Douluo Dalu II: The Peerless Tang Sect

Chapter 360 Goodbye Zhu Lie!

After Shrek Academy made a substitution, Taining Academy still saw no hope of victory. Their remaining four players were all Soul Masters. Facing Dai Huabin, a high-level Soul King, they might have a chance of winning if they attacked together, but if they attacked one by one, they would only be defeated one by one.

At this point in the competition, there was little suspense left. Dai Huabin defeated the last student from Taining Academy, marking the victory of the entire competition. Since Shrek Academy had taken the lead with six points, there was no point in continuing the team competition.

Shrek Academy won the match, scoring eleven points and advancing to the third round.

After the match, Zhu Ziyang didn't linger at the stadium and led everyone back to the hotel. Just as they arrived at the hotel, the Taining Academy team also returned. The two teams, who had just finished their match, met again in the hotel lobby. However, the Taining Academy players all looked dejected, like a group of defeated roosters.

Their team leader, however, remained calm. Clearly, he had been prepared for this outcome. Upon seeing the Shrek Academy group, a smile spread across his face, and he quickly approached, calling out, "Ziyang, Xiaotao, long time no see!"

"Senior Brother Zhu, it's been a long time indeed!" Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao replied with smiles.

The leader of Taining Academy was none other than Zhu Lie, a disciple of the Shrek Inner Court who left Shrek Academy after the Star Dou Incident and returned to his hometown. He, Zhu Ziyang, and Ma Xiaotao were sworn brothers, so even though the three had not seen each other for many years, they could not hide their excitement and joy when they met again.

Zhu Ziyang hugged Zhu Lie, then happily introduced him to the others: "This is Senior Brother Zhu Lie, an outstanding disciple who graduated from the Inner Academy seven years ago."

"Greetings, Senior Brother!" Upon hearing this, Jiang Nannan and the others, their doubts resolved, greeted him.

"No need to be so polite," Zhu Lie quickly waved his hand and said with a simple smile, "When I brought them to this competition, I was wondering if we would run into acquaintances from the academy, but I didn't expect to meet them under these circumstances. It's a bit unfortunate!"

"Haha, this means our fate isn't over yet!" Zhu Ziyang said with a smile.

Afterwards, Zhu Ziyang asked Jiang Nannan to take the others back to their rooms, and Zhu Lie also asked the students of Taining Academy to go back to their rooms to pack their luggage. He then followed Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao to the tea restaurant in the hotel lobby.

The three found a quiet corner to sit down and began catching up. From their conversation, Zhu Ziyang learned about Zhu Lie's experiences after leaving the academy.

It turned out that after leaving the academy, Zhu Lie returned to Taining City in the Heavenly Soul Empire. His family owned the largest merchant guild in Taining City and wielded considerable influence in the city and surrounding towns. This influence became even more pronounced after Zhu Lie's return as a graduate of Shrek Academy's inner court. Upon returning home, Zhu Lie first settled Cheng Hui and Wanwan's families, and then, at the invitation of the Taining City Lord, became a teacher at the Taining Advanced Soul Master Academy.

He has worked at Taining Advanced Soul Master Academy for seven years and is now the Dean of Studies and Vice Dean. He is also the strongest person in the academy, having reached the level of Soul Saint at the age of 75. No normal person in the ruling class of Taining City is not friendly to him, so Zhu Lie has been living quite well these years.

"Ziyang, the academy has been making quite a few moves these past few years," Zhu Lie said with a meaningful smile. "The academy has transformed the primary soul master academies in several towns under the jurisdiction of Taining City into Tianyuan Academy, and our city lord of Taining City is still happily oblivious."

"Oh? Is that so? Tianyuan Academy is expanding so fast?" Zhu Ziyang was also taken aback when he heard this, because it was indeed the first time he had learned that there was a Tianyuan Academy near Taining City. The construction and expansion plan of Tianyuan Academy was mainly handled by Cai Meier. Zhu Ziyang never asked about the specific details. He could only learn about the progress of the plan through Cai Meier's reports at each Tianyuan Pavilion meeting.

"Isn't that right?" Zhu Lie said. "At least fifteen Tianyuan Academies have appeared in the entire Linbei Province. These Tianyuan Academies are lined up and almost surround Taining City."

"Hehe, it seems Senior Sister has done a good job!" Zhu Ziyang exclaimed, then looked at Zhu Lie and asked, "Senior Brother Zhu, what do the higher-ups in Taining City think of Tianyuan Academy?"

"How can anyone see it? Aside from mocking the academy for meddling, no one can really see the academy's true intentions in taking this step," Zhu Lie said with a mocking smile.

"Then, Senior Brother Zhu, what are your thoughts?" Zhu Ziyang asked Zhu Lie, his gaze fixed intently on him.

"Hehe, Ziyang, to be honest," Zhu Lie scratched his head with a simple smile, and said, "Just before we came to participate in the competition, the academy had already reached an agreement with the Taining City Junior Soul Master Academy. The Taining City Junior Soul Master Academy will be renamed Taining City Tianyuan Academy, and I will be appointed as its first dean. This appointment was personally given to me by Dean Cai!"

"Oh!" Zhu Ziyang looked enlightened, then exchanged a smile with Zhu Lie and said, "Congratulations, Senior Brother Zhu, on your promotion to Dean!"

"Hehe," Zhu Lie chuckled sheepishly and said, "Actually, I also have my own selfish motives. Only if I become the dean of Tianyuan Academy in Taining City can this academy be prevented from becoming an academy for the elite again, so that my family's younger generation and the younger generations of Cheng Hui and Wanwan's families won't have to go to the towns below to study."

"I understand!" Zhu Ziyang said solemnly, "This is also the purpose of establishing Tianyuan Academy. We want all children to awaken their martial spirits and enter a soul master academy to study!"

Half an hour later, Zhu Lie led the students of Taining Academy away from Mingyue Hotel. Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao stood at the hotel entrance to see them off.

The competition continued. The first day of the competition ended, and the second day of the competition began immediately. The Shrek Academy students returned to the mode they had used in the first round of the competition. The others cultivated in the hotel, while Zhu Ziyang and the four girls, including Jiang Nannan, took turns going to the arena to watch the competition.

On the second day, there was only one match worth Zhu Ziyang's attention: Tang Sect versus Iron Sword Sect. Iron Sword Sect was an obscure little sect, and Tang Sect, with its Soul Saint, undoubtedly won against an opponent of that level.

On the fourth day of the second round of the competition, at the entrance of the Mingyue Hotel, Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan saw off Yang Zhenzhen's school, Fran Advanced Soul Master Academy. Fran Academy was not as lucky in the second round as in the first round. They encountered a sect team called Tianjia Sect. This sect team was very strong. In the first round, they had five Soul Kings, but in the second round, they only sent three players and still won.

The members of the Fran Academy team left, but they didn't seem disappointed. After all, they had only come with a try-it-out mentality, and making it to the second round was already a pleasant surprise. Jiang Nannan, however, was a little sullen. She really liked Yang Zhenzhen, and now that Yang Zhenzhen had left with the academy, she naturally felt a little sad.

The second round ended quickly, and the 92 teams that advanced had no time to rest before they had to draw lots to determine their positions for the third round. The third round would consist of 46 matches, to be played over four days: 11 matches in the first two days and 12 matches in the last two days.

Soon, the results of the third round of draws came out. Shrek Academy was once again in the first match of the first day, and their opponent was a sect team called Overlord Sect. Judging from the first two rounds of matches, the strength of Overlord Sect was similar to that of Tianjia Sect, which eliminated Fran Academy. They were a decent opponent, but they were still not good enough against Shrek Academy.

Zhu Ziyang and the rest of the Shrek Academy team didn't take it to heart and went to sleep peacefully.

Indeed, that was the case. On the second day of the competition, Shrek Academy faced off against the Overlord Sect. The battle was a one-sided crushing victory. Zhu Ziyang didn't even let Zhou Tianhe play. The three preliminary team disciples, Dai Huabin, Wu Feng, and Xie Huanyue, easily won the match.

(End of this chapter)