Chapter 123: The Elemental Academies Join Forces
"Hey, I'm not finished talking yet?"
Huo Lingyun stared unhappily at the retreating backs of the long-legged girls from Sky Water Academy, but received no response at all.
After hesitating for a moment, she could only grit her teeth and chase after them again.
"Jingjing, we weren't mocking you."
"Think about it, in the team battle just now, the opponent had one Soul King and four Soul Ancestors on the field."
"The blonde woman who hasn't even appeared yet is most likely also a Soul Ancestor."
Hearing this, Shui Jingjing, who had no intention of paying her any attention, furrowed her brows and turned around.
"What exactly are you trying to say?"
Of course, she understood what Huo Lingyun meant, but that was an unchangeable fact. Did it really need to be emphasized again and again?
"If your Blazing Academy ran into them, it would be a guaranteed loss as well. You'd be better off going back to study tactics. What's the point of arguing with us here?"
"Hey, you've misunderstood."
"Putting aside the already-revealed strength of the Spirit Hall team, you must have heard at least a little about their captain, Lin Beiya, right?"
Shui Jingjing nodded solemnly.
"The current Pope's direct disciple, known as invincible among the younger generation—at least within Spirit Hall."
"It's said that he still hasn't suffered a single defeat."
"When facing the Spirit Hall team led by him, any one of the Five Elemental Academies would have no ability to resist."
Huo Lingyun snapped her fingers, fully agreeing with that assessment.
"Exactly. And that also means the Soul King on their roster—Ye Lüsu—probably isn't a match for that 'Invincible Lin' either."
"You said it yourself. None of the Five Elemental Academies has much hope if they face the Spirit Hall team alone."
"So—what if we join forces?"
At those words, the expressions of everyone from Sky Water Academy froze.
"What do you mean? How would we join forces?"
Seeing Shui Jingjing's interest piqued, Huo Lingyun hurriedly laid out her entire plan.
"You and me, plus Yu Siming from Thunder Academy and Feng Changge from God Wind Academy—how about the four of us forming a single team to go up against Spirit Hall?"
"Are you crazy? How could something like that possibly be allowed?"
The idea coming from her longtime rival shocked Shui Jingjing. Leaving aside whether the organizers would even permit it, the other two academies surely wouldn't agree either.
"How is it impossible? Unless they're confident they can defeat the Spirit Hall team head-on."
"Once I appeal to their emotions and reason with them, there's a very high chance they'll agree."
"And in the next elimination round, you—who placed second in the qualifiers—will most likely receive a bye. At that point, the rest of us Elemental Academies will all forfeit the next match and merge directly into Sky Water Academy, entering the quarterfinals as one team."
"But let me be clear—if we really do win the championship, the champion's rewards must be split evenly among the four academies."
The Spirit Master Tournament hosted by the Heaven Dou Empire was not as generous as in the original story, where Bibi Dong directly offered three ten-thousand-year soul bones as the final championship reward.
In truth, Bibi Dong only dared to put out those soul bones because she had absolute confidence in her own Golden Generation, never expecting in the end to make a wedding dress for Tang San.
That said, as the wealthiest nation, the Heaven Dou Empire still put forward five million gold soul coins as the grand champion's prize.
For the various academies, this was an extremely substantial reward. Calculated carefully, each academy could receive over a million gold soul coins. The Five Elemental Academies were not as extravagantly wealthy as the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect—one million gold soul coins was more than enough to greatly improve their facilities.
Under Huo Lingyun's patient persuasion, Shui Jingjing gradually began to waver.
After all, facing the Spirit Hall team alone offered no chance of victory. Rather than risking a loss, it was better to let go completely and gamble once.
"I agree. As long as you can persuade the other two academies, I have no objections."
"I believe the elders of my academy won't refuse either."
"Good. Leave the rest to me. There's no need to worry about Feng Changge—he'll definitely agree. The main issue is Thunder Academy."
"Once I persuade them, after the next round ends, we'll resubmit Sky Water Academy's competition roster."
With a preliminary consensus between Blazing Academy and Sky Water Academy, Huo Lingyun wasted no time and headed straight back into the venue, planning to notify the other two academies once the first round of the elimination matches concluded.
Left behind in the arena to watch the next round's draw results, Yu Quan looked somewhat puzzled as he watched Huo Lingyun return and head straight toward the God Wind Academy competitors' resting area.
The confusion in his heart only deepened as Feng Changge and Huo Lingyun kept glancing his way.
Still, none of this had anything to do with him. As a junior member, all he needed to do was handle his own responsibilities properly.
As expected, no surprises occurred. All of the Elemental Academies defeated their respective opponents in the first round of the elimination stage and successfully advanced to the next round.
The draw results were even more in line with Yu Quan's expectations.
Blazing Academy, which received a bye this round, was drawn directly by them. Star Luo Royal Academy was matched against God Wind Academy, while the host, Heaven Dou Royal Academy, drew a relatively weak opponent from the remaining teams.
"They really have no shame at all."
"But it's understandable. If the host got eliminated too early, the Xue family would have nowhere to put their faces."
Yu Quan curled his lips but didn't take the draw results too seriously.
After all, his team's goal was the final championship. Whatever opponents they faced along the way, they could accept.
After returning to the hotel, Yu Quan informed the team members of the results.
Wei Xu, the battle maniac, immediately revealed an interested expression.
"Captain, let me go first in the elimination round?"
That woman had left a deep impression on him during the first day of the promotion matches, and Wei Xu was eager to test himself against her.
Lin Beiya did not refuse outright. Instead, he shifted his gaze toward Lei Ying.
He had already promised this sister that she would go first in the next round; she had been brought into the team and hadn't had much opportunity to perform yet.
Lei Ying smiled and nodded, not minding Wei Xu trying to snatch her opening position at all.
"Since you want to go, then go ahead. Just don't embarrass yourself."
"Don't worry. I won't."
Wei Xu clenched his fists, feeling excited at the thought of facing a formidable opponent.
The matches to determine the top eight from the final sixteen were scheduled for three days later—this was the rest period provided by the organizers for the participating students.
Although the Spirit Hall team didn't think such a break was necessary, they had no intention of provoking the organizers by questioning the arrangement.
After several days of free activity, the next round of the elimination matches finally began.
The competition venue was already packed to capacity. Clearly, as the tournament progressed, the enthusiasm of the Heaven Dou citizens had been fully ignited.
In this round, Sky Water Academy—ranked second in the promotion matches—received a bye. This was also the only real benefit that the promotion stage offered to participating teams.
As before, the Royal Fighting Team took the field first, facing an obscure, little-known academy.
Everyone had already complained about this when the results were announced, and by now, there was no lingering sense of imbalance.
As expected, nothing unexpected happened. The Royal Fighting Team smoothly won the wheel battle.
The match between the Spirit Hall team and Blazing Academy was scheduled as the fourth bout, forcing the group to sit through two more rounds of bottom-tier teams trading blows.
Finally, it was their turn to take the stage. Lin Beiya quickly led his teammates to the edge of the arena.
However, what puzzled them was that Blazing Academy—led by Huo Lingyun—still had not appeared.
Just as Wei Xu and the others were growing impatient, the on-duty referee came to the Spirit Hall team's side and explained:
"Blazing Academy has forfeited the wheel battle. The Spirit Hall team is awarded an automatic victory."
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End of Chapter