Imperial Capital Academy, Duel Hall.
"Captain, it's just Pearl Academy — why do you need to personally show up?"
Seeing Zhou Haoyu appear, Xu Dalong immediately leaned in flatteringly.
"Pearl Academy isn't much weaker than Imperial Capital Academy— don't take them lightly."
Zhou Haoyu replied coldly, then turned his gaze toward the Pearl Academy team.
There were about ten people, including three teachers.
Mu Nujiao was among the Pearl Academy group.
Besides her, the playboy-looking Zhao Manyan was especially eye-catching, though he didn't seem to care much about the match.
At the same time, Mu Nujiao also noticed Zhou Haoyu entering the arena.
The two exchanged a look; Zhou Haoyu smiled and waved.
Seeing this, Mu Nujiao merely nodded slightly in acknowledgement.
Although it was only a academy exchange match, it concerned Pearl Academy's reputation, better to avoid suspicion.
Mu Nujiao was well aware of Zhou Haoyu's strength, but even if there was little hope of winning, she would still give her all.
From the back row, Zhao Manyan noticed this interaction and couldn't help asking, "Goddess Mu, you know this Zhou Haoyu?"
"Mm." Mu Nujiao didn't deny it, trying to cover it up would only cause more misunderstandings.
Zhao Manyan was a little surprised. This Zhou Haoyu from Imperial Capital Academy actually knew Mu Nujiao and their relationship didn't seem simple.
Tsk tsk, having talent really is enviable!
"Teacher Gu Han, since most people are here, shouldn't we start the exchange match?" Lu Yiming said with a smile as he looked at Gu Han. With Zhou Haoyu and Mu Ningxue as their trump cards, Imperial Capital Academy had virtually no chance of losing.
Gu Han's expression was icy. Although Teacher Lu Yiming appeared kind on the surface, he always carried a deep malice.
"What are the rules?" Gu Han asked.
"You guys can decide — one-on-one, two-on-two, or team battles, all fine." Lu Yiming said casually.
After thinking for a while, Gu Han said, "Then let's do a four-on-four team battle."
Imperial Capital Academy's overall student strength was higher,not to mention they had Zhou Haoyu as a trump card. A solo duel would be unwise.
With a team battle, there might at least be a sliver of hope.
After confirming the match format, Lu Yiming returned to his team.
"It'll be a four-on-four. Who wants to go first?" Lu Yiming asked.
"Teacher, I'll go!" Xu Dalong was clearly itching to get on stage.
"My Dark Patterned Violent Wolf is already hungry!"
Lu Zhenghe had a fire pent up in his chest and was ready to vent it on these guys.
The others were calmer — most simply didn't regard Pearl Academy as a threat.
Meanwhile, Zhou Haoyu was chatting casually with Mu Ningxue. He had already examined Pearl's lineup earlier — Mo Fan wasn't among them.
Most likely he was late.
Since Mo Fan wouldn't appear in the first round, Zhou saw no need to go on himself — beating the others wasn't even interesting.
In the end, Lu Yiming selected Xu Dalong, Lu Zhenghe, Jingjing, and Zhao Mingyue to enter.
On Pearl's side, Gu Han swept a dark face over the group. There wasn't much hope to begin with — and now their strongest Mo Fan wasn't even present.
"Shen Mingxiao, Luo Song, Peng Liang, Zhao Manyan, you four go." Gu Han said helplessly.
There wasn't much hope of victory anyway — he could only pray they'd last a while.
Right after the members were confirmed, Mo Fan finally jogged in late.
The first match quickly began. With the cover of his three teammates, Lu Zhenghe successfully summoned the Dark Patterned Violent Wolf.
Once the Warrior-level Dark Patterned Violent Wolf appeared, the previously stalemated situation instantly collapsed. The balance of victory tilted toward Imperial Capital Academy.
Just the Dark Patterned Violent Wolf alone required at least two people to pin it down — coupled with better coordination on Imperial Capital's side.
They lost and much faster than even the worst-case scenario they had imagined.
Gu Han's expression was somewhat ugly. Their cultivations were clearly similar, yet they were being completely suppressed by the Imperial Capital Academy.
"Mo Fan, Mu Nujiao, Song Xia, Zheng Bingxiao, you guys get ready." Gu Han pointed out four people at once.
As soon as Mo Fan heard it was finally his turn, he immediately rubbed his fists together in excitement.
What fun is it just watching others compete? It only becomes interesting when you get on the stage yourself.
At this moment, Shen Mingxiao looked at Gu Han with a smile and said, "Teacher Gu Han, let me go for the next match as well. I haven't shown all my strength yet."
"The personnel for the next round have already been decided, and you've already gone up once." Gu Han's tone carried a few hints of displeasure.
That first match was played so poorly; Gu Han was already annoyed, and now this Shen Mingxiao was making excuses—truly irritating.
"Teacher Gu Han, since we lost the first round, the second round is even more crucial. It's best to send out the four strongest players. Besides, Mo Fan and Zheng Bingxiao are both Summoning Element; having one of them go up is enough," Teacher Li Jing said.
This teacher was obviously biased toward Shen Mingxiao, her words revealing that Shen Mingxiao was the strongest in the team.
At this moment, Zheng Bingxiao took the initiative to speak. "In that case, Shen Mingxiao, you go up in my place."
"Zheng Bingxiao, are you sure you don't want to go on stage?" Gu Han said somewhat surprised.
"It's fine, it's fine. All for the sake of winning. Since Shen Mingxiao feels he has a chance to win, giving him an opportunity isn't a big deal."
Zheng Bingxiao didn't fight over it, looking very kind and easygoing.
Gu Han couldn't say anything more and could only change the lineup.
In the team, Mu Nujiao stared solemnly at the other side. If Zhou Haoyu were to go on, then there was almost no hope of winning.
Mo Fan saw Mu Nujiao staring at someone in the opposing team and also looked over in that direction.
The instant he saw Zhou Haoyu, Mo Fan's heart skipped a beat.
Are they kidding? The next opponent is him?
Two years ago, although he hadn't witnessed Zhou Haoyu's true strength with his own eyes, their classmates had already praised Zhou Haoyu to the heavens.
Moreover, that powerful summoned beast left a deep impression on him. With one sweep of its scorpion tail, it instantly dealt with Bai Yang's Dark Wolf Beast.
It was already like that two years ago—now he was definitely even stronger. And as a Summoner, he most likely had an even stronger contracted beast!
How the hell are they supposed to fight that?!
He just wanted to bully others, not be bullied, alright?
"Ahem, Teacher Gu Han, my stomach suddenly hurts. How about letting Shen Mingxiao substitute for me?" Mo Fan said.
Gu Han's face darkened. Couldn't he bring out the same momentum he had when he challenged all the freshmen during the Beast Fighting Competition?
"No. The lineup is already set. Mo Fan, Mu Nujiao, Song Xia, Shen Mingxiao— the four of you get ready to go on."
Mo Fan's mouth curled bitterly. So he still couldn't escape, after all.
Meanwhile, the Imperial Capital Academy only sent out one person: Zhou Haoyu!
.....
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