Douluo Continent, my martial soul is a mushroom.

Chapter 48 Preliminary Rounds: Shrek Academy Shocks Everyone

The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament (referred to as the Elite Tournament) is the largest martial soul competition in the soul master world, hosted by the royal families of the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires and co-organized by the Spirit Hall.

Those who make it onto the competition field are already among the most outstanding young Soul Masters. Winning a place in the competition would be a tremendous honor for both the individual contestant and the academy that follows!

Shrek Academy attaches great importance to the Elite Competition, which will be the first step for the academy to enter the world's view!

To prevent any unforeseen circumstances, Flander, Liu Erlong, and Yu Xiaogang led Chi Ping and his group of eight to Tiandou City two months in advance.

……

The elite competition consists of three rounds: preliminary rounds, ranking rounds, and the finals.

The preliminary rounds of the two empires were held separately. The preliminary rounds of the Heaven Dou Empire were divided into 6 regions based on the empire, the four kingdoms, and the one duchy. Shrek Academy participated in the Heaven Dou region, which was the most competitive and the easiest to make a name for themselves.

The main arena for the Tian Dou region is the Tian Dou Grand Arena. To enhance the viewing experience, the Grand Arena merged all the branch arenas around the main arena, creating an enormous competition space.

Before the sun had risen and the competition had even begun, the area outside the Heavenly Battle Arena was already packed with spectators.

Each ticket has a specific seat number, so there is no competition for seats. The audience wants to see the participating young Soul Masters up close on the first day of the opening ceremony.

Once the competition officially begins, the participating athletes will have a special passage, and at that point, they can only watch from afar in the stands.

Some of them were driven by a yearning for power and honor, some by a desire to become familiar faces for future investment or recruitment, and some were young girls dreaming of marrying those geniuses.

The participating teams were all wearing school uniforms, making them easy to distinguish.

Shrek Academy's uniform was a modified version of the martial arts training clothes that Chi Ping had always worn. It was white with flowing cloud patterns as decoration, and featured two badges on the right chest: one was the Shrek Academy emblem, a rather ugly Shrek monster design; the other was a badge representing each student's individual characteristics, based on their martial soul and adorned with personalized decorative patterns. Originally, Flander wanted to participate in the uniform design, but after he chose a dingy green as the base color, Chi Ping vetoed his right to discuss it.

The school uniforms are simple and neat, which makes the students look more elegant!

Among the eight students of Shrek Academy, the three girls are all considered to be exceptionally beautiful. Dai Mubai and Oscar are recognized for their charmingly wicked looks, while Tang San, Chi Ping, and Ma Hongjun respectively use their cold, gentle, and domineering temperaments to cover up their physical shortcomings.

The phrase "golden boy and jade girl" is a fitting description of them.

Flanders led the way, followed by eight others. Each of them held their head high, as if the championship was within their grasp.

"Hey Ping, all those girls are looking at us! Wow, that girl is so pretty! That girl has such big breasts!"

Ma Hongjun stood tall and straight, looking every bit the serious man, yet he bombarded Chi Ping beside him in a very low voice. Two months ago, Ma Hongjun acquired his fourth spirit ring, advancing to the Spirit Master level. His martial spirit had evolved, and the Evil Flame could no longer ignite his desires.

So Flander lifted the restrictions on Ma Hongjun, and he could find a girlfriend just like Dai Mubai and the others!

You know, in the past two years, he's been bombarded with displays of affection by two official couples and one couple in the planning stages within his team!

Dai Mubai said fiercely, "Fatty, you better tone it down! If you tarnish our image, I'll have the dean postpone the age at which you can lose your virginity until after eighteen! I already asked Pingzi, and thinking about those things after eighteen is good for both men and women! The dean won't let you run wild just because of your own lust!"

"Boss Dai, you're too ruthless!" Ma Hongjun said fiercely, but his eyes no longer wandered around.

Surrounded by the crowd, the Shrek Academy students entered the Great Soul Arena and arrived at the rest area specifically provided for participating academies within the main arena. They weren't the first to enter, nor were they the last. Some students were already seated in the rest area, and the group looked around, recognizing no one.

"Sit down here first," Flander said. "The host will take us to the main stadium later."

So everyone sat down.

No one bothered them, since nobody knew about Shrek Academy.

After that, everything proceeded normally. They entered the main arena as usual, listened to the speeches of Emperor Tian Dou Xue Ye, Sect Master Ning Fengzhi, and Platinum Bishop Salas of the Martial Soul Temple, and discussed the Sword Douluo beside Ning Fengzhi as usual.

"Rongrong, has Sword Douluo advanced?" Chi Ping suddenly asked.

Everyone turned to look, and Ning Rongrong slightly opened her mouth, "Ping-ge, how did you know?"

Chi Ping looked at Sword Douluo and said, "Senior Sword Douluo gives me a stronger feeling than a year ago, and is more like a sword."

"You really advanced?" Dai Mubai couldn't believe it.

Ning Rongrong nodded, "That time, when Grandpa Jian led the team to visit the academy, it seemed that he comprehended something after returning, and now he has reached level 97 in soul power."

"Is it related to the academy?" Dai Mubai asked, puzzled.

Ning Rongrong: "I don't know."

Tang San: "It seems like Sword Douluo is watching us."

Xiao Wu: "It's probably just my imagination. Why would he be looking at us?"

"They're really looking this way!" Oscar said seriously, his gaze unwavering.

Zhu Zhuqing nodded, "Oscar was right. My intuition was warning me."

The eight people stopped whispering.

Chi Ping's heart stirred, and he looked up. The swordsman Chen Xin, who should have been as cold and sharp as a sword, smiled slightly at him. Chi Ping nodded subconsciously, and Chen Xin nodded slightly.

—What's going on? Is Sword Douluo paying attention to me?

Chi Ping thought to himself, "This is what I'm thinking."

After the draw, the emcee announced the teams for the opening match based on the results.

"The first match of the first round of the preliminary rounds will now take place between Heaven Dou Royal Academy and Shrek Academy. All participating academies, please leave the stage. The match will officially begin in half an hour."

Since other academies didn't have any matches today, they left the rest area after the event and, led by staff, went directly to the stands prepared for the players to watch the games. The Heaven Dou Royal Academy, being a symbol of the Heaven Dou Empire's royal family, received different treatment than ordinary academies and didn't rest there. Soon, only the Shrek Academy group remained in the vast rest area.

"Who will stay?" Ikehira asked.

Everyone looked at each other, none of them wanting to stay in the rest area.

We are all young people, and we all have a lot of passion.

The opening match!

Winning will be very glorious!

"It seems no one wants to stay." Chi Ping seemed to have expected this, and took out a stack of cards that he had prepared in advance from his school uniform pocket.

"Eight cards, one suit card and seven blank cards. Keep the suit card you draw. Draw next if you have a gut feeling. Any questions?"

"no problem."

Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, Tang San, and Xiao Wu drew cards in turn.

"I'll stay?" Xiao Wu asked, showing the card with a pained expression.

"That's luck!" Ma Hongjun said smugly.

Tang San comforted Xiao Wu, saying, "You'll be able to play in the next match."

"Both teams, come to the stage!"

The emcee's voice was amplified and carried throughout the venue via a megaphone.

The lights came on, and the students from both colleges slowly made their way onto the stage.

Shrek team chose a 2-3-2 formation, while Tiandou Royal Academy team used a 5-2 formation.

"The first match of the first round of the qualifiers has officially begun."

At the referee's signal, the first preliminary round of this year's All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament officially began.

Dai Mubai raised his hands in front of his chest and shouted, "Brothers, activate your Martial Souls!"

When both sides simultaneously released their martial spirits, revealing all their spirit rings to the audience, gasps of surprise rippled through the stands.

"One, two, three, four, five... five Soul Masters! How is this possible?!"

In the VIP section, Emperor Xueye was taken aback.

"Sect Leader Ning, this is the advanced Soul Master Academy you recommended for the assessment last year, right? That Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Master is your daughter?"

Ning Fengzhi nodded. "Not bad."

"Was Shrek Academy trained by your sect?" Emperor Xueye asked with a smile.

Salas glanced sideways.

Ning Fengzhi shook his head, "The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School can't cultivate such outstanding young people. However, our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School does have some cooperation with Shrek Academy."

"Is that so..." Emperor Xueye's expression remained unchanged, his tone drawn out.

Salas frowned, pondering whether there was any hidden information in Ning Fengzhi's words.

On stage, the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy team was somewhat dumbfounded.

Both sides had the best soul ring combinations. Seven Soul Masters were fighting against five Soul Grandmasters and two Soul Masters. They couldn't think of any way to win.

"superior!"

The captain of the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy team gritted his teeth and gave the order.

The support Soul Master among the two Soul Masters at the rear of the formation buffed the Shrek Seven Devils, while the five Beast Soul Masters at the front charged towards Shrek Seven Devils.

Ning Rongrong provided a boost to everyone, and Chi Ping and Dai Mubai stepped forward. Without using their soul skills, they each stopped two enemies with their physical abilities alone, leaving one for Zhu Zhuqing to prepare.

Ma Hongjun spread his phoenix wings and flew into the air, using his first soul skill, Phoenix Fire Line, to burn the remaining two members of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy team, sending them scrambling all over the ground.

The gap between the two sides was simply too great; the Heaven Dou Royal Academy team's resistance was as harmless as a kitten in front of the Shrek team.

Two minutes later, Chi Ping knocked down the last player on the opposing team with a single punch.

"Shrek Academy wins the first match of the first round of the preliminary rounds!"

A thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

Although the match wasn't exciting, it was very satisfying to watch as the team dominated the weaker opponents!

Elite Tournament Format:

Qualifying rounds:

The two empires will compete separately, with each having 15 qualifying spots in addition to the Royal Academy reserving one for the finals.

Taking the Heavenly Dou Empire as an example, it is divided into 6 competition zones. The Heavenly Dou region has 5 qualifying spots, while the duchy and the four great kingdoms each have 2 spots.

The final result will be determined by a team round-robin tournament.

Ranked Matches:

Teams that qualified from the four kingdoms and duchies gathered in the Tiandou Division, where 15 teams competed in individual matches to determine their ranking.

Grand Finals:

The finals will be played in a knockout format.

In the first round, the three seeded teams will receive a bye. The remaining 30 teams will compete in a series of matches. The 15 winning teams will advance to the next round.

In the second round, including the three seeded teams, there are a total of 18 participating teams. Of the remaining teams, the two teams with the highest rankings in the qualifying rounds will receive a bye. The remaining 16 teams will then compete to determine the 8 teams that will advance to the third round.

In the third round, there are 10 participating teams. The two teams ranked higher in the ranking competition will receive a bye. Teams that have already received a bye will not receive a second bye.

In the fourth round, there will be six teams remaining, forming the final six of the tournament. At this point, there will be no more byes. The sixth team will be drawn into matches to determine the final three.

The final rankings for the top three will be determined through a combination of team battles and individual elimination rounds. First, the individual elimination rounds will feature a one-on-one arena where each of the three teams will field seven players, competing to defend their title until two teams are completely eliminated. The two losing teams from the individual elimination rounds will then engage in a team battle, with the winner joining the individual elimination round winner in the final team battle for the championship.

(End of this chapter)