The second day of the competition was even more intense. In the first five matches alone, several people were seriously injured, and two died, a tragic sight. It was foreseeable that the subsequent matches would only be more brutal and exciting.
The sixth match: Tang Sect team versus Earth Dragon Gate team.
Listening to the referee announce the next match's participants, Zhu Ziyang in the lounge area showed a rare serious expression. Leaving aside the Tang Sect for now, this Earth Dragon Gate also greatly interested Zhu Ziyang.
The Earth Dragon Gate, from Longcheng, the main city of Zhenbei Province in the Tianhun Empire, is an old Sect. Speaking of which, it has quite a connection with Zhu Ziyang. Zhu Ziyang's maternal grandfather came from the Earth Dragon Gate, and there are still many members within the Earth Dragon Gate who are blood relatives of Zhu Ziyang's mother, Liang Ying. However, these are trivial matters not worth mentioning. After all, Liang Ying never mentioned anything about the Earth Dragon Gate to Zhu Ziyang, and his maternal grandfather passed away long ago. The old generation's past seems to have been forgotten.
Tang Sect against Earth Dragon Gate—barring any surprises, Tang Sect would surely win. Not to mention anyone else, Bei Bei alone would be enough. The superior suppression of a true dragon over a sub-dragon isn't just for show.
The match began, and as Zhu Ziyang expected, the first player fielded by the Tang Sect was indeed their captain and Grandmaster, Bei Bei. As the person with the highest cultivation in the Tang Sect currently, the purpose of him entering first was not hard to guess.
As the Tang Sect's first battle back on the continental stage, it was naturally better to win as beautifully as possible, ideally achieving the feat of one-versus-seven. Only then could the world recall this once-greatest Sect on the continent, which had long been forgotten.
In fact, Bei Bei's appearance did achieve this effect. Seven spirit rings—two yellow, two purple, and three black—flashed, signifying his strength as a Spirit Saint. Pure white dragon scales covered his body, displaying his Light Holy Dragon Spirit.
A seven-ring Spirit Saint! Everyone was shocked. No one had imagined that an unknown Tang Sect, or rather, a Tang Sect that had been in decline for thousands of years, would now be so astonishing, possessing a Spirit Saint, and a Spirit Saint at only twenty years old. Just this alone made everyone realize that the Tang Sect was truly about to rise.
It was also the Tang Sect's good fortune that Bei Bei happened to break through to the Spirit Saint realm half a month before the competition began. After absorbing a fifty-thousand-year Golden Earth Dragon spirit ring, the Light Holy Dragon power left in his body by Mu En was completely absorbed by him, causing his cultivation to leap to level 75, and his Spirit also evolved into the Light Holy Dragon, truly integrating Mu En's legacy.
As the first Spirit Saint in this competition, Bei Bei received far more attention than Meng Hongchen yesterday. Almost simultaneously, all teams aspiring to achieve good results began to inquire about the Tang Sect. Even Xu Tianran, on the main stage, couldn't help but secretly lower his eyes, ordering his subordinates to investigate the Tang Sect's background.
However, compared to the external commotion and surprise, the reaction of the Earth Dragon Gate members, as opponents, was much simpler. Shock and frustration permeated the entire team. They were helpless and had no recourse. Everyone who entered the arena gave their all but gained nothing, only able to leave dejectedly.
And so, after Nan Qiuqiu, the captain and young master of the Earth Dragon Gate, a Rouge Dragon Spirit King, entered and was defeated, the Earth Dragon Gate chose to concede. Ultimately, Bei Bei did not achieve the one-versus-seven accomplishment, but even so, the Tang Sect today had already attracted enough attention.
At the same time the Earth Dragon Gate conceded, the information on the Tang Sect members was also delivered to Xu Tianran. Xu Tianran reviewed the information on the Tang Sect team members, his expression changing repeatedly, finally revealing a meaningful smile, "Heh heh, Tang Sect? No, Shrek Academy!"
Xu Tianran tossed the documents in his hand to Ju Zi. After Ju Zi finished reading, her expression also became strange. She didn't speak but handed the documents to Jing Hongchen. Jing Hongchen took them, quickly flipped through them, and understood why the Regent and the Regent Consort had such expressions.
"Your Highness, these Tang Sect team members are all members of the previous Shrek Academy preliminary team. What is Shrek Academy trying to do? Are they that confident? Or is it that Shrek Academy has so many talents that they can field two teams?" Jing Hongchen's face was gloomy as he expressed his opinion.
"Shrek Academy, truly intriguing!" Xu Tianran did not comment on Jing Hongchen's opinion but said with a hint of melancholy, "It is said that Zhu Ziyang also came this time. Is that the person over there?"
Xu Tianran's gaze turned towards the distant lounge area, more precisely, it fell upon Zhu Ziyang, who was sitting on a sofa, embracing two women, in the Shrek Academy lounge area. A hint of jealousy and gloom flashed in his eyes.
Zhu Zi detected someone peering at him, instinctively looked up, and gazed towards where his intuition pointed, meeting Xu Tianran's gaze. A slight smile appeared on his face, and he nodded at Xu Tianran, but his eyes were filled with indifference.
"..." Xu Tianran fell silent, retracting his gaze, no longer daring to look back. However, his heart was no longer calm; a raging storm was brewing. What did he see? Indifference, aloof indifference, as if a deity from the nine heavens looked down upon the beings on earth. That was the gaze of a strong person looking at an ant, and that gaze made him furious beyond measure. Xu Tianran had never been so insulted!
He must return it twofold, Xu Tianran vowed fiercely in his heart.
Zhu Ziyang did not know that his gaze had angered Xu Tianran, who now harbored hatred for him in his heart. At this moment, after watching the battle between the Tang Sect and the Earth Dragon Gate, his posture returned to its previous relaxed and casual state. For the subsequent matches, he only occasionally looked up with an air of nonchalance.
It wasn't until the last match of the morning that Zhu Ziyang's interest was re-ignited. The opposing sides were the Holy Spirit Sect and Tiandu Academy.
The Holy Spirit Sect is said to be a reclusive Sect of the Sun Moon Empire, very mysterious. However, it's not hard to see from their name that the Holy Spirit Sect is the Holy Spirit Church, and the conduct of their players later confirmed this point.
Tiandu Academy, on the other hand, is a high-level Spirit Master Academy from the Douling Empire. Its strength is moderate, and it has previously reached the top sixteen in the competition. It can only be said that they were unlucky this time to encounter the Holy Spirit Sect.
The first contestant dispatched by the Holy Spirit Sect clashed with the first contestant from Tiandu Academy. The strength of the two was simply disproportionate. Although the Tiandu Academy contestant was also a Spirit King, the Holy Spirit Sect contestant was also a Spirit King, with optimal spirit ring configuration, and was also an Evil Soul Master with strange abilities.
The Tiandu Academy contestant died on the stage before even understanding the opponent's Spirit, with a horrific Death. The people of Tiandu Academy were extremely angry but helpless. Anyone with discerning eyes could see that the Holy Spirit Sect contestant was abnormal, but with the official endorsement of the Sun Moon Empire, others, even if they had opinions, couldn't say much. After all, it wasn't time to show their hostility yet.
"Brain-eating worm Spirit, huh..." Zhu Ziyang recognized the Holy Spirit Sect disciple's Spirit. He was somewhat surprised, but not particularly so; it merely fit the Holy Spirit Church's style.
Tiandu Academy directly conceded because there was no need to increase casualties unnecessarily.
The competition continued. Over the next three days, teams advanced every day, and teams left every day. This was normal, a pattern, and nothing worth sighing or regretting over.
From the afternoon of the second day, the members of the Shrek Academy team basically stopped appearing in the lounge area. Everyone was required by Ma Xiaotao to cultivate in the hotel. In contrast, Ma Xiaotao herself often dragged Zhu Ziyang to the arena, ostensibly to gather information on participating teams, but in reality, she used work as an excuse to monopolize Zhu Ziyang.
Jiang Nannan and Qian Lingyi naturally wouldn't indulge Ma Xiaotao, so after some friendly exchanges, the other team members in the lounge area suffered. Almost every day, they would see Zhu Ziyang embracing two women, enjoying the blessings of having multiple companions. What made the male compatriots even more resentful was that his female companions in the morning and afternoon were different! In the morning, it was a pair of noble young women with golden and silver long hair, while in the afternoon, it was a pair of red-haired, buxom sisters, making people gnash their teeth in envy.
Soon, the first round of the competition concluded. Three hundred sixty-seven teams were directly reduced by half, leaving one hundred eighty-four teams ready to begin the second round. The second round also spanned five days, requiring only about eighteen matches per day, making it much easier than the first round.
Among the advancing teams, Sect teams accounted for two-thirds, while academy teams numbered only about sixty. This clearly showed the vast disparity between Sects and Spirit Master academies. The remaining academy teams were mostly well-established, renowned academies, whereas only a very small number of Sect teams were familiar to everyone, further confirming the gap between the two.
However, to Zhu Ziyang's surprise, Yang Zhenzhen's Fran Advanced Soul Master Academy actually made it to the second round. The highest cultivation in the Fa Lan team was only level 48, and Yang Zhenzhen, at only level 35, could be a main member, which showed how weak the overall strength of this team was. But, weak as they were, they had good luck. Their opponent in the first round was also an academy team, and its strength was even weaker than Fa Lan Academy's. Therefore, comparatively, Fa Lan Academy's advancement was quite normal.
In the second round of the competition, Shrek Academy finally made its debut in this tournament. The first match of the second round was between the Shrek Academy team and Taining Advanced Soul Master Academy.