At Shrek Academy, Sea God Island, Sea God Pavilion hall, all the elders, except for Yan Shaozhe who was in secluded cultivation and Xuan Zi who was injured, gathered to discuss the sudden incident and the Holy Spirit Church that had suddenly appeared.
"...That's how it happened!" Old Lin recounted the events in detail to the others, and everyone fell into silence upon hearing him.
After a long while, Cai Meier finally spoke, "An organization with two Limit Douluo and more than a dozen Titled Douluo! How is that possible? Why have we never heard of this Holy Spirit Church before?"
"When the Body Sect didn't cause that beast tide, how many people in the world knew about the Body Sect?" Xian Lin'er said, her expression grave, but her focus wasn't on the Holy Spirit Church. "Old Lin, was Old Xuan's injury really caused by an eighth-grade spirit tool cannonball?"
"Yes!" Old Lin nodded and replied.
"This..." The other elders couldn't help but show expressions of horror. A spirit tool that could injure a Super Douluo was simply too sensational. Every single person present was a battle-hardened, experienced Titled Douluo-level powerhouse. They had never imagined that the spirit tools they had dismissed could possess such power.
"Hehe, surprised, aren't you!" Old Mu finally spoke. He said, "We have been isolated for too long; it's time to make changes. Not long ago, I personally visited the Sun Moon Empire once, and I saw many things that shocked me. The Sun Moon Empire's spirit tool technology has already exceeded our imagination.
I even saw a super-large spirit tool that required multiple people to operate, and that thing was enough to threaten my life, and even change a war. If we continue to wallow in past glory and don't make changes, then Shrek Academy will not be far from its demise."
Everyone's faces changed from horror to fear. A spirit tool capable of threatening the life of a Limit Douluo—if they encountered it, wouldn't it be a dead end? The elders had already realized Old Mu's thoughts, but they no longer had any intention of stopping him.
People are like this; only when their own interests are at stake will they back down.
Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo looked at Mu En with pleasant surprise and anticipation.
Mu En slowly opened his mouth and said, "Xuan Zi's injury this time has given us the biggest wake-up call, so I announce that within the next five to ten years, we will fully support the development of the Soul Tool Department. Even if we cannot catch up with the Sun Moon Empire, we must narrow the gap with them!"
"Yes!" Xian Lin'er and Qian Duoduo were incredibly excited and were the first to agree. The other elders also nodded, all recognizing the necessity of developing technology.
After the first matter was decided, Cai Meier asked, "Teacher, what about the Holy Spirit Church?"
Hearing Cai Meier's question, the elders remembered that there was still the Holy Spirit Church, a terrifying organization whose top combat power was not inferior to, and even stronger than, Shrek Academy!
This suddenly appearing Evil Soul Master organization cast a shadow over the hearts of the elders. Although the previous appearance of the Body Sect had also caused some trouble for Shrek Academy, there was no fundamental conflict of interest between Shrek Academy and the Body Sect. However, this Holy Spirit Church was different. Even without formal contact, all the elders knew that this Holy Spirit Church was coming for Shrek Academy!
"The Holy Spirit Church, no need to worry!" A peculiar look flashed across Mu En's face as he said, "First, I am still alive! Second, Ziyang is about to grow up, and you must believe in him!"
Hearing Mu En's words, the gloom in everyone's hearts finally dissipated, and they said, "Understood!"
"Old Mu, what about the Soul Master Competition? Do we need to select another student from the Inner Courtyard to go with Gongyang Mo and Ling Luochen to support Ziyang and Xiaotao?" Xian Lin'er inquired.
"No need." Mu En heard this and decisively said, "We must believe in Ziyang and also give him a chance to train!"
"Alright!" Xian Lin'er nodded and said no more.
"Old Zhuang, I'll leave the injuries of those three children to you." Mu En then said to Old Zhuang beside him.
"Leave it to me!" Old Zhuang heard this and immediately agreed with a smile.
The meeting ended, and the elders left. Mu En lay in his rocking chair, a nostalgic look flashing across his face as he murmured, "Xishui, is that you...?"
—
Star Luo City.
Zhu Ziyang and his group finally arrived in Star Luo City the day before the competition began.
They went directly to the hotel responsible for accommodating participating teams, a luxurious hotel located next to Star Luo Plaza, the competition venue: the Star Emperor Hotel.
As the reigning champions and the continent's number one Spirit Master Academy, Shrek Academy's participating members were arranged in luxurious rooms on the top floor. Not only did each person have a bedroom, but there was also a dedicated conference room for their use.
At this moment, all ten team members, plus the accompanying Teacher Wang Yan, were sitting in the conference room, holding a pre-competition motivational meeting. They had arrived at the hotel in the morning and, without time to rest, were immediately summoned by Wang Yan for the meeting.
In the conference room, Wang Yan sat at the head, with Ma Xiaotao, whose face was grim, on his left. Due to the hurried journey, she hadn't rested well, and her injuries showed signs of worsening. What would have originally taken two or three days to recover would now require about five days. Next to Ma Xiaotao were Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan. Opposite the three were, of course, the members of the preliminary team, led by Bei Bei.
"Teacher Wang, today is the last day for registration, what should we do? Will Senior Dai Yueheng and Old Lin's group make it in time?" Bei Bei's face was a bit grim, and his tone carried worry as he spoke. Shrek Academy's honor was simply too heavy, something that their seven preliminary team members, whose highest strength was merely Spirit Ancestor, could not possibly bear.
"Register as normal!" Wang Yan's expression was calm as he waved his hand and said, "I have already received news from the Academy. Gongyang Mo and Ling Luochen are recovering well, and will be able to join us at the latest by the start of the second stage. As for Dai Yueheng, sigh, let's not talk about him."
"But doesn't registration require the person to be present?" Tang Ya asked, with doubts in her heart.
"Xiaoya, we are Shrek Academy, we have special privileges!" Jiang Nannan answered Tang Ya's question, her face full of pride as she said, "Because Shrek Academy is the champion every time, we have the privilege of adding substitute members during the competition!"
"Substitute members during the competition!" The preliminary team members were surprised to hear this, as this rule was clearly unfair to other participating academies. Didn't they object?
"That's right!" Ma Xiaotao said, "However, there's only one chance, and only three members can be added, otherwise it would be too unfair to the other participating students."
"Alright, we'll register as usual this afternoon." Wang Yan said, "Next, I'll explain the rules of this competition to you. There are a total of 133 academies participating in this competition, which is divided into three stages.
The first stage is the preliminary round, also called the qualifiers, which adopts a seven-on-seven team battle format. Opponents are drawn by lot, and winners advance to the second stage of the main competition, while losers are directly eliminated! There is only one match in the preliminary round. In this match, your preliminary team needs at least four people to participate, so be mentally prepared.
The main competition in the second stage uses a round-robin points system, and the competition format is randomly drawn from single elimination, two-on-two cooperative combat, and seven-on-seven team battles. Specific rules will be discussed later. The third stage is the finals, which will also be discussed later.
Tomorrow is the opening day of the competition, and as the champions of the previous session, our first battle will be the opening match. I hope you can rest well tonight and meet tomorrow's competition in your best condition!"
"Rest well tonight? Ha!" Tang Ya couldn't help but smile bitterly, "Teacher Wang, you say it so lightly, but with so much pressure, how can we possibly sleep well?"
Wang Yan's words put immense pressure on the preliminary team members. Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao were fine, as Wang Yan had said at least four people, and it was unlikely they would be chosen, with Wang Dong being the most probable. The most pressured, without a doubt, were the four of Bei Bei; no matter what, those four were definitely going to participate.
"Xiaoya, show some fighting spirit, alright? Brother and I are here, what are you afraid of?" Jiang Nannan looked at Tang Ya's expression and encouraged her with a smile.
"Oh right, how could I forget that you two will also be on stage!" Tang Ya immediately cheered up upon hearing this and said, "That's great, the three of us can fight side by side again! Let's recreate the glory of the Freshman Competition champion team!"
"Sister Xiaoya, the three of us were the champions of the Freshman Competition!" Wang Dong retorted with a mischievous look.
"Go, go, go, I was talking about our year!" Tang Ya scolded with a laugh.
After these two made a fuss, the pressure in the conference room significantly decreased.
At this moment, in another conference room on the same floor as Shrek Academy, was the team from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, who had been the perennial runner-up for a thousand years. They were also holding a pre-competition meeting.
However, compared to Shrek Academy's'small number of people,' the Sun Moon Academy's team was very complete. Two accompanying teachers sat at the head, and fourteen students sat on either side. The atmosphere in the conference room was quite solemn.
The accompanying teacher from Sun Moon Academy spoke with a grave expression, "According to our observations, Shrek Academy only sent ten people this time, and among them, only one is around twenty years old. The others are all younger.
We activated our people embedded within the Star Luo Empire and have received accurate news: their roster only has one nineteen-year-old, and all the others are under fifteen.
This means that Shrek Academy did not send seven main team members to participate this time. Of the seven members from the previous competition's reserve team, only one came; the other nine are all new faces!
Do you know what this means?"
The students of Sun Moon Academy had not yet reacted when their other accompanying teacher, who was also the main person in charge of this team, Old Ma, slammed the table in a fit of rage and roared, "It means contempt, contempt for our Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy! They are openly mocking us, thinking that by sending only a reserve team, they can defeat us.
This is a slap in the face, do you understand? This is the most direct slap in the face. According to the competition rules, registration closes today. They are going to contend with us with such a lineup! Ma Rulong."
Old Ma called out his grandson's name, and Ma Rulong, the captain of Sun Moon Academy's main team, immediately stood up and loudly replied, "Here!"
"In this competition, if you lose to such a Shrek Academy lineup, you, as captain, can get out of Mingde Hall."
"Yes!" Ma Rulong's voice was crisp and clear, yet filled with killing intent.
"Old Ma, don't be so anxious! I don't think things are that simple." Sitting opposite Ma Rulong, the captain of the reserve team, a handsome young man under fifteen, possessed a pair of extremely fair and slender hands, with a jade-like luster that even girls would find hard to match. His name was Xiao Hongchen, the greatest genius in the history of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
Old Ma frowned slightly and looked at him, asking, "What do you mean, 'not that simple'?"
Xiao Hongchen looked at his fingers as if they were rare treasures, and casually said, "Shrek Academy isn't stupid. Don't they know that relying on only one main team member definitely won't be a match for us? I have a lot of confidence in Big Brother Rulong. I think they might have encountered an accident. Doesn't Shrek Academy always take us seriously? Would they be so careless?"
Old Ma's old face flushed slightly at his words. Of course, he knew that this was the most likely explanation, and his previous words were just to motivate the students.
"That would certainly be for the best. Xiao Hongchen, you'd best focus your energy on those Shrek Academy students under fifteen. In the next competition, they will be your opponents."
Xiao Hongchen finally looked up and smiled, a smile that gave people a sense of peerless beauty. "Old Ma, my only opponent is myself."
Ma Rulong's face opposite him darkened. "Xiao Hongchen, behave yourself."
Xiao Hongchen smiled brightly, "Big Brother Ma, I am very well-behaved! You all must work hard. Don't lose to such a Shrek team. Tsk, tsk, tsk, what a pity! The chance for the Sun Moon Empire's first victory over Shrek Academy is actually going to fall into your hands! What a pity, truly a pity!"
"You..." Killing intent immediately flashed in Ma Rulong's eyes.
Old Ma, however, glared at him and sternly ordered, "Sit down. Alright, I'll now arrange the lineup for the first round."
Although Xiao Hongchen was only the captain of the reserve team, his grandfather was the head of Mingde Hall, holding a very high position in the Sun Moon Empire. Therefore, Old Ma, Ma Rulong, and the other accompanying teacher were all somewhat wary of him.
And while Xiao Hongchen always maintained a slight smile on his face, the inherent arrogance that made him feel superior was something he could never quite conceal deep in his eyes.