"After the match ended, you saw your son injured and immediately blamed his opponents?"
Tang San folded his arms across his chest and sneered.
"In the world of Spirit Masters, strength is everything. If he were truly strong enough, how could we have injured him?"
"You should be grateful this was a tournament. If this had happened in the real Spirit Master world, your sons would already be dead."
"Y-You!"
The mother was furious and looked ready to attack.
Flender quickly held her back and tried to calm her down.
At the same time, he was cursing Grandmaster in his heart.
Grandmaster had created this mess. Not only had Flender been forced to clean it up for him, but Grandmaster had actually come out and made everything worse.
Did Grandmaster really not understand Shrek Academy's current situation? Was he trying to force the academy into bankruptcy?
And the Shrek Seven Devils were only making matters worse by following his lead.
What good would come from offending every noble family in Heaven Dou City?
Flender's efforts were ultimately useless.
After being repeatedly insulted by Grandmaster and his disciples, the families' anger completely exploded.
Just as a conflict was about to break out, the city guard arrived in time and dispersed the crowd.
Seeing this, Grandmaster raised his head proudly and said with an indifferent expression.
"Hmph. Just a bunch of unreasonable women. They actually dared come to Shrek Academy looking for trouble."
The captain of the city guard glanced at him and said flatly.
"You'd better take care of yourselves."
The reason he had arrived at such perfect timing was naturally because Prince Xue Xing had instructed him to.
Allowing the families to clash with Shrek Academy could indeed have resulted in punishment or even the cancellation of Shrek Academy's tournament qualification.
But that punishment alone would not be enough to ensure Shrek Academy could never recover.
For the sake of the larger plan, after learning of the situation, Prince Xue Xing had ordered his men to wait nearby and only intervene when the conflict was about to spiral out of control.
At the same time, he wanted the families to see Shrek Academy's true nature for themselves, making future cooperation much easier.
From an objective standpoint, Grandmaster had personally sealed off Shrek Academy's last remaining path to reconciliation.
The retaliation awaiting them in the future would be severe.
Offending the noble families was not something that could simply be forgotten.
The following day, the Spirit Master Tournament officially began.
As the competing teams entered the venue, nearly every one of them shot hostile looks toward Shrek Academy.
The Shrek Seven Devils paid them no attention whatsoever.
In their eyes, the hostility of a group of people lacking strength wasn't worth caring about.
Yesterday's opening match had already counted as the first match of the first round.
Therefore, Shrek Academy had no match scheduled for today and could spend the day observing.
Grandmaster reminded everyone.
"Now that the main tournament has begun, every team will gradually reveal its tactics."
"From today onward, spend your free time watching the matches. Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be defeated."
The day's first match was between the Seven Treasure Team and the Otto Academy Team.
Otto Academy fielded six Spirit Elders and one Spirit Ancestor.
Their strength was respectable enough that they weren't among the weakest teams, but they still weren't capable of forcing the Seven Treasure Team to reveal its full strength.
Grandmaster sighed slightly.
"Otto Academy isn't strong enough. If they were one of the established academies, we'd be able to see the Seven Treasure Team's tactical system."
"It's a pity, but watch carefully anyway. Try to learn each member's fighting habits."
Meanwhile, inside the Seven Treasure Team's waiting room.
Wu Qi made the lineup arrangements.
"This match will be led by the substitutes, along with Chen Ping, Xiaotian, and Changkong."
After a brief pause, he looked at Feng Xiaotian.
"You'll be our safety net this match. Give everyone else as much opportunity to perform as possible."
Ning Tianyu, who possessed a good sense of battlefield awareness, offered a suggestion.
"Otto Academy really isn't that strong. Why don't we turn the battle into a series of one-on-one fights? That way, we won't have to reveal our team tactics."
Wu Qi smiled but didn't offer an opinion.
"Since you're the ones fighting, you can decide the strategy yourselves."
About fifteen minutes later, after all the academy teams and spectators had taken their seats, the announcer officially declared the match to begin, and the two teams stepped onto the arena.
In Shrek Academy's waiting area, Grandmaster frowned slightly as he looked at the Seven Treasure Team's lineup.
"They've fielded four substitutes. It seems they're also trying to conserve their strength."
He spoke with clear disdain.
With the Seven Treasure Team's tactical ability, what was the point of hiding their strength?
Once the match began, the Seven Treasure Team continued using their one-on-one strategy.
Because their opponents were simply too weak, Feng Xiaotian didn't even need to summon his martial soul before the match was already over.
Unlike Shrek Academy's brutal display the previous day, the Seven Treasure Team fought with considerable restraint.
The members of Otto Academy suffered only minor injuries.
After the match, many spectators began discussing what they had witnessed.
"Although Shrek Academy's behavior yesterday was widely criticized, their strength is undeniable."
"I wonder which team is actually stronger—the tournament's dark horse, Shrek Academy, or the championship favorite, the Seven Treasure Team?"
The local spectators already had their answer.
"You must be from out of town."
"You probably don't know that before the tournament even started, the Seven Treasure Team had already fought Shrek Academy in the Spirit Arena."
"Shrek Academy tried every trick they could think of and still lost 7–0."
"If they fought again, would the outcome really be any different?"
The spectators' discussion eventually reached the ears of the Shrek team.
Tang San responded with a cold sneer.
"Hmph. I didn't expect there would still be people who look down on others like that."
Grandmaster chuckled dismissively.
"Little San, don't waste your energy getting angry with them. The Seven Treasure Team is nothing more than a makeshift team."
Having just watched their strategy, he was now convinced that the Seven Treasure Team had no meaningful tactical coordination whatsoever.
They relied solely on the overwhelming individual strength of their members, winning through a series of one-on-one battles.
Grandmaster smiled confidently.
"With the formation I've designed, if they dare challenge us one at a time, each of them will immediately face two of our members."
"With teamwork like theirs, they'll never be able to break through our formation."
Hearing this, every member of the Shrek Seven Devils was filled with confidence.
Dai Mubai even declared with confidence.
"I hope we run into the Seven Treasure Team tomorrow. The sooner we crush them under our feet, the sooner we can prove our strength."
Grandmaster hesitated.
"Perhaps not during the preliminary rounds. Our trump card tactics can't be revealed too early."
Defeating the Seven Treasure Team now would certainly be satisfying, but once their tactics were exposed, they would lose their effectiveness the next time.
After all, the Seven Treasure Academy had no shortage of capable people. Figuring out a way to counter their strategy wouldn't be difficult.
Tang San, however, disagreed.
"Teacher, if we don't put an end to their arrogance now, our margin for error in the finals will be far too small."
"Even if we lose to them in the preliminary rounds, it won't affect our qualification. More importantly, we'll be able to identify weaknesses in our strategy and improve it before the finals."
"Besides, they don't know our complete strategy. Even if we reveal part of it in advance, what difference does it make?"
Yu Tianheng also spoke up in support.
"That's right, Uncle. Morale is the most important thing. If we can damage their confidence, they might even grow dissatisfied with Wu Qi, causing internal conflict within their team. That would only benefit us."
Unable to withstand everyone's repeated persuasion, Grandmaster finally agreed.
However, he decided that some details of their strategy would need to be revised first.
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