Chapter 447: National Championship Opening
Chapter 447: National Championship Opening
As time progressed, a man dressed in formal attire, with a handsome appearance, appeared in the center of the venue, mounted on a medium-sized Flying Beast that was mostly white with a fan-shaped tail.
The man's voice echoed across the venue:
"Hello everyone, welcome to the 336th National Campus Beastmaster League Finals!"
His voice was powerful and commanding, instantly stirring the crowd's excitement.
Everyone instinctively fell silent, their eyes drawn to him.
The man continued:
"This match will be live-streamed synchronized across the nation, and I believe the entire country will witness your outstanding performances!"
"Next, I would like to introduce the leaders and guests present at the opening ceremony!"
About 70% of the audience consisted of students, while the remaining were mostly family and friends of the contestants, as well as teachers and school officials.
Despite the presence of many professionals among the family and friends, the students maintained order, refraining from talking and laughing during the introductions.
The atmosphere was so formal that even Qiao Sang felt a bit out of place.
"Which one is Qiao Sang?" In the front row of the audience stands, where the leaders were seated, an elderly man with graying hair squinted and looked toward the Contestant Area, asking.
"The one whose familiar is eating something in her arms", the bald man beside him pointed to a spot in the Contestant Area and said.
The elderly man squinted even more as he followed the direction.
"Qing."
At that moment, a cat-like familiar with a leaf on its head, which was lying on the old man's lap, let out a meow. The leaf shook, releasing a green, glowing powder.
The powder blew into the old man's eyes, and his vision instantly cleared.
"So that's what she looks like." The old man asked, "Did she agree to let the Treasure Seeker use Spatial Shift to directly remove the opponent from the arena?"
The bald man shook his head, "I don't know."
The old man opened his mouth, about to speak, but the man's voice in the arena interrupted him:
"Next, let's welcome Minister Wang from the Education Headquarters in the Zhongdao region!"
The old man stopped talking and stroked the cat-like familiar on his lap, causing it to disappear.
Amidst the applause, the old man stood up and waved.
...
A dozen minutes later, the man in the center of the arena finished introducing the leaders and guests from various regions.
Without further ado, he waved his hand and announced loudly:
"The first match's groupings will now be displayed on the big screen!"
As he spoke, a massive holographic screen appeared above the venue.
Hundreds of photos appeared, then shuffled and rearranged themselves.
Soon, the photos settled.
[Beilun Region, Gao Jianyu vs Dongga Region, Sun Yi]
[Guri Region, Mao Shilei vs Liaoxi Region, Liao Qiang]
[Zhitia Region, Zhou Shanliang vs Ancient Fog Region, Hu Fan]
[Tuwai Region, Li Haoxia vs Hollow Plains, Xia Fengyuan]
...
[Lianbo Region, Wu Hengxu vs Yuhua Region, Qiao Sang]
...
There were a total of 65 groups, comprising 130 contestants.
"Wu Hengxu, who advanced to the National Championship with a 29th-place finish in the Regional Tournament, has a Thunder-type Intermediate Beast Companion and a Ground and Dark-type Intermediate Beast Companion." Sun Boyi quickly flipped to the relevant page in his notes and said, looking at Qiao Sang's opponent on the screen.
At the same time, he felt a bit relieved.
Although he knew that Qiao Sang had a good chance of winning the National Championship, seeing that her opponent's strength and record were not impressive still made him breathe a sigh of relief.
It was understandable; it was his first time leading a student to the National Championship, and he couldn't help but be a bit nervous.
Wu Hengxu... Qiao Sang remained calm, quickly planning the familiar she would summon.
Soon, the first pair of contestants entered the arena.
At the National Championship level, unless facing a top seed with a strong chance of winning the title, it was difficult to determine a winner between two contestants with familiars of the same rank in a short amount of time.
The match lasted nearly half an hour before the contestant from the Beilun Region won by a slim margin.
Qiao Sang watched intently, as any of the advancing contestants could be her next opponent.
More than two hours later, a man in formal attire stood on a medium-sized flying beast, mostly white in color, and announced loudly:
"Let's welcome Wu Hengxu from the Lianbo Region and Qiao Sang from the Yuhua Region to the arena!"
The entrance for the National Championship wasn't as grand as the Ancient Fog Region's Regional Tournament. Before the previous match, Qiao Sang had already left the spectator area and waited in the contestant entrance corridor.
Hearing her name called, Qiao Sang's spirits lifted, and she walked toward the bright entrance of the corridor.
...
At the same time, in Yuhua Region.
Zhehai Province.
Hanggang City.
Holy Water High School.
Saint Water Hall.
The circular, tiered audience stands were packed with the entire school's faculty and students, and a massive holographic screen displayed the live feed in the center of the venue.
When Qiao Sang emerged from the corridor and appeared on the field, the entire school erupted in cheers and excitement.
"Qiao Sang! Qiao Sang!"
"Qiao Sang! Qiao Sang!"
"Qiao Sang! Qiao Sang!"
The uncoordinated voices of the crowd echoed throughout the hall, creating a spectacular scene.
...
"Wu Hengxu! Wu Hengxu!"
"Wu Hengxu! Wu Hengxu!"
From a certain section of the audience stands, a group of students in dark blue school uniforms held up a banner reading "Wu Hengxu, you're the best! Wu Hengxu, you're the strongest!" and shouted in unison.
This was the first time during the match that students from both schools hadn't been cheering against each other, leading to murmurs of speculation.
"Which school is Qiao Sang from? Why are there no students from her school here?"
"Maybe there was traffic?"
"Are you kidding? There's no such thing as traffic in Hollow Plains."
"Perhaps they thought she wouldn't make it past the first round, so they didn't bother coming?"
"Come on! This is the National Championship. Just being able to appear here is impressive. Even if she loses, they should at least give her the respect of showing up. This is a nationwide live stream!"
A student from the Ancient Fog Region, overhearing the conversation, interjected, "Have you guys even bothered to check who the top seeds are? Qiao Sang is one of the favorites to win the title! She can take down this Wu Hengxu with her Icechill alone!"
A student from the Lianbo Region exclaimed, "I remember now! This Qiao Sang is the Zone Champion from the Ancient Fog Region this year!"
The 13 regional tournaments were divided into four zones, and the Zone Champions from each zone had been extensively covered in the news. The crowd quickly recalled this information.
The audience members who recognized Qiao Sang looked around the stands in surprise, puzzled as to why a Zone Champion, who had a strong chance of winning the National Championship, didn't have any schoolmates to cheer her on.
...
On the field, following the referee's command, Qiao Sang formed the hand seals.
In the next second, the Green Star Array lit up on the ground.
(End of Chapter)
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