Chapter 384: The Beginning of the Decisive Battle

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In the lively Martial Spirit City, the elite masters of the continent's advanced Spirit Master academies were still passionately participating in the competition, and everything seemed to be progressing smoothly as anticipated.

After seven days of matches, the elimination rounds for the thirty-three teams had been completed, and the top sixteen teams had been determined. Including one lucky team that advanced without playing, there were a total of seventeen teams remaining.

Interestingly, the Blazing Academy Team, which successfully advanced to the top sixteen, voluntarily withdrew from the competition, giving up their chance to continue. This meant that the seventeen teams became sixteen, ensuring that there would be no teams with byes in the round of sixteen.

However, to everyone's surprise, the main members of the Blazing Academy Team that chose to withdraw joined the Godwind Academy Team, which was also one of the Five Great Elemental Academies of the Douluo Continent.

This left everyone dumbfounded. Originally, these were just two relatively strong teams, but their combination created a new Godwind Team, which seemed to have the strength to challenge the top four.

These were all teams composed of Spirit Masters, but they possessed this level of power, which was only enough to aim for the top four.

Because this edition of the competition had many teams with formidable strength.

The representative teams from the two great empires, Heaven Dou and Star Luo, had members with Spirit Ancestor level talents.

The Second Team of the Heaven Dou Empire, composed of talented Spirit Masters from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, had a formidable power that surpassed the representative teams of the two great empires.

There was also the Spirit Hall Team that represented the Spirit Hall, the continent's number one force.

With three Spirit King level super talents leading the team, they could defeat an opponent without the need for the entire team to take action. Just two of them could easily defeat a seven-member team. The terrifying power they possessed made the audience feel suffocated.

There was also the dark horse team of this competition, the Shrek Team. This team emerged from some unknown corner, and all the members of their team were Spirit Ancestor level Spirit Masters. Judging from their performance in the matches, they were definitely a team capable of challenging the top three.

Therefore, even if the Godwind and Blazing Academy Teams joined forces to compete in the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament, it would be very difficult for them to achieve a top-four ranking if they had unfavorable draw results.

However, this competition was extremely entertaining for the audience. As the competition progressed, it was becoming increasingly difficult for the audience to predict which team would make it to the end.

Of course, the Martial Spirit Team was the most favored team to win the championship. However, in only the first round of matches, the other strong teams did not fully display their strength, yet it was still evident that they were holding back.

Therefore, when the top teams eventually faced each other, the battles were bound to be thrilling. The outcome of these battles would be difficult to determine, and it would only be revealed in the final stage of the competition.

During this time, Zeng Yi had been constantly looking for an opportunity to sneak out of the city. However, things were not so simple.

One night, he thought he could successfully escape, but Zeng Yi did not expect that the woman Bibi Dong, while hosting the matches, had arranged for someone to monitor him.

That person happened to be Ma Rulong, whom Zeng Yi had seen a few times before.

Under the surveillance of the Titled Douluo Ma Rulong, Zeng Yi, a mere Spirit Ancestor, naturally had no chance to escape. He was caught by Ma Rulong and brought back as if he were a child.

Helplessly, Zeng Yi temporarily gave up his plan to escape and sat quietly in the competition venue, watching the intense and thrilling Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament.

During this time, Zeng Yi did not approach the friends who had already arrived in Martial Spirit City to participate in the competition. His current status made it difficult for him to interact with them.

The fact that he was already engaged to be married to the Saintess of the Martial Spirit Hall would only lead to awkwardness if he met them.

In the vast Martial Spirit City, as long as Zeng Yi did not appear voluntarily, it was impossible for the members of the Shrek Seven Devils to encounter him. Moreover, they did not even know that Zeng Yi was currently sitting among the audience, watching their matches from a certain location.

Of course, the teachers from Shrek Academy, Yu Xiaogang, Flender, and the others, were aware of Zeng Yi's presence. However, they kept it a secret from their students because the matter involved was unnecessary information for them.

Ning Fengzhi also requested to see Zeng Yi from Supreme Pontiff Bibi Dong, but Zeng Yi had already told Bibi Dong in advance that he did not want to meet the people from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Bibi Dong relayed his words to Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo Chen Xin, and they had no choice but to comply.

The competition continued to proceed fiercely, and soon, the matches for the round of sixteen were finished, and the quarterfinalists were determined.

Among the eight remaining teams, there were several teams that Zeng Yi was familiar with.

There was Shrek Team, Second Team of the Heaven Dou Empire, First Team of the Heaven Dou Empire, Skywater Academy Team, Godwind Academy Team, Star Luo Imperial Team, Martial Spirit Hall Team, and the most surprising dark horse team, Aquila Team.

Looking at the quarter-finalists, it seemed that the overall strength of the Heaven Dou Empire was stronger than that of the Star Luo Empire since the former had five teams while the latter had only two.

However, in reality, it was not so. The appearance of the Shrek Team was a variable for the Heaven Dou Empire. No one expected that from the beginning of the competition, Shrek Academy would rise suddenly, advancing all the way and becoming one of the most competitive teams.

However, it should be noted that the Shrek Team was the team of the main protagonists, and they possessed unique talents, making their strength completely different.

As for the Second Team of the Heaven Dou Empire, they were a team from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, not the imperial family.

The Godwind Team managed to exploit a loophole in the competition rules due to their merger, which explained their strength. Otherwise, it would have been difficult for them to reach the quarterfinals.

Therefore, taking everything into consideration, the overall strength of the two great empires was similar, with both having two teams that made it to the quarterfinals based on their own abilities among a group of teams consisting of Spirit Ancestor level participants.

However, the Aquila Team from the Star Luo Empire was the truly astonishing team.

Or rather, the captain of this team, a girl named Luo Ying, single-handedly carried the other six team members into the quarterfinals with her formidable strength.

It should be noted that the Aquila Team, apart from their captain, consisted of six Spirit Elders level players who had no chance of competing among a group of Spirit Ancestor level teams. The disparity in strength between their team and the others was immediately apparent.

The audience recognized that their captain, Luo Ying, was an extraordinarily talented and powerful girl. Whether judging from the team or individual strength, she was definitely among the top five Spirit Masters among the quarterfinalists.

However, it was a pity that the quarterfinals would most likely be her limit.

At least, that's what the audience believed.

Result of drawing lots for the quarterfinals matches were as follows:

Shrek Team vs Star Luo Imperial Team.

Heaven Dou Imperial Academy Second Team vs Godwind Team.

Martial Spirit Hall Team vs Heaven Dou Imperial Academy's Emperor Team.

Skywater Team vs Aquila Team.

The quarterfinals matches were scheduled to take place three days later.

In the rest area of the Shrek Team.

Zhu Zhuqing and Dai Mubai looked at the opponent's information provided by Master Yu Xiaogang, both of them involuntarily furrowing their brows, their faces showing a serious expression.

The fate bestowed upon the two of them by their families was inevitably about to arrive.

This match was an unavoidable battle determined by destiny.