"I admit defeat."
The miracle Xuanzi had been waiting for never came. Huo Yuhao simply walked out of the Soul Dueling Arena and spoke loudly to Xuanzi, who was hovering above, watching the fight.
Huo Yuhao never expected Xuanzi to step in and rescue him at a critical moment.
After all, that old fox Xuanzi was the kind of person who never acted unless he could see the benefit. Every time he intervened in a battle, it was always at the very last second , and even then, not always reliably.
His rescues always came after someone had already been injured or killed. And even when he did step in, he never went all out, which made him even more frustrating.
Although Ma Xiaotao had exhausted most of her soul power after going all out earlier, her strength was still more than enough to instantly defeat a Grand Soul Master.
Even if Huo Yuhao could somehow "cheat" and beat her, what was the point?
According to his position in the team, he had already completed the task assigned by Dai Keyheng, the so-called "captain." That was enough , doing more wouldn't earn him any extra reward.
So self-preservation came first. Judging from Ma Xiaotao's unstable state, if the fight continued, she'd likely lose control again. He didn't care anymore , let others deal with it; he was done.
Seeing this, Xuanzi could only shake his head and sigh. "This friendly match is over. Ma Xiaotao's team wins."
He then looked at the severely injured students present and reluctantly canceled the second round of the planned group battle.
The defeated team members accepted their punishment straightforwardly , saying aloud, "I am a pig." It was only a verbal humiliation anyway, not any real harm.
Although the students had used some ointments for emergency treatment after leaving the field, those who had directly fought Ma Xiaotao , Dai Keyheng and Chen Zifeng , had sustained injuries that required professional healing-type soul masters.
Fortunately, Xi Xi's attacks had been restrained. Since her fight was a guaranteed victory, Xuanzi had pulled her opponent out immediately afterward, leaving them with little more than surface wounds , except for Gongyang Mo, who still felt some chest pain.
Those who faced Ma Xiaotao weren't so lucky. Due to the aftermath of her Phoenix Meteor Shower, Yao Haoxuan, Xi Xi, Xu Sanshi, and Xiao Xiao all suffered large-scale burns from the explosion of phoenix flames.
For soul masters with strong bodies, these weren't fatal injuries, but recovery would still take time.
The worst off were Dai Keyheng and Chen Zifeng. Xuanzi could have saved them earlier, but they had insisted on fighting to the end. If they had retreated, Ma Xiaotao might have gone berserk and massacred the crowd.
To fully gauge both teams' coordination and strength , and to see whether Dai Keyheng's team could actually win , Xuanzi waited until the very end to step in and save them.
Given their condition, even professional healers would need several days to restore them completely.
"Alright, those of you who aren't badly hurt, return for now," Xuanzi said, waving his hand. Earth-yellow soul power wrapped around the severely injured Dai Keyheng and Chen Zifeng.
"Inner court disciples, return with me. Xiaotao, go find Shao Zhe."
After saying that, Xuanzi took off into the air, leading the inner court students away.
He left one final instruction: "Pack your things. The morning after tomorrow, gather at the main gate. We'll head to Star Luo City to take part in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament."
After dismissal, the seriously injured Xu Sanshi and Xiao Xiao went to find healing instructors, while Bei Bei, Jiang Nannan, Wang Dong, and Ning Tian , whose injuries were minor or nonexistent , returned to their dorms to rest.
Back in their room, Wang Dong saw Huo Yuhao tinkering with a soul device. He rubbed his arms uneasily , from the depths of his soul, he felt a deep, instinctive disgust toward that soul tool.
"Hiss… Huo Yuhao, where did you get that thing?"
After receiving the device from the Treasure Pavilion, Huo Yuhao had stored it away without testing it. But now, with Xuanzi's "show" coming up soon, he needed to test it for safety.
"From the Treasure Appreciation Conference," Huo Yuhao answered without looking up. At the same time, he used his Spiritual Detection to peer into Wang Dong's spiritual sea, observing the rune left behind by Tang San.
He wanted to replicate the rune's influence , the way it caused Wang Dong's instinctive rejection of soul tools. Such a method, combined with Huo Yuhao's own spiritual corrosion, would be devastating to soul engineers. Why not use it for himself?
The soul tool in Huo Yuhao's hands was a Grade-4 "Glazed Barrier," which had two activation modes.
The first was active activation , the user injected soul power to create a spherical shield about three meters in diameter, large enough to protect several people. Its defense was top-tier among Grade-4 tools, but it consumed an enormous amount of power. For a Grand Soul Master like Huo Yuhao, even with his continuous soul power regeneration, he could only maintain it briefly.
The second mode was passive activation , by tuning the soul tool's frequency in advance, it would automatically activate when it detected a strong enough energy attack near the user. This provided personal protection at much lower energy cost, though it could shield only the holder.
After finishing his adjustments, Huo Yuhao stored the Glazed Barrier away. Seeing this, Wang Dong finally let out a breath of relief.
"Rest well these two days. Once we leave the academy, stay safe," Huo Yuhao said, climbing into bed and pulling up his blanket.
"Stay safe? Isn't Elder Xuan coming with us?" Wang Dong asked in confusion.
"After what happened today, do you really think he's reliable? If he were, Dai Keyheng and Chen Zifeng wouldn't be that badly injured. And that story he told earlier , can you guess who that 'negligent teacher' was supposed to be?"
Wang Dong: "…"
That night, in his dreams, Huo Yuhao once again entered his spiritual sea , but this time, instead of experimenting with soul power circuits or runes, he sought out Electrolux.
"Elder Yi, how's your memory recovery coming along?" he asked the gray sphere.
With the Death God Envoy ahead, Huo Yuhao hoped Electrolux might provide him with another secret trump card for protection.
Electrolux could step in to fight if necessary, but avoiding involvement was always better.
Electrolux's response disappointed him. "Still the same. As my divine sense repairs, I occasionally recall fragments of my memories, but nothing substantial."
"Perhaps certain special experiences could trigger specific memories to return," the old man added.
Huo Yuhao sighed. He was disappointed but not surprised.
During this period, while Electrolux recovered, he had also been teaching Huo Yuhao bits of knowledge and magic from his restored memories. Huo Yuhao already had a clear understanding of his progress.
After calming his mind, Huo Yuhao resumed studying soul power circuits.
The next morning, two days after training, most of the team's injuries had healed. Although Dai Keyheng and Chen Zifeng were still a little weak, they were no longer in serious danger.
To prepare for the upcoming Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament , and to fulfill their supposed "duties" as members of the Shrek Inspection Group, the so-called "police" of the continent , the Shrek team set off early for the Star Luo Empire.
At the academy's main gate, everyone gathered. Dai Keyheng and Chen Zifeng were pale, and all wore plain clothes. Thanks to their storage soul tools, no one carried bulky luggage.
Besides Xuanzi, the escorting teacher was Wang Yan, Xuanzi's disciple. His presence mainly served to bolster his own résumé.
With Shrek Academy's resources, they could easily have sent a few Title Douluo , or even a Super Douluo , as escorts, but instead, a mere Soul Emperor led the team. That was why, in the original course of events, the main team suffered such heavy losses under Xuanzi's negligence.
Xuanzi led everyone out of Shrek Academy and the city, heading toward the outskirts.
Once there, he stopped. The seven inner court students, having experienced something similar before, looked solemn. They knew what was coming.
Xuanzi was about to indoctrinate the reserve team again , forcing upon them a false sense of duty and righteousness that gave Shrek Academy powers and responsibilities no mere school should possess.
Using his spiritual power, he stirred up their "honor" and "responsibility."
Under the influence of group mentality, the reserve members all chose to join the Shrek Inspection Group.
Although members of the Inspection Group received no rewards , their work being purely voluntary , their efforts only further inflated Shrek Academy's twisted dominance and influence across the three nations of the Douluo Continent.
While resources didn't go directly to the members, massive donations continually flowed into the academy itself, making it ever wealthier.
Each member of the Shrek Inspection Group became another strand in the vast web through which the academy controlled the continent.
Their sacrifices served as the stepping stones for the few geniuses at the top of Shrek's pyramid.
Otherwise, how could the academy afford the vast resources required by its inner court elders? Every Title and Super Douluo, no matter how talented, required enormous resources to cultivate.
Such powerhouses weren't made through teaching alone , only through endless investment.
This cycle in turn reinforced Shrek Academy's supremacy, drawing in ever more gifted students and perpetuating its distorted system.
After Wang Yan distributed the Inspection Group uniforms to the reserve team, he explained their upcoming mission.
The inner court disciples listened quietly. Normally, they would have known about the mission first, but since most were recovering from injuries, the task briefing had fallen to Wang Yan.
Given Ma Xiaotao's unstable state, the role of captain was transferred to Dai Keyheng instead.
As Xuanzi drank wine and gnawed on a chicken leg, he briefly worried about Ma Xiaotao losing control , but quickly dismissed it.
He trusted the abilities of Shrek's students. Besides, his chicken leg was nearly finished , what should he eat next? Such a tough choice.
His mind drifted.
After receiving their Inspection Group gear, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but complain. No wonder so many members died.
The uniforms were flashy, with obvious masks and costumes, but practically useless. They could barely withstand attacks from below the third ring.
Considering the deadly nature of the Inspection Group's missions, these outfits were little more than death traps. If they'd just been equipped with some mid- or high-grade defensive soul tools, their casualty rate wouldn't have been so horrific.
Huo Yuhao couldn't help but suspect that Shrek Academy had done this deliberately , to weed out the weaker members and conserve resources.
At the same time, the high casualty rate boosted the academy's reputation. After all, if every mission ended without a scratch, wouldn't that make the tasks seem too easy?
In this way, over time, Shrek Academy maintained its image as the noble, self-sacrificing guardian of the continent.
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