The highlight of the round-of-32 started on the second day, with the venue being the number 6 arena yet again. This scheduled match was slated to start at 9 am. However, at 7.30am, there were already no empty seats left. The large-scale viewing gallery that could house 30 thousand people had already been filled to the brim with an audience that was unable to suppress their satisfaction and enthusiasm. As of now, the places left to stand in the competition grounds were already packed full with people, with entire venue filled with a noisy din as blabbering noises rang incessantly from the surroundings.
Tianjing squadron VS Divine Dragon squadron!
The most eye-catching black horse, with a chaotic mix up of the extremely strong and the extremely weak. Matched against them was the Divine Dragon squadron. Led by the Zhao Family, whose power had been rising up ferociously during the past couple of years, and had the greatest ambition among the 10 great families. This squadron was ranked in the top 3 of the popular votes, and would absolutely be able to break through into the top 16 of the CHF.
This level of attention this match had received was unprecedented, with a considerably extravagant analyst lineup being allocated for it.
Chen Yu'er was in charge of providing stageside reports. Pressing the earpiece on her ear, she was almost shouting at the top of her lungs just to be able to transmit her voice into the microphone in her headset. "The match is about to start! From what we can see, the atmosphere within the arena is already considerably explosive! The audience is loudly shouting the names of the squadrons they're supporting. Even with an earpiece, I'm barely able to hear the voices of the broadcast director! Despite the Tianjing squadron facing an even stronger opponent than before, the arena is no longer filled with only the fans of their opponents! Now, there's quite a number of Tianjing supporters present in the audience!"
As the broadcasting cameras panned around, one could instantly see what seemed like an entire sea of red outfits present in the eastern area of the arena. That was the colour of the Tianjing squadron uniform. There were even many people in the audience that were hoisting gigantic banners in the air. "Our Invincible Tianjing will create glory once again!", "All Mouthy King's invincible under the heavens!", "The universe's number 1 invincible handsome youth, Grai!"... There were countless people shouting the names of Tianjing, Wang Zhong and Grai at the top of their lungs. Upon seeing the cameras turn onto them, many of the audience instantly stood up, waved their hands and roared out cheers for their supporting squadron.
"The Tianjing fans seem rather enthusiastic! What's even rarer is that approximately a few hundred students from Tianjing Academy have come together and headed over to Stuart, and right into this arena to support their academy squadron! Although this isn't much compared the massive writing from the aristocratic families, such academy cohesiveness is truly touching! Naturally, our Divine Dragon Academy supporters over here clearly possess the superiority! With them having more fans and supporters present, they have taken around ⅔ of the entire arena!"
The broadcasted screens changed cameras once again, with a complete sea of sky blue representing the Divine Dragon Academy appearing before everyone's eyes. Compared to the madness and chaos present in the Tianjing supporters, this side appeared much more structured and orderly. This was a fan group with more than ten thousand supporters, with every single member having a small sky blue flag in their hand. Of the 4 locations of the viewing gallery, all of the south and almost all of the north had been filled by them. What's more, there were quite a few hundred large banners arranged at the front rows. At this moment, all of them were showing their might, cheering, drumming and crying out. Tens of thousands of people were simultaneously chanting the unbeaten might of the Divine Dragon Academy. Not willing to show any weakness, the Tianjing supporters mustered their reply. Nonetheless, whether it was vigour or scale, the side of the Divine Dragon Academy was higher by more than a notch.
"They're after all an S rank seedling squadron. Our Divine Dragon Academy fans are have made ample preparations! There was a small incident that occurred just a moment ago, when a few Tianjing fans appear to have sat at the wrong place. Wearing the uniform of Tianjing and sitting at the area of the Divine Dragon Academy had almost led to a scuffle between the fans of both sides. Fortunately, the organizing committee has made ample preparations in the event of such matters occurring. With the guards appearing in time, the fans that were involved in this matter have been removed from this arena and given 50 strokes of the paddle. This has suppressed this small case of disturbance. However, the smell of gunpowder arising from both sides has already become rather thick! The organising committee has already ordered for a temporary barrier to be erected to separate both sides, while also placing out an appeal for all fans to prevent their emotions from going out of control. Anyone who causes a disruption in this arena will be justly dealt with. Any troublemaker causing disputes outside of the arena will be dealt with the most severe of punishments! This is the news brought to everyone in the audience by Chen Yu'er. Thank you everyone, and let us turn our eyes to Ruo Zhi and Wind God at the casting desk!"
"Haha! Let's us thank our Chen Yu'er for her hard work in bringing this news to us!" With a faint smile, Ruo Zhi took over the lead. "Dear ladies and gentlemen, I'm your one and only beloved Ruo Zhi, the intelligent Ruo Zhi! It's my honour to help everyone to analyse and break down this match. Exactly as everyone had hoped for, this match will be a spectacular confrontation of a high level! Frankly speaking, upon knowing that Tianjing's captain was All Mouthy King, I, being a previous King roaster, could not contain my excitement! In the OP, All Mouthy King has triumphed in every battle! However, in this CHF, before the Divine Dragon Academy, he will face a challenge of a degree completely unlike those which he had faced in the OP!"
"That's right! Brother Ruo has said exactly what I've wanted to say!" Wind God's face was glowing with radiance. Before the start of the CHF, even if he was beaten to death, he would not believe anyone who would say that he stood a chance to be able to work side by side with Ruo Zhi. It had to be said that bumping into Tianjing had become the greatest fortune he had in his life. "Be it All Mouthy King or the black horse Tianjing, their luck has already run out after 2 matches. The challenge they are about to face can no longer be overcome by luck. Regardless of the strength of the degree of understanding for their opponents, the Divine Dragon Academy is clearly above Bella Dean in these aspects. Today, Tianjing will face the greatest obstacle they have bumped into since the start of the CHF! Forgive me for being blunt, but going against such experts, they no longer hold even the slightest chance for victory!"
"Ha ha! One cannot be that harsh with one's words! Could it be that you still wish to eat a third table, little Wind? Frankly speaking, I feel that Tianjing still has their chances." said Ruo Zhi with a smile. The arrangement of a good cop and bad cop was a standard for casters and analysts. Ruo Zhi did a little teasing of Wind God before rapidly turning the focus back to the match, "The performance of their king and prince will be the crucial factor for this match. Naturally, the other mainstays of their squadron and the cooperation during the group battle are also worth the wait. In addition, the number 6 arena seems to be the lucky arena for Tianjing, as they managed to obtain two successive victories in here. Today, will the goddess of luck shine on them once again?"
"Other than the fans and supporters of both squadrons, there is also a large number of neutral audience members present in the venue. Our broadcasting direction has found some rather significant figures present with this group of people."
The screen immediately switched to the camera pointed to this group of people. As it zoomed in, it casted a penetrating gaze on a particular spot.
"Copperfield Academy's captain Laura, Blazing squadron's captain Sharmie, Giant God Peak's captain Dicaprio, Blazing Angel squadron's captain Papada...Ah, that's Grozny Academy's Noriba Vasilyevich! He appears to be the only heavyweight from one of the four super S ranked squadrons here, as we're unable to see his captain Vladimir…"
From the large screens in the arena, everyone could see Noriba having a free and easy smile present on his face, though silent criticism appeared in his heart. "What's the use of this senseless casting!
How would that fellow Vladimir run all the way here just to watch other people's matches? Unless it was a clash between super S ranked squadrons, that fellow would not do such a thing. Even Noriba would not do so. Frankly speaking, Noriba was here not to watch the match, but to watch a single person.
Zhao Yi Long!
That male was hailed as the most domineering person in the Federation, something Noriba was rather reluctant to accept.
Domineering? It's merely just a spear! Your father's Heaven Raising Axe is the true definition of dominance! This bunch of Federation people will understand this sooner or later!
"Be it the past or the present, the Zhao Family is undoubtedly the Federation's king of cold weapons, and the sacred ground of weapons! Traditional weapons aside, of course, many of the obscure weapons with the 18 classifications of weapons can only be found in the Zhao Family. Anyone that loves strange and weird weapons would be in for a lucky treat today, and will definitely be able to widen one's horizon!"
"That's right! Although they are also an aristocratic family with ancient martial arts inheritance, if the Mo Family is known as the peak of internally transmitted bare-handed combat skills, the Zhao Family would be the sacred ground for all outwardly transmitted weapons! During the dark era, there's a saying of "All of the weapons under the heavens are from the Zhao Family" that had been circulated around, and this is evident for all to see! Being one of the ten great soldiers on the Mo's List, Zhao Yilong is hailed as the most domineering and offensive-oriented male in the Federation's younger generation. With the nickname of Overlord, he has already been renowned in the entire Federation since two years ago! If the captains of both squadron were to choose to engage in a duel, the resulting fight would definitely be world-shockingly astonishing! The strongest commoner king against the strongest aristocratic overlord! Haha! Just thinking about it makes me unable to wait for it! Okay! The match's about to start! Exactly what kind of performance are both squadrons going to show us?! Let us wait and see!"
As Ruo Zhi's commentary rang out, the Tianjing and Divine Dragon squadrons had already stepped out into the competition grounds at the same time.
Secretly taking note, Zhao Zimo noticed that the mood of the Tianjing squadron appeared to be pretty good, Frankly speaking, they didn't appear to be unable to eat or slept well, nor did they seemed to be tormented by the past few days. Nonetheless, that was merely their outward appearance. If one paid close attention, one could see that quite a few of their members were concealing their exhaustion under the presence of vitality.
That was exhaustion coming from one's spirit, causing them to lack the self-confidence and radiance they should possess after their victory over Bella Dean. Although the most important duo, Wang Zhong and Grai appeared to not have been affected at all, there was still a silence that hung within their squadron. Clearly, the other Tianjing members did not possess the same mental fortitude and quality as those two.
Haha, this still could be counted as an advantage.
A faint smile appeared on Zhao Zimo's face as he thought about this. Towards matters like this which other people would disdain to do, he indeed enjoyed and would never get tired of doing more.
Over at the side of the Divine Dragon Academy, dressed in bright silvery chainmail armour, Zhao Yilong walked at the front of his squadron. Despite walking out in a casual manner, his stride had a trace of majesty to it, while radiated an aura that seemed to devour everything under the heavens. Carried on his back was the Overlord Spear, standing taller than his height, rough looking and being as wide as a bowl's mouth. Seeing this, even Noriba could not help but wrinkle his forehead.
This was one of the 10 great soldiers of the Mo's List, and a genuine expert that had already stood at the highest peak of the CHF!
The other members of the Divine Dragon Academy walking behind him also had their unique features. One of the 5 great Mo's List heavy soldiers, Zhao Tianlong was even taller and larger in real life as compared to the videos, towering over the rest of his squadron by over 2 heads in height! His thick and solid arms were close to catching up with the circumference of Wang Zhong's waist. Present in his hand, the Heaven Reaching Rod radiated an aura of dominance, appearing somewhat similar to the style of Zhao Yilong's Overlord Spear. The girl that walked behind those two was even more eye-catching. The terrifying scar that stretched from the corner of her left eye to the other side of her mouth, coupled with a strange smile, caused people to feel as though they were watching a horror film in real life. There were even those slightly timid people who did not dare to look at her face. Nonetheless, this clearly wasn't sufficient to influence the image of the Divine Dragon Academy in the eyes of the fans and supporters.
The atmosphere of the competition grounds instantly changed, while the slightly chaotic Divine Dragon Academy supporter region starting to cheer and chant with unity. "When the Divine Dragon takes off its armour, all soldiers will return to their home! When the overlord steps into the world, who would dare strive against him!"
The Zhao Family was really extremely powerful. They were an iron-blooded strength sect that had walked out from the dark era. However, due to their surplus in strength, their control over their resources had been too poor, resulting in them being ranked within the lower five of the 10 great families. Nonetheless, with martial strength came a hope to rise up. After the decline of Bella Dean, they had been yearning for the latter's position all along. However, the lead family Stuart and the other upper five families had given Bella Dean a chance to catch their breath, a clearly deliberate move to suppress the Zhao Family. However, once they obtained even greater political, economic and material power, they would become even more frightening than before. The flight of the Zhao Family would not be obstructed by these factors!
On the aspect of weapon mastery, the Zhao Family had an even greater dominance, being top class even among the various great Heroic Soul Academies. This was something that the Bella Dean and Torres Families could never compete against.
The chaotic chants from the Tianjing supporters were incomparable to the united cheering voices, causing the atmosphere of the entire arena to turn into a one side suppression.
However, when Wang Zhong walked towards the competition stage, a suppression occurred in the Skylink. This person represented the hopes and dreams of countless people. As for reason?
This era wasn't pragmatic, but was rather, a temporary stability for mankind, with the continuation of civilization and culture. Nonetheless, those were in retreat, as this was still a cold and cruel era. In certain aspects, the cruel nature of the Federation wasn't much better than the empires. However, this was a necessity, as humans yearned for miracles to appear, and for the continuation of their unrealistic dreams.
Therefore, despite knowing the situation Tianjing was in, their Skylink supporters were still willing to offer their heartfelt support for this squadron. Although the Divine Dragon squadron held an 80% supporter stake in the arena, they only had 40 to 50% in the Skylink.
Before walking up onto the stage, the two captains simultaneously handed the name of their vanguards to the referee, before proceeding to shake hands.
Immediately, Wang Zhong could feel a massive, and rather astonishing power coming from his opponent's hand.
A lightning-like glint flashed within Zhao Yilong's eyes. Although his opponent had only endured and not retaliated against the power he had sent via their handshake, he could already sense the unfathomable level of strength Wang Zhong possessed. It was no wonder why he could beat Adam Galen to unconsciousness with his bare hands. Wanting to shatter the bones of his hands was clearly an impossibility.
He was even stronger than Zhao Yilong had estimated. Interesting.
Zhao Yilong gave a faint smile as he said, "If you want to win, you have to stake your life for it."
This was a stance of one who was looking down from above. That's right. Nonetheless, Zhao Yilong possessed such qualifications to do so. The Divine Dragon Academy was a squadron that definitely possessed the strength to contend for the championship. The smile on his face was not one of ridicule, but of self-confidence. It was formed by the accumulation of countless fights, honour and glory. Both captains understood what this smile and words meant.
"The names of the vanguards are already out. As the majority of the people have expected, Tianjing has fielded Grai, with the Divine Dragon Academy fielding Zhao Tianlong! Prince VS Prince! The two sides did not choose to trick or to evade! Frankly speaking, this is a duel that both sides would accept and even anticipate for!" Ruo Zhi had a unique style when casting in the OP. However, he appeared extremely calm and steady when doing so in the CHF, with none of the anxiousness and provocative atmosphere present.
"That's right! Tianjing's captain Wang Zhong has caused a vomiting bug to spread to people due to the tactical arrangements he had utilised in Tianjing's previous match. It seems that he has returned to normalcy in this match, and has also realised that wanting to rely on luck to pull Tianjing to victory is impossible in this match. Now, let us see the performance of the princes from both sides. Will the mysterious Grai help Tianjing obtain the first victory, or will the Mo's List Zhao Tianlong do even better than him? This duel will literally decide the fate of Tianjing in today's match! The newest polls for the final winner are already out, with 77% of the audience thinking that the Divine Dragon would obtain victory. However, what's interesting is Grai holds a slight popularity advantage as the victor of the first duel, with a support rate of 53%! Haha, it looks like this is due to Grai's previous victory over the Mo's List Gaden! However, I want to say that the strength and dominance between a ranged soldier and a heavy soldier in a duel are as different as night and day!" Wind God was extremely excited. Having a senior like Ruo Zhi supporting by his side caused his fighting spirit to soar, while turning him "high" even before the start of the fight.