Douluo Dalu II: The Peerless Tang Sect

Chapter 355: The Prelude to the Competition!

The All-Continent Youth Advanced Soul Master Elite Competition has begun.

On the morning of the competition's opening day, Zhu Ziyang walked out of his bedroom, and a few seconds later, Ma Xiaotao also came out. Her face was very rosy, indicating that she had slept very well the night before.

A few minutes later, the members of the Shrek team gathered in the living room. They lined up in two rows, with the regular players in front and the pre-selected players behind. From left to right in the front row were Jiang Nannan, Qian Lingyi, Fifth Huan'er, Ning Tian, ​​Chu Hua, and Zhou Tianhe, while Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao stood in front of them.

Zhu Ziyang tried his best not to look at the expressions on Jiang Nannan's and the other two women's faces. Their faces were full of resentment and anger because he had been monopolized by Ma Xiaotao these past few days. The three women had a lot of complaints. Fifth Huan'er was alright, after all, she was like a sister to Ma Xiaotao and had a personality that dared to love and hate. When she was close to Zhu Ziyang, she didn't care whether Ma Xiaotao was around or not.

However, Jiang Nannan and Qian Lingyi were different; they were too shy to go that far, so they could only complain to Zhu Ziyang. However, Ma Xiaotao ignored their dissatisfaction, citing official business as the reason.

Fortunately, this situation only lasted for a day or two, because as the competition began, the three girls' jealousy and rivalry naturally subsided.

"Ahem!" Zhu Ziyang coughed, and everyone focused their attention on him. He said, "The results of yesterday's draw are in. We got a bye in the first round and directly received twelve points."

"This..." The crowd looked at each other, unsure whether this was a good thing or a bad thing.

"Senior brother, isn't it a good thing to get a bye?" Cao Jinxuan, a member of the preliminary team, raised his hand to speak. He was a little confused and didn't understand why the senior brothers and sisters in the front row had such strange expressions.

"It's both a good thing and a bad thing." Zhu Ziyang smiled and explained, "The good thing is that we can directly advance to the second round, saving a lot of effort. The bad thing is that we've lost the opportunity to take the lead. You know, in previous major competitions, the opening match was always played by Shrek Academy, which is an honor."

"So, doesn't that mean we've suffered a huge loss?" shouted Xie Huanyue, a member of the preliminary team.

"Hehe, it doesn't really matter. The Sun Moon Empire's purpose in doing this isn't hard to guess. They probably want the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy to play the opening match, since they have home-field advantage, which is understandable," Zhu Ziyang continued. "This is a provocation. So, when you encounter the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy in future matches, don't hold back. If you dare to provoke Shrek Academy, you must be prepared to pay the price! Understand?"

"Understood!" everyone shouted in unison.

"Alright, let's go." Ma Xiaotao said with a smile, "Although we have a bye in the first round, we still need to participate in the opening ceremony, and we can also see how strong those sect teams are."

Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao walked side by side, leading the Shrek team members out of the hotel and directly to the venue where the competition was being held.

The Sun and Moon Empire chose to hold the tournament on a vast plain outside Mingdu, a place with a wide view. This location not only had ample space to accommodate more people, but also allowed for the construction of a larger arena to support more intense battles.

This tournament has 367 participating teams. Half of them will be eliminated in the first round. Excluding Shrek Academy, which received a bye, only 183 teams can enter the second round. Then, together with the Shrek team, a total of 184 teams will compete in the second round, where half of the teams will be eliminated again. The remaining 92 teams will enter the third round, where half of the teams will be eliminated again. The remaining 46 teams will continue to compete for the top 32 spots. When only 32 teams remain, the preliminary round of the tournament will end, and the next stage, the group stage, will begin.

All stages of the competition consist of individual elimination rounds and team matches. The theoretical maximum score for the winning team is twelve points. The final round of the preliminary round is actually judged primarily by team points, and the fourteen teams with the fewest points will be eliminated.

The Shrek Academy students arrived at the competition venue, which was located in the suburbs east of Mingdu. This suburb, which was usually sparsely populated, was now packed with people. There were more than 30,000 soldiers from the Sun Moon Empire maintaining order, which showed how many people came to watch the competition.

Currently, this area is divided into two main sections: a spectator area and a competition area. The spectator area is further divided into smaller sections, each capable of accommodating up to five thousand people. The spectator area surrounds the competition area, and the most prominent feature within the competition area is naturally the arena used for the matches.

The arena is ten meters high and about 120 meters in diameter. The entire arena exudes a silvery-white metallic luster. Clearly, this arena, which can be called a magnificent building, is actually constructed entirely of metal. Such a massive amount of work has made many people who are visiting the Sun Moon Empire for the first time marvel at the strength of the Sun Moon Empire.

What's even more intriguing is that around the arena, there's a ring of grooves. Within these grooves are transparent light screens with a pale yellow tinge, rising into the sky. Looking up at these light screens, one can't see the end. This makes Zhu Ziyang even more curious about the development of the Sun Moon Empire's soul-guided technology. If he can't see the end of the light screens, it means that these lights are shining at least five thousand meters into the sky!

This requires an enormous amount of soul power. At the very least, a soul master needs to be at the Soul Saint level to send soul power up to a height of 5,000 meters. This means that each of these grooves can at least unleash the power of a Soul Saint. Of course, it is also possible that there are Soul Saints outputting soul power under these grooves. However, this is still quite frightening. There are at least three hundred of these grooves. Could it be that the Sun Moon Empire can actually bring out three hundred Soul Saints to put on a show just to show off?

The rulers of the Sun and Moon Empire shouldn't be that brain-dead, right?

These light screens serve a simple purpose: to act as the boundaries of the arena. Because they are high enough, the possibility of knocking an opponent out of the arena and thus winning is almost zero. To win, one can only rely on strength to completely defeat the opponent.

Outside the arena, extending outwards from the arena, every hundred meters there is a huge soul-guided screen supported by a tall metal frame. Each screen is more than twenty square meters in size. These screens can perfectly present the scene on the arena, allowing all the spectators to watch the entire match in real time. There are more than one hundred such soul-guided screens, evenly distributed in every viewing area.

Currently, only the Sun Moon Empire can achieve this level of soul tool technology. As for the other three countries, well, they would consider it a great honor to produce a hundred soul tool screens.

The contestants' rest area is located on the east side of the arena and is clearly divided into two areas, comprising three levels. Based on distance from the arena, the rest area closest to the arena is the best equipped, featuring not only a canopy but also sofas and dedicated attendants. Only two such rest areas exist, one each at Shrek Academy and Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy. The next rest areas only have canopies and ordinary seating, and those further back lack even the canopy, consisting only of rows of benches.

When Zhu Ziyang and his group arrived, there were already quite a few people in the rest area. Some of them were sitting on benches, while others were sitting on chairs. When they saw the Shrek Academy students, their eyes were filled with a mixture of envy, jealousy, and other complex emotions.

Zhu Ziyang ignored these stares and calmly walked to the top-tier rest area closest to the competition arena. He then sat down on the sofa in the middle without hesitation. The others followed suit and found seats. Zhu Ziyang was flanked by Ma Xiaotao and Jiang Nannan, seemingly with women on his left and right, but in reality, he was with women on both sides.

Ignoring the envious glances from the men in the group, Zhu Ziyang began to survey the groups that were entering the venue one after another. Naturally, there were many familiar faces among these groups, such as the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy that followed behind them. Their rest area was only separated by a curtain, and the flirtatious glances that Meng Hongchen was sending him were clearly intercepted by Ma Xiaotao and Jiang Nannan.

For example, there's the Star Luo Royal Academy team led by Xu Jiujiu, the Snow Demon Sect team led by Vina, the Tang Sect team led by Tang Ya and Huo Yuhao, and finally, the Fran Academy team led by Yang Zhenzhen. This little girl came to our door the very night the Shrek team arrived, and Jiang Nannan was very happy to take her around Mingdu City for a day or two.

Soon, all the teams had arrived, and at least all the seats in the rest area were occupied, which meant that all the teams officially recognized by the tournament had arrived.

At this point, a new situation arose.

(End of this chapter)