Competition Rules

Le Zhengyu asked Ling Hongchen, "Are you saying that this competition is a trap for our Sun-Moon Federation? Do they want to kill us on the field?"

Ling Hongchen shook his head slightly. "No, the Star Luo Empire is not that foolish. They know they can't afford to offend the Federation. Besides, most of the people who join the competition have powerful backers."

He continued, "Like you have the Holy Angel Family, and Anping and Gu Yuena have the Spirit Pagoda. The Star Luo Empire wouldn't dare to mess with them."

"The reason they invited our Sun Moon academy and Shrek Academy is that they have some geniuses of their own, and they want to use our academy as whetstones. They also want to pit us against each other on the field."

Le Zhengyu thought for a moment and then said, "Well, if it's not a trap, then I'll sign up for the competition. I want to see what kind of geniuses the Star Luo Empire has."

He didn't really care about the soul bone. He was bored of practicing on the ship all the time.

He had been influenced by Shrek's teachings. He had also made great progress in his soul power cultivation using the new meditation method. He was eager to test his skills with others.

When Le Zhengyu announced his decision, Long Chen and Xue Liushuang followed suit. They had the same idea as him. They were young geniuses who loved to fight.

Ling Hongchen turned to Anping and Gu Yuena, who showed no interest. He asked, "What about you two? Don't you want to join? With your strength, you could easily win the championship, whether it's a single, a double, or a seven-person team competition, right?"

He knew that Anping and Gu Yuena were not fond of fighting, but he still asked. The rewards for the Star Luo Empire's soul master competition were very tempting, especially the soul bone for the individual champion.

Anping shook his head slightly. "We'll pass. We came here to see the culture and customs of Star Luo Continent. And you know we're not into this kind of competition."

Gu Yuena nodded, agreeing with Anping. They couldn't tell him that they had a secret mission to infiltrate the realm controlled by the Tang Sect.

They were also not interested in the competition. Soul bones might be precious to ordinary soul masters, but they meant nothing to Anping and Gu Yuena.

They didn't want to show off their strength in front of others. That would only draw unwanted attention to them.

Ling Hongchen saw that they were firm in their refusal, and he didn't press them. He looked at the others and said, "I understand that you've been bored on the ship for more than two months, but there's no need to rush to sign up. You still have some time before the competition starts. And since you're invited by the Star Luo Empire, you can skip the preliminary round and go straight to the knockout round."

"So you have plenty of time to think about it, especially if you want to join the individual competition. You have to be careful. Their rules are different from the Federation's."

Le Zhengyu was curious. "How can the rules be different? Isn't it just about defeating the opponent?"

Ling Hongchen explained. "They call the single-player competition the Infinite Challenge. You can use any means to compete, whether it's martial arts, battle armor, mechas, or soul guides. There are no limits."

"That makes the individual competition very dangerous. There are often casualties. Participants have to sign a life and death contract before the competition. The Star Luo Empire says they'll protect your life if you join, but there's still a risk."

"So you have to think hard before you decide to join the individual competition. If you do, I'll get you some defensive soul tools. Your safety is the most important thing. If something goes wrong, you have to surrender in time."

Everyone was stunned by Ling Hongchen's explanation of the rules. On Douluo Continent, the seven-man team competition was the most important. But the Star Luo Empire valued individual heroism more.

Xu Xiaoyan asked in disbelief. "Is the Star Luo Empire's competition that brutal? It's just a competition. Even if the prize is a soul bone, would anyone really join?"

Before Ling Hongchen could answer, Anping said. "It's not just the Star Luo Empire. The Sun and Moon Federation is the same, especially when we face Shrek Academy."

"Even though the competition rules say that you can't kill anyone, the disability rate is very high in our matches with Shrek Academy. Sometimes someone even dies."

"Before they limited the casualties, it was almost normal for someone to die in our matches with Shrek Academy. That's why our Sun Moon Academy and Shrek Academy hate each other so much."

Anping didn't understand why such a competition system had lasted for tens of thousands of years without much change. Especially those colleges that cared so much about winning, they were willing to risk their lives.

He thought it would be fine if it was just for improvement. But those soul masters seemed to join the competition only for the rewards and the fame.

Ling Hongchen nodded. "That's true, and it's better than before. Before and after the Sun-Moon Federation was established, the relationship between our Sun Moon Academy and Shrek Academy was at its worst."

He added, "There's another reason. It seems that Shrek Academy did something in Mingdu that made things worse between them and our college. I'm not a history student, so I don't know the details."

It was well known that Shrek and Sun Moon Academy had a bad relationship, but Xu Xiaoyan didn't know much about it. She had been in Shrek Academy before, and now in Sun Moon Academy. She spent most of her time studying and practicing, and didn't pay attention to these things.

If she hadn't followed Wu Zhangkong to challenge Sun Moon Academy before, she wouldn't have known how bad the relationship between the two most famous Academies on Douluo Continent was.

She blinked and looked at Anping. "Brother Anping, do you know what happened?"