Under these circumstances, one could say that Xu Sanshi had defeated a team of seven people alone!

“The winner is.. Shrek Academy!”

As soon as the referee announced the winner, the audience exploded in cheers. The disappointed masses had completely changed their attitude. Even if Xu Sanshi had resorted to trickery in the first two matches, he had fought fair and square in the last one! Although they didn’t know what kind of ability he had used, the fact that Shrek Academy had obtained victory with just a single participant was undeniable.

No one sitting in Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy’s resting area dared to utter a word. When they saw that the student sent by Shrek Academy was just a Soul Ancestor, they didn’t take him too seriously. Hence, they received a huge psychological blow when they saw his domineering performance.

Xiao Hongchen furrowed his brows; no one knew what he was thinking. Then, the young girl sitting beside him, who had a very similar face, whispered, “Elder brother, what are you thinking about? If we were to take his place, we would be able to do it too, right?”

Xiao Hongchen shook his head and said, “I don’t know. We are both soul masters and soul engineers. When fighting, we’ll continuously consume our soul power. In the 1v1 matches of the Continental Advanced Academy Soul Duelling Tournament, there is no time to take breaks. Do you really think you can defeat seven opponents despite continuously consuming your soul power?”

The young girl said somewhat unwillingly, “But he didn’t defeat seven opponents either. He only fought three!”

Xiao Hongchen said, “But he still managed to win. Did you see the footwork he used just now?”

The young girl was startled. She shook her head and replied, “It was too sudden. I wasn’t able to see.”

Xiao Hongchen sighed and said, “Neither could I. And although he wasn’t able to completely dodge the attack when he used that footwork, it sent chills down my spine. Moreover, during his three matches, he only used two soul skills. To be precise, his second and fourth skills. He didn’t even need to use the remaining two. From start to end, he gave the impression of doing things half-heartedly, but despite all that, he still managed to win. A person of great wisdom often seems slow-witted. That guy is most definitely a top-level defense-type soul master. Five years later, we’ll have to face this powerful opponent!”

The young girl pouted her lips, still unwilling to accept what he said.

Xiao Hongchen sighed once again. “Shrek Academy is really Shrek Academy. Both in this and the previous battle, they managed to deal a huge blow to my morale.”

The young girl chuckled and said, “Give me a break. Your morale received a huge blow? I don’t think your morale has ever wavered. No matter who your opponent is, you’ve always been confident in your own victory.”

Xiao Hongchen laughed, “Alright. You’re not wrong. I really want to have a good fight now. I wonder what the real strength of that boy from the first match is.”

The young girl snorted and said, “That boy can’t really have six hundred-thousand year soul rings, right?”

“What do you think?” Xiao Hongchen asked with a smile.

The young girl stuck out her tongue and said, “I think it’s impossible!”

Xu Sanshi returned to his friends with a satisfied expression on his face. Everyone warmly congratulated him. After all, it was their first win in the round-robin phase.

“Senior Xu, I didn’t expect you to be so strong!” Xiao Xiao looked at Xu Sanshi excitedly. “Later, you have to give me a few pointers about defense. Even if my Threelives Soulcrush Cauldron is a control-type martial soul, it excels the most at defense.”

“Sure. I’m always happy to help my fellow students.” Xu Sanshi said smugly.

Wang Yan stood up and patted Xu Sanshi’s shoulder, “Come, let’s go.” Following which, he led the team outside.

Shrek Academy’s members once again left Star Luo Plaza under the gazes of the masses.

On the city walls of the inner city, the emperor also stood up. He had a faint smile on his face as he muttered, “So it was this boy. I know who he is, and he really has huge guts! Despite embarrassing me like that, he still came to participate in the competition. Anyway, what a pity..”

After mumbling to himself, the emperor headed toward the innards of the inner city. It seemed that he too had no interest in watching the next matches.

Outside Star Luo Plaza, Huo Yuhao arrived beside Wang Yan and asked in a low voice, “Teacher Wang, shouldn’t we look at the next matches? At the very least, we should watch Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy’s match. They are in the second group and will also be fighting today.”

Wang Yan shook his head and replied, “Instead of wasting time here, you should go back and cultivate. I alone am enough to observe the other teams. Right now, you should preserve your strength and stay in top condition. Xu Sanshi did a great job today. He allowed us to win the first match while simultaneously hiding our true strength either. We’ll have to maintain this secrecy for a few more matches. After Xiaotao and the others recover, things will be easier.”

Huo Yuhao had a weird expression on his face. He felt that there was something wrong with the current situation. It felt as if Wang Yan was hiding something from then, his sixth sense as a spirit-type soul master was telling him this.

After returning to the Grand Imperial Star Hotel, Wang Yan made them return to their respective rooms to rest. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong went to the former’s room. Upon entering the room, Huo Yuhao furrowed his brows. Suddenly, a golden radiance flashed through his eyes. He gestured to Wang Dong to stay silent, then turned his body, facing the door of the room.

Powerful spiritual waves spread through the air. Then, that golden radiance quickly disappeared from Huo Yuhao’s eyes.

“As expected, there is something wrong.” Huo Yuhao said quietly.

“Yuhao, what’s wrong?” Wang Dong asked curiously.

Huo Yuhao said, “Don’t you think that that Teacher Wang is purposely not allowing us to watch the other matches?”

Wang Dong nodded and replied, “But didn’t we agree on that beforehand? We need to save as much time as possible to practice and must also continue to maintain our aloof status in everyone else’s eyes.”

Huo Yuhao shook his head and said, “No, it’s not that simple. Why can’t we just watch the matches? Now that we’re in the round-robin phase, matches will be fought 1v1. At the very least, he should have let us see the next three matches in order to gauge the abilities of our next opponents. However, Teacher Wang made us return to the hotel in a hurry. If things were really like he said, why did he immediately rush over to the plaza after delivering us here?”

Wang Dong was startled as he said, “Were you spying on Teacher Wang just now?”

Huo Yuhao nodded and said, “Teacher Wang said that he alone would be enough to observe the matches. Therefore, he could have stayed back, there was no need for him to accompany everyone till the hotel. On top of that, he was walking very quickly, and his mood seemed somewhat unstable. The reason he accompanied us to the hotel was to make us leave Star Luo Plaza and not let us see the other matches.”

“Then..” after hearing these words, Wang Dong seemed to have thought of something, “We’re not familiar with the names drawn through the lots. After all, this is our first time participating in the tournament. Even if we know that our opponent is from a certain academy, we won’t know what their true strength is. Which means that Teacher Wang was planning to conceal the strength of our opponents? That seems like the only possible explanation..”

They looked at each other and said at the same time, “The teams we will have to face in this round-robin phase must be really strong.”

After speaking their mind, they both fell silent. If this was really the case, Wang Yan’s actions were reasonable. His purpose was very simple, to protect them from having their fighting spirit crushed.

If they wanted to get past the round-robin phase, they needed to obtain five or more victories. With six victories, they were guaranteed to pass. They would have to wait for two more matches for Ling Luochen to recover. And four matches for Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng. Thus, if their opponents in the next few matches were very strong, they would be under a lot of pressure.

“Let’s go and take a look.” Huo Yuhao pulled Wang Dong along and left the room.

Wang Dong quickly stopped him and said. “We can’t. Star Luo Plaza is under the protection of the army. If try to disguise ourselves, we won’t be able to enter. And if we go back without a disguise, wouldn’t we ruin our reputation? We cannot destroy the mystery that surrounds us.”

Huo Yuhao shook his head and said, “I’m not planning to go back to Star Luo Plaza. Just follow me.” With that, he brought Wang Dong out of the room. After confirming that there was no one around, he pulled him towards the window at the end of the corridor.

After opening the window, he pointed upward and said, “Fly, and take me to the roof.”

Wang Dong’s eyes lit up. He had already understood what Huo Yuhao was planning, “But isn’t it too far?”

Huo Yuhao said, “The Grand Imperial Star Hotel is the tallest building around Star Luo Plaza. We should have a fairly decent vantage point. Even if it’s a bit far, it shouldn’t be a problem. Don’t forget about the properties of my martial soul. Let’s give it a try.”

“Alright.” Wang Dong replied. He lowered his head and exited the window. The wings of the Radiant Butterfly Goddess unfurled, and he started to float in mid-air.

Next, Huo Yuhao pounced toward him and wrapped his arms around him.

“Oi, why are you clinging to me like that? You’re heavy.” After being hugged by Huo Yuhao, it was unknown whether it was because he was flustered or because Yuhao was really that heavy, but Wang Dong’s body plunged. It took him a few moments before he was able to stabilize himself.

Huo Yuhao replied sourly, “Nonsense. If I don’t cling to you, I’ll fall. Anyway, you keep saying that you’re a man, but why is your body so soft? It feels like a woman’s body.”

Wang Dong got angry. “If you keep with that nonsense, do you believe I won’t fly up and throw you down?”

Huo Yuhao laughed, “Let’s go to the roof.”

Wang Dong flapped his wings and proceeded toward the roof. Since they were residing on the top floor, they already weren’t very far from the roof. But as soon as they got there, they were dumbfounded.

“Caitou, is this gadget even working? I can’t see clearly!” Bei Bei was standing on the roof and holding something in his hand while looking towards Star Luo Plaza.

Beside him were Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, and Xiao Xiao. The roof was quite crowded.