Ma Hongjun had anticipated his own defeat, but when he truly lost, he still felt a sense of regret.
"I lost!" Ma Hongjun whispered, conceding the match.
Seeing his opponent concede, Yang Yi retracted his Soul Breaking Spear and began to regulate his breathing.
Although Yang Yi had emerged victorious just now, he was quite exhausted. Having spent several minutes inside a hell of evil fire, the intense heat had kept Yang Yi drenched in sweat. Furthermore, he had to constantly fend off the Phoenix Evil Fire, which truly consumed a significant amount of his Soul Power and stamina.
As the match ended, the Phoenix Evil Fire on the Arena began to extinguish slowly under Ma Hongjun's control. Leaving behind a patch of scorched earth, he stood up and stepped off the stage.
When Ma Hongjun returned to the backstage area, Huo Wu and Huo Wushuang stepped forward.
Huo Wushuang: "Hongjun, well fought! You didn't embarrass our Blazing Academy."
Huo Wu: "Ma Hongjun, not bad at all!"
"Mm."
Regarding the praise from the big brother and big sister of his team, Ma Hongjun only responded simply; he had lost in the end, after all. If he couldn't even beat Yang Yi, when would he ever be able to defeat Yun Ming?
Looking at Ma Hongjun as he returned to the spectator area, Yun Ming said calmly.
"Well fought."
"Also, the agreement remains valid."
Although Ma Hongjun had lost, being able to recognize the objective gap between himself and Yang Yi and rationally adopting a bombardment tactic—which had caused Yang Yi some trouble—was not bad at all.
Hearing Yun Ming's evaluation, the Phoenix Evil Fire surged in Ma Hongjun's eyes as he spoke.
"I will challenge you again. Next time, I will definitely defeat Yang Yi and make you face me yourself."
Yun Ming said faintly.
"Keep it up."
Then, he said no more.
The competition continued.
Yun Ming glanced at Yang Yi's condition and, seeing that he was unharmed, did not swap him out. Blazing Academy sent out Huo Yun, attempting to replicate Ma Hongjun's tactics: raining fire from the air to take down Yang Yi.
However, his Fire Crane Martial Soul was, after all, not the Evil Fire Phoenix; it could not unleash the highly adhesive Phoenix Evil Fire. His fire could not burn on the stone Arena, and thus could not ignite a sea of flames again, naturally posing no threat to Yang Yi.
After Huo Yun exhausted his Soul Power, he conceded directly.
Afterward, the remaining three members of Blazing Academy were all defeated by Yang Yi, and the Empire Team secured the final victory.
"The task today was completed well, but your Spear Light is not condensed enough; you must continue to work hard," Yun Ming commented to Yang Yi as he returned to the spectator stand.
Yang Yi nodded.
When the people from other academies heard that Yang Yi had defeated six people in a row and was still being told by Yun Ming to 'continue to work hard,' they felt a bit ashamed when reflecting on their own strength and daily training. No wonder they were ranked first! It wasn't without reason.
The first battle of the Empire Team ended perfectly, and the competition continued.
In the subsequent matches, the level of play dropped significantly, but the entertainment value was much higher. After all, evenly matched duels were always better to watch than one-sided stomps.
When the first day of the competition ended, besides Blazing Academy, which had the misfortune of running into the Empire Team, Thunder, Wind God Academy, and Skywater Academy had all won their matches today.
After watching the day's matches, Yun Ming understood the strength of these academies. Aside from the Four Elements Academy, the other academies were quite average, and even the Four Elements Academy was far from being a match for the Empire Team.
"Let's go."
After the matches ended and the others had left their seats, Yun Ming led the Empire team members back to their living quarters. But just as they were leaving the venue, Yun Ming suddenly felt a flash of killing intent from behind him.
Yun Ming stood still and looked back, but apart from the members of the Empire Team following him, he did not discover anything unusual. Oscar asked in confusion.
"Boss, what's wrong?"
The others also looked at Yun Ming with confusion.
"Nothing."
Yun Ming's expression remained unchanged as he responded casually, then turned back to continue moving forward.
After Yun Ming left the training grounds, a black-clad figure appeared beneath the VIP seats. Watching the direction in which Yun Ming had left, the figure whispered.
"What sharp senses."
Then, the figure transformed into a blur and vanished.
Over the next five days, the Promotion Tournament continued, and the Empire Team kept charging ahead with momentum.
During these five days, the Empire Team defeated Beast Academy, Barak Academy, Wind God Academy, Fabia Academy, and Skywater Academy in succession.
There was nothing much to say about the three academies outside of the Four Elements Academy; although they possessed some strange abilities, they were still utterly defeated in the face of absolute strength. The Wind God Academy Team was given a harsh lesson by their former leader, Feng Xiaotian, and caused no trouble, while only Shui Yue'er from Skywater pulled off some bizarre stunts.
After the match between the Empire and Skywater ended, Shui Yue'er once again boldly expressed her love to Yun Ming on behalf of her big sister. It was fortunate that she had approached him in private; otherwise, she might have been disciplined by her big sister.
Today, they still hadn't drawn a bye and had to continue competing. On the way to the central training grounds of the barracks, Oscar teased Yun Ming.
"Boss, your charm is truly powerful! Another beauty is chasing after you!" (The last time was Ya Li)
Yun Ming glanced at him and said faintly.
"Are you envious?"
Oscar instinctively wanted to reply, 'Of course,' but feeling the faint, lingering killing intent beside him, he braked just in time.
"O-of course I'm not envious!"
Although his reaction was a beat slow at first, Oscar immediately scrambled to fix it. After speaking, he turned his head to look at Ning Rongrong beside him, his Peach Blossom Eyes filled with deep affection as he whispered softly.
"Being able to meet Rongrong is the greatest stroke of luck in my life; no other girl could ever compare to her in the slightest."
"Eww!"
Feng Xiaotian, Niu Bi, and Gong Ming all let out jeers.
Ning Rongrong's pretty face flushed slightly as she glared at Oscar, then she quickened her pace toward the academy's spectator area. This was her way of showing that since he reacted quickly this time, she would let him off the hook.
Seeing that he had successfully passed the test, Oscar breathed a sigh of relief. That was close! His quick wits had saved him.
Oscar conceded to Yun Ming.
"Boss, I was wrong! Let's end this here; I didn't see anything yesterday."
Yun Ming replied irritably.
"There was nothing to see in the first place."
Yun Ming didn't quite understand what was going on with Shui Binger, but he felt that Shui Yue'er was most likely just messing around.
Seeing that Oscar had backed down, Yun Ming didn't say anything more and led the group toward the spectator stands.
Upon arriving at the academy's spectator area, Yun Ming and the others immediately spotted their opponents for the day: Thunder Academy.
Seeing the main players arrive, the captain of Thunder Academy, Yu Tianxin, stood up and walked over to the Empire Team. After glancing at Yun Ming, Yang Yi, and the others, he looked at Feng Xiaotian and said.
"Feng Xiaotian, I will be starting today. Do you dare to fight me again?"
Not having beaten Feng Xiaotian during the Preliminary Round had left Yu Tianxin very frustrated. How could a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon lose to a mere Gale Two-Headed Wolf! For this reason, he had specifically sought out his grandfather for a month of hellish special training to learn a Family Secret Technique, all in the hopes of defeating Feng Xiaotian.
Feng Xiaotian narrowed his eyes as he looked at the confident Yu Tianxin. Having seen his combat power before, he was curious about what trump card Yu Tianxin had that made him so confident.
"Sure! Why wouldn't I dare? It wasn't me who lost last time," Feng Xiaotian said calmly.
"Fine, see you on the stage later."
Having received his answer, Yu Tianxin replied curtly before turning around to return to his seat.
Seeing him leave, Feng Xiaotian turned to Yun Ming, Yang Yi, and the others.
"You guys saw the situation; how about I go first later?"
Yun Ming and the others had no objections. But no sooner had they sent off Yu Tianxin than they saw another handsome man walk out from the Thunder Academy group, approach them, and challenge Yun Ming.
"Captain Yun, I've heard much about you. Do you dare to step onto the stage later and fight me?"
ps: Seeking monthly tickets and recommendations.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: DaoistReader