Douluo's ice devil Yuhao

Chapter 635 Ming Dou's Arrangements

"quiet."

Tianyang Douluo spoke in a deep voice, and the entire audience immediately fell silent.

"The first semi-final match is between Shrek Academy and Mingdou Academy. Please bring your teams into the arena."

Seven players from each side took to the field in turn. Shrek Academy fielded the same seven main players they had fielded against Sun Moon Academy: five Soul Emperors and two peak Soul Kings, a force to be reckoned with against any opponent.

However, Mingdou Academy's lineup is different from the previous one. In addition to the six main players who have already been shown, there is also a surprising special figure - the youngest, Qianfeng.

"How is this possible?" Yan Shaozhe and Elder Xuan's expressions darkened the moment they saw Qianfeng step onto the stage. The reason Shrek Academy had lost face in the Battle of Spirits was because of this boy with the evil martial soul.

He clearly only displayed a cultivation level of three rings, so how could Mingdou Academy dare to send him into battle?

Both of them, located in the Imperial City and the Preparation Zone respectively, believed that things were not so simple. Qianfeng could not be regarded as an ordinary three-ring Soul Master, as he was able to end the winning streak of Xue Lan Prince, who had the cultivation of Soul Emperor, in the group stage.

The defeat of the prince was due to a series of coincidences; after all, Qianfeng was only a three-ring Soul Master, far from being able to participate in team battles between five- or six-ring Soul Masters. Moreover, after the battle with Douling, Qianfeng never appeared on the field again, greatly reducing his presence.

Therefore, when formulating tactics, Shrek Academy focused all its energy on the humanoid soul tool, inadvertently neglecting Qianfeng's existence. Now, Qianfeng's appearance is very likely to be the key to their open battle tactics.

However, there was no time for Shrek to discuss, as Tianyang Douluo had already turned his attention to Shrek's side: "Shrek will decide the order of the competition."

After a brief hesitation, Yan Shaozhe replied, "Referee, Shrek Academy chooses to focus on team battles first, then individual battles."

Tianyang Douluo nodded, then looked in Mingdou's direction: "Mingdou will decide on the individual competition mechanism."

Ning Yuan replied, "In a fair fight, the loser will defend their place."

Tianyang Douluo nodded: "Both teams are making their final preparations; the match is about to begin."

Huo Yuhao glanced at the Shrek Academy's preparation area with amusement, then looked at the towering Imperial City.

The rules that Dou Ling had meticulously designed put Shrek in an extremely passive position. No matter how they chose the order, the situation was clearly in favor of Ming Dou.

The loser retaining the title means that even if a key player like Lin Xiaofeng is incredibly strong, he will have to be substituted after winning a match. The rule that all combatants win only once per match benefits the weaker team. This essentially forces Shrek Academy to cripple itself, actively limiting its greatest advantage.

First individual battles, then team battles. Mingdou Academy can give all the individual matches to Shrek Academy and directly use the team battles that Soul Masters are good at to determine the winner.

If the team battles are followed by individual battles, then Soul Emperors like Lin Xiaofeng simply won't be able to defeat two or three opponents at once. All the pressure in the elimination rounds will be concentrated on Yun Lueying, the peak five-ring agility-type Soul King. Ming Dou only needs to target him as much as possible in the team battles and significantly reduce his combat power, then the difficulty of winning the individual battles will be greatly reduced.

This set of rules was not invented by Mingdou Academy. Many Douling Academy students used this rule to defeat opponents who were slightly stronger than themselves and achieve good rankings.

Shrek realized this predicament before the match and, after careful consideration, ultimately chose to prioritize team battles over individual ones.

Qian Duoduo muttered, "What strange rules, why make it so complicated?"

He had only been there a short time and was quite puzzled by the rule.

Yan Shaozhe shook his head and explained, "This was carefully designed by the competition organizing committee according to His Majesty Douling's decree, and it is more beneficial to Douling's local academies."

To maximize the number of academies from Douling to qualify, the organizing committee of this competition put a lot of effort into the rules, setting up so many complex rules, all to benefit their own people. This resulted in the highest number of Douling academies ever to enter the top sixteen, but in the end, it completely backfired on Shrek Academy. Qian Duoduo snorted lightly, dismissing Douling's little tricks with disdain.

Xian Lin'er analyzed to herself, "How strange. Since Ming Dou Academy would choose a format where the loser defends the title, which is advantageous to them, why would they send out that child?"

Her gaze remained fixed on Qianfeng.

Since they chose a competition format that places more emphasis on the minimum requirements, they shouldn't lower their standards any further. Mingdou Academy's team puzzled her.

Xian Lin'er frowned slightly. The only explanation was that Qian Feng was hiding his true strength and would once again demonstrate his formidable power in the group stage.

Two orders, two tactics. The final order was decided by the three deans and Elder Xuan together, in order to make the most of the cultivation advantages of the Soul Emperor team members as early as possible.

While the loser retaining the title benefits the weaker team, the stronger team can also exploit this mechanism. If they can win the first match and deplete the opponent's first player's soul power, their teammates can then press their advantage and win continuously, leaving the opponent with no chance to make a comeback by substituting players.

As the saying goes, in the face of an absolute disparity in strength, all elaborate calculations are in vain.

The brief preparation time quickly came to an end.

Tianyang Douluo raised his right hand and announced loudly, "The team battle begins. Please have both teams enter the arena."

All fourteen team members remained silent, their focused gazes fixed on their opponents directly in the distance, awaiting the referee's final command.

Lin Xiaofeng's attention first shifted to Ning Yuan, the opposing team's captain who was not particularly tall and was rather thin. A lingering doubt remained in Lin Xiaofeng's mind.

The team captain is usually the strongest member of the team, and their aura is often particularly fierce. After mastering combat techniques, Lin Xiaofeng became more sensitive to changes in mental strength and aura.

But Ning Yuan is unique. He doesn't have that prominent threatening aura, and his cultivation level isn't outstanding among the team. Even his humanoid soul tool doesn't show any kind of weapon with extremely strong destructive power.

It wasn't because of the Soul Master; the captain of the Sun and Moon team was simply aggressive and intimidating, making him a formidable opponent.

"Why is that?" Lin Xiaofeng had watched Ming Dou's battle video repeatedly before the match. The opposing team captain had not shown any outstanding qualities compared to others, and he could not find a reason to convince himself.

Not knowing his background didn't make Lin Xiaofeng careless; on the contrary, he became even more cautious, constantly reminding himself to be extremely careful of this opponent who had yet to reveal his true abilities.

The gaze shifted from Ning Yuan and finally settled on Qian Feng.

Besides the captain, the boy who suddenly switched to the "evil martial spirit" puzzled him even more.

Was it to provoke Shrek?
Being defeated in public by a boy with an evil martial spirit in a competition was an enormous insult to Shrek Academy.

Lin Xiaofeng pointed at Qianfeng and instructed his men to the left and right: "I'll go up first to divide the battlefield, and then take him out first. The rest of you will follow Dean Yan's tactics."

"Yes." The team members nodded in unison, each with their own task.

Finally, Tianyang Douluo raised his right hand high and waved it downwards forcefully, loudly announcing the start of the match.

The Shrek Academy team unleashed their martial spirits and spirit rings simultaneously, showcasing the formidable foundation of the continent's premier academy with their impressive spirit ring configurations.

The members of the Mingdou team also summoned their own humanoid soul tools. Accompanied by crisp or muffled metallic clanging sounds, rows of humanoid soul tools were lined up in front of the team members.