"Dean, what is that kid Huo Feng doing?"
In the corner of the spectator stands, Zao Wou-Ki was completely baffled. What in the world was going on? Except for Huo Feng, the entire Shrek team had eaten Oscar's sausages and flown into the sky. Was Huo Feng really planning to fight six opponents all by himself?
It was absurd! Even as a Spirit Saint, Zao Wou-Ki had never witnessed such a scene. The kid fought without any logic!
The most ridiculous part was that Huo Feng actually seemed to be in control of the battle. With a single use of his first spirit ability, he had electrocuted all six members of the Berserker Team, leaving them temporarily paralyzed. His primary target, the spider woman, was in the worst state. Since the other five fighters could only attack effectively under her command, they were now just headless chickens. With their leader stunned, all they could do was roar in frustration, which the audience found hilarious.
They had only ever seen the Berserker Team brutalize their opponents. When had they ever seen them being toyed with like this?
"Dean, don't tell me this was your arrangement too?" Zao Wou-Ki asked, stiffly turning his neck to stare at Flender.
Flender immediately became defensive. "Why does everyone blame me for everything? Whenever something crazy happens, you ask if I planned it."
He was being honest. He would never dare to arrange such a risky strategy for a team battle. If they won, it would be a legendary victory. But if they lost, they would be shamed endlessly.
"I would never dare to plan something like that," Flender said, his mouth twitching as he shook his head.
Just then, a somewhat familiar voice spoke from behind him. "Is Shrek's team battle over?"
Hearing that voice, Flender nearly jumped out of his seat. Oh no! Yu Xiaogang?
Hadn't that man left with his precious disciple, Tang San? He hadn't shown up for the one-on-one or two-on-two matches, so Flender assumed they had gone back to the hotel. Why on earth was he back now?
Flender turned and, sure enough, saw Yu Xiaogang walking toward him. The small smile that had been on his face instantly vanished. He didn't know why, but whenever he saw Yu Xiaogang lately, he had a feeling that something bad was about to happen.
"No, it's still going on," Flender said, casually pointing toward the arena below.
Yu Xiaogang nodded and shamelessly sat down right next to him.
After taking Tang San back to the hotel, Yu Xiaogang had felt restless. Although his disciple was now "famous" in the arena, it wasn't the good kind of fame. There was a saying that even being infamous was a form of fame, but Yu Xiaogang knew that this kind of reputation faded quickly and often left a lasting stain.
So, after telling Tang San to get some rest, he had returned to the Soto Great Spirit Arena alone. He wanted to see how the other Shrek members were performing in the team battle. If he saw anything he didn't like, he would argue with Flender and demand that he swap a player out for his disciple, Tang San.
If the Shrek team happened to lose to a strong opponent, he would have an even better reason to make his case. In Tang San's current state, it would be incredibly difficult for him to win a single match, let alone earn any points. He couldn't win his solo matches, and Dai Mubai had refused to partner with him for the duo battles. As a substitute in the team battles, he had no chance to play at all, and substitutes didn't earn any arena points.
In short, Yu Xiaogang had returned to find fault. On his way over, he had already decided on his targets: Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ma Hongjun. Their spirit power ranks were only a level or two higher than Tang San's, so it would be reasonable to ask for one of them to be replaced. Huo Feng, Dai Mubai, and Oscar were Spirit Elders, and Xiao Wu was a rank twenty-nine Spirit Grandmaster, so they were out of the question.
He considered his options. Ning Rongrong's martial soul was too valuable in a team battle, making her difficult to replace. Zhu Zhuqing was the team's only agility-attack type Spirit Master, so her position was also secure.
That left Ma Hongjun. His spirit power wasn't that high, and his strength wasn't overwhelming. Plus, he had a lazy streak. He was the perfect target. There was just one major problem: Ma Hongjun was Flender's own disciple. Asking Flender to bench his own student for Yu Xiaogang's put him in a very difficult position.
That was why he had come here personally—to find a reason, an undeniable flaw in their performance, that Flender couldn't argue against. If he could just get Tang San into the team's rotation, or even better, a starting position, that would be enough.
A faint smile appeared on Yu Xiaogang's face as he thought about his plan. It felt as if everything was falling into place, giving him the illusion of being a master strategist controlling things from behind the scenes.
He slowly turned his gaze to the arena, and then he froze, completely petrified in his seat.
The six other Shrek students were flying high in the air, leaving only Huo Feng on the stage below. Just then, the spider woman broke free from the paralysis, and her five teammates rallied around her. Together, they began to close in on Huo Feng from all sides.
The sight made Yu Xiaogang laugh to himself. The six in the air looked exhausted; they were clearly out of options and had been forced to flee. And Huo Feng, alone on the stage, was cornered and facing a desperate situation.
The Shrek team was going to lose!
Aha! Yu Xiaogang thought. He had wondered why Flender looked so unhappy a moment ago. It was because the team he was leading was about to suffer its first defeat in the Soto Great Spirit Arena. No wonder.
Once they lost, the chances of Tang San joining the starting lineup would increase dramatically. Later, he was confident he could talk Flender into a corner.
Thinking of this, Yu Xiaog-ang nodded with great satisfaction and turned to look at Flender.
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