Chapter 99: "It Doesn't Matter, I Will Act"
When Shen Ce's raspy words "I surrender" fell, the entire Star Luo Square sank into an eerie silence.
Three seconds.
Five seconds.
Ten seconds.
Tens of thousands of spectators seemed to be under a paralysis spell at the same time, their mouths agape and eyes wide as they stared in disbelief at the dark green figure still standing on the Soul Fighting Platform.
The referee was stunned for a long while before giving Lin Xuan a deep look, then raising his right hand high to announce,
"In the first round of the elimination matches of this Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Competition, Shrek Academy wins!"
This voice was like a giant stone thrown into a quiet lake, instantly stirring up ten thousand waves.
"Shrek!!"
"Shrek!!"
"Shrek!!"
A mountain-shaking, sea-tsunami-like roar rose to the sky, making the heavens above the imperial capital buzz and vibrate.
Countless flags waved frantically, merging into a surging ocean. At this moment, victory or defeat no longer mattered, because they had witnessed a legend worthy of the history books.
At the Soul Sect realm, he achieved victory by sweeping all seven opponents!
Meanwhile, on the high platform on the other side of Star Luo Square.
Xu Jiawei watched the Shrek team leave Star Luo Square and turned to look at the distracted Princess Xu Jiujiu beside him.
"Jiujiu, you went to the Star Emperor Hotel to find the people from Shrek Academy a few days ago, right? Do you have any impression of that young man just now?"
"Hmm?"
Princess Xu Jiujiu suddenly snapped back to her senses, then recounted the conversation she had with Lin Xuan that day in its entirety.
The more Xu Jiawei listened, the brighter his eyes became.
He understood Shrek Academy's situation better than Princess Xu Jiujiu. Given the Martial Soul Lin Xuan displayed, it was almost impossible for him to be a descendant of any Elder, as the Martial Soul attributes simply didn't match.
Then there was only one possibility: Lin Xuan was a student who had entered Shrek to study and was someone who could be recruited.
Shrek claimed to be neutral and did not interfere in the affairs of various countries. Since that was the case, it would be quite reasonable for them to recruit a genius disciple from an academy, wouldn't it?
...
Within the rest area of the Sun Moon Imperial Advanced Soul Engineer Academy, after a brief silence, someone spoke.
"Xiao, did you see through his Martial Soul?"
The speaker was Ma Rulong, the strongest member of the Sun Moon Team on the surface, and he was looking at a white-haired youth.
The youth's left eye was a deep blue and his right eye was emerald green; his heterochromatic eyes made that handsome face look even more demonic. He was none other than the grandson of the Hall Master of Illustrious Virtue Hall, Jing Hongchen—Xiao Hongchen.
"Of course."
Xiao Hongchen watched Lin Xuan's departing figure, the corners of his mouth curling up slightly.
"His Martial Soul should be the Shadow. Didn't you notice? All those strange creations he summoned were mediated by shadows."
He slowly shook his head, his tone full of interest.
"Tsk, what a strange Martial Soul. I have to say, when it comes to Martial Souls, the Three Great Empires originally belonging to the Douluo Continent indeed surpass us by a notch."
"I thought the same," Ma Rulong said with emotion.
"If you run into him head-on without knowing his background, you'll definitely suffer a huge loss. After all, nobody would expect their own shadow to attack them."
He paused, then sighed again, "Shrek continues to produce genius after genius in this generation."
"I don't see it that way."
Xiao Hongchen smiled and shook his head. "He is strong, of course; even I was stunned for a moment by that Soul Ring configuration. But as the saying goes, you win some, you lose some."
He didn't finish, but everyone understood.
"Just like mental-attribute Soul Masters, the physical bodies of summoning-type Soul Masters are much weaker than those of ordinary Soul Masters."
Ma Rulong's eyes lit up as he continued, "In other words, as long as we attack his main body at close range, he will surely be defeated."
"Exactly."
Xiao Hongchen nodded, but the smile on his face suddenly changed, replaced by a burning battle intent in his eyes.
"However, I won't do that."
He stared in the direction Lin Xuan had left, saying word for word, "Defeating him by relying on a weakness? How boring. What I want is to crush his Martial Soul head-on and make him lose with utter conviction."
"The Douluo Continent is vast, but it only needs one genius for this era. Don't you agree, Meng?"
He waited for a while, and when he received no response, he turned his head.
He saw his younger sister, Meng Hongchen, staring blankly at Shrek Academy's rest area, lost in thought.
"Meng?!"
Xiao Hongchen was dumbfounded and couldn't help raising his voice.
Meng Hongchen was startled awake, looking unhappy. "Why are you shouting so loud?"
"Hiss... this reaction of yours..." Xiao Hongchen suddenly had a bad feeling. "Sister, you haven't fallen for that guy, have you? He's our opponent!"
"What opponent?"
Meng Hongchen curled her lips and said as if it were a matter of course, "That's your future brother-in-law."
Xiao Hongchen: "..."
...
Inside the Shrek meeting room at the Star Emperor Hotel.
Even though nearly half an hour had passed since Lin Xuan swept all seven opponents, the excitement in everyone's hearts had not diminished in the slightest.
"Holy crap! Lin Xuan, you were way too freaking cool! Ten seconds! Just ten seconds! A one-vs-seven sweep! Do you have any idea how cool you were just now?!"
Xu Sanshi said somewhat frantically as he looked at Lin Xuan, who appeared calm as if nothing had happened.
Bei Bei smiled and shook his head, saying to Lin Xuan, "Ignore him, he's already lost his mind."
"Who's lost their mind!" Xu Sanshi glared at Bei Bei indignantly, then tilted his head back in a state of rapture.
"I can't even imagine if it were me standing on that stage just now. By the time I walk out those doors tomorrow, how many girls will be chasing me for an autograph!"
Bei Bei looked him up and down. "Chasing you for an autograph?"
"Yes!"
"Chasing to kill you is more like it."
"..."
Xu Sanshi's smile froze, Jiang Nannan rolled her eyes speechlessly, Ning Tian chuckled while covering her mouth, and even Ling Luochen, whose face was usually as cold as frost, couldn't help but let a faint smile curl on her lips.
Ma Xiaotao gave Xu Sanshi an annoyed glare. "With that behavior of yours, forget autographs; you'll be lucky if you aren't blasted out for being a creep."
"Sister Xiaotao! How can you say that about me!"
"What? You got a problem?"
"No... no problem..." Xu Sanshi instantly backed down.
After a period of joking around, everyone finally calmed down and took their seats.
Wang Yan stood up, his gaze sweeping over everyone present before finally landing on Lin Xuan. He cleared his throat, his voice carrying an irrepressible excitement.
"First, let us thank Student Lin Xuan for his contributions to the academy."
He paused, waiting for everyone's eyes to focus on him before continuing.
"One against seven, crushing the opponents within ten seconds—he has not only defended Shrek's ten-thousand-year glory but has also added new honor to it!"
After saying this, Wang Yan was the first to start clapping.
Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, He Caitou, and the others immediately followed suit. Ning Tian clapped elegantly, Jiang Nannan clapped sincerely, and He Caitou and Xu Sanshi clapped vigorously. Even the internally proud Wang Dong raised his hands and clapped seriously a few times.
Under the weight of one blow after another, although he still felt he wasn't inferior to Lin Xuan, he had at least learned the most basic form of respect.
Lin Xuan nodded slightly, his tone humble. "Teacher Wang, you flatter me. Since I am representing Shrek Academy in the competition, this is all part of my duty."
Wang Yan's eyes lit up, and he suddenly stood up, his voice abruptly rising.
"Do you hear that?! What a high level of awareness! Let us applaud Student Lin Xuan once again!"
With that, he once again took the lead in clapping.
The other team members looked at each other. Although it felt a bit strange, they still stood up and continued to clap.
Lin Xuan's eye twitched slightly. This style... didn't seem quite right. Why did it feel like he had seen this somewhere before?
After a round of applause, Wang Yan began to talk about official business.
"After the screening of the first round of elimination matches, a total of sixty-seven teams have entered the next round. According to the rules of this Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Competition, these sixty-seven teams will be divided into eight groups for the next round of Round-robin Tournaments."
"In other words, each group will have approximately eight to nine teams on average. As you should have learned beforehand, the Round-robin Tournament is divided into three types of matches: Team Battle, Individual Battle, and the 2-2-3 format."
"At that time, the captains of both teams will determine which format to use through a draw. The Team Battle goes without saying; it's a normal seven-on-seven team fight."
"However, you don't need to worry. To preserve their own seed teams, there is an unwritten rule among the Four Great Empires: unless absolutely necessary, the teams from the Four Great Empires will not be placed in the same group as us during the Round-robin Tournament."
"As for the subsequent Individual Battle, it doesn't mean one person goes up for just one match. Instead, the loser leaves the stage and the winner can choose to continue fighting. You can understand it as defending the stage. This situation is the best for us."
Wang Yan continued, "As for the final 2-2-3 format, it might be the most unfamiliar to you. Its specific rules are as follows: the seven members of the team must be divided into three groups based on the numbers two, two, and three, and members cannot appear on stage more than once."
"After two two-on-two battles, a three-on-three battle will take place. Of course, if both two-on-two matches are won, victory is automatically achieved."
Upon hearing the specific details of the 2-2-3 format, everyone except Lin Xuan looked solemn. It was no exaggeration to say that if they truly encountered this combat method, their chances of defeat would rise sharply.
AI Model: gemini-3.1-flash-lite
After all, under these circumstances, the team's big daddy Lin Xuan can only fight one match. Even if he could knock the opponent down with one hand, there would be no way to recover if the subsequent two matches were lost.
Having finished saying these things, Wang Yan sat back down in his seat and turned to look at Lin Xuan. After thinking for a moment, he finally decided to fulfill his promise.
"As a teacher, I keep my word. Since you, Lin Xuan, helped us win the first knockout round, we will follow your plan as much as possible for the upcoming matches."
Upon hearing these words, a deep sense of curiosity couldn't help but appear in everyone's eyes. In the previous meeting, Lin Xuan had mentioned that he had a very interesting plan for the Soul Master Competition, but they knew nothing more than that.
"Alright, then I will explain my plan."
Lin Xuan smiled slightly as he met the curious and expectant gazes of everyone, but soon, apart from him, no one could smile anymore.
"My plan is very simple: we will show everyone exactly what our current situation is. Not only will we show it all, but we will also intentionally show weakness at certain times!"
Upon hearing these words from Lin Xuan, everyone's expressions changed instantly, and they all put on looks of astonishment, with Wang Yan's reaction being particularly intense.
"Actively expose our true situation?! No! Absolutely not!" Wang Yan's tone was extremely resolute.
In his view, Lin Xuan's plan was simply ridiculous. If it weren't for the fact that he had just represented Shrek Academy to win the knockout round and upheld the academy's honor, he would even suspect that Lin Xuan intentionally wanted the academy to be eliminated.
"Tsk, this plan... alright, with my brain, I really still can't figure it out."
Chen Zifeng couldn't help but shake his head. Although Lin Xuan had saved his life, he still felt that this plan of Lin Xuan's was a bit too outrageous.
"Lin Xuan, you should explain your plan in more detail. It's not that we don't believe you, but our biggest problem right now is how to maintain a facade of strength," Dai Yueheng advised tactfully.
The others, such as Ma Xiaotao, Ling Luochen, and Bei Bei, were all the same, frowning without speaking.
"Everyone, listen to me finish."
Lin Xuan's smile remained unchanged. He looked around, his gaze sweeping over every face—some grave, some confused, some disapproving—before finally landing on Wang Yan.
"Teacher Wang, let me ask you a question first."
Wang Yan was slightly taken aback. "Go ahead."
"Does it really affect the outcome of the competition whether Sister Xiaotao and the others are injured or not?"
Wang Yan frowned slightly and didn't answer immediately, but Lin Xuan didn't need him to answer and continued speaking on his own.
"Suppose, and I mean suppose, they weren't injured, and we were at full strength and at the peak of our power. When facing a strong enemy, would they go on stage?"
"Yes."
Without waiting for anyone to speak, he gave the answer himself.
"But what about now? They are injured. Under the same assumption, only we on the reserve team can go up. If we can win, that's naturally good, but what if we can't? A difficult, grueling battle, perhaps even losing the match."
"Perhaps others will still think that it's us, Shrek, training our troops and testing our lineup, but..."
"What is the point of that?"
"Those who can win will win, and those who are destined to lose will lose. The so-called illusions, the so-called deterrence, the so-called aura of Shrek's invincibility—in the end, it's just painting a shiny, beautiful skin for ourselves."
The conference room fell into silence.
Wang Yan opened his mouth but found himself unable to refute it.
That's right, can covering up the news of Ma Xiaotao and the others' injuries really change anything?
The teams drawn won't change, the matches that they should be playing will still have to be played by the reserve team, and the results won't be any different regardless of whether the other side knows the truth.
Dai Yueheng frowned deeply, Chen Zifeng lowered his head in thought, and Ma Xiaotao bit her lower lip without saying a word.
Just then, a discordant voice rang out.
Wang Dong raised his head and stared straight at Lin Xuan. "Then what if the Star Luo Empire royal family discovers our true strength and intentionally rigs the draw to arrange a powerful opponent for us?"
"With our current strength, we don't have the capital to go head-to-head with top-tier teams. I have no doubt about this possibility. After all, some people hope we continue to win the championship, but there must also be many people who want to break Shrek's myth of invincibility."
Once these words were spoken, Dai Yueheng's expression immediately became somewhat unsightly. He was the son of the Duke White Tiger and a person of the Star Luo Empire; hearing this, it was inevitable that he would think too much.
But speaking objectively, even in his view, Wang Dong's worry was not without possibility.
An opportunity to defeat Shrek head-on is placed in front of them—which team could refuse? Once Shrek is eliminated, all teams will have the possibility of competing for the championship.
Everyone nodded one after another, their gazes falling on Lin Xuan again, wanting to see how he would deal with this major problem.
Lin Xuan's expression remained unchanged; he even curled the corners of his mouth slightly, revealing a faint smile.
"Rig the draw? No problem."
Everyone couldn't help but be stunned, and then Lin Xuan continued, his tone unhurried,
"There is only one result for such a scenario: there will be one team capable of competing for the final four that will be eliminated early in the round of 16, or even the round of 32."
The conference room was silent for a moment; everyone understood the meaning behind this statement.
No matter who the opponent is, he will win.
He has everything covered.
Wang Yan opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, he didn't say anything.
Lin Xuan ignored the complex expressions of the others and continued,
"Besides actively exposing our own information, we need to adopt different strategies when facing different opponents in the future."
Then he held up two fingers.
"Facing strong teams, we go all out. Let them know our strength, let them value us, study us, and then spend all their energy on how to target us."
"Facing weak teams, we must win by the narrowest of margins."
"...Huh?" Xu Sanshi listened, looking completely bewildered. "Why is that?"
Lin Xuan laughed happily. "This is called finding shortcomings for the strong teams and finding confidence for the weak teams."
Everyone looked at each other. Wang Yan pushed up his glasses, his brows tightly knitted.
"Lin Xuan, what is your intention in doing this?"
"Intention?"
Lin Xuan smiled and gently spat out two words.
"Fun."
"Fu...fun?" Wang Yan looked astonished, even thinking he had misheard.
"Think about that scene."
Lin Xuan leaned back against the chair, the smile at the corners of his mouth deepening,
"Everyone is pessimistic about us. Everyone thinks that this generation of Shrek is not good enough, and the former kings are finally about to fall from their pedestal."
"But what about us? We are always just one step away from the cliff, tottering, in precarious danger, as if we will fall in the next second."
"However, we never fall down."
The conference room was so quiet that a pin drop could be heard; everyone seemed to be drawn into that scene by his description.
"Experiencing twists and turns, having nine lives, crawling out of desperate situations time and time again, when everyone thinks we are sure to lose..."
"We become the champions."
As his voice fell, the conference room was silent.
"Awesome!!!"
After a while, Xu Sanshi slapped his thigh hard, stood up abruptly, and roared with a flushed face,
"That's so damn awesome! This plot! It couldn't be any more satisfying!"
Bei Bei nodded vigorously, a sharp light flashing in his eyes. "Indeed... just thinking about it makes my blood boil."
He Caitou chuckled, revealing two rows of big white teeth. "Playing the pig to eat the tiger—I love watching this the most."
Jiang Nannan covered her mouth and chuckled, and even Ling Luochen couldn't help but be slightly moved.
Wang Dong opened his mouth, wanting to refute something, but found that he couldn't help but be moved by this picture, although he would never admit it.
Ma Xiaotao looked at Lin Xuan's still-calm face and suddenly felt a bit dazed.
This person... what on earth is inside his head?
They were clearly discussing such a serious tactic, yet he managed to pull out such a grand drama.
But she couldn't help but feel that this idea... actually seemed quite exciting.
Just then, Wang Yan cleared his throat, interrupting everyone's reverie.
"Lin Xuan, your plan... I admit it is indeed very attractive, but what if we mess up and go too far?"
The excitement on everyone's faces stalled slightly.
That's right, playing the pig to eat the tiger is certainly satisfying, but playing the pig and eating feed is just too stupid.
Everyone's gaze fell on Lin Xuan again. Lin Xuan did not answer immediately; he just slightly raised his eyelids, his gaze sweeping over every face.
Then, he spoke, his tone extremely calm.
"It doesn't matter, I will intervene."
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