Chapter 48 Preparation before the game
After Xuan Zi left, with the help of a flying soul guide, the Shrek students finally arrived at Xingluo City, the venue for the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Competition, in the evening.

Following the crowd, they walked past the city wall that was a hundred meters high and a hundred meters thick. It looked quite majestic and imposing, but for real high-level soul masters, it was just a decoration and had no actual protective value. It was simply used to demonstrate the country's strength and historical heritage. Then they entered Xingluo City.

Because the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Competition is approaching, the flow of people in Xingluo City has reached over 10 million during this period of time.

For Xingluo City, which is just a city, even if it is the capital of a country, such a flow of people still seems a bit crowded.

And because of the sudden increase in the flow of people, the original regulatory force of Xingluo City has reached its limit. Even if troops are mobilized from other areas, it is only difficult to maintain superficial stability.

In the dark side of the city, forces and influences from other countries are naturally lurking and growing. These outsiders with different thoughts gather here at the biggest event in the entire continent.

It’s just that the results of the Death Messenger were limited this time. Although they still lost a powerful Soul Emperor like Dai Yuheng, several members of the regular team were also injured.

But it did not affect the mood of everyone in Shrek Academy, because in their opinion.

Aside from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy and other main teams originally from the three kingdoms of Douluo Continent, with Shrek Academy's current team configuration, they don't have to worry too much about other academy teams.

And for the sake of the entertainment value of the competition, although it will not be displayed openly, it has become a convention in the soul fighting competition of advanced soul master academies across the continent.

The Ace Academy, which originally belonged to Douluo Continent, will not be allowed to directly compete with Shrek Academy and Sun Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy at the beginning of the competition.

Under the guidance of Wang Yan, Huo Yuhao and his party first arrived near Xingluo Square. This huge square can accommodate all the participants in the competition and is large enough to support a large number of spectators.

Due to the importance attached to this competition, one-third of the city’s garrison forces have been deployed here. In the past few days, they have been patrolling here day and night to prevent anyone from deliberately sabotaging the competition.

There are many Titled Douluo masters hiding secretly nearby. It can be said that this is the safest place in Xingluo City now, without a doubt. Even the imperial city where the Xingluo Emperor himself lives is not as important as this place.

However, since the competition has not yet begun, in order to be fair, the Shrek team and contestants from other academies can only watch the competition venue from outside the square and cannot enter for on-site inspection.

Although Ma Xiaotao and other members of the regular team had participated in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Competition five years ago, the previous competition was not held in Xingluo City due to the rotation of each session.

Therefore, they were quite unfamiliar with this competition venue. So, under the leadership of Wang Yan, they came here first to scout the site and observe other opponents participating in the competition.

Because in addition to Shrek and his group, there were many teams from other academies and countries outside the square, all of whom came with the same purpose as Shrek and his group.

The students of varying strengths in other academies and teams also made Beibei and Xu Sanshi, who had been feeling a bit stressed, feel relieved in the Shrek Academy reserve team.

Xu Sanshi smiled and said, "Hey, I thought it would be very difficult. I see that the soul strength of most of the teams' regular players is about the same as mine, and some are even weaker than me."

"Maybe this time, the seniors won't have to do anything. Beibei and I can sweep the rest of the race with just a few punches and kicks."

Bei Bei said with a look of disgust: "Go away, don't involve me. The game hasn't started yet, why are you celebrating in advance? Be careful if something goes wrong, you will lose all your face."

"Hey, I'm not afraid. Even if the boat really capsizes, you'll still be with me. If we're embarrassed, we'll be embarrassed together." Xu Sanshi put his arm around Beibei's shoulder and said in a mean way, "After all, we're a team."

Because Dai Yueheng died unexpectedly and Ma Xiaotao's personality was not suitable for leading a team at this time, Wang Yan handed over the position of captain of the regular team to Gong Yangmo, the auxiliary soul master with the strongest remaining soul power in the regular team.

Gong Yangmo's somewhat feminine voice sounded, and he smiled slightly and said, "Okay, two junior brothers, stop making trouble."

After stopping Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi who were still bickering with each other, after this round of banter, the gloom that had originally shrouded the hearts of the Shrek Academy members due to the failure of the mission was somewhat reduced.

"Okay, there's nothing special about the venue for this competition. There aren't any unusual simulated venues. In that case, let's go back to the hotel and have a good rest."

"Let's hold a pre-war meeting after dinner." Wang Yan said to the crowd who had relaxed a little.

After this field investigation, the heavy stone hanging in Wang Yan's heart finally settled down a little.

Although he had not seen the main teams from the four major empires this time, at least he did not see any dark horses among these more ordinary teams.

The strength of most members in the academy is only three rings. Some of the more outstanding ones have four rings, but there are very few who have five rings, let alone six-ring Soul Emperors.

Although the result of this observation is not absolute, it also made Wang Yan, who was originally tense because of the task of leading the team in this competition, feel a little relieved. After all, the current Shrek team has a luxurious lineup of one Soul Emperor and four Soul Kings.

Together with Beibei, Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan who are all soul masters, the substitute players are actually enough.

Not long after, everyone returned to the hotel where they were staying for the competition.

The hotel specially used to host contestants from various countries' advanced soul master academy teams in this competition is a hotel affiliated with the royal family of the Xing Luo Empire, called the Star Emperor. It has a total of seven floors, and each floor is luxuriously equipped.

At the same time, the facilities are also complete, and the standards of various meals and accommodation are quite high. As the defending champion and the number one soul master academy in the continent, Shrek's rooms are located in the top and most luxurious rooms in the Star Luo Empire.

Apart from Shrek Academy, only the top four academies in each of the empires can enjoy such treatment.

After enjoying the luxurious dinner here, everyone used the flying soul guide to travel all the way. In addition to the previous losses, everyone was not in a very good state, so after dinner everyone spent some time adjusting their state through meditation.

Afterwards, Wang Yan led a few people to the meeting room assigned by the Xingluo Empire to the Shrek Academy to discuss the tactics and preparations for the next competition. Standing up, Wang Yan looked at the people present and smiled slightly: "I am very confident about this competition. I believe that with the abilities of everyone present, I can still continue the glory of my Shrek Academy."

"Although we did suffer some losses, this does not mean that our enemies have become stronger. From what we have observed today, it is very rare for contestants to reach the Soul King level, let alone Soul Emperors."

"At least before the knockout rounds, I believe our academy will not encounter the strongest teams. In this case, in order to hide the strength of the members of the first team, it is also to buy time for the injured players in the first team to recover."

Wang Yan then looked at Bei Bei who was standing aside, paused, and then said, "Bei Bei, as the captain of the reserve team, I hope that your reserve team will play in the early stages of this knockout round and win as many games as possible."

"As for the appearance and deployment of the reserve team members, as well as the tactical arrangements, I will treat it as a test for this competition, and you will be responsible for all of it personally."

Hearing this, Beibei was startled at first, then immediately nodded and responded: "Okay, Teacher Wang, but if the other party has a strong person above the Soul King level."

Wang Yan waved his hand: "I have confidence in your abilities. You are all students from Shrek Academy. You should know that not every academy is capable of equipping students with the best spirit ring configuration."

"Is it easy to hunt thousand-year soul beasts? In most high-level soul master academies, their teachers may not have the cultivation level of soul kings. As a result, their soul ring configurations are naturally not that strong, and naturally they cannot be compared with you."

"Also, when I let you play, I don't mean you have to defeat all your opponents. If the intensity of the situation really exceeds the standard, I will definitely be responsible for deploying the members of the first team and let them play to resolve the situation."

"So your task in this competition is to accumulate as much experience and hone yourselves as possible, in preparation for the next Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Competition."

Hearing this, Beibei also relaxed a little, nodded, and responded with a smile: "Yes, I promise to complete the task."

At this time, Gong Yangmo frowned and asked in a soft voice, "Teacher Wang, is there any other news from the academy?"

"The registration process will be over tomorrow. If we only have five members in the regular team, didn't the academy ask Master Xuan to bring in other reinforcements?"

Wang Yan's smile froze, but he still shook his head and continued, "The academy has already contacted me. According to the academy, when the regular team needs to participate in a team battle, Beibei and Xu Sanshi will be responsible for filling in the gaps."

"With their strength and spirit ring configuration, although they haven't cooperated with you many times, their combat experience is definitely enough to support team battles and is completely sufficient to improve and complete the structure of a team."

Xu Sanshi and Beibei were both stunned when they heard this. Xu Sanshi even pointed at himself: "Ah? Me?"

Wang Yan nodded. He also saw the worries of the two and comforted them, saying, "Relax. With your strength, you are already the main players of other teams. You just need to control the timing in the battle and assist the other members of the main team in the battle."

"I believe that for you, who are already fifth-year students, this should not be difficult to do."

Gong Yangmo also nodded, and as the acting captain, he recognized the strength of the two.

Xu Sanshi and Beibei then breathed a sigh of relief and calmed themselves down.

Then Wang Yan continued, "That's all I have to say. Beibei, the rest of the time is up to you. The players on the starting team can go back and rest first. Recovering from your injuries as soon as possible will be the best help for the next game."

Upon hearing this, everyone in the starting team, except Ma Xiaotao, stood up and left. However, Ma Xiaotao did not follow Wang Yan's arrangement. She still sat in her seat, looking at everyone else without saying a word.

After all, given her current personality and status, it was normal for her to ignore the orders of Wang Yan, who was inferior to her in both strength and status.

Wang Yan didn't say much upon seeing this situation. After all, he had no way to command Ma Xiaotao now, and Ma Xiaotao was the only remaining ace in the Shrek Academy team. He had to treat her with caution and could only let her do what she wanted.

Beibei cleared his throat, looked at Wang Yan who had already sat down and seemed not ready to express any opinion, then stood up and started to make arrangements for the reserve team.

"Since our reserve team will lead the competition this time, we must also play in the style of our Shrek Academy."

"Because our combat goal is only to ensure that the members of the main team reduce the number of shots as much as possible to prevent other teams from obtaining more intelligence, our reserve team can fight with all their strength without having to hide strategically."

“Everyone should go all out at that time to show others that the ability of our Shrek Academy reserve team is far superior to their regular team!”

"The first match is a knockout match. As the champions of the previous competition, we will be the first to go out and fight, and it must be a team match. Although it is nominally a knockout match, this match is more of a performance."

"We use the fame of Shrek Academy to mobilize the atmosphere of the entire competition. Therefore, in addition to combat power, the more important thing is the viewing experience. Therefore, the Star Dou Empire will not arrange too strong opponents for us."

"And this is our opportunity."

"Sanshi, no matter who your opponent is in this match, the strongest captain of the other team is now in your hands. You must use Xuanming Replacement to replace him as soon as possible."

"You are responsible for holding back the other members of the opposing team. I remember that your Xuanming Replacement cannot be used repeatedly in a short period of time. Once it can be used, replace me as soon as possible."

"Then."

While Shrek Academy was discussing tactics, other participating academies were also mobilizing their teams, but that’s a story for later.

(End of this chapter)