For this Seven Great Sects Hegemony Tournament, Martial Soul Hall specially cleared a dedicated venue. This venue is located in the very center of Martial Soul City, at the foot of the mountain where the Douluo Hall resides.
The intensity of the battles this time is completely incomparable to the previous Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament. Since the minimum level of the combatants is that of a Soul Douluo, no arena was constructed. Instead, there is only a massive plaza with a diameter of about ten kilometers, paved entirely with granite.
At the same time, the plaza is equipped with twenty powerful earth-attribute soul masters at the Soul Saint level or above, ready to reinforce and repair the ground at any moment. After all, the destructive power of a Soul Douluo is too great; one must be vigilant at all times.
Only a holy land for soul masters like Martial Soul Hall would have the qualifications to do this; the two great empires combined might only have this many earth-attribute experts of such a caliber.
Early the next morning, the participating sects were led by Martial Soul Hall personnel to the competition venue. Each sect has a separately constructed rest area. The rest areas are built surrounding the competition venue, on the side opposite to the Douluo Hall.
Because the Breaking Clan, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan are all soul master forces possessing Titled Douluo, they do not need to participate in the initial selection of the seven sects. They are directly ranked among the seven, only needing to wait for the remaining four sects to emerge before competing for the specific sect rankings.
For this seven-sect contention, excluding the three directly selected, there are a total of sixteen sect forces, including the original Lower Four Sects.
The selection method for the other four sects is group advancement plus paired elimination.
The so-called group advancement involves dividing these sixteen sects into four groups of four. Within each group, a double round-robin tournament format is used, meaning every sect in a group must face the other three twice, with one point awarded for each win. On the first day, all four groups compete simultaneously, finishing all matches within one day. This means each sect must fight six times, and the top two in points from each group advance. This will determine the eight sects.
The second day is for the subsequent paired elimination. The rule is that, while avoiding sects from the same group, the first-place sect from each group is randomly paired with one of the second-place sects from the other three groups. A single battle decides the outcome, and the winner advances to the seven sects.
Finally, the matches in both rounds are individual soul fighting. Furthermore, because the specific rules were only released after the tournament began, and Martial Soul Hall will not provide any Support System soul masters for assistance, the two days of intense combat will heavily test the quantity of a sect's top experts and their individual strength. If a sect only has one Soul Douluo expert, unless they are exceptionally powerful, it will be difficult to win until the end. At the same time, even if the quantity is sufficient, if the strength is lacking, winning is impossible.
Overall, this tournament schedule is quite in line with the reality of the Soul Master World: the strong are respected.
The Seven Great Sects Hegemony Tournament did not have the grand opening ceremony one might imagine; everything was very simple. A Cardinal from Martial Soul Hall took the stage to announce the start of the tournament and the match-ups. Afterward, the competition began under the direction of referees specifically selected by Martial Soul Hall.
The Breaking Clan, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan arrived at the viewing platform specially built on the mountain.
Seeing Yu Yuanzhen, Ning Fengzhi took the initiative to step forward and greet him.
"Sect Master Yu, it has been many days, and your spirit is still as vigorous as ever! I imagine you will surely make further progress in this tournament."
Listening to Ning Fengzhi's pointed greeting, Yu Yuanzhen's expression remained unchanged as he said.
"Mister Ning is the one who is truly radiant. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is powerful; it seems you are determined to take the number one spot this time!"
Ning Fengzhi was not annoyed, smiling and waving his hand.
"Not at all, not at all. My sect's goal is not high; maintaining the status quo is enough. Being Number One Under Heaven is not something my sect pursues."
Yu Yuanzhen let out a 'heh', offering no comment. He would only believe that if he were foolish enough to fall for Ning Fengzhi's tricks. Shifting his gaze, he saw Yun Ming for the third time.
Yun Ming also saw Yu Yuanzhen once again. After nodding in acknowledgment, he turned his gaze toward the combat plaza. After all, he had already gauged the strength of Yu Yuanzhen through their brief exchange last time; now, he was more curious about the martial soul abilities of those on the stage.
"Hmph!"
Seeing Yun Ming's indifferent attitude toward him, Yu Yuanzhen felt somewhat displeased and let out a cold snort. There was no sycophancy in Yun Ming's attitude, and he could not accept that. However, thinking of Yun Ming's strength and the subsequent schedule, he made a decision: this time, he would definitely use his full strength to make Yun Ming pay.
The competition began, and everyone's attention shifted to the stage.
At the four corners of the plaza, four groups of matches proceeded simultaneously. In this first round, two of the original Lower Four Sects, the Elephant Armor Sect and the Fire Leopard Sect, were competing.
The combatant for the Elephant Armor Sect was the sect master, Heavenly Elephant Huyan Zhen, while the Fire Leopard Sect sent their own sect master, Huo Bao, to face him.
As soon as the match started, the two old rivals went all out, fighting in a very bold manner.
Huo Bao lived up to his name; he was indeed explosive, and his fighting style was quite aggressive. Of course, this was also related to his martial soul. The hereditary martial soul of their Fire Leopard Sect, the Fire Leopard, may have a common name, but its quality is not ordinary—it is at the half-step top tier. The innate speed characteristic of leopard-type martial souls combined with the fire element, the most explosive of all, allows its wielder to possess not only speed comparable to agility-type soul masters of the same level but also powerful destructive power that ordinary agility-type soul masters lack. Overall, it is somewhat similar to the Gale Two-Headed Wolf of Feng Xiaotian.
Watching Huo Bao directly activate his Spirit Avatar, transforming into a giant demon leopard over ten meters tall with surging flames, Yun Ming watched him charge directly at Huyan Zhen.
Huo Bao's starting speed was fast, but his acceleration was even more astonishing. The fifty-meter gap between the two was crossed in an instant; the trail of flames at the starting point had not even had time to dissipate before he reached the giant elephant transformed from Huyan Zhen's avatar.
Then, he raised his Leopard Claws, gathering terrifying force and surging, compressed dark red flames into a claw-shaped demonic flame, slamming it directly onto the elephant face of Huyan Zhen.
With just one glance, Yun Ming saw the essence of Huo Bao's extraordinary speed-boosting ability and commented casually.
"Applying the explosive power of fire to speed, while further increasing speed, it greatly strengthens the impact and attack power, compensating for the weakness of the martial soul's own slightly inferior strength. Finding a point of convergence for seemingly contradictory martial soul characteristics—it's unexpectedly good."
Watching his grandson's unexpectedly calm demeanor, Yang Wudi laughed and scolded.
"You brat, don't underestimate the heroes of the world! If they didn't have some real skills, how could they sit in the positions of the Seven Great Sects?"
"Yes, I will keep Grandfather's teachings in mind," Yun Ming responded with a smile and continued to watch the match.
Huyan Zhen and Huo Bao were old rivals and knew Huo Bao's abilities very well. He knew he could not dodge the opponent's attack, so he planted his four feet into the ground, his entire body surging with earth-yellow Soul Power, resembling a bronze-cast Dark Gold Divine Elephant, waiting for the attack with ease. Seeing Huo Bao's claw slamming toward his face, Huyan Zhen's thick, ten-meter-long elephant trunk transformed into a divine whip and lashed out violently.
"Boom—"
The collision of the two behemoths produced a loud bang. The granite under their feet was fragile in the face of such a collision, shattering into dust instantly under the impact.
Watching the end of their first exchange, Yun Ming whispered to himself.
"Diamond Mammoth, indeed."
Chen Xin, who was watching the battle, also made his final judgment on the outcome of this match upon seeing the result of the exchange.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: DaoistReader