Chapter 78 Star Luo City, Shrek Academy.
Elder Xuan, his hair disheveled and reeking of alcohol, sat on the steps of the Sea God Pavilion entrance, his right hand gripping a gourd of wine, continuously gulping it down.
"Elder Xuan! The children's conditions have stabilized, and it won't affect their future cultivation. Please don't blame yourself," Yan Shaozhe said, pushing open the Sea God Pavilion door to comfort him.
Upon hearing this news, Elder Xuan finally put down his wine gourd and breathed a sigh of relief.
"Shaozhe! How long will it take for the children to recover?" Elder Xuan asked, his back to Yan Shaozhe.
Yan Shaozhe respectfully replied, "Elder Zhuang personally examined them. Yao Haoxuan's injuries are more severe; it will take about seventy days to recover. Gongyang Mo and Xixi, if their recovery is good, should only need about twenty days."
Elder Zhuang's martial soul was the Tree of Life, and he was an elder in the Sea God Pavilion whose status was second only to Elder Mu, Elder Xuan, and Elder Lin. He was also the only healing-type Super Douluo in the Sea God Pavilion. His diagnosis was authoritative.
"Elder Xuan, do you think we should send other students to participate in this competition? If you personally escort them, there should still be enough time," Yan Shaozhe asked.
Elder Xuan shook his head sadly. "Shaozhe, I just spoke with Elder Mu personally. Elder Mu's idea is to let those youngsters perform as they see fit in this competition."
Yan Shaozhe frowned: "Elder Xuan, isn't that too hasty?"
Elder Xuan shook his head and said: "I support Elder Mu's decision this time. Over the years, our Shrek Academy has been too immersed in past glories. Failure is not terrible, what is terrible is complacency. This experience has sounded an alarm for us. Although I personally still believe that after cultivating a martial soul to the Title Douluo level, traditional soul masters still have more advantages, we cannot completely deny the role of soul tools."
"Then what do you two mean?" Yan Shaozhe felt a bad premonition creeping over him.
Looking at Yan Shaozhe, Elder Xuan paused for a moment before continuing, "In recent decades, soul tools have developed rapidly, almost daily. Take this incident, for example. If every one of us inner court disciples were equipped with a defensive soul tool, wouldn't the outcome be much better? At the very least, it wouldn't be as bad as it is now."
Yan Shaozhe nodded, agreeing with Elder Xuan's statement.
Seeing Yan Shaozhe nod, Elder Xuan continued, "Elder Mu and I have decided that from now on, all courses at Shrek Academy, regardless of whether they are inner or outer court students, will include a soul tool operation lesson. They don't need to know how to make them, just how to use them. Equipped with defensive and flight soul tools, the children won't be so passive when facing the self-destruction counterattacks of evil soul masters during surveillance missions. Elder Mu and I have already finalized the specific plans, and Elder Mu will personally convene a meeting of the Sea God Pavilion to explain them."
Hearing Elder Xuan's last sentence, Yan Shaozhe's heart immediately stirred. It was already decided, and obviously couldn't be changed. He understood that Shrek Academy might be undergoing a significant transformation this time.
Star Luo City.
As the capital of the Star Luo Empire, Star Luo City is undoubtedly the empire's largest city and its political, cultural, and economic center. It is known as the "Capital That Will Never Fall."
The city walls of Star Luo City are hundreds of meters high and an astonishingly thick hundred meters, constructed entirely of solid rock. It covers an area of over one thousand square kilometers, stretching over a hundred miles in both directions. The widest main road can accommodate sixteen carriages traveling in both directions simultaneously. And this is only the outer city.
The core of the entire city lies in the center of Star Luo City, the inner city, which is 960 meters long, 750 meters wide, and has walls 20 meters high. It is truly a city within a city. This palace was completed when the White Tiger Duke's lineage was still royalty, and after numerous renovations, its scale has grown ever larger, with its architecture becoming increasingly magnificent.
Star Luo City has a permanent population of over eight million, and with the addition of outsiders, its maximum capacity is a staggering twenty million.
Yet, this megacity has recently become somewhat crowded. The number of tourists has surged in just half a month. Almost all hotels are fully booked, forcing the authorities to requisition some residences and convert some official residences into temporary accommodations for tourists. The number of soldiers maintaining order within the city has also increased significantly.
The reason for this dramatic change is simple: the once-every-five-years grand event, the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament, is about to be held in Star Luo City.
It should be noted that the continent has four major empires, and the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament is held in rotation in the capitals of each nation. Therefore, Star Luo City has to wait twenty years to participate in the tournament. Such a grand spectacle naturally attracts the people of the Star Luo Empire to come and watch.
The tournament is held in Star Luo Square in front of the Star Luo City Imperial City. Star Luo Square is extremely large and can accommodate the largest number of spectators. It is said that 30,000 soldiers were mobilized from the city just to maintain order for this tournament. Ten thousand of them are responsible for guarding Star Luo Square.
Not far to the east of Star Luo Square, there is a seven-story hotel. This hotel, named Star Emperor Hotel, belongs to the royal family. It was specially set aside to accommodate participants from advanced Soul Master academies or Soul Master students from various countries.
As the defending champions and the number one Soul Master academy on the continent, Shrek Academy's team members were arranged in luxurious rooms on the top floor. Each person had a bedroom and a dedicated conference room.
At this moment, all eleven team members, along with their teacher Wang Yan, were sitting in the conference room, holding a pre-tournament mobilization meeting.
They arrived in Xingluo City yesterday, relatively late compared to other participating academies. However, as the defending champions and the number one academy on the continent, others saw this merely as a display of Shrek Academy's pride.
Wang Yan sat at the head of the table, flanked by Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, Chen Zifeng, and Ling Luochen, all with slightly pale faces. Although their condition had improved somewhat after medication, their injuries seemed to have worsened after the long journey. Ling Luochen and Chen Zifeng, who were originally expected to recover within five or six days, would not be able to do so.
Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng were in better condition, their injuries not aggravated.
The academy registration deadline was today, and Wang Yan had already registered with the competition organizers. The academy hadn't sent any reinforcements, clearly indicating that they were sending their reserve team.
Looking at the eleven students in the conference room, Wang Yan began, "Now, I'll explain the rules of the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament."
"The All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament is the ultimate battle among academies from various countries. Adhering to the principles of fairness and impartiality, it tests the comprehensive strength of each academy. Therefore, the competition format is the most diverse and flexible."
"I learned today that there are a total of 133 advanced soul master academies and advanced soul master instructor academies participating this time. They are all staying at this hotel. The first round of the preliminary competition is an elimination tournament. That is to say, the losing side will be directly eliminated. The first round will be a team battle, seven against seven. The draw will be held tomorrow. The first round is expected to take three days to complete."
"The first round will conclude before the teams are divided into groups of about eight or nine. A round-robin tournament will then be held. During the round-robin, a randomized format will be used. There are three types of randomized formats: single-elimination, 3v2v2 cooperative battles, and 7v7 team battles. This will test overall strength. Each match will be decided by drawing lots. Whichever format you draw will determine the match format. It's the best test of overall strength."
"We'll discuss these formats next time. Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng, although physically weak, can still play. The team battles will be played by the reserve team first. If they are truly outmatched, then the matches will be yours. Even if your injuries worsen, you must ensure you advance in the first round. Once you get through this round of eliminations and the first two rounds of the round-robin, Chen Zifeng and Ling Luochen's injuries will be fully recovered, and our biggest disadvantage will be gone. Xiaotao, you can then focus on recovering."
Read 50+ Advanced Chapters At Pat Reon
[email protected]/FicToric
(End of Chapter)