Chapter 77 Background.
Yu Xiaogang stood before the crowd, his gaze sweeping over all eleven Shrek Team members. "Now, I'll announce the lineup. Dai Mubai, you'll go first, followed by Zhu Zhuqing and Tang San."
Shi Yi felt a sense of emotion as he listened to his teacher's arrangements. Regardless of the world, people are divided by their closeness. Shi Yi estimated that given the Shrek players' current strength, the Shrek substitutes would have little chance of playing.
This also had to do with the format of the promotion tournament. Everyone knew that team spirit battles prioritized performance, which was why the Four Elements Academy tickets sold the most. However, in the world of spirit masters, individual strength was paramount. The purpose of the promotion tournament was to allow the contestants to showcase their abilities before the major powers. Naturally, Yu Xiaogang prioritized Flender's team for such an opportunity. Of course, the substitutes did indeed lag behind the original Shrek team in terms of individual strength.
Tai Long couldn't help but ask, "Master, aren't we sending seven players to the promotion tournament?"
Yu Xiaogang looked at Tai Long and said calmly, "The three of them are more than enough."
"..." Tai Long opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. The Shrek players were indeed much stronger than him.
Besides the overall score, the smaller points from wins were also crucial for the final standings of the promotion tournament. In the event of a major draw,the smaller points would be ranked according to the smaller points.
This was why Yu Xiaogang had so calmly excluded the substitutes from the competition. In Yu Xiaogang's opinion, since the strengths of Shi Yi and the others had been revealed, with only two supports and Ma Hongjun remaining, it was natural to take as many points as possible.
Shi Yi didn't say much upon seeing this. This was why he had chosen Yu Xiaogang as his master. No matter what world, success depends not only on hard work but also on opportunities. Background and connections, seemingly intangible things, still play a role. Although Tang San in the original novel was gifted and possessed a natural advantage, was Yu Xiaogang truly useless?
At least in Notting City, Shi Yi couldn't find anyone with a stronger background than Yu Xiaogang.
Without Yu Xiaogang, Tang San wouldn't even know about Shrek Academy, or even the existence of Sea God Island. While he might still have become a powerful figure, he wouldn't have been able to successfully develop the Tang Sect, or even overthrow the Spirit Hall. Power development can never rely on just one person.
Many people possess the same innate full spirit power as Tang San, but in this era, only Bibi Dong and Tang San achieved deity. They share many similarities, and even someone as powerful as Bibi Dong still needed to leverage the Spirit Hall's power to hunt 100,000-year-old spirit beasts.
The saying that individual power is ultimately limited still holds true in this world, at least before achieving deification. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many forces, sects, and families.
Just as Shi Yi was lost in thought, Emperor Xue Ye rose from the VIP seats and announced loudly through his spirit guide: "The promotion tournament officially begins today. For the next fourteen days, I hope each academy's teams will fully demonstrate their strengths and showcase the true spirit masters they deserve. Begin."
As soon as he finished speaking, a roar resounded like a landslide and a tsunami: "Long live, long live, long live!"
The Royal Knights raised their lances high, the clang of armor and their resounding shouts unmistakably showcasing the demeanor of a great nation.
The competition proceeded swiftly. Between spirit masters, once a disparity in strength emerges, victory or defeat often comes in a split second. Whoever possesses superior spirit skills or a higher level of spirit power easily triumphs, as Shi Yi demonstrated in the team competition.
Continuous combat requires no rest periods. While it's not a one-on-one duel, being able to challenge multiple opponents in a row demonstrates one's potential.
Just like the Blazing Academy on the field right now, Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu directly ripped through an unknown opposing team.
The pace of this competition was swift. If it weren't for the other players needing to recover their Spirit and Stamina, Shi Yi felt he could have defeated all the teams in a single day. When he tired himself, he could let Xiao Yi play. After all, Shi Yi defeated most people without expending any Spirit.
When Huo Wu returned from the competition venue, she glared at Shi Yi without hesitation, but without any provocation. Shi Yi had single-handedly won the team competition, and she wasn't foolish enough to think anyone could defeat him in a one-on-one duel.
Soon, it was Shrek's turn to compete, and Shi Yi yawned. The thought of such a boring competition lasting fourteen days was too much to bear.
Shi Yi's eyes wandered, unconsciously scanning the girls around him. When he caught sight of a familiar aquamarine pair, the girl turned her head away like a startled deer.
Shi Yi smiled slightly at this and was about to look away when she secretly turned her head to glance back at him, as if to confirm Shi Yi's averted gaze. Shi Yi, imitating Tianshui's dancing on the stage that day, winked at Shui Bing'er.
Shui Bing'er, respectfully, rolled her eyes at Shi Yi and then looked away.
Xuewu, who was standing nearby, noticed this and couldn't help but jokingly remark, "Hey, Bing'er, you're moving quickly. You're already flirting?"
Upon hearing this, the Tianshui crowd instantly split into two groups, one looking at Shui Bing'er, the other at Shi Yi.
Shi Yi, feeling a little embarrassed as the Tianshui girls looked at him with such smiles, quickly looked away. Shui Bing'er blushed and lowered her head, turning into an ostrich.
Bored again, Shi Yi could only stare at the arena. After a while, he almost fell asleep. Soul Masters of this era hadn't yet developed many skills, and the profession itself was more "professional" than one might imagine. Throughout the arena, the vast majority of soul masters simply repeated the same routine: summoning their spirits and unleashing their spirit abilities.
The more exceptional ones would incorporate subtle design or unique applications into their spirit abilities. In close combat, beast soul masters simply engaged in a slugfest, with only weapon spirits showing some structure or routine.
This was also characteristic of soul masters of this era: the simple spirit combat. Such simple combat, when faced with a cunning warrior like Tang San, was practically a toy. Attack-type masters would suffer wounds before even touching Tang San, while agility-type masters would engage in a game of chase, and control-type masters would simply barrage him with fire.
Tang San's incredibly refined techniques and movements were a real treat for the spectators.
The Blue Silver Grass, previously suppressed by the Four Elements Academy in teamfights, became an incredibly powerful hidden weapon against the other academies. Shi Yi suspected that even if Tang San faced a Four Elements Academy opponent now, he wouldn't be afraid of their attribute restraint, as single combat was fundamentally different from teamfighting.
While the opponent's ability required soul power to activate their attributes, Tang San possessed a significant advantage in his techniques, allowing him to avoid wasting energy in single combat. Possessing the Tang Sect's unique skills,
Tang San was no match for the average attacker in close combat. After Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing each dispatched five opponents,
Tang San successfully toyed with their final two. The VIPs in the stands were astonished by Tang San's performance, as he displayed everything he hadn't shown in teamfights.
Ning Fengzhi showed a hint of surprise when watching this scene, but thinking about Tang San's background, he didn't seem too surprised. As the world's number one weapon spirit, the outstanding disciples of Haotian Sect often possess skills that match it. The skills of Haotian Sect can be said to be well-known in the soul master world. Apart from the spirit avatar, the masters of Haotian Sect basically do not use soul skills, because the power brought by the mature skills is not weaker than any soul skills.
"While this technique is incredibly ingenious, it doesn't resemble the grand and sweeping style of the Haotian Sect. It's more like the style of agile attack-type spirit masters. Could it be a self-invented technique? While the cultivation method of this Blue Silver Grass is very similar to that of Ju Douluo of the Spirit Hall, the method used is completely different," Ning Fengzhi thought to himself.
"Uncle Gu, can you tell what's going on?" Ning Fengzhi asked softly to Gu Rong, who was standing nearby.
Gu Rong shook his head slightly and said, "It's a bit like Juhuaguan, but it's not the same approach as Juhuaguan. Although the martial soul attributes are the same, Juhuaguan's fighting style is basically to use soul power to control the petals to cover the opponent, but this kid uses the leaves as weapon souls such as flying knives."
"His technique is very delicate, allowing the leaves to hit the opponent at all kinds of tricky angles, and his body movements are also very flexible. The advantage of this is that the power shot out by the leaves has the multiple blessings of body, soul power, and techniques. Although the range and frequency are not as good as Juhuaguan, the attacks that defeat the opponent are often wonderful moves at critical moments."
Ning Fengzhi nodded and said, "I think so too, but this is not enough..."
With disciples like Shi Yi as role models, Ning Fengzhi did not believe that Tang San was limited to this.
Thinking of this, Ning Fengzhi smiled faintly. He wasn't anxious. When faced with the right opponent, a child like Tang San would naturally reveal all his hidden cards. Tang San's surname was Tang, so he had the confidence. But…
Ning Fengzhi's gaze fell on Shi Yi. His intuition told him that Shi Yi had revealed most of what he possessed, but his intuition told him that Shi Yi still held something even more surprising. Unlike Tang San, Shi Yi was a person without connections, often wary of others' attention. Of course, Shi Yi was now considered someone with connections.
For someone as intelligent as Shi Yi, if Shi Yi truly had something else hidden, it would surely be far more valuable than what he had revealed so far. Of course, this was all just speculation, or perhaps just overthinking. After all, what Shi Yi had revealed was already astonishing enough.
"Increasing physical strength can increase the lifespan of spirit rings absorbed, but how does one increase the lifespan of spirit rings already absorbed?" Ning Fengzhi pondered.
Ning Fengzhi had been keeping an eye on Shi Yi ever since he revealed his spirit ring, but Shi Yi showed no unusual behavior. Perhaps this was something Shi Yi had been hiding.
The first round of qualifying was perfect for Shrek Academy, easily defeating them with only the three players who had already played.
In the subsequent matches, the other three teams that qualified from Tiandou City also achieved victory. The undefeated record of the five spirit master academies representing the Tiandou Empire immediately pleased Emperor Xue Ye immensely.
After the first day of competition, the deans of each academy came on stage to draw lots. The dean of Blazing Fire Academy had a bad day, looking at the Shrek lot in his hand with a grim expression. The other three elementalists who qualified with Shrek were relieved, while the people of the Kingdom and Principality were puzzled; they had never witnessed Shi Yi's strength.
After the first day of competition, Yu Xiaogang, taking advantage of the crowd's stillness, stated bluntly, "Your opponent tomorrow is Blazing Academy. The roster will remain the same as it is now, with Xiao Yi added."
With that, the crowd slowly dispersed. Just as Shi Yi was about to return to his room, a figure flashed by Yu Xiaogang's side.
Liu Erlong looked at Yu Xiaogang and said, "Since Xiao Yi is playing, why not replace Dai Mubai, Zhu Qing, and Xiao San with Tai Long, Huang Yuan, and Jing Ling?"
Yu Xiaogang frowned at this. He understood Liu Erlong's point. While Shi Yi was the safest choice, having Tai Long, Huang Yuan, and Jing Ling fight the Blazing Academy wasn't necessarily a good way to show off their skills, and they might even get injured.
Liu Erlong glared at Yu Xiaogang and said, "I have the final say. That's it."
Shi Yi smiled. "Master's Wife, I'm worried about them too. When Blazing Academy sees the roster tomorrow, I suspect they'll likely forfeit. Those kingdoms and duchies don't know my strength yet, and Blazing Academy won't accept the challenge head-on. Forfeiting and then using us to cripple a team is what they want. Why not wait until Shrek faces those kingdoms and duchies, and then send in Tai Long, Huang Yuan, and Jing Ling? That way, they won't be under too much pressure."
Yu Xiaogang quickly said, "Xiao Yi is right. I'll let them play against other teams, don't worry."
Liu Erlong snorted at Yu Xiaogang. "Then why didn't you let them play today?"
"This..." Yu Xiaogang winked at Shi Yi.
"This... what this, Yu Xiaogang, don't play your sect and noble tricks with me. Even if you lose, you have to make them lose a few games," Liu Erlong said angrily.
"Everyone, take turns. Today it's Xiaosan and the others, next time it'll be Tailong and the others," Shi Yi chuckled.
"Yes, Xiaoyi is right. Everyone, take turns," Yu Xiaogang said quickly.
"Stop trying to smooth things over," Liu Erlong glared at Shi Yi.
"Master's Wife, this situation is normal. Teacher, out of courtesy, will naturally favor us, but the arrangement you made is indeed the best choice. Since we've all played, it's natural to make the most of everything. Didn't Fatty play, too? If it can resolve the situation quickly and reduce injuries, why not?" Shi Yi said cautiously.
Hearing this, Liu Erlong sighed and said, "I understand what you're saying, but for them, this is their last competition. They're different from you. Besides Tailong, who comes from the Power Clan, Huang Yuan and Jing Ling come from commoner families..."
"Master, how could you be so? At least give them a chance to show themselves, Master's Wife. I think you're right," Shi Yi said to Yu Xiaogang.
Yu Xiaogang's face darkened, and Shi Yi cast a helpless look at him before slowly leaving.
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(End of this chapter)