The Continental Youth Advanced Soul Master Elite Competition has begun.
On the morning of the competition's opening day, Zhu Ziyang walked out of his bedroom. A few seconds later, Ma Xiaotao also emerged, her complexion rosy, clearly indicating a good night's rest.
A few minutes later, the Shrek Team members gathered in the living room, arrayed in two rows. The main team members were in front, and the reserve members were behind. In the front row, from left to right, were Jiang Nannan, Qian Lingyi, Fifth Huan'er, Ning Tian, Chu Hua, and Zhou Tianhe. Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao stood in front of them.
Zhu Ziyang tried not to look at the expressions of the three women, Jiang Nannan, Qian Lingyi and Fifth Huan'er. Their faces were filled with resentment and anger, because these days, he had been monopolized by Ma Xiaotao. The three had strong opinions; Fifth Huan'er was better, as she was like a sister to Ma Xiaotao and had a personality that dared to love and hate, so she didn't care if Ma Xiaotao was around when she was intimate with Zhu Ziyang.
However, Jiang Nannan and Qian Lingyi were different. Both were thin-skinned and couldn't go that far, so they could only protest to Zhu Ziyang in dissatisfaction. Yet, Ma Xiaotao, citing official duties, completely disregarded their displeasure.
Fortunately, this situation only lasted for a day or two, because with the start of the competition, the three women's jealous behavior would inevitably have to be reined in.
"Ahem!" Zhu Ziyang coughed, and everyone focused their attention on him. He said, "The results of yesterday's draw are out. We have a bye in the first round and directly receive twelve points."
"This..." The crowd exchanged glances, unsure if this was good or bad news.
"Senior, isn't a bye a good thing?" Reserve team member Cao Jinxuan raised his hand to speak. He was a bit puzzled, not understanding why the seniors in the front row had such strange expressions.
"It's both good and bad," Zhu Ziyang smiled and explained. "The good thing is that we can directly advance to the second round, saving a lot of effort. The bad thing is that we lose the opportunity to strike first. You see, in past competitions, the opening match was always played by our Shrek Academy. This is an honor."
"So, wouldn't we be at a great disadvantage then?" yelled reserve team member Xie Huanyue.
"Haha, actually, it doesn't matter. The Sun Moon Empire's purpose in this move isn't hard to guess. They most likely want the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy to play the opening match. After all, it's a home advantage, which is understandable," Zhu Ziyang continued, "This is a provocation. So, when we encounter the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy in subsequent matches, do not hold back. Those who dare to provoke Shrek Academy must be prepared to pay the price! Understood?"
"Understood!" everyone shouted in unison.
"Alright, let's go," Ma Xiaotao said with a faint smile. "Although we have a bye in the first round, we still need to appear at the opening ceremony. We can also take the opportunity to see the strength of those Sect teams."
Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao walked side by side, leading the Shrek Team out of the hotel and directly to the competition venue.
The Sun Moon Empire had located the competition venue on a vast, open plain outside Mingdu. This area not only offered ample space to accommodate more people but also allowed for the construction of larger arenas to support more intense battles.
This competition had a total of 367 participating teams. Half of them would be eliminated directly in the first round. Excluding Shrek Academy, which had a bye, only 183 teams would enter the second round. Then, with the addition of Shrek Team, 184 teams would compete in the second round, again eliminating half. The remaining 92 teams would enter the third round, which would also eliminate half, leaving 46 teams to contend for the 32 spots. When only 32 teams remained, the preliminary rounds of the competition would conclude, moving into the next stage of group matches.
The format for all stages consisted of individual elimination matches plus team matches. The winning side's theoretical maximum score was twelve points. The final round of the preliminaries was actually judged primarily by team points, with the fourteen teams having the fewest points being eliminated.
The Shrek Academy group arrived at the competition venue, located on the eastern outskirts of Mingdu. This normally sparsely populated area was now a sea of people. Over thirty thousand Sun Moon Empire soldiers were maintaining order, indicating the sheer number of spectators.
Currently, this area was divided into two main zones: the spectator area and the competition area. The spectator area was segmented into smaller sections, each capable of holding up to five thousand people. The spectator area encircled the competition area, within which the most prominent feature was naturally the arena used for matches.
The arena stood ten meters high with a diameter of approximately 120 meters. The entire arena emanated a silvery-white metallic sheen. Evidently, this competition arena, which could be called a magnificent structure, was built entirely of metal. Such a massive undertaking made many first-time visitors to the Sun Moon Empire marvel at its national strength.
Even more striking was the ring of grooves around the competition arena. Within these grooves were transparent, pale yellow light screens that rose high into the sky. Looking up at these light screens, one couldn't see their end, which further piqued Zhu Ziyang's curiosity about the Sun Moon Empire's spirit tool technology development. Light screens he couldn't see the end of meant these lights reached at least five thousand meters into the sky!
This required an enormous spirit power to support. At the very least, a Spirit Master would need to be at the Spirit Saint realm to project spirit power five thousand meters high. This also meant that each of these grooves could unleash the power of a Spirit Saint-level spirit power. Of course, it was also possible that Spirit Saints were outputting spirit power beneath these grooves. However, that would also be terrifying; there were at least three hundred such grooves. Could it be that the Sun Moon Empire, just to show off, could produce three hundred Spirit Saints at once for a show?
The rulers of the Sun Moon Empire shouldn't be that brain-dead.
The function of these light screens was simple: to act as the arena boundary. Because they were high enough, the possibility of winning by knocking an opponent out of the arena was almost zero. To achieve victory, one would probably only be able to rely on strength to completely defeat the opponent.
Outside the arena, extending outwards from its center, every hundred meters, a huge spirit tool screen was held aloft by tall metal supports. Each screen measured over twenty square meters. These screens could perfectly display the events on the arena, allowing all spectators to watch the entire competition process in real-time. There were over a hundred such spirit tool screens, evenly distributed in each spectator area.
This level of spirit tool technology could currently only be achieved by the Sun Moon Empire. As for the other three countries, haha, if they could even produce a hundred spirit tool screens, it would already show great importance given to spirit tools.
The contestant resting area was located on the east side of the arena, distinctly divided into two zones and three tiers. Based on proximity to the competition arena, the resting area closest to the arena had the best configuration, featuring not only awnings but also sofas and dedicated attendants. There were only two such resting areas, one for Shrek Academy and one for Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy. The subsequent resting areas only had awnings and ordinary seats, while those further back didn't even have awnings, just rows of benches.
When Zhu Ziyang and his group arrived, the resting area already had quite a few people. These people were either sitting on benches or chairs, and upon seeing the Shrek group, their gazes were filled with a mix of envy, jealousy, and other complex emotions.
Zhu Ziyang ignored these stares, walking calmly towards the top-tier resting area closest to the competition arena. He then unhesitatingly sat on the central sofa. The others followed suit, finding seats. Zhu Ziyang was flanked by Ma Xiaotao and Jiang Nannan, seemingly embraced on both sides, and indeed, he was.
Ignoring the envious glances of the male compatriots in the team, Zhu Ziyang began to observe the teams that were continuously entering. Among these teams, there were naturally many familiar faces, such as the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, who arrived after them and whose resting area was separated from theirs by only a curtain. Meng Hongchen's flirtatious glances towards him were clearly intercepted by Ma Xiaotao and Jiang Nannan.
Then there was the Star Luo Royal Academy led by Princess Xu Jiujiu, the Snow Demon Sect team led by Wei Na, and also the Tang Sect team of Tang Ya and Huo Yuhao. Finally, there was the Falan Academy team where Yang Zhenzhen was. This young girl had sought them out on the very night the Shrek Team arrived, and Jiang Nannan had happily taken her to explore Mingdu City for a day or two.
Soon, all the teams had arrived. At least all the seats in the resting area were occupied, which indicated that all the teams recognized by the competition officials had arrived.
At this moment, a new situation arose.