"The preliminary rounds and the advancement rounds have different formats. The preliminary rounds will use the team battles you're most familiar with. It's a single round-robin format, with the teams that earn the most wins in each preliminary分区 advancing to the next stage. The advancement rounds, however, will be conducted in a special way. Although the participating teams still field seven students, they'll fight one-on-one. The winner stays on the field while the losing side sends up the next fighter, until one side has had all of their members defeated."
"So you could say the preliminary rounds are a showcase of team strength, while the advancement rounds are a stage for individual prowess. The advancement rounds exist so that the high-ranking officials of the two great empires and Spirit Hall can better identify exceptionally talented young Soul Masters among the participants."
"The final tournament will feature a total of thirty-three teams, competing through a brutal knockout bracket determined by drawing lots."
"Great Master, wait a moment." It was Oscar who spoke up this time, a puzzled look on his face. "Great Master, you just said each empire has one seed team and fifteen teams advance through the preliminary and advancement rounds. By my count, that should make thirty-two teams in the finals. Where does the thirty-third come from?"
The Great Master smiled faintly. "I forgot to mention. The seed teams in the finals aren't just two—they're three. The third team is one that Spirit Hall sends directly through. You could say they're the most competitive team of all. Although Spirit Hall isn't an advanced Soul Master academy, they do have their own specialized institutions for training Soul Masters. In the three previous Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournaments, the Xing Luo Empire won the championship once, and the other two times, the champion was a team fielded by Spirit Hall. They will be your strongest competitors in the future. Based on my experience, the Soul Master team sent by Spirit Hall is absolutely more powerful than any Royal fighting squad you've ever seen."
The Shrek Seven Devils exchanged glances, but what shone in their eyes wasn't worry—it was intense curiosity and excitement. After so many Soul Duels, and having become the unprecedented thirty-ranked Gold Soul Duel team, what they craved above all were powerful opponents. Without strong opponents, how could they ever push themselves further?
"The advancement rounds will be held separately in each of the two empires, ranking teams from first to fifteenth. This ranking will prove its worth during the finals. The finals use a knockout format. In each round, several teams will receive byes. In the first round, the three seed teams get byes. The remaining thirty teams pair off, and the fifteen winners advance to the next round. In the second round, including the three seed teams, there are eighteen teams total. At this point, the two teams with the highest advancement-round rankings among the remaining competitors receive byes. The other sixteen teams battle it out, and eight advance to the third round. The third round has only ten teams, and once again the two highest-ranked teams get a bye—though a team that has already had a bye will not receive a second one. After the third round, six teams remain. These are the final top six. From this point on, there are no more byes. In the fourth round, the six teams draw lots and pair off, fighting down to the final top three. To determine the exact ranking among the top three fairly, they must compete in both team battles and individual elimination matches."
"First comes the individual elimination round—same format as the advancement rounds. The three teams compete in a gauntlet style. Each side sends seven members. They take turns entering the field. The loser is eliminated, and the winner faces the next opponent. This continues until all students from the other two academies have been knocked out. The winning academy advances directly. The other two academies then fight a team battle to determine which one gets the second advancement slot, and that team faces the first in a final team battle championship."
After hearing the Great Master's explanation, Ma Hongjun couldn't help but say, "Great Master, this competition sounds incredibly complicated. I'm getting a little dizzy trying to follow it all."
Dai Mubai said with a huff, "What's there to get dizzy about? No matter what the format is, as long as we don't lose a single match, the final championship is ours, isn't it?"
The Great Master gave a slight nod. "Mubai is right. It's important to understand the format, but in the face absolute strength, these details aren't what matter most. During the competition, I'll remind you about the format and analyze the opponents you'll be facing. Now, all of you, get up. In these last few days, what you need to do is run tactical drills. Oh, right—there's something I have to remind you. In the Tian Dou Empire district's preliminary rounds, only three of you seven little monsters can take the field at any given time. Rongrong will definitely not be competing in the preliminary rounds—I'll be giving her special training during this period."
"What? Only three of us?" This time, even Tang San couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
The Great Master kept a straight face. "What? Do you have objections? The four who will definitely be taking the field in the preliminary rounds include Tai Long, Huang Yuan, Jing Ling, and Jiang Zhu. The other three spots, you can decide among yourselves. Except for Rongrong."
Tang San asked tentatively, "Teacher, is this to conserve our strength? But what if we lose?"
The Great Master replied calmly, "What? Don't you even have that much confidence? Your true opponents are in the advancement rounds, in the finals—they will never be in these preliminary rounds. If you reveal your full strength to your opponents at this stage, how much harder will the road ahead become?"
Hearing this, Tang San thought for a moment, exchanged a glance with Dai Mubai, and then nodded. "I understand, Teacher."
The Great Master patted his prized disciple on the shoulder. "I knew you would. Tactical arrangements on the field will be your responsibility. You'll also decide who participates. What I can tell you is this—in the preliminary rounds, the fewer members of the Shrek Seven Devils who show their faces, the better. In the finals, the opponents you'll face will be far more formidable than you can imagine. And your goal is singular. Work hard for that goal."
Over the following days, the Shrek Academy competition team, under the Great Master's guidance, began their tactical drills. The four newly joined members especially spent every day honing their coordination.
Gelling a team of Soul Masters together was never easy, but when the team had an outstanding Control Type Soul Master, everything became much simpler. Tang San was undoubtedly suited for this role, and under his coordination, the four new members gradually grew accustomed to the Shrek Seven Devils' fighting methods. At the same time, Tang San had already decided on the roster for the preliminary rounds. The plan centered on rotating four of the Shrek Seven Devils.
The preliminary rounds weren't especially important, but securing advancement was a must. So among the four rotating members, Tang San included himself, who had to take the field; the strongest in Soul Power, the Evil-Eyed White Tiger Dai Mubai; the Food Type Soul Master, Uncle Big Sausage, Oscar; and the close-range assault specialist, Xiao Wu. Fatty, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong would be held in reserve. Everything was ready.
Three days later. The capital of the Tian Dou Empire—Tian Dou City.
The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament, Tian Dou Empire district opening ceremony, was held in a grand ceremony in Tian Dou City.
As the most prestigious Soul Master competition in the entire Soul Master world, it attracted not only the attention of Soul Masters—every citizen of Tian Dou City, from royalty and nobles to commoners, treated this tournament as the grandest of festivals.
The opening ceremony was held at the Tian Dou Grand Arena. Tickets had been sold out a full month in advance. It was worth noting that the prices for these tickets were the same as admission to the Grand Arena's main dueling center.
As the primary venue for the Tian Dou district, the Grand Arena had stopped hosting all dueling matches a month earlier for internal renovation. All the sub-arenas within the complex were merged with the main dueling center into one.
After the renovations, besides the VIP section preserved along the north side of the venue, the Grand Arena could accommodate eighty thousand spectators at once. While ticket sales brought in a handsome revenue, the Grand Arena itself had spent a considerable amount.
All of the Tian Dou district's preliminary rounds would be held here in the coming period.
Early in the morning, before the sun had even risen in the east, the renovated Grand Arena was already welcoming enormous crowds. The spectators hadn't arrived this early to get good seats—every ticket had a designated seat number. They came so that, on the very first day of this opening ceremony, they could see the young participating Soul Masters up close.
Among them were quite a few lovestruck young women. Just as the Great Master had said, the total number of Soul Masters across the entire continent didn't exceed six figures. Those who represented advanced Soul Master academies in competition were the cream of the crop, and all were under twenty-five years of age. They were naturally the most ideal romantic prospects in any young woman's heart. Marrying a powerful Soul Master would be fame and fortune combined.
Even some nobles who had purchased VIP tickets were gathered outside—nobles had never tired of recruiting Soul Masters.
The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament was itself a cradle of talent. Setting aside those who actually earned impressive results, even the mere participants were hot commodities that nobles and great families scrambled to recruit.
(End of Chapter)