Chapter 202: The Preliminary Rounds Begin, Three Against One, the Advantage Is Mine!
Time passed quickly, and only a few days remained before the Spirit Master Competition officially began.
The Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament was the grandest event in the entire Spirit Master world.
Jointly organized by the Heaven Dou Empire, the Star Luo Empire, and Spirit Hall, it was held once every five years.
The Spirit Master Competition was divided into three stages: the preliminary rounds, the promotion matches, and the grand finals.
The competition itself was divided between two major regions, the Heaven Dou Empire division and the Star Luo Empire division.
Each Empire possessed one seeded team that could directly skip both the preliminary rounds and the promotion matches, advancing straight into the grand finals.
Together with Spirit Hall's seeded team, there were three seeded teams in total that did not need to participate in the early stages of selection.
Naturally, the seeded team representing the Heaven Dou Empire was the Heaven Dou Royal Academy First Team led by Lin Mo.
Aside from the seeded team, fifteen teams from the Heaven Dou Empire division would qualify for the grand finals through the preliminary rounds and promotion matches.
The Star Luo Empire division followed the same system.
Adding the fifteen qualifying teams from each Empire to the three seeded teams meant that a total of thirty three teams would participate in the grand finals.
After the preliminary rounds came the promotion matches.
Unlike the preliminaries, the promotion matches would not eliminate teams. Their results would instead determine the order in which the qualifying teams appeared during the finals.
The main venue for the Heaven Dou Empire division was the Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena in Heaven Dou City.
To prepare for such a major event, the Great Spirit Arena had begun extensive renovations a month in advance.
The numerous smaller arenas and the central main arena had been merged into one enormous competition venue.
Aside from the VIP section on the northern side, almost all of the spectator areas had been rebuilt.
The renovated arena could now accommodate eighty thousand spectators at the same time.
In addition to Heaven Dou City serving as the main competition region, five other preliminary regions had been established throughout the Heaven Dou Empire.
Teams from academies across the Empire would compete in their respective regions for the fifteen available qualifying positions.
Before long, the day of the tournament's official opening arrived.
As members of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy First Team, Lin Mo and the others entered the Great Spirit Arena early and went directly to the exclusive rest area prepared for them.
Nearly thirty teams had gathered in Heaven Dou City's preliminary division.
By now, most of them had already arrived and were resting or making final preparations in their assigned areas.
The entire Great Spirit Arena was filled with noise.
The spectator stands were already packed.
However, the most eye catching team in the entire venue was not the Heaven Dou Royal Academy First Team.
It was Shrek Academy.
More precisely, it was their bizarre green uniforms.
That strange shade of green was simply impossible to ignore.
Quite a few spectators were already pointing toward them and whispering among themselves, clearly having plenty to say about their appearance.
Before the opening ceremony officially began, however, the Heaven Dou First Team's rest area received an unexpected visitor.
Meng Shenji, one of the Three Education Committee members of Heaven Dou Royal Academy, walked directly toward them.
His gaze immediately landed on Lin Mo.
"Lin Mo."
Lin Mo stood and nodded slightly.
"Committee Member Meng."
Meng Shenji waved a hand.
"His Majesty has already arrived and is currently waiting in the VIP lounge. He wishes to see you."
Understanding flashed through Lin Mo's eyes.
He did not ask any unnecessary questions.
"Alright."
Meng Shenji nodded, turned around, and led the way.
Lin Mo followed him through a passage behind the rest area and headed toward the VIP section.
The VIP area was located on the northern side of the Great Spirit Arena.
Its elevated position provided an excellent view of the entire competition venue.
Meng Shenji stopped before an exceptionally luxurious room and knocked on the door.
A deep voice soon came from inside.
"Come in."
Meng Shenji opened the door and entered first.
Lin Mo followed closely behind.
There were three people inside.
The man standing in the center wore a magnificent golden red robe and a golden crown set with diamonds.
His face carried the dignity accumulated from years of ruling, and there was a faint resemblance between his features and those of Prince Xue Xing, whom Lin Mo had met before.
There was no need to guess.
This was Emperor Xue Ye, ruler of the Heaven Dou Empire.
Standing to his left was Ning Fengzhi, School Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, whom Lin Mo had already met.
To the right stood an elderly man dressed in the robes of a Spirit Hall Platinum Bishop.
His expression was indifferent, while his gaze carried a faint gloominess.
After only a moment of thought, Lin Mo guessed his identity.
He should be Salas, the Platinum Bishop stationed by Spirit Hall in Heaven Dou City.
Meng Shenji stepped forward and bowed.
"Your Majesty, Lin Mo has arrived."
Emperor Xue Ye's gaze shifted toward Lin Mo.
He carefully examined the young man before him, and a trace of appreciation appeared in his eyes.
Meng Shenji turned slightly toward Lin Mo.
"Lin Mo, this is His Majesty."
He then gestured toward the other two.
"This is School Master Ning of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, and this is Platinum Bishop Salas of Spirit Hall."
Lin Mo stepped forward and saluted calmly, neither humble nor arrogant.
"Greetings, Your Majesty, School Master Ning, and Bishop Salas."
Emperor Xue Ye waved his hand.
"No need for excessive formality."
His tone was quite gentle.
"I summoned you today simply because I wanted to personally meet the most outstanding young genius our Heaven Dou Empire has produced in recent years."
"Seeing you now, your reputation is indeed well deserved."
"At such a young age, you've already reached the Spirit Emperor realm, and your actual combat ability is even more astonishing."
"Excellent. Truly excellent."
Lin Mo remained calm.
"Your Majesty praises me too highly."
Emperor Xue Ye smiled.
His expression then became slightly more serious.
"In this Spirit Master Competition, you are the captain of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy First Team."
"You carry the honor of the Empire."
"I will make you a promise today."
"If you can lead the Heaven Dou First Team to victory and claim the final championship, the Empire will heavily reward every member of your team."
"As captain, you will receive an additional reward from me personally."
"I assure you, it will not disappoint you."
Ning Fengzhi remained beside him with his usual gentle smile, saying nothing.
Salas, however, showed no visible reaction at all.
Only a faint trace of disdain flashed through the depths of his eyes.
In his opinion, although Lin Mo's talent was undeniably extraordinary, the Heaven Dou Royal Academy First Team would still find it difficult to overcome Spirit Hall's seeded team.
Spirit Hall possessed three members who had already reached the Spirit King realm.
The remaining four main members were all Spirit Ancestors above Rank 45.
Such a lineup was enough to overwhelm almost every team in the tournament.
Even if Lin Mo himself had already reached the Spirit Emperor realm, a team battle was not decided by one person alone.
Three Spirit Kings against one overwhelmingly powerful captain.
The advantage was still with Spirit Hall!
Salas naturally did not voice these thoughts.
Lin Mo quietly observed the reactions of everyone in the room, but his expression did not change at all.
He bowed slightly.
"Thank you for Your Majesty's trust."
"I will do everything within my ability and will not disappoint the Empire."
Emperor Xue Ye nodded in satisfaction.
"Good."
"You may return now. Prepare properly for the competition."
"Yes."
Lin Mo acknowledged the order before following Meng Shenji out of the VIP lounge.
By the time Lin Mo returned to the Heaven Dou First Team's rest area, every participating academy had already entered the venue.
The enormous arena had become increasingly lively.
The cheers and conversations of tens of thousands of spectators merged into a deafening roar.
Before long, an emcee dressed in formal attire stepped onto the central stage.
Spirit power amplified his voice throughout the entire arena.
"The Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament, Heaven Dou Empire Division preliminary rounds, officially begin!"
Boom!
The entire arena erupted into deafening cheers.
The emcee raised one hand, signaling for the crowd to quiet down.
"First, let us welcome His Majesty, Emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, to deliver the opening address!"
Emperor Xue Ye rose from the VIP section.
He stepped forward and gave a brief yet powerful speech before returning to his seat.
Ning Fengzhi and Salas then delivered their own speeches in turn.
Finally, Platinum Bishop Salas was responsible for drawing the matchups for the first round of the preliminary competition.
However, Salas seemed particularly unwilling to waste words.
Each time he drew an academy's name, he simply handed the slip of paper to the nearby emcee and allowed him to announce the result.
"First round of the preliminary competition, Canghui Academy versus Zixing Academy!"
"First round of the preliminary competition, Auckland Academy versus Flame Brilliance Academy!"
Another slip was opened.
The emcee glanced at it before raising his voice.
"First round of the preliminary competition, Heaven Dou Royal Academy Second Team versus Shrek Academy!"
The moment those words fell, the entire Great Spirit Arena went silent for an instant.
Then an even louder wave of noise erupted.
Standing near the front of the Heaven Dou First Team's rest area, Lin Mo heard the name of that familiar academy and calmly turned his gaze toward the distant patch of conspicuous green.
....
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