Douluo Continent II: The Dragon King Suppresses the World!

The second round of the Continental Elite Youth Soul Master Tournament has concluded, with forty-two teams advancing to the third round. Of these, thirty-two teams will qualify for the round-robin tournament. Their performance in the third round will determine their fate.

Winning will inevitably lead to the round-robin stage, while losing still gives you a chance to win by tiebreakers. After the first two rounds, some of the weaker teams have already started to show signs of fatigue, with injuries and player losses posing significant challenges.

The brutality of the third round of the All-Continent Elite Youth Advanced Soul Master Tournament exceeded many people's expectations. To secure a place in the round-robin stage, many matches were fought with ferocity. After just one round, five people died and over twenty were seriously injured, averaging casualties in every match.

As a result, many teams raised objections to the tournament organizing committee, strongly questioning the referees' ability to control the game. The Sun Moon Empire official team was also somewhat troubled by this and had to issue an announcement promising that in the upcoming games, the referees would control the pace of the game as much as possible to reduce casualties.

After the third round of competition, a day of rest was needed before the draw ceremony for the round-robin tournament. This day also marked the official start of the Mingdu Soul Mentor Elite Tournament in the underground world. When Ye Qi'an arrived at the Qingse Hotel again, Chen An was already personally waiting for him at the entrance.

"You've arrived." Upon seeing Ye Qi'an, Chen An quickly stepped forward and bowed respectfully to him.

"Have you prepared everything I asked you to do?" Ye Qi'an nodded slightly.

Chen An quickly replied, "Don't worry, everything is ready. And I haven't told anyone that you're participating in the competition. Please come with me to the VIP room to rest, and I'll show you the prepared materials."

"Let's go," Ye Qi'an replied.

Chen An led him to a large lounge next to the golden hall on the first basement floor, had his subordinates bring out various fruits and drinks, and handed a document to Ye Qi'an.

Ye Qi'an took the document, glanced at it, then tossed it aside and asked, "What are we competing in today?"

Chen An hurriedly said, "This round is about creating a soul tool. The higher the quality of the creation, the better. Since it's the first round, and we provide all the materials for creating the soul tools, which the soul tool masters can also take away, this round will be quite demanding with a high threshold. This round is about making a milk bottle. You need to complete the creation of a milk bottle of at least level three within three hours. If you can't complete it, you'll be eliminated."

"A baby bottle? That's interesting. You can go out and get busy. Let me know when the competition is about to start," Ye Qi'an nodded thoughtfully.

"Yes," Chen An replied and left the lounge.

Chen An is the chief referee and also has to arrange the competition, so he is naturally very busy. The person who came to inform Ye Qi'an that the competition is about to begin was his capable subordinate.

Ye Qi'an walked into the Golden Hall. Many people turned their eyes away when they saw him, not daring to look at him. Not to mention these VIP gamblers who valued their lives, even the staff of the Golden Hall immediately changed their expressions and tried to be as respectful as possible when they saw Ye Qi'an.

Led by Chen An's subordinates, Ye Qi'an was invited directly to the central round platform and placed in a prominent location. The silver-white metal tabletop did not reflect any light under the bright lights. In addition to various tools for making soul tools, there were ten different metals on the soul tool making table.

"Silence. The match will officially begin in five minutes. I am the chief referee for this round. I will reiterate the rules: all guests in the Golden Hall must not make any noise while the Soul Masters are creating their Soul Tools. Violators will be expelled from the arena."

"Attention, all Soul Masters. I am now announcing the details of this round of the competition. This round is a themed Soul Tool making competition, requiring everyone to create at least one Level 3 Healing Bottle. If you can create a Level 4 or higher Healing Bottle, you will be exempt from the next round and directly enter the third round of the main competition. The competition time is three hours. Those who fail to complete the task will be eliminated. Please prepare yourselves."

Five minutes passed in the blink of an eye. With Chen An's announcement that the competition had begun, the entire Golden Hall fell silent, and all the Soul Masters immediately began to get busy.

Ye Qian picked up a suitable piece of metal and began to make the outer shell of the milk bottle. For other soul tools, the outer shell is more for protection and decoration, but the milk bottle is different. Every step of the process of making the milk bottle must be done with the priority of avoiding the loss of soul power. Therefore, the requirements for the outer shell are very strict. The sealing must be excellent, and most parts must be molded in one piece.

For others, soul-guided stamping equipment is often needed to help shape the metal, but for Ye Qi'an, a blacksmith, he can sense everything about metal, and the metal can also change shape according to his will.

The metal in Ye Qi'an's hands seemed to come alive, slowly deforming and stretching under his control. His movements were light and fluid, like an artist meticulously sculpting his work. Every squeeze and stretch was just right, and the metal gradually took on the perfect shape of a milk bottle shell in his hands, without a single flaw.

Back when he was at the Royal Academy of the Sun Moon Empire, Ye Qi'an had learned about baby bottles. The reason why the production process of baby bottles is so complicated and difficult is that, in addition to the requirements for the outer shell, the internal requirements are also very precise. First of all, it requires two core arrays: one is an energy gathering core array, and the other is a storage core array. When a soul master injects soul power, the soul power is first guided through the energy gathering core array and then stored in the highly sealed storage core array. Only in this way can the most important production be completed. Then, the two core arrays must be framed and connected, and there can be no deviation during the process.

However, after Ye Qi'an fully mastered the legacy of Electrolux, some magic circles could completely replace it, and the effect was even better than the original. Originally, he only needed to chant the incantation, but now that he was participating in a competition, he could only draw the magic circle.

Ye Qi'an took a deep breath and began to precisely carve the magic circle inside the already formed shell. His eyes were focused and firm, and the carving knife in his hand was like a nimble paintbrush, flowing smoothly across the metal surface. Every line contained his profound understanding and precise grasp of the magic circle, without the slightest hesitation or deviation.

As time went by, Ye Qi'an successfully completed the inscription of the first magic circle. He paused briefly, carefully checked it, and after confirming that there were no errors, he quickly began to inscribe the second magic circle. During the inscription process, Ye Qi'an also cleverly merged and connected the two magic circles, making them more compact and efficient.

Once both magic circles were completed, Ye Qian began the final adjustments and integration. He slowly injected his soul power into the milk bottle, carefully sensing the operation of the magic circles. If there were any issues or instabilities, he would immediately make adjustments and optimizations.

Unlike traditional soul masters, Ye Qian'an inscribed the magic circle on the outside, which made his milk bottle stand out from the crowd. In a short while, an exquisite purple-gold milk bottle was completed.

Ye Qi'an waved his hand, called over the judge behind him, and handed over his work.

The referee, holding his baby bottle, said, "Mr. Ye, please wait a moment. I need the chief referee to supervise the experiment before we can determine your score."

Ye Qi'an waved his hand, signaling him to leave.

Soon, Chen An came over, holding Ye Qi'an's baby bottle in his hand. At this moment, he was completely shocked. He came up to Ye Qi'an and whispered, "Is this your work?" As he spoke, he handed over the baby bottle that Ye Qi'an had made.

Ye Qi'an took the baby bottle and nodded.

Chen An took a deep breath, his eyes filled with respect: "Ingenious craftsmanship, I never imagined that a soul tool could have an array engraved on its exterior."

Ye Qi'an smiled slightly and said, "Then I can pass the test, right?"

"Of course," Chen An replied without hesitation. "Having witnessed your masterpiece today, I am increasingly confident that you will represent our Xi Shui Alliance in the battle. This baby bottle of yours doesn't have a self-destruct mechanism, does it?"

"If someone touches the formation, the original formation will be completely reversed, and this milk bottle will become a bomb," Ye Qi'an nodded slightly.

Upon hearing Ye Qi'an's words, Chen An was startled, but at the same time, he admired Ye Qi'an's skill and thoughtfulness even more. He carefully took the milk bottle and said to Ye Qi'an, "Your work is undoubtedly the most outstanding so far. It's a foregone conclusion that you will advance to the next round."

"You can have that one," Ye Qi'an said.

"Give it to me?" Chen An was taken aback.

Ye Qi'an said calmly, "Give me the qualification certificate to enter the next round. I'm going back."

Chen An took a deep breath, and looking at Ye Qi'an, her eyes held not only respect but also something else: "I can't thank you enough for such a great favor. Rest assured, I will do my best to fulfill all your requests."

Ye Qi'an waved his hand and said, "Within your authority, just get me some more rare metals."

"Yes, I will definitely help you collect all kinds of rare metals." Chen An agreed without hesitation.

Ye Qi'an raised his hand and swept the remaining parts of the three rare metals on the production table into his storage ring. He then took the qualification certificate to enter the next round from Chen An before stepping off the competition stage and leaving the Qingse Hotel.

.........

At dawn, the All-Continent Youth Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament finally entered the round-robin stage, and the previous chaotic situation caused by the large number of participating teams came to a complete end.

In the round-robin stage, strong matches between top teams will begin to emerge. Early in the morning, a large number of people had already gathered in the suburbs where the competition venue was located, waiting for the start of today's matches.

The rules of the round-robin tournament are significantly different from the previous knockout stage. All 32 teams that have entered the round-robin tournament will be divided into four groups of eight teams each, playing a single round-robin format. In other words, each team will play one match against each of the other seven teams in its group.

In the round-robin stage, two groups of teams will play four matches each day. On the second day, the other two groups will play four matches each in the morning and afternoon. The entire round-robin stage will last for about fourteen days. The top two teams from each group will advance to the final stage, which will consist of three rounds: the quarterfinals, the semifinals, and the final. The final champion will be determined through these three rounds.

Shrek Academy, Tang Sect, and Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy were placed in Group 1. The other five teams that emerged from the knockout stage were no pushovers either, making this a true group of death! The first match of the first round of today's round-robin tournament was a fierce battle between Tang Sect and Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy.

The rest area next to the competition stage of the All-Continent Youth Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament has been renovated in just two days, retaining only the original VIP rest area. The rest area has been redecorated, with the original wooden benches replaced by comfortable sofas. After all, it only needs to accommodate eight teams each day, so it no longer feels crowded.

At this moment, all eight teams in the first group of the morning competition had arrived. The Tangmen team was sitting next to the Shrek team. After arriving, Ye Qi'an did not linger his gaze on the Tangmen team. The arrogance on Ye Qi'an's face seemed even stronger than before. Even just getting slightly close to him, one could feel the murderous aura emanating from him.

On the platform, Ju Zi pushed Regent Xu Tianran to the main seat, straightened his clothes, and then gently sat down beside him. Xu Tianran took one of her hands and placed it on his lap, patting it gently.

"Today's first round is a match between the Sun and Moon Team and the Tang Clan. It should be very interesting," Xu Tianran said with a smile.

Orange smiled and said, "Really? Then our Sun and Moon team will definitely be victorious."

Xu Tianran turned his head and glanced at the Mingde Hall Master not far away, and asked, "What does the Hongchen Hall Master think?"

Jing Hongchen frowned slightly and said, "It's hard to say. This is just a round-robin tournament. For both sides, even if they lose this match, they won't be eliminated. It's hard to say whether both sides will go all out. If they do go all out, the result is still hard to predict. The final winner will be decided in the team competition. For teams with similar strength, the individual elimination tournament is just a process of weakening the opponent's strength and strengthening their own team's morale, laying the groundwork for the team competition."

Xu Tianran smiled and said, "Didn't the Red Dust Hall Master give our Sun and Moon Team any tactics?"

Jing Hongchen smiled slightly and said, "If a fledgling eagle doesn't take flight on its own, its wings will never grow strong. Let them do it themselves. My grandson and granddaughter have put in a lot of effort these past few years, all for the sake of defeating Shrek Academy and Tang Clan in this competition. I'm actually looking forward to this competition, although I don't want them to go all out at this point."

Xu Tianran said, "After hearing what the Hall Master of the Red Dust said, I am even more interested in this battle. Let's wait and see."

At this moment, the referee had entered the arena. After announcing the rules of the round-robin tournament, he concluded by saying, "The first match of the first group in the round-robin tournament is between the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy Team and the Tang Sect Team. Both teams' players will proceed to the waiting area. Players for the first individual match will now come to the stage."

…(End of this chapter)