Douluo: The Peerless King of Beast Tamers

Chapter 177: Semifinals

In the fierce Soul Master Competition, after the team battle of the top 16 elimination round ended, the flames of the competition quickly spread to a one-on-one contest.

Shrek Academy successfully won the previous team battle with tacit cooperation and strong strength, and was the first to pocket five precious points.

As for the upcoming one-on-one match with Douling Academy, everyone in Shrek Academy has a clear understanding in their minds. They only need to win three more games to advance to the quarterfinals.

Douling Academy also has a clear understanding of the situation. If they want to surpass Shrek Academy in points, they must create a miracle - let three players defeat seven Shrek players in succession to achieve a stunning reversal.

However, the actual situation is extremely unfavorable to Douling Academy.

Douling Academy has always been good at team battles. The seventh-level soul guide weapon, Thunder Cannon, which they had planned to rely on, was also taken away by Shrek Academy. In terms of individual battles, the prospects of Douling Academy are becoming increasingly bleak.

The powerful strength of Shrek Academy is clearly visible before their eyes. There are three Soul Emperors in their team alone.

On the other hand, even though team member Qian Yuan of Douling Academy possesses the Terrorclaw Bear Martial Soul with strong single-combat capabilities, it is almost an impossible task for him to rely on his own strength to cross levels and defeat the Soul Emperor.

Therefore, knowing that there was a huge gap in strength and no hope of winning, the captain of Douling Academy, Gu Zhujian, came up with a different idea.

After some internal discussions, Douling Academy made an unexpected decision - they chose to admit defeat directly and did not even play a single individual match.

The purpose behind this decision is actually very simple, that is, Guzhu Sword does not want other academies to spy on the true strength of Shrek Academy's regular players through this individual competition.

In his opinion, since he was going to lose anyway, he might as well create some trouble for other colleges and disgust them in this way.

He thought to himself: "Don't you want to find out the strength of Shrek Academy through individual battles? Well, we won't do what you want. We won't fight at all and let you guess blindly!"

The team members had no objection to the decision of Douling Academy. After all, losing to the powerful Shrek Academy was not a shameful thing.

Moreover, this approach also created obstacles for other colleges, and everyone felt inexplicably happy.

When everyone at Shrek Academy learned about Douling Academy's move, they were naturally overjoyed.

The originally tense and fierce individual battle ended without even a fight, and they successfully advanced to the quarterfinals.

This not only means that they have taken a solid step forward in the game, but more importantly, the players have gained valuable rest time, allowing them to better adjust their condition and recharge their energy for the next game.

However, other colleges had completely different reactions after learning the news, and they all expressed their dissatisfaction.

In their opinion, even if Douling Academy knew it could not defeat Shrek Academy, it could still compete with the Shrek Academy players in the individual competition.

After all, although Douling Academy may not be a match, their performance in the competition can at least provide some reference for other academies about the strength of Shrek Academy.

Some academies thought to themselves: "Your Douling Academy may not be able to defeat them, but the Sun and Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy always has a chance, right?"

“If you can test the strength of Shrek Academy, wouldn’t the Sun Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy have more time and space to formulate targeted tactics to fight against Shrek Academy? This can also be regarded as revenge for your Douling Academy in disguise!”

But no matter how other academies tried to persuade them, the people from Douling Academy remained united and firmly stated to the outside world that they would not fight.

In this way, Shrek Academy easily advanced to the quarterfinals and made a bid for higher honors.

In the subsequent quarter-final match, Shrek Academy's luck was extremely good.

Their opponent turned out to be Zhengtian Academy, which had originally qualified in the same group as them.

Ye Wuqing, the captain of Zhengtian College, was like a shining new star in the round of 16, leading his teammates to display their extraordinary strength.

They qualified as the second in the group and fought their way through all the obstacles, even successfully defeating the academy that qualified as the first in other groups, creating quite a miracle and advancing smoothly into the quarterfinals.

However, before Ye Wuqing and his teammates had time to celebrate properly, they found themselves facing Shrek Academy again in the quarter-finals.

Moreover, this time they were facing the regular players of Shrek Academy, among whom there were three powerful Soul Emperors.

When Ye Wuqing learned the news, he felt helpless and speechless.

Thinking back to when they advanced to the round of 16, he and his teammates were suppressed by the Shrek Academy's qualifying players. Now in the quarterfinals they ran into the Shrek Academy's regular players again. This luck was really too bad.

Although Ye Wuqing is usually arrogant, he has a clear understanding when facing the powerful Shrek Academy players and knows that his team can never be their opponent.

In this situation, after communicating with Gu Zhu Jian of Dou Ling Academy, Ye Wuqing made a similar decision as Dou Ling Academy - to admit defeat directly.

They had no intention of competing with Shrek Academy at all, and let Shrek Academy advance to the semi-finals.

So, why did Zhengtian College make such a decision?

In addition to being fully aware of the huge gap in strength between the two sides and not wanting to suffer a crushing defeat in the competition, especially not wanting to be tortured by Dugu Xianmeng's terrifying poison and turn into a terrible "monster", there is another important reason, which is that they listened to the advice of Gu Zhujian of Douling Academy.

Gu Zhu Jian once said to Ye Wuqing: "Hasn't the Sun Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy always been competing with Shrek Academy for the first place? Then let's not let Shrek Academy's strength be exposed too early. This can be regarded as doing a favor for Shrek Academy, which may be useful in the future."

Ye Wuqing thought about it carefully and felt that what he said did make sense.

So, he simply found Shrek Academy's captain Zhou Sichen and directly expressed his intention to admit defeat.

This behavior also made Ye Wuqing more visible to a certain extent.

After learning about the decision of Zhengtian College, Zhou Sichen did not show the slightest arrogance or contempt.

After all, they are the ones who are offering a favor, so we should accept this favor.

So, Zhou Sichen had an in-depth exchange with Ye Wuqing in a very friendly manner.

During the communication, Zhou Sichen patiently analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the Shrek Academy and Zhengtian Academy team members to Ye Wuqing, and shared some experiences in team combat and personal training without reservation.

After this exchange, Ye Wuqing's original sense of shame for being defeated by the Shrek Academy qualifying team members was alleviated a lot.

He deeply felt that the strength of Shrek Academy was not accidental. They really had something and were willing to teach it without reservation.

After this series of events, Shrek Academy only had to fight one team battle in the round of 16, and then it went smoothly all the way and easily advanced to the semi-finals.

On the other hand, although the Sun Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy did not have the same good luck as Shrek Academy, it relied on its own strong strength and sent out all the members of the preliminary team. In the fierce competition, it successfully advanced from the quarterfinals to the semi-finals.

In the battle of the quarterfinals, Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy became the focus of everyone's attention with their outstanding performance.

Xiao Hongchen displayed amazing talent for soul guides in the competition. He skillfully integrated his own soul skills with soul guides, and with the strength of five rings, he performed terrifying operations comparable to those of a sixth-level soul guide.

Every attack he makes on the court is full of powerful destructive power, making it difficult for his opponents to defend themselves.

From his performance, he doesn't seem to care about exposing his own strength, but is only focused on challenging himself and breaking through his limits.

After all, the regular players of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy have been hiding behind the scenes and have never appeared on the field. This undoubtedly leaves ample suspense for other academies, making people curious and speculative about their true strength.

With the successful conclusion of the top eight competition, the list of the top four was finally settled. In addition to Shrek Academy and Sun Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy, Xingluo National Academy and the first academy of the Heavenly Soul Empire, Di'ao Academy, also successfully made it to the top four.

The semi-finals, also known as the semi-finals, is the final crucial stage of the entire Soul Master Competition. The teams that can remain are all the strongest ones who have gone through layers of screening.

Each of the regular players from the top four academies has a cultivation level no lower than five rings.

Among them, except for Xingluo National Academy, the other three academies, Shrek Academy, Sun Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy and Di Ao Academy, all have powerful six-ring Soul Emperors.

This also means that the upcoming semi-finals will surely be a series of thrilling and extremely exciting peak showdowns. The entire soul master world is looking forward to it, expecting each academy to shine the brightest on the field.

The eight-to-four competition came to a successful conclusion, and the entire soul master world was immersed in the shock brought by the fierce competition.

The preparations for the semi-finals are also in full swing. According to the event schedule, the four captains need to draw lots for a duel on the field.

The organizers of the tournament have made careful considerations for holding the draw in advance, as it will give each team that advances to the semi-finals ample opportunities to develop sophisticated tactics and conduct in-depth research and preparation based on the characteristics of their opponents during the two days of rest.

At this moment, the atmosphere on the wide fighting arena was tense and full of anticipation.

Four captains from different academies stood proudly. They were Zhou Sichen, the calm and powerful captain of Shrek Academy, Ma Rulong, the mysterious captain of Sun Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy, Jiang Peng, the outspoken captain of Di Ao Academy, and Xu Jiujiu, the elegant and intelligent captain of Xingluo National Academy.

Among these four people, Ma Rulong and Xu Jiujiu have never shown their true fighting abilities in any public competition for various reasons. This makes them shrouded in a veil of mystery, making everyone curious and speculative about their strength.

Jiang Peng, the captain of the Diao Academy, has a carefree and unrestrained personality.

As soon as he stepped onto the fighting arena, his eyes quickly locked onto Zhou Sichen. He walked towards Zhou Sichen with big strides, his face filled with a warm smile, and took the initiative to say: "Brother Zhou, I have to say that your Shrek Academy's performance in the competition this year is simply amazing, and your strength is beyond imagination! I am really looking forward to having a peak showdown with you, the scene will definitely be exciting!"

Zhou Sichen heard this, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, revealing a warm and gentle smile, his eyes revealing his anticipation and respect for the game, and responded: "I am also looking forward to playing against you, Di'ao Academy. I hope that when we draw lots later, we can be lucky enough to draw each other."

Jiang Peng couldn't help but chuckle when he heard this, with a determined look in his eyes. He said loudly, "No matter what the final result is, we at Di'ao Academy will never give up easily! We will definitely go all out and compete with you Shrek!"

At this moment, Ma Rulong, who had been standing quietly by the side, walked over slowly with steady steps.

He raised his head slightly, with a hint of pride and confidence in his eyes. After scanning the crowd, he said with a slightly contemptuous tone: "Based on the strength shown by the four academies at present, I am afraid that only our Sun Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy has enough strength to compete with Shrek Academy. You, Di Ao Academy, should stay back for now and stop wasting time here."

Ma Rulong's sarcastic words were like a stone thrown into a calm lake, instantly causing thousands of waves.

Jiang Peng's face suddenly became gloomy. He stared at Ma Rulong with his eyes and snorted coldly, his tone full of anger: "Hmph! Don't be so arrogant! If I draw your Sun Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy in the draw later, I will definitely let you have a good taste of my Jiang Peng's Eighteen Dragon Slashes, so that you will know what real strength is!"

In Jiang Peng's mind, although Shrek Academy is powerful, it is after all one of the three original empires. Losing to Shrek Academy, although regrettable, is not too embarrassing.

However, in his eyes, the Sun Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy was an absolute foreign enemy. Losing to a foreign enemy was something he could never accept, as it was a matter of dignity and honor.

Just as Jiang Peng and Ma Rulong were confronting each other, Xu Jiujiu moved gracefully to Zhou Sichen's side like a blooming green lotus.

She raised her head slightly, with a hint of expectation and humility in her eyes, and said softly: "If Shrek Academy draws our Xingluo National Academy, I hope that senior can show more mercy."

Zhou Sichen looked at the dignified and beautiful Xu Jiujiu in front of him, smiled slightly, his eyes revealing a hint of gentleness and understanding, and said: "Of course, if you are really picked, we will cooperate with you in the performance. As long as the final victory belongs to Shrek Academy, it will be fine."

Xu Jiujiu heard Zhou Sichen's answer, and a hint of joy flashed in his eyes. He smiled and responded: "Then let's stage a wonderful duel of equal strength, and let Shrek Academy win with a slight advantage in the end. In this way, we can not only show the strength of our Xingluo National Academy, but also help Shrek Academy continue to hide its strength. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone."

Zhou Sichen nodded, thinking that this suggestion was good.

Of course, all this is based on the fact that they are lucky enough to draw each other.

Speaking of Xu Jiujiu, also known as Princess Jiujiu, Jiang Peng and Ma Rulong now know something about her.

At the top auction held at the Starlight Auction House before, Princess Jiujiu became the gold medal auctioneer of that auction with her excellent eloquence, elegant temperament and professional qualities, leaving a very deep impression on every guest present.

After a heated verbal exchange between Jiang Peng and Ma Rulong, their eyes were focused on Xu Jiujiu at the same time.

Jiang Peng spoke first, his words still carrying his boldness: "Princess Jiujiu, tell me if this makes sense? Even if we have to lose, we have to lose to Shrek Academy."

"What the hell is the Sun Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy! A group of regular players still don't dare to play. In my opinion, it must be that their regular players are not strong enough, so they deliberately let the pre-selected players take the blame to cover up the truth!"

Xu Jiujiu couldn't help but cover his mouth and chuckle when he heard Jiang Peng's harsh words.

There was a sly light in her smart eyes, and then she looked at Ma Rulong and asked with a hint of sarcasm: "Senior Ma, is what Senior Jiang said true?"

Ma Rulong did not show any anger on his face when facing the long questioning. Instead, he raised the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a confident sneer, and said, "Whether it is true or not, we will naturally know the answer on the field. What's the practical meaning of arguing here now? Everything must be determined by strength."

Even as the four of them were chatting with each other, the entire fighting arena had already been surrounded by spectators.

Everyone's eyes were fixed on every move on the fighting stage, and the atmosphere was extremely tense.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, a middle-aged man dressed in referee uniform quickly walked up to the fighting arena, holding an exquisite box in his hand, which contained the drawing prop that would determine the lineup for the top four.

Upon seeing this, the four captains stepped forward and each came to a specially made machine.

The machine has an antique bronze appearance, with complex and mysterious runes carved on the surface, exuding an ancient and mysterious atmosphere.

With solemn expressions, they slowly placed their right hands on the disc of the machine and pressed it lightly.

In an instant, the machine let out a low roar, and then four golden rays of light shot out from the machine, and four golden tokens flew out like meteors.

The four captains reacted quickly, stretched out their hands at the same time, and steadily caught the gold medal flying in front of them.

Zhou Sichen and Xu Jiujiu looked down and saw a "one" clearly engraved on the gold medals in their hands. On the gold medals in Jiang Peng and Ma Rulong's hands, there was a striking "two".

The four of them raised the gold medals in their hands at the same time in tacit understanding. The sunlight shone on the gold medals, reflecting a dazzling light. The golden numbers looked extremely shining in the light.

At this moment, the lineup for the semi-final matchup is already clear.

Xu Jiujiu turned his head slightly and looked at Zhou Sichen, with a helpless yet expectant smile on his face, and said, "It seems that we really guessed it right. I hope you won't regret it."

Zhou Sichen smiled and nodded, saying, "Of course, don't worry."

On the other side, Jiang Peng looked at Ma Rulong excitedly, his hands clenched tightly into fists, as if he couldn't wait to compete with him on the field, and said loudly: "That's good, we finally have a chance to fight fair and square! I want you to know that I, Jiang Peng, am not just a big talker, and I will definitely beat you guys from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy speechless!"

Ma Rulong snorted coldly, his eyes revealing a trace of disdain and contempt, and responded: "Then let's see the truth in the competition the day after tomorrow! By then, it is still uncertain who will win!"

After saying that, he turned around and strode down the fighting arena, leaving behind a back full of confidence and arrogance.

Jiang Peng, Zhou Sichen and Xu Jiujiu also left the fighting arena slowly with different feelings and began to make final preparations for the upcoming semi-finals.

The entire soul master world is looking forward to the two thrilling peak showdowns the day after tomorrow. Who will have the last laugh and successfully advance to the finals? Everything is full of unknowns and suspense.

ps: Please collect, recommend and vote for me!
(End of this chapter)