Chapter 203: Why Target Us!

The advancement certificates were quickly issued to Shrek Academy.

Because of the conduct of Tang San and the others, the Heaven Dou Imperial Family had lost much face; how could Xue Ye possibly have a pleasant expression?

Simply handing the certificates to Tang San, Xue Ye turned and left, not even saying a single word. This formed a stark contrast to the treatment received by the Seven Treasures Team.

The members of Shrek frowned slightly, and when Ning Fengzhi walked past them without distributing the corresponding prize money, Tang San could no longer hold back.

Disregarding the occasion, he questioned, "Ning Sect Master, did you happen to leave out our academy's prize money?"

The prize money was something every team was entitled to; on what grounds were they not being issued it?

Before Ning Fengzhi could speak, Salas interjected, "If this seat recalls correctly, your Shrek Academy has yet to pay the medical expenses to the Imperial Fighting Team Three, and you have also not compensated for the losses of the Blazing Radiance Academy."

"These 10,000 Gold Soul Coins will be paid to the aforementioned two teams on your behalf by the organizing committee. This is the decision of the entire organizing committee; do you understand?"

Tang San's expression was gloomy, yet he dared not openly offend the organizing committee.

Next, Salas, representing the Spirit Hall, distributed additional rewards to the top three teams that advanced.

They were nothing particularly precious, consisting of cultivation resources and Tokens for entering the Spirit Hunting Forest.

Once the rewards were distributed, the host enlivened the atmosphere briefly before handing the floor over to Emperor Xueye Dadi.

Xue Ye did not speak immediately, his gaze sweeping over the five teams, lingering for a few extra seconds on Wu Qi and Feng Xiaotian.

Both were Soul Kings, and whether the empire could capture the championship honor depended entirely on the two of them.

After about a minute, he smiled and began: "First, I wish to congratulate you all for passing through layers of selection and successfully standing out on the stage of the Preliminary Tournament."

"As the supreme leader of the empire, I am proud of you."

After delivering some official rhetoric, Xue Ye immediately made a promise: "The captains and vice-captains of each team play a pivotal role in the competition."

"Therefore, I have decided to confer the title of Viscount upon the captains and vice-captains of each team, and the title of Baron upon the remaining participating members."

"This decision shall take effect the day you report to the empire after your graduation. Your fiefs will be allocated uniformly after you report."

It was impossible for Xue Ye to give out titles for nothing.

Reporting to the empire was undoubtedly equivalent to joining the Heaven Dou Imperial Family and becoming a member of the bureaucratic system.

For those with backgrounds in major factions, they cared nothing for this.

The only ones who might be interested were civilian Spirit Masters like Oscar and Chen Ping.

According to the regulations of the Heaven Dou Empire, only military merit could earn a title.

In the current continent, which could barely be considered a time of peace, it was basically impossible to earn a title through military merit.

Especially with Xue Ye consolidating power, he would not easily confer titles.

It could be said that in the last dozen years or so, no new nobility had been born, at most only someone like Wu Qinan, who had his title raised due to military merit.

Promising so many titles in one breath showed the Heaven Dou Empire's determination to win over talent.

Moreover, these were all titles with real power and fiefs, not mere honorary titles.

Bishop Salas wore a gloomy expression, looked toward Xue Ye, and snorted coldly: "Your Majesty, is this not somewhat inappropriate?"

"There has never been a precedent for conferring titles due to the Spirit Master Tournament in the past, this time..."

Xue Ye responded casually: "Since when has it been the Spirit Hall's turn to interfere in the empire's decisions?"

Although Salas felt dissatisfied, he could not act out in public.

Most of the audience at the scene understood that the relationship between the Spirit Hall and the Heaven Dou Empire was filled with gunpowder.

In recent years, Bibi Dong's actions had become increasingly overbearing; many factions had suffered greatly, and the Heaven Dou Imperial Family had also suffered significant losses at her hands. This kind of talent recruitment was surely to get back at her.

This move by Xue Ye clearly signaled to the outside world to choose between the Spirit Hall and the Heaven Dou Imperial Family.

Soon, Xue Ye withdrew the anger from his eyes and said with a smile: "The upcoming Advancement Tournament will be held at the Huangjia Weichang, and each team has one month to prepare."

"During this month, I hope you will not slack off; necessary training is essential. Of course, cultivation requires a balance of work and rest, so do not be overly harsh on yourselves."

"The Advancement Tournament is a stage to showcase individual strength, and I hope you can achieve even better results."

The Preliminary Tournament was held separately, while the Advancement Tournament would be held with the empire and the five major kingdoms combined.

Each kingdom and principality was secretly competing with the empire, and Xue Ye certainly did not want the empire's teams to be outdone.

Next, he also promised benefits to help with spirit hunting.

For Wu Qi, a 30,000-year Soul Beast was not worthy of being his sixth Soul Ring, so this promise was meaningless to him.

The Preliminary Tournament drew to a close, and the teams exited the arena in an orderly fashion.

Just as the members of the Seven Treasures Team walked out of the arena, they encountered many teams coming to greet them.

During the Preliminary Tournament, the Seven Treasures Team rarely dealt heavy blows, and they had a good reputation among the various teams.

Now, they had set a new record for the Preliminary Tournament, and on the stage of the Advancement Tournament, they might not be unable to break history again.

It was not as if teams with perfect records in the Advancement Tournament had never appeared, so the records everyone was most concerned about were the "one-vs-six" and "one-vs-seven" feats that showcased individual strength.

One must know that as the competition progresses, a Spirit Master's soul power and physical strength drop significantly. So far, the best record was the "one-vs-five" record produced in the Xingluo Saiqu.

If a "one-vs-six" or even "one-vs-seven" appeared in the Heaven Dou Competition Zone, it would, to a certain extent, be considered a step above the Star Luo Empire.

Of course, no one would fake such a record.

Teams that were defeated by a "one-vs-five" or higher would be nailed to the shame pillar of the tournament.

Unless the academy did not want to stay open, it was impossible for them to cooperate with others to produce such an absurd result.

Before long, Wu Qi saw the Wind Fire Team and the members of the Tianshui Team waiting for them not far away.

The relationship between the three teams was extraordinary, and meeting now was to discuss plans for the Advancement Tournament, so as to avoid exposing too many of their own trump cards and allowing other teams to take advantage.

After some conversation, Shui Bing'er spoke first, "Our Tianshui Team's one-on-one strength is not strong; the Advancement Tournament is not a stage for us to shine."

Her meaning was very clear: they would continue to forfeit their match against the Seven Treasures Team in the Advancement Tournament.

The Wind Fire Team, however, was unwilling to give up.

Their individual strength is also quite good, and many of them view Feng Xiaotian, Huo Wushuang, and the others as role models, so naturally, they want to spar with them to gauge the gap in their strength.

Both sides are brother academies, so Wu Qi has no reason not to agree to such a request.

"Since that is the case, we will not stay any longer. The Preliminary Tournament has been exhausting enough for a month; we will head back to rest first."

"If there are other matters that need to be discussed, shall we talk about them in a couple of days?"

The members of the Seven Treasures Team are waiting to go back to receive rewards from the sect, so naturally, they do not want to continue staying here.

The Tianshui and Wind-Fire teams are also very tired and want to hurry back to rest as well.

(End of this chapter)