Inside the hotel where the Seven Treasures team was staying
The suite that Sun Buyu had booked for the team was spacious, with multiple rooms inside.
When Ning Tianchen returned, everyone had already picked their rooms.
"Big Brother Tianchen, you're late, so you can only choose from the remaining rooms," Ning Rongrong said with a giggle, covering her mouth.
The hotel's highest-grade suites ensured that no room's environment would be subpar.
Ning Tianchen casually picked a room and settled in. He then gathered everyone in the suite's living room to discuss tactics.
Sun Buyu stood nearby, listening but not participating in the discussion.
"Our opponent tomorrow is Purple Star Academy. In the past, their strength has only been mid-tier in the tournament, so they don't warrant much attention. However, this year's preliminaries are tight on advancement spots. Some teams, in order to advance, might pull out their secret trump cards."
"To avoid stumbling in unexpected places, we must take every match seriously."
Ning Tianchen knew that once the Seven Treasures team revealed their Soul King-level strength, other teams wouldn't dare to fight them head-on.
However, overconfidence leads to defeat.
The preliminaries were only one-third of the entire tournament. If the team developed an arrogant attitude, the subsequent matches would become dangerous.
Everyone listened intently and nodded seriously.
"Huang Wu and Bao Zhen will both participate. Rongrong and Oscar will rotate in. For this match against Purple Star Academy, neither Yu Die nor I will participate. Xiaotian, as the temporary commander of the team, you must coordinate everyone during the duel."
Feng Xiaotian nodded.
Chen Huayu couldn't help but ask, "Boss, on the first day of the preliminaries, we're already showing off our Soul King-level strength? Are we leaving any room for the other teams?"
Ning Tianchen smiled faintly. "Isn't it good to bring a little shock to these preliminaries? Besides, Xiaotian is our backup plan. He won't reveal his strength until after all of you have fallen."
After a pause, he added, "The preliminaries are mainly for your training. Unless absolutely necessary, neither Xiaotian nor I will step onto the field as the core of the team."
"Even if we're Soul Kings, don't rely on us for everything. Each of you can also become the core of the team."
"Since we now have a control-type soul master, let's center this match around them…"
As he spoke, Huang Wu and Bao Zhen looked at him with deep gratitude.
For substitutes, the greatest fear was being overlooked. Now, not only did Ning Tianchen value them, but he even made them the centerpiece of the strategy.
It was foreseeable that by the end of the preliminaries, they would learn a lot from the team.
---
The next morning, the first rays of sunlight bathed Tiandou City.
The tournament's spectators had already arrived at the venue before dawn.
When Ning Tianchen and the others entered the arena, they were stunned by the sight before them.
"The audience is really enthusiastic!"
Feng Xiaotian explained, "It's always like this on the first day. The audience's enthusiasm will drop significantly in the later matches."
The first day's matches served as a preliminary assessment of each team's strength. Today's duels would reveal the capabilities of all teams.
In the following days, the audience would lose interest in weaker teams and instead selectively watch the stronger teams' matches.
Upon entering the rest area, Ke Jie was already waiting there.
During yesterday's opening ceremony, the principals of various academies needed to submit their team member lists and handle other miscellaneous tasks, so they couldn't personally attend the matches.
"Are the tactics for today's matches all arranged?" Ke Jie asked.
Ning Tianchen nodded.
The Seven Treasures team's match was the ninth one, so they wouldn't take the stage until around noon.
Sitting in the rest area, everyone watched the other teams' matches.
Suddenly, Ning Tianchen remembered something. "By the way, I've heard many spectators praising our uniforms. I've thought of a business idea—maybe we could give it a try."
Ke Jie glared at him. "You want to start a business during the tournament?"
Starting a business would inevitably distract them, so Ke Jie naturally wouldn't let Ning Tianchen run wild with this idea.
Ning Tianchen explained, "It's not a big deal. We can just assign someone else to handle it. Since our uniforms are so popular, why not sell them as souvenirs after we achieve good results in the matches?"
No one on the Douluo Continent had ever thought of merchandising, and after hearing this, even Ke Jie felt that this business had potential.
"But what if someone wears our uniforms and uses them to swindle people? Wouldn't that tarnish our academy's reputation?" Sun Buyu pointed out a flaw in the plan.
Ning Tianchen smiled faintly. "That's simple. The souvenir uniforms we sell won't include the school badge. Only the uniform paired with the crystal badge signifies a team member. Ordinary students' badges won't appear on these uniforms."
On the continent, uniforms might go unrecognized, but school badges were another matter.
Thus, the badge acted as a natural anti-counterfeiting measure.
Ke Jie nodded. "I'll discuss this with the sect's executives. As for the profits, fifty percent of the net income will go to you."
Just for an idea—and without directly participating in the sales—receiving fifty percent of the profits was quite generous.
Of course, Ning Tianchen wasn't short on money. "The money earned will cover everyone's meal expenses during the tournament."
"Captain, you're awesome!" Everyone cheered.
---
Not long after, a staff member arrived at the Seven Treasures team's rest area.
"Participants, please get ready. Once the arena is cleared, you can go on stage."
Before leaving, Ning Tianchen instructed, "Don't feel pressured—treat this like a regular duel. Unless there are special circumstances, follow the planned tactics. In case of emergencies, listen to Xiaotian's commands."
"Boss, we're not kids—you don't need to explain so much," Chen Huayu muttered.
"I think you're itching for a beating," Ning Tianchen teased with a laugh.
Chen Huayu shrank back and hurriedly "escaped" from the rest area.
---
Inside the Shrek Academy's rest area
Yu Xiaogang, along with Liu Erlong and Flender, watched the duels together.
"The next match is the Seven Treasures team's. Watch carefully and don't miss any details," Yu Xiaogang reminded them.
Yu Tianheng said, "Uncle Xiaogang, Purple Star Academy hasn't shown much strength in previous years. They probably won't force the Seven Treasures team to reveal their trump cards."
Tang San added, "Regardless, let's watch first. Especially focus on determining their soul power levels."
Thanks to Yu Xiaogang's training methods, Tang San currently had forty-four levels of soul power, Dai Mubai forty-five, Yu Tianheng forty-six, Tai Long, Xiao Wu, and Zhu Zhu were all early-stage Soul Ancestors, while Ma Hongjun remained a Soul Elder.
A team with six Soul Ancestors would have had a chance to reach the finals in previous years.
But this year, the opponents' overall strength was exceptionally high, so they didn't have much of an advantage in terms of soul power levels.
The match began. Six members of the Seven Treasures team activated their martial souls, while Feng Xiaotian stood in the center of the team, making no moves.
"Zhu Zhuqing and that fatty have reached forty-three levels of soul power."
"Oscar actually has forty-five levels!" Flender was astonished.
When Oscar left Shrek Academy, he was only at thirty-one levels. It was unexpected that in just two years, he had improved so rapidly.
Moreover, he was a food-based soul master—one of the hardest types to cultivate.
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