"I... I admit defeat!"
Accompanied by this shout full of trembling and despair, a scalp-tingling roar suddenly erupted across the entire Star Luo Plaza.
This time, it was no longer simple cheering, but a roar mixed with shock, disbelief, and extreme fanaticism.
"Won? Just like that, it's over?!"
"My goodness! From the moment the referee shouted start to the end, has it even been a minute? I'd say it hasn't even been thirty seconds!"
"Too terrifying! Is this Liu Yuan? A one-man army, he directly toppled the entire Star Luo Team!"
In the audience, countless people waved the flags in their hands frantically, and some were so excited they even shouted themselves hoarse.
Although everyone bought tickets to see a battle between evenly matched rivals, this kind of visually impactful, completely unreasonable crushing victory was actually better at stimulating the innate human worship of the strong.
Liu Yuan stood in the center of the stage, his expression remaining indifferent, as if he had just done a trivial little thing.
But in the eyes of the audience, this figure had already risen infinitely, becoming an insurmountable mountain.
...
In another corner of the audience, the rest area that originally belonged to Shrek Academy, the atmosphere was so oppressive it felt like it could drip water.
"Hmph!"
A cold snort full of anger and unwillingness sounded.
Xuan Zi stood up abruptly, his greasy robes now moving without wind along with his surging spirit power.
He stared fixedly at the youth on the stage who was receiving the cheers, his clouded old eyes full of bloodshot veins.
He couldn't watch anymore.
He really couldn't watch anymore.
As a Sea Gods Pavilion Elder of Shrek Academy, he had witnessed countless moments of Shrek's glory in his life. He never thought that one day, he would witness Shrek being eliminated with his own eyes, and then watch helplessly as their arch-rival, the Sun Moon Empire, reached the top by stepping on the Star Luo Empire in an almost humiliating fashion.
"Let's go!"
Xuan Zi gritted his teeth, squeezing these two words out from between them, then without even looking at the others, he turned and strode toward the exit.
That slightly hunched back actually appeared somewhat flustered and lonely at this moment.
However, not everyone followed immediately.
Huo Yuhao, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and the others, though their expressions were complex, their gazes remained fixed on the youth on the stage.
"You won... Liu Yuan, congratulations."
Bei Bei murmured softly, a bitter smile appearing on his refined face, but it was mostly a sense of relief.
He and Liu Yuan were originally friends when they were at Shrek.
Although they were on different sides for this competition.
But the competition was over.
Privately, they could even be considered friends.
"Although we lost this time... I'm really happy for you, Brother Liu." Huo Yuhao's eyes were clear as he sighed to the Heavenly Dream Ice Worm in his sea of consciousness, "Brother Heavenly Dream, Big Brother Liu is really too strong. With that kind of speed, my Spiritual Detection couldn't keep up at all."
"Che, of course. The aura on that kid is very strange. You still have a long way to go to catch up." The Heavenly Dream Ice Worm replied lazily.
Behind everyone, Ma Xiaotao, dressed in red, was unusually quiet at this moment.
She didn't leave in anger like Xuan Zi, nor did she sigh like Bei Bei and the others.
She just stood there quietly, her pale pink eyes reflecting Liu Yuan's tall and straight figure.
There was no jealousy, no resentment.
There was only the pride and persistence belonging to the strong.
"This is the man who defeated me..."
Ma Xiaotao took a deep breath.
She was a pure Spirit Master; she worshipped power.
Liu Yuan was younger than her, yet stronger than her, and strong in an upright and open manner, strong to the point of causing despair. Losing to such a person was not shameful.
"Liu Yuan."
She silently repeated this name in her heart, her hands slowly clenching. Her nails stung her palms, but it made her even more clear-headed.
"Just wait. You won this time, but that doesn't mean forever."
"After I go back, I will Cultivate a hundred times, a thousand times harder! When we meet next time, I will definitely win it back fair and square! Definitely!"
Taking a deep look at the youth standing in the radiant light, Ma Xiaotao turned abruptly, her fiery red hair drawing a resolute arc in the air as she strode to catch up with Xuan Zi's pace.
...
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