Behind Qian Renxue, Chu Feng stood calm and composed, appearing very relaxed.
His appearance caused Dai Weisi to shudder suddenly. Although he knew that as the Hall Master, Chu Feng would not participate, the ferocity Chu Feng displayed during the Grand Conference was still fresh in his mind.
The Shrek group also noticed him briefly, but they didn't care much at all and were soon laughing and joking.
As for the students, the strength of the Spirit Hall representative team was a thing of the past; now, they all believed they had the strength to put up a fight.
Everyone seemed to have made defeating Spirit Hall their most important goal for this competition.
Thus, the equal rights to resources fought for on behalf of the world's people had not actually brought any benefits to Spirit Hall.
On the contrary, it made Spirit Hall a target for everyone. Bibi Dong naturally understood this; human hearts were inherently unpredictable.
"I declare the competition officially open. Everyone, please proceed to the Super Spirit Arena specially constructed for this event."
Bibi Dong announced directly; she couldn't be bothered with nonsense that would only waste time.
The Super Spirit Arena was a semi-realistic space created by Chu Feng using the system, accessible through a shimmering, ethereal door.
Everything and every sensation inside would be real, and the venue was spacious and durable enough to facilitate more intense battles.
Disciples from all the academies poured in with great curiosity, though a significant portion of them maintained a sensitive, skeptical attitude.
Soon, as all twenty-six academies entered, the screen immediately displayed the preliminary round draw, determined by electronic logic.
The preliminaries were random one-on-one matches scored based on performance. Each academy had to send at least three participants for three matches, and those with the highest cumulative scores would advance to the top sixteen.
The rules were crude and simple, designed to most intuitively demonstrate the basic strength of each academy.
"One-on-one combat is the specialty of our Elephant Armored Academy."
The members of the Elephant Armored Academy flexed their muscles. With their sturdy builds and violent Spirits, they were opponents most people would probably want to avoid.
"Competition requires brains, not necessarily brute force."
The personality of Blazing Academy was just like their fiery style; their confidence was ablaze.
"Better save your energy for your talking," Dai Weisi sneered.
At this moment, The Shrek group didn't speak; they just stared wide-eyed at the screen.
The draw began to scroll, and the matchups were suddenly revealed, causing some to rejoice while others despaired.
Everyone had a basic understanding of this competition; if there was a clear gap in strength with their opponent, they would be instantly demoralized.
Tang San ignored external influences and focused intently. As soon as Shrek popped up on the screen, he immediately shouted, "Our opponent is Godwind Academy."
"Godwind? The strongest of the Five Element Academies? Our luck in the draw is too poor."
Oscar clutched his head in disappointment, his face full of disbelief.
However, Godwind Academy could accept it. Their captain, Feng Xiaotian, even took the initiative to greet them: "A pleasure to meet you."
Ning Rongrong glanced at him, her attitude not very friendly: "Our Shrek won't lose to you."
"Then we'll have to see how much confidence you really have," Feng Xiaotian said arrogantly.
At the same time, the matchups for the other academies were also decided. The Elephant Armored Academy never expected their first opponent to be the Spirit Hall representative team.
Qian Renxue looked up at the draw and shook her head.
Hu Liena asked in confusion, "Are they very troublesome?"
"You're too naive; she thinks this opponent is too easy."
Chu Feng understood Qian Renxue. Entering this competition with the posture of a god was undoubtedly like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves.
"Ah? I heard their sect is best at defense and their Spirits have powerful impact force. Are they really that easy to deal with?"
Xie Yue was even more naive than Hu Liena; after all, he knew nothing about them.
Yan was drenched in sweat. Even though he had become a Titled Douluo early on through medicinal pills, he felt a bit overwhelmed now that he was actually on the field.
According to the match order, they happened to be the first match.
Chu Feng laughed, "This schedule is good; start early, rest early."
"Just like that?" Xie Yue was stunned.
"Don't panic; they aren't worth mentioning."
Qian Renxue said coldly, her spirit power accumulating. She knew very well that this match didn't require Divine Might at all.
"I hope so," Yan prayed.
After the Star Luo Emperor gave a few brief opening remarks, the competition began in a hurry.
After all, this competition no longer held much meaning for harmony; only the process on the field mattered.
The Elephant Armored Academy officially took the stage. The captain was Huyan Li, a Rank 96 Titled Douluo, with the Diamond Mammoth Spirit.
He carried a Black-grade spiritual treasure with thirty thousand spiritual power points and had consumed several Black-grade pills that increased attribute values.
It was clear that the Elephant Armored Academy had gone to great lengths for this competition; being able to procure these resources showed they had some capability.
There were also two other participating members, Huyan Ba and Huyan Shan, whose equipment was similar to his.
But despite their good resources, they had bad tempers.
"Spirit Hall? I didn't expect to fight the elite right from the start. Doesn't this give us a chance to become famous?"
Huyan Li bumped his fists together, his tone full of arrogance.
Immediately, the whole crowd began to cheer, most of them heckling purely out of hostility toward Spirit Hall.
"You? You'd better just admit defeat. I'm worried I might not be able to hold back my strength."
Qian Renxue responded coldly, though one could tell she was being quite kind; this was her mercy given the absolute gap in strength.
However, this infuriated everyone from the Elephant Armored Academy; they felt she was clearly looking down on them.
"Where did this woman come from, so ignorant of the heights of heaven and depths of the earth?"
Huyan Li, acting on impulse, struck out violently, the roar of a mammoth echoing from behind him.
He raised a charging punch that stirred up a wave of wind, carrying an overbearingly powerful offensive.
However, from Qian Renxue's subjective perspective, this was like a gentle breeze.
Qian Renxue merely frowned, and by emitting a bit of power from her spirit power, she was able to whip up a violent storm that forced the charging Huyan Li back several hundred meters.
"What terrifying spirit power."
Huyan Li's heart tightened. He hurriedly summoned his spiritual treasure, a bronze-colored shield he called the Mammoth Shield.
This shield could calculate spirit power consumption independently without affecting the Spirit Master themselves.
Furthermore, as soon as this item appeared, Huyan Li was suddenly filled with killing intent, his eyes turning blood-red as he glared fiercely ahead.
When he attacked again, a surge of dark baleful energy emerged from the shield, manifesting the Mammoth Avatar, its sharp tusks charging toward Qian Renxue.
He also took the opportunity to stomp on the ground, causing a massive tremor, and the power of his charging punch rose to another level.
"You want to kill me?"
Upon noticing this, Qian Renxue immediately focused, using her aura to manifest a longsword without Angel Power.
She couldn't be blamed for being ruthless next, as this was a matter of self-defense.
Huyan Li now seemed completely immersed in absolute confidence, his killing intent becoming even more ferocious.
Qian Renxue slightly raised her head; she had already decided the outcome of this battle.
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