"Pathetic."
Liu Erlong watched the Shrek trio's performance, her expression dark and ugly.
It wasn't that she thought the three boys had big problems—bad tactics, poor teamwork, lack of experience were understandable. They were still young, and there were still two years before the tournament.
But Yu Xiaogang was a completely different matter.
Yu Xiaogang had bragged nonstop in front of her, boasting about how amazing his Shrek students were under his "personal guidance."
And this was it?
They didn't even know the most basic thing in team combat—protecting the support.
"Erlong, Dai Mubai probably just overestimated himself. Under normal circumstances he would've protected Oscar properly."
Flender, as a Spirit Saint, could see the key point clearly.
Currently, in the Shrek trio, only Dai Mubai was suited to protect Oscar.
But Dai Mubai had been suppressed by Tailong in raw strength—that couldn't be helped.
"I don't think Dai Mubai did anything wrong. He's just inexperienced and wanted to prove himself."
Liu Erlong waved her hand, not wanting to discuss that.
But when she turned to Yu Xiaogang, her face turned cold instantly.
"Yu Xiaogang, this is the 'genius' you spoke of? This is how you trained them?"
Liu Erlong shouted sternly. The Shrek trio on stage felt terrible, and Yu Xiaogang's face darkened further.
"Erlong, I just haven't taught them tactics yet. They're not good at tactics. If they had used the three-way fusion technique…"
Yu Xiaogang frowned and quickly made excuses.
If Liu Erlong believed it was his fault, then according to the bet, he would be forbidden from appearing in front of her again.
How could he accept that?
"Enough!"
Seeing Yu Xiaogang shirk responsibility yet again, Liu Erlong immediately grew furious.
He had been like this back then too. Liu Erlong suddenly felt lucky—lucky this cowardly man ran away instead of marrying her.
"Yu Xiaogang, as a teacher who calls himself a 'master,' do you not understand what it means to teach according to aptitude?"
Her blue hair lifted slightly as spirit power spread out. She raised her voice:
"As a so-called master, you didn't think to assign tactics? Did you not realize that as long as Ma Hongjun held the skies and Dai Mubai protected Oscar, the match was already won?"
"You didn't think to teach Oscar how to escape?"
"You didn't think—"
"Of course I told them—"
Yu Xiaogang did not want to take the blame.
But in reality, he hadn't taught any tactics at all.
The whole point of this match was for Dai Mubai's team to use the three-way fusion technique to overpower Tailong's group.
With the fusion technique, who cared about tactics?
How was he supposed to know Dai Mubai didn't use it?
"Enough! Yu Xiaogang, you still dare to argue—"
"Erlong~!"
Knowing Liu Erlong's temper, Flender hurriedly intervened. He didn't want the Golden Iron Triangle relationship to collapse.
"Enough. And you too, Flender."
Liu Erlong had not become gentler from studying—she had simply been suppressing her temper.
Right now, because she wanted Yu Xiaogang gone, she didn't care about anyone's feelings anymore.
"Aren't you ashamed? Isn't Ma Hongjun your personal disciple? Is this how you teach him? Hovering in the air like an idiot?"
"Yes, his Evil Fire is powerful. Yes, even standing still he can deal massive damage. But what if someone risks themselves to do a one-for-one trade?"
"You, a cat-eagle martial soul master, know how to evade strong attacks. You think the Evil Fire Phoenix doesn't need to dodge anything?"
"This is neglect from the both of you."
Liu Erlong showed no mercy.
"Erlong, they only have three people. How could I assign more sophisticated tactics? It's not a seven-man battle!"
Yu Xiaogang quickly seized the chance to explain once Liu Erlong shifted her attention to Flender.
But explanations were just excuses.
To Liu Erlong now, Yu Xiaogang was utterly incompetent.
Liu Erlong sneered and stared at him with contempt:
"Really? So you're telling me that just because they're three, they don't need to learn seven-man tactics?"
"Now they're lacking. Later they'll still be lacking."
"I seriously doubt whether you even qualify to teach students. Or is it because you yourself can't even reach rank 30, so you have no idea how fast high-rank spirit masters move?"
"That's why you didn't arrange tactics early and let them learn the basics."
"Any defensive battle spirit master has one unshakable principle—to protect the support."
"No matter the tactic, no matter the crisis, they will protect the support even if it costs their life."
"Children are taught this by adults before they even awaken their martial souls."
"Is it because none of you let Ma Hongjun and the others attend elementary academy, so they don't even know such simple rules?"
Ever since Liu Erlong studied, she had become extremely articulate.
She crushed the 'Grandmaster' in argument instantly, leaving Yu Xiaogang speechless.
"Thinking back, the Golden Iron Triangle was famous, but compared to the Dragon Serpent Duo, far inferior. I think the problem was you."
"Otherwise how could a fusion skill between a Spirit Emperor and a Contra overpower a Titled Douluo—while ours, with higher base spirit power and a more difficult fusion, was so much weaker?"
"You were the weak link."
Liu Erlong's contempt was clear, her tone full of humiliation. Yu Xiaogang's face turned terrifyingly dark.
But even so, he had no rebuttal.
Because their fusion skill required their martial souls to leave the body—unlike the Nether White Tiger's perfect full-body fusion.
And that flaw stemmed from one thing—
Yu Xiaogang, the "less-than-rank-30 good-for-nothing."
"Liu Erlong, if you look down on me so much, why did you marry me back then?"
Yu Xiaogang had no arguments left, so he reached for the past.
"That's because I was blind back then! I believed your bullsh*t theories!"
Liu Erlong shouted, even cursing outright.
"You—you—you! Liu Erlong, you're insulting my intelligence!"
Yu Xiaogang panicked. His blood surged and he felt unwell.
Of all things, insulting his intelligence was what he could not tolerate.
Calling him careless, irresponsible, incompetent—he could excuse all that.
But calling his theories garbage?
That was denying his entire life.
So Yu Xiaogang snapped and glared at her furiously.
"My theories were published and sold by the Spirit Hall! How are they garbage? Do you know more than the Spirit Hall?"
"Who knows who opened a backdoor for you!"
"You take old theories discovered by predecessors, reorganize them, and call them your own!"
"Shameless!"
Liu Erlong no longer wanted to argue.
"Get out, Yu Xiaogang. I don't want to see you in Blue Tyrant Academy."
Hearing her cold, merciless words, Yu Xiaogang felt his heart shatter—before rage quickly replaced it.
"Fine, I'll leave!"
(End of Chapter)