In the subsequent matches, the Spirit Hall team, the Star Luo Royal Academy team, and the Divine Wind team each defeated their opponents and successfully advanced to the fourth round.
With Shrek Academy and Shura Academy receiving byes, a total of six teams advanced into the top six of this tournament.
They were only in the top six, but everyone knew that Spirit Hall was determined to take the championship this time.
The only team that might be able to rival Spirit Hall was probably the Heaven Dou team.
This was because the captain of the Heaven Dou team, Lin Yang, had still not appeared, and no one knew his true strength.
However, a little investigation revealed that Lin Yang had participated in the previous Spirit Master Elite Tournament.
Five years had passed. He had at least advanced to Soul King, or even Soul Emperor.
Yet many viewers believed that even if Lin Yang took the stage, the chances of Heaven Dou winning were extremely low.
However, with a lineup of four Soul Kings — or one Soul Emperor and three Soul Kings — second place should not be a problem for them.
As for God Wind Academy and the Star Luo Royal Academy team —
Neither of these teams possessed Soul King-level combat power, but they were among the few teams whose members were all Soul Masters.
God Wind Academy's strength lay in the fact that every member belonged to the outstanding talents of the Four Elements Academies.
Furthermore, their teamwork was extremely smooth.
Wind fanned the flames, while water and thunder followed.
The variety of combination techniques was astonishing and breathtaking.
The core of the Star Luo Royal Academy team was Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun.
They were at level 49 and level 47 respectively.
In addition, the strength of their Nether White Tiger martial soul fusion skill was not to be underestimated.
Who would advance to the finals would depend on who was luckier.
Shrek Academy and Shura Academy had advanced through byes, so other teams simply regarded them as fillers occupying spots.
In particular, even though Shrek had ranked sixth in the preliminaries, they had obtained a bye into the main competition. They had been incredibly lucky.
Just reaching this point was already fortunate. The possibility of advancing further was low.
...
After one day of rest, the fourth round of the competition officially began.
Without a doubt, aside from the Heaven Dou team, no team wanted to be drawn against the Spirit Hall team.
The ideal opponent was naturally the Shura team.
Whoever drew them was almost certain to enter the top three.
The captains of the six teams drew lots in turn. The final match order was as follows:
The first match was Shrek Academy versus the Shura team.
The second match was between the Spirit Hall team and the Divine Wind team.
The third match was the Heaven Dou team versus the Star Luo Royal Academy team.
The moment the draw results were announced, Feng Xiaotian's body stiffened slightly. Afterward, a smile mixed with relief and bitterness appeared on his face.
He realized that this time, God Wind Academy was finished.
He turned to look at Lin Yang, his tone filled with helplessness.
"It seems we won't have the chance to stand on the same stage."
Lin Yang did not say much. He simply patted his shoulder lightly.
"Lin Yang, we'll hold on a little longer and probe Spirit Hall's strength." Feng Xiaotian paused and looked at him with a serious gaze.
"More than them, I hope you win the championship."
Lin Yang smiled slightly. "Yes!"
When the competition officially began, as everyone expected, the Shrek team completely crushed Shura Academy and successfully entered the top three.
Many people pointed out that Shrek Academy had been incredibly lucky. They had advanced all the way to the finals almost without facing any strong teams along the way.
However, those who said this had overlooked one point: Shrek Academy's strength was by no means bad.
Although they still only had four soul masters, even with the help of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, it was hard to say they were a team composed entirely of soul masters.
Needless to say, they also possessed high-quality martial souls such as the Clear Sky Hammer, Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon, White Tiger, and Phoenix.
In the second match, the God Wind team faced Spirit Hall.
Qian Renxue did not take the field. Instead, the "Golden Generation" led by Hu Liena stood on the stage.
Thanks to the combination techniques of Feng Xiaotian and Huo Wu, as well as the martial soul fusion skill of Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu, Spirit Hall nearly suffered hidden losses.
Despite the final defeat, the God Wind special forces could be said to have suffered an honorable loss.
In the third match, Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun fully recognized how formidable opponents Xiao Wu and Dugu Yan were.
Therefore, at the start of the match, the two of them unhesitatingly released the Nether White Tiger.
Suddenly, a massive black-and-white tiger appeared in the arena. Its body length exceeded ten meters, radiating an extremely fierce and terrifying aura.
Recalling the Nether White Tiger previously used by Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing, both were far inferior in terms of size and aura.
Insufficient cultivation was one factor, but a more important issue was that the two of them were superficially friendly yet internally opposed.
In the Shrek Academy rest area, Dai Mubai's face turned pale when he saw this scene.
However, deep down he was glad that Shrek would not have to confront Dai Weisi and his team.
If he lost in a direct confrontation with Dai Weisi, there would be no hope of turning the situation around.
Although the two sides had not faced each other directly, he had succeeded in leading Shrek into the top three, while Dai Weisi had stopped there.
The fact that not a single team from the Star Luo Empire had entered the top three would undoubtedly deal a heavy blow to Dai Weisi's reputation.
And he would definitely gain more breathing room.
Standing beside him, Zhu Zhuqing naturally noticed the change in Dai Mubai's eyes.
Despair gradually surfaced in her stubborn pupils.
She had never imagined that Dai Mubai would not even have the courage to participate in the competition.
On the contrary, they were secretly relieved that they did not have to deal with Dai Weisi.
If she had known he would become this kind of person, why had she abandoned everything and traveled from Star Luo all the way to Heaven Dou?
Was it just so she could live a meager life at Shrek?
On the stage, a dense poisonous mist completely covered the entire venue.
The Cardinal in charge of the match had to activate the barriers around the arena to prevent the toxic mist from spreading outward.
Inside the barrier, aside from the Nether White Tiger that was still desperately holding on, the other five members of the Star Luo team had long since become dizzy, their faces pale from the poisonous mist.
Under the fierce assault of the four Shi brothers, they were forced to retreat one after another and could not even display half of their full strength.
The ace unit, the Nether White Tiger, was not in a particularly good state either.
A martial soul fusion skill released by high-level soul masters possessed power comparable to a Soul Emperor's techniques.
However, both Xiao Wu and Dugu Yan possessed Soul Emperor-level strength.
One of them excelled at close combat while the other controlled poison from a distance. Their coordination was perfect.
The terrifying Azure Phosphor Poison forced the Nether White Tiger into a corner of the arena.
At the same time, Xiao Wu used teleportation to instantly arrive above the Nether White Tiger and spun 360 degrees in midair.
Wu Technique — Gale Whirl Dance!
Her fifth spirit ring suddenly lit up.
Terrifying wind blades attached themselves to her long, slender legs. They slammed down violently onto the back of the Nether White Tiger.
ROOOOAAARRR!
The Nether White Tiger let out a roar of pain and collapsed to the ground.
A violent tremor shook the arena!
Then the fluctuations of soul power became chaotic. White light and shadow suddenly separated.
Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun both fell to the ground.
Both of them looked unwell, with bloodstains at the corners of their mouths.
Xiao Wu crossed her arms and looked down at the two of them.
"You… admit defeat!"
Dai Weisi struggled to stand up again, but Zhu Zhuyun grabbed him.
"Dai Weisi, enough already. We've already lost!"
Dai Weisi froze. He glanced at the other members who had been forced off the stage, took a deep breath, and raised his hand.
"We surrender!"
…