Bei Bei spoke in a very deep yet powerful voice. His gaze fell on his close brother, Xu Sans.h.i.+ first.
“Sans.h.i.+, you’re up first.”
Xu Sans.h.i.+ nodded. At this moment, he awakened the domineering att.i.tude he normally kept hidden, setting it ablaze as his will to fight. He squinted his eyes slightly, a cold glint s.h.i.+ning in them. “I will definitely win the first match. Either they’ll beat me till I can’t get up anymore, or I’ll emerge victorious. Who’s partenering up with me? You?”
Bei Bei shook his head and said, “No. If we both appear in the first round, the following matches will be very difficult for the team even if we win. I need to stay behind and oversee the team.”
His gaze s.h.i.+fted to Jiang Nannan standing beside him. There was a deep and sincere look in his eyes as he said, “Nannan, I don’t know what happened between you and Sans.h.i.+ in the past for you to look down on him so. None of that is important to our present formation. I hope you can put down all personal grudges for the moment. You must fight with him. The best outcome will only occur when you both work together. After this match ends, I’ll beat him up for you if you want. But now, I’m asking and ordering you as your captain to fight the first match with Sans.h.i.+. Will you do it or not?”
Jian Nannan was stunned. She had really never expected Bei Bei to pair her with Xu Sans.h.i.+. From her point of view, Huo Yuhao should be the one fighting with Xu Sans.h.i.+, not her. But once her eyes met Bei Bei’s honest gaze, and feeling her comrades’ gazes on her, Jiang Nannan only gritted her teeth and said, “Fine, I’ll go.”
Bei Bei nodded forcefully at her. “Thank you. Now go. Let them see the power of Shrek’s Seven Monsters.”
“Yes.” Jiang Nannan nodded lightly. Without even glancing in Xu Sans.h.i.+’s general direction, she walked out of the waiting area in a flash and headed up to the stage first.
Xu Sans.h.i.+ quickly chased after her. When he walked pa.s.sed Bei Bei, he stuck his thumb up. “Bei Bei, I love you.”
“Scram!” Bei Bei huffed unhappily. “If you can’t win even like this, don’t come back!”
“I’ll castrate myself if I don’t win.” Xu Sans.h.i.+ strode up on stage after he threw those words out.
The five other members of Shrek’s Seven Monsters realised that after he said that, his whole demeanor suddenly underwent an earth-shattering change.
w.a.n.g Yan’s mood recovered a little at this moment under the influence of the intense will to fight coming from Shrek’s Seven Monsters. He temporarily let go of his worries and spoke to Bei Bei in a low voice. “Bei Bei, why did you pair Jiang Nannan and Xu Sans.h.i.+ together? With Xu Sans.h.i.+’s defensive abilities, wouldn’t it be be better to pair him with He Caitou’s explosive firepower?”
Bei Bei shook his head and said, “Teacher w.a.n.g, you don’t understand Sans.h.i.+. What he needs isn’t firepower, but rather something to arouse all of his power. There’s no one more suited for this than Jiang Nannan. Jiang Nannan will be the detonator to set him on fire. Just wait and see. Sans.h.i.+’s strength is nothing compared to what it was before. He will reveal his true cultivation to us. I believe he can win this match!”
w.a.n.g Yan nodded lightly. Since he’d handed over the right to command the team to Bei Bei, he could now only give him his unconditional trust. Moreover, they were in a desperate situation where anything goes, after all. There was one point Bei Bei made that he highly approved of. They were two remarkable people living in the same period. Did they lack students with four soul rings in the outer courtyard? No! Why were they blossoming with the most resplendent light? There must definitely be a reason behind that.
For the first time, w.a.n.g Yan felt as though he had a little confidence in the team again.
After Jiang Nannan went on stage, she stood to the side without consulting anyone. After Xu Sans.h.i.+ followed her up on stage, he did something out of Jiang Nannan’s expectations. He didn’t greet her, nor did he say anything. He only stood in front of her in a very natural manner.
Jiang Nannan looked at Xu Sans.h.i.+’s broad shoulders, and a dull look suddenly appeared in her eyes. In this moment, he seemed to have changed into a person filled with masculinity. There was an intense confidence oozing out of him that she couldn’t make sense of. Without releasing the slightest bit of his soul power, Xu Sans.h.i.+ made one feel as though he was a ma.s.sive s.h.i.+ning ent.i.ty. He looked like a volcano that could erupt at any time.
What’s wrong with him? Is it because of me? To Jiang Nannan’s surprise, such a thought actually formed in her mind. She quickly shook her head forcefully to expel such distracting thoughts from her mind. She looked at Xu Sans.h.i.+ standing in front of her again and felt that he wasn’t as hateful as he usually was in this kind of situation, to say the least. If it wasn’t because of that time… maybe she would really be attracted to him?
Just as Jiang Nannan let her imagination run wild, Justsky Academy’s first 2v2 team took the field.
Their pair was also comprised of a boy and a girl, with figures that were even a little similar to Xu Sans.h.i.+ and Jiang Nannan. The girl was very beautiful. Unfortunately, luck was not on her side in this round, as she had encountered the one known as the number one beauty in the outer courtyard of Shrek Academy – Jiang Nannan. Under Jiang Nannan’s s.h.i.+ning beauty, she seemed to be a little drab and dull. Even the boy standing next to her couldn’t control his gaze as it fell on Jiang Nannan first.
“Xu Sans.h.i.+. She’s Jiang Nannan,” Xu Sans.h.i.+ said in a low voice.
A 2v2 battle couldn’t compare to a team battle. Teamwork was most important in team battles, and there wasn’t a chance to distinguish the members apart from one another. w.a.n.g Yan had given them a rundown on every one of their opponents, but they’d never seen their opponents before, nor had they paid attention to them, so it wasn’t easy to tell who was who. Thus, they introduced themselves first so that they could see who their opponents were as thus be able to act on w.a.n.g Yan’s information.
“I’m Yang Yifan,” said the youth from Justsky Academy.
The girl glanced at Jiang Nannan with a slightly envious look in her eyes that was directed at the other party’s for looking immature, yet being remarkably beautiful. “Yu Mengdi.”
It’s these two. Xu Sans.h.i.+ suddenly knew what was going on. Sure enough, one of them was a Soul King. It seemed like their opponents also didn’t plan on staking all their strength on one throw.
Seeing as both parties had introduced themselves, the referee called out in a low voice, “Both parties fall back and get ready.”
Both parties simultaneously backed away from one another. It was a must to create distance between both parties regardless of whether it was a team battle, singles or doubles. This was so that all types of soul masters could freely display their abilities.
Xu Sans.h.i.+ spoke to Jiang Nannan in a low voice as he backed away. “Nannan, I’ll create an opening for you. We’ll win as long as we get rid of Yu Mengdi. You don’t need to bother with the other one. I won’t give him a chance to attack you. You’ll have to wait, then go all-out in your attack when I tell you to. Before that, just focus on what I’m doing.”
“Okay,” Jiang Nannan muttered in agreement. Since she had to cooperate with him in this match, she couldn’t flare up at this time regardless of how much she hated Xu Sans.h.i.+.
Xu Sans.h.i.+ was ecstatic. He suddenly felt his heart being tickled when Jiang Nannan said this. It was rare for her to be so gentle and agreeable, so maybe he felt that way because she’d scolded him too much on a daily basis.
When both parties reached the edge of the tournament stage, the referee shouted out, “Start!”
Without a doubt, releasing martial souls was key in a fight. Both parties finished this process in the blink of an eye. Xu Sans.h.i.+ didn’t appear to be lazy this time around. He held the s.h.i.+eld of the Xuanwu Turtle in his hands as he charged up in big strides. Jiang Nannan flashed and bounced lightly behind him.
Since Xu Sans.h.i.+ was relatively robust compared to those in his age group, Jiang Nannan was practically invisible from the front as she hid behind him.
On the other end, Yang Yifan and Yu Mengdi released their martial souls too. Yang Yifan’s martial soul was a long dagger. In reality, he was an agility-type soul master despite his tall physique. His body flashed as he moved around and over to the other side.
Yu Mengdi’s martial soul wasn’t that simple. Once she released her martial soul, much of the feeling of being stunned was somewhat similar to when w.a.n.g Dong released his Radiant b.u.t.terfly G.o.ddess for the first time.
A pair of spotlessly white wings s.h.i.+ning with strong golden rays of light unfurled from her back. Yu Mengdi was suddenly covered in a soft layer of gold. The saintly aura she emitted made one feel as though they wanted to wors.h.i.+p her.
Her hand flashed with golden light, and a long golden sword appeared within it. This wasn’t a soul tool, but rather a weapon condensed completely out of soul power. Five soul rings formed of the best proportions, two yellow, two purple, and one black, simultaneously appeared on her.
A black soul ring meant that a ten-thousand-year soul ring had appeared. This was the first time Shrek Academy had encountered an opponent who had a ten-thousand-year soul ring in this tournament.
Justsky Academy valued this first match a lot. Among the three Soul Kings, Yu Mengdi’s cultivation was ranked second, and she was only second to Ye Wuqing. Her martial soul was the Angel. Even if it was only a two-winged Angel now, it was already a considerably powerful martial soul. If her cultivation could reach the rank of a soul master with seven soul rings, then she would have four wings. If she was able to become a t.i.tled Douluo with nine soul rings, she would have six wings. Every additional pair of wings was equivalent to an evolution of her martial soul. This was closest to the strongest body soul in existence.
As a result of that, Yu Mengdi wasn’t weaker than Ye Wuqing in the slightest in terms of her potential to grow. They were both determined to win this match.
The audience couldn’t see the problem Shrek Academy had. However, a few individuals from other academies who had discerning eyes could see many problems with Shrek Academy’s performance from their previous matches. Justsky Academy was among those who had seen through them.
As a result of that, he was filled with excitement rather than fear as he faced Shrek Academy today.