The third match of the individual elimination round between Tang Sect and the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy began—and ended—in the blink of an eye.
He Caitou, a Soul Emperor and sixth-level soul engineer, faced the Sun Moon team's Xiao Ping. The outcome was immediate and brutal: He Caitou's overwhelming firepower crushed his opponent in seconds.
And when the smoke cleared, Xiao Ping was dead—killed right before the Chief Referee Zheng Zhan's eyes.
For a moment, the entire arena fell silent. Zheng Zhan's expression turned as dark as thunderclouds, while the Sun Moon team's captain, Xiao Hongchen, trembled with rage. His fists clenched so tightly that blood dripped from his palms.
"Enough!" he shouted, his fury boiling over. "The next match—I'll go myself!"
But just as he stepped forward, Bei Bei, Tang Sect's captain, raised his hand calmly. "No need," he said with a faint smile. "Tang Sect will forfeit the remaining individual matches. Let's move straight to the team battle."
Xiao Hongchen froze. For an instant, he looked as though he'd been punched in the gut—full of rage, but with nowhere to unleash it. His face twisted into a dark scowl.
At this point, the situation was clear to everyone: the Sun Moon team had lost three members, leaving only four still standing. Tang Sect, on the other hand, remained at full strength.
That meant the upcoming team battle would be four against seven—an utterly lopsided match.
All around the arena, the audience broke into loud discussion. Some were shocked, others thrilled. One thing was certain—Tang Sect had become the tournament's biggest dark horse. To push the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy—the continent's top soul engineer academy—to this extent was nothing short of legendary.
Most spectators already considered the result a foregone conclusion. Based on Tang Sect's earlier displays of strength—a Soul Sage, three Soul Emperors, and even their lower-ranked members all around the Soul Ancestor level—there was simply no way for the Sun Moon team to turn the tide.
The only question left was how their proud captain, Xiao Hongchen, would handle such humiliation.
For a long while, Xiao Hongchen said nothing. His expression shifted between fury, frustration, and something far more complicated. Finally, with a heavy sigh, he lifted his head.
"Team battle…" he said, his voice low and hoarse. "We surrender."
A stunned silence swept the entire arena.
Even Zheng Zhan blinked in disbelief. "What did you say?" he asked slowly, as though unsure he'd heard correctly. "Are you certain your team wishes to forfeit?"
"I'm certain," Xiao Hongchen replied. This time, his tone was calm—resolute. The fury had faded from his face, replaced by quiet composure. "We surrender."
Zheng Zhan studied him for a long moment, then gave a small nod. "Very well. You've made the right choice." His voice rang clearly across the arena. "The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy team has conceded the team battle. The victory goes to—Tang Sect!"
For a heartbeat, there was silence. Then the entire stadium exploded into noise.
Gasps, shouts, even curses filled the air. The citizens of the Sun Moon Empire were enraged, some even hurling insults at their own team. Yet in the other teams' rest areas, the reactions were quite different. Many of the competitors looked at Xiao Hongchen with unexpected admiration.
To surrender was shameful—but in this case, it was also the wisest possible choice.
With only four members remaining, facing a full-strength Tang Sect was suicide. Even if they somehow won this one group-stage match, there were still six more battles ahead. Losing their remaining members now would doom their chances of advancing later.
Xiao Hongchen's decision, though painful, was rational. He had grown—no longer the arrogant boy of the past, but a leader who could shoulder responsibility.
"Tsk, tsk…" Zhu Ziyang smirked in the Shrek Academy lounge. "It seems Xiao Hongchen's matured quite a bit over these years. For someone as proud as him to voluntarily admit defeat—that's rare."
Ma Xiaotao nodded, her tone light but approving. "Still, it's a good thing. With this, Tang Sect's path to the top eight should be smooth. I checked their bracket—aside from the Sun Moon team, none of the other six teams pose much of a threat."
She chuckled. "Looks like we'll have two teams in the quarterfinals—Shrek Academy and Tang Sect. Not bad at all."
Zhu Ziyang smiled faintly. "Not bad indeed."
By noon, the day's matches had ended. The members of Shrek Academy returned to their hotel. Though they were allowed a day and a half of rest, Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao did not permit free activity. Instead, they instructed everyone to remain in the hotel to meditate, cultivate, or rest.
Meanwhile, Zhu Ziyang himself stayed busy. Seizing the momentum of Tang Sect's victory over the Sun Moon team, he began introducing Tang Sect's inventions to potential buyers—the royal families of the Heavenly Soul Empire and the Star Luo Empire.
Both empires, feeling immense military pressure from the Sun Moon Empire, were eager for any advantage they could get. The Tang Sect's Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannon was exactly what they needed.
Just as Zhu Ziyang predicted, the response was immediate.
The Star Luo Empire's Princess Xu Jiujing and the Heavenly Soul Empire's Princess Vina were both captivated the moment they saw the weapon. Within an hour, they had become fast friends with Tang Ya, Tang Sect's leader—addressing her affectionately as "Sister Tang Ya."
Tang Ya, ever adaptable, matched their warmth without missing a beat. "Jiujing-sis," "Vina-sis"—she returned each title with ease, utterly unbothered by their royal status.
From the outside, the three of them looked like lifelong friends chatting happily together.
Of course, everyone knew that friendship born from nowhere had one true foundation: mutual interest.
After enough pleasantries, the two princesses got to the real topic—the price of the Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannons. They wanted maximum benefit for minimum cost. But Tang Ya wasn't naïve, and with the sharp-minded Bei Bei advising her, there was no chance of being taken advantage of.
Their negotiations dragged on for hours before finally concluding in a deal that satisfied both sides.
In the end, Tang Sect secured its first major profit, the two empires obtained a valuable arsenal, and Shrek Academy earned their goodwill. A true win-win situation.
Before departing, Princess Vina even promised to help Tang Sect reclaim their ancestral site in Heaven Dou City.
Of course, everyone knew what she was really after. But for Tang Ya, that old site was more symbolic than practical. The modern Tang Sect's base in Shrek City—rebuilt and thriving thanks to Bei Bei and the others—was their true home.
Vina's promise was a gesture, nothing more.
Meanwhile, Princess Xu Jiujing had her sights set elsewhere. Upon learning that the Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannon's chief designer was none other than Huo Yuhao, a genius from her own Star Luo Empire, she immediately expressed interest in meeting him.
"Just a visit between compatriots," she said sweetly.
But unfortunately for her, Huo Yuhao was otherwise occupied—currently in the middle of a particularly intense training session with Wang Dong'er.
Time passed swiftly.
On the third day of the group stage, Shrek Academy faced their next opponent—the Star Luo Imperial Academy.
But this year's Star Luo team was mediocre at best. Seven Soul Kings, all confident at the start—and all utterly crushed in less than a minute. Zhou Tianhe and Chu Hua, leading five reserve members, dismantled them effortlessly.
The audience barely had time to blink before the match was over.
Two consecutive victories for Shrek Academy. Six straight wins across all stages. Their momentum was unstoppable.
The next day, the spotlight shifted to Group One, where the Heaven Armor Sect faced the Holy Spirit Sect—the latter's first group match.
It was a massacre.
The Holy Spirit Sect, composed entirely of evil soul masters, showed no mercy. Their powers were eerie, their attacks cruel. The Heaven Armor Sect never stood a chance. Five of their seven members died horribly, their bodies left unrecognizable.
The scene left the crowd horrified. The Holy Spirit Sect had already been warned multiple times for their brutality, but it was clear now that such "warnings" meant nothing.
Everyone understood the truth—the Holy Spirit Sect wouldn't even be here unless the Sun Moon Empire's government had approved it.
The other teams could only watch in grim silence, praying they wouldn't face those monsters next.
Even among the spectators, murmurs spread. Many Sun Moon citizens sensed that something about the Holy Spirit Sect wasn't right—but they said nothing.
As long as the Sect represented the Empire, most chose to look the other way. Only when it would threaten their nation's pride would they suddenly "condemn" the evil soul masters and act as if they had always opposed them.
Such was the hypocrisy of the world.
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