Chapter 47 Annihilation Squad_2
"Quick, report this matter to His Majesty."
...
The weather today wasn't great, gloomy and somewhat oppressive. The clouds in the sky weren't dark, but they just wouldn't let the sun show its face.
Fortunately, the air was still fresh, and it hadn't rained.
Atop the city walls, Xu Jiawei looked over the arena that had not even reached a third of its capacity and felt somewhat melancholy.
His expression was ugly.
The financial officer also noticed the gloom on His Majesty the Emperor's face and silently wiped the cold sweat from his cheeks, bending over to explain, "Your Majesty, we indeed sold nearly half the tickets before... but then, this morning, right when the competition started, we had another wave of ticket returns, so now we only have... barely a third of the audience left."
The financial officer also felt helpless in his heart.
Hadn't every Soul Master contest in the past been overcrowded, with tickets hard to come by?
But now, look. More than half the seats were empty.
It was indeed unprecedented.
"Let it be," Xu Jiawei said with a wave of his hand.
What could he do with what had already happened?
Weren't the problems his own doing?
He could only hope things would get better from here on out...
"Proceed with the competition schedule as planned," Xu Jiawei commanded.
No sooner had Xu Jiawei's voice fallen than a minister responsible for this matter conveyed the order.
The match began, as announced by the referee.
"Next up, please welcome the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Academy and Skywind Academy to the arena..."
Backstage, the members of the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Academy walked onto the stage.
Qin Xiao, Meng Hongchen, Xiao Hongchen, and others took their places in the special audience seats.
...
"Beibei, what are you looking at?" Xu Sanshi asked, noticing Beibei's absent-minded gaze after the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Academy took their seats as usual.
"Nothing much, I thought I saw someone familiar," Beibei replied.
In the Sun Moon Spiritual Guide Academy's team, Beibei had spotted Qin Xiao.
Memories flooded his mind, and he instinctively thought of the young man who grilled fish they encountered outside the Aquipeia Forest with Tang Ya.
"Someone familiar?" Xu Sanshi asked curiously, looking around.
That team was from the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Academy; they were the enemies. Where would a familiar face come from?
"Must have been my mistake..." Beibei shook his head. It must be the anxiety over the Soul Master contest causing him not to rest well, making him hallucinate.
How could a member of the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Academy team be that young man?
That guy had no great ambitions, wanting nothing more than to return to his village and live the easy life of a Soul Master after becoming one.
How could he possibly go to the Sun-Moon Empire, much less enter the highly demanding Sun Moon Team?
It wasn't possible.
Absolutely not possible.
...
The Skywind Team was quite strong, average Soul King level fighters indeed.
However,
they still couldn't match up to Ma Rulong and the other Imperial Sun Moon Soul Academy members' firepower and were regretfully defeated.
That was to be expected.
The title of perennial runner-up of the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Academy wasn't for nothing.
As long as they didn't face the top contender, they were unbeatable.
"Heh, I'm actually looking forward to seeing what kind of trick Shrek Academy has up its sleeve today," Qin Xiao chuckled to himself as he sat in the audience seats.
Given the strong public reaction toward the event, he figured His Majesty Xu Jiawei probably wouldn't dare favor Shrek too openly, would he?
If that were the case, it wouldn't just be courting death; it would be seeking it.
The competition continued.
The Sky Soul Royal Academy was victorious.
The Fighting Spirit Royal Academy also claimed victory.
Next up was Shrek Academy versus Yun Luo Academy.
"I'm here today to see what kind of show Shrek and Yun Luo can put on, not just the competition itself," a voice in the audience proclaimed.
"Hahaha, indeed, I didn't spend money to watch the match, but to watch the drama unfold," another joined in.
"Exactly. The fun of this Soul Master contest isn't just from the Soul Masters' fierce competition, but also from seeing how much trouble the Xingluo Empire and the various academies can stir up," said another voice.
"..."
Unexpectedly, the audience was extremely excited.
However,
when these words reached the ears of the hosting nation, the Xingluo Empire, they felt different.
It was like an invisible slap had harshly struck their faces.
What did they mean by stirring up trouble?
It seemed to them that the people's thinking had gone awry.
Shortly after,
the members of Shrek Academy took the stage for their match.
The crowd looked on in relief as the audience remained relatively calm.
Thank goodness...
No one threw rotten eggs or spoiled vegetable leaves.
Beibei took a deep breath and said to the referee, "Our Shrek Academy team members have all arrived."
"Would the Yun Luo Academy team members please come to the stage quickly?"
The referee urged them with the microphone.
However.
The representatives of Yun Luo Academy still did not appear.
Even after the waiting time had passed, there was no one on stage.
What's happening... The referee frowned in confusion.
He instinctively looked up at Xu Jiawei on top of the city wall, seeking an explanation.
However.
To his surprise, Xu Jiawei also looked completely clueless.
Could it be... the absence of Yun Luo Academy wasn't arranged by His Majesty?
The referee was at a loss for a moment.
The initial match had already put Shrek on hot coals with the Xingluo Empire. Announcing a Shrek victory now... the consequences would be unthinkable.
Time ticked away, second by second.
After waiting a little longer and still no sign of Yun Luo Academy, the referee gritted his teeth and announced the result.
"As you all can see, the Yun Luo Academy team has not shown up and is deemed to have forfeited by default.
Therefore, the winner of this match is Shrek Academy!
Let us congratulate them with warm applause," the referee tried to stir up the crowd's emotion.
But not a single person clapped.
Instead, there were quite a few whistles.
"Just directly arrange for Yun Luo Academy not to come, and let Shrek win like this. Haha, impressive!"
"I've gained some insight. I've been watching the Soul Master competitions for several sessions, and this is the first time I've seen cheating done so openly."
"I must say, this move has once again exceeded my understanding. I'll still buy a ticket for the next match; I want to see if Shrek and the organizers have any bottom line at all."
"Don't worry, they definitely won't disappoint us. This act was well done; I'll reward you with a copper soul coin."
"..."
The public ridiculed without holding back.
Someone even took out a copper soul coin and threw it into the arena.
The main thing was mockery.
"Incredible, it's actually incredible. There's no point in participating in the Soul Master competition; it's completely dominated by Shrek's decision."
"Whoever wants to come, come, but I'm definitely not coming to the next session."
"If you're not coming, I'm not coming either."
"Who cares about this crappy competition, whoever loves it can come."
The emotions of all the major participating academies were also extremely unstable.
They had fought hard until now, exerting a lot of effort.
Some academies even suffered considerable casualties.
But what about Shrek?
They were just lying down and advancing.
Facts proved effort was futile; what they struggled for was easily obtainable by others.
Some were born in Rome, while others were born as beasts of burden.
...
On the other side.
Xiao Hongchen kept smacking his lips.
"I was wrong. I thought this match would be another spectacular show, but it ended before it even started."
"I have to rate that move with a 6!"
Qin Xiao chuckled, "Things may not be so simple... there might be a twist."
Before, he had sensed a strong soul power fluctuation erupting outside of Xingluo City.
Later, he even took out a map and, surprisingly, found that Yun Luo Academy was in that direction.
He speculated that there might be some unknown secrets involved.
"Wait! "
"Shrek cannot advance in the competition, they cheated!"
Just as the dust was settling, a loud shout captured everyone's attention.
The crowd followed the sound and saw five or six powerful Soul Sages ignoring the guards around the arena, charging through the blockade with great momentum onto the field.
Each of them was stained with blood, and their faces were filled with grief and anger.
"Arrest them!" shouted the referee at the sight, and the Soul Masters guarding nearby rushed forward.
"We are teachers from Yun Luo Academy, our academy has been attacked!"
"The dean and all the student competitors... they're all dead, it's so tragic!"
"Step aside, we must have His Majesty deliver us justice!"
"Yun Luo Academy was not bribed by Shrek; we just suffered an unimaginable disaster!"
"..."
Many teachers from Yun Luo Academy issued angry roars.