Chapter 587: You've Already Lost Before Even Fighting (First Update, Requesting All)

Two days later, Yecheng Arena.

Li Zhangsheng sat in the rest area, occasionally flipping through the information on Huating Academy.

Over these two days, Yuanling Academy had played two more group stage matches, which were almost carbon copies of the first; both opponents, including Yecheng Academy, were completely routed, and Yuanling Academy won with ease.

Of course, this also had to do with those two academies conserving their strength.

Since they knew there was no hope of winning, they rationally chose to settle for second best and compete for a spot in the top eight.

Thus, Yuanling Academy successfully advanced to the top eight.

Just like in the previous session, Royal Academy, Tiandu Academy, and Huating Academy also advanced to the top four.

The stronger get stronger and the weaker get weaker; this is not just talk. There is no helping it, as the Four Great Academies hold too much of an advantage in faculty and resources.

Unless a monstrous genius appears in other academies, or they resort to Burning Boats like Yecheng Academy, there is almost no possibility of competing for a seat among the Four Great Academies.

Not far away, Luo Xiaoman said to Li Wanru with a mysterious look on her face: "Wanru, have you heard?"

For some reason, these two girls had become good friends.

Li Wanru asked curiously: "What?"

"Dai Kingdom!"

"Dai Kingdom? What big event happened in this small country again?"

Compared to Langya Kingdom, Dai Kingdom is a small country; not only does it have only one province of territory, but the entire country has only one Emperor Rank to hold the fort.

"I heard there are signs of another Abyss Gate appearing in Dai Kingdom!"

"What!"

Li Wanru couldn't help but exclaim. She is a Second-Rank Student and naturally has some understanding of Abyss Gates.

This is too miserable. Decades ago, an Abyss Gate appeared in Dai Kingdom, and now a second one is about to appear; this is completely the rhythm of a nation's demise.

One must know that Langya Kingdom, with its three provinces and one capital, has a total of only two Abyss Gates, and even if one of them is a mutated Twin Abyss Gate, the total number is still only two.

Dai Kingdom, with only one province of territory, actually has two Abyss Gates; this luck is truly too poor. How can Dai Kingdom, with only one Emperor Rank, suppress two Abyss Gates at the same time?

"Xiaoman, is this true?"

Luo Xiaoman leaned into Li Wanru's ear and whispered: "Absolutely true, my great-aunt told me."

Luo Xiaoman's great-aunt is naturally the Butterfly King, Luo Qingning.

However, although Luo Xiaoman's voice was small, it was still captured by Li Zhangsheng. It wasn't that Li Zhangsheng was eavesdropping; it was just that after being strengthened by the Giant and the Basalt Essence Blood, his six senses were already at a non-human level.

"I heard the Dai King and his envoys are running around everywhere, visiting nearby countries, hoping to get help from other countries. Look, do you see that guy wearing strange clothes? He is the Crown Prince of Dai Kingdom. This time, he is visiting our country to seek our help."

While speaking, Luo Xiaoman pointed at a young man sitting in the front row of the VIP section.

Li Zhangsheng looked over subconsciously. Just as Luo Xiaoman said, this young man was wearing strange clothes; this is the unique attire of the Dai Kingdom royal family, decorated with a large amount of beads, jade, tassels, and pearl powder.

If these decorations were removed, apart from the colors being more vibrant, the Dai Crown Prince's attire would be about the same as Langya Kingdom's.

The Dai Crown Prince is about thirty years old and looks quite handsome, possessing Fifth Rank strength. He appears calm and composed, with elegant manners, but if one observes carefully, he always gives people a feeling of anxiety.

There is no help for it; if he cannot find enough aid in a short time, once the second Abyss Gate appears, what awaits Dai Kingdom will likely be the fall of the nation, and the best outcome will likely be annexation by other countries.

However, it is likely that no country is willing to annex Dai Kingdom, because the countries surrounding Dai Kingdom are also overwhelmed themselves; how could they be willing to annex Adai Kingdom that possesses two Abyss Gates?

As for the current plan, Dai Kingdom can only seek aid, but while ordinary aid is easy to talk about, it is difficult to find an Emperor Rank willing to support Dai Kingdom.

Without an Emperor Rank to hold the fort, it is difficult to suppress the Demon Commander.

Of course, if ten Pseudo-Kings are gathered, it might work, but these Pseudo-Kings must work together with one heart and mind, and they must eat and live together, otherwise they are easily defeated one by one.

It is just that the entire Dai Kingdom only has a handful of Pseudo-Kings, and the key is that the Pseudo-Kings of their own country might not have the courage to confront the Demon Commander head-on, let alone the Pseudo-Kings of other countries. They are the pillars of their respective major forces; how could they easily risk their lives?

The stronger one is, the more one tends to fear death; this is even more true for Pseudo-Kings who have a chance to become Emperor Rank. Take Zuo Qiulin as an example; if he weren't being kept alive by Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure, he would have already entered the coffin. Even now, he still hasn't given up hope of becoming an Emperor Rank.

There are simply too many examples similar to Zuo Qiulin; unless it involves great interests, they will not easily take risks.

Luo Xiaoman seemed to remember something and continued: "Dai Kingdom is currently in a precarious situation. I heard that some forces in Dai Kingdom are secretly relocating. Our Langya Kingdom borders Dai Kingdom, so some forces will definitely relocate here."

Langya Kingdom and Dai Kingdom share a border, and it is the only medium-sized country around Dai Kingdom, so it naturally became the first choice for many Dai Kingdom forces.

Li Zhangsheng frowned slightly. The place where Langya Kingdom and Dai Kingdom share a border is Yuan Province. If these forces relocate to Langya Kingdom, many will definitely choose to take root in Yuan Province.

In this way, conflict between the local forces of Yuan Province and the relocating forces of Dai Kingdom is inevitable. There is no helping it; resources are limited, and if these Dai Kingdom forces want to seek development, they will inevitably infringe upon the interests of the local forces.

Li Zhangsheng rubbed his forehead. Now is not the time to think about these wild things; besides, with his growth rate, these Dai Kingdom forces might not be willing to infringe upon the interests of the Li Clan.

"Everyone be quiet, I am now announcing the starting students for this match!"

At this moment, Xu Wenhua's voice rang out.

"First Grade, Qin Danxin, Luo Xiaoman, Li Wanru; Second Grade, Li Zhangsheng, Zhao Shuyi, Xu Xiangzhi; Third Grade, Wang Xinyi, Qing Cang..."

Upon hearing his name, the Third Grade's Qing Cang was greatly surprised and instantly became excited. This was his first time being selected as a Third Grade representative, and also his first time becoming a starting student, especially in such an important Four-Strong Tournament; it would be strange if he weren't excited.

Facing Huating Academy, Vice Principal Xu was clearly much more serious, sending out almost the strongest lineup.

As Xu Wenhua finished speaking, Ning Bizhen on the side began to boost morale: "Our opponents are not weak, everyone must not take them lightly. Of course, I believe you will achieve the final victory, and we will be here waiting for your triumphant return!"

Under Ning Bizhen's encouragement, the starting students were like they had been injected with chicken blood, taking the field with high spirits.

On the other side, although Huating Academy wanted to conserve strength, they were mindful of the face of the Four Great Academies and had to send out their strongest lineup.

Soon, the two teams began to meet.

According to the rules, the two teams lined up in two rows to shake hands with their respective opponents.

Li Zhangsheng's opponent this time was a girl with freckles. Her expression was nervous yet expectant. When the two shook hands, Li Zhangsheng could clearly feel her palms sweating.

On the other side, Xu Wenhua and the team leader of Huating Academy were also greeting each other, but the two touched and parted, full of tit-for-tat implications, and then stood on their own sides, waiting for the match to begin.

As in the past, this time the First Grade students took the stage first.

The six people from both sides began to pair off and fight. Although the First Grade students of Huating Academy were stronger than those of the academies in the group stage, they didn't even have a Third-Rank Student, so naturally, they could not be the opponents of Yuanling Academy.

Except for Li Wanru, Qin Danxin and Luo Xiaoman easily crushed their respective opponents.

After five minutes, it ended with Li Wanru's narrow victory.

After Yuanling Academy's First Grade achieved victory with a clean sweep, the Second Grade began to take the stage.

The Second Grade of Huating Academy is composed of three Third-Rank Students, but compared to Yuanling Academy, they still pale in comparison.

Among them, Li Zhangsheng's opponent is naturally the freckled girl.

Judging from the data, the freckled girl is only one step away from the Fourth Rank.

Although the freckled girl's strength is similar to Xu Xiangzhi's, there is still a gap between heaven and earth compared to Li Zhangsheng.

Even when Li Zhangsheng was at the Third Rank back then, he had no chance of winning against the Fifth Rank, let alone the freckled girl; furthermore, how could Li Zhangsheng be an ordinary Fifth Rank? If there are no surprises, he is definitely the strongest Fifth Rank in Langya Kingdom, even more powerful than Liu Xuguang was last year.

The Fifth-Rank Liu Xuguang could manage to defeat the Sixth Rank across ranks, but the current Li Zhangsheng can kill the Sixth Rank across ranks; the two are not even on the same level of difficulty.

Additionally, Li Zhangsheng specifically tested this with Ning Bizhen; although his current strength is still not as good as Ning Bizhen's, he can contend with a Pseudo-King who only has one or two Demon Beasts.

This time, Li Zhangsheng still chose a Temporary Spirit Pet, only this time he summoned the Black Dragon.

In the previous three Group Stage matches, Li Zhangsheng swept through them using the Bright Heavy-Pupil Bird, the Red Dragon, and the Spirit-Devouring Rat respectively, and this match was the turn of the even stronger Black Dragon.

On the other side, the freckled girl summoned an Upper Rank Elite Griffin.

Roar—

An Upper Rank Spirit Beast is naturally timid when facing a Lord-level Spirit Beast, let alone such a massive Black Dragon; the Concentrated Grade Ancestral Black Dragon Bloodline makes the Black Dragon's Dragon Might far exceed that of an ordinary adult Black Dragon.

Feeling that suffocating Dragon Might, the Elite Griffin felt as if its head had been heavily struck by a large hammer, and it fell straight down from the sky.

Boom—

The Elite Griffin never stood up again; it was directly frightened unconscious by the Dragon Might.

The freckled girl was shocked, but she did not give up and began to summon stronger Elite-level Spirit Beasts.

She possesses a total of two Elite-level Spirit Beasts, but they are still two major realms behind the Lord-level Black Dragon; amidst that overwhelming Dragon Might, they could not even muster the thought of dueling the Black Dragon, and both were defeated without a fight.

This time, the Black Dragon subdued the enemy without a fight, and this was also Li Zhangsheng's easiest match.

This is the crushing of the Low-tier by the High-tier; the so-called Spirit Sea Tactics are only useful at the Low-tier. When facing High-tier Spirit Beasts, they cannot even withstand the Pressure, especially when facing High-tier Spirit Beasts that possess Dragon Might and Intimidation traits.

Today's goal: three, pigs, proof!

(End of this chapter)