Chapter 230: News from Shui Bing'er
There was still 1 month before the qualifying rounds began. Everyone could take a short break to ease the fatigue from the preliminaries, but no one could truly relax. The opponents in the next stage would only get stronger.
The so called qualifying tournament worked like this: 5 teams advanced from the Heaven Dou Empire, and 2 teams each advanced from the 4 kingdoms and 1 duchy under the Heaven Dou Empire, for a total of 15 teams.
The qualifying rounds would not eliminate any teams. Their purpose was to determine the rankings among those 15 teams, which would then become the foundation for the grand finals.
The finals would feature 33 teams in total. Each round would use a draw to decide matchups, and the losers would be eliminated. At that point, the rankings earned in the qualifying rounds would become extremely important.
Because the finals included byes, the 3 seeded teams that were guaranteed to skip the first round, the Heaven Dou Empire, the Star Luo Empire, and Spirit Hall, would all receive byes. In the second round, the teams that ranked 1st in the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire during their own qualifying rounds would receive byes. In the third round, the teams that ranked 2nd in their respective countries' qualifying rounds would receive byes.
In other words, if you finished in the top 2 of the qualifying rounds, you would play 1 fewer round in the finals, making the road far easier.
To achieve that advantage, every qualified team trained hard, doing targeted preparations and pushing their strength as high as possible.
Yu Tianlin did not know what the other teams were doing, but Thunder Academy was especially lively.
As he grew more familiar with his teammates, and as his own strength rose sharply, Yu Tianlin's original idea of defeating 7 opponents alone in the qualifying rounds gradually faded. After all, looking around, aside from him, there was not a single person above level 45 in the entire qualifying tournament, and there were even quite a few Spirit Ancestors. Even if he really defeated 7 people, it would not give him much satisfaction.
So Yu Tianlin made a deal with his teammates. Out of the 7 members who would take the field in the qualifying rounds, he would be the last one to step in. If the first 6 could defeat all opponents, he would not fight. But if all 6 of his teammates lost, he would be responsible for cleaning up the mess.
After all, most of my teammates will choose to join the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan after graduation, so they're considered one of us. It's good to give them a chance to show themselves.
Since Yu Tianlin had said this, his teammates had no excuse to slack off. Under the supervision of Lei Bao and the other instructors of Thunder Academy, they began to train diligently, improving themselves one by one.
As for Yu Tianlin, with his current strength, Lei Bao and the others could no longer offer him much guidance. After realizing that, Yu Yuanzhen decided to personally become Yu Tianlin's sparring partner, and at the same time teach him more advanced methods of using the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Martial Soul.
After absorbing the Spirit Ring of the 65,000 year Thunderous Sacred Kite, Yu Tianlin's Spirit Power directly jumped by 5 levels, reaching level 55. It was absurdly fast. With his current physical qualities, dragon transformation, and Spirit Ring configuration, he was fully capable of unleashing Spirit Saint level combat power.
It could be said that the only real difference between Yu Tianlin and a Spirit Saint was his Spirit Power cultivation. His level was still too low, so his endurance was not enough. However, he could maintain Spirit Saint level combat power until his Spirit Power ran dry. Even some Spirit Saints with poor Spirit Ring configurations and low Martial Soul quality might not be his match.
That was already more than enough. At the very least, Yu Yuanzhen, who sparred with him in real combat every day, always wore a satisfied look.
After blocking Yu Tianlin's dragon claw again, Yu Yuanzhen smiled and nodded. "Alright, Tianlin, that's enough for today. You did well."
"Your qualities are outstanding across the board. The only thing limiting you is Spirit Power cultivation. But cultivation can't be rushed. Your current speed is already fast enough."
"Grandpa." Yu Tianlin froze when he saw the training stop halfway. "Why stop so suddenly? I could've continued."
Every day, Yu Tianlin would fight Yu Yuanzhen until his Spirit Power was exhausted. Only then would he return to meditate and cultivate, and the effect would be slightly better. Little by little, his cultivation speed would improve. But today, Yu Tianlin still had more than half his Spirit Power left. He could clearly keep going, yet Yu Yuanzhen told him to stop.
"Because someone came looking for you." Yu Yuanzhen smiled and glanced in a certain direction. "That girl from Skywater Academy."
"Shui Bing'er?" Yu Tianlin frowned slightly. Logically speaking, training at Skywater Academy should not be easy either. Why would she suddenly come to find him?
There had to be something important.
"Grandpa, I'll go out and take a look." Even if he did not know why Shui Bing'er came, since she came for him, Yu Tianlin naturally had to meet her.
"Go on, go on." Yu Yuanzhen waved his hand.
After receiving permission, Yu Tianlin left the training area Thunder Academy had specially prepared for him and hurried outside.
Watching Yu Tianlin's departing back, Yu Yuanzhen seemed to recall something, and his brows twitched slightly.
"I heard Tianheng say last time that one of his teammates also has a crush on Tianlin."
"An Ice Phoenix and a Nine Heart Begonia are both top tier Martial Souls, but this situation looks a bit complicated…"
"Well, everyone has been young before. I just hope Tianlin knows his limits and doesn't let these feelings affect his cultivation."
Yu Yuanzhen shook his head and stopped worrying about Yu Tianlin's love life.
The cultivation area Thunder Academy arranged for Yu Tianlin was quite remote, with only 1 road leading out. Yu Tianlin followed that road straight ahead. After walking a considerable distance, he finally saw Shui Bing'er. After all, with Yu Yuanzhen's terrifying senses, when he noticed Shui Bing'er approaching, she was still very far away.
"Bing'er." The moment he saw her, Yu Tianlin's eyes brightened, and he jogged over. "Your training can't be easy either. Why do you suddenly have time to come here?"
Today, Shui Bing'er was not wearing Skywater Academy's uniform. Instead, she wore a simple white dress. Her long, light blue hair flowed down her back, giving her a hazy, ethereal beauty.
Thinking about it, aside from their first meeting, Shui Bing'er had visited Thunder Academy many times, but Yu Tianlin was never around. This was only their second time meeting here.
When she saw Yu Tianlin, Shui Bing'er smiled gently. "There's something I need to tell you."
Walking side by side along the tree lined path, Yu Tianlin listened.
"A couple of days ago, Huo Wu suddenly came to see us," Shui Bing'er said softly. "She wants to form an alliance with our Skywater Academy."
The moment he heard that, Yu Tianlin turned his head at once, because he already had a rough idea of what this was about.
.....
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