area51novel Chapter 185: A maximum of 3 matches.
Chapter 185: A maximum of 3 matches.
Having already stayed up all night, and in a particularly mentally taxing way, Long You was already feeling a bit drained. Now, with his self-awareness suddenly becoming much clearer, he was hit with a heavy blow. Long You felt dizzy and lightheaded, his shoulders slumped, and he just wanted to sleep.
"Hey Xiaoyou, what's wrong with you? You were perfectly fine just now!"
"Ah, I just suddenly don't feel like being so energetic. Maybe being in a less energetic state will bring us some unexpected benefits!"
"Didn't we talk about this over dinner? Teacher Wang has already laid out the tactics, so we probably won't be playing today. Let's take a break."
"Are you sure? Individual battles are fine, but if we get a team battle or a 2-2-3 formation, we can take a break?"
"Senior Sister Ling Luochen and Senior Brother Gongyang Mo are already ready to play. If I were Teacher Wang, I would definitely find a suitable opportunity to let these two show their faces first and seize the time to consolidate the strong image they created during the elimination rounds."
Listlessly walking through the corridor guarded by soldiers, Long You glanced towards the academy rest area the moment he reached the edge of Xingluo Square. This rest area had been briefly opened to the victorious academies during the first round of elimination matches.
Long You had already experienced it that day; the chairs in the rest area were quite comfortable, perfect for sleeping. However, when Long You took a closer look at the scene in the rest area, he was somewhat stunned.
"Hey Lao He! There are only four groups that can start the round-robin tournament today, right?"
"Yeah, that's right."
"Look over to the rest area. If my eyesight isn't failing me, all the students who passed the first round of elimination should be gathered there by now."
"What the hell? Are you all crazy? What are you all doing here?" Perhaps anticipating that the fully booked rest area would significantly disrupt his later nap, He Caitou's expression darkened.
"Even if it's to gather intelligence on the opponents, is it really necessary to come with such comprehensive information? It's a group stage now, so figuring out the situation in your own group should be enough."
"Well, theoretically that's true, but I think these guys are here to see us. Look at the direction their eyes are looking, aren't they all heading straight for us?"
During the elimination rounds, this group of guys who looked like they were from the reserve team actually produced four Soul Kings. These academies are now surprised, scared, and incredulous; they definitely want to confirm it again.
"Hmm? Won't Yuhao and the others give themselves away?"
"The secret will definitely be exposed eventually, but it will definitely not be this time."
All the participating colleges have gathered. If I were Teacher Wang, I would definitely take this opportunity to establish my authority and get Senior Sister Ling Luochen and Senior Brother Gongyang Mo to go all out.
Considering the tournament organizing committee is unlikely to pit us against top universities right from the start, our opponents will most likely be from ordinary colleges. Even if these colleges have Soul King students, the chances of them putting up an effective fight against Senior Ling Luochen's full power are slim. As for Yuhao and Songhe, those two kids won't have a chance to fight, except for providing support.”
Long You and He Caitou walked at the very back of the Shrek Academy group, and they spoke very softly, so Bei Bei and the others in front didn't notice their discussion. However, not noticing the discussion didn't mean they didn't notice the intense gazes directed at them from the rest area.
They were all shrewd people; if Long You could think of a problem, others could certainly think of it too if they were willing to. Sure enough, after slowing down his pace slightly, Wang Yan, who was leading the group, immediately turned to talk to Ling Luochen and Gongyang Mo.
The chairs in the rest area are very comfortable, and there are also some cleverly arranged partitions between the rest areas of each college, so it is not impossible to rest or catch up on sleep if you want.
Because Long You and He Caitou had been delayed quite a bit when they left home in the morning, Shrek Academy was basically the last academy to enter the competition venue. Shortly after Shrek Academy entered, the competition host began the warm-up, announcing the list of academies that had entered the round-robin stage, repeating the round-robin stage schedule and rules, and also completing the draw for group assignments.
There were quite a few colleges, and the lottery process took a considerable amount of time. Long You, who didn't need to worry about these issues, took a long nap.
Long You was awakened from his slumber by Xiao Yan. As the time spent awake increased, Xiao Yan's intelligence steadily improved. Now, Xiao Yan possesses intelligence comparable to that of an adult, truly becoming Long You's most relied-upon assistant.
"The draw results are in." Long You opened his eyes. Wang Yan and Zhang Lexuan had just entered the Shrek Academy's rest area and were waving to gather the students over.
"Our group assignment is pretty good. According to the information we gathered beforehand, although there are one or two opponents in our group who seem difficult to deal with, the other opponents are all quite ordinary."
Take today's opponent, for example: the Yunluo Advanced Soul Master Academy of the Star Luo Empire. The students from this academy generally have decent soul power levels, but they are a Soul Master Academy. At this stage, apart from the Soul Master Academies of the Sun Moon Empire, the Soul Master Academies of the original Three Kingdoms of the Douluo Continent generally cannot match the combat strength of Soul Master Academies.
So although this academy passed the elimination rounds relatively easily, in terms of actual strength, this academy is not strong; at the very least, they are definitely no match for our reserve team.
Perhaps because he had just arrived and wasn't fully aware of the trainees' current mental state, coupled with seeing Long You and He Caitou staying up all night to create soul tools, Wang Yan didn't rush to discuss tactics. Instead, he offered some motivational words, intending to ease the trainees' tension, and perhaps also his own.
Closing his eyes slightly to hide the smile that was about to burst forth, Long You felt that Wang Yan's pep talk was probably a waste of time. Sure enough, the moment Wang Yan finished speaking, Xu Sanshi directly abandoned the pep talk and began to ask about the real issues that needed attention in the competition.
"Teacher Wang, we can have Xiao You observe the opponent's strength again using her martial soul later. The important thing now is whether the competition format has been determined?"
"Not yet. After the area is cleared, the team captains will draw lots to decide the final result. Everyone, please rest for now."
Xu Sanshi's calm and indifferent question made Wang Yan realize that his comforting words had not been effective. After a helpless smile, Wang Yan waved for everyone to rest and adjust their state.
While the emcee was still spouting meaningless warm-up rhetoric, Long You's eyes were already darting around the rest area, searching for any trace of the Yunluo Advanced Soul Master Academy.
Soon, Long You's gaze settled on a group of academy students who looked rather nervous.
[Xiao Yan, observe carefully. It would be best to analyze these people's martial souls before they go on stage. Once you know their martial souls, you can roughly figure out what type of soul master they are, based on the current popular soul tool pairing theory in Douluo Continent.]
Don't worry, these people aren't very strong; we'll be able to analyze them quickly.
Having found their target, Xiao Yan took care of the rest of the work, leaving Long You completely unused. So Long You retreated back into his comfortable chair. However, this time, before Long You could even doze off, the emcee's booming voice abruptly shook him out of his drowsiness.
"Next, please welcome the Shrek Academy team, the number one academy on the continent, and their opponents, the Yunluo Advanced Soul Master Academy team of the Star Luo Empire, to the waiting area. At the same time, please invite the captains of the two teams to come to the stage to determine their match format for this round-robin tournament."
[Okay, no need to sleep now, but it does make analysis and observation easier.]
Covering his mouth with his hand as he yawned, Long You swayed and followed behind the group. There was no need to pay special attention to this match anymore. Although the analysis time was still short, Long You had already confirmed that there were no Soul Kings among the Yunluo Advanced Soul Master Academy members. This alone guaranteed that Shrek Academy could not possibly suffer an upset in this match.
Upon entering the waiting area, Xiao Yan had almost finished analyzing the martial souls of the Yunluo Academy participants and was now analyzing the soul skills of the Yunluo Advanced Soul Master Academy participants. While Bei Bei went on stage to draw lots, Long You quickly flipped through the text displayed in the Book of Witness.
Unsurprisingly, these students' martial souls were all quite ordinary. This was the tradition in the original Douluo Continent's Three Kingdoms period; those with powerful martial souls had long since become Soul Masters, while only Soul Masters with average martial soul development potential would choose to become Soul Instructors.
"Buzz, buzz"
After Long You flipped through the Book of Witness for a while, almost every Shrek Academy student present felt a vibration. Xiao Yan was still busy, but Long You and Bourne, thanks to the smart glasses perched on their noses, saw what Long You saw from his martial soul almost simultaneously in the chat group for everyone to view.
Upon hearing the notification tone, everyone from Shrek Academy simultaneously pulled out their phones, even Bei Bei, who was drawing lots on the competition stage, almost lost focus. When the small yellow ball representing a one-on-one duel fell out of the large sphere, eliciting cheers from the entire audience, relaxed smiles appeared on the faces of everyone from Shrek Academy.
"Looks like good news, do I still need to look?"
As arranged beforehand, after the draw, Beibei didn't linger on the competition stage but immediately returned to the waiting area. Although she hadn't seen the contents of the chat group on her phone, just looking at the expressions on her teammates' faces, Beibei could feel a sense of relief.
"That's really good news. In this match, Luo Chen, you go first. Win as many matches as you can. If you can win seven straight and win this round-robin tournament, that would be the best."
"I will do my best. Judging from the level of my martial soul and soul power alone, I should be able to do it. However, my opponent is a soul master after all, and I can't be sure if he will come up with any soul tools that I can't handle."
A Soul Master's personality and Martial Soul often influence each other. As an ice-type mage, Ling Luochen's personality is somewhat cold and leans towards rationality. Everyone has come to understand this after spending so much time together. Therefore, no one has any unnecessary associations with Ling Luochen's statement, which is somewhat disrespectful to Teacher Wang Yan.
"That's enough. No battle is foolproof. Even a lion needs to go all out to hunt a rabbit. We already have the best combat intelligence support and a clear advantage in combat strength. There's no need to feel pressured."
Clearly, Wang Yan wasn't a petty teacher. He was now fully immersed in his first All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament. Although he couldn't participate in the competition, Wang Yan still longed to contribute to the continuation of Shrek Academy's honor.
Although Long You hasn't finished analyzing the specific effects of the soul skills, Shrek Academy's lineup for this match has been decided. As mentioned earlier, despite Shrek Academy's incomplete roster, they still possess a significant advantage in strength during the early rounds of the tournament.
Compared to the noticeably relaxed atmosphere at Shrek Academy, the atmosphere at Yunluo Advanced Soul Master Academy became even more tense.
Because they hadn't deliberately eavesdropped, Shrek Academy didn't know what Yunluo Academy was talking about. However, Long You noticed that three students from Yunluo Academy looked noticeably more serious, while the other students, though unwilling, also seemed to exude a sense of relief.
Hmm, although I vaguely remember that Shrek Academy's first opponent in the round-robin tournament was indeed Yunluo Advanced Soul Master Academy in the original work, I really can't remember the competition method or process at all.
But judging from the current situation, does Yunluo only intend to fight for three matches?
Long You was certain that his observations were accurate, but he wasn't so sure that his conjecture was correct. Considering Ling Luochen's strength, even if he intended to conserve his soul power, it was unlikely that he would lose in the first three matches. Therefore, Long You refrained from revealing his unverifiable conjecture.
Ling Luochen made his appearance, and Yunluo Academy also sent out its first student. Long You's eyes narrowed slightly. The student, who was not tall, a little round, but had broad shoulders, was one of the three students whose expressions had become more serious that Long You had noticed earlier.
With supporting evidence, Long You didn't mind sharing his wild ideas and observations. Of course, this wasn't a serious sharing, but rather...
"Shall we make a bet? I bet this round-robin tournament will end after three matches. As long as Senior Ling Luochen can win the first three matches in a relatively easy manner, Yunluo Academy will concede defeat."