With this thought in mind, Yu Tianlong even felt that he did not hurt as much anymore. Hence, he demonstrated his willingness to keep his side of the bargain to w.a.n.g Qiu"er as quickly as he could.
“It"s up to you,” w.a.n.g Qiu"er replied casually, turning to face her companions. “Let"s go, we"ll return to our hotel. In the afternoon, we"ll watch another semi-final match.” With this, she strode forth in the direction of the Brilliant Delight Hotel.
Yu Tianlong sighed with admiration in his heart. Neither defeat nor victory fazes her, what a heroine!
Who would have expected the morning round to end so quickly? However, the timing of each round in the compet.i.tion could not change so easily.
To ensure that they would all be in a good state, the teammates of the Tang Sect and the Holy Ghost Sect both went back to their hotels to rest.
After they left, the exuberant and excited crowd took almost two hours to settle down. Almost everyone there was shouting “Golden Dragon Girl!”. w.a.n.g Qiu"er"s prestige was at an unprecedented level.
However, how could they know what she was thinking? When they were back at the hotel, w.a.n.g Qiu"er did not celebrate with her teammates. Instead, she retired quickly to her room to rest.
Everyone from Shrek"s team knew that w.a.n.g Qiu"er had been injured in this tournament. They all thought that she was trying to recuperate as fast as she could. Once she regained her full strength, she would prepare for the upcoming final.
---
The Tang Sect gathered in Bei Bei"s room.
“I"m naturally happy that Shrek won, and I believe that everyone shares my sentiment. We have to uphold the honor of Shrek. From the bottom of my heart, I thank Qiu"er for continuing our glorious streak for Shrek,” Bei Bei said sincerely.
Everyone else nodded in agreement They were just as excited as those from Shrek over the win.
Then, Bei Bei"s voice changed as he continued in a more serious tone, “However, in the next semi-final round, we"ll be up against a tough challenge. Comrades, whether or not we can advance and meet Shrek in the final will depend on our performance later. We"ve already planned our strategy. Is there anything else anyone would like to add?”
Everyone shook their heads.
Bei Bei"s gaze turned sharp as he said, “With the Shrek"s victory, the Tang Sect can"t show any weakness. I know, because of Tang Ya, that everyone is worried about me. I wish to thank you for your concern, but also tell you that Shrek"s victory in the semi-finals is not only their glory, but ours, too! Please don"t care about Tang Ya. I believe that if her mind was still clear, she would be happy to see us doing our best for the Tang Sect. All we have to do is treat them like our opponents. There"s no need to think about anything else.”
“Tang Sect, victory!” Bei Bei shouted suddenly. At this moment, his refined demeanor was completely replaced by a strong fighting will.
“Tang Sect! Victory! Victory! Victory!” Shrek"s Seven Monsters, Na Na, Ji Juechen, Jing Ziyan, and even Nan Qiuqiu, all shouted loudly.
Everyone was clear that their opponent was much more powerful than Shrek. They did not even know their enemies well. However, there was no escape from this battle. If they lost, it would be extremely difficult for Shrek to defeat the Holy Ghost Sect. The only thing they could do was try their best. Only through victory did they stand a chance!
Bei Bei inhaled and said, “Good, please go back and rest up, everyone. We"ll meet after lunch. Let"s adjust our mindsets and energy, and be prepared to deal with the strongest opponent we"ll meet in this tournament!”
---
Everyone returned to their respective rooms. Bei Bei closed the door to his room and sat down in the living room lounge.
The look on his face softened, and his face turned warm. “Tang Ya…”
---
The sky outside turned darker and darker. While it was noon, the light outside made it look like evening. The thick storm clouds in the air appeared to descend a bit. The heaviness in the air made everyone uneasy.
After the intense emotional roller-coaster of the morning, even the spectators seemed drained. They had come here early for a good seat. Right after the compet.i.tion began, it had ended quickly. While w.a.n.g Qiu"er was able to rile them up, the wait until the afternoon round was way too long!
Many of them now sat on the ground and ate their food. A lot of them were on the brink of falling asleep.
While it was cold and cloudy, it felt better than the stifling heat. Furthermore, with so many people around, it was hard to feel the chill. Winter had yet to come.
Finally, someone stepped onto the main podium. The crowd started to rouse from their slumber.
Looking at the sky, it appeared that noon was close at hand.
Over at the resting zone, the first to arrive was the team from the Heavenly Dragon Sect. Yu Tianlong had changed his clothes. Despite his pale face, he still walked with a confident gait. One could not tell that he was injured.
The other team members of the Heavenly Dragon Sect looked depressed. After all, they were eliminated despite having entered the top four. This was no small blow to them!
The arena was restored and further reinforced by noontime. The afternoon compet.i.tion would be far more intense. One could almost imagine how it would go down.
Those who were more perceptive could tell that this was the "final" of the tournament! In terms of strength, the multi-talented Tang Sect and the Holy Ghost Sect, which was comprised completely of evil soul masters, were both stronger than any of either"s previous opponents!
---
The Tang Sect arrived next.
Bei Bei stood at the front. His gaze was cold, and the smile on his face had disappeared. However, he still walked with confidence.
Behind Bei Bei, w.a.n.g Dong"er pushed Huo Yuhao forward. Then, it was He Caitou, Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, Xiao Xiao, and finally, Nan Qiuqiu, Nan Nan, Ji Juechen, and Jing Ziyan.
The eleven of them quickly entered the waiting zone.
The crowd, who had completely woken up, started to discuss them intensely. While their G.o.ddess was not taking part in the second semi-final, her sister, w.a.n.g Dong"er, was competing! She was just as pretty, and she also possessed the cultivation of a Soul Emperor!
Everyone loved to watch the Tang Sect in action. The main reason was because of their ever-changing tactics. In the previous round, even when they were at a disadvantage, they were able to work together and turn the tides on their opponent, the Snowdemon Sect, and obtain victory. That planning, strategizing, and change in tactics, as well as their strange soul skills, enchanted the audience.
Today, they were about to face the powerful Holy Ghost Sect. What kind of match-up would this be?
The crowd grew more and more excited. As their voices grew louder and louder, the atmosphere started to heat up.
The Tang Sect were all rather quiet. When they entered the resting zone, they closed their eyes to rest, ensuring that they would be in their best possible state.
Very soon, the Holy Ghost Sect appeared.
Nine people came from the Holy Ghost Sect. Leading them was the Scorpion Tiger Douluo, Zhang Peng. The appearance of this Transcendent Douluo was a testament to the importance the Holy Ghost Sect placed on this tournament.
Behind Zhang Peng was the mysterious woman who inspired both a sense of familiarity and fear in Huo Yuhao at the same time. Behind her was Tang Ya, who looked much skinnier, as well as a group of evil soul masters.
With the arrival of the Holy Ghost Sect, the atmosphere became tensed up. Everyone wondered if the Tang Sect could stop their progress. The very thought of it made the crowd even more excited.
Some die-hard fans of w.a.n.g Qiu"er believed that the best-case scenario from this compet.i.tion would be mutual defeat. If this happened, Shrek Academy could achieve an easy victory in the finals and become the champion!
Of course, other fans of w.a.n.g Qiu"er who believed that she was perfect thought that regardless of who won, she should be able to defeat her opponents even if they were at their peak. This would allow them to be crowned the undisputed champions!
No matter what happened, it was impossible to affect the two teams in the resting zone. At this moment, everyone was curious as to why the team led by w.a.n.g Qiu"er had yet to arrive. At this moment, there was not much time left until the semi-final round of the afternoon. Were they not planning to watch?
Even the Heavenly Dragon Sect, who had been eliminated, came to watch. How could Shrek not come? After all, the winner of this round would be their next opponent!
---
Zheng Zhan, the Unbreakable Douluo, walked onto the arena floor once more. The quick victory in the morning had been a great relief to him. At this moment, his attention was at its peak. Naturally, he knew that this compet.i.tion would be the most difficult one to referee since the start of the tournament. However, he had been instructed by his superiors that he should intervene as little as possible in this round. The two sides should be allowed a free hand.
With this order, Zheng Zhan felt more at ease.
---
The main podium...
The Prince Regent and Crown Prince, Xu Tianran, suddenly asked the mysterious Imperial Tutor next to him, “Imperial Tutor, what are the Holy Ghost Sect"s odds against the Tang Sect?”
The Imperial Tutor replied in a deep voice, “Eighty percent.”
Xu Tianran looked at him in surprise. He knew that the Imperial Tutor had a high opinion of themselves, but he had never expected him to say eighty percent!
“Oh? Does this mean that you believe the Tang Sect only has a twenty percent chance of victory? Where does this twenty percent come from?”
The Imperial Tutor replied plainly, “The Tang Sect has many tricks up their sleeve, particularly Huo Yuhao, who"s probably the core of their team. Their cooperation and coordination in the group round is something no team can emulate. This includes the Holy Ghost Sect. This may have something to do with Huo Yuhao"s spiritual-type martial soul. Their twenty percent chance of success lies in this uncertainty. As long as the compet.i.tion goes on as normal, they have no chance at all. The disparity in strength is too wide.”
Xu Tianran nodded and said, “Okay then, let"s watch the exciting show that the Holy Ghost Sect has set up for us.” Xu Tianran did not have much interest in this match. Even though the Holy Ghost Sect, and by extension the Holy Ghost Church, had intimate ties with him, he did not like this evil soul master sect. The two parties used each other to their mutual benefit. If the Holy Ghost Sect lost, there would be less pressure on him. If the Holy Ghost Sect won, it was a form of vengeance. If the Holy Ghost Sect became the overall champions, he would be under even more pressure. It might even have disastrous consequences for the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament, which had a history of more than ten thousand years!
Hence, no matter whether the Holy Ghost Sect won or lost, there would be pros and cons to Xu Tianran. He liked to watch compet.i.tions which he did not personally have a stake in. This helped him better appreciate them…
---
Quickly, the compet.i.tion was about to start.
On the arena, Zheng Zhan proclaimed, “Coming up next is the second semi-final match of this tournament. The two compet.i.tors are the Holy Ghost Sect and the Tang Sect. May the two sects please enter the waiting zone.”
When they heard his voice, Shrek"s Seven Monsters, other than Huo Yuhao, all stood up. A light shone in each of their eyes. At this moment, they had returned to the moment of their final battle against the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy in the last tournament.
That round had been truly arduous for them, but they were eventually able to emerge as champions with their determination.
The compet.i.tion that faced them now was just as difficult as the previous one. However, it was also able to stimulate their potential and desire to fight. The stronger their opponent, the stronger their will to fight!
Among them, the one with the greatest change in emotion was Bei Bei, who was their captain. At this moment, all Bei Bei thought about was protecting the honor of the Tang Sect.
Only by propelling the Tang Sect to glory could he fulfill his promise to Tang Ya. At the same time, this was the best way for Tang Ya to regain her mind!
On the other side, the group from the Holy Ghost Sect was silent. Led by Tang Ya, seven of them stood up as they walked toward the waiting zone. A dark and mysterious aura could be felt from them, just like the weather today.
Quickly, the two sides gathered in their respective waiting areas.
Huo Yuhao turned to look at Bei Bei and nodded. Bei Bei patted his shoulder. Between the two of them, nothing needed to be said.
“Individual elimination round, may the team members from both sides approach the arena.”
A short youth from the Holy Ghost Sect quickly ran up. In the blink of an eye, he was on the arena. His movements were as gentle as a leaf.
Over on the Tang Sect"s side, Bei Bei, who sat at the front, stood up. Leaping from the b.a.l.l.s of his feet, he quickly entered the arena.
Bei Bei"s appearance surprised the Holy Ghost Sect. While he did not fight often, they were able to gather from their research that this refined and handsome youth was the eldest disciple of the Tang Sect and the captain of the Tang Sect team for this tournament.
Who knew that he would be the first to fight in the individual elimination round?