Feng Xiaotian understood that Wu Qi had silently accepted his proposal.
Although neither of them said it outright, they were secretly competing with each other.
Of course, it was healthy competition. Neither of them would resort to underhanded methods just to defeat the other.
One team after another entered the grounds, quickly occupying the best resting areas.
Since Shrek Academy had offended the imperial family, they were naturally the last team allowed to enter.
By the time they arrived at the competition grounds, there were no resting areas left to choose from, so they could only accept the final one available.
Tang San and the others didn't care about this.
They didn't care what the imperial family thought of them. After all, this was during the tournament, and no matter how dissatisfied the imperial family was, they couldn't possibly make a move against them.
As for what happened after the tournament, they would simply leave and go wherever they pleased. Who would care about any of this then?
With Yu Xiaogang gone and Flender and the others having given up on the academy, only Liu Erlong and one staff member responsible for logistics had accompanied Shrek Academy this time.
Their staff was extremely sparse.
But that didn't prevent the Shrek Seven Devils from aiming for a better result in the tournament.
"Third Brother, I have a bad feeling about this resting area," Xiao Wu said nervously.
Although Shrek Academy's resting area was in a secluded corner, theoretically, the teams in front of them should have chosen this place first.
What they didn't know was that this location happened to be diagonally opposite the Seven Treasure Team's resting area and was also downwind.
Tang San didn't pay much attention to it.
"Everyone, put your luggage away as quickly as possible. There's still an opening ceremony later, and we can't miss it."
Compared with the qualifiers, the opening ceremony of the Promotion Tournament was considerably less grand.
The three people on the main platform were still Ning Fengzhi, Xue Ye, and Salas.
With no spectators present, Xue Ye's opening speech was extremely brief. In essence, he simply told everyone not to put too much pressure on themselves and to display their full strength.
The qualifiers were team battles. Those who lacked individual strength could perhaps rely on their teammates and take advantage of the situation to win.
The Promotion Tournament was different. It was a series of one-on-one matches. Whether someone was a hero or a nobody would be clear after a single battle.
Next, Ning Fengzhi and Salas both stated that if any participating team needed supplies, they would provide them unconditionally.
Furthermore, because the competition grounds were closed off, very few teams had brought their own cooks. All meals would therefore be provided by the organizers, with designated personnel supervising the process to prevent anyone from poisoning the food.
Of course, teams with excellent logistical support, such as the Seven Treasure Team, could bring ingredients into the competition grounds through their Storage-type Spirit Tools.
The food prepared in a communal kitchen wasn't particularly good. Having their own cook prepare meals separately was the only way to ensure the team's fighting condition remained at its peak.
The opening ceremony ended.
All the teams returned to their respective resting areas.
Most teams chose to rest early and recover their energy for the matches the following day.
Shrek Academy, however, had no chance of resting.
For some reason, a large amount of garbage had been dumped near their resting area.
Because the temperature inside the grounds was relatively high and their camp was also downwind, the stench of garbage blew directly toward them, making it impossible for them to rest.
"Who dumped all this garbage here?"
Dai Mubai walked forward and kicked the garbage pile several times.
With the strength of a Spirit Ancestor, he easily sent the pile of garbage flying.
The garbage was carried by the wind and happened to land directly in front of their tents.
Trash rained down everywhere, making Liu Erlong extremely displeased.
"That's enough, Mubai! Are you trying to throw all the garbage into our camp?"
As she spoke, she couldn't help cursing whoever had carelessly dumped the garbage.
Tang San's expression was as dark as water.
"Someone definitely did this deliberately. Teacher Erlong, please report this to the organizing committee. At the very least, have them clear away the garbage."
Liu Erlong was already extremely irritated, but they still had a tournament to participate in. They couldn't waste all their time dealing with garbage.
Just as she was heading toward the organizing committee, several staff members approached them carrying garbage bins.
Right in front of them, the staff members dumped the garbage near their camp.
Seeing garbage scattered across the ground, the staff members' expressions darkened as they shouted at the Shrek team.
"Hey! Do you people have nothing better to do? Why are you playing around with garbage here?"
"Look at this mess! Who's going to clean it up?"
The Shrek team's anger had already been building up. Hearing those words, they finally couldn't hold themselves back.
"Who told you to dump the garbage here? Don't you know our resting area is right nearby?!"
Inside the sleeve of Tang San's robe, a concealed sleeve arrow was quietly readied.
For deliberately targeting Shrek Academy like this, these staff members had brought death upon themselves.
However, this was a military camp. If they really attacked, none of them would be able to escape. Moreover, with Yu Xiaogang gone, there was no one capable of protecting them.
In the end, reason overcame impulse, and Tang San didn't make a move.
But since the staff members were right there, they had to get an explanation.
One of the staff members couldn't help cursing.
"The location of the garbage dump was chosen by the organizing committee. What? You don't want to participate in the tournament anymore?"
Hearing this, the Shrek team's mood became even worse.
The organizing committee had deliberately arranged for garbage to be dumped near them. It was obvious that they didn't want Shrek Academy to have a proper tournament and were deliberately targeting them!
In reality, however, that wasn't entirely the case.
From above, it was clear that the entire resting area had been arranged in a trapezoidal layout.
The resting areas of the Seven Treasure Team and Shrek Academy happened to be located at the two corners of the trapezoid.
Because the Seven Treasure Team had chosen the upwind corner first, even if the organizing committee had wanted to place the garbage dump there, it wouldn't have been practical.
After all, if the garbage were piled up in the upwind area, the entire camp would be filled with the stench.
The other teams weren't stupid either. Although the corner where Shrek Academy was staying was particularly quiet, there was a good chance that garbage would eventually be dumped there.
Otherwise, how could Shrek Academy have ended up with such a convenient spot?
"Aunt Erlong, calm down. Let's go and lodge a complaint with the organizing committee."
Yu Tianheng remained relatively calm, trying to prevent Liu Erlong from acting too impulsively.
These staff members weren't Spirit Masters, so there was no reason to think they were lying.
They were simply carrying out orders. Making things difficult for them wouldn't accomplish anything.
But could a decision made by the organizing committee really be changed so easily?
In the end, Shrek Academy still had to endure the smell and continue staying there.
Seven Treasure Team Resting Area
After the opening ceremony ended, the drawing of lots for the matches immediately followed.
There were fifteen teams participating in the Promotion Tournament, and the competition would be conducted in a round-robin format.
The tournament would last fourteen days, with each team receiving one day off.
Once the draw was completed, the identity of the Seven Treasure Team's opponent for the following day was revealed.
"It's the Spirit Beast Academy!"
Wu Qi and the others were both surprised and delighted.
Before the tournament, Meng Yiran had deliberately come looking for trouble with them. Now, they finally had a chance to settle the score.
Sun Buyu said, "Spirit Beast Academy is the second qualifying team from the Balak Kingdom division. Their overall strength is average. If they had been placed in the Heaven Dou division, they wouldn't have had any chance of qualifying."
"But don't forget that they have the support of the Longshe Clan. Within the Balak Kingdom, they're considered an academy with considerable influence."
"I know you have a grudge against Spirit Beast Academy, but don't take things too far during the match. At least leave them some dignity."
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