At this moment, the referee suddenly waved the red flag in his hand, pointing it straight at Yu Xiaogang, and shouted sternly, "Stop! Who are you!"
Yu Xiaogang's steps faltered, and he was forced to stop.
Burning with anger, he roared loudly, "I am the leading teacher of Shrek Academy! I want to file a complaint against the Imperial Academy. I demand they be judged as the losers of this match!"
His voice, amplified by soul power, exploded across the entire arena. In an instant, the eyes of the entire audience turned toward him like spotlights.
The referee furrowed his brows, cursing inwardly. He hadn't expected a teacher to stand up and file a complaint in the very first match.
One had to know, Emperor Xue Ye was sitting in the VIP seats right now. If this match wasn't handled well, his promotion would probably be shattered.
The referee took a deep breath, trying his best to keep his voice dignified. "A complaint? What do you have to say?"
Yu Xiaogang snorted coldly. "Referee, the Imperial Academy openly disregarded the competition rules and attacked our students viciously. Are you turning a blind eye to this?"
As he spoke, he channeled his soul power again, ensuring everyone present could hear him clearly.
Just then, a teacher from the Heaven Dou Academy walked forward unhurriedly, a cold sneer on his face. He said, "This leading teacher, aren't you turning black into white? It was clearly Shrek Academy that disregarded the rules first and injured our team members!"
Saying this, he pointed to the Imperial Academy members who were still lying on the ground, wailing in pain.
The referee looked at the students lying all over the ground. Members of both sides were in a wretched state; the intensity of this match was evident.
In an ordinary Soul Master match, the outcome would already be clear. After all, the Imperial Academy still had one person standing on the stage, while all of Shrek's members were down.
But the purpose of the Soul Master Tournament was not ranking; more importantly, it was to select talents for the empire. Every participating student was a future pillar of the empire. Any injury or disability to one was a loss for the empire.
"Hmph!" Yu Xiaogang snorted again. "Our healing-type Soul Master was ready to rescue them long ago, but you interrupted her soul skill!"
The Heaven Dou Academy teacher let out a scoff, his face full of mockery. "Tch, your own Soul Master healing the opponents? Do you take the referee for a three-year-old child, so easily fooled?"
"You..." Yu Xiaogang was instantly speechless. He knew in his heart that his words were indeed hard to believe.
He turned his head to look at the seven fallen members of Shrek Academy, especially his own disciple, whose familiar face was now full of pain.
In that instant, Yu Xiaogang felt as if his heart were being squeezed by an invisible hand.
With such severe injuries, even with a healing Soul Master doing their best, they probably wouldn't be able to participate in the next few matches.
In that case, wouldn't Shrek Academy fail to even make it to the ranking competition?
Yu Xiaogang's face instantly turned livid, his breathing becoming heavier.
He still needed to rely on these children to prove himself!
No!
Absolutely not!
This match could not be lost like this!
Yu Xiaogang secretly clenched his fists, his nails almost digging into his palms.
On the host's podium.
Owen swept his gaze over the people arguing endlessly on the stage, picked up the microphone, and said loudly, "The teachers from both sides seem to have reached a stalemate. However, the referee should have already reached a conclusion on the result of the match."
His words were like water dropped into hot oil, instantly causing a boil in the spectator stands.
"What is this referee dawdling for? The Imperial Academy clearly still has one person standing on the stage. Why hasn't he announced the result?" a burly man shouted at the top of his lungs.
An old man sitting next to him narrowed his eyes slightly and said unhurriedly, "Eh, what do you know? This Soul Master Tournament isn't as simple as an ordinary spirit battle. What matters here is human connections and worldly wisdom."
On the spirit battle stage, Yu Xiaogang's face was flushed red, veins bulging on his neck. One against three, he debated the three Heaven Dou Academy teachers without losing ground.
Years of doubt and abuse had long trained him to have a thick skin impervious to all poisons. The mockery from the teachers and the referee was like an itch he couldn't scratch; he felt nothing at all.
"Noisy and chaotic, what kind of decorum is this!" Emperor Xue Ye sat in the VIP seats, looking down at the chaotic stage, his eyes full of displeasure.
Just then, Ning Fengzhi slowly stood up.
In his palm, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda quietly emerged. Seven soul rings shone in sequence, emitting a powerful light.
"Seven Treasures have names, the sixth is: Heal!"
Ning Fengzhi chanted the incantation softly. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda in his hand flew up lightly, expanding rapidly in the air. In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a glazed pagoda over ten meters high.
In an instant, surging seven-colored light poured out like a tide, enveloping all the dozen or so injured students from both Shrek Academy and the Imperial Academy.
Under the illumination of this magical light, the students' wounds healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. The crimson blood stopped flowing instantly, and their pale faces gradually regained color. Within half a minute, the comatose students woke up one after another.
As an important supporter of the empire, Ning Fengzhi naturally wouldn't be stingy with healing the Imperial Academy students.
As for Shrek Academy, Ning Fengzhi already had his own plans.
He had already launched multiple rounds of negotiations with Flender, hoping to invest in the academy, intending to turn Shrek into a talent training base for his own clan.
Of course, his methods were relatively gentle, merely asking for the title of Honorary Dean.
A moment later, Ning Fengzhi elegantly retracted his Martial Soul. The light of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda faded, slowly shrinking, and finally returning to his palm.
At this time, all the students had been healed. Each one had a ruddy complexion and was full of energy.
In the spectator stands, a cheer erupted like a tidal wave.
"The number one auxiliary Martial Soul in the world truly lives up to its reputation!" people exclaimed one after another.
The corners of Ning Fengzhi's mouth tilted up slightly, revealing a modest smile. He said loudly toward the stage, "Referee, you may announce the result."
The main conflict between the two teams was that the students were too severely injured. Now that Ning Fengzhi had healed everyone at once, there was naturally no need for dispute.
The referee let out a long sigh of relief, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and felt full of gratitude toward Ning Fengzhi.
He coughed lightly, calming his nervous emotions, raised the sound amplifier to his lips, and prepared to announce the result of the match: "Qualifiers, first round, first match, the winner is..."
"Wait a minute, I want to report something else!" Yu Xiaogang's shrill voice instantly interrupted the referee's words.
"You..." The referee's face instantly turned red, and he almost cursed out loud.
He suppressed the anger in his heart and shouted sternly, "This teacher, what else do you have? If you continue to make trouble without reason, I have the right to directly disqualify Shrek Academy from the competition!"
"Xiaogang..." Flender hurried forward, tugging at Yu Xiaogang's sleeve, signaling him not to act impulsively.
However, Yu Xiaogang gently slapped Flender's hand away, his expression full of confidence. "Referee, I want to report the opposing student, Lu Feng. As the host of the tournament, he used his position to steal our team's data in advance."
He clasped his hands behind his back, straightened his spine, and with a trace of smugness and contempt on his face, snorted coldly. "The soul power level of every team member must be reported in advance. Lu Feng used this opportunity to spy on intelligence. This is a serious trampling on the principles of fairness and justice in the competition. I demand that the Imperial Academy be disqualified!"
His words were like a heavy bomb, instantly setting off a huge wave in the spectator stands.
The entire arena boiled over, people whispering and discussing spiritedly.
"What this teacher says seems to make sense," a short spectator scratched his head, saying with a confused face.
"Smack!" His companion raised a hand and slapped him on the head, saying with disdain, "Makes sense my ass. Even if you know your opponent's level, does that mean you can win for sure?"
In a corner of the arena, Huo Wu put her hands on her hips, so angry her eyebrows stood on end. She said through gritted teeth, "Brother, this person is too shameless. Next time we meet Shrek Academy, we must teach them a good lesson."
Huo Wushuang nodded slightly, his expression cold. "Indeed. Soul Master competitions rely on one's own strength, not these underhanded methods to grab attention."
At this moment, Yu Xiaogang held his head high, looking at the Heaven Dou Academy teachers with disdain. The expression on his face seemed to say that in his eyes, Heaven Dou Academy wasn't worth mentioning at all.
Lu Feng stood aside with his arms crossed, a mocking smile on his face, watching Yu Xiaogang jump up and down with interest.
He sighed inwardly. Yu Xiaogang really has a way with words. He truly deserves to be called 'Grandmaster'.
Lu Feng didn't care about the result of the match. He knew clearly that the Imperial Academy was a team heavily supported by the empire. No matter what, they couldn't be disqualified; otherwise, it would be a slap in the empire's face.
But this Yu Xiaogang was really like an annoying fly, buzzing incessantly. He really wanted to slap him to death.
The referee stood on the stage, his expression extremely conflicted. He had never expected this match to be so full of twists and turns.
Just then, two more referees ran onto the stage in a hurry. The three of them gathered together, heads bowed, whispering in discussion.
On the main podium, the atmosphere was heavy.
"Hehe, this match has truly been an eye-opener." A sneer curled the corner of Salas's mouth.
"Heaven Dou Empire truly governs with civility. Just a single match allows one to feel such a rich cultural atmosphere," Salas said with a faint smile.
Hearing this, Emperor Xue Ye's face turned ashen, and he said in a deep voice, "Does Bishop Salas have any advice?"
"I suggest that the Heaven Dou Empire and Spirit Hall jointly establish an investigation team to investigate both sides separately." Salas tilted his head back slightly, a hint of arrogance in his eyes.
Emperor Xue Ye looked gloomy and nodded slightly. "In that case, Bishop Salas will be responsible for this matter."
Xue Ye's voice was low and carried a hint of helplessness. He knew that the negative impact of this incident probably couldn't be suppressed.
"Your Majesty need not worry. Spirit Hall has always been efficient in handling affairs."