The Peerless Tang Sect: Possessing Huo Yuhao at the Start

Chapter 27: The First Battle Shocks the Entire Audience

"Alright, the team members from Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy have made their appearance. At this moment that everyone is watching with bated breath, let's now welcome the Shrek Academy team, the number one academy on the continent and the true king among academies."

The host's booming voice pierced the clouds, and the Starry Sky Square instantly erupted in cheers for Shrek.

He Caitou followed behind Bei Bei, followed by Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, Xiao Xiao, Huo Zhanji, and Wang Dong.

The seven players from each side gathered in a corner of the playing area, facing each other from a distance.

When the students of Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy saw that Shrek Academy had sent such a young lineup, they were stunned. This included all the participating academies, including Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy.

The Star Luo Emperor was also taken aback, asking in confusion, "What is Shrek Academy trying to do? Why didn't they send their main force? Why isn't Dai Hao's son playing?"

The referees sent by the Star Luo Empire were in place and made a gesture for both sides to step forward. The seven students on both sides quickly gathered in the center of the field.

The referee said in a deep voice, "First round, elimination round, team battle. Both sides may use most soul tools in the competition. However, if one side concedes during the battle, the other side may not continue to attack. Soul masters cannot use high-damage equipment such as fixed soul tools in combat. Do you all understand?"

"Understood," Beibei replied first, her face serious.

The captain of Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy also agreed, just like Beibei.

The referee nodded and said, "Alright, both sides step back to the sides of the arena. The match will begin on my command. No one may release their Martial Soul before I announce the start. Otherwise, they will be disqualified."

The two sides slowly distanced themselves. As they retreated, Huo Zhanji turned around and whispered, "Try not to make a move. I'll take care of them. Conceal your strength."

On the other side, the Heavenly Spirit Empire was also making its final preparations during its retreat.

Soon, both sides reached the edge of the field, and as soon as the referee raised his hand, the players from both sides immediately took their positions.

On the Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy side, the seven people quickly lined up in a typical traditional formation: three, two, one, one formation.

On Shrek's side, Huo Zhanji stood at the very front of the formation, while the other six were all behind him.

"Referee, can we begin?" Huo Zhanji said.

The referee lowered his raised right hand and shouted, "The match begins!"

With the referee's loud shout, both teams released their martial spirits almost simultaneously.

The seven students from Tianling Advanced Soul Master Academy were truly formidable, their halos, primarily yellow and purple, radiating dazzling brilliance. Among them, five were four-ring level, while only two were three-ring level.

At that moment, almost all the spectators' eyes were focused on Shrek Academy, or more precisely, on Huo Zhanji, who was already striding forward. Just then, an indescribable terrifying aura suddenly appeared on the competition stage.

The phantom of the Frost Dragon Martial Soul appeared behind Huo Zhanji, and a vibrant green 100,000-year-old Soul Ring appeared on the Martial Soul. A flash of purplish-red light passed through his eyes, and two Soul Rings, one fluorescent white and one purple, slowly emerged under his feet.

"Twin Martial Souls! 100,000-Year Soul Rings!"

Exclamations of surprise erupted simultaneously from hundreds of thousands of people, and even the Emperor, Empress, and civil and military officials of the Star Luo Empire on the city wall rose to their feet in shock.

The sudden appearance of a 100,000-year soul ring was shocking to the audience, let alone the already tense students of Tianling Academy on stage.

Just then, a pair of enormous ice-blue dragon wings unfolded behind Huo Zhanji, and Huo Zhanji's three spirit rings disappeared in that instant, replaced by a blue figure wielding an ice sword.

"Sacred Eye - Frost Saint Armor, Ice Emperor Form!"

In his Ice Emperor form, Huo Zhanji pointed his ice sword at the seven students of Tianling Academy. A green light flashed across the Ice Jade Scorpion's torso, and the light, guided by the ice sword, suddenly attacked Tianling Academy.

"The Realm of Eternal Freeze!"

None of the seven students from Tianling Academy managed to dodge. Two of them, who were at the third ring level, were frozen almost instantly, their protective soul tools destroyed. The other five were also frozen except for their heads, and their soul rings dissipated.

Huo Zhanji's eyes were full of arrogance as he said indifferently, "The match can be declared over. They have no chance of fighting anymore."

At this moment, the Star Luo Square, filled with hundreds of thousands of spectators, including the Star Luo Empire's royal family, civil and military officials, and more than a hundred other advanced soul masters and soul master academies, was completely silent.

"Self-Soul Fusion Technique! Who is that person? Why have I never heard of him before? Investigate him, investigate his background, at all costs." The Star Luo Emperor on the city wall watched Huo Zhanji, who had just deactivated his Self-Soul Fusion Technique, with a fanatical expression.

A growing frenzy gradually appeared in everyone's eyes. The most shocked were the members of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy. At this moment, their faces were terribly pale. Xiao Hongchen's face was also ashen, his fists clenched tightly. How could this be? How could this be?

Huo Zhanji slowly walked off the arena and led the Shrek Seven Devils back to where the Shrek Academy members had originally stood.

Wang Yan seemed to be blaming him, saying, "You were too ruthless."

"Ruthless? I don't think so. If you're bad, you just need to practice more." Huo Zhanji said coldly.

As Huo Zhanji passed by the various academy teams, his gaze swept over them intentionally or unintentionally, and surprisingly, not a single one dared to meet his eyes. Huo Zhanji and the students from Shrek Academy went straight back to the Star Emperor Hotel.

Since the elimination rounds were held on the first day, the Shrek Academy students were able to rest well for the next two days. Wang Yan was the busiest person during these two days. It wasn't until the evening of the third day of the competition that he gathered all the team members in the conference room for a meeting.

"Xiao Tao, how are the injuries of the three of you?" Wang Yan's gaze first fell on Ma Xiao Tao, Dai Yueheng, and Ling Luochen.

Ma Xiaotao said, "These past few days of rest and recuperation have been quite good, and the injuries are healing well. A full recovery in half a month is no problem, and if you were to force yourself to fight, ten days should be enough. But that would likely aggravate the injuries."

Dai Yueheng said, "My situation is similar."

Ling Luochen nodded as well: "Normal recovery."

Wang Yan said, "That's good." He then turned his gaze to Huo Zhanji and the others. "The first battle went much better than expected. Now let's arrange the tactics for the upcoming round-robin tournament. As I mentioned before, there will be three battle modes in the round-robin stage. Given our strength in the first round, there's no doubt that our group will only have eight teams."

"A total of 67 teams will enter the round-robin tournament, divided into eight groups. Three groups will have nine players each, and the remaining five groups will have eight players each. This means we will play seven matches in the group stage. Each win will earn two points, a loss will earn no points, and a draw will earn one point."

"There will be four groups competing each day, with one round every two days. After seven rounds, plus tiebreakers for nine-person groups, the round-robin tournament is expected to last about fifteen to sixteen days."

"Around the fourth round, Ling Luochen will return. If all goes well, Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng will also return in the sixth round of the round-robin tournament. At that time, our strength will be greatly enhanced."

"We won't know our group and opponents until tomorrow morning. Given our reputation, we'll still be the first to play in the round-robin stage."

"The individual elimination tournament is not a one-off event where each person goes up for only one match. Instead, the loser is eliminated, and the winner continues to fight until they are defeated. This continues until all seven members of one side are completely eliminated."

"The last type of competition is a two-on-two-three match. Generally, there are two two-on-two matches first, followed by a three-on-three match. If we win both two two-on-two matches, then there's no need to play the third match."

Wang said, "That's the basic arrangement. For us, the most advantageous way to compete is actually the latter two."

"Yes," the team members from the foreign language department replied in unison.

Wang Yan stood up and said, "Everyone, get a good rest tonight and get yourself into top condition. No one is allowed to go out. Meeting adjourned."

Everyone stood up and left the conference room. As Huo Zhanji walked towards his room to cultivate, he suddenly seemed to sense something and looked towards the other end of the corridor.

"Your name is Huo Zhanji. Remember my name, I am Xiao Hongchen. I will definitely defeat you." The handsome young man raised his right thumb and turned it downwards towards Huo Zhanji.

Huo Zhanji frowned and said, "Where did this bug come from? I don't even know when it was stepped on and killed." As he spoke, he opened his door and went into the room.

Huo Zhanji's voice was loud, and the sound transmission effect in the corridor of the Star Emperor Hotel was quite good. Xiao Hongchen's expression changed slightly, and his eyes narrowed. He was not angry, but rather showed a thoughtful look.

Back in his room, Huo Zhanji shook his head. "Why is my brother-in-law so impulsive? Should we give him a beating beforehand?"

The first round of the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament has finally concluded, and the elimination format made the competition extremely exciting and intense.

Although injuries and fatalities were avoided as much as possible, nearly two hundred participants still suffered injuries of varying degrees after the first round of elimination matches.

More than a dozen students even died from their injuries. Of course, all students who died in the accident received a very generous compensation from the Star Luo Empire.

With the knockout stage over, the second stage, the round-robin tournament, will begin. After the first round of eliminations, the remaining college teams will be even stronger.

Today, the fourth day of the competition, the shouts of the audience echoed throughout Xingluo Square from early morning. The emperor of the Xingluo Empire ascended the city wall early in the morning to wait for them, giving Shrek Academy great face.

(End of this chapter)