Douluo: My Teacher Is Supreme Pontiff-Chapter 253: The Greatest Prize Is Secretly Touching Dong’er’s Hand at the Finals Ceremony
"Very well. The first preliminary match of the first round will be Heaven Dou Imperial Academy versus Crimson Rose Academy. All other participating academies, please withdraw. The two teams competing should prepare. The match will begin in half an hour."
Crimson Rose’s team showed no visible concern about being the first to take the field — for them this was hardly anything. What mattered was who went on stage and how much of their strength was revealed.
"Chang’an, let me handle it by myself. They’re nothing but empty barrels — you all hold back." Hu Liena flicked her wrist as she spoke.
After her disguise, Hu Liena looked a touch more mature and a little less coquettish, yet she remained undeniably attractive to Li Chang’an.
"I’ll go," Li Chang’an replied casually. "You all can watch. I don’t need to release my Spirit— I can end this quietly. Our spirit forms shouldn’t be exposed unnecessarily. You still need more practice. Lingling, you take care of healing; if someone ends up dead, it’s a real problem." Ye Lingling nodded in silence.
"Fine — we’ll watch." Hu Liena yawned indifferently. She usually accepted the plan without argument; the other girls nodded likewise.
Because none of the other academies were competing today, they had left the rest area after withdrawing and had been escorted to the spectator stands reserved for contestants. As an emblem of the imperial family, Heaven Dou Imperial Academy received special treatment and did not use this rest area. Before long, Crimson Rose Academy’s group was left alone in the wide lounge.
Many onlookers lingered, eager to see Crimson Rose make a fool of themselves — the academy was new and little-known, and with so many beautiful women around Li Chang’an, people were instinctively waiting for his downfall.
Not long after, staff arrived to urge the team to the stage. The organizers’ lack of enthusiasm was obvious: only a single attendant came to guide them. Tempers flared — Xiao Wu nearly blew up — but Li Chang’an restrained her.
As they reached the tunnel entrance, the announcer outside was loudly introducing each member of the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy team and their spirit forms. A golden beam of light descended from the high platform to one side of the arena, escorting members of the imperial academy’s second team into the arena one by one.
The imperial team’s presentation alone was already impressive. Their pale-gold uniforms bore the characters for "Heaven Dou" over the left chest and seven silver stars across the back — the Empire’s emblem.
They strode in with heroic bearing, looking to be in their twenties. Bathed in the glow of the soul-guiding apparatus, even in daylight they seemed to radiate like small golden suns, drawing the audience’s eyes.
But Crimson Rose’s members were by no means inferior in appearance; each of them had good looks and bearing, and their outfits were custom-made. Most importantly, they wore an air of contempt, as if watching mere clowns. By comparison, the Heaven Dou team looked like decorative mannequins whose purpose was only to showcase clothing.
By this time the arena had been transformed. In the short half hour between announcements, the battle platform had been assembled. The stage rose ten meters high, circular, over thirty meters in diameter — quite expansive. This was only a single platform; when the preliminary rounds fully commenced tomorrow, five platforms would be set up simultaneously.
Twenty-eight teams would contest twenty-seven rounds of preliminaries. Each team would face twenty-seven opponents. A win earned one point; a loss earned none. After twenty-eight rounds, the top five teams by points would advance to the promotion stage — effectively the finals. The month-long preliminaries would be a severe endurance test; teams with poor stamina would be worn down.
The preliminaries would occupy roughly half of the entire tournament schedule. The promotion rounds and finals would be held on the great plaza before the Pope’s Hall at the border between the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires, and the champion would receive their award from the Pope herself — an enormous honor.
For Li Chang’an, however, the real prize would be the chance to secretly touch Dong’er’s hand during the award ceremony.
Today Li Chang’an brought all six of his women to the field alongside Ning Rongrong — seven lined up in a row — and they stood silently facing the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy team.
"Pretty ladies, you’d better go home now. We don’t want to fight girls," sneered a lecherous man on the opposing side, and his companions laughed.
To them, these girls clearly led pampered lives and could not have trained seriously; they were, in the man’s view, nothing but a troupe of pretty faces.
"Heh. If it were me back then, that mouth of yours would be finished," Meng Yiran said expressionlessly.
"You don’t need to be angry, sister. If he lasts a minute, we’ll make sure Chang’an won’t be able to sleep tonight," Hu Liena said softly — a remark that caused Li Chang’an to wince.
Xiao Wu snorted coldly. "One lecher, one harlot — how did we get such an opponent?"
"You bitch — who are you calling a harlot?" a voluptuous female contestant snapped, and the so-called lecherous man’s face darkened instantly.
Li Chang’an’s voice was cold: "Anyone who responds is calling themselves a harlot. You parasites live off the people’s hard-earned money and do nothing useful."
The small captain of Heaven Dou Imperial Academy’s second team replied icily, "Fine. You talk big. The rules forbid killing, but crippling is unavoidable. If you invite death, don’t blame us."
Before the match even began, both sides were already on edge; the tension in the air was thick.
The referee approached. "Both sides salute. The match is about to begin."
Reluctantly, both teams bowed — a mere formal gesture.
Li Chang’an stepped forward alone. The others fell back quickly, with Ye Lingling sheltered in the middle — that was their formation.
In the VIP stands, Emperor Xue Ye smiled at the arena and said to Ning Fengzhi, "Sect Master Ning, it seems this first match will be settled without suspense."
Ning Fengzhi smiled faintly and nodded in agreement. Salas also nodded slightly. He finally understood why the Holy Son disliked such people so much — they were incorrigible.
"Preliminary Round One — Match One — begins."
At the referee’s signal, the tournament’s first official preliminary match commenced.
Similar to spirit-fighting rules, each side had one minute to manifest their spirit forms.
Strangely, however, not a single member of Crimson Rose activated their spirit — including Li Chang’an at the front. Everyone stood motionless.
"Hahaha — they did this to themselves. Brothers, I think they’re scared stiff. They forgot to awaken their spirit forms!" the lecherous man laughed as he released his spirit. His teammates relaxed with smiles.
Li Chang’an simply counted silently: "Fifty-eight, fifty-nine, sixty..."
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T/N:
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