110: Chapter 107 Round Trip

When Lin Yan came out of seclusion, it was already the final day of the knockout round.

With the conclusion of that afternoon's matches, the intense and fierce knockout round officially came to a close.

At the same time, although officials had done everything possible to protect the contestants,

the first knockout round meant going straight home upon defeat. Thus, every team went all out in every battle, making casualties unavoidable.

Over the course of the entire round, according to official Star Luo statistics, nearly two hundred contestants suffered injuries of varying severity.

More than a dozen students even died from their severe injuries; however, the families of all students killed in action received a very generous pension from the Star Luo Empire official after the event.

As for the eliminated academies, the Star Luo Empire handled things gracefully, giving them plenty of travel expenses and preserving their dignity.

Naturally, the brutal battles of the knockout round also attracted a growing crowd of spectators who flocked to the venue.

After all, most Spirit Masters were wealthy or noble; where else would people usually get the chance to see so many Genius Spirit Masters fighting fiercely and putting their lives on the line on the arena stage?

Following the conclusion of the knockout round, the next phase was the group round-robin tournament.

The round-robin matches used a randomized format, where each match's specific style—whether single elimination, 3-2-2 teamwork combat, or 7-on-7 team battle—was determined by drawing lots.

Interestingly, during the group division phase of the round-robin tournament, none of the royal academies from the four major Empires nor Shrek Academy were assigned to the same group.

The Star Luo Empire's tournament officials didn't even bother pretending, placing most of the Sun Moon Empire's academies into the very same group so they would be forced to eliminate each other.

At the same time, the group containing the Star Luo Royal Advanced Spirit Master Academy had a pitifully small number of strong teams.

Of course, everyone was already used to this kind of behind-the-scenes manipulation, as the host nation did the exact same thing in almost every tournament.

As for Shrek's group, although there were a few strong teams, they were not overly numerous.

For instance, in Shrek's first round-robin match, their opponent didn't even have a single Spirit King. Upon learning this, Lin Yan simply didn't bother showing up at the venue on the opening day.

However, on the second day, to be safe, Teacher Wang Yan repeatedly urged him to attend in person no matter what.

This was because their opponent for the second round was one of the top eight teams from the previous Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament—Zhengtian Academy.

In the previous tournament, had Zhengtian Academy not encountered the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy in the top four battles, they might have had a chance to advance even further.

In this tournament, Zhengtian Academy's team was still remarkably powerful, boasting three Spirit Kings and four Spirit Ancestors, ranking just behind Shrek Academy and the royal academies of the four major Empires.

...

Shrek Academy's rest area was located at the northernmost end, right next to the imperial city wall, and was noticeably much more spacious and luxurious than those of the other academies.

There were twenty comfortable sofas arranged inside, with dedicated attendants standing by, while the tables beside them were fully stocked with exquisite delicacies, seasonal fruits, and various beverages.

However, despite such a lavish rest area, Teacher Wang Yan was sitting on pins and needles at the moment, anxiously glancing toward the entrance again and again.

With the match fast approaching, the person he was desperately waiting for was still nowhere to be seen.

A moment later, just as he was nearly unable to restrain himself from sending someone to hurry him along, Lin Yan, having finished his daily body tempering as usual, finally appeared unhurriedly at the entrance.

Seeing Lin Yan enter, everyone who had been sitting, including Ma Xiaotao, subconsciously stood up in unison.

Meanwhile, atop the imperial city tower not far away...

...the Star Luo Emperor, Xu Jiawei, who had been paying attention to Shrek Academy consciously or unconsciously, noticed this unusual sight. He tilted his head slightly, pointed toward Lin Yan from afar, and asked the person beside him:

"Over at Shrek's side, who is that young man who just walked in?"

As soon as His Majesty spoke, the minister responsible for intelligence focused his gaze to take a close look, stepped forward, and reported in a deep voice:

"In reply to Your Majesty,"

"This person is named Lin Yan, with a Soul Power Rank of 49. He is a member of Shrek's main team for this tournament."

Saying this, the minister paused slightly before continuing:

"At the same time, he is also the rumored user of Ultimate Fire from Shrek last year, who defeated a Spirit Emperor as a Spirit Elder right after entering the academy!"

"So it's him!"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Xu Jiawei instantly recalled the intelligence report that had been placed on his desk last year.

However, upon hearing "Rank 49," his brows furrowed, and he immediately asked in return, "Are you sure there's no mistake?"

"Wasn't this Lin Yan just a Spirit Elder last year?!"

"How could anyone jump more than ten Ranks within a single year?!"

Hearing Emperor Xu Jiawei's questioning tone, the minister nodded with some difficulty.

"Your Majesty, this is the information registered when Shrek signed up. If they didn't report falsely, it shouldn't be wrong."

Having received confirmation, Emperor Xu Jiawei still found it unbelievable. With a grave expression, he asked, "Shrek's opponent in this round, if I remember correctly, is Zhengtian Academy, right?"

"Tell me about Zhengtian Academy's intelligence."

Hearing this, the minister did not hesitate for even a moment and immediately replied, "In reply to Your Majesty, Zhengtian Academy is an established academy in the Heavenly Soul Empire, and its strength has always been impressive."

"Their captain for this tournament is named Ye Wuqing, nineteen years old, with the Spirit Golden Leaf, a Rank 58 attack system battle Spirit Master of formidable strength."

"If he weren't nineteen years old this year instead of twenty,"

"He would likely have broken through to Rank 60, becoming the first student in Zhengtian Academy's history to participate in the tournament as a Spirit Emperor."

"Besides him, there are two other Spirit Kings."

"One is a female student named Yu Mengdi, whose Spirit is Angel."

"The other is named Tang Xiaolei, whose Spirit is the Purple Flower Bow. He can use his own spirit rings as arrows; once he shoots five arrows, his Soul Power is completely exhausted, but the power is correspondingly terrifying..."

After listening to the report on Zhengtian Academy, Emperor Xu Jiawei had no mind to pay much attention to the likes of Ye Wuqing or Yu Mengdi; instead, he asked softly with a hint of uncertainty:

"In your view, facing a lineup like Zhengtian Academy's, will that Lin Yan choose to take the field?"

The intelligence minister pondered for a moment before analyzing in a deep voice: "In reply to Your Majesty, this minister believes there is a high probability he will play today."

"Oh?"

Without keeping him in suspense, the minister continued:

"According to the intelligence this minister gathered over the past few days, aside from appearing on the tournament's first day, Lin Yan hasn't shown up since, including yesterday's first round-robin match."

"Therefore, since he came today, there is a very strong possibility he will take the field."

Upon hearing this, Emperor Xu Jiawei slowly nodded, a subtle expression flashing across his face.

If that was the case, whether it was real or fake would be revealed shortly.

If it were true...

Twelve years old... Ultimate Fire... Rank 49...

Then he really was... too much of a Prodigy!