Seeing Yu Xiaogang's insistence on making an enemy of Lin Mu, Flander felt utterly helpless, wishing he could slap the guy awake.
How could they possibly handle such a once-in-a-millennium genius?
Lin Mu could defeat a Titled Douluo while at the Soul Saint stage, while they might not even reach the Titled Douluo level in their entire lives.
Yu Xiaogang was even less likely to break through to Level 30 in his lifetime due to his martial soul limitation.
Even so, Yu Xiaogang still insisted on confronting Lin Mu. He was completely asking for trouble!
Despite this, Flander couldn't stand idly by. Yu Xiaogang was, after all, his sworn brother, and he naturally had to help him. Moreover, if something happened to Yu Xiaogang, Liu Erlong would be heartbroken.
After some deliberation, Flander sighed softly, looked at Yu Xiaogang, and asked, "Xiaogang, how exactly are you going to help us get through the preliminaries?"
"Don't worry, Boss Flander."
Yu Xiaogang replied, turning around with his hands behind his back and head slightly tilted back, exuding the confidence of a master strategist.
Seeing his confidence, Flander began to believe him a little more.
If the Shrek team could reach the finals, it would greatly enhance Shrek Academy's reputation, allowing them to recruit more talented students next year.
Just as Flander was being persuaded, Qin Ming stepped forward.
"Grandmaster, we currently have only one Soul Ancestor in our team. Any one of the Five Elemental Academies is far stronger than us on paper."
After a pause, Qin Ming stared at Yu Xiaogang with a hint of doubt in his eyes and said in a deep voice, "Grandmaster, are you really confident that Shrek Academy can enter the top five in the Heaven Dou qualifiers?"
As the former leader of the Royal Fighting Team, Qin Ming knew very well that the strength of the Five Elemental Academies should not be underestimated; they were not much weaker than the Royal Fighting Team had been before Lin Mu's intervention.
Although Qin Ming chose to stay at Shrek Academy out of loyalty, he didn't realistically believe Dai Mubai and a makeshift team had a chance to defeat the Five Elemental Academies.
Faced with Qin Ming's questioning, Yu Xiaogang calmly turned around and said lightly, "The preliminaries use a points-based system. Each team needs to participate in twenty-seven matches. As long as we manage the schedule properly, the difficulty can be greatly reduced."
"Since we'll encounter every team eventually, what do we do when we meet a strong team we can't beat?"
"Qin Ming, you're still too young and rigid in your thinking."
Yu Xiaogang held Qin Ming, who had once been Lin Mu's follower, in utter contempt internally. Although he couldn't deal with Lin Mu directly, fooling a straightforward Soul Emperor loyal to Shrek Academy was a piece of cake.
After a brief pause, Yu Xiaogang straightened his back and continued, "It's simple. We just need to let other strong teams wear each other down. We concede strategically against unbeatable opponents to preserve strength and crush the weaker ones to secure points."
Furthermore, the draw for the preliminaries was controlled by Platinum Bishop Salas.
With his status as an Elder of Spirit Hall, Yu Xiaogang believed he could influence Salas to manipulate things. He could arrange for Shrek Academy to face weaker teams first to build momentum, then let the stronger teams wear each other down before Shrek faced them.
Seeing Yu Xiaogang's shrewdness, everyone's confidence soared slightly.
"Xiaogang, you really have a plan. Whether Shrek Academy can pass the preliminaries depends entirely on you," Flander said with a relieved smile.
This showed that he hadn't misjudged him; Yu Xiaogang indeed possessed extraordinary tactical wisdom, and had only made some unexpected mistakes before due to bad luck.
At this moment, Zhao Wuji walked over, impatiently saying, "Grandmaster, the competition is about to begin. Why don't you devise a battle plan for the first match?"
"The Heaven Dou Royal Academy's Second Team is nothing. Once Dai Mubai and Oscar absorb these two herbs, defeating them will be a piece of cake."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yu Xiaogang took out two brocade boxes from his storage tool.
Seeing the two brocade boxes in Yu Xiaogang's hands, Dai Mubai and Oscar exchanged a glance, both seeing the burning desire in each other's eyes.
Clearly, the contents of these boxes represented their chance to defy their current fate.
In their eyes, Ma Hongjun's transformation, from a nearly crippled, fire-plagued Soul Master into a peerless genius who broke through several levels of soul power in a year, couldn't possibly have been achieved solely through hard work; external stimulation was undoubtedly essential.
Now, they too had the chance to defy fate and become peerless geniuses comparable to Lin Mu's students.
Seeing the burning desire in their eyes, Yu Xiaogang's lips curled into a smile, and he said earnestly, "These two rare herbs were something I painstakingly found and prepared for you."
In reality, Yu Xiaogang had obtained these two herbs from the Chrysanthemum Douluo.
Because Yu Xiaogang possessed the Elder Token and Bibi Dong's implicit backing, Chrysanthemum Douluo had no choice but to bring out herbs he had treasured for many years when Yu Xiaogang requested resources for talent cultivation.
This deepened Chrysanthemum Douluo's resentment toward Bibi Dong and Yu Xiaogang. He was only receiving a meager salary, yet he was being forced to give up his precious herb collection. It was practically like paying to support his boss's useless lover.
The next moment, Dai Mubai knelt down before Yu Xiaogang with a thud, saying with utmost respect, "Grandmaster, I was disrespectful to you before; I was blind to your abilities. From now on, you are my elder, and I will listen to you in everything."
To defeat Dai Weisi, to win back his fiancée, and to become the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire, he could not miss this opportunity.
Seeing Dai Mubai's grand gesture, Yu Xiaogang nodded in satisfaction. He immediately handed him one of the brocade boxes, saying, "Just swallow this herb directly. The competition is imminent, so take it quickly."
Hearing this, Dai Mubai did not hesitate at all. He opened the brocade box and stuffed the strange-looking herb inside into his mouth.
Immediately afterward, he sat cross-legged to digest the medicinal effects.
Seeing Dai Mubai take the herb, Oscar was caught in a dilemma. He wanted his cultivation to increase greatly, but he couldn't bring himself to abandon his dignity completely like Dai Mubai.
"Little Oscar, this herb is something I prepared especially for you. It suits a food system master perfectly."
Unlike his colder treatment of Dai Mubai, Yu Xiaogang proactively handed the brocade box to Oscar with a warm smile, deeply moving the young man.
"Thank you, Grandmaster."
Oscar eagerly opened the brocade box, swallowed the herb, and then sat cross-legged beside Dai Mubai.
Seeing the two take the herbs, a glint of calculating light flashed in Yu Xiaogang's eyes.
He had gone to such lengths because he worried that his future Spirit Hall team wouldn't be able to defeat Lin Mu's Royal Fighting Team. While the Spirit Hall team was strong, their strength lay with the Golden Generation; the others weren't particularly outstanding. Furthermore, their teamwork wasn't smooth, creating many weaknesses.
Dai Mubai, however, possessed the White Tiger martial soul, a top-tier beast spirit. If his spirit power increased a few more levels, his strength wouldn't be much weaker than the Golden Generation. Oscar, as a genius food-type Soul Master, could further compensate for the Spirit Hall team's lack of sustained combat ability.
With such a comprehensively strengthened Spirit Hall Golden Generation team (plus Ma Hongjun), Lin Mu's Royal Fighting Team would have no chance of winning.
Outside the Rest Room.
A ghostly shadow appeared and disappeared silently from a dark corner.
Soon after, the shadow arrived outside the Great Soul Arena, landing on a nearby building where a figure in golden armor had been waiting for some time.
Then, the shadow quickly transformed into a human form, it was Chrysanthemum Douluo's good friend, the Ghost Douluo.
"Old Chrysanthemum, you usually cherish those flowers and plants the most. Yet you're willing to give them to Yu Xiaogang? And even two of them!" Ghost Douluo asked with a surprised expression.
Hearing this, Chrysanthemum Douluo snorted coldly, full of resentment. "Yu Xiaogang has Bibi Dong backing him up. Even if I didn't want to give them, what could I do? That good-for-nothing would definitely complain to the Pope."
"That's true."
Thinking of the relationship between Yu Xiaogang and Bibi Dong, Ghost Douluo couldn't help but shake his head. The former Holy Maiden of Spirit Hall had actually fallen for a waste like him.
"But Yu Xiaogang... I won't let you manipulate me so easily. Just you wait and see."
A glint of malice flashed in Chrysanthemum Douluo's eyes.
He hadn't given Yu Xiaogang the Immortal Herbs like the ones Lin Mu knew of. He gave him potent, but dangerous, medicinal herbs that stimulate potential by burning future vitality.
"Once those two unlucky fellows realize the side effects... they will surely harbor murderous intent towards Yu Xiaogang."