to step onto the arena, the members of the Spirit Hall team all revealed expressions of interest.
"Are they trying to conserve strength? Sending their strongest captain out first?"
"Probably. That woman looks like she's aiming for a one-versus-seven sweep."
Lin Beiya voiced his thoughts as he looked at the heroic woman in the arena, her long flame-red hair and impressive figure impossible to ignore. The confident smile on her face said everything.
"Tch. Then I'll do a one-versus-seven too when the time comes."
"Senior Sister! The finals aren't a joke—being steady is still the safer choice."
"What are you afraid of? Are you saying your senior sister can't pull it off? Even if I can't, don't we still have Old Wei and Old Ye behind me?"
"Uh… you're absolutely right. Senior can definitely defeat seven opponents in a row."
Faced with Qiu Tete's fierce glare, Yu Quan immediately surrendered, no longer daring to say another word, instead flashing a flattering smile. He had no intention of letting his lower body suffer a catastrophic 'targeted strike.'
The outcome of the second promotion match was clearly already decided. Ao Si Academy, an institution Lin Beiya had never even heard of, was completely no match for Blazing Academy—more precisely, no match for Huo Lingyun alone. Without a Soul Ancestor anchoring their team, they couldn't stir up any real waves.
Huo Lingyun's martial soul was a crimson auspicious cloud, and she followed the path of a control-type soul master.
With an optimal soul ring configuration, her strength was terrifying. She even possessed combination soul skills, leaving the Ao Si Academy team utterly disoriented.
And it was disorientation in the most literal sense—whenever the arena was blanketed by clouds, they couldn't even tell which direction was north.
Before long, Huo Lingyun completed a one-versus-six sweep. The opposing team's captain then stepped onto the arena, his face flushed with humiliation.
Being utterly crushed by a woman clearly made him feel unbearable shame.
"Don't get too smug. No matter how strong you are, continuously releasing so many soul skills doesn't feel good. Even if I can't win, I'll at least defeat you!"
Huo Lingyun's expression was full of disdain. Although it was true that her soul power was nearly depleted, dealing with trash like him was still more than enough.
"Are you done talking? Hurry up and come die already. I still need to go back and soak in a milk bath."
"Damn woman, you're too arrogant!"
The Ao Si Academy captain angrily released his martial soul. A black-and-gray venomous snake instantly bared its fangs as waves of purple poisonous mist spread across the arena.
"Third Soul Skill—Venomous Fang!"
Just as the charging venomous snake launched its attack, it was instantly engulfed by the sea of fiery clouds covering the arena, completely losing its sense of direction.
Facing poison, Huo Lingyun showed not the slightest hint of panic.
"Second Soul Skill—Cloud Paradise."
"Third Soul Skill—Ten Thousand Miles of Fire Clouds."
As scorching flames engulfed the entire arena, a piercing scream immediately erupted from the Ao Si Academy captain.
Seeing this, the referee at the edge of the arena hurriedly looked toward Huo Lingyun.
"Contestant, please refrain from causing permanent injuries!"
"Got it, got it. I'm just giving him a small lesson—I'm controlling the fire's power!"
With the outcome already decided, Huo Lingyun cast a helpless glance at the referee before waving her hand, dispersing the fiery clouds that had enveloped the entire arena.
At the center of the scorched arena, the captain of the Ao Si Academy team had already been burned into a charcoal-faced mess with an explosive afro.
The referee hurried forward to inspect him, then let out a small sigh of relief. Although the injuries looked severe, they were in fact only skin burns—something a healing soul master could easily handle.
"The winner of the second promotion match is Blazing Academy."
As the referee announced the result, thunderous applause once again erupted across the arena. Huo Lingyun clearly enjoyed the feeling of being the center of attention, waving her jade-like hand toward the stands as the cheers surged to an even higher pitch.
In the promotion matches, each of the two great empires occupied fifteen slots, for a total of thirty teams competing head-to-head. Each victory earned the winning team one point.
Every day, one round of matches would be held according to the draw, with fifteen matches per day.
In other words, the promotion stage would last for half a month to determine the rankings of all teams.
In Lin Beiya's eyes, this entire format was nothing short of pointless overkill. Wouldn't it be simpler to just throw all thirty-three teams into a single-elimination bracket and be done with it?
However, this system had been in place for many years, and it wasn't something Lin Beiya could change just by complaining. Perhaps it was deliberately designed by the emperors of the two great empires, allowing them to observe young soul masters more directly and select promising talents.
In the matches that followed, the remaining four Elemental Academies all took the stage. Just like Blazing Academy, the captains of each elemental academy were high-level Soul Ancestors with formidable strength.
This gradually ignited Wei Xu's previously lukewarm interest—he longed for opponents truly worth fighting.
As if by prior agreement, every Elemental Academy chose to send their captain out first, attempting a one-versus-seven sweep to preserve overall strength.
And remarkably, all but the Blue Sunshine Academy succeeded. The reason the Blue Sunshine Academy's captain failed was because the opposing team's captain was a fire-attributed Soul Ancestor. With her soul power nearly exhausted, she ultimately couldn't secure victory.
Even so, the remaining members of the Blue Sunshine Academy performed nobly. Despite the elemental disadvantage, they forcibly dragged the opposing captain down through sheer attrition.
On the first day, all five Elemental Academies emerged victorious.
"Let's go. There's nothing worth watching in the remaining matches."
"The main opponents are the Five Elemental Academies and the two Royal Academies."
Although there were still two matches left on the first day's schedule, the Spirit Hall group had already lost any desire to continue watching. From the intelligence Yu Quan had gathered, none of the remaining teams fielded even a single Soul Ancestor-level combatant.
As Lin Beiya and his group departed, the members of both the Star Luo and Heaven Dou Royal Academy teams immediately cast their gazes toward them.
"Tch, these guys are really arrogant. Do they think the later teams aren't worth paying attention to?"
"Just wait. In the finals, the Hell White Tiger will tear these little brats apart."
The remaining matches could be left to Yu Quan to observe and summarize. If any noteworthy opponents appeared, he would inform the team.
With nearly half a month remaining before the promotion stage concluded, Lin Beiya decided to take advantage of the time to make a trip to Sunset Town.
After all, he had promised Dugu Bo he would help detoxify Dugu Yan once during the tournament period. Once the promotion matches ended, it would be difficult to find time to go out again.
After informing his teammates, Lin Beiya used telekinesis to head straight toward Sunset Forest.
With his Cosmo having reached the Seventh Sense, his flying speed had increased dramatically. After spending most of the day in transit, he arrived outside Sunset Town.
Relying on his memory, he found the residence of the Dugu Bo and directly knocked on the small courtyard's door.
A few dozen seconds later, a small purple-haired head peeked out from the doorway. When she clearly saw Lin Beiya's face, delight instantly lit up her expression.
"Brother Beiya!"
"Long time no see, Yan Zi."
"Come in quickly, Grandpa is inside too."
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End of Chapter