Chapter 219: New Competition Format

It wasn't his baseless attack; Tie Li truly held back.

But during this process, Tie Li employed a small trick.

On the arena, after losing Davis and Zhu Zhuyun, the Star Luo Royal Team became utterly vulnerable.

Tie Li deactivated the Fifth Soul Technique; the Ultimate Attribute's soul‑power consumption was excessively exaggerated.

After several rounds, the Star Luo Royal Team's formation was broken, and they won the match with an absolutely dominant stance.

In the afternoon, the Sleak Team faced the Thunder Team; Tang San once again displayed formidable strength, almost turning the entire battle around single‑handedly.

Even the fusion technique used by Arnold and Feng Yu was broken by him.

After consecutively defeating two major strong teams, the Sleak Team's momentum was unrivaled.

As for the second afternoon match, the martial soul Dian Team won with absolute superiority; three Soul Kings, four Soul Ancestors, and all four Soul Ancestors had Soul Power Levels above 45, making their apparent strength the strongest among the Top Eight.

After determining the Top Four teams, the Lottery Draw Ceremony followed, and this time the ceremony attracted a great deal of attention.

On the podium, Pope Bibi Dong appeared, her exceedingly noble bearing catching everyone's eye; she was in charge of this Lottery Draw Ceremony.

Four metal spheres each contained a slip of paper with a team name; Bibi Dong's soul power enveloped the spheres, pairing the four into two groups.

Next, a White Gold Bishop would announce the contents.

"First match: martial soul Dian Team versus Tiandou Royal Team Subteam!"

"Second match: Sleak Team versus Tiandou Royal Team Main Team!"

This time luck seemed poor, as they immediately faced the strongest team, the martial soul Dian Team.

The Top Four matches begin three days later, with the venue in front of the Papal Hall.

After the Lottery Draw Ceremony ended, everyone left.

Back in the team's conference room, the atmosphere felt off, but not due to pressure from the martial soul Dian Team.

Rather, the Top Four results already met most members' expected goals, even surpassing the ideal outcome.

Facing the martial soul Dian Team, their attitude was to fight for a win, and it wouldn't matter if they lost.

Having already become a Top Four team, and confronting a martial soul Dian Team with three Soul Kings, even a loss wouldn't be disgraceful.

The Top Four match rules have been set, adopting the more team‑strength‑dependent Competition Rule.

The regulation is extremely unfavorable to Tiandou Royal Team Subteam; within that squad only one top combatant exists, the four main members are still Soul Elders, and the Competition Rule will amplify their team's weaknesses.

Coupled with the members' current mindset, winning becomes undeniably even harder.

Tie Li merely glanced at the people in the conference room, then rose and left.

When Zhao Tianhe entered the conference room, his expression was both heavy and somewhat relieved; the Top Four opponent being the martial soul Dian Team, plus the new rules, made victory almost impossible.

Inside the conference room, not seeing Tie Li, and glancing at the other members' expressions, he instantly understood.

Zhao Tianhe gave a wry smile and shook his head, "The Top Four might be the end point, huh!"

Compared to Tiandou Royal Team's conference room, the Sleak Team's room undeniably had the best atmosphere.

Facing Tiandou Royal Team, they had over an eighty‑percent confidence of winning.

"The odds are great this time, but don't be careless; they still have strength," Yu Xiaogang warned.

Because of the rule change, the Competition Rule's Soul Fighting Rules now contain more maneuverability, making overall team strength the foundation.

In this regard, Tiandou Royal Team Subteam has a fatal flaw.

As captain, Tie Li possesses the highest Soul Power Level and a top martial soul, but the members are too weak, especially the four main ones who are still Soul Elder rank.

"Tiandou Royal Team Subteam may be eliminated by the martial soul Dian," Fulangde said.

"It's essentially a certain loss, except the subteam captain has a Soul Power Level as high as Fifty‑Seven Level, arguably the strongest individual in the entire Soul Master Competition, but his teammates are too weak; the Competition Rule is aimed directly at them," Yu Xiaogang shook his head, expressing little confidence in Tiandou Royal Team Subteam.

But the martial soul Dian can't be blamed; if a team's overall strength is sufficient, no matter the rule set, they have full confidence.

"Everyone be serious; I'll explain the rules and the upcoming grouping,"

……

Three days passed quickly.

The four qualified teams, led by their assigned staff, entered the arena, arriving at the plaza in front of the Papal Hall.

The first match: martial soul Dian Team versus Tiandou Royal Team Subteam.

Most people favored the martial soul Dian Team; if it were a team match, Tiandou Royal Team might still have a chance, but with the Competition Rule this time, Tiandou Royal Team essentially has no chance of winning.

"Da Li, you and Zhang Xiaohe will debut together; I'll place Gu Qi and Ning Ning in the second slot—there might be a chance to win," Zhao Tianhe said.

This is their only possible path to victory: Tie Li leading Zhang Xiaohe to win the first match, while Gu Qi and Ning Ning, a Four‑Ring Soul Ancestor pair, might have a chance against the martial soul Dian Team.

Tie Li remained silent, his gaze fixed on the opposing martial soul Dian Team, where Yan was making a mocking gesture.

But his response was Tie Li's indifference.

"Damn!"

"Don't worry, later Na Na and I will give him a lifelong lesson," Xie Yue said beside him.

They already knew from within that Tie Li would be the first entrant in the match.

What they didn't expect was that Tie Li's partner would actually be a Soul Elder.

They all assumed it would be that supporting Soul Ancestor; in their view, besides Tie Li, the only decent member of Tiandou Royal Team Subteam was Ning Ning, who possessed the Ruyi Tower Martial Soul.

Tie Li's previously displayed personal strength forced the martial soul Dian Team to take him seriously, so this time they sent Xie Yue and Hu Liena.

The two wielded powerful Soul Fusion Techniques, having once defeated an Elder with Seven‑ring Soul Master cultivation.

That gave them confidence; relying on the Soul Fusion Technique, they were sure to defeat Tie Li.

"This is the Competition Rule; both sides have confirmed their entrants, please proceed to the arena,"

It's unclear whether the martial soul Dian did it deliberately, but the referee this time was merely a Six‑ring Soul Emperor, whose soul‑power fluctuations were hollow; Tie Li even wondered if this Soul Emperor possessed a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.

Tie Li and Zhang Xiaohe stepped onto the arena, facing Hu Liena and Xie Yue walking toward them.

Zhang Xiaohe appeared nervous; among the four on the arena, three were Soul Kings, and he alone was a Three‑Ring Soul Honorable.

"Boss, what should I do to be of help to you?" Zhang Xiaohe asked nervously.

Tie Li had already guessed the opponent's next move; for a moment, he truly didn't know what role Zhang Xiaohe would play in this Soul Battle.

(End of chapter)