Hearing Emperor Xue Ye's remark, Huyan Zhen responded with an unconcerned smile. "Your Majesty, no need to worry. I believe Ali and the others won't lose." While he appeared calm on the surface, he was in fact somewhat uneasy inside. He glanced toward Salas, seemingly seeking his opinion on the situation.
At that moment, Salas was also staring at the stage, visibly shaken by what he saw—another Spirit Ancestor had appeared. In the previous match, three Spirit Ancestors had already been revealed, including one with a ten-thousand-year fourth ring. And now, here came another fourth-ring Spirit Ancestor… and her fourth ring appeared to be tinged with black.
As Platinum Bishop of Spirit Hall, Salas naturally knew what that meant.
Typical thousand-year Spirit Rings were light purple. As the age increased, the color deepened. Around the eight-thousand-year mark, they became dark purple, almost black. At nine thousand years, the black tint became clearly visible.
The girl's fourth Spirit Ring bore visible streaks of black—at a minimum, it had to be nine thousand years or more. Salas was truly stunned. Yesterday, it was a ten-thousand-year fourth ring; today, it was at least a nine-thousand-year fourth ring.
They had now revealed four Spirit Ancestors—who knew if Shrek Academy still had more they hadn't shown?
Of course, Ning Fengzhi, Bone Douluo Gu Rong, and Emperor Xue Ye had also noticed Zhu Zhuqing's purple-black Spirit Ring.
Emperor Xue Ye turned to Ning Fengzhi with interest. "Sect Master Ning, your daughter is also studying at Shrek Academy, yes? You must be quite familiar with them. May I ask, who is their headmaster? I find myself very curious—who could have taught students this outstanding?" As he mentioned Ning Fengzhi's daughter, the emperor deliberately raised his voice.
Ning Fengzhi smiled slightly. "Your Majesty, Shrek Academy's headmaster is named Flender, a Spirit Sage above Rank 70. You may not recognize the name, but I'm sure you've heard of the Golden Iron Triangle from twenty years ago. Flender was the 'Flying Corner' among them. The other two faculty members are the 'Directing Corner'—the Grandmaster—and the 'Slaughtering Corner'—Liu Erlong. Together, the three of them founded Shrek Academy."
"Ah, so it's those three," Emperor Xue Ye mused. "No wonder they can train such extraordinary students." He was familiar with the Golden Iron Triangle—they had once been quite famous across the continent.
Salas's expression shifted noticeably at the mention of the Grandmaster. He immediately sent a voice transmission to Huyan Zhen.
Hearing Salas's message, Huyan Zhen frowned. "The match has already started. There's no stopping it now."
Salas's face darkened further, and he murmured under his breath, almost in disbelief, "How could it be him… How could it be him?"
Although there were several meters between them, Ning Fengzhi clearly overheard him. "What's this, Bishop Salas? Do you know the Grandmaster personally?"
Salas snapped out of it, straightening his face. "Who hasn't heard of the Golden Iron Triangle? That Grandmaster, with his unmatched theories, has quite a history with our Spirit Hall. No wonder—it would take someone like him to produce students like these."
Ning Fengzhi gave Salas a strange look. Knowing his temperament—narrow-minded and vengeful—he found it suspicious that Salas was actually praising the Grandmaster despite Ning having openly aligned himself with Shrek. Was there something he didn't know?
Even Emperor Xue Ye raised a brow. "For someone to be praised by both of you, I must meet him after the competition."
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, the seven members of Elephant Armored Academy did not charge forward like most power-attack types. Instead, they stood shoulder to shoulder in a solid line. As they activated Spirit Possession, their already massive bodies grew even larger, practically taking up half the platform. With each synchronized step, they advanced toward the Shrek team like a moving wall.
Seeing them slowly but forcefully push forward, the Shrek team glanced left and right but found no path to evade. Just then, Tang San shouted, "Retreat!"
As the acting commander, Tang San didn't immediately call for a counterattack. Instead, he ordered a tactical withdrawal.
Before the match, Shrek Academy had already devised a strategy. Hearing Tang San's command, Dai Mubai, Huang Yuan, and Xiao Wu—three close-range power-attackers—retreated swiftly. The agility-type Zhu Zhuqing and Jing Ling closed in toward Tang San. At the rear, Oscar had already begun his preparations.
At that moment, Tang San summoned his Blue Silver Grass, which slithered across the ground toward the advancing Elephant Armored team. In an instant, one opponent was ensnared.
The ensnared fighter faltered for a moment—but in the next step, the Blue Silver Grass snapped apart like a thread. The seven continued their advance unabated.
Tang San's face darkened. That was merely a probing strike, but he knew the tensile strength of his Blue Silver Grass. For it to be torn so easily—these guys were monstrous in strength.
As Elephant Armored Academy continued their relentless push, Shrek Academy was gradually forced back toward the edge of the platform. At this rate, a few more steps and they'd have nowhere left to retreat.
The audience grew confused. This was a completely different Shrek Academy than what they saw in the first match. Could it be that they had finally encountered a team they couldn't beat?
"Looks like Shrek is in trouble."
"Yeah, they're about to get pushed off the stage!"
In the VIP stand, Huyan Zhen relaxed visibly. He had worried earlier that his students might go overboard and injure their opponents. But now it looked like the match would be over quickly. He stroked his white beard, visibly pleased.
Ning Fengzhi, on the other hand, was skeptical. He didn't believe Shrek would go down that easily. Were they holding back? Or was there a strategy at play? His eyes flicked to Oscar in the rear and noticed how everyone was subtly closing in around Tang San. A faint smile formed on his lips.
"Lin Jie, everything's happening just like you said!" Ning Rongrong exclaimed in amazement.
"Yeah, Lin Jie! It's exactly what you predicted. Can you tell the future or something?" Tai Long leaned over, speaking a bit too loudly.
"Let's just say I can," Lin Jie replied with a calm smile.
Earlier, as they sat in the stands, Lin Jie had casually predicted every move Elephant Armored Academy would make—and he'd been right every time.
"Then what's their next move?" Tai Long asked eagerly.
"Yeah, tell us, Lin Jie!" Ma Hongjun added, staring at him wide-eyed.
Lin Jie smiled faintly as he watched the Shrek formation tighten around Tang San. "Their next move? Just what Tang San already hinted at. And as for the result—we're going to win."
"We're really going to win?" Jiangzhu asked, astonished. She'd heard every word Lin Jie had said earlier and now fully believed him.
"I wouldn't be so sure," came a charming voice from behind Lin Jie.
Turning around, Lin Jie saw a stunning young woman. She had long, dark red wavy hair cascading down to her waist, fair skin, delicate features, and large silver-tinged eyes. Dressed in a crimson-and-gold team uniform that complemented her hair, she looked like a blazing flame. Her figure was tall and perfectly proportioned, with a faint red aura surrounding her—and a gentle smile that never left her face.
Seated beside her was a young man with red-gray hair, a headband on his forehead, and wearing a uniform similar to hers. Several other teammates sat around them, clearly from the same academy.