Douro Continent

Chapter 313 The Continental Elite Tournament of Advanced Soul Master Academies (Part 1)

"The format of the qualifiers and the promotion matches is different. The qualifiers will be conducted in the team battle format that you are most familiar with. It will be a single round-robin format, with the team with the highest winning points in each qualifier region advancing to the promotion matches. The promotion matches will be conducted in a special way. Although each team will still send out seven participants, they will face off one by one. The winners will remain on the field, and the losing team will continue to send out participants until one team's entire field of participants is defeated."

"Therefore, the preliminary rounds can be seen as a competition to showcase team strength, while the qualifying rounds are a stage to demonstrate individual strength. The reason for having the qualifying rounds is to allow the higher-ups of the two empires and the Spirit Hall to better identify some particularly outstanding young spirit masters from among these participating students."

"There will be a total of 33 teams participating in the finals, and they will be drawn into a brutal elimination tournament."

"Master, wait a moment." This time it was Oscar who spoke up, puzzled. "Master, you just said that there's one seeded team from each of the two great empires, and fifteen teams from each of the qualifiers and qualifying rounds. So, there should be thirty-two teams in the finals, not thirty-three?"

The master smiled slightly and said, "I forgot to mention. The seeded teams for the finals aren't just two, but three. This third team is the one recommended by the Spirit Hall. You could say they're the most competitive team. Although the Spirit Hall isn't a high-level spirit master academy, they have their own specialized institution for training spirit masters. In the previous three Continental Elite Spirit Master Academy Tournaments, apart from the Star Luo Empire winning once, the other two championships were won by teams sent by the Spirit Hall. They will be your strongest competitors in the future. Based on my experience, the spirit master team sent by the Spirit Hall is definitely stronger than any Royal Fighting Team you've ever seen."

The Shrek Seven Devils looked at each other, but their eyes didn't show worry; instead, they showed intense curiosity and excitement.

Having gone through so many battles and become an unprecedented level 30 Gold Soul Team, what they crave most are powerful opponents. Without strong opponents, how can they better hone their skills?

"The rankings for the qualifying rounds will be conducted separately in the two empires, placing teams from one to fifteen. The benefits of this ranking will become apparent in the finals. The finals will be a knockout tournament. In each round, several teams will receive a bye. In the first round, the three seeded teams will receive a bye. The remaining thirty teams will compete against each other, with the fifteen winners advancing to the next round. In the second round, including the three seeded teams, there will be a total of eighteen teams. At this point, the two teams ranked higher in the qualifying rounds will receive a bye. The remaining sixteen teams will compete to determine eight teams that will advance to the third round. In the third round, only ten teams will remain, and again, the two teams ranked higher in the qualifying rounds will receive a bye. Teams that have already received a bye will not receive a second bye. After the third round, there will be six teams remaining—the final six of the tournament. At this point, there will be no more teams receiving byes. In the fourth round, the six teams will compete against each other by drawing lots to determine the final three. To ensure fairness, the final rankings of the top three will be determined through a combination of team battles and individual elimination matches."

"First, we'll have an individual elimination tournament, similar to the qualifying rounds. The three teams will compete in a challenge format. Each side will send out seven members, taking turns on stage. The loser will be eliminated, and the winner will continue to face the next opponent. This will continue until all students from the other two academies are eliminated, at which point the winning academy will advance directly. The other two academies will then engage in a team battle to determine the final qualifying team, which will then face the team that advanced through the individual elimination rounds in the final team battle."

After listening to the master's explanation, Ma Hongjun couldn't help but say, "Master, how come this competition is so complicated? I'm getting a little dizzy listening to it."

Dai Mubai said irritably, "What's there to be dizzy about? No matter the competition rules, as long as we don't lose a single match, the final championship will be ours, won't it?"

The master nodded slightly and said, "Mu Bai is right. While you need to be familiar with the competition rules, they aren't the most important thing in the face of absolute strength. During the competition, I will remind you of the rules and analyze your upcoming opponents. Get up. These last few days are for tactical practice. Oh, right, there's something I must remind you of. In the preliminary rounds of the Heaven Dou City division, only three of you seven little monsters can be on the field at a time. Rongrong definitely won't be playing in the preliminary rounds; I will be giving her extra training during this period."

"Huh? Only three can go?" Even Tang San couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

The master, with a stern face, said, "What? You have a problem with that? The players who will definitely play in the preliminaries are Tailong, Huang Yuan, Jingling, and Jiangzhu. You can discuss the other three spots yourselves, except for Rongrong."

Tang San tentatively asked, "Teacher, are you conserving your strength? But what if we lose?"

The master calmly said, "What? You don't even have this much confidence? Your real opponents are in the qualifying rounds, in the finals, definitely not in these preliminary rounds. If you expose your full strength to your opponents now, how difficult will the road ahead become?"

After listening to the master's words, Tang San pondered for a moment, exchanged glances with Dai Mubai, and then nodded, saying, "Teacher, I understand."

The master patted his prized disciple on the shoulder. "I knew you'd understand. You'll be responsible for the on-field tactics. You'll also decide on the participants. What I can remind you is that during the preliminaries, the fewer of your Shrek Seven Devils who appear, the better. In the finals, you'll face opponents who are stronger than you imagine. And you only have one goal. Strive for that goal."

In the following days, the Shrek Academy team members, under the guidance of the master, began practicing their tactics. The four new members, in particular, spent each day working on their teamwork.

Building a cohesive Soul Master team is inherently difficult, but if the team includes an exceptionally skilled control-type Soul Master, everything becomes much simpler. Tang San is undoubtedly capable of this role, and under his guidance, the four new members gradually became familiar with the Shrek Seven Devils' fighting style. Meanwhile, Tang San has also decided on the participants for the preliminary rounds, primarily rotating four members of the Shrek Seven Devils.

Although the preliminary rounds aren't crucial, securing qualification is essential. Therefore, Tang San's confirmed rotation of four players includes himself, who is required to play, along with Dai Mubai, the strongest spirit master (Evil-Eyed White Tiger), Oscar, the food-type spirit master (Big Sausage Uncle), and Xiao Wu, a close-combat spirit master. Fatty, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong will be benched. Everything is ready.

Three days later, in Tiandou City, the capital of the Tiandou Empire.

The grand opening ceremony of the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament, Heaven Dou Empire Division, was held in Heaven Dou City.

As the grandest Soul Master Tournament in the Soul Master world, it attracts not only the attention of Soul Masters, but also the attention of every citizen of Heaven Dou City, from royalty and nobles to commoners. They regard this tournament as the grandest festival.

The opening ceremony was held inside the Heaven Dou Grand Arena in Heaven Dou City. Tickets for the opening ceremony had sold out a month in advance. It's worth noting that these tickets were priced the same as the admission price for the main Arena's Soul Center.

As the main arena for the Tiandou division, the Tiandou Grand Arena suspended all Soul Battle matches a month ago for internal renovations. All the sub-arenas within the Grand Arena were merged with the main Soul Battle Center to form a single, enormous competition venue.

Besides the VIP area remaining on the north side of the entire competition venue, the renovated Grand Arena can accommodate 80,000 spectators simultaneously. While ticket sales generate substantial revenue, the Grand Arena itself also incurs considerable costs.

For the next period of time, all the preliminary rounds of the Tiandou Division will be held here.

Before dawn, when the sun had even risen in the east, the renovated Heaven Dou Arena was already packed with a huge crowd. The spectators weren't there to get in early, of course, as each ticket had a assigned seat. Their purpose was to see the participating young soul masters up close on the first day of the opening ceremony.

Among them are many young women in the throes of first love. As the master said, the total number of Soul Masters across the entire continent doesn't exceed six figures. And those who can represent advanced Soul Master academies in competitions are the cream of the crop. Furthermore, they have an age limit of twenty-five. Undoubtedly, they become the most ideal romantic partners in the hearts of young women. Marrying a powerful Soul Master would be a win-win situation, bringing both fame and fortune.

Even some nobles who had purchased VIP tickets were gathered outside. Nobles have always been enthusiastic about recruiting Soul Masters.

The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Competition is a cradle of talent. Not to mention those who achieve certain results, even those who just participate in the competition are sought after by nobles and families.

(End of this chapter)