"Yufeng, Oslo, how are your preparations coming along?" Xiao Ze asked with a smile.
"Boss, don't worry. We will definitely win this first match," Yufeng said seriously.
"Good, good. Play well. You shouldn't encounter a very strong opponent in your first match."
When the horn blast echoed throughout the entire Tian Dou Great Spirit Arena, the eyes of tens of thousands of spectators instantly focused on the entrance passage.
"First to enter is the veteran powerhouse team from the Heaven Dou Empire, the Tian Dou Royal Academy team!"
As the host shouted, brilliant golden light suddenly illuminated the passage.
More than a dozen figures stepped into the arena with neat paces, their white, gold-trimmed team uniforms shimmering, and the hot-stamped Heaven Dou royal crown emblem on their left chests.
The person leading them was naturally Xiao Ze, his steps steady.
However, even though it was his second time at the Tian Dou Great Spirit Arena, he was still awestruck by the scene before him.
Around the massive plaza, all the spectators were cheering.
Their cheers were deafening; this was the roar of tens of thousands of people, incredibly impactful.
At the very front of the venue was a golden main platform, and behind it was the VIP area.
The entering academies lined up in neat formations in the center of the venue, one by one.
The last to enter was Blue Tyrant Academy.
Although the Blue Tyrant Academy team was not strong, that was only when compared to Tian Dou Royal Academy and the other Five Elemental Academies.
Compared to academies from other kingdoms, they were still on par.
After all, Blue Tyrant Academy recruited commoners, and these commoners generally had average talent, so achieving this was already quite good.
At least, Xiao Ze saw that all the students from Blue Tyrant Academy today were Spirit Elders. The last four likely only recently advanced to Spirit Elder, but that was still good.
"Next, please welcome His Majesty, the Emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, to announce the opening of this competition."
In the central seat of the front row of the VIP section, Emperor Xue Ye, dressed in a crimson-gold robe, slowly rose.
"I, Xue Ye, Emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, on behalf of the Heaven Dou Empire, declare the opening of this Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament!"
Following that was School Master Ning's speech.
Finally, Platinum Bishop Salas slowly rose and began drawing lots.
"Preliminary match: Canghui Academy versus Zixing Academy."
"Preliminary match: Oakland Academy versus Flame Radiance Academy."
"…"
"First round of preliminaries: Tian Dou Royal Academy versus Blue Tyrant Academy."
Platinum Bishop Salas's gaze constantly swept over Xiao Ze.
Supreme Pontiff had told him to pay attention to Xiao Ze.
However, he was not to do anything to Xiao Ze.
The captain of Tian Dou Royal Academy, huh? It seems the Supreme Pontiff must know some secret about him.
After all, Xiao Ze's reputation in Heaven Dou City might not even be as high as Yu Tianheng's.
Because Xiao Ze appeared in public less often.
Only a very small number of people knew him.
Even he, the Platinum Bishop, didn't know there was a Xiao Ze before the exchange competition.
It shows that this Xiao Ze was truly very low-key.
"Next, the first match of the first round of the preliminaries will take place: Tian Dou Royal Academy's vice-team versus Blue Tyrant Academy.
The match will officially begin in half an hour."
Xiao Ze and the others retreated to the rest area.
"Xiao Ze, your old flame's academy is about to start their match. Aren't you going over to celebrate?" Ning Rongrong teased.
Xiao Ze's mouth twitched: "What old flame? Liu Erlong and I have no relationship whatsoever."
"I didn't even say who it was, and you already knew it was Liu Erlong. And you say you have no relationship?"
Xiao Ze's breathing hitched. He reached out and playfully tugged Ning Rongrong's cheek: "That's what you get for talking nonsense."
"Mmph..." Ning Rongrong had no ill intent; she was simply teasing.
To be honest, Ning Rongrong quite wanted to see Xiao Ze conquer this 'tyrannosaurus' Liu Erlong.
It would definitely be very interesting.
After all, Liu Erlong used to like Yu Xiaogang. If Xiao Ze were to conquer Liu Erlong, wouldn't that infuriate Yu Xiaogang? It sounded quite satisfying.
"Seriously, you can go take a look. You might have an unexpected gain," Ning Rongrong said solemnly.
Xiao Ze looked at her suspiciously, trying to discern a different meaning from her tone and words, but he didn't hear anything out of the ordinary.
"Don't look at me like that. I'm not a jealous person. Even if you conquer Liu Erlong, I wouldn't be unhappy. This way, it can even infuriate Yu Xiaogang. How great is that?" Ning Rongrong said.
"Uh... we'll see, we'll see."
"Coward," Ning Rongrong scoffed.
Soon, both Tian Dou Royal Academy's vice-team and Blue Tyrant Academy arrived on the field.
Everyone was shocked to see that Yufeng and Oslo were both Spirit Ancestors.
One must know that this wasn't Tian Dou Royal Academy's main team, but the vice-team.
The vice-team actually had two Spirit Ancestors, so wouldn't the main team all be Spirit Ancestors?
Hiss...
Many people gasped, realizing that this year's Tian Dou Royal Academy was terrifyingly strong.
"School Master Ning, Bishop Salas, look how strong our Tian Dou Royal Academy is this year!" Xue Ye said with a smile.
"Your Majesty, this year's Tian Dou Royal Academy is indeed very strong. I heard the main team already has Spirit Kings. I think they might even have a chance at the championship," School Master Ning, of course, knew the levels of Xiao Ze and the others.
He just said it to make Xue Ye happy.
"Hahaha... we can't look that far ahead. We still need to take it one step at a time." Although he said this, the smile on Xue Ye's face was unstoppable.
In his opinion, this time, apart from the Wuhun Academy team, no other team could stop Tian Dou Royal Academy.
At the very least, they would be a runner-up.
The championship was also a possibility. Their Heaven Dou Empire hadn't won a championship in a long time, and if they could win one, that would be fantastic.
In the rest area, Thunder Academy.
Yu Xiaogang and Flender exchanged glances.
The two of them had expended a great deal of effort to prevent Yu Luomian from finding evidence, but for the entire year that followed, they had both been much quieter.
It wasn't until Yu Luomian left and a new dean arrived that Yu Xiaogang finally gave up hope.
Yu Luomian truly had no intention of letting him become the dean of Thunder Academy.
However, their actions in killing the previous dean were not without benefits.
At least during that year, Shrek Academy's resources were not reduced, which was a blessing in disguise.
"Xiaogang, Tian Dou Royal Academy is too strong. Even the second team has two Spirit Ancestors. Can our Thunder Academy really make it to the finals?" Flender asked.
"Tian Dou Royal Academy is indeed strong. The vice-team might be manageable, we might be able to beat them, but the main team is truly unbeatable.
But fortunately, the main team doesn't need to participate in the preliminaries; they directly enter the finals." Yu Xiaogang breathed a sigh of relief.
"That's true."
There were a total of 33 spots for the finals.
Three directly advanced, and the remaining thirty spots needed to be contested by Heaven Dou and Star Luo, with fifteen spots each.
With fifteen spots, Thunder Academy couldn't possibly fail to secure one.
Thunder Academy was also among the top five academies in terms of ranking.
(End of Chapter)
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