"Oh? A new mission already?"
At that moment, upon hearing the System's voice suddenly ring out, a flicker of unexpected pleasant surprise flashed in the depths of Liu Yuan's eyes.
Speaking of which, since the System last released the mission to 'Win the Championship at the Soul Master Tournament,' it had been silent for a long time.
If the System hadn't suddenly made a move, Liu Yuan might have truly almost forgotten that he even possessed a System.
Thinking of this, with a thought, Liu Yuan began to examine the details of this newly refreshed mission.
He was actually somewhat curious about what kind of mission and rewards the System would arrange for him this time.
...
Under his attention, the System's voice rang out once more.
[Side Mission Triggered: King of the Group of Death]
[Mission Objective: Lead the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy Team to advance as the top seed of their group in the upcoming round-robin group stages.]
[Mission Reward: Random Pokémon Ability ×1]
"First in the group, huh..."
The smile at the corners of Liu Yuan's mouth deepened slightly.
"It seems the prize pool is getting bigger and bigger."
"Then I need to hurry as well."
Liu Yuan wasted no more time and gave a broad wave of his hand to the rest of the team members:
"Let's go, back to the hotel."
...
In the days that followed, the hotel where Liu Yuan and the others stayed seemed to transform into a closed-off munitions factory.
The members of the Sun Moon Team did not step foot outside their doors.
Under Liu Yuan's command, the team members had a clear division of labor, throwing themselves day and night into the research and development of spirit tools.
On the workbenches, sparks flew and the crisp sound of metal clashing rang out incessantly.
Piece after piece of spirit tools, flashing with a cold glint and emitting a dangerous Aura, gradually took shape before everyone's bloodshot eyes.
When the final spirit tool finished charging and the indicator light flickered on, a heart-palpitating murderous Aura permeated the entire room.
They did not feel exhausted from the continuous labor; on the contrary, a fanatical light called 'hunting' flickered in everyone's eyes.
By now, all the spirit tools they needed to prepare were ready.
Thus, everything was ready, and they only lacked the final push!
...
And so, with time flying by like this.
Finally.
The matches for the first five groups drew to a close amidst a cacophony of noise.
Immediately following that was the most exciting moment—
The Round-robin Tournament for group six officially began!
On this day, the atmosphere at Star Luo Plaza reached its highest climax since the start of the tournament.
Before dawn had even broken, long queues had already formed at the ticket gates outside the plaza.
The spectator stands, capable of holding hundreds of thousands of people, were packed with no empty seats, and even the aisles were crowded with fanatical spectators waving colorful flags.
Everyone wanted to witness with their own eyes what kind of sparks would fly in this group six, which gathered the previous champion and runner-up as well as the veteran powerhouse, Crimson Flame Academy.
With the referee's command, the Round-robin Tournament for group six kicked off its bloody prelude under the gaze of countless eyes.
However, the process of the matches did not turn out as tense as most spectators had anticipated.
At least, not when facing those weak teams that were just there for the ride.
Although group six was called the Group of Death, there were only three true 'Grim Reapers': Shrek, Sun Moon, and Chiyan.
As for the other academy teams, in this Asura Field, they were purely lambs led to the slaughter to give away points.
The progression of the matches was astonishingly fast.
On Shrek Academy's side, Ma Xiaotao was like a descending Fire Empress; almost every match was a complete steamroll.
Xuan Zi sat below the stage, watching his own students dominate the individual matches, smiling so hard his face blossomed. That smug appearance made it look as if the championship was already in the bag.
Crimson Flame Academy was also not to be outdone.
That group of fire-wielding lunatics displayed terrifying explosive power; often, before the opponent could even react, they had already been blasted off the stage by a sky full of raging flames.
The performance of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, however, was what people found most 'eerie.'
They didn't have the overbearing Aura of Shrek, nor the violent special effects of Crimson Flame Academy.
The team led by Liu Yuan was like a precision machine.
Every time they took the field, they used the least spirit power consumption and the most efficient spirit tool combinations to resolve the battle in the shortest time possible.
Many times, the opponents were eliminated by various strange technologies before they could even figure out their tactics.
First round, total victory.
Second round, total victory.
Third round, total victory.
...
As the tournament schedule progressed, the other teams that had originally held a sliver of hope fell into complete despair.
In the face of an absolute gap in strength, any tactic became a joke.
In just a few short days, except for these three giant teams, all the other academies in group six had been beaten into sieves. Their points were pitiful, and they withdrew early from the competition for the advancement slots.
The situation finally evolved into the form everyone looked forward to most—
A three-way deadlock.
At this moment, on the group six points leaderboard, Shrek Academy, Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, and Crimson Flame Academy were tied for first place, all maintaining a perfect winning record!
This also meant that every match from here on out would be a Peak showdown that decided life and death.
Three powerhouses, but only two slots to advance.
One team must be eliminated!
...
Star Luo Plaza, atop the Imperial City walls.
This was the position with the best view of the entire arena and was the exclusive viewing area for the Star Luo Empire's royal family.
Xu Jiawei, the Emperor of Star Luo, dressed in bright yellow dragon robes, stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at the arena below.
Beside him, the Prime Minister who had presided over the drawing of lots at the opening ceremony of the tournament stood respectfully in attendance.
Looking at the glaring scoreboard on the large screen, a meaningful smile appeared on Xu Jiawei's majestic face as he was the first to break the silence:
"I didn't expect this..."
"I originally thought that being sorted into this group would be a disaster for the Sun Moon Team."
"But who would have thought that these fellows who tinker with spirit tools could also fight so successfully in the individual elimination rounds."
Xu Jiawei turned his head to look at the old man beside him and asked in a seemingly casual tone:
"Prime Minister, you have watched for so many days. In your opinion, which two of these three teams will ultimately be able to advance?"
Hearing this, the Prime Minister pondered for a moment.
As an old fox who had spent many years in politics, he naturally knew what His Majesty wanted to hear, but at the same time, he had to maintain a professional judgment.
"Replying to Your Majesty."
The Prime Minister weighed his words and spoke slowly:
"From the strength displayed so far, Shrek Academy is undoubtedly in a league of its own."
"Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng are almost unstoppable in the individual matches. Their taking one of the advancement slots should be a certainty."
Speaking to this point, the Prime Minister paused and cast his gaze toward the other two directions of the preparation area:
"As for the remaining slot... it will be between Crimson Flame Academy and the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy."
"Although both these teams appear to be a notch below Shrek in strength, I have observed them for a long time and found that they both seem to be intentionally holding back their strength."
"The captain of Crimson Flame Academy has an extremely overbearing fire-attribute Spirit and has yet to go all out."
"And as for the Sun Moon Team, they are even more unfathomable..."
"So far, they haven't even used any truly significant trump cards, winning their matches merely by relying on some basic spirit tools."
After listening to the Prime Minister's analysis, Xu Jiawei nodded slightly, but a cold glint flashed deep in his eyes.
The Star Luo Empire and the Sun Moon Empire had been at war for consecutive years with constant border friction; the two sides had long accumulated thousands of years of blood feuds.
As the sovereign of a nation, he naturally did not wish to see the academy of an enemy nation shine on his own territory.
"Holding back strength, are they..."
Xu Jiawei gave a cold laugh, his gaze firmly locked onto those figures in the Sun Moon Team's rest area:
"I, for one, hope that Crimson Flame Academy can give me a surprise."
"Although with Shrek here, the championship of this tournament is destined to belong to our original Douluo Continent's three empires. But if..."
Xu Jiawei's voice lowered several degrees, carrying a grim chill:
"If we can have the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy eliminated right in the group stages, unable to even enter the top sixteen, and without even the qualification to compete for the runner-up..."
"That would definitely be a heavy blow to the Sun Moon Empire's morale and would make them a complete laughingstock across the entire continent!"
Hearing this, the Prime Minister's whole body jolted, and he immediately understood the Emperor's meaning.
He lowered his head deeply, his tone submissive yet firm:
"Your Majesty is wise. Crimson Flame Academy is a powerful team from the Heaven Dou Empire and shares the same roots as us. If they can win against the Sun Moon Team and crush them in the group stages, it would indeed be a joyous event for all."
"Presumably, this is also the outcome that Shrek's Elder Xuan most wishes to see."
The two looked at each other, both seeing a silent understanding in each other's eyes.
Just as the ruler and minister were conversing, the noisy plaza below suddenly went quiet for a moment, followed by an explosion of earth-shattering cheers.
That was the voice of the referee, which instantly spread to every corner through an amplification spirit tool.
"Round-robin group six, a crucial battle!"
"Will the team members for both sides of the next match please enter the arena!"
As the referee's impassioned voice fell, two beams of light suddenly struck both sides of the preparation area.
The subtitles on the large screen scrolled instantly, freezing on two lines of blood-red characters—
"Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy Representative Team" VS "Chiyan Advanced Soul Master Academy Representative Team"!
------------------------
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