The sharp, insulting taunts continued to rain down on the Shrek team. From the audience, waves of snickers and whispers could be heard, as many agreed that Shrek's team uniforms were indeed far too "special" for such a grand event.
"You bastard! You're looking for death!" Ma Hongjun exploded instantly, his chubby face turning a deep, furious shade of red.
"Fatty!" Tang San whispered, his own eyes growing cold.
Xiao Wu clenched her small fists, her large eyes blazing with rage. "These jerks! Their mouths are disgusting!"
Zhu Zhuqing's icy gaze was so intense it felt like a physical blade, while Jiang Zhu and Ning Rongrong's faces were also masks of anger.
Only Ye Yin, standing at the very front of the team, maintained a gentle and harmless smile, as if he hadn't heard a single foul word. Why get anxious now? If someone cursed at him, should he curse back? That wasn't his style. That wasn't revenge. What was revenge? True revenge was when someone killed one of your people, and in return, you wiped out their entire family. Killing one for one was just trading blows.
Feng Xiaotian stood with his arms crossed, a playful smile on his lips as he looked down on the members of Shrek Academy. He made no move to stop his teammates' taunts, instead seeming to approve of them. He scrutinized the seven opponents, his gaze lingering on Ye Yin for a moment before he let out a sneer.
"Heh, you're dressed like a bunch of clowns," he began, his voice dripping with condescension. "And you even brought a few delicate little girls with you? Tell me, 'Shit's Here' Academy, are you here for a beauty pageant, or are you delivering our victory to us?"
His teammates behind him roared with laughter again.
"Referee! Can we start?" Feng Xiaotian finally turned away from the Shrek team, as if looking at them any longer might dirty his eyes. He directed his impatient and arrogant gaze toward the referee at the edge of the stage. "Let's hurry up and get rid of these eyesores so we can go back and rest."
Up in the VIP section, Ning Fengzhi frowned, a flicker of displeasure in his eyes. His precious daughter was on that team. Beside him, Xue Qinghe's fingers tightened slightly on the armrest of her chair, her eyes fixed coldly on Feng Xiaotian. Emperor Xue Ye's expression remained calm, but he too showed a hint of annoyance. To publicly humiliate an opponent like this during the Imperial Tournament was simply disgraceful. Only Bishop Salas's smile deepened, as if he was thoroughly enjoying this explosive opening.
The referee finally raised his voice. "Both sides, release your Spirits! You have one minute to prepare!"
The members of Shenfeng Academy smiled proudly as their spirit power erupted instantly. With a series of soft puffs, the neat and uniform lights of their spirit rings lit up the stage. Their leader, Feng Xiaotian, revealed two yellow and two purple rings—a standard and powerful configuration for a four-ring Spirit Ancestor. Among his six teammates, two others also displayed four rings in the same Yellow, Yellow, Purple, Purple combination. The remaining four were all three-ring Spirit Elders with two yellow and one purple ring.
Three Spirit Ancestors and four Spirit Elders! The crowd gasped in admiration. As expected of one of the Five Element Academies, their foundation was solid. Feng Xiaotian, as a level 45 attack-system Battle Spirit Ancestor, radiated the most formidable aura of all. This was the strength of a true elite team.
"See that, you country bumpkins?" the spiky-haired youth from Shenfeng Academy lifted his chin proudly. "This is what true elites look like! You… huh?"
His taunt died in his throat. The smug look on his face froze completely. It wasn't just him; the confident, controlled smile on Feng Xiaotian's face also stiffened. The entire arena, filled with tens of thousands of people, fell into a deathly silence. Then, like cold water hitting a sizzling pan of oil, a tsunami of shocked exclamations and sharp gasps of air swept through the Great Spirit Arena.
"Oh my God! What is that?!"
"Impossible! Am I seeing things?!"
"And… and are those black spirit rings?!"
On the stage, the seven members of Shrek Academy had unleashed a wave of spirit power far more immense and profound than that of Shenfeng Academy.
Swish!
The first to light up was Ye Yin. Purple! Purple! Purple! Black! Black! Five spirit rings pulsed slowly around him. The immense yet restrained aura they released instantly made the air feel several times heavier.
Next was Xiao Wu. Purple! Purple! Purple! Black! A phantom of the domineering Jade Rabbit flashed behind her as she completed her spirit possession.
Then Zhu Zhuqing. Purple! Purple! Purple! Black! The icy killing intent of the Hell Civet radiated from her as her four powerful rings appeared.
And Ning Rongrong. Purple! Purple! Purple! Black! The legendary Nine-and-a-Half Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda spun gracefully in her palm.
Jiang Zhu revealed three rings: Yellow, Yellow, Purple. The golden Healing Scepter spirit appeared in her hand, emitting a gentle life aura.
Ma Hongjun also showed three rings: Yellow, Yellow, Purple. As his Phoenix spirit possessed him, scorching flames erupted, and his figure seemed to grow taller, filled with the might of the Evil Fire Phoenix.
Finally, there was Tang San. White?! Yellow, Purple. Although he didn't have a black spirit ring, he possessed the only white hundred-year spirit ring on the field, making him unique in his own way.
The Shrek Seven. One Spirit King! Three Spirit Ancestors! Three Spirit Elders!
The appearance of a Spirit King was already outrageous enough, but the spirit ring configurations of that Spirit King and the other Spirit Ancestors completely overturned everyone's understanding of what was possible. Their rings alone were enough to silence the entire arena.
The spiky-haired student from Shenfeng Academy, who had been so arrogant just moments before, looked as if his eyes were about to pop out of his head. "Purple… purple… millennium rings? All of them? And… and ten-thousand-year rings?! Black?! H-How is this possible?!"
"And the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda spirit! They're from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School!" another student whispered, a chill running down his spine. They had just insulted a power they could never afford to offend.
"No… look… that pagoda has nine and a half layers!" the sharp-faced student's voice cracked with unbelievable fear.
The stiffness on Feng Xiaotian's face was quickly replaced by an unprecedented solemnity. He stared intently at the spirit rings on Ye Yin, Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong. The two profound, mountain-like black rings on Ye Yin completely erased the disdain from his heart, replacing it with a powerful sense of crisis.
The audience completely erupted.
"My God! Am I seeing things? Millennium rings as their first ones? And ten-thousand-year rings?!"
"Did you see that lineup? Three of their Spirit Ancestors have three purple and one black ring! And that monster in the lead has two black rings!"
"The Nine-and-a-Half Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda! The legend from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School is real!"
"But what's up with that Tang San guy? Why does he have a white ten-year spirit ring? It looks so out of place among those monsters."
"How is it out of place? It's exactly because it's so unique that it fits right in with the rest of those freaks!"
"Shenfeng Academy must be completely stunned right now. One minute they were calling them 'shit,' and the next minute they pull out ten-thousand-year spirit rings!"
"That's what you get for being arrogant!"
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