Inside the Seven Treasures Academy
Two days remained until the Soul Masters Tournament, and Ke Jie gathered everyone to announce the academy's arrangements and the tournament rules.
"Big Brother Tianchen hasn't returned yet—should we wait a little longer?" Ning Rongrong clasped her hands together in prayer, silently hoping that Ning Tianchen would successfully break through.
The members of the Seven Treasures team had no objections.
Ning Tianchen was not only their captain but also a key member of the team—it wouldn't make sense to "leave him behind."
As the principal, Ke Jie had many other matters to attend to and couldn't wait indefinitely.
"We'll wait one more incense stick's time. If he still doesn't show up, I'll go ahead and explain things to you all. Afterward, I'll have Teacher Sun speak with him privately," Ke Jie said.
The time passed quietly, and everyone's eyes turned toward the academy gates, but Ning Tianchen's figure was nowhere to be seen.
Ke Jie flipped open the materials in his hand. "Alright, let's begin."
Just as he finished speaking, the door to the meeting room was pushed open. "Hey, can't you guys wait for me?"
The newcomer was none other than Ning Tianchen.
He hadn't entered through the main gate but had come in from a side entrance, so no one had noticed him.
"Tianchen, did you break through?" Feng Xiaotian sensed the soul power emanating from him and couldn't help but feel delighted.
"Big Brother Tianchen is amazing!" Ning Rongrong genuinely felt happy for him. She got up from her seat and rushed into his arms.
"Hoh, good. With two Soul Kings, our chances of winning the championship have increased even further," Ke Jie laughed heartily.
Ning Tianchen gently stroked Ning Rongrong's hair and pinned a golden hair accessory onto her hair.
Ning Rongrong touched her hair. "Big Brother Tianchen, this is my favorite style."
Ning Tianchen smiled warmly. "It's a gift for you, Rongrong."
"So, you took so long because you went shopping in the city?" Yu Die couldn't help but roll her eyes.
"Cough, cough." Ke Jie cleared his throat. "You two, stop for a moment. Let me finish what I need to say first, then you can do whatever you want."
Ning Tianchen and Ning Rongrong immediately returned to their seats.
Ke Jie began by discussing the academy's arrangements.
"During the competition, unless there are special circumstances, there's no need to return to the academy. Teacher Sun has already booked several rooms near the venue for you. After each match, just return to the hotel to rest. There's no need to waste energy traveling back and forth."
With that, he gave Sun Buyu a meaningful look.
Sun Buyu understood and handed the hotel room keys to Ning Tianchen.
"The room arrangements are up to you to decide."
"Additionally, the academy has arranged two substitutes for you. They will come to the meeting room to find you shortly."
Substitutes generally didn't participate in the intensive training of the main team, but this wasn't absolute.
Some teams valued their substitutes highly and would send them in to face specific opponents.
Given the strength of the Seven Treasures Academy team, the role of the substitutes was to replace the main players in matches against unimportant opponents.
"The prizes for this Soul Masters Tournament include three spirit bones provided by the Spirit Hall. If you win the championship, you can distribute these three spirit bones however you wish. Furthermore, the sect leader will reward each of you with one hundred thousand gold spirit coins and cover the cost of all your future spirit rings."
"What about second place?" Chen Huayu quickly asked.
"The Spirit Hall wouldn't dare put forward three spirit bones if they weren't confident in their team's chances. It won't be easy for us to win."
Ke Jie glared at him and snapped, "The sect and the academy have poured so many resources into you. With your current strength, if you only manage to secure second place, how can you face the sect and the academy's investment in you?"
"If I were you, I wouldn't ask such a foolish question. If you don't win the championship, don't bother coming back to Spirit City—don't even bother taking a carriage."
That said, even if they only secured second place, Ning Tianchen and the others would still be pillars of the sect. Ning Fengzhi wouldn't be so foolish as to expel them from the sect over a single loss.
Chen Huayu shrank back, realizing he had misspoken, and avoided meeting anyone's gaze.
"For now, that's all regarding the academy's arrangements. Next, let's discuss the details of the Soul Masters Tournament."
The venue for the Soul Masters Tournament was set at the Tiandou Grand Spirit Arena. Everyone had participated in duels there before, so they were familiar with the location.
"The tournament is divided into three stages. We are not the first team of the Tiandou Imperial Academy, so we don't have the privilege of being directly promoted to the finals. Therefore, we must participate in both the preliminaries and the promotion rounds."
"In previous years, there were only twenty-nine teams in the preliminaries, but this year, with our inclusion, there are thirty teams in total. According to the rules, we will duel once with each of the other twenty-nine teams. In the end, the top five teams with the most wins will advance to the next round."
"Our goal for the preliminaries is to advance with first place. Can we achieve that?"
No one rushed to answer.
Feng Xiaotian voiced his thoughts: "Principal, aiming for first place isn't wrong. But what if other teams go all out against us? We might have to reveal some of our tactics. Is it worth it for just the preliminaries?"
Ning Tianchen disagreed. "In the preliminaries, Uncle Ning will be watching us from the stands. As members of the sect, we can't embarrass the sect leader."
This was just an excuse; fundamentally, in Ning Tianchen's dictionary, there was no such thing as surrender.
"That's right. At that time, His Majesty will also be present. If we deliver a satisfactory result to the sect leader, he'll be proud of us," Chen Huayu interjected with a smile.
Calling Ning Fengzhi old wasn't entirely inaccurate. Although Ning Fengzhi appeared to be in his thirties, he was actually nearing sixty.
"Alright, stop talking nonsense," Ke Jie interrupted the banter and continued. "The promotion round will involve fifteen teams from other regions of the empire competing in arena battles."
"The ranking in the promotion round will affect the schedule of the finals. If we secure first place, we'll get a bye in the finals, allowing us to observe our opponents and prepare accordingly."
"Therefore, to maintain tactical initiative, you must still aim for first place in the promotion round."
"Principal Ke, can we achieve a seven-win streak in the promotion round?" Feng Xiaotian's eyes lit up.
He had long wanted to compete with Ning Tianchen to see who could achieve more seven-win streaks.
Ke Jie shrugged. "Aside from the Wind, Water, and Fire Element Academies, you can do as you please with the other academies."
These three families were at least affiliated with the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, so there was no need to humiliate them.
Receiving confirmation, Feng Xiaotian exchanged a glance with Ning Tianchen.
The latter nodded in agreement.
After explaining the schedule, Ke Jie moved on to discuss the tournament rules.
The rules of the tournament were stricter than those of regular arena duels.
In the first Soul Masters Tournament, several strong teams were disqualified for violating the rules.
Some teams, deeply familiar with the rules, could eliminate their opponents without even fighting.
After clarifying the pros and cons, Ke Jie meticulously read out each rule and provided detailed explanations.
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