Chapter 87.3: Crazy for Shrek
“It’s just as I’ve said. Our opponent’s team leader is the strongest member of their team, so you can go think about it for a moment. As a genius seen only once in a thousand years, you can imagine how high his position is in his team. However, having such a high position can both be a good thing and a bad thing. This is because his teammates will become extremely dependent on him. Because of that, our chances of winning this match will be greater than 40% if we’re able to take the initiative and take him out.”
Xu Sanshi had a bitter look on his face as he said, “I understand, Teacher Wang. You want me to trade me for him!”
Wang Yan smiled slightly. “If we do it abruptly, it might not be a one for one trade. I’m confident that it won’t be easy for them to take you out, seeing that you’re a defense-type soul master in addition to the powerful defensive capabilities you showed in the last match. We can say that you’ll be the true core of our next fight if we’re lucky enough to get the team fight. Not only will you have to use your Mysterious Underworld Substitution to bring their team leader over to our side so we can beat him up, but you’ll also have to do all you can to stall their helpers.”
“We can prepare for you to switch positions with the enemy team leader, but they won’t be able to immediately attack you since they’ll be caught unprepared. At that time, it’ll all depend on your own ability.”
Xu Sanshi stared at Wang Yan with widened eyes. “Teacher Wang, you can’t be serious. This task is simply too arduous.”
Bei Bei patted his shoulder and said, “Okay, stop faking. You’re more afraid of death than anyone here. Even if the others don’t know about this, do you think that I don’t? You have so many life-saving techniques. Let’s do it this way: if you can hold on and we win in the end, I’ll get Nannan to get you a reward. How about it?”
“Really?” Xu Sanshi’s eyes immediately lit up. At this moment however, Jiang Nannan’s expression suddenly changed. She said in a cold voice, “This is something between the two of you, so don’t drag me into it. I’m not a bargaining chip, nor a good you can barter with.” With that, she stood up and started to leave.
Jiang Nannan’s sudden anger startled even Bei Bei. In reality, he had only said this as a joke; he didn’t think that Jiang Nannan would react to it this seriously. He could only force an awkward smile for a brief moment.
Wang Yan flashed a look at Xiao Xiao, who quickly got up and left. After all, they were the only two girls on the team.
Xu Sanshi smiled bitterly. “You see. She treats me like this. Aih, what a waste of all my hard work! Bei Bei, you’ve screwed me over.”
“Xu Sanshi, do you have a problem or not?” Wang Yan asked in a low voice.
Xu Sanshi suddenly raised his head and said in a low voice, “No problems. Teacher Wang, leave it to me.” At this moment, Huo Yuhao could see a trace of haughtiness in the depths of Xu Sanshi’s eyes, the haughtiness that had appeared when he had blocked the Thousand-strike Lance. Just what kind of heart was hidden beneath Xu Sanshi’s unbridled appearance?
Wang Yan nodded and said, “Xu Sanshi will be of the utmost importance during our upcoming team fight. Now, let’s plan how you’ll gang up and take out the opponent’s team leader. Your overall strength is still somewhat insufficient, but we’ll win if we take them by surprise. You must make preparations to launch your all-out attacks on him. Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong…”
Just as Shrek Academy was devising its tactics and strategies for its next match, the students of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy had now returned to the hotel as well. Likewise, they walked towards the other end of the corridor and entered the conference room that belonged to them. Only, they weren’t researching any tactics, but Shrek Academy itself.
“Let’s talk about it. How did you feel after watching today’s match?” Teacher Ma said in a low voice.
Everyone from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy was silent. A student from the official team couldn’t help but utter, “Teacher Ma, is that mysterious youth from Shrek’s representative team really a six-ringed Soul Emperor? But, all six of his soul rings were hundred thousand year ones! Could this be a result of Shrek Academy’s latest research?”
“Idiot. Is that what you saw?” Teacher Ma said angrily, “Have you heard of any research that can let a soul master’s soul rings all become hundred thousand year ones? Moreover, how old is he? I observed him carefully earlier, and although that youth can be considered quite tall, I can tell that he’s only around thirteen or so from the inexperience between his brows. Even if he started cultivating in his mother’s womb, he wouldn’t be able to become a Soul Emperor at that age. Shrek Academy must’ve used a special technique to cover everything up.”
The student from the official team was somewhat unresigned. “Then how was he able to make an ice-type Soul Ancestor instantly lose her power? A Soul King definitely doesn’t have the power to do that, and even an ordinary Soul Emperor might not be able to.”
“It should be due to elemental suppression.” The team leader, Ma Rulong, spoke up. He said in a low voice, “Teacher Ma is right. That youth can’t be a Soul Emperor, so the only explanation we have is that elemental suppression occurred. According to my calculations, that youth’s true cultivation should be at the Soul Ancestor rank at most. This is already extremely astonishing at his age. Furthermore, I can only think of one thing that can justify why he’s so strong–he has twin martial souls.”
The leader of the preparatory team, Xiao Hongchen, who was seated opposite Ma Rulong, couldn’t help but raise his head. He nodded slightly at the latter, a few traces of admiration in his eyes. It was relatively rare for an arrogant person like him to have a gaze like this in his eyes.
Ma Rulong revealed an indifferent smile as he noticed Xiao Hongchen’s gaze on him, “I believe that although that youth is quite outstanding, he still can’t be compared to our Xiao Hongchen. However, his twin martial souls should be relatively powerful. His greatest weakness is his age.”
Xiao Hongchen’s brow furrowed. “Team leader, are you saying that I wouldn’t be his opponent if we were at the same age?”
“What do you think about it?” Ma Rulong asked indifferently.
Ma Rulong’s brows furrowed even more as he replied, “It’s hard to say for sure. How can I make an accurate judgement without fighting with him? Even if he has twin martial souls, I dual cultivate as a soul master and a soul engineer. If we’re of the same age, he might not be able to cultivate his soul power to my level.”
Ma Rulong waved his hand and said, “Let’s not talk about this for now. I’ll continue with my analysis.”
“According to my calculations, this mysterious youth can only be at the Soul Ancestor rank at most. Moreover, his twin martial souls should be of the rarely seen spiritual-type and ice-type. Out of his spiritual-type soul skills, he must have one that allows him to directly launch a spiritual attack. Today, the Thousand Spirits Academy’s Shen Ce was affected by this skill, resulting in him making an error in his first attack. From there on, it led to his final defeat. Then, I believe that the ice-type martial soul he used to control An Lengye was his main martial soul. I’m not clear as to how he was able to subdue the Frost Bear, but his ice-type martial soul must be very powerful. The purity of its Ice must’ve been far superior to An Lengye’s, which was why he was able to suppress his opponent when they both had similar cultivation levels. Although he looked quite astonishing when he made a move then, didn’t you guys notice that An Lengye’s Frost Tornado had reached its final phase? It didn’t have much attack power left. Even that last attack was blocked by Bei Bei instead of him.”
“Let’s think about it from another angle. If this youth really has the cultivation of a Soul Emperor, would Xu Sanshi have needed to switch places with him? I noticed that two strange things happened when Shen Ce used his Thousand-strike Lance for the last time: one, the other two young teammates by the side of that mysterious youth had panicked and shocked looks on their faces. Two, all six of the soul rings on those two youths disappeared after that mysterious youth was switched with Xu Sanshi. What does this mean? It means that their six rings are fake as well. Furthermore, these fakes come from that youth’s spiritual-type martial soul. Out of his spiritual-type soul skills, he definitely has one that allows him to create illusions. He was able to create this aura of mystery around him by relying on these things.”
Both the official and preparatory teams of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy felt their eyes widen as they listened to Ma Rulong’s analysis. Teacher Ma also had a smile on his face as he kept nodding.
Ma Rulong hadn’t become team leader due to his strength alone; the more important factor was his meticulous line of thinking. Were it not for the abrupt rise of the Xiao siblings, Ma Rulong would have had a complete chance of becoming the most outstanding student that the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy had seen in a hundred years.
Ma Rulong continued confidently, “To summarise everything, I have a rather accurate conclusion. I believe that something must’ve happened to Shrek Academy. Although the team they sent to participate in the tournament is very outstanding, they seem more like a preparatory team than an official one. There were a few people who turned up on the first day, but didn’t come after. They aren’t just hiding their strength; something must’ve happened to them. I dare to guarantee that our chance has finally come this year.”
“If that’s the case, it’s too good for us.” The female student sitting next to Ma Rulong waved her fist around. Their Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy had been suppressed by Shrek Academy for over three thousand years. They had participated in every single Continental Advanced Academy Soul Duelling Tournament since the start, but they had never beaten Shrek.
Ma Rulong sighed slightly. “Actually, I wanted to face the most powerful force that Shrek could muster, even though I know that our chances wouldn’t be too great then. However, I truly wish to go all-out in a fight with our most powerful opponent.”
“Why wouldn’t our chances be great? Xiao Hongchen said indifferently, “Our academy has been constantly improving these few years. Shrek Academy has been limiting itself by looking down on our soul tools, so there will be a day when they will suffer a loss due to that. Even if we can’t beat their official team this time, we’ll definitely be able to win next time.”