Hearing Xiao Hongchen's words, everyone just smiled without replying.
From the start of the tournament, to the top sixteen, then to the top eight, and now the top four, their relationships had grown closer. Naturally, they all understood Xiao Hongchen's personality very well.
"Hey! I really did think of it!"
Seeing their expressions, Xiao Hongchen quickly raised his voice to defend himself.
"All right. No matter who the opponent is tomorrow, you must give it your all until you've defeated them!"
Elder Lin looked at the vibrant, battle-ready youths before him, and a slight stirring rose in his heart as he encouraged them.
He thought back to his younger self—just like these youngsters—full of ambition, standing on the stage of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament, fighting for the glory of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy and the Sun Moon Empire!
"Yes!"
They all responded in unison, their tone firm.
Shrek Academy Waiting Area
Wang Yan held back his anger as he looked at Ma Xiaotao, who was coming down from the stage like a victorious general, and spoke.
"Xiaotao, you're the captain of our Shrek Academy team this year, right?"
Ma Xiaotao, still riding the high of victory, had expected cheers from her teammates—but instead, she was met with Wang Yan's questioning.
Although she was usually rough and straightforward, she wasn't stupid. She could tell there was a deeper meaning to his words.
So she answered directly:
"Teacher Wang, I won the match. Is that a problem? Isn't my responsibility as captain to lead the team to victory?"
"Yes, winning the match is correct—but why didn't you follow the pre-arranged tactics?"
"Tactics? A true powerhouse doesn't need tactics. And I happen to have that strength."
Ma Xiaotao shot back without backing down.
Wang Yan fixed his gaze on her, his voice sinking.
"If we're talking about who's most qualified to be captain among the ten who came this time—it's Beibei, not you. Even Dai Yaoheng would be better than you. Even Huo Yuhao would be more suitable."
"You…!"
Ma Xiaotao glared, a faint dark-red light flickering in her eyes, heat radiating from her body.
"That's enough, Xiaotao."
An old voice sounded. A hand wrapped in earthy-yellow soul power landed on her shoulder so fast that even she didn't have time to react.
In that instant, a thick soul power suppressed the evil fire that had been about to erupt within her.
"Elder Xuan."
When Huo Yuhao and the others saw the owner of the hand, they hurriedly greeted him respectfully.
"Wang Yan, Xiaotao won, didn't she? Don't be too harsh—she'll be key to our later matches."
Elder Xuan spoke lightly as he continued to suppress her evil fire.
"It seems the plan needs to be moved up… otherwise, Xiaotao might lose control on the field."
His brow furrowed slightly as he took a swig from his wine gourd, thinking to himself.
"But Elder Xuan…"
Wang Yan's face showed concern, but Elder Xuan waved a hand to cut him off.
"Xiaotao, next time you'll follow Wang Yan's tactical arrangements—no more acting on your own. Understand?"
Elder Xuan's tone was much gentler now.
After all, Ma Xiaotao was a descendant of Ma Hongjun from ten thousand years ago—one of Shrek Academy's "original players." With her immense talent, she was a future reserve member for the Sea God Pavilion.
By contrast, Wang Yan, for all his knowledge, was just a five-ring theory-type teacher.
"Elder Xuan, I understand. I'll follow Teacher Wang's tactics from now on. And Teacher Wang, my tone was too sharp earlier—I apologize."
The dark-red in her eyes faded as she calmed herself, sincerely apologizing to Wang Yan.
She didn't know why, but just hearing Wang Yan's earlier words had sparked an uncontrollable surge of anger. More and more, she was losing control of her emotions—the evil fire's influence was deepening.
Teacher… what should I do…?
Inside, her heart was in turmoil, even a little lost.
Before coming here, Yan Shaozhe had warned her to avoid cultivating soul power as much as possible, because the closer she got to level 70 Soul Sage, the harder it would be to control the evil fire.
She had already tried her best not to cultivate—but her cultivation still rose uncontrollably.
Seeing this, Wang Yan said nothing more. He just hoped she would follow tactics from now on, because the more she revealed her trump cards on stage, the more their enemies would know.
He didn't want all of Huo Yuhao and the others' hard work to be ruined by her impulses.
Shrek's path to this point had been far from easy.
"All right, go back to the hotel and rest well—get ready for the coming matches."
"Xiaotao, I'll find a way to help you suppress the evil fire."
The first sentence was spoken to everyone, the second was sent privately into Ma Xiaotao's mind through soul power.
Her expression lit up, but when she saw Elder Xuan signal her to keep quiet, she forced her excitement down.
Elder Xuan is so powerful… if he says he has a way, then he must have a way…
That Night – Early Morning
In Jiang Jue's room.
He was sitting on the bed, cultivating soul power, when suddenly his eyes snapped open. A flash of emerald light passed through them, followed by a cold gleam.
"Ice Emperor's Wrath!""Domain of Eternal Freeze!"
A burst of extreme green erupted from his right arm. His left sleeve exploded apart, revealing a majestic scorpion. His hands became covered in diamond-like ice crystals, like a pair of enormous pincers flashing with chilling light.
Ice-blue light radiated outward from him, frost forming instantly. In a flash, it spread across the entire room, ice patterns crawling over every surface.
In that instant, the two soul skills from the Ice Emperor's 400,000-year right arm bone were unleashed, draining his soul power rapidly.
Clang!
Ice-blue soul power gathered in his hands, and he struck toward one corner of the room.
"Well, your alertness isn't bad."
From what had seemed an empty corner, a white figure appeared, a yellowish light shield in front of him. Jiang Jue's ice-crystal claws scraped across it, producing sparks and a metallic screech.
"But in my eyes, you're still far too weak."
A terrifying pressure erupted from the figure, surging over Jiang Jue like a tidal wave.
"Hmph!"
Jiang Jue grunted, silver light flashing over his body. Waves of ice-blue cold tried to block the pressure—but shattered like mirrors one after another.
"I've come to ask you for a favor."
Looking at the unkempt old man before him, Jiang Jue instantly knew who it was—Elder Xuan.
He frowned, but not because he feared for his situation. Elder Yi from the Life Gold within his body had already spoken to him telepathically.
If Jiang Jue so much as gave the word, Electrolux had absolute confidence he could instantly erase Elder Xuan.
"Don't bother thinking anyone will come save you. The moment I entered your room, I sealed it with my soul power. That ninth-rank soul engineer from your Mingde Hall can't possibly detect us."
When he mentioned that ninth-rank soul engineer, there was clear disdain in Elder Xuan's voice. In his mind, no matter how far soul tools developed, they couldn't beat a powerhouse like him.
"So, kid, be good and let me take you away.
If I decide to take you today, no one can stop me!"
With that, he reached out with a greasy palm to grab Jiang Jue.
But Elder Xuan was surprised to see no fear at all on Jiang Jue's face—only the hint of a cold smile.
What's he smiling at?
Just before his hand touched Jiang Jue, the air in the room thickened, and a black dot appeared out of thin air.
Like a drop of ink in clear water, it spread instantly. From it stretched a hand covered in terrifying dragon scales.
An oppressive aura burst forth, darkness surging from the hand.
Pa!Boom!
The hand lightly landed on Elder Xuan's right shoulder. Space roared.
Elder Xuan's grabbing motion froze in midair, his face showing shock.
"Who?"
"Xuanzi, after all these years, you still haven't improved."
A cold voice rang out as a tall figure emerged from the black light.
(End of Chapter)