With the match concluded, Bibi Dong returned to the Pope's Palace with Hu Liena and the others.
"Nana, the last defeat wasn't your fault. In recent years, geniuses have been appearing across the continent one after another. Just like the Phoenix Spirit Master we saw just now from Skywater Academy—her ice power has already reached a much deeper level. If you face Skywater Academy in two days, you must be extra careful. Do not underestimate them."
At this point, Bibi Dong had little hope that Spirit Hall Academy could seize the championship. But the honor of Spirit Hall could not be tarnished by this tournament. Otherwise, in the years to come, fewer and fewer young Spirit Masters would choose to join Spirit Hall. On the contrary, because of Ignaz, many more would join the Heaven Dou Empire. When that happened, Spirit Hall's advantage of sheer numbers would vanish.
And if her grand plan of unifying the continent were to succeed, it would only become more difficult.
Bibi Dong looked down at Hu Liena and the other two. Even though their morale was low, she still had to say:
"You three are our Golden Generation. Even if it's in the losers' bracket, you must secure the only spot that leads back to the finals. I cannot allow the soul bone rewards Spirit Hall has offered to fall into the hands of the two empires' Spirit Masters."
"Your Holiness, we will not disappoint you. First place in the losers' bracket will belong to Spirit Hall Academy."
Hu Liena's confidence was shaken, but her eyes remained firm as she answered. She could not let her teacher down again. And more importantly, the humiliation she suffered—being defeated by Ignaz of Heaven Dou Royal in under a minute when he broke through her Charm—had to be avenged with her own hands.
"Nana, you have two days. Go rest, and prepare well."
"Yes."
---
Two days flashed by, and soon the losers' bracket matches began. This stage did not include all twelve eliminated teams. Instead, only the three teams who had lost in the winners' bracket's *six-to-three* round, plus one of the losers from the *twelve-to-six* stage (the strongest among them), advanced to fight for survival.
In other words, six teams entered the losers' bracket: Skywater, Shrek, Spirit Hall, Firewind, Glazed Star Academy, and Star Luo Royal Academy.
There was also a bye slot. However, unlike the winners' bracket, this bye was predetermined—it went to the second-place team of the winners' bracket. Meaning, if Skywater won their upcoming match, they would automatically advance to the losers' bracket final. If they lost, a new draw would be held to determine the bye.
The losers' bracket would last only three days. After that, five days later, the grand final would be held between the winners' bracket champion and the losers' bracket champion. The ultimate victor would claim the three soul bones.
After the draw, the matchups were revealed:
* Star Luo Royal vs. Skywater
* Shrek vs. Glazed Star
* Spirit Hall vs. Firewind
As the sun set, the first round of losers' matches began.
Skywater vs. Star Luo: Shui Bing'er, wielding the Extreme Ice of her Profound Frost Ice Phoenix, effortlessly suppressed Dai Weisi and Zhu Zhuyun's Nether White Tiger and claimed victory.
Shrek vs. Glazed Star: facing a second-rate Star Luo team, Shrek ended it in under five minutes. Tang San's Blue Silver Grass and Clear Sky Hammer's Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Method overwhelmed them. Six of Glazed Star's seven members were left severely injured and unconscious.
Firewind vs. Spirit Hall: Firewind was hastily assembled. Their teamwork was poor; only Feng Xiaotian, Huo Wu, and two fire-element Spirit Masters had some cooperation. The rest were sloppy. Spirit Hall exploited this flaw and quickly defeated them.
---
With the next day's matches, only Shrek vs. Spirit Hall remained. Skywater, having won, rested with a guaranteed spot in the final.
To Spirit Hall, Shrek looked weak—still just Soul Ancestors, hardly a threat. Easy prey.
But Shrek had Tang San. Just like in the original clash between Shrek and the Golden Generation, when his team fell into dire straits, Tang San used the broken fragments of his Eight Spider Lances (cut off by Hu Liena's Crescent Moon Blade) as hidden weapons. With Tang Sect techniques, he injected the spider venom through enemy wounds into Spirit Hall's seven members.
The poison spread rapidly. Only Yan, with his strong defense and fire attribute, managed to resist it. Even so, he couldn't fight alone. If he continued, his teammates would die outright.
From the Pope's platform, Bibi Dong's face darkened as she watched. Her eyes landed on Yan, who instantly understood.
"We concede," he spat reluctantly.
The announcement shocked the arena. Shrek, the so-called "bottom-tier" academy with even Soul Sects among them, had eliminated Spirit Hall's Golden Generation—three Spirit Kings at level 53—without mercy.
"Spirit Hall Academy… defeated by that trash team?"
"Our Golden Generation was supposed to be invincible!"
"I thought they'd at least make the losers' final…"
No matter how unwilling they were, the fact stood: Spirit Hall's Golden Generation had lost. They were destined to become little more than a stepping stone in others' rise.
---
One day later, the losers' bracket final arrived.
Shrek was hungry for that last spot in the championship. With a string of victories behind them, their morale was soaring.
And facing Skywater Academy, they felt no fear at all. After all, they still had Tang San's Eight Spider Lances' poison—and one more trump card they had yet to reveal.