Ning Fengzhi's words fell.
The emcee's voice followed closely, echoing throughout the venue.
"Thank you for your speech, Sect Master Ning!"
"As the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, you are the most powerful support-type Soul Master in the Soul Master world. I dare to ask you on behalf of the audience,"
"Which of the twenty-eight teams participating in the Heaven Dou City regional preliminaries do you favor?"
Hearing this,
Ning Fengzhi remained focused, his face still bearing a gentle smile.
"Among these twenty-eight teams, I do indeed have high hopes for one team."
"In my opinion, they not only have the ability to pass the preliminaries, but also a very good chance of winning the final victory in this year's All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament."
As he finished speaking,
Ning Fengzhi's smile grew even more confident, exuding authority and commanding respect.
"Oh?"
The emcee paused, surprised,
"Which team is fortunate enough to receive Sect Master Ning's favor?"
Ning Fengzhi shook his head slightly.
"This isn't luck, it's their strength! Their strength is astonishing!"
His words only fueled everyone's curiosity about the team.
Ning Fengzhi had piqued everyone's interest, then smiled mysteriously.
He raised his hand to interrupt the emcee's question.
"I'll stop here."
"As for which academy this team belongs to, I'll keep that a secret for now."
"But I believe the final champion of this competition will definitely belong to the Empire."
Qian Renxue inwardly scoffed.
Ning Fengzhi's flattery was top-notch.
Hearing Ning Fengzhi's words, Emperor Xueye's all-seeing eyes cast a deep glance in Ye Qiu's direction.
What kind of magic did that young man possess?!
Sitting beside Emperor Xueye, the Platinum Bishop Salas, whose eyes had been slightly closed, opened them at this moment.
His eyes looked cloudy and lacked luster.
His gaze fell upon the twenty-eight participating teams in the arena, seemingly searching for the team Ning Fengzhi had mentioned.
At this moment...
The audience was already buzzing with discussion, all speculating about which team Ning Fengzhi favored.
But there were twenty-eight teams participating in the preliminaries.
Only five teams could advance in the end, making it far from easy to guess.
Ning Fengzhi nodded slightly and returned to his seat.
The emcee smiled and said,
"It's a real pity we couldn't get the team Ning Fengzhi favored from him."
"Now, please welcome the Hall Master of the Spirit Temple of Heaven Dou City, the Platinum Bishop Salas of the Spirit Temple, to draw lots for the first round of the preliminaries."
"After the draw, the vice-team of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy will play against their opponents drawn in the first round."
"This will also be the only match today."
Platinum Bishop Salas slowly stood up and, led by a palace maid, walked to the emcee's side.
He began the draw.
He seemed reluctant to speak, leaving each pair of opponents to be announced by the emcee.
"First round of the preliminaries: Canghui Academy vs. Zixing Academy."
"First round of the preliminaries: Auckland Academy vs. Flame Radiance Academy."
"..."
"First round of the preliminaries: Tiandou Royal Academy vs. Lanba Academy."
"..."
Ye Qiu and the others didn't pay much attention to the other academy matchups.
When Ye Qiu heard that his first-round opponent was Tiandou Team Two, he couldn't help but shake his head slightly.
These small things, as expected, hadn't changed much.
"What a coincidence?"
Dugu Yan raised an eyebrow.
She had previously been the captain of Royal Academy and had met some of the members of Team Two.
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Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling weren't the only ones surprised.
The audience was equally astonished.
Other academies might not have received much attention,
but Blue Tyrant Academy was simply too outstanding; how could they not attract attention?
Cheers erupted continuously.
Everyone wanted to see just how strong the high-profile Blue Tyrant Academy team truly was!
The draw concluded.
Salas's gaze swept across the entire arena, his expression serious.
"This draw is absolutely fair; I swear on the honor of the Spirit Hall."
After promising the fairness of the competition, Salas smiled slightly.
"I hereby announce that any student from any of the participating academies present who reaches the final competition will be exceptionally granted direct entry into the Spirit Temple by the Spirit Hall." This statement
didn't elicit much reaction from the audience.
However, the spirit masters in the arena were in an uproar.
What kind of existence was the Spirit Temple?
It was the highest-ranking spirit temple after the Papal Palace and the Douluo Palace.
Only the capitals of the two great empires on the entire continent each had one.
The Papal Palace is exclusively for the Pope.
The Douluo Palace is a symbolic entity.
Therefore, the Spirit Temple is actually the highest-level institution within the Spirit Temple that ordinary people can enter.
For a Soul Master, direct entry into the Spirit Temple is a shortcut to increasing strength.
Not only does it offer the best treatment, but it also provides various training methods and the prestige of the Spirit Temple. This
is extremely attractive to ordinary Soul Masters.
Hearing Salas's blatant declaration of undermining the Empire,
Emperor Xue Ye's face visibly darkened.
Ning Fengzhi, standing beside him, gently shook his head at the emperor through Qian Renxue.
Emperor Xue Ye's expression softened slightly.
Those around them were behind them and naturally couldn't see this small detail.
Qian Renxue, of course, knew, and she was used to it.
Ye Qiu, who had been watching this side with a distraction, also noticed Ning Fengzhi and the others' subtle actions.
Commoners and nobles are inherently two classes fraught with conflict.
The conflict between the Spirit Temple and the Empire has a long history.
Otherwise, Salas wouldn't dare recruit outstanding Soul Masters in front of the Emperor of the Empire.
Salas finished speaking.
The master of ceremonies took the megaphone and immediately announced the upcoming match schedule.
"Alright, the first match of the first round of the preliminary rounds will be between Heaven Dou Royal Academy and Blue Tyrant Academy."
"Please leave the field, all participating academies. The two academies that will be playing later, please prepare."
"The match will officially begin in half an hour."
Members and leaders of the other teams left the field one after another. Ye Qiu led the girls to the Blue Tyrant Academy's rest area.
Ye Qiu asked his team leader, "Erlong, what are your plans?"
"You're the head of the family, you should do it. I'm not good at these things."
Liu Erlong smoothed a strand of hair behind her ear, looking rather gentle and virtuous
. Ye Qiu rolled his eyes at her.
Perhaps the latter part was the main reason.
"Brother, brother, let Xiao Lan fight! Xiao Lan guarantees a beautiful victory!"
Xiao Lan seemed to have caught Xiao Wu's enthusiasm and couldn't wait to show off.
Ye Qiu gently poked her smooth forehead.
"Behave yourself and follow my orders, or I'll lock you in the Divine Might Space."
"Huh? Little Blue understands?"
Little Blue let out a deflated groan, clutching her forehead, and ran to Jiang Zhu's arms for comfort.