"Little Lan, don't try that. You might get free meals and drinks from Rongrong and the others, but it won't work on me."
Ye Qiu rolled his eyes at her, annoyed.
"Pfft, haha, okay, Little Lan, be good. After the competition, we'll go out for a big meal together."
Liu Erlong chuckled, covering her red lips, and gently rubbed Little Lan's head.
"Really? Sister Erlong?"
Little Lan immediately looked up, surprised and delighted at Liu Erlong.
"Of course."
Liu Erlong nodded seriously.
Today is the opening ceremony, and also the first day of the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament. There is only one match.
The first match will be started by the vice-captain of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, a team battle soul fight with a somewhat performative element.
Otherwise, just an opening ceremony would obviously not satisfy the audience's interest.
In addition, this All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament has prize money.
Each victory in the preliminary rounds will reward five hundred gold soul coins.
Entering the advancement rounds will reward an additional three thousand gold soul coins.
If they could reach the finals, the Heavenly Dou Empire would not only grant them the title of Baron, but also reward each participating team member, whether official or substitute, with 1,000 gold soul coins.
The prize money for the final competition would be even more substantial.
Therefore, using this income to give Xiao Lan a little treat wouldn't be a bad idea.
"Xiao Qiu, tell me quickly, are we going to gang up on them or fight them one-on-one!"
Xiao Wu's face was flushed,
like an apple that made you want to take a bite.
"Xiao Wu, what are you talking about? What gang up, what one-on-one?"
Dugu Yan and the others were confused.
"A gang up means we all attack together, and a one-on-one fight means Sister Xiao Wu will fight all seven of them!"
Xiao Wu raised her fist.
No one at Blue Tyrant Academy dared to mess with her; she hadn't had a good time in a long time.
"Haha... I see."
Dugu Yan didn't say anything about being careful.
She knew the strength of the second team. They
were practically a bunch of weaklings, not a single Soul Master among them.
"Alright, the first match will be..."
Ye Qiu said, his gaze sweeping over the girls in turn. Xiao Wu, Xiao Lan, and Bai Chenxiang all had eager eyes.
After a moment's hesitation, Ye Qiu continued, "Let Xiangxiang handle it."
"And what else?"
Xiao Wu looked at Ye Qiu expectantly.
"Ahem... Lingling and Yanyan will stay here with Erlong for this round. The seven of us will go, and Xiangxiang is enough for the action. No need for more, right?"
Ye Qiu smiled at Bai Chenxiang.
"Yes, no problem! I'm sure I can win!"
Bai Chenxiang nodded happily.
This was a golden opportunity for the Swift to appear before the world in its new form.
Ye Qiu pinched Xiao Wu's fair cheek: "Xiao Wu, don't rush. We have over twenty matches in the preliminaries, plenty of opportunities."
Dugu Yan, Ye Lingling, and the others naturally had no objections to Ye Qiu's arrangement.
After all, Liu Erlong was right; he was the head of the family.
...
Not long after
, the staff arrived and led everyone onto the field.
As soon as they reached the exit of the passage, they could hear the master of ceremonies outside loudly announcing the names and martial spirits of each person entering.
Regardless of their strength, the team members from the Heaven Dou Royal Academy already looked quite impressive; their light gold uniforms featured the characters "Heaven Dou" embroidered on the left chest and seven silver stars on the back—
the symbol of the Heaven Dou Empire.
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Each of them was dashing and spirited, appearing to be in their early twenties.
Bathed in the light of their soul tools, even in daylight, they seemed to radiate dazzling brilliance,
like tiny golden suns attracting the audience's attention.
However,
their gazes towards Ye Qiu and the others held a hint of seriousness. They clearly recognized Dugu Yan and Ye Lingling,
knowing that Dugu Yan had long been a Soul Master.
Inside the arena, the prepared arena had been erected in the short span of half an hour.
The arena was ten meters high, circular, and over thirty meters in diameter,
a vast area .
Of course, this was only one arena.
When the preliminary rounds truly began tomorrow, five arenas would be set up simultaneously.
Twenty-eight teams would compete in twenty-seven rounds of preliminary matches. Each team
would face twenty-seven opponents, earning one point for each win and zero points for each loss.
After twenty-eight rounds, the top five teams would advance to the qualifying rounds.
Advancing to the qualifying rounds was equivalent to entering the finals.
This month-long preliminary round is a test for any academy team.
Twenty-eight consecutive days of competition is enough to wear down teams with poor stamina.
The preliminary rounds take up half of the entire Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament.
Ye Qiu remained calm, standing in a row with Dugu Yan and the others in the center of the arena, facing the second team of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
The Heaven Dou Royal Academy's second team had sixteen members.
Soon,
the referee arrived between the two sides.
"Both sides bow, non-participants step down from the arena."
Both sides bowed slightly, and the extra members stepped down, leaving only the seven participants from each side for the first round of the preliminary round. The
Blue Tyrant Academy team had an unusual formation.
Bai Chenxiang was at the very front, with the other six standing a short distance behind her at the edge of the arena.
On the Heaven Dou Royal Academy side, five robust students stood in front, forming a wall that blocked the line of a man and a woman behind them.
The man stood in the middle; without a doubt, he was the control-type Soul Master of this team.
The voluptuous girl stood at the back, clearly a support-type Soul Master.
"The first match of the first round of the preliminary rounds officially begins."
At the referee's signal
, the first preliminary match of this year's All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament officially commenced.
Similar to the Soul Battle,
the tournament gave both sides one minute to activate their Martial Souls.
When both sides simultaneously released their Martial Souls
, and all their Soul Rings were revealed to the audience, gasps of astonishment immediately filled the stands.
On Bai Chenxiang's body, four Soul Rings—two yellow and two purple—flashed brilliantly, though concealed.
Behind her, a golden swift with a pointed tail flapped its wings, its powerful aura pressing down on the opposing team.
The Soul Rings of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's second team were inferior.
Not in terms of quality.
To represent the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, these students all had optimally matched Soul Rings.
After all, with the formidable faculty of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy and the inherent power of the nobles, obtaining the best spirit ring combinations wasn't too difficult.
What was lacking was the number of spirit rings; all seven had three, and each was a Spirit Master.
However, what surprised the audience most wasn't this.
It was the six people behind Bai Chenxiang who remained completely silent, even whispering and chatting amongst themselves.