Right! Disregarding him, even the many high-ranking soul masters, soul engineers, and teachers present had never seen someone’s martial soul in battle before! Not mention such a large increase in that person’s power following said evolution. Furthermore, Xu Sans.h.i.+ had actually overcome the difference between ranks! It had be realized that, even though Yi Mengdi was only Rank 53, her Angelic martial soul was strong enough to allow her to fight against peak-rank Soul Kings! Yet, she’d still lost Xu Sans.h.i.+ and Jiang Nannan. Even though the former appeared to have suffered heavy injuries though, if this had been a true battle to the death, the outcome was questionable. However, in the end, a Soul Ancestor had actually managed to beat a Soul King in battle! This hadn’t been a team fight either, but a 2v2 fight.
Everyone at Justsky Academy, from Ye Wuqing to the ordinary students, had gloomy expressions. They’d originally been filled with hope that they’d be able to beat Shrek Academy, but this loss had been akin to a bucket of ice water.
Within Shrek Academy’s waiting area.
“Good. Now then, don’t get too excited everyone. We’ve still got more predicaments to overcome.” Bei Bei clapped, drawing the everyone’s attention to him.
“Even though we’ve won the first match, Sans.h.i.+ definitely won’t be able to make it to our next match. As he’s injured his vitality, I’m not sure how long he’ll take to recover. Previously, he told that if anything caused him to forcefully break his seal, he’d temporarily become stronger, but that he’d heavily injure his body and drain his potential in doing so. Nannan, is it possible for you take him back to recover? This place isn’t suitable.”
If this was any other time, Jiang Nannan definitely would’ve outright rejected Bei Bei without hesitation. However, when she thought of the last few words Xu Sans.h.i.+ had uttered to her, she unexpectedly nodded, put his arm over her should, and left.
What she didn’t see, however, was the ‘unconscious’ Xu Sans.h.i.+ give Bei Bei a slight thumbs up that only he was able to notice.
The corner of Bei Bei’s mouth rose slightly, and he laughed while inwardly thinking, You’ve earned this with your own hard work.
“Will the partic.i.p.ants of the second round please take the stage.” The referee’s words drew the attention of Shrek’s team back to the compet.i.tion, while the audience immediately tensed up again. That’s right, there were still two matches left! Furthermore, their opponents still had two Soul Kings on their team, one of whom was their most powerful member and team leader.
Everyone, including w.a.n.g Yan, turned to look at Bei Bei. Shrek’s first lineup had already proven Bei Bei’s worth in their eyes.
Bei Bei already seemed to have a plan in mind as he whispered, “Since we won the first match, we’ve gained the initiative. What we’re hoping for the most is that they’ll impulsively send out both of their Soul Kings, or that they at least send their team leader out. Caitou, Xiao Xiao, you two are up first. You don’t need to feel any pressure; just do your best to keep yourselves safe. I had originally planned for w.a.n.g Dong and Xiao Xiao to go out, but since w.a.n.g Dong and Huo Yuhao have a fusion skill, it will be key in the round that we’ll win.”
He Caitou’s eyes met Xiao Xiao’s, and they both immediately understood what Bei Bei’s intentions were; he was clearly saying that he already planned to give up on their second round. The only reason they were being sent out was in order to waste their opponent’s Soul Kings. Bei Bei’s plan was undoubtedly spot on; the more people Shrek sent out alongside Huo Yuhao and his Spiritual Detection, the greater their chances of winning would become.
Despite this, the fighting intent in He Caitou and Xiao Xiao’s hearts was no less than that of their companions! The instant that their gazes met, they were both able to see the intense unwillingness in each other’s eyes.
Bei Bei grabbed He Caitou’s shoulder, then placed his hand on Xiao Xiao’s. He solemnly said, “I know that you two feel unresigned, but there always have to be a few people who do certain things for the sake of victory. You guys have to remember that this isn’t the last round of this tournament; Sans.h.i.+ can’t join us for the next match anymore, so you guys had best come back healthy no matter what; we still need you for the matches after this. Understood?”
He Caitou’s expression was somewhat grave as he looked Bei Bei in the eye, but he still nodded.
Xiao Xiao’s response was somewhat half-hearted, but she managed to resist the urge to refute him.
“Good luck you two. Shrek’s glory belongs to all of us together.”
He Caitou and Xiao Xiao proceeded to walk onto the stage together. The instant that they’d left, Bei Bei turned around to face Huo Yuhao and w.a.n.g Dong, then solemnly said, “The final victors of today’s match will be decided in the third round. I only have one thing to say: Use every last bit of strength you have. No matter who wins, in the end, we’ll have at least displayed our strength.
“Sans.h.i.+’s victory in the first round was extremely dangerous. If Nannan didn’t have a teleportation skill, that Soul King with the angelic martial would’ve instantly been able to turn the tables once she woke up. As such, we don’t have any more chances. Our opponents will definitely be more careful from here on out. There’s no way for us to win by a fluke now that they’re fighting with all of their strength. Alright, you two need to rest up—prepare yourself for our next match.”
Huo Yuhao was now inwardly afraid; the excitement he’d previously felt had been replaced by a heavy sense of pressure.
Pressure would have entirely different effects depending on the person: A weak-natured person could even collapse beneath heavy pressure and become even weaker. However, a person who was full of fighting spirit could could be willing to give his all for his glory and ideals. The great the pressure, the greater the rebound. At the same time, the driving force behind the pressure would become even more abundant.
The current Huo Yuhao and w.a.n.g Dong were just like this: w.a.n.g Dong tightly clenched his fists, a fierce flame of resolve rose in his eyes. As for Huo Yuhao, he squinted his eyes as a bright light flickered through the bottom of his eyelids. He then reached over, grabbed w.a.n.g Dong’s fist, and leaned over to whisper something to him.
A light smile appeared on Bei Bei’s face when he saw this. The reason that he’d allowed them to shoulder an even greater amount of pressure was because he was so familiar with his junior brothers. They were the kind of people that would squeeze out even more of their potential under great pressure.
w.a.n.g Yan watched from the sidelines as this happened. He was filled with gratification as he watched Bei Bei’s calm leaders.h.i.+p, and suddenly felt that losing today wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. At the very least, the psychological trauma he’d been worried about wouldn’t appear with a team leader like Bei Bei.
Even though the awakened Xu Sans.h.i.+ was stronger than Bei Bei in terms of overall strength, but there was a large gap between him and Bei Bei in terms of their ability to look at the big picture and take command. It seems that Bei Bei is even more than I am to lead everyone here. I’ll just let them do as they wish. Maybe these kids really can create a miracle for Shrek.
Bei Bei gradually furrowed his brows as he stared at the tournament stage. His face grew increasingly grave, for he’d just discovered that their opponents would be tougher than he’d imagined; the leader of Justsky Academy hadn’t appeared during the second round.
It had to be known that Justsky Academy would lose the match if they were to lose their second round. In a situation like this, Ye Wuqing had actually managed to remain patient, which definitely exceeded Bei Bei’s predictions. This meant that Shrek Academy would have an even harder time in the third round if they lost the second round.
He Caitou and Xiao Xiao slowly made their way up onto the stage. The straightforward Caitou immediately did the same thing that Xu Sans.h.i.+ had done, and loudly said to the two members of Justsky Academy in front of him, “Shrek Academy, He Caitou.”
Xiao Xiao immediately followed up, “Xiao Xiao.”
The two students from Justsky Academy had peculiar expressions when they saw He Caitou—his dark skin was normally only seen in the Sun Moon Empire. However, a person like him had appeared on Shrek’s team. Despite this, He Caitou’s suppression of the Soul King-ranked Shen Ce with a soul tool fort was still fresh in everyone’s minds.
“Justsky Academy, Tang Xiaolei.”
“Justsky Academy, Xue Lang.”
The two students immediately replied with their own names. Tang Xiaolei had a tall and straight figure, but he wasn’t too muscular. However, his eyes were extraordinarily lively, and a purple light seemed to flicker through them. This was the first contestant that He Caitou had seen besides Huo Yuhao who possessed such a solid pair of eyes.
Xue Lang was slightly shorter than Tang Xiaolei, but he was much st.u.r.dier; the width of his shoulders and the thickness of his arms were comparable to He Caitou’s. Of course, this was a comparison between the twenty year-old Tang Xiaolei and the fifteen year-old He Caitou.
Tang Xiaolei and Xue Lang were only slightly flabbergasted when they looked at He Caitou, but they weren’t simply astonished when their gazes landed on Xiao Xiao.
They’d both seen Xiao Xiao’s previous matches while they were in the rest area. However, she hadn’t done much during either of the two occasions that she’d appeared. Thus, n.o.body knew what her true abilities were.
Xiao Xiao wasn’t even twelve yet; she was only a few days older than Huo Yuhao. Combined with her how small she was, she looked like a small child; a few people would’ve believed that she wasn’t even ten yet. The juxtaposition between the two was simply too strong.
Even though Tang Xiaolei and Xu Leng were anxious to obtain victory in this match, they couldn’t help but feel that something was off when they saw Xiao Xiao. Their eyes then simultaneously landed on He Caitou’s body. As for the six soul rings that Xiao Xiao had previously revealed, the two only felt disdain in their hearts. If a small girl like her was truly a Soul Emperor, then they could just go directly commit suicide.
The two of them had forgotten a single thing, however: Despite Xiao Xiao’s extremely baffling appearance, and no matter how old she looked, she was still a student from Shrek Academy—she was still somebody that Shrek had chosen to send to this tournament.
The referee felt somewhat unwilling when he saw Xiao Xiao, but the compet.i.tion was still a compet.i.tion. He motioned both parties to their respective sides of the arena, then raised his right hand and shouted, “Match, start!”
Both parties instantly released their martial souls, and Xiao Xiao’s two yellow hundred year soul rings finally appeared on the tournament stage spectated by over ten thousand people.