"Group One, teams advancing — Sun Moon Empire Royal Academy, Yuling Sect!"
"Group Two, teams advancing — Dio Academy..."
"Group Three, teams advancing — Clear Sky Sect, Tianlong Sect!"
"..."
"Group Seven, teams advancing — Mingdu Soul Engineer Academy, Shrek Academy!"
"Group Eight, teams advancing — Snow Demon Sect, Ao Jian Sect!"
One by one, the names lit up on the giant projection screen.
After a week-long group stage, the first round officially came to an end.
Several dark horses emerged — Mingdu Soul Engineer Academy, Ao Jian Sect, and the long-unheard-of Tianlong Sect.
Mingdu Soul Engineer Academy had the misfortune of being grouped with Shrek Academy, yet still showed exceptional strength. Especially their captain Xu Tianzhen, who, at just 17 years old, had already reached the level of Soul Sage. Every core team member was at least a Soul King, and a Level 5 Soul Engineer — a standard that rivaled what people expected from the Sun Moon Empire Royal Academy.
They nearly caused an upset against the typically arrogant Shrek Academy.
After all, facing an unknown team ranked beneath the Sun Moon Empire's Royal Academy, Shrek naturally didn't take them seriously. Since the group stage allowed some room for error, they sent in their reserve team for warm-up.
But when Xu Tianzhen revealed her Level 7 Soul Engineer prowess and the Martial Soul True Form of a Pureblood Solar lineage, they were completely stunned.
Each team played 7 matches in the group stage — 2 points for a win, 0 for a loss.
And each match came in one of three formats: team battle, individual elimination, or 2v2 and 3v3 mixed.
Mingdu happened to draw team battle. As the saying goes, enemies are bound to clash — and indeed they fought for real. Unfortunately for Shrek, who fielded mostly their reserves (hoping to flex on the Sun Moon Empire), Xu Tianzhen led her team in a fierce beatdown. Beibei could only grind his teeth on the sidelines, helplessly watching as his teammates got thrown off the stage one by one.
As fate would have it, they didn't get another match against Mingdu in the remaining group stage, and the bracket for the top 16 made another chance unlikely.
So Beibei never got his revenge.
The second "dark horse" was Ao Jian Sect.
Their average strength was around Soul King level, with their captain Wu Moufan at Soul Emperor level. But compared to the rampaging Sun Moon Empire Royal Academy, this so-called dark horse seemed a little dimmer in comparison.
Tianlong Sect, on the other hand, had a strong standing in the Douluo continent's martial world. However, due to their past allegiance with the Sun Moon Empire, they had gone into hiding for a long time. Now re-emerging, they returned with a team led by a Soul Sage, all core members being Soul Kings. They only lost to the renowned Clear Sky Sect, earning second place in their group.
Also present was the old powerhouse Dio Academy, under the Dou Ling Empire. They had reached the semifinals in the previous tournament (though thanks in part to Shrek being eliminated early). Still, their current lineup wasn't weak, led by a Soul Emperor.
"Whoa~"
As the advancing teams were announced, the stadium erupted in waves of excited chatter.
"Bleh~ Bleh~ Take that!"
Xu Tianzhen stuck her tongue out and made faces at Beibei from the opposing team.
Seeing Beibei's face darken like charcoal, his aura bordering on losing control, she quickly ducked behind Xu Cheng, poked her head out again, and continued pulling faces.
Seeing Beibei's dark, terrifying expression, Xu Cheng of course understood.
Shrek Academy was aiming for first place.
Now it was one thing to possibly lose to the Sun Moon Empire, but to lose a match to the obscure Mingdu Soul Engineer Academy? Even if that one match didn't determine advancement, for someone like Beibei—who came to uphold the glory of Shrek—it was a blow to the face.
A permanent stain.
Seeing Mingdu Soul Engineer Academy topping the group, Beibei probably wanted to dig a hole and disappear.
"Heh…"
Xu Cheng smiled and patted Xu Tianzhen's head gently.
He gave a soft, warm smile.
He didn't bother looking at Shrek Academy again.
Beibei, upon seeing Xu Cheng, quickly regained his rationality. His arms trembled slightly, and he quietly looked away.
Elder Xuan had said it before — "That guy is no longer human."
His power was terrifying.
Elder Xuan had personally fought Xu Cheng. His words carried weight.
So Beibei chose to yield.
Other academies watching this exchange grew thoughtful.
Because this was the Sun Moon Empire's home turf, nobody had actually seen the official lineup of their Royal Academy. Most names were still speculation.
"Wait… that guy's not really going to compete, is he?" someone asked, their voice trembling.
"Surely not… right?"
"Feels like he's just here to watch. Plus, judging by their performance so far, most academies have already shown their full strength, while the Sun Moon Royal Academy has only sent in a few reserves—and still crushed their opponents… Ye Wanwan, Hu Yannan, Nan Qiuqiu—several Soul Emperors totally dominated. In individual matches, they sent just one person to sweep the entire opposing team. Team battles were even more lopsided."
"I think even their reserve team could go toe-to-toe with the main teams of other second-place finishers…"
"The head coach is still warming up?!!"
"Xu Tianzhen… the Sun Moon Empire's only princess? She's insane. The princes are either dead, crippled, or deposed. One had his legs ruined and got demoted to commoner. Another—the empress's son—ended even worse. Only she has held onto her title all this time."
"Well duh. There's only one princess in the Sun Moon Empire. The last emperor only had one daughter. Man, I wish I were a princess. I could be close to him too... Hey, do you think there's a chance I'm secretly a lost royal bloodline?"
"…"
"Draw lots!"
Just then, Jing Hongchen's slow, drawn-out voice rang out.
The top 16 teams eagerly awaited. Even those who didn't make it were excited—after all, most already knew where they stood before results came out, so there wasn't much disappointment.
Each of the 16 teams sent one representative to draw lots.
For the Sun Moon Empire, it was Xiao Hongchen. For Shrek, Beibei. For some reason, Tang San still didn't appear for Clear Sky Sect.
"One."
Xiao Hongchen unfolded his slip and showed it.
Beibei exhaled in relief and smiled.
Clearly, they weren't facing each other yet.
Meanwhile, Wu Moufan of Ao Jian Sect looked like he'd just swallowed poison—completely lifeless. Clearly, he'd drawn a bad match… a really bad one.
"We're number two," said Clear Sky's representative.
"Us too," Tianlong Sect responded, looking resigned.
"Dio Academy, three."
"That's us!" Xu Tianzhen raised her hand excitedly.
"…"
With the drawing complete...
Snow Demon Sect, Clear Sky, Shrek, and the Sun Moon Empire still hadn't been matched up.
Aside from Xiao Hongchen raising an eyebrow, everyone else breathed a sigh of relief.
Only Ao Jian Sect, Tianlong Sect, Yuling Sect, and Soto Academy looked grim—they had drawn four titanic opponents.
Their chances of survival were slim to none.
Each of those teams had Titled Douluo backing them.
"This is fucking insane…"** cursed the Yuling Sect captain under his breath.