Douluo Continent: Starting with a Heavenly Fire Judgment

Chapter 366 Unfair Matches

The second round of the All-Continent Youth Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament has concluded, with forty-two teams advancing to the third round. Of these, thirty-two teams will qualify for the round-robin tournament, and their performance in the third round will determine their qualification.

Winning guarantees a place in the round-robin stage, while losing still offers a chance to win based on tiebreakers. After the first two rounds, some of the weaker teams, even those that have qualified, are already showing signs of fatigue. Player injuries and attrition are major challenges they will face.

But none of these apply to the Free Gate.

However, after the draw, Nan Qiuqiu looked at Ji Lin with a resentful gaze.

Ji Lin said helplessly, "Qiuqiu, you can't blame me for this! After all, there are only forty-two teams left, so the probability of being drawn is not low."

Nan Qiuqiu pouted and said with a dark face, "It's clearly your face that's unlucky. It would have been better if I had gone up to draw lots."

Ji Lin couldn't stand it. He pinched Nan Qiuqiu's cheek and said fiercely, "Who are you calling dark-faced?! Do I look like I have a dark face? I'm clearly a lucky seal, a true king of luck!"

Although she didn't know what "European Emperor" meant, Nan Qiuqiu still knew that a seal was an animal. She muttered, "Seals have extremely short lifespans. You really want to be a seal!?"

Ji Lin's lips twitched. Good grief, was he being given a science lesson?

The others looked at Ji Lin with strange expressions, and even Gu Yuena couldn't help but scrutinize Ji Lin with a peculiar gaze.

Ji Lin, that unlucky guy, actually drew the Earth Dragon Gate in the third round of the elimination tournament. The Earth Dragon Gate is an affiliated sect of their Zizai Sect. This is like the flood washing away the Dragon King's temple, with their own people fighting each other.

Seeing Nan Qiuqiu's indignant expression, Ye Guyi pondered for a moment and said, "This third round of the competition doesn't mean you'll be eliminated immediately if you lose. In the end, the tiebreaker will determine who advances. Dilongmen is not weak either. They won by a large margin in the first two rounds. If we deliberately let Dilongmen get a few more points, even if Dilongmen loses to us, they can still advance to the round-robin stage based on the tiebreaker. At most, their ranking will just be a little lower."

Nan Qiuqiu's eyes lit up, and she pounced on Ye Guyi, exclaiming with delight, "Sister Guyi, you're so smart! That's great! Since the Earth Dragon Gate can also advance, I want to be the first to go on stage in that elimination round!"

Ji Lin's lips twitched. Good grief, he's going to be the first to go up against his own lackey, huh!

Meanwhile, Nan Shuishui was also looking at the lottery results in her hand with a headache. She didn't expect to draw the Free Gate. This was too unlucky. Of all the people she could have drawn, it had to be the Free Gate. It was like family fighting family!

"Sect Master, I'm sorry, I'm just really unlucky."

Xiao Ye looked dejected. He was the one who drew the lot, and he never expected to draw the card he least wanted.

Nan Shuishui shook her head and said, "Forget it, it's not your fault. It's already a great achievement that we made it to the third round. I just wanted to bring you here to gain experience and broaden your horizons, but this year's All-Continent Youth Soul Master Elite Competition is too intense. Many contestants have died tragically on the field. It's good that it ends like this. At least you're all safe."

"Sect Master!"

The disciples of the Earth Dragon Sect were deeply moved. They had seen the terrible price that other sects had paid for victory, but Nan Shuishui did not ask them to fight to the death. Instead, she told them to act according to their abilities and to admit defeat immediately if necessary, because staying alive was the most important thing.

Although they were prepared to risk their lives for their sect, it would be best if they could survive.

The All-Continent Youth Advanced Soul Master Elite Competition has entered its third round, and the atmosphere is far more intense than in the first and second rounds.

After all, entering the round-robin stage means reaching the top 32, which inevitably draws attention from the entire continent, and the popularity gained is far greater than that of the first two rounds.

"Next match, Zizaimen will face Dilongmen. Both sides enter the waiting area, and the first player will enter the arena."

Finally, it was time to fight their own sect. Nan Qiuqiu's spirits lifted, and an excited smile appeared on her lips.

Ji Lin looked at Nan Qiuqiu strangely, sensing that the girl seemed very excited. It must be more interesting to fight against her own sect than against other sects!

The first player to take the stage from Zizaimen was naturally Nan Qiuqiu, while the first player to take the stage from Dilongmen was surprisingly Xu Shenshu.

The referee said in a deep voice, "You are all familiar with the rules of the game, so I won't go into detail. Both sides step back and wait for my signal to begin the match."

Xu Shenshu ignored the referee and respectfully asked Nan Qiuqiu, "Big Sister, do you need me to concede?"

The referee was stunned, his lips twitched. What was going on?

Nan Qiuqiu put her hands on her hips and said, "No need, just go all out and let me see if you've made any progress lately."

"Yes." Xu Shenshu replied respectfully, then turned and strode away. When he pushed off the ground with his right foot, he made a "thump" sound and his figure flashed to a distance of more than ten meters. With a few leaps, he had already reached the edge of the area.

Nan Qiuqiu glanced at Nan Shuishui watching the battle below, blinked, and then slowly walked towards her side.

Nan Shuishui was stunned for a moment, then looked at the waiting area of ​​Zizaimen and saw Ji Lin nodding at her.

Once she realized what was happening, Nan Shuishui quickly remembered the rules of the competition and understood what Ji Lin and Nan Qiuqiu meant. She was delighted, as advancing to the round-robin was much better than being eliminated in the third round, and it would also benefit the Earth Dragon Gate.

The referee raised his hand high, looked at both sides, and after confirming that they were ready, he brought his right arm down sharply, announcing the start of the match.

With Nan Qiuqiu speaking up, Xu Shenshu, who always listened to her, naturally went all out without any hesitation. He didn't think that he could defeat Nan Qiuqiu even if he went all out, and his aura instantly surged!

"Roar!" With a loud shout, Xu Shenshu's body shot out like a cannonball, his right foot stomping heavily on the ground, his body bursting into the air. While in the air, his bones crackled and popped, and five spirit rings—two yellow, two purple, and one black—attached to his body one after another. His body also rapidly expanded as his martial spirit was released.

As Xu Shenshu's body swelled, a layer of black keratin appeared on his skin, and bulges rose up on his back. As the bulges ruptured, thick, sharp, serrated dorsal fins appeared.

Martial spirit possessed, saber-toothed earth dragon.

As he lunged forward, Xu Shenshu stretched his arms out to the sides, revealing his muscular chest. Along the outer edges of both arms were jagged, serrated bulges. Judging by their appearance, a direct impact would likely result in broken bones and tendons.

As his first spirit ring lit up, Xu Shenshu's thick keratinous body emitted a dark light, and his power seemed to increase again. With a few leaps, he was already within twenty meters of Nan Qiuqiu.

For the onlookers, there was only one thought in their minds: how could the members of the Earth Dragon Gate be so ruthless in beating up such a delicate young girl?

Nan Qiuqiu's appearance is indeed very deceptive, and sympathy for the weak is a sentiment that almost all ordinary people have, let alone a beautiful young girl.

As Xu Shenshu launched his attack, Nan Qiuqiu also released her martial soul. The six soul rings—two yellow, two purple, and two black—showed her Soul Emperor-level cultivation.

The ordinary people who had just sympathized with Nan Qiuqiu were immediately dumbfounded. Nan Shuishui also nodded with relief. It was indeed the right decision to hand Nan Qiuqiu over to Ji Lin. If she had stayed in the Earth Dragon Gate, Nan Qiuqiu would probably still be a Soul King and would not have been able to advance to Soul Emperor so quickly.

A rhombus-shaped, pink crystal-like gem appeared on Nan Qiuqiu's forehead as her martial spirit was released. Immediately afterward, her body became even more slender, increasing her height by nearly ten centimeters.

She pointed her right hand towards the sky, and dark red scales grew from her fingertip. Although they were also dragon scales, the ones growing on her body were completely different from Xu Shenshu's. The pink scales were crystal clear, and as the scales extended, her entire right hand seemed to turn into a piece of pink crystal. A pale pink flame lit up, instantly burning away the sleeve on her right arm, revealing her entire arm that was completely covered by scales.

Then she pointed in Xu Shenshu's direction, her first spirit ring lit up, and a pink beam of light shot straight towards Xu Shenshu, instantly traversing dozens of meters to arrive in front of him.

Xu Shenshu raised his arms to block in front of him, and the next moment his arms were struck by pink light. The scales on his arms began to melt. This was Nan Qiuqiu's first soul skill, Annihilation Light.

Nan Qiuqiu's Rouge Dragon inherently possesses the attribute of annihilation. After obtaining the Earth Dragon Golden Melon, its bloodline evolved, enabling it to wield a portion of destructive power. Moreover, Rouge Dragons are naturally adept at ranged attacks.

Xu Shenshu was unable to get close to Nan Qiuqiu at all. He was forced to flee in panic by Nan Qiuqiu's annihilating light, and was in a very sorry state.

However, to the surprise of the referees and the audience, Nan Qiuqiu, who had the upper hand, suddenly stopped and actually raised her hand to admit defeat.

After Nan Qiuqiu conceded defeat, Wang Dong'er took the stage. Wang Dong'er easily eliminated Xu Shenshu, and then conceded defeat to Feng Jue, the second player from Dilongmen. Xiao Xiao then eliminated Feng Jue, and conceded defeat to Xiao Ye, the third player from Dilongmen. Nana, the fourth player, also conceded defeat after defeating Xiao Ye. After Nana's defeat, Zizaimen forfeited the individual elimination round and went directly to the team competition. In the end, Dilongmen scored seven points in the individual elimination round, while Zizaimen scored three points. Dilongmen conceded defeat in the team competition, resulting in a final score of eight to seven for Zizaimen, with Zizaimen winning.

With seven points, plus the points earned in the previous two rounds, Dilongmen barely made it into the round-robin tournament.

If Zizaimen were to simply concede defeat, their score would be sufficient to advance to the round-robin stage. However, Ji Lin and his team did not want any flaws in Zizaimen's record; they aimed to dominate this year's All-Continent Youth Soul Master Elite Tournament with a perfect record.

In order for the Earth Dragon Gate to also advance, this troublesome method was the only option.

(End of this chapter)