Chapter 171: Rule Loopholes

"What, want to fight?" Wu Qi said with an unkind tone.

Huyan Li knew the other party's strength and had also heard the rumors about him.

To offend Wu Qi—he lacked the strength, and he lacked the guts.

He pointed at Feng Xiaotian and the other two, snorting coldly: "This matter has nothing to do with you; it is a grudge between us and the Feng Huo Family!"

"A joke. We are a single entity; how could we allow you to spout such nonsense?" Wu Qi's eyes were cold, his gaze locking sharply onto the group from the Xiangjia Team.

It seemed that if the other party dared to make any small move, he would strike without hesitation.

Feng Xiaotian whispered a reminder, "Captain, be careful, it might be a trap."

Although the tournament had not yet begun, if two teams brawled in private and caused a negative impact, it was very likely they would have their competition spots revoked.

Using the worthless lives of the Xiangjia Team to trade for the future of the Seven Treasure Team—even a fool would know it wasn't worth it.

But Wu Qi was not angry without reason.

The Xiangjia Team was not well-liked in the Heaven Dou Empire; even if they were crippled, so what?

Regardless of whether the Seven Treasure Team had the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect behind them, the Heaven Dou Imperial Family would support them. Moreover, in the Heaven Dou Competition Zone, the Heaven Dou Imperial Family was definitely in charge; even if Bibi Dong applied pressure, it would be of no use.

Not giving Wu Qi a chance to act, Huyan Li said nothing and obediently stepped aside.

With a cold snort, the members of the Seven Treasure Team walked away.

"Captain, they are too arrogant; are we just letting them go like this?" Huyan Shan said fiercely.

Huyan Li glared at him, "Then what else can we do?"

Behind Wu Qi was the Poison Douluo Dugu Bo, and Ning Rongrong in the team was even the daughter of Ning Fengzhi.

Even the Bishop of the Wuhun Shengdian, Salas, did not allow them to go and cause trouble for Wu Qi.

Huyan Li did not know Wu Qi's background, but to be valued so highly, he dared not offend him to the death.

They left the hotel.

Huo Wu said indignantly: "Those things from the Elephant Armored Sect, sooner or later we will drive them out of Element City!"

Huo Wushuang was relatively calm: "Once the tournament starts, they will inevitably try to trip us up; everyone had better be careful."

If the Elephant Armored Sect were truly easy to deal with, they wouldn't have been able to linger in Element City for so long.

While they were talking, the people from the Four Elements Academy Battle Team walked toward them.

Yu Tianxin's relationship with Wu Qi could not be considered good; both sides nodded in acknowledgement and then went their separate ways.

As for the Feng, Shui, and Huo families, they were truly as close as brothers.

That evening, the four academies even organized a dinner together.

The next day, as it was the last rest day for the teams before the tournament opened, the veteran team leaders of each academy were popularizing the tournament rules for their members.

At the same time, a large number of Spirit Masters who had come for the reputation of the event flooded into Tiandou City, preparing to witness the grand occasion of the Soul Master World.

Given that the members of the Seven Treasure Team had participated in many matches at the Great Spirit Arena, Sun Buyu felt it was necessary to explain things with emphasis.

"The rules of the Spirit Master Tournament are completely different from the matches at the Great Spirit Arena."

The Great Spirit Arena tended toward matches without intervention, meaning both sides could use any means, including Spirit Master methods and all kinds of underhanded tricks.

For example, Tang San could use Hidden Weapons without restriction on the ring at the Great Spirit Arena.

Conversely, under the rules of the Spirit Master Tournament, if Tang San used Hidden Weapons, he would be directly judged as having lost the match on the spot.

Once serious consequences were caused, it was even possible to be stripped of the qualification to compete.

The purpose of the Spirit Master Tournament was to build a platform for young Spirit Masters to battle and communicate. The geniuses selected would then be scrambled for by various forces.

However, the rules of the Spirit Master Tournament were highly restrictive; no means other than one's martial soul could be used.

Sun Buyu reminded: "Little Wu, that set of soft armor of yours cannot be worn either; once someone reports it, there will be big trouble."

The restrictions of the tournament were not limited to just not being able to use weapons other than martial souls; defensive gear was also not allowed.

In the original timeline, Xiao Wu relied on the overbearing ability of the Love-Sickness Heartbroken Red to beat the members of the Balaka Academy Battle Team.

Wu Qi could only say, heh.

Was the referee supposed to be blind? The opponent's attack power was inexplicably negated; Xiao Wu simply could not withstand an investigation.

It was just that at the time, the ring was within the territory of the Heaven Dou Empire, and both the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Crown Prince Xue Qinghe wanted to win over Shrek Academy, so they turned a blind eye to this behavior and did not pursue it.

The Bala Kingdom was a vassal state of the Heaven Dou Empire; if the suzerain state didn't speak up, how could people from the vassal state easily make an issue of it?

If no one had been indulging Shrek Academy, they might have had their competition spot revoked on the spot.

Furthermore, food produced by a Food-type Spirit Master must be produced on-site after the match begins; food produced before the match was not allowed to be brought onto the ring.

This was easy to understand; a Food-type Spirit Master father and son, possessing the same martial soul, would make it difficult to distinguish whose hand the food came from.

Once on the ring, the effects produced by consuming food made by a Soul Ancestor-level Food-type Spirit Master versus a Soul Emperor-level Food-type Spirit Master were two completely different concepts.

For the sake of fairness, this behavior being prohibited was perfectly normal.

Sun Buyu continued: "There is one more point: the tournament rules explicitly prohibit killing. Once violated, all results are directly cancelled, and the entire academy will even be blacklisted."

The tournament aimed to build a platform for young Spirit Masters to display their strength, not a battlefield.

Furthermore, the original intention of holding the tournament was to oppose war.

Killing on the ring clearly violated the purpose for which the tournament was held.

On this point, their own side was easy to restrain, but they could not restrain the intentions of their opponents.

If someone deliberately targeted the Seven Treasure Academy, sent a sick person onto the stage, and intentionally sought death during the match, what should be done in such a situation?

After all, everyone was an independent individual; no one knew what was in another person's mind.

If this matter caused the team to be innocently implicated, whose loss would it be?

This could be considered a loophole in the tournament rules; hearing everyone say this, Sun Buyu also felt a headache, "I am very sorry, I am not the tournament organizer. If such a problem is truly encountered, I fear it can only be resolved by the sect coming forward to communicate."

This kind of problem is too pedantic; after all, no one would go to their death for no good reason.

However, one must always be on guard against others.

Sun Buyu felt fortunate that standing behind the Seven Treasure team was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

During the competition, Ning Fengzhi and Bone Douluo would be on-site; if anyone dared to do such a thing, with the discernment of a Title Douluo, they would certainly be able to see it clearly.

Moreover, they were nominally still the Imperial Fighting Team Two, and the Heaven Dou Empire would also lean toward their side.

Wu Qi pressed his hand down, "We can report the loophole in the rules to the organizing committee, but I estimate that this tournament will not add it to the existing rules."

For such a formal competition, the rules must be announced clearly before the match.

After all, this is not some backwater, and modifying rules on the spot would only invite abuse.

It is just a pity that everyone thought of this loophole too late.

Sun Buyu said with a wry smile, "Everyone keep your eyes sharp; if you encounter such guys looking to frame you, it is best to stay far away, or report it to the referee on the spot."

"In short, keep your wits about you to avoid falling for others' schemes."

(End of this chapter)