Eighth Prince ultimately failed to get a clear answer.
It seemed that Princess Ankang truly didn't know what kind of species Li Xuan was.
Eighth Prince was extremely curious about this question, but if Princess Ankang, as the owner, didn't know, he had no good solution.
Unless he could find a scholar who studied beast races in the future and take Li Xuan for identification.
That way, there might be a result.
But if Li Xuan knew Eighth Prince's thoughts, he would definitely say to him:
"Trouble for no reason."
Others might not know, but how could he not know what was going on?
His unique abilities all stemmed from his innate talent and had nothing to do with bloodline or race.
Li Xuan's achievements today were all thanks to his own efforts.
There was no doubt about this!
At least Li Xuan was quite certain of it.
The lunch break was gradually coming to an end, and the Consorts and Imperial Princes and Princesses who had gone for lunch successively returned to the stands, preparing to start the afternoon's matches.
Princess Ankang and Eighth Prince still had matches to play in the afternoon; they needed to win at least two more matches to successfully advance to the semifinals and participate in the semifinal match at tomorrow's Chongyang Banquet.
Judging by the strength they had displayed so far, advancing to the semifinals should not be a problem.
As for Fifth Prince, Seventh Princess, and Princess Yuan'an, who had no matches in the afternoon, they prepared to cheer them on from the stands.
Well, actually, Seventh Princess was just sleeping in the stands.
After the morning's elimination round, the number of participants in the afternoon significantly decreased.
As soon as the time came, Zhao Feng immediately announced the start of the afternoon matches.
First up was Princess Ankang.
Even though Li Xuan had shown terrifying strength in the morning, their opponents did not choose to forfeit the match directly but chose to resist to the end.
The Three Little Ones could tell that the other side must also be carrying out a mission.
Otherwise, they wouldn't have bravely stepped onto the field, even though they were scared to death.
After all, the scene of Li Xuan crippling someone with a single kick was still very intimidating.
It was truly difficult for the opposing team to persist in the match just to exhaust their stamina.
"It seems I'm still too kind."
"Don't they fear being kicked to death by me?"
Li Xuan shook his head and sighed to himself, thinking that his appearance as a Little Cat made people not fear him.
If he looked fiercer, perhaps the other side wouldn't dare to play the match.
After the match began, Li Xuan had no intention of dragging it out to exhaust the opponent. He struck first with three kicks, directly breaking through the opponent's goal, gaining a three-point lead, and also giving them a warning not to be foolish.
And it proved that Li Xuan's warning was very effective.
The other side played a match obediently, then hastily left the field.
During the match, they didn't even have the slightest desire to attack, forming a sharp contrast with the bloody matches of the morning.
Li Xuan didn't make things too difficult for these people. The other side was there to exhaust them. As long as they didn't act improperly on the field or plot against the two girls, Li Xuan didn't intend to bully them.
After all, Li Xuan's current strength was not enough for him to walk around the palace as he pleased.
Although sometimes he needed to appropriately display some strength, he couldn't show his threat too obviously.
Otherwise, Jingyang Palace would sooner or later get into trouble.
But for those troubles that couldn't be avoided, Li Xuan would not compromise.
He knew clearly when to fiercely counterattack and when to be a low-key cat.
Jingyang Palace once again secured a victory, and now only needed to win one more match to successfully advance to the semifinals.
However, their opponents would only get stronger from now on, even becoming the most troublesome ones.
Li Xuan was not afraid to play Qúc Ju against any team; he was just afraid of encountering Eighth Prince early and making him miss out on the semifinals.
After all, if one could advance to the semifinals, they could show their face at tomorrow's Chongyang Banquet, which was a good opportunity to stand out.
But if Eighth Prince didn't have that luck, Li Xuan could only say sorry to him.
After easily winning their first match in the afternoon, the Three Little Ones returned to the stands to watch the other matches with everyone else.
It turned out that the harmonious nature of the previous match was just an exception.
The other matches were still as fiercely intense as before, with people being seriously injured and leaving the field from time to time.
But it must be said that because Zhao Feng temporarily changed the rule to not allow team substitutions during the match, the pace of the matches greatly accelerated.
Many matches even ended before the full time, with winners and losers decided midway.
Judging by the current progress, the four semifinalists would definitely be decided today.
In the subsequent matches, First Prince and Third Prince also achieved victories, needing only one more match to secure a spot in the semifinals.
It was very clear that because Third Prince had a strength advantage, he appeared the most relaxed in the intense Qúc Ju matches.
"It seems the gap between the Lower Three Ranks and Middle Three Ranks cannot be so easily bridged."
"This guy has the advantage of a major rank; if he doesn't have too bad luck encountering us, he should definitely advance."
Li Xuan looked at the other matches and found that there were only a few seeded players for the semifinals.
Besides Princess Ankang and Eighth Prince, who had the advantage of beast taming, the other strongest were First Prince, Third Prince, and Fourth Prince.
As for the others, there was still a significant gap.
This gap included the Imperial Princes and Princesses themselves and the personal attendants they brought.
Personal attendants occupied two player slots, and whoever brought stronger personal attendants would have a greater advantage in the match.
And the strength of the personal attendants depended heavily on their respective backgrounds.
In Qúc Ju matches, the strength of personal attendants was limited to the Lower Three Ranks.
That is to say, the strongest participating personal attendants were only Seventh Rank.
Among martial artists of the same rank, who was stronger or weaker mainly depended on talent and cultivation methods.
However, almost all the most talented people in the palace were selected by the Internal Affairs Bureau to become candidates for Flower-Clothed Eunuchs.
The rest would then be recruited by other palaces to become capable Black-Clothed Eunuchs under the Consorts.
Given such a selection process, it was truly difficult to distinguish any significant differences.
Except for those under the Four Consorts, other Consorts could hardly provide much good cultivation resources, so the Black-Clothed Eunuchs they recruited were also quite limited.
This disparity was even more evident on the Qúc Ju field.
In some teams, they couldn't even gather two Seventh Rank personal attendants and had to find Eighth Rank ones to make up the numbers.
Of course, in this regard, the situation at Jingyang Palace was completely different.
Jingyang Palace, counting Li Xuan the cat, barely managed to gather the Three Little Ones.
Under such circumstances, how could they have the leisure to be picky about strength?
Moreover, with Li Xuan present, the strength of others didn't really matter.
Even if Princess Ankang and Yuer just found a corner on the field to play cat's cradle, it wouldn't stop Jingyang Palace from winning.
This was the Little Cat's absolute confidence in his own strength.
If Li Xuan truly played all out, if even one person from the opposing team could walk off the field standing, it would mean they ran fast.
The subsequent matches did not surprise Li Xuan; the players he favored all won smoothly.
Especially First Prince, who barely exerted any effort, as his opponents directly chose to forfeit.
It seemed this guy had good luck, and his opponents were all people who supported him.
Among all the participants, First Prince's matches were the most elegant, with his shoes barely getting dirty.
And as the matches continued, their next opponents gradually became clear.
The worst-case scenario Li Xuan had envisioned did not happen.
Eighth Prince's next opponent was not them, but Fourth Prince.
For Eighth Prince, this was already considered good luck.
At least against Fourth Prince's team, his chances of winning were still very high.
As for the others, First Prince and Third Prince did not encounter each other prematurely either.
And the Three Little Ones' next opponent was Ninth Princess, who was very close to Third Prince.
For her, Li Xuan's impression remained from the last Autumn Hunt match.
At that time, Ninth Princess stood beside Third Prince, fighting to the end with him, but ultimately she could not defeat the Three Little Ones and had to regrettably lose.
Ninth Princess's skill was not bad, but against the backdrop of her excellent brothers and sisters, she inevitably seemed a bit naive.
Moreover, although the personal attendants Ninth Princess brought were all Seventh Rank cultivators, their strength was only barely adequate.
Li Xuan had watched Ninth Princess's previous matches, and unlike most other teams, the main force of her team was Ninth Princess herself.
Although Ninth Princess only had Eighth Rank cultivation, her foundation was very solid, and it was clear she had considerable combat experience.
Therefore, in terms of on-field performance, she actually performed better than her two Seventh Rank personal attendants.
"Lan Ruo, don't do anything unnecessary. I will deal with my opponents myself."
By the stands, Third Prince stopped Ninth Princess, who was about to go on stage, and instructed her.
"But…"
Ninth Princess showed hesitation.
Third Prince saw that Ninth Princess truly wanted to do something, and immediately sternly reprimanded her:
"Ankang's Black Cat is strange; he's not someone you can deal with."
"Play normally; don't have any crooked ideas, and they naturally won't make things difficult for you."
Third Prince threw these two sentences, and without waiting for Ninth Princess's agreement, he turned and left.
"Third Imperial Brother…"
Ninth Princess reached out and called out, but she couldn't stop Third Prince's steps.
Ninth Princess's expression was conflicted, clearly not knowing what to do.
After thinking for a while, she finally helplessly lowered her head and sighed.
Soon, Princess Ankang and Ninth Princess's match began.
This was also the first match of today's final round of qualifiers.
The first person to advance to tomorrow's semifinal match would also be decided between them.
Standing on the Qúc Ju field, Li Xuan saw the stubborn look in Ninth Princess's eyes and knew that this match would probably not be so smooth.
"Little girl, you really shouldn't be foolish."
"Otherwise, although my cat claws are delicate, they don't recognize people."
Li Xuan secretly advised Ninth Princess a few words, telling her not to overthink things.
But this Ninth Princess happened to be someone who didn't know how to take a hint.
Not long after the match began, she started some small tricks, frequently kicking the ball towards Princess Ankang.
However, the force on the ball was not threatening; even Princess Ankang herself could easily handle it.
But Li Xuan was already growing impatient with Ninth Princess's probing little tricks.
Just as Li Xuan was about to properly teach Ninth Princess a lesson and make her put away those unnecessary little thoughts, Princess Ankang called out from behind:
"Li Xuan, I'll do it!"
Li Xuan frowned but still moved aside.
The force on the ball was still within Princess Ankang's ability to handle.
If it would threaten the two girls, Li Xuan would have been impolite to Ninth Princess long ago; how could he have tolerated it until now?
It just seemed that Princess Ankang was getting excited and wanted to compete with Ninth Princess.
"It can be considered evenly matched."
Li Xuan silently assessed the strength of Princess Ankang and Ninth Princess from the side and then commented thus.
With him watching, no accidents would occur.
Moreover, it was rare for Princess Ankang to be so motivated, and Li Xuan truly couldn't bear to dampen her enthusiasm.
"Forget it, let them play for a while first."
"But before that…"
At this moment, Ankang Princess once again defended against the Ninth Princess's attack and passed the ball forward.
Yuer was standing there, ready to launch an attack.
However, Li Xuan suddenly jumped up, sweeping the ball with his tail a step ahead.
The ball accelerated with a whoosh, turning into an afterimage, and before the three people on the opposite side could react, it had already passed through the Fengliu Eye on the goal.
"One to zero."
The Flower-Clothed Eunuchs on the sidelines immediately made the judgment.
To be safe, Li Xuan secured the first point, ensuring their victory.
"Li Xuan, well done!"
Ankang Princess ran over and hugged Li Xuan, celebrating excitedly.
"Li Xuan, you startled me just now.
You should give me a heads-up when you're going to attack."
Yuer also came over and stroked Li Xuan's head.
Meanwhile, the Ninth Princess on the other side immediately drooped like a frost-bitten eggplant, looking deflated.
She now understood that what the Third Prince had said earlier was true.
With her strength, she could not win against Ankang Princess.
She was even more helpless against Li Xuan's attacks; they couldn't even see the ball clearly, so how could they possibly defend against it?
But the Ninth Princess was unwilling to give up.
She saw others diligently wearing down their opponents for their supporters.
The Ninth Princess also wanted to do her small part for the Third Prince.
"Even if I can't win against them, I will exhaust their stamina."
"By tomorrow, they will definitely be more tired."
With this belief, the Ninth Princess continued to persevere in the match.
She constantly kicked the ball to Ankang Princess, hoping to exhaust her stamina.
However, Ankang Princess was no longer the frail, sickly princess she once was.
The Ninth Princess's actions merely brought some Qúc Ju game fun to Ankang Princess.
The Ninth Princess slowly realized and despairingly discovered that she couldn't even out-kick Ankang Princess.
This discovery made the Ninth Princess even more incredulous.
After all, in her memory, Ankang Princess was still that pitiful young girl who sat in a wheelchair year-round, looking sickly.
But now, looking at the rosy-faced Ankang Princess on the opposite side, whose face was filled with joyful smiles as she continuously kicked the ball back, it was truly difficult for her to connect these two images.
In a daze, the Ninth Princess couldn't help but be stunned, failing to block the ball Ankang Princess kicked back.
From beginning to end, Ankang Princess never kicked the ball at people, but always aimed at the Fengliu Eye on the goal.
And this time, the Ninth Princess couldn't block the ball in time, only able to watch it pass through the Fengliu Eye, allowing Ankang Princess to score her first personal goal in today's Qúc Ju match.
"Two to zero!"
The Flower-Clothed Eunuchs decisively made the judgment.
"Yay!"
"Li Xuan, I scored!"
"Am I amazing?"
Ankang Princess bounced towards Li Xuan and Yuer.
The Three Little Ones held hands and began to joyfully spin around the field in celebration.
Li Xuan glanced in the direction of the Ninth Princess, realizing that she was distraught and completely unable to regain her spirits.
"Haha, the little girl's mentality isn't up to par."
Li Xuan couldn't help but chuckle when he saw the Ninth Princess's mental breakdown during the game.
In the subsequent matches, the Ninth Princess's mentality could no longer be maintained, and her performance plummeted.
By the time the final whistle blew, the score had already reached nine to zero.
Among these, besides the point Li Xuan scored at the beginning, all the remaining goals were Ankang Princess's own.
Li Xuan and Yuer actively cooperated from the side, constantly feeding her opportunities.
Ankang Princess also did not disappoint, continuously scoring against the out-of-form Ninth Princess.
The defeated Ninth Princess left the field angrily, returning directly to her sleeping quarters, not even watching the upcoming matches.
The Third Prince in the distance could only sigh helplessly when he saw such a result.
He had long anticipated the Ninth Princess's defeat, but he had never imagined it would be such a humiliating loss.
The Third Prince looked at the Three Little Ones celebrating wildly on the field, and couldn't help but glare fiercely at them.
For the Ninth Princess, his younger sister who had always clung to him since childhood, the Third Prince seemed strict with her on a daily basis, but in his heart, he truly doted on her.
Seeing the Ninth Princess being bullied like this, the Third Prince naturally felt indignant.
"Hmph, just you wait."
"At tomorrow's Chongyang Banquet, I will make you lose face in front of all the officials!"
The Third Prince secretly made up his mind.
The Three Little Ones naturally had no way of knowing about the Third Prince's determination.
But even if they knew, they wouldn't take it to heart.
At most, Li Xuan would just scoff at him, laughing at the Third Prince's overestimation of himself.
As the matches concluded, the first four finalists of the day were decided.
Ankang Princess successfully advanced, securing a ticket to tomorrow's semi-finals.
Moreover, tomorrow's match would be held at the Chongyang Banquet, so Ankang Princess would definitely get a chance to shine brightly in front of everyone.
Although Ankang Princess now had an increasingly strong presence in the Imperial Harem, outside the palace, she was still largely the same as before.
Only a few well-informed individuals knew that Ankang Princess had performed exceptionally well in the recent Imperial Garden, even leading the scoreboard by a significant margin.
A small wooden plaque with Ankang Princess's name was also hung on the Qúc Ju match schedule.
The Qúc Ju match schedule was a large wooden board with squares drawn on it, connected by white lines.
This recorded today's match schedule and results.
Now, as the matches continued, the lower grids were all filled, leaving only the top four empty spaces.
These four spaces would be paired up, two by two, to determine tomorrow's Chongyang Banquet match schedule.
And now, the first space was already occupied by Ankang Princess's name.
The second person to advance would become Ankang Princess's first opponent tomorrow.
The second person to advance did not make everyone wait too long.
This person, as Li Xuan had expected, was none other than the Third Prince.
The Third Prince's match was similar to his previous ones; he won easily, without expending much effort.
And as the Third Prince had hoped, he became Ankang Princess's first opponent tomorrow.
The Third Prince did not celebrate immediately upon advancing; instead, he looked towards Ankang Princess with a gaze full of provocation.
"This kid doesn't learn from his mistakes."
"Just wait and see how I deal with him tomorrow."
Li Xuan saw the Third Prince's arrogance but wasn't angered.
He just grinned, looking at him with ill intent.
The third qualifier was the Eldest Prince, who also advanced smoothly.
In this match, the Eldest Prince did expend some effort and did not get his opponent to surrender as easily as before.
After all, although he had gained the support of many, not everyone supported him.
Most of the Eldest Prince's supporters came from the officials' faction.
However, among the nobles, he had few friends.
The power of the noble faction was quite dispersed this time.
The Third Prince, who should have received the vast majority of support, had completely lost the opportunity to contend for the top spot on the scoreboard because he failed to score points in the previous match.
And the Eighth Prince, who still had a chance to contend for the scoreboard, failed to rally these people for various reasons.
Therefore, the power of the Imperial Princes and Princesses from the noble faction was significantly dispersed, and they failed to perform well in this Qúc Ju match.
As of now, the better-performing Third Prince and Eighth Prince have almost solely relied on their own strength, completely independent of others' support, which is in stark contrast to the situation with the Eldest Prince.
Li Xuan also gained a lot of insight into the intricacies of the Imperial Harem through today's Qúc Ju match.
Although they were all Imperial children, due to the differing family backgrounds of their respective Consorts, there were also situations where they were at odds with each other.
Moreover, even within the same official or noble lineage, there were many complex situations.
Li Xuan saw many outwardly harmonious but inwardly disconnected combinations today.
"Every single one of these people, they've grown up with nothing but schemes in their heads."
Next, it was time for today's final qualifying match.
The two competing teams were the Fourth Prince and the Eighth Prince.
The strength of both teams was not weak, and either had the potential to win.
However, based on previous performances, the Eighth Prince had a slightly higher chance of winning.
After all, A Xiang had the advantage of flight, making him a very formidable opponent for others.
And as soon as the last qualifying semi-finalist was determined in this match, today's competition would be completely over.
The contestants, who had been competing all day, were all sitting in the stands, intently watching this final match.
Since their results were already out, for them, they could finally relax and enjoy a Qúc Ju match.
On the Qúc Ju field, the Eighth Prince was full of confidence, looking as if victory was already in his grasp.
The Fourth Prince, on the other hand, was as calm and composed as usual, with a faint smile on his face.
Looking at him, it seemed he had already found a way to win.
"Li Xuan, Fourth Brother also looks very confident."
"Has he found a way to deal with A Xiang?"
Ankang Princess asked with a hint of worry.
Li Xuan tilted his head, thought for a moment, then shook his head, indicating that he couldn't guess either.
In his opinion, with a cultivation of Lower Three Ranks, it was not easy, even seemingly impossible, to deal with A Xiang under the rules of Qúc Ju.
Only Middle Three Ranks martial artists who had cultivated true qi might have a chance.
The match began, and the Eighth Prince took the ball first to attack.
He still chose the old method, using A Xiang for high-altitude bombardment.
The height of the Fengliu Eye on the goal was not low, and it was not easy to continuously jump up to defend.
But the Fourth Prince's side did not choose to sit idly by.
The Fourth Prince's two attendants stood below the goal, actively defending.
A Xiang's initial attacks did not succeed, but they had already significantly depleted the two men's stamina.
If the match continued like this, there would eventually be a time when they couldn't defend anymore.
The Eighth Prince's previous matches had already proven this point.
Other teams were also able to defend against A Xiang's attacks at first, but as time went on, their stamina eventually could not be maintained.
After all, it was always much harder for a person to jump from the ground to defend the ball than for A Xiang to fly down and attack.
Those with ample stamina might be able to defend for the first half.
But by the second half, they would be completely helpless.
The Eighth Prince saw that the Fourth Prince's countermeasures were nothing special and immediately felt relieved.
Earlier, the Eighth Prince had seen the Fourth Prince's calm demeanor and thought he had some bad idea again.
Unlike most people in the palace, the Eighth Prince knew the Fourth Prince very well.
He knew that this kid had been full of mischief since he was little.
"Fourth Brother, don't waste time.
Just give up early and go home for dinner."
The Eighth Prince easily dealt with the opponent's attacks, and also initiated a surrender negotiation.
With A Xiang guarding in the air, he was much more relaxed on both offense and defense, even having the leisure to kick Qúc Ju and talk at the same time.
To the Eighth Prince's words, the Fourth Prince merely smiled faintly, with no other reaction.
But the Eighth Prince did not give up.
While kicking the ball with his feet, his mouth never stopped for a moment.
Sometimes, Qúc Ju was not just about footwork; one's verbal skills also couldn't fall behind others.
And as luck would have it, the Eighth Prince was quite skilled with his words.
In just the first half, he managed to annoy the opposite side, which brought a lot of entertainment to the audience in the stands.
In the Consorts' pavilion, Sude Consort laughed so hard she bent forward and backward, completely losing her composure, and praised, "Among all the Imperial Princes, I still admire him the most."
The other three, however, maintained their dignified appearance and were not as boisterous as Sude Consort.
It was truly because the Eighth Prince's quick wit was too impressive, offering everyone a mixed performance of Qúc Ju and crosstalk.
Of course, as spectators, they enjoyed watching.
But as the subjects of the teasing, the Fourth Prince's mood was probably not as pleasant.
Even so, the Fourth Prince still maintained a calm expression, but the occasional twitching of his eye betrayed his unsettled mood.
After all, even a clay figure would lose its temper after being talked about by the Eighth Prince for so long.
"This kid talks too much."
Li Xuan was also shocked by the Eighth Prince's eloquence.
"Sister Yu'er, why don't we prepare some earplugs when we go back tonight?"
Princess Ankang frowned, saying with some fear, "I don't want to be lectured like this in front of so many people when I compete with Eighth Brother tomorrow."
"Your Highness, that's a good idea."
Yu'er said sincerely.
They could naturally laugh now that they were in the stands.
But if they were on the opposite side of the Eighth Prince tomorrow, they probably wouldn't be laughing.
They never expected that the Eighth Prince's most formidable secret weapon was not Li Xuan, but his mouth.
"Fourth Brother, why aren't you moving?"
"You're just letting your two unlucky attendants defend; that's a bit unfair."
"Fourth Brother, take a few steps."
"You're not sick, take a few steps."
The Eighth Prince teased the Fourth Prince to the extreme on the Qúc Ju field, making the Fourth Prince clench his fists.
"Let's see how long you can be so proud?"
Under the strenuous defense of the Fourth Prince's two attendants, the first half ended with the score remaining at zero-zero.
Even with Li Xuan's relentless bombing from above, they couldn't break through their defense.
Such defense also left the Fourth Prince's two attendants exhausted, lying on the ground unable to even stand up.
If the halftime whistle hadn't sounded, they probably wouldn't have been able to hold out for another round.
But in their current state, it was impossible for them to play in the second half.
During halftime, the Fourth Prince came to the stands, where the Eldest Imperial Brother and the Sixth Sister were already waiting.
"Eldest Brother, your two attendants are still with you."
The Fourth Prince said, sending someone to bring down the two immobile attendants from the field.
It turned out these two were actually the Eldest Imperial Brother's attendants.
The Eldest Imperial Brother had already completed all his matches for the day, so the Fourth Prince specifically borrowed these two.
Because the Eldest Imperial Brother had a relatively easy time in the first two rounds, these two hadn't expended too much energy; only in the third round was the play more intense, but compared to other attendants, they were the most physically robust.
The Fourth Prince's decision to use these two in the first half clearly had his own plan.
"Fourth Brother, will this work?"
"It looks like it can at most maintain a draw."
The Sixth Sister asked from the side.
At this point, the Fourth Prince had already called for his own two attendants.
They would need to play in the second half.
However, these two were not as strong as the Eldest Imperial Brother's two attendants, so whether they could defend all of Li Xuan's attacks like in the first half was uncertain.
The Sixth Sister's estimate of maintaining a draw was already quite optimistic.
"Sixth Sister, don't worry."
"The one who can't accept a draw the most isn't me, it's Eighth Brother."
The Fourth Prince took a sip of water and said with a smile.
According to today's competition rules, if the score remained tied after both halves, there would be an additional penalty shootout.
Each of the three players from each team would take one penalty kick, and the defending team could only send one person to defend at the front of the field, not too close to the Fengliu Eye, making defense very difficult.
Although the Eighth Prince's Li Xuan performed brilliantly in official matches, if it came to a penalty shootout, he would be at a disadvantage.
Because Li Xuan's strength and weight were not advantageous, whether defending the goal or taking a penalty, it would become a weakness.
Penalty kicks in Qúc Ju matches cannot be coordinated; they can only be individual shots.
At this point, Li Xuan would lose his flying advantage and might even be unable to complete the penalty kick action alone.
The Fourth Prince, who had been on the defensive the entire match, would instead gain a significant advantage.
"Fourth Brother, what are the chances of winning?"
The Imperial Brother, seeing the Fourth Prince's certainty, couldn't help but ask.
If the Fourth Prince could eliminate the Eighth Prince here, then in tomorrow's semi-finals, the Eldest Imperial Brother would have a greater advantage.
Although according to the schedule, the Eldest Imperial Brother and the Fourth Prince would face each other first tomorrow, if the Fourth Prince simply forfeited, the Eldest Imperial Brother could easily advance to the finals.
This would give him a better chance of winning, whether facing Princess Ankang or the Third Prince.
"As for the chances of winning, it depends on how anxious Eighth Brother gets."
"The more anxious he is, the greater my chances of winning."
The Fourth Prince said, glancing in the direction of the Eighth Prince, who was still laughing and joking, showing no signs of anxiety.
But the Fourth Prince knew very well that this was all just a facade from the Eighth Prince.
As soon as the Fourth Prince entered the field, he made no attempt to hide the change of attendants, and everyone could see his plan.
The Eighth Prince was no exception; what the Fourth Prince could think of, the Eighth Prince naturally would too, and even more clearly.
Because this was, after all, his own weakness.
The Fourth Prince now only needed to wait patiently for the Eighth Prince to expose his own flaws.
That would be the moment he secured victory.
"Good, then work hard!"
The Eldest Imperial Brother patted the Fourth Prince's shoulder, encouraging him.
Having such a reliable younger brother helping him made the Eldest Imperial Brother very relieved.
The Fourth Prince nodded and then said, "Eldest Brother, don't worry."
"Even if I can't beat Eighth Brother, I will definitely make him uncomfortable."
The Eldest Imperial Brother knew very well that, given his younger brother's personality, he must have prepared for both outcomes.
But regarding the Fourth Prince's backup plan, the Eldest Imperial Brother did not comment much, only nodding.
Halftime passed in a flash, and the second half began again.
The situation on the Qúc Ju field was similar to the first half; the Eighth Prince's side was still launching fierce attacks, while the Fourth Prince's side was defending with all their might.
However, compared to the watertight defense of the first half, due to the difference in strength of the attendants, they began to face precarious situations in the second half, almost having their goal broken through several times.
It was the Fourth Prince who personally intervened to prevent the score from widening.
If the Eighth Prince succeeded in scoring, even just once, it would ruin the current favorable situation.
Although the Fourth Prince had the ability to defend against the opponent's attacks, he also knew that he absolutely could not break through the goal defended by Li Xuan and the Eighth Prince together.
As long as the score remained tied, the advantage would still be in the Fourth Prince's hands.
And as the match time continued to tick away, the Eighth Prince, as the Fourth Prince had previously predicted, began to get anxious and gradually participated more actively in the offense.
Previously, Li Xuan had been bombing from above, but it had never been effective.
Seeing that it wasn't working, the Eighth Prince stepped forward himself, using his superb ball skills to look for opportunities to score.
The Fourth Prince smiled inwardly, knowing his chance had come.
His two attendants had already reached their physical limit, and if they dragged it out any longer, they wouldn't even make it to the penalty shootout.
Therefore, the Fourth Prince had made up his mind to use an alternative tactic.
For him, whether he won or not was actually not important at all.
What was important was that Qingshu Hall could win.
"You must block this ball!"
The Fourth Prince suddenly roared, giving an undeniable command.
His two attendant eunuchs immediately felt a chill in their hearts, not daring to be careless in the slightest.
Even though their bodies now felt as heavy as lead, they still desperately squeezed out their potential, throwing their bodies high into the air.
Bang!
The Eighth Prince kicked a powerful curved shot, but it ultimately failed to get around the attendants' defense.
The ball slowly dropped to the ground, and the landing spot was actually not good; it didn't reach the front edge of the field.
When shooting, it is actually better to be closer to the opponent's goal, as this makes your shot more threatening.
Otherwise, if the distance is too great, the threat of the shot is greatly reduced.
But the Fourth Prince didn't care about these details; he ran ahead to the ball's landing spot and surprisingly began to do several side flips in place, twisting his body to an extremely uncomfortable degree.
It was hard to imagine anyone would use such a posture to shoot.
Just an instant before the Fourth Prince touched the ball, his body suddenly spun, like a top.
"What is he doing?"
Even the Eighth Prince, who was quite confident in his Qúc Ju skills, didn't understand what the Fourth Prince was doing.
The next moment, the ball flew high into the air, heading towards the Fengliu Eye on the Eighth Prince's side.
However, this ball was high and slow, appearing completely unthreatening.
Just like countless times before, Li Xuan had already flown in front of the Fengliu Eye, ready to receive this less threatening attack.
"That's it?"
In the stands, countless people voiced the same question.
They had seen the Fourth Prince shout loudly and make a lot of preparatory movements, only to kick such a ball, which was truly disappointing.
Some Little Beans even chuckled, thinking the Fourth Prince had made a fool of himself.
"This, did Fourth Imperial Brother make a mistake?"
Princess Ankang asked the person next to her.
As a result, everyone except the sleeping Seventh Princess shook their heads, indicating that they didn't understand either.
Only Li Xuan, looking at the high-flying ball, narrowed his eyes.
"Good heavens!"
He could already see the complexity of this ball and was even more surprised that the Fourth Prince could achieve this.
And the Eighth Prince's reaction on the Qúc Ju field was also quick; he suddenly widened his eyes and shouted repeatedly, "Li Xuan, get out of the way, hurry up and get out of the way!"
The Eighth Prince suddenly ran desperately, rushing towards the goal.
However, he had hesitated for a moment earlier, and now it was a bit too late to catch up.
If he had acted from the beginning, catching this ball wouldn't have been difficult for him, as no matter how high the ball was kicked, the height of the Fengliu Eye was fixed.
He habitually wanted Li Xuan to handle high balls, but he never expected that the Fourth Prince's ball contained a hidden danger.
The ball was now spinning at high speed, so blurred that one couldn't see the rotation, thinking the ball wasn't moving.
If Li Xuan were to touch such a ball unprepared, it would be enough to drag him into the ball's rotation, severely injuring him.
"Damn it, always playing these dirty tricks!"