Douluo Continent: Starting with a Heavenly Fire Judgment

Chapter 386 Showdown of Nemesis

When the competition reached the quarterfinals, only eight teams remained at Mingyue Hotel, and only seven of them were staying there. The Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy had not stayed at Mingyue Hotel at all.

Therefore, the entire Mingyue Hotel looked empty and filled with a depressing atmosphere. For the remaining eight teams, the next three rounds of the competition were all about glory, profit, and reputation.

Of course, the one under the most pressure is Shrek Academy, led by Bei Bei. After all, they are the previous champions, the Shrek team with countless glories. The burden of being champions is on their shoulders, and this year's opponents are stronger than ever. This puts a lot of pressure on Bei Bei, the captain. In addition, there is Tang Ya's matter. If it weren't for Bei Bei's strong mental fortitude, an ordinary person would have been crushed long ago.

The two-day break gave all the top eight teams a chance to catch their breath, and each team took the opportunity to rest.

The day of the quarterfinals finally arrived. Early in the morning, the entire capital city was bustling with activity. Before dawn, a large number of people had already poured out of the city, hoping to secure a good spot to watch the match.

Today, all four quarterfinal matches were completed, all of them high-stakes clashes, and every single one of them was a must-see!

On the streets, the people rushing out of the city were almost all carrying dry food and water, preparing to spend the whole day in the observation zone, and they were all in groups of three or five.

What are the advantages of going to the game with friends? The biggest advantage is that you won't have your spot taken by someone else when you go to the restroom.

According to the competition rules, the matches in the upper bracket will be held in the morning, while those in the lower bracket will be held in the afternoon.

In other words, Ji Lin and his group's match is in the afternoon, while Shrek Academy and Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy's match is in the morning, which is also the first match. Both sides are related to Ji Lin and his group, so of course they have to come and watch.

As the first rays of dawn appeared in the east, teams representing the strongest of the younger generation marched out of the city, protected by human walls of soldiers.

It wasn't just the four teams that competed in the morning heading to the competition venue; in the lower bracket, the Holy Spirit Sect, the Heavenly Dragon Gate, and the Mingdu Soul Master Academy were all well-prepared.

During the round-robin stage, you can focus on doing your best without watching other players' matches. However, in the quarterfinals, it becomes extremely important to understand your potential opponents as much as possible, and at the same time, to get used to the atmosphere of the venue as early as possible.

The quarterfinals are the real battle of the strongest teams. After today, the quarterfinals will become the semifinals, and the four teams will be eliminated.

When Ji Lin and his team arrived at the competition venue, Shrek Academy and Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy had already begun warming up, ready to go on the field at any time. The atmosphere between the two sides was tense, after all, they were old rivals from previous years. The Sun Moon team wanted to win this time, and the Shrek team did not want to lose to the perennial runner-up.

All four matches today are major events. The sun has risen, and the weather is great today. The bright sunshine is shining on the earth, bringing warmth to everyone.

The weather in Mingdu has been quite chilly lately, but today's sunshine easily brings a good mood.

At this time, almost all the members of each team had arrived, including those from the Holy Spirit Sect. They remained as mysterious as ever, all shrouded in black. Tang Ya sat at the very front, demonstrating her extremely high status within the Holy Spirit Sect team.

Vina and Mu Xue's Snow Demon Sect and Xu Jiujiu's Star Luo Royal Academy also arrived. Although they were rivals, Xu Jiujiu and Vina still greeted each other amicably. Vina also showed a gentle smile, clearly not letting this matter affect their sisterly relationship. Although Ji Lin felt that their sisterly relationship was not solid at all, after all, they were princesses of different empires, and their positions were naturally different. It was already good enough that they could maintain a superficial sisterly relationship.

Although there were far fewer people in the rest area than before, the atmosphere was quite tense. Especially among the teams that were going to decide the winner today, the tension between them was palpable.

On the platform, Regent Xu Tianran had arrived early. Ju Zi sat down next to him and served him a cup of fragrant tea.

Xu Tianran took a sip of tea and asked the Mingde Hall Master on the other side of the orange tree, "Hongchen Hall Master, are your grandson and granddaughter confident of defeating Shrek Academy? This time, I have high hopes for them."

Xu Tianran was in a great mood today, and he was very excited to see these intense matches!

Jing Hongchen said, "Although I'd like to say I'm absolutely certain of victory, Shrek Academy hasn't revealed their full strength yet. Nobody knows what other trump cards they have up their sleeve. After all, it's Shrek Academy; we can't afford to be too serious about them!"

Xu Tianran nodded slightly, sighed softly, and said, "Shrek Academy's millennia-old tradition is indeed not to be easily humiliated!"

The mysterious national advisor sitting on his other side suddenly spoke up: "No matter how much experience we accumulate, we still need talent. I think that the Shrek Academy team, plus those few kids from the Free Gate, almost encompasses the most outstanding talents of their younger generation."

A glint flashed in Xu Tianran's eyes, and he smiled slightly, saying, "The Imperial Advisor is right."

Orange sat silently next to Xu Tianran, a faint smile on her pretty face, her gaze fixed on the competition field below. But deep in her eyes, there was a hint of worry.

As intelligent as she was, she could fully understand the meaning behind Xu Tianran and the Imperial Preceptor's words. On the other side, Jing Hongchen also lowered her head, her eyes in the shadows filled with contemplation and consideration.

Countless people gathered early in the morning in the stands surrounding the competition venue on the eastern outskirts of Mingdu, waiting for the start of today's exciting match.

The first match, Shrek Academy versus Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, was particularly noteworthy.

Although this competition has introduced sects to participate, no one can deny the strength of Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy and Shrek Academy.

Therefore, the viewing platform was extremely crowded today, and the Sun and Moon Empire had to deploy more troops to maintain order.

Unbreakable Douluo Zheng Zhan continues to serve as the head referee. Since he joined the competition, the casualty rate has been greatly reduced. He has presided over almost all important matches, and today is no exception.

"In the first match of the quarterfinals, Shrek Academy team versus Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy team, both teams' players enter the waiting area. The first individual elimination match player enters the arena."

On the Shrek team's side, seven people stood up: Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu, He Caitou, and Ning Tian. Facing their old rivals, Shrek Academy dared not hide their strength any longer, and this was almost the strongest lineup of the Shrek team.

Neither Shrek Academy nor Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy intended to determine a winner in the individual elimination rounds, as that was practically impossible; the team competition was the key.

On the Sun and Moon team's side, Xiao Hongchen gestured to Shi Xing, who was the first to take the stage in the previous match against Zizaimen, while Beibei sent out Dai Huabin.

Dai Huabin's physique is more robust than before. He is about the same age as Ji Lin, and when he steps onto the competition stage, he has a majestic and powerful presence.

The two sides bowed to each other in front of Zheng Zhan.

"Shrek Academy, Dai Huabin."

"Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, trendy."

The battle was fierce. Both were Soul Kings. Shi Xing had the advantage of high altitude and a distant soul tool, while Dai Huabin completely suppressed Shi Xing in terms of speed, strength, soul power quality, and soul skills. However, Shi Xing was too cunning and stayed in the high altitude, rarely giving Dai Huabin a chance.

The trendy tactics caught the eye of the Unbreakable Douluo. This was the way a smart person would act. As a Soul Master, the most important thing was to understand how to use one's strengths to attack the enemy's weaknesses. In terms of the competition rules, the Sun Moon Empire had already tilted towards Soul Masters. Knowing how to take advantage of this was a smart move.

Although Dai Huabin ultimately defeated Shi Xing with his superior strength, he also exhausted a lot of his soul power. In order to prepare for the team battle, he had to concede the second match. Throughout the match, Dai Huabin felt extremely frustrated. His opponent was much weaker than him, but he used his high-altitude advantage to wear him down and wear him down. He also wanted to severely injure Shi Xing to lay the foundation for the upcoming team battle, but Shi Xing had obviously received Xiao Hongchen's instructions that he did not need to fight desperately in the individual elimination rounds and should conserve his strength to decide the outcome in the team battle.

After Shi Xing used an invincible shield, he immediately conceded defeat, forcing Dai Huabin, who wanted to severely injure him, to stop. Otherwise, the referee, Bu Po Douluo, would have ruled that he had lost.

The second player from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy was Zhou Xinghao, while Shrek Academy sent out Xu Sanshi. Facing Zhou Xinghao's fortress-style tactics, Xu Sanshi was quite adept. After awakening his Xuanwu bloodline, Xuanming Replacement evolved into Xuanwu Replacement, instantly pulling Zhou Xinghao in front of him. Taking advantage of Zhou Xinghao's stiffness due to the teleportation, he unleashed a brutal beating. If it weren't for the invincible shield prepared by the Sun Moon team, Zhou Xinghao would have been severely injured, if not killed. Clearly, Xu Sanshi did not hold back; for Shrek Academy's victory, he had to use heavy blows.

Even so, when Bu Po Douluo saved Zhou Xinghao, he had already lost his fighting ability.

Zhou Xinghao suffered internal injuries from Xu Sanshi's Turtle God Strike, and even if he appeared in team battles, he wouldn't be able to exert much combat power.

The third member of the Sun and Moon team was a short, thin young man who looked like a skinny little monkey.

"Both sides come forward and exchange names."

"Ding Xiaobu, Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy."

"Shrek Academy, Xu Sanshi."

"Both sides step back and prepare for the match."

Xu Sanshi gripped the milk bottle tightly in his hand, slowly retreating, seizing the time to recover his soul power, not wasting a single second.

Zheng Zhan's lips twitched. He knew that Xu Sanshi was deliberately stalling for time. After giving him a warning, Xu Sanshi chuckled and put away the baby bottle, then quickly walked to the edge of the competition stage.

Seeing that both sides had arrived at their designated positions, Zheng Zhan announced, "The match begins!"

(End of this chapter)