Douluo Continent: The Twin Sons of the Styx River, Shaking the World and Destroying the Heavens

Chapter 56 The Strength of the Sun and Moon Empire

"I forgot to tell you, during their battle with Wheel Spirit Academy, I sensed a different kind of soul power in them. Ordinary people wouldn't be able to detect it, but I can."

"Wow, the top academy on the continent actually cheats? That's hard to believe."

"we do not have."

"Forget about them, let's go back to the hotel first. We'll see if we can run into them later. Tomorrow is the round-robin tournament."

They walked on their own, completely ignoring the Shrek members' reactions.

Dai Yueheng and the others wanted to step forward and cause trouble, but Wang Yan stopped them.

"Teacher Wang, why are you stopping me? Those guys from Sun Moon have insulted Shrek Academy and my White Tiger Duke's Mansion."

Wang Yan sighed and said, "Yueheng, aren't they telling the truth? Besides, Huabin, you saw that young man and woman just now. They are your opponents in the next round, named Xiao Hongchen. Although they won't appear many times this year, it doesn't mean you can't take this matter seriously."

Dai Huabin lowered his head. He had originally thought that he, Dai Huabin, was the most talented genius in this year's class.

But as a result, during the freshman assessment, Tang Lin and that woman, and now Xiao Hongchen, are together again, which is truly despicable.

"And Yueheng, it's not that we don't want you to go, but this is Xingluo City, not Shrek Academy. You can't just come and fight as you please. If you're not convinced by Riyue, then defeat him in the competition. Don't let your anger cloud your judgment in private."

"Teacher Wang, is he really the Soul King?" Bei Bei asked.

He was about the same age as them, only fourteen or fifteen years old. Unexpectedly, he was actually a Soul King, and a Soul King in the reserve team at that.

"I can't say for sure, but you will meet them in tomorrow's competition. However, I can say for sure that these six people will be your opponents in the next competition."

…………

The next day.

The leaden-gray clouds, like cotton wool soaked in rain, pressed heavily on the sky. Although the clouds weren't churning with inky blackness, they completely concealed the sunlight, refusing to let even a sliver of light leak through. Fortunately, the damp breeze, carrying the crisp scent of grass and trees, kept the ground dry, offering some solace.

The All-Continent Advanced Tournament still drew around 200,000 spectators, with the 67 teams that successfully advanced to the round-robin stage gathering at the tournament venue. The start of the round-robin stage also meant the opening of the players' rest area.

Today's matches were only the first round of the round-robin tournament, with four of the eight participating teams playing. However, all sixty-seven teams that advanced from the knockout stage were sitting in the rest area without exception.

They came to watch the match; more precisely, they wanted to watch the match between Shrek Academy and Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy.

Make full preparations for the next competition.

After Xu Jiawei announced the round-robin tournament rules, there were no changes compared to the preliminary rounds.

After the group assignments were announced, the competition began.

Group 1: Shrek Academy, Zhengyue Soul Master Academy, Yunluo Soul Master Academy...

Group Two: Star Luo Royal Academy, Hundred Soul Master Academy...

Group 3: Ancient Soul Master Academy...

………………

Group 8: Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, Thousand Soul Master Academy, Sun Moon Empire Divine Dance Academy, Mingdu Botanical Research Academy, Sun Moon Empire Transportation Academy...

Witnessed by the event organizing committee, the entire draw process was transparent, and the results were genuine, fair, and valid.

After hearing the round-robin draw results announced by the tournament committee, all the teams from the Sun-Moon Empire were furious.

You bastard, you're targeting me in the qualifiers, and you're targeting me again in the round-robin stage, is that even meaningful?

"You're still talking about fairness and effectiveness? If you can't afford to lose, just say so. Not only did they restrict the Soul Guidance Devices that can be used in all previous tournaments, but they also put most of our Sun-Moon Empire teams in the same group, causing us to fight among ourselves. This Xingluo Empire is truly disgusting!"

"You're targeting us, wait until the next election, and see how we target you."

"You can't afford to hold a big competition? This is the magnanimity of the old empire. This is what they call fairness?"

"You Star Luo Empire, the next All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Tournament will be held in Mingdu. If you don't put all the seeded teams in your group, I'll change my name backwards."

In addition to the many Sun-Moon Empire teams and spectators who felt that it was unfair, even many spectators from Douluo Three Kingdoms felt that the fairness of the round-robin draw results needed to be confirmed.

The preliminaries were already rife with internal conflicts among the Sun Moon Empire teams, but in the round-robin stage, they deliberately added various restrictions on the use of soul tools and even grouped a large number of Sun Moon Empire teams into one group. It's obvious to everyone that this was rigged.

Ma Rulong's veins bulged as he slammed his fist on the sofa beside him: "The Star Luo Empire can't even be bothered with appearances! They've crammed six Sun Moon teams into nine teams; the championship trophy would probably already be engraved with their names!" Lin Xi slammed his fist on the table, the screen displaying the glaring group list: "Five of the Empire's aces are stuck in our group? This isn't a draw; they're not even putting on an act."

Xiao Hongchen crossed his arms and said calmly, "We'll deal with whatever comes our way. The Star Luo Empire's Royal Team is nothing to us."

A faint purple light danced at Meng Hongchen's fingertips, her lustrous silver hair cascading down her back. "When we encounter Xingluo and his group, I'll show them that the Sun and Moon Team's fists are harder than theirs!"

Yu Yu stared intently at the tournament committee member's portrait hanging in the distance, his eyes icy cold: "Xu Jiawei's move was indeed ingenious—using internal strife to weaken us, buying time for the remnants of Shrek Academy to recover, and then securing Star Luo's victory. Unfortunately..." A chilling smile played on his lips, "Those who scheme the most often end up losing the most miserably."

The words stopped abruptly, and everyone's eyes focused on the Shrek Academy students.

"The round-robin groups have been drawn. There's no point in saying more. I only have one request for you, and that is to win all the games. Once you successfully enter the promotion round, we'll have fun with Xingluo and Shrek!"

"Teacher Yu, why don't we have the Hall Master put some pressure on the Star Luo Empire? They don't know what pain is."

Xia Die said, "No need to trouble Elder Kong and the others. If they want to play with us, then let them play. The Star Luo Empire shouldn't look too bad."

"By the way, Teacher Yu, let's successfully announce the charm of our Sun Moon Empire."

"Ah Die, you mean..."

…………

"Okay, Ah Die, we'll do it your way."

"Since Xingluo has been so unfair to us, there's absolutely nothing wrong with us promoting the unique characteristics of our own country!" Xiao Hongchen nodded in support, agreeing that this was a perfectly feasible move.

"This is a wonderful move!"

Yu took a deep breath and nodded, saying, "Since we're going to continue the publicity and protest Xingluo's unfair treatment of us, why not go all out?"

"Stay in the preparation area and wait for me to come back."

Yu Yu strode towards the preparation seats of the other Sun Moon Empire teams in the same group.

After a brief exchange, he and the team leaders quickly reached a consensus and decided to use special methods for promotion.

Subsequently, each of the five teams sent a substitute player to leave the competition venue with Yu Yu.

On the imperial city wall, Xu Jiawei coldly watched Yu Yu and his group leave, his face expressionless.

Shrek Academy's strength is not what it used to be, and the established competition rules have effectively limited the Sun Moon Empire's Royal Soul Master Team. However, the Imperial Royal Team is stronger than in previous years.

In Xu Jiawei's view, this was undoubtedly the closest the Star Luo Empire had ever come to winning the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament. He decided to go all out; what did those rumors matter if he could win the championship?
In his view, as long as he successfully enters the qualifying rounds and completes the normal draw, who would care about the unfairness in the knockout and round-robin stages? As long as the public relations department does a good job in the follow-up public relations work, the championship will be a perfect win.

Even if there are some unfair practices in the process, so what? As long as you believe the outcome is fair, that's enough.

The round-robin tournament officially started amidst a commotion.

The first match was a team competition between Shrek Academy and Zhengyue Advanced Soul Master Academy, who had luckily made it into the round-robin stage.

Led by Dai Yueheng, the Shrek team won a resounding victory, with Dai Yueheng almost sweeping the entire field in an individual match.

It captured the audience's attention and drew cheers and applause from countless viewers.

The Shrek team, which received preferential treatment from the organizers, also cheered. According to the current progress of the competition, Ma Xiaotao, who is recuperating and healing at the hotel, will be able to participate in the competition in less than ten days. Even if they lose to the Zhengtian team, they can at least guarantee second place to advance from the round-robin stage and enter the top 16 of the competition!
The second match, without a doubt, is the match between the Sun-Moon Empire Royal Soul Instructor Team and its internal team.

As soon as the Shrek team's game ended, Yu Yu returned with six substitute players from other teams who had left the field with him earlier.

He stopped by the organizing committee to draw lots before returning to the team's preparation area. He distributed the promotional labels he had acquired to everyone, instructing them to affix the eye-catching red labels that read, "Soaring high like the sun and moon, our ambitions never cease; boundless passion fills the land. With hearts as vast as the sea, we embrace a thousand rivers; heroes and talents alike stand out. With lofty aspirations reaching the heavens, we, the Soul Masters, chase our dreams and compete in style." to their chests and backs.

Surprisingly, it actually rhymes quite well.

After everyone finished affixing the labels, Yu Yu said with a smile, "Just now, I reached a consensus with the team leaders of several other teams from Sun Moon in our group. During the round-robin tournament, we will all wear these labels on our team uniforms when we go on stage, and after the match, we will bow to the audience and read the slogans. Don't forget to use your soul-guided megaphones then..."

We composed this poem for this purpose; it's absolutely beautiful, and the Star Luo Empire is very grateful for our blessing.

After explaining the consensus reached with other teams, Yu Yu announced the results of the draw.

"Based on the draw results, we will face the Imperial Divine Dance Soul Mentor team in the team battle later. The individual competition will be held later. After consideration, the starting player will be Meng Hongchen, and the second player will be..."

(End of this chapter)