The investigation team sent by the competition organizing committee came faster than Flanders predicted. A group of more than ten people walked into Shrek Academy in a hurry.
To Flander's surprise, he had met both of the team leaders. He never expected that the competition organizing committee would take this matter so seriously.
The Organizing Committee of the Heaven Dou City Qualifiers was composed of Youwuhun Hall and the Heaven Dou Empire Royal Family. The reason Flender was surprised was because the person who came to represent the Spirit Hall turned out to be the Platinum Bishop Salas, the master of the Spirit Temple of Heaven Dou City. And the one representing the Heaven Dou Empire was actually Ning Fengzhi, the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.
Later, everyone in Shrek Academy knew that Ning Fengzhi came as a teacher of the Prince. With this status, he could barely be considered a member of the Heaven Dou Empire royal family.
Although it was not a small matter for the seven participating team members of Canghui College to become idiots, it was by no means enough to alarm the two big men, Ning Fengzhi and Salas. The reason why the two came to Shrek Academy together is a bit funny.
Originally, Salas only wanted to send a subordinate to him. With the excellent performance of the Shrek Academy team and the sensitive relationship with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, he had already planned to do it secretly, but as the general manager of the Spirit Palace, Tian Dou City. The person in charge, of course, he will not be as reckless as the soul master of Can Dream. So he has been waiting for an opportunity. The seven members of Canghui Academy turned into idiots, which undoubtedly gave him the best excuse. The platinum bishop with his eyes and hands immediately made preparations to use this incident to take the lead in kicking Shrek Academy out of the competition.
But how could Ning Fengzhi make him wishful? When the organizing committee decided to send an investigation team, Ning Fengzhi immediately made a statement. Willing to lead an investigation team to Shrek Academy to investigate.
Let Ning Fengzhi go, no doubt his own card counting will not work, but Salas is unwilling to give up. In terms of status, there is still a gap between him and Ning Fengzhi. The relationship between Spirit Hall and the seven major sects has always been very ambiguous. In desperation, the Platinum Bishop had to go out in person. Come to Shrek Academy with Ning Fengzhi. Hope to get some handle on that, in that case. No matter how high Ning Fengzhi's status was, it couldn't hinder the fairness of the competition.
Therefore, these two big men came directly to Shrek Academy with a group of followers.
Ning Fengzhi could be said to be familiar with the road. When he heard that they had come to the gate of the academy, Flender hurriedly greeted them with Grandmaster and Liu Erlong. Before going out, Flender warned Ning Rongrong not to recognize Ning Fengzhi later. Best to avoid it first.
"Dean Flender, I take the liberty to interrupt." Ning Fengzhi smiled and nodded to Flender.
Although the spirit power levels of the two people are similar, their status in the spirit master world is very different. Flender hurriedly returned the salute, "Sect Master Ning is very polite. You can come to this hospital and make Shrek shine!"
Ning Fengzhi smiled slightly and gave up half of his body. Introduced for Flender: "This is the master of the Spirit Temple of Heaven Dou City, His Excellency the Platinum Bishop of Salas."
Flender was so smooth, his expression didn't change at all, and he hurriedly saluted again, "It turned out to be the bishop of Salas. It's polite to go to Flender. The two of you please come in."
Salas nodded lightly to Flender. A group of more than ten people walked into Shrek Academy under the leadership of the three of Flender.
Ning Fengzhi only brought Bone Douluo Gu Rong alone, but the platinum bishop Salas was left alone with twelve people. Two of them were cardinals in red robes.
There were also ten Templars in silver armor.
In the Wuhun Hall. Except for faculty members. There is also a special system called Templar Knights. Apart from the Holy Emperor Warriors for the Pope and the Douluo Warriors for the Douluo Temple, the Temple Warriors in the two Spirit Temples had the highest status.
These temple warriors are all composed of outstanding soul masters in the Wuhun Temple. The strength is astonishing.
It is said that the entry threshold for a Templar is fifty-one soul power. Of course, the entry threshold for the Holy Emperor Warrior and Douluo Warrior is higher, reaching the sixty-first level.
That is to say, any Templar has the strength above the Soul King. The Holy Emperor Warrior and Douluo Warrior have even reached the level of Soul Emperor or above.
This is only the most basic level requirement of the three samurai groups.
Like the leaders of the Holy Emperor Warriors and Douluo Warriors, they all possess the strength of a titled Douluo. This shows how powerful the Spirit Hall is.
Walking into Shrek Academy, Salas's eyes flickered slightly, and the surrounding scenery had all been imprinted in his mind.
in the past. Naturally, he would not notice such an ordinary high-level soul master academy. But now it's different. The Shrek Academy team's performance in this Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament was truly astonishing. Although he hasn't seen it too much.
But at least it can prove that the college is enough to cultivate some elite talents.
Flender has been taking everyone to the first conference room in the teaching building. The two parties were seated separately. Flender gave the top spot to Salas and Ning Fengzhi. He, Liu Erlong, and the master accompany the last seat.
"President Flender, you should know the purpose of our trip." Salas raised the teacup in front of him. Take a sip of tea. His face suddenly turned ugly. Although the tea was just served, he could never imagine the inferior quality of the tea.
As the master of the Spirit Temple, Salas has always been pampered. When has he ever drank such a wonderful tea as Mangypsing
The so-called gypsophila is the powder of tea leaves. First pour a cup of hot water, and then sprinkle a handful into it. At that moment, it feels like gypsophila.
Only the poorest commoners will drink a kind of tea.
And this kind of gypsophila prepared by Flender is actually full of gypsophila...
Seeing Salas' expression, Ning Fengzhi held up the tea bowl and pretended, but Flender didn't treat him differently, and the tea in his bowl was the same.
Resisting the smile, Ning Fengzhi coughed and said, "President Flender, your tea isn't very good!"
What Flender wanted was this opportunity to use the topic, sighed, and said, "I also want to ask for your forgiveness. Our Shrek Academy is really poor. All the funds are used to train students, and they have worked hard to train them. A few children who can be regarded as elite. I usually have money to drink tea, but I bought this a few years before I took over the academy."
If Salas's face was ugly before, then now his face has completely turned ashen. If it wasn't for his own identity, he would have vomited. A few years of old tea, but still so poor quality. The nauseous feeling made him constantly nauseous. But looking at Flender's pitiful and aggrieved look, he couldn't get it out. People have no money, you can't say anything, can you
"Dean Flender, don't judge him. We're not here to watch you act." Salas's voice was already cold, and whoever changed, took a sip of that wonderful gypsophila, The mood will definitely not be good.
Flender looked at Salas blankly and said, "I haven't had time to ask. Lord Bishop Platinum, what is the matter with you and Sect Master Ning coming to our academy?"
Even Ning Fengzhi couldn't help but secretly admired that Flender's acting skills were really in place. If he hadn't contacted this dean before, and even more vaguely guessed that Tang San had manipulated those Canghui Academy students, he couldn't help but believe that Flender didn't know about it.
Salas frowned slightly, "In the previous competition, the students of your academy hit each other severely, which turned all seven members of Canghui College into idiots. Now Canghui College has made a solemn protest. Therefore, The Organizing Committee of the competition formed a special team to investigate.”
"What? Canghui Academy's team members have all turned into idiots?" Flender looked at Salas with a 'shocked' expression.
Salas snorted coldly, "You are a good student. You are so ruthless at such a young age. You should know the rules of the competition. The competition will not forgive you for this kind of deliberate behavior."
His words sounded ordinary, but they were all misleading. As long as Flender said a wrong word, he would immediately seize the opportunity.
"You're wronged, my lord." Flender stood up abruptly, his face deformed a little because of the grievance.
His eyes were obviously red, "Lord Salas, we are wronged! How dare those bastards from Canghui College dare to protest? Six of the seven team members we participated in the competition were seriously injured, and three of them were dying. Now It is being rescued by several teachers of the treatment department of our college. They are too embarrassed to protest? I am also going to file an application for protest and investigation to the organizing committee. "
Salas snorted coldly, "You should be clear about whether you have been wronged. Even if you don't know about it, we will call out all the students from your Shrek Academy who participated in today's competition, and we will investigate. We will inquire separately."
The 'shock' on Flender's face did not mean to diminish in the slightest, and he said categorically, "No, this will not work. The children's injuries are too serious, if they are not treated in time, let alone participate in tomorrow's competition. I am afraid that the whole soul master career will be affected. Now is an important time for treatment. How can they answer your questions?"
A cold light flashed in Salas's eyes, "So, you are against the organizing committee? I can say that your behavior is refusing to be investigated. The organizing committee will therefore have the right to decide to remove Shrek Academy from this year's competition. Excluded from the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Competition."
"Wait a minute." Ning Fengzhi didn't say anything before, just silently watching Flender and Salas talk. At this time, he said leisurely: "Your Excellency Salas. As the so-called legal reason is not human. The Shrek Academy's team members were seriously injured. It seems inappropriate to make a rash decision without investigation."
Salas said indifferently: "Shrek Academy is refusing to allow the participating students to be investigated, which itself has this major problem. Sect Master Ning, what do you think should be handled? If you can't even ask questions, how can you prove their innocence? "
Ning Fengzhi turned to Flender and said, "President Flender, are all the students participating in your academy seriously injured? I remember that one of the students was in good condition at the time. Can you let him come to our investigation? This time is related to the fairness of the competition. Please cooperate."
Flender's eyes were red with excitement, and he looked like he was about to cry, "Why should we be investigated? Since the competition is fair and impartial, the judges should have seen the situation clearly. Is the one-body martial arts fusion skill showing mercy? If our students did not block their attacks, I am afraid that no one would be able to come back alive now. Everyone has seen that our students are just passive resistance, and we have never done anything wrong. What. If the tournament committee really decides to remove us. We have nothing to say."
Salas's eyes flashed: "This is what you said."
Flender glared at Salas, "Your Excellency Bishop Platinum, what do you mean by targeting our Shrek Academy so much? Well, I'm here to see how you removed our Shrek Academy from this competition. Xiaogang, Tomorrow we will go to the Holy Land to meet the Pope, and ask the Pope to do justice to us."
Ning Fengzhi winked at Flender anxiously. He didn't know why the always shrewd Flender suddenly became so impulsive. Could it be said that those children were really hit hard. Did Flender lose control of his emotions
As if he didn't see Ning Fengzhi's wink, Flender roared at Salas and kept slapping the table.
"Bold." A Templar stepped forward abruptly, and all ten Templars were burning with the light of their soul power at the same time. The two cardinals also stood up. As long as Salas gave an order, they would immediately take action.
Salasli ignored Flender, turned his head to look at Ning Fengzhi beside him, and said, "Sect Master Ning. You have seen it too. Shrek Academy is so arrogant and refuses to accept the investigation by the Organizing Committee. If they don't deal with them, How shall we explain to the other participating colleges?"
"This..." Although Ning Fengzhi was willing to help, but now he was unable to do so.
Then Salas turned to Flender and sneered, "Are you going to complain to His Excellency Pope? Then you can set off immediately. I announce that Shrek Academy violated the rules of the competition, ... "
He just said here. Suddenly, a voice interrupted him, "Wait a minute."
This time, it was the master who spoke. Although he was not as excited as Flender, he still had a livid look on his face, "Salas. You should think carefully before making a decision."
"Is the name of Lord Platinum Bishop you can call it directly?" A cardinal immediately reprimanded.
Just as Salas was about to continue talking and make the decision to kick Shrek Academy out of this competition, suddenly, the master flicked his wrist, and something flew out of his palm, heading straight for Salas.
Without Salas' shot, a Templar quickly blocked in front of Salas, raised his hand and slashed at the thing, his soul power suddenly exploded. At the same time, the other Templars reacted quickly. For the first time, the three of Flender, Master and Liu Erlong were surrounded in the center.
"Stop." A hand entered horizontally. In front of the Templar Knight's hand, it turned into an invisible barrier to wrap all the soul power from the palm of his hand. Strangely enough. There was no energy collision, and the soul power output by the Templar knight disappeared as quietly as ice and snow melted.
It was neither Ning Fengzhi nor anyone from Shrek Academy who shot, but Platinum Bishop Salas himself.
Seeing that Salas made a move, the Golden Triangle couldn't help but sigh at the same time. Although the strength of the Templar Knights is not very strong compared to Flender and Liu Erlong, when the Templar Knight made his move, the five spirit rings on his body lighted up at the same time. . And Salas made his move later than him, but he came first, and without even using his martial soul, he dismissed the slap he slashed lightly.
If you want to defuse the attack of the Soul King, the Golden Iron Triangle can naturally do it, but it is impossible to be as invisible as Salas. Flender thought to himself, even if this fellow didn't have the strength of a Titled Douluo, he should be very close. Wuhun Hall is really unfathomable!
Salas blocked the Templar's attack with one hand, and the other hand had already caught what the Master threw at him. Looking at the surrounding Templars with a face like water, "What are you doing, get out of here. Did I let you do it?"
The Templars obviously didn't understand why the platinum bishop was suddenly angry, and no one dared to refute it, and all ten Templars immediately walked out of the room in despair.
Salas didn't even look at it with his eyes, he knew what fell into his hands, a tide poured out from behind, and as the Templars walked out of the room, a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead. .
The expression on his face was obviously restrained, and he bowed to the master, "I have seen the elder."
The master glanced at him lightly, "Sit down and talk."
Flender laughed secretly in his heart, but Ning Fengzhi was also very surprised. With his eyesight, of course he could clearly see what the brand was. It was the highest token awarded by the Spirit Hall to non-Spirit Hall personnel. Six patterns, this brand also has a nickname, the name is: Pope decree. Anyone who holds this card has the prestige of the elders of the Spirit Hall, and it is more like the presence of the Pope.
Although Salas vaguely knew of some ambiguous relations between the master and the Holy See, he did not expect that he would have a Pope decree in his hands. You must know that there are only three Pope decrees in the Wuhun Hall, which were given to the upper three of the seven sects.
Even Ning Fengzhi, the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School around him, would not casually wear this token symbolizing the Pope's authority, but who would have thought that the master would have such a thing? Is this the fourth block
Some fragments of the memory came to mind, and Salas' heart sank immediately. He knew that he couldn't please him here no matter what.
At this time, there was Ning Fengzhi next to him. If he was a little disrespectful and spread it out, then he wouldn't have to do it as a platinum bishop.
It seems that the status of the Platinum Bishop in the Spirit Hall seems to be second only to the Pope.
But in fact, although they have great power, they have no real decision-making power.
In addition to the Pope, there is a hidden Elder Hall in Wuhun Hall, which is the real power core of Wuhun Hall. Some major matters need to be decided by the Elder Hall. When voting, even the Pope only has three votes. However, there are as many as seven elders in the Elder Hall. When necessary, as long as all seven people pass the resolution, they can even abolish the Pope.
And those who possess the Pope's decree, although the status cannot be compared with the real elders, are also equivalent to the position of honorary elders, and have the qualifications to communicate directly with the elders' hall.
Although there is always a gap between the upper three sects of the seven major sects and the Spirit Hall, their forces are extremely huge after all, and they are three in one. Therefore, the Spirit Palace does not dare to offend them easily.
Not only did the master come from the Blue Lightning Overlord Dragon School, but with this thing in his hand at this time, how could Salas dare to be presumptuous.
Holding the Pope's decree in both hands, he respectfully handed it to the master, "Please take it back, elder."
The master took the Pope's decree and did not take it back. He just put it in front of him and glanced at Salas lightly, "I asked for the Pope's decree, and I didn't mean to interfere with His Excellency Bishop Salas. I just hope that our Shrek Academy can Get the word justice. Every member of the Shrek Academy team is a genius soul master that we have painstakingly cultivated. I don’t want them to be seriously injured or even lifelong because of this inquiry. If the bishop insists on investigating Let's wait for their injuries to recover."
There is a Pope's order here to shock, although Salas is unwilling, but what else can he say? Unless the Pope or a member of the Elder Hall is here, no one has the qualifications to say anything with the current staff of the Spirit Hall.
"It was me who was reckless. Since that's the case, this investigation can be avoided. Let's take our leave." Sarasben also used the topic to play the role of Canghui Academy's life and death.
Originally, he wanted to pretend that he didn't recognize who the master was, but now they even took out the Pope's decree. If he didn't know the fun, the master really went to the Pope's Palace and said something to the Pope, and his future would be bleak in the future. .
Not to mention entering the Elder Hall.
Flender's face was already full of smiles, "Sir Bishop, don't rush to leave! We were bad just now, too impulsive. What do you think? Among our students, Tang San is fine. His injuries are not serious. Why don't you ask him? After all, he is the soul of the entire team. I think he should know more clearly."
Salas glanced at Flender, feeling annoyed in his heart. If you had said earlier, would I have seen the Pope's decree? Since the face has been sold, simply sell it to the end. Even if I really ask something, can I really disqualify you from the competition
"No need, no need. I've already figured it out. The Canghui Academy's participating students must have been attacked by their soul skills. Under that circumstance, how could the students of your academy do anything? Say goodbye."
After speaking, Salas ignored Flender's retention, and even forgot to say hello to Ning Fengzhi, and walked out quickly with the two cardinals.
Ning Fengzhi took a deep look at Grandmaster before walking out with Bone Douluo.
The three people in the Golden Triangle have been sending them to the gate of the academy.
"The three don't need to be sent. I'm sorry to bother you today. Master, where the Pope..."
The master smiled at Salas's twinkling eyes, and said, "Don't worry, your bishop, this competition is still very fair."
Salas's face showed a gleam of satisfaction, and then he nodded and turned away with his own people.
Ning Fengzhi did not leave in a hurry, looked at the master with a smile and said, "I didn't expect it. The master is actually the honorary elder of the Wuhun Temple. Fengzhi was really rude in the past."
The master's eyes are restrained, "It's just to scare some mediocre people."
Ning Fengzhi seemed to want to ask something, but in the end he stopped himself, "The children's health is important. Tomorrow's competition, if you can't do it, just give up. It will also give the competition organizing committee a step down."
Finish saying this. Ning Fengzhi said goodbye to the three and turned away with Bone Douluo.
Watching the backs of the two gradually disappear. The fake smile on Flender's face disappeared quietly, "This Sect Master Ning is worthy of his reputation. However, Xiaogang, although you stunned the people in the Spirit Hall this time, I'm afraid you will cause them more in the future. Followed."
Before the master could speak, suddenly, his ear hurt. Liu Erlong said in a cold voice, "Yu Xiaogang, you still have contact with that bitch, say, are you..."
Seeing that Liu Erlong was about to make a big splash, Flender was stunned for a moment, and then hurriedly said, "Uh, I have something to do. I'll go back first. Let's talk." After speaking, he turned around and ran away.
"It hurts, Erlong, let go. You misunderstood." The master looked at Liu Erlong helplessly.
At this time, Liu Erlong's eye circles were red, and the tears were swirling in the eye circles. "Misunderstanding? That bitch has even given you the Pope's decree. What else can be misunderstood? She has such an affair with you that she doesn't even want her face."
The master's stiff face froze, "Don't talk nonsense. Let it go. She didn't give me this Pope's decree."
Although Liu Erlong was much stronger than Grandmaster, when Grandmaster was about to get angry, she was a little afraid, so she let go of the hand that grabbed Grandmaster's ear, "Then tell me, who gave you this piece of Pope's order. I won't rest without an explanation that satisfies me."
The master said helplessly: "You, you. You are still so impulsive even at your age."
Liu Erlong's eyebrows stood upright. "You mean I'm getting old?"
"Uh... , you know. I didn't mean that. Would you like to hear the origin of this Pope's decree?"
"Go ahead." Only then did Liu Erlong restrain his emotions.
The master sighed softly and said, "This is the land given to me by Xiaosan's father."
Liu Erlong didn't know much about Tang San's details. Ever since Grandmaster appeared, her whole mind has been on Grandmaster alone. At this time, he couldn't help but say in surprise: "Little San's father? How is that possible. Could it be... "
The master took Liu Erlong's hand and walked towards the academy. As he walked, he slowly said four words: "Title: Haotian."
In order to prove that all its students were seriously injured, the next day, Shrek Academy announced that it would give up the next two games. Give team players plenty of rest time.
Shrek Academy's undefeated golden body was broken like this, and their opponents who were drawn by lot in the past two days turned out to be the two powerhouses of Kamikaze Academy and Thunder Academy.
If the Thunder Academy still feels a little lucky, then Feng Xiaotian, the captain of the Kamikaze Academy, is completely depressed.
Although Shrek Academy's abstention made them directly victorious, Huo Wu's anger obviously wouldn't diminish because they won without a fight in this way, and Feng Xiaotian didn't really defeat Tang San. Dreams can only be put on hold for now.
The preliminaries were in full swing, and after Shrek Academy came back, their strength did not decrease as some viewers had judged, and they continued to triumph. Soon, a total of twenty-seven rounds of qualifiers came to an end. Just one last round and it will be over.
At present, the rankings of the top teams in the qualifiers are as follows: Thunder Academy, with 25 wins in 26 games, the only place that defeated them is Kamikaze Academy.
Kamikaze Academy, twenty-six and twenty-five wins, the only one who defeated them was Blazing Academy. There is a certain key person who releases water, and it is not easy to not lose.
Shrek Academy, twenty-four wins in twenty-six battles.
Blazing Academy, twenty-three wins in twenty-six battles.
Tianshui College, twenty-three wins in twenty-six battles.
Elephant Jia Academy, 21 wins in 26 battles.
…
Although the final round of the game is still short of the end, in fact, the qualifying team has been determined. In order: Thunder Academy, Kamikaze Academy, Shrek Academy, Blazing Academy and Tianshui Academy.
The Elephant Armor Academy, one of the five element academies, had lost to the top five teams respectively. At this time, it was hopeless to qualify.
In the final round, among the top five teams, Thunder Academy, Kamikaze Academy, and Blazing Academy were not strong opponents. Victory is beyond doubt.
On the other hand, Shrek Academy finally encountered a difficult opponent after encountering Blazing Academy, and competed with Tianshui Academy for the final battle.
Although the game between the two sides has nothing to do with qualifying, it is related to the ranking of the two sides in the qualifiers. Shrek Academy wins and will be able to keep their third position.
If Tianshui Academy wins, coupled with their victory over Blazing Academy, they will replace Shrek Academy.
Therefore, in the final round of the qualifiers, the organizing committee deliberately arranged the top five teams and the Xiangjia Academy to compete in the same round. The last game of the qualifiers will be fully presented to the audience.
The battle between Shrek Academy and Tianshui Academy was undoubtedly the top priority, so it was naturally arranged in the main arena in the center.
There are fourteen games every day, divided into three rounds. Since today's game has nothing to do with qualifying, it is the last round again. The colleges that have been eliminated are naturally unwilling to fight. The first two rounds were quickly over.
In the rest area, the Five Elements Academy and Shrek Academy are quietly waiting to appear. Of course, there are four other colleges as foils.
Tang San and Dai Mubai stood together at the front of their team. Quietly waiting for the start of the game.
Thinking back to this preliminaries, the only ones that really caused them trouble were the Xiangjia Academy, Blazing Academy and Canghui Academy. And Canghui Academy was taken care of by Tang San's Purple Demon Eye.
The remaining powerhouses such as Kamikaze Academy and Thunder Academy were just when they gave up the game. The rest of the qualifiers were not difficult to pass.
Although there are fetters, but overall, it is still smooth. Today is the last round of the preliminaries. Although Tang San wasn't able to win the preliminaries, Tang San was a little disappointed. But he had already sworn in his heart that no matter what, he would still win the final championship of this Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Competition and leave it to Shrek Academy.
The outcome of today's match was irrelevant, but neither Tang San nor Dai Mubai had any intention of giving up. Only in the constant battle with the strong can you improve your strength.
The Shrek Academy players were: Captain, Evil Eyed White Tiger Dai Mubai.
Vice-captain, Qianshou Shura Tang San. Melee attack type soul masters Rougu Meitu Xiaowu, attack type soul masters Tailong and Huang Yuan, agility attack type soul masters Jingling and healing type soul master Jiangzhu.
As in the battle against Blazing Academy, there were only three main players.
It's getting closer and closer to the start of the final round. At this moment, a long figure sneaked over. His gaze first swept across the three girls, Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing, and then fell on Tang San.
"Brother Tang, today is the last round of competition. You have to cheer up!"
Tang San and the others looked at the people who came, it was none other than the Kamikaze Academy team captain, Feng Xiaotian.
Seeing him, Xiao Wu couldn't help frowning, "Why are you here again? Can you say something new?"
In fact, since Shrek Academy defeated Blazing Academy, Feng Xiaotian would run over to cheer on Shrek Academy before almost every round of competition.