Liu Erlong's eyes turned icy cold.
If this weren't the opening ceremony, with the entire continent watching, she would have rushed over and taught those little brats from the Seven Treasure Team a painful lesson.
"Hmph, they're nothing but empty showmen," Grandmaster sneered. "So what if they stole my theory? Without my explanations, they won't understand a thing."
He suspected that when Tang San had been deceived by Wu Qi earlier, that was when his theories had been leaked.
But it didn't matter. Without his detailed explanations, those obscure and complicated theories were impossible for outsiders to truly comprehend.
Besides, the grudge between them had already been established. One more incident made no difference.
Grandmaster would make Wu Qi and the others understand the consequences of provoking him.
After the Seven Treasure Team took their seats, the teams from the other academies entered one after another.
Most of the audience had come simply to enjoy the spectacle rather than care about who won or lost. What attracted their attention most were each team's slogans.
Compared to the Seven Treasure Team's slogan, the others were fairly ordinary, the kind people had heard countless times before.
That changed when Shrek Academy made its entrance, giving the crowd something new to talk about.
The announcer exclaimed.
"Wow! Shrek Academy's slogan is actually, 'Champions Without Opponents.' I have to say, that's certainly a bold slogan. Let's hope it doesn't make every other team their enemy, and that they can achieve good results."
The spectators looked at the Shrek Seven Devils as though they were watching a comedy.
"'Champions Without Opponents'? If the Seven Treasure Team had said that, I'd praise their confidence. But who does Shrek Academy think they are? Just look at those ugly green uniforms. They've already lost in terms of presence. What kind of fighting strength could they possibly have?"
"Hah, talking the biggest game just means they'll get beaten the hardest. Their mouths are the only tough part about them."
"Take a closer look. They've even got sponsor advertisements plastered all over their uniforms. That's downright embarrassing."
As they returned to the resting area, the Shrek Seven Devils' expressions became increasingly grim while the insults continued from every direction.
"What a bunch of snobs!" Dai Mubai growled through gritted teeth.
As for beating up the spectators who mocked them, he clearly didn't dare.
Inside the Seven Treasure Team's resting area, Changkong looked at the Shrek Seven Devils' uniforms and laughed so hard he nearly fell out of his chair. Even after hitting the floor, he still couldn't stop laughing.
"Come on, this is the Spirit Master Tournament, not a comedy contest. Are they trying to make their opponents laugh themselves to defeat?"
The resting areas were separated only by translucent partitions, making it easy to see the other teams.
Wu Qi noticed that Shrek Academy and Canghui Academy already had a long-standing grudge, with both sides glaring coldly at each other.
Meanwhile, the Elephant Armored Academy occasionally shot furious looks toward the Seven Treasure Team.
The tournament hadn't even officially begun, yet the atmosphere between the teams was already filled with hostility.
It was easy to imagine that there would be no shortage of bitter matchups in the days ahead.
Once all twenty-plus academy teams had arrived, it was time for the distinguished guests to appear.
The first to enter was Platinum Bishop Salas of the Spirit Hall branch in Heaven Dou City.
Within the Spirit Hall hierarchy, a Platinum Bishop ranked above every Spirit Douluo. However, Salas was not a Titled Douluo, so his status still fell short of the next three guests.
Next came Ning Fengzhi and Bone Douluo.
The moment the audience saw a Titled Douluo appear in person, the cheers erupted even louder than they had for the Seven Treasure Team's entrance.
After all, for the overwhelming majority of Spirit Masters, they might never meet a Titled Douluo in their entire lives.
Naturally, such supreme experts were admired by countless people.
The final person to appear was the Emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, Emperor Xue Ye.
His throne was positioned between Ning Fengzhi and Salas.
Standing behind Emperor Xue Ye were the recently prominent Prince Xue Xing and Crown Prince Xue Qinghe.
It was also worth noting that the three Education Committee elders, who had already retired, had somehow been invited to attend the opening ceremony as well.
"Now, please welcome His Majesty the Emperor to deliver the opening address for this tournament."
Emperor Xue Ye gave the customary formal speech before personally declaring:
"I, Xue Ye, Emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire and host of this tournament, hereby officially declare the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament open!"
The moment he finished speaking, thunderous applause erupted throughout the arena.
Next, the host turned his attention to Ning Fengzhi.
"Sect Master Ning, as the continent's foremost support-type Spirit Master, do you have any words for all the support-type Spirit Masters participating in this tournament?"
Ning Fengzhi smiled warmly and replied calmly,
"Every Spirit Master is unique. Support-type Spirit Masters generally cultivate more slowly than battle-type Spirit Masters, so maintaining the right mindset is especially important."
"Do not become overjoyed by success, nor discouraged by setbacks. That is a quality every outstanding Spirit Master should possess."
"These are simply a few of my personal insights from cultivation. I hope they can be of some help to everyone."
The audience once again burst into enthusiastic applause.
After the applause gradually died down, the host continued,
"Then, Sect Master Ning, would you care to predict who will win this year's tournament?"
Without hesitation, Ning Fengzhi answered confidently.
"Seven Treasure Academy."
The host responded excitedly.
"Wow! It seems Sect Master Ning has great confidence in the Seven Treasure Team."
"I've heard that your daughter is also a student at Seven Treasure Academy. Will everyone have the chance to witness her outstanding performance during the tournament?"
Ning Fengzhi simply replied,
"You will."
With the interview concluded, it was time for Salas to conduct the tournament draw.
Salas had no idea that Ning Fengzhi had already reached an agreement with the Worship Hall.
He wanted to make things difficult for the Seven Treasure Team, yet he was also wary of offending Wu Qi.
Caught between those conflicting thoughts, he handled the draw rather casually.
As for Ning Fengzhi, he could not reveal his cooperation with the Worship Hall and had to continue publicly supporting the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.
From top to bottom, everyone involved in this opening ceremony was engaged in their own political maneuvering.
The draw results were announced shortly afterward.
The Seven Treasure Team's first-round opponent would be Otto Academy, an ordinary academy with little reputation.
"What a pity. We won't be playing in the opening match," Wu Qi said with a slight shake of his head.
Today was only the opening ceremony. The actual matches would begin tomorrow.
The opening match would be played by the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy Team, representing the imperial family, against the opponent determined by the draw.
Whether by coincidence or design, just as in the original timeline, Heaven Dou Academy's Third Team was once again matched against Shrek Academy.
As for why they were called the Third Team, the reason was simple.
The Seven Treasure Team officially carried the designation of Heaven Dou Academy Second Team.
It was a compromise Ning Fengzhi had made in exchange for receiving financial support from the imperial family.
Officially, it was presented as a joint academy program that had formed the Seven Treasure Team. If they won the championship, Heaven Dou Imperial Academy would share in the glory as well.
When the Shrek Seven Devils had previously studied at Heaven Dou Imperial Academy, they had been deliberately humiliated by Prince Xue Xing and even publicly insulted.
Now, after being mocked by both the audience and the Seven Treasure Team during the opening ceremony, they were holding back a great deal of anger.
Their very first opponents, Heaven Dou Academy's Third Team, became the perfect target for them to vent all of that resentment.
More importantly, if they could heavily defeat Heaven Dou Academy's Third Team during the opening match, they would also be striking a blow against the imperial family and avenging Qin Ming's death.
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