At this moment, Master returned, his expression somewhat grim.
Liu Erlong approached and asked, "Didn't go well?"
"Mm, she's changed a lot." Master looked worriedly at Tang San and sighed, "Perhaps I shouldn't have let you participate in this competition. That way, the Martial Soul Hall wouldn't have noticed."
Tang San replied, "One must face challenges in life."
Master nodded, "Yes, focus completely on the competition. It won't be dangerous during the tournament. The finals are short, lasting ten days, with a total of five rounds. In the first round, three seed teams don't participate; thirty teams compete, fifteen versus fifteen. Then there's a rest day before the second round. In the second round, the three seed teams will participate, but the top team from the qualifying match of the Two Great Empires doesn't compete, so we have a bye into the top ten. In the second round, there will be sixteen teams, eight versus eight, and by the end of the second round, there will be ten teams left."
"In the third round, the second team from the qualifying match gets a bye, resulting in four versus four, leaving six teams remaining."
"Having a bye is beneficial; the earlier the bye, the sooner you avoid elimination."
"There are no byes in the fourth round; it will determine the top three teams."
"The fifth and final round will be held at the Pope Hall. The three teams will, according to the qualifying match format, send seven members each for a personal continuous battle to determine the team with the strongest individual strength. Then the two losing teams will compete in a team battle, with the winning team facing the winning individual battle team in a team battle to decide the champion. Understood?"
Master explained in great detail, and Ye Yu and the others nodded.
Flande then happily ran over, saying, "I have good news for you. Your opponent in the first round is Blazing Fire Academy, but they've forfeited."
Upon hearing this, Ma Hongjun laughed, "Seems they're afraid of us and just surrendered."
Flande shook his head, "That's not it. The strongest few from Blazing Fire teamed up with the strongest from Divine Wind to enter the Divine Wind Team, significantly boosting their overall strength. Although the rules prohibit two teams from merging, they found a loophole, transferring to Divine Wind Academy as students there. While this might not be proper, the Martial Soul Hall has granted them leniency because they likely promised to join the Martial Soul Hall after the competition."
Ma Hongjun fumed, "Hmph, this must be Huo Wu's idea. I may like women, but Huo Wu is someone I can't stand. She plots just to win."
Dai Mubai scoffed, "No matter how they join forces, they're destined to lose."
Oscar sighed lightly, "We're lucky, we don't have to participate in the first or second round, and we can rest for four days."
Master said, "When the competition starts, go and watch. After all, we aren't familiar with the strong teams from the Xingluo Empire, and Xiao Yu can do as he pleases."
Ye Yu nodded, "Okay."
The next day, the first round of the competition began.
All the teams gathered on the hill. Among many peaks, one located beneath the Pope Hall and the Martial Soul Hall had a large arena, which was the competition venue.
The rest area was established around the venue, along with a VIP platform where people from the Two Great Empires and the Martial Soul Hall watched the competition.
Although commoners and nobles couldn't buy tickets to watch, there were still quite a number of spectators, over a thousand, all of whom held status within the Two Great Empires.
The first round quickly commenced, with Tang San and the others watching from the stands to understand the other teams, while Ye Yu relaxed in the lounge with tea.
Knock, knock, knock...
A knock on the door echoed, and Ye Yu said, "Come in."
The door opened, and Ye Yu saw it was Xue Qinghe.
Xue Qinghe eagerly said, "Brother Yu, I'm sure you all can reach the final round, and by then, the competition will surely be the most thrilling. I'm looking forward to your performance."
Ye Yu said, "Let's see if the seed teams are formidable, I might be too lazy to show up."
Xue Qinghe: "..."
Xue Qinghe reminded, "From what I've heard, the Martial Soul Hall teams have combat power not inferior to a Soul Saint, so it should be worth your effort."
At this, Ye Yu feigned surprise, "Oh? Are they that strong? I'm quite looking forward to it then."
"Mm, I'm also looking forward to your clash. I'll head off, feel free to reach out if you need anything."
"Alright."
As Xue Qinghe left, Ye Yu mused, "You're so eager to see my true strength. You might not see it during the competition, but you might after it's over."
Ye Yu's eyes flickered with a chilly light as he was eager to stir up trouble in the Martial Soul Hall.
Soon, five days passed, and with the end of the first and second rounds, the third round of competition was next, with Shrek Team set to participate.
Tang San and the others had learned that their opponent for the third round was the Xingluo Empire's seed team.
For other teams, facing them might seem like bad luck, but Tang San and the others were quite confident.
When they knew their opponent was the Xingluo Team, Ma Hongjun noticed Dai Mubai seemed melancholy. At the same time, Zhu Zhuqing was also uneasy.
Tang San asked, "Mubai, Zhuqing, what's wrong with you?"
Zhu Zhuqing said resolutely, "We must win; this is our chance."
"Hm?"
Zhu Zhuqing explained, "It's like this, both Dai Mubai and I are from the Xingluo Empire, and in the Xingluo Team, there are two individuals who are my sister and Dai Mubai's brother. We were born into nobility, and there's this rule that our families must form an alliance through marriage. My sister and Dai Mubai's brother are already together. They are the firstborns of our families, and we're not. Only the firstborn can inherit the family. If we want to, we must defeat them. It's a faint hope, but I came to the Tian Dou Empire to train and elevate myself. And Dai Mubai has even less hope; his brother is six years older, which might be why he previously indulged in debauchery, having already given up."
Tang San and the others hadn't expected such familial matters.
Zhu Zhuqing's delicate brow furrowed, "I oppose such arranged marriages and ran away. But now, the opportunity has come. Defeating them means a chance to become an heir."
Xiao Wu asked, "Is power that important?"
"You don't know, but there's another rule: only heirs can survive, inheriting at twenty-five. Otherwise, at twenty-five, both Dai Mubai and I would die, wiped out by our families."
Xiao Wu was shocked, "There are families like that? That would murder their own children."
Tang San and the others also felt such families were too extreme.
Zhu Zhuqing said, "They do this to prevent internal family strife and encourage mutual competition, so losers can't survive."
At this point, Ye Yu curiously asked, "What if both families had only male or female offspring?"
"Well... they're still together..."
Suddenly, Tang San and the others were stunned. Such families were excessively extreme. This time they were lucky that their offspring were of different genders, but if both families had only males or only females, they still had to be together? Too extreme.
Ye Yu said, "What nonsense of a rule, Zhuqing, you don't have to worry. When there's time, take me to your family, and I'll make them change it. If they refuse, I'll beat them until they do."
Though their families were strong, if Ye Yu helped, there was hope.
Zhu Zhuqing gratefully nodded, "Okay, Brother Yu."