Douluo Continent II: The Dragon King Suppresses the World!

"The second round of the knockout stage is about to begin. Please be quiet. The Shrek Academy team, the champions of the previous tournament, or rather, the champions who have won the championship for many years, will make their appearance in the first match today."

The people of the Sun Moon Empire did not have a very good impression of Shrek Academy. As soon as they heard the words "Shrek Academy", a lot of boos immediately rang out in the audience area.

At this moment, Ye Qi'an, Gu Yuena, and Ye Xiyao were sitting in the three chairs at the front of the Shrek Academy team. Behind them sat Dai Huabin, Ning Tian, ​​Zhu Lu, Wu Feng, and others, each with a calm expression, at least in terms of mentality, they had reduced a lot of their impetuousness.

"The second round of the knockout stage, the first match, Shrek Academy team versus Tianjia Sect, both sides select their players to enter the waiting area." The voice from the podium announced the official start of the second round of the competition.

Both sides entered the waiting area. As expected, Shrek Academy sent out seven people: Ye Qi'an, Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, Ning Tian, ​​Xie Huanyue, Wu Feng, and Cao Jinxuan. To the surprise of the Tang Sect members, Gu Yuena and Ye Xiyao did not appear.

The Heavenly Armor Sect wasn't in the VIP lounge; they were still in the outdoor lounge. It has to be said that the Heavenly Armor Sect had really bad luck with the draw. They passed the first round, but in the second round of elimination, they ran into Shrek Academy.

All seven players from both sides entered the waiting area.

The referee announced loudly, "In the individual elimination round, the first player from each side will take the stage."

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, a burly young man from the Tianjia Sect was the first to jump onto the competition stage, while Ye Qi'an was the first from the Shrek Academy to step onto the stage.

The Tang Clan members were stunned by this scene. Was Ye Qi'an giving the Tianjia Sect too much credit by being the first to go on stage?

Both sides bowed to each other in front of the referee.

"Shrek Academy, Ye Qi'an."

"Han Yu of the Heavenly Armor Sect."

The referee once again briefly explained the rules of the competition, emphasizing that it was forbidden to intentionally kill the opponent, otherwise the opponent would be judged to have lost. Only then did he let the two of them step back and prepare for the competition.

"The match begins." The referee swung his right hand down sharply.

The scene of releasing his martial spirit that he had imagined did not occur. Ye Qi'an simply stood there, his gaze fixed on his opponent.

Seeing this, the young man from the Heavenly Armor Sect did not rush forward. He remained calm and released his martial soul, which consisted of five soul rings: two yellow, two purple, and one black. Pieces of pitch-black hexagonal armor plates shot out from his body and then condensed in front of him, transforming into a hexagonal shield. The shield was thick and heavy, with hexagonal armor plates evenly distributed on it in a very neat manner.

After completing the release of his martial spirit, Han Yu strode forward to meet Ye Qi'an, who had not yet released his martial spirit.

"Are you ready? If you are, I'm about to make my move," Ye Qi'an said.

As soon as he finished speaking, his figure moved swiftly, so fast that it was difficult for the naked eye to catch. To the spectators, it was just a fleeting moment. Even Huo Yuhao, who possessed mental detection abilities, couldn't discern Ye Qi'an's movements, let alone his opponent.

Han Yu was greatly alarmed and quickly swung the shield made of hexagonal armor plates in his hand to defend himself.

"Goodbye." Ye Qi'an's voice seemed to come from all directions, elusive and uncertain.

Just as Han Yu frantically waved his shield to defend himself, Ye Qian appeared behind him like a ghost.

Han Yu felt a chill run down his spine. Before he could react, Ye Qian kicked out. The kick seemed light, but it carried a powerful force.

"Bang!" The kick landed squarely on Han Yu's back, sending him staggering forward. He nearly lost his grip on the shield. He struggled to regain his balance, turning around with a face full of astonishment and wariness. "So fast! So strong! He hasn't even released his Martial Soul yet, and he already possesses such power! How terrifying!"

Ye Qi'an did not continue his attack, but stood still with a faint smile on his face, as if he were toying with his opponent.

"How's that speed?" Ye Qi'an teased.

Han Yu gritted his teeth, a surge of indomitable spirit rising within him. He roared, and the black soul ring on his body shone brightly. The armor plates on the hexagonal shield suddenly detached from the shield and flew towards Ye Qi'an like hidden weapons.

Ye Qi'an's eyes narrowed, and he instantly dodged to the side. The armor plates grazed his body and hit the ground of the arena with a "clanging" sound.

"Interesting." Ye Qi'an's lips curled up, and then his figure disappeared again.

Han Yu looked around nervously. Suddenly, he felt a powerful pressure coming from above. Looking up, he saw that Ye Qian had already leaped high into the air, his fist flashing with golden light, crashing down on Han Yu like a falling meteor.

Han Yu hurriedly raised his shield above his head, trying to block the attack.

With a loud "Boom!", Ye Qi'an's fist slammed into the shield. The powerful force caused Han Yu's legs to buckle, almost causing him to kneel on the ground. Cracks appeared on the shield, and Han Yu's hands went numb from the impact.

It wasn't over yet. Ye Qi'an used the momentum to his advantage, slightly flipped his body, and kicked out with his other foot like lightning, directly aiming for Han Yu's abdomen. Han Yu didn't have time to react at all, and the kick landed heavily on his stomach.

"Ah!" Han Yu let out a painful scream, his body arched like a shrimp, and he was kicked backward, flying in an arc in the air before crashing heavily onto the competition stage.

He felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, as if his internal organs were being disturbed. He couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood. He tried to struggle to get up, but his body seemed to have no control over him. He only trembled slightly a few times before he could no longer move.

Ye Qi'an landed slowly and stood beside Han Yu, looking at him calmly. At this moment, Han Yu had completely lost his ability to fight, his eyes were closed, and his face was as pale as paper.

Seeing this, the referee quickly ran over to check on Han Yu. After a brief examination, the referee determined that Han Yu was unable to continue the match, so he raised his right hand high and loudly announced, "Shrek Academy, Ye Qi'an wins!"

From start to finish, this was definitely a short match. Without releasing her martial spirit, she defeated Han Yu in just three moves. Such strength was truly terrifying.

The second match between Shrek Academy and Tianjia Sect was once again a foregone conclusion. Relying on his formidable strength, Ye Qi'an once again won with an overwhelming advantage, without releasing his martial soul.

The boos from the audience noticeably subsided. What good are boos when faced with absolute strength?

The third-place Tianjia Sect youth also used the Tianjia Shield.

"The match begins!" With the referee's loud shout, Ye Qi'an's eyes lit up instantly.

The third member of the Heavenly Armor Sect learned from the mistakes of the first two and immediately unleashed his attack skills. He released two consecutive soul skills, and the Meteor Fire Armor was completed in mid-air, covering Ye Qi'an head-on.

Ye Qi'an watched the oncoming Meteor Fire Armor, a slight sneer playing on his lips. He dodged the first attack with a ghostly swift movement. The Meteor Fire Armor slammed onto the arena with a deafening crash, sending sparks flying.

Immediately following, a second attack came, but Ye Qi'an remained calm and composed. He lightly touched the ground, his body swaying in the air, easily avoiding all the attack trajectories.

Seeing his attack miss, the young man from the Tianjia Sect panicked. He widened his eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of Ye Qi'an, but Ye Qi'an was too fast; he was like an elusive phantom.

Just then, Ye Qi'an suddenly appeared behind the young man, his voice like a ghost in the young man's ear: "You're too slow."

Before the young man could react, Ye Qian kicked out, striking him directly in the back. Although the force of this kick was not as great as when he dealt with Han Yu, it was still enough to send the young man stumbling forward.

The young man nearly dropped the Heavenly Armor Shield. He struggled to steady himself, turned around, and the shield's surface suddenly changed from convex to concave. Numerous red lights of fire attribute reflected from the mirror-like armor plates, abruptly condensing into a single point, transforming into a line of fire that shot towards Ye Qi'an.

"Ugh, so boring. I thought this competition would be more interesting, but it's still so boring."

Ye Qi'an sighed softly, then raised his right hand. Without any fancy moves, when the Heavenly Armor Needle was less than a meter away from him, he gently waved his right hand, and the seemingly fierce line of fire was extinguished instantly, like a candle flickering in the wind, disappearing without a trace.

The young man from the Heavenly Armor Sect looked on in disbelief. He stared blankly as his attack was so easily neutralized, a deep sense of powerlessness welling up inside him.

Ye Qi'an acted as if he had done something insignificant, his eyes still carrying a faint disdain.

"Shall we continue?" he asked calmly, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching everyone's ears.

The young man bit his lip, a struggle flashing in his eyes, but ultimately he shook his head helplessly. He knew that no matter how hard he tried, he could never be Ye Qi'an's match. The outcome of this match was predetermined from the start.

Seeing this, the referee no longer hesitated and immediately announced loudly, "Shrek Academy, Ye Qi'an wins!"

The audience from the Sun Moon Empire below the stage was already somewhat numb. Ye Qi'an's three consecutive easy victories had made them deeply aware of Shrek Academy's strength. The boos had long since disappeared, replaced by exclamations of amazement and admiration.

In the next four matches, Ye Qi'an demonstrated his dominance over the game. Even without releasing his martial spirit, he still relentlessly crushed the Tianjia Sect members, achieving a seven-man victory. Since the start of the tournament, only one person has accomplished this feat, and he won with overwhelming force. Tianjia Sect was sent back by Ye Qi'an alone before they even started their team battle.

The first match of the second round has ended. Shrek Academy achieved a complete victory, but they also demonstrated their formidable strength. Ye Qian'an's overwhelming strength made the team leaders of all the teams look rather grim.

The competition continued, and the next few matches were extremely fierce. In order to secure a spot in the knockout stage, every team gave their all, resulting in numerous injuries and an increasingly bloody atmosphere on the stage.

The Continental Elite Youth Soul Master Tournament has entered its second round, and the competition is becoming increasingly fierce. The remaining eighty-four teams are battling it out in pairs. After the first day of competition, twenty-one teams have already successfully advanced. And as long as they advance from this round of elimination matches, it means that they have one foot in the round-robin stage.

After this round of competition, forty-two teams will remain. While the next round will also be a knockout tournament, in addition to the twenty-one winning teams advancing directly, the remaining twenty-one teams will compete on tiebreakers to determine eleven teams that will enter the next round-robin stage. Entering the round-robin stage is already a considerable honor for many teams.

As dusk fell, perhaps because the daytime competition had exhausted the people, Mingdu seemed rather deserted at night. There weren't many people on the streets, and the vast majority of people had already fallen asleep.

After finishing the competition, Ye Qi'an walked out of Mingyue Hotel and headed towards Qingse Hotel, the preliminary venue for the Soul Master competition. At the main entrance of the hotel, there were four burly men, each over two meters tall and dressed in black tight-fitting clothes, who coldly scrutinized the passing crowd.

Ye Qi'an took out the competition certificate and easily walked in. It was the same middle-aged man as before. The middle-aged man led Ye Qi'an to a soul-guided elevator inside the hotel lobby, then said a few words with a soul-guided communicator before leading Ye Qi'an into the elevator.

The elevator continued downwards, stopping after about ten seconds. When the doors opened again, a cacophony of noise mixed with an atmosphere of decadent luxury rushed towards us.

After the middle-aged man led Ye Qi'an out of the elevator, they first passed through a magnificent circular hall, and then entered a large door directly in front of them. There were two guards at the door, who immediately opened the door and invited them in after seeing the middle-aged man.

Upon entering, one finds a circular, domed hall with rows of seats extending neatly downwards. Surrounding the hall is a ring of escalators that slope upwards, with each escalator leading to a circular room suspended in mid-air.

In the center of the hall was a circular platform, about thirty meters in diameter. Dozens of metal tables were placed on the competition platform, with the light of soul tools flashing from time to time. Around the circular platform, there were also some metal tables, totaling more than one hundred. Some of the metal tables were now empty.

The outer ring of sapphire blue velvet chairs was filled with people, all of them quiet and focused on the people working at the metal tables in the center.

"Am I late?" Ye Qi'an asked in a hoarse voice.

"No, no, Mr. Ye Liuyun, you've come at the perfect time. The competition has just begun. I'll make the arrangements for you right away," the middle-aged man said, waving his hand hastily.

"Today is the qualifying round. You need to create a level-three soul tool to pass the qualification review. Of course, you have to do it within a certain time. As you can see, each soul master has an hourglass on their table. However, there is only half an hourglass left, or about half an hour, before the last soul master to appear finishes their work. I don't know if you still have enough time."

"That's enough," Ye Qi'an nodded slightly.

As they were talking, they arrived at the center of the competition venue, but were stopped by someone.

Two men dressed like the middle-aged man who was leading the way blocked their path. After a brief exchange, Ye Qi'an was led into the competition venue by the middle-aged man. Ye Qi'an was obviously not qualified to compete on the stage, but was instead led to a metal table where the competition had already ended, and the materials in front of him had obviously been replaced.

After the middle-aged man turned and left, an elderly man dressed in yellow came over and stood behind Ye Qi'an, just like the situation behind the other competition tables.

"Are there any rules to the competition?" Ye Qi'an asked the old man in yellow robes calmly.

The old man pointed to a competition table that was being used not far from them and said, "There's an hourglass on there. See for yourself. Before the last grain of sand slips through the hourglass, create a soul tool that is at least level three. If you complete it, you'll qualify to continue the competition; if you don't, you'll be eliminated. Begin. I will supervise you and you must not use finished or unfinished soul tools to cheat."

"Well, you'd better watch carefully, this is also a learning opportunity for you." Ye Qi'an nodded slightly.

...(End of this chapter)