Douluo Continent: I, Long Aotian, will not be a supporting character.

Ye Jianchen's body was filled with sword energy, and the longsword formed from the Nine-Leaf Sword Grass emitted a meter of sword light, shattering the air in front of him. A black spatial rift remained at the tip of the sword.

So strong!

Although they hadn't touched yet, Ji Juechen could clearly feel the sharpness contained in Ye Jianchen's longsword, which made his skin sting slightly.

Ji Juechen suddenly leaped upwards, activating his third soul skill - Sword's Edge, injecting sword energy into the meteorite iron sword and slashing it towards Ye Jianchen.

The meteorite iron sword clashed with the silver longsword in Ye Jianchen's hand, and in an instant, sword light radiated in all directions.

Ye Jianchen's third soul ring flashed, and his silver longsword suddenly split in two, transforming into two longswords. With one sword in each hand, Ji Juechen instantly activated his fourth soul skill, "Sword Transformation into Light," condensing sword energy into four sword lights. Two of these light swords slashed towards Ye Jianchen's two swords, while the other two sword lights slashed towards Ye Jianchen's main body.

Ye Jianchen used the momentum to retreat, activating his fourth soul skill. He transformed his longsword from a slash to a swing, creating a barrier of sword shadows that blocked Ji Juechen's sword light. This move was remarkably similar to Ji Juechen's self-created soul skill, "Myriad Tribulations Sword Wheel."

Ye Jianchen stopped and said to Ji Juechen, "You are a respectable swordsman, worthy of my use of my fifth soul skill. If you can withstand my fifth soul skill, then I can concede defeat on behalf of the Plant Academy."

Ji Juechen took a deep breath and said, "Alright, please enlighten me!"

Ye Jianchen's fifth spirit ring flashed, radiating silver light.

With a "hum", the size of the silver longsword in Ye Jianchen's hand suddenly increased several times, turning into a giant sword five meters long.

The giant sword swelled instantly, and Ye Jianchen's aura surged accordingly. This soul skill seemed to be similar to a beast-type martial soul that amplifies itself, instantly elevating Ye Jianchen's combat power to a new level.

Ji Juechen took a deep breath and mobilized all the remaining soul power in his body. He activated his first soul skill, Sword Qi, his third soul skill, Sword's Edge, and his fourth soul skill, Sword Transformation into Light, at the same time. The four light swords around him spun rapidly, forming the "Myriad Tribulations Sword Wheel". Ji Juechen, with the Myriad Tribulations Sword Wheel on his head, reached for the five-meter giant sword in Ye Jianchen's hand.

The Myriad Tribulations Sword Wheel collided with the silver giant sword, unleashing a powerful burst of energy. The two energies cleaved each other, forming a storm of sword light. The energy struck the defensive shield of the Soul Arena, causing ripples to spread across it. The Soul Masters responsible for maintaining the Soul Arena quickly increased their Soul Power to ensure the stability of the defensive shield.

After a brief stalemate, the silver greatsword and the Myriad Tribulations Sword Wheel both vanished.

Ji Juechen barely managed to stay upright by leaning on the meteorite sword, but his face was pale and his soul power was completely exhausted. Ye Jianchen, on the other hand, although his breathing was a little rapid, still had some strength left.

Ye Jianchen said, "In the way of the sword, you are the first peer who has convinced me. Strictly speaking, you are four or five years younger than me, but you have already surpassed me in the way of the sword. Although you have exhausted your soul power, you still managed to withstand my fifth soul skill. A bet is a bet, and our Plant Academy concedes defeat. There are still three people in our academy who do not need to go on the field."

Ji Juechen said to Ye Jianchen, "Brother Ye, you are the Sword Soul Master I have met so far who is most to my liking. I hope we will have the opportunity to spar in the future. I am a member of the Body Sect. If you would like to spar with me after the competition, you are welcome to do so at any time."

Ye Jianchen said, "Alright, Brother Ji, it's settled then. See you after the competition."

A sense of mutual respect had already developed between Ji Juechen and Ye Jianchen.

The referee then announced: "Since the Plant Academy has conceded defeat, the Imperial Academy wins this round of the round-robin tournament, earning two points. The Plant Academy will not have any points counted."

Ji Juechen and Ye Jianchen returned to their respective teams, and Vina used her martial spirit to help Ji Juechen recover.

Meanwhile, at the Plant Academy, a female Soul Master who had not yet appeared also used her Martial Soul to heal Ye Jianchen.

After being possessed by her martial spirit, she held up a begonia flower in her hand. The flower was composed of white and pink petals, with leaves and vines sliding down her palms. The soft vines swayed in the wind, and the drooping petals were like a lady with her hair covering her face. The colors were bright, the flowers were beautiful, and the flowers were full of affection and charm.

Five soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, and black—surrounded the begonia flower.

"Nine-heart Begonia, it's actually a Nine-heart Begonia!" Mu Yu Cheng Feng exclaimed in surprise upon seeing that scene.

Long Aotian also saw it, and he didn't expect that the Plant Academy would have a Nine-Heart Begonia Soul Master.

Everyone was well aware of the terrifying power of the Nine-Heart Begonia. Although the healing abilities of top-tier healing-type martial souls such as the Nine-Heart Begonia, Tree of Life, Healing Angel, and Emperor's Heart Snow Lotus were not much different, the Nine-Heart Begonia had one unique feature that no other martial soul could match: its area-of-effect group healing.

For team battles, Nine-Hearted Begonia is the most powerful support-type healing Soul Master.

Unexpectedly, the Plant Academy actually has a top-tier support-type Soul Master with the Nine-Heart Begonia Martial Soul, and he has even reached the level of Soul King.

This botanical academy is truly extraordinary. Not only does it possess the Nine-Leaf Sword Grass, the strongest offensive martial soul among plants, but it also has the Nine-Heart Begonia, the strongest support martial soul. Moreover, both of them have reached the Soul King level. Fortunately, the competition between Di'ao Academy and the botanical academy is a one-on-one match. If it were a team battle, with the Nine-Heart Begonia's area-of-effect support, Di'ao Academy would not have such an easy time winning.

The Imperial Academy has won its first round-robin tournament. It will have to wait until all the teams in the other groups have completed their round-robin tournaments before the second round-robin tournament can begin on the third day. This means that the Imperial Academy will have a day and a half of rest time in between.

A day and a half passed, and the first round of the round-robin tournament was over, with all groups having completed one round of matches.

Compared to the knockout stage, the round-robin stage was much more peaceful. All teams adjusted their tactics, and the technical level of each match was much more sophisticated than in the previous knockout stage. However, it lacked the fierce competition that all teams displayed in the knockout stage.

After all, the round-robin format allows for strategic adjustments and even allows for strategic defeats. Very few teams achieve a perfect record in the round-robin format. As long as a team scores in the top two of its group, it can advance. Therefore, most teams will naturally not recklessly go all out.

However, the intense knockout rounds still affected the round-robin stage, with many participating teams' key players suffering injuries to varying degrees. As a result, those teams used the first match of the round-robin stage to adjust the team's overall condition.

Therefore, the first match of the round-robin tournament was not particularly exciting overall. Many teams did not field their strongest performances and were resting and recovering from injuries in preparation for the next match.