In the third round of the individual elimination matches between the Tang Sect Team and the Sun Moon Team, He Caitou of the Tang Sect faced Xiao Ping of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy. This match was very quick; He Caitou, a Spirit Emperor and a sixth-rank Soul Engineer, easily defeated and killed Xiao Ping.
That's right, the third contestant from the Sun Moon Team also died, and he was killed right in front of the chief referee. This made Chief Referee Zheng Zhan's expression extremely grim, and it infuriated Xiao Hongchen, the captain of the Sun Moon Team, who immediately jumped up and announced that he would personally participate in the next match.
However, the Tang Sect did not play by the rules. Bei Bei, the captain of the Tang Sect Team, immediately announced that the Tang Sect would forfeit the remaining individual elimination matches and opt for a team battle.
This move undoubtedly made the enraged Xiao Hongchen feel like he had punched cotton, leaving his face extremely dark. Given the current situation, the Sun Moon Team only had four members left, while the Tang Sect Team was at full strength. This meant that in the upcoming team battle, they would face a four-on-seven situation, which was very unfavorable.
At the scene, both the audience and other participating teams were discussing animatedly. The Tang Sect was undoubtedly the biggest dark horse of this competition, capable of pushing the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy Team, the continent's top Soul Engineer Academy, to such an extent. There was no longer any suspense for the upcoming team battle. Based on the strength the Tang Sect had previously displayed—one Spirit Saint and three Spirit Emperors—even if the remaining three members were Spirit Ancestors, it would still be enough to deal with the four members of the Sun Moon Team.
In fact, it was the Sun Moon Team's response that was now more curious and anticipated. As one of the top academies on the continent, and as the number one genius touted by the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, how would Xiao Hongchen, the captain of the Sun Moon Team, deal with such a situation?
Xiao Hongchen quickly provided the answer. With a grim expression and complex light flickering in his eyes, he spoke with great difficulty, "Team battle, we surrender!"
As his words fell, the scene immediately erupted in an uproar. Zheng Zhan looked at Xiao Hongchen in disbelief, asking somewhat uncertainly, "What did you say? Are you sure you want to surrender?"
"Confirmed!" Xiao Hongchen, at this point, seemed to have found peace, and the dark expression on his face dissipated considerably. He nodded seriously in response.
"Very well!" Zheng Zhan paused, gave Xiao Hongchen a deep look, and then announced, "The Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy Team surrenders in the team competition. In this match, the Tang Sect wins."
Upon hearing this, the scene immediately boiled over. Everyone couldn't believe their ears, and the audience from the Sun Moon Empire erupted in a wave of curses. However, in the resting area, other participating teams felt a certain admiration for Xiao Hongchen's decision.
Surrendering was undoubtedly the most correct decision for the Sun Moon Team. Not to mention that they only had four people, and the probability of defeating opponents of equal strength in a situation of numerical disadvantage was almost zero. Just considering the nature of this match, it wasn't worth them continuing to fight fiercely. It was just a group stage match, and there were six more matches after this. If they won the next six matches, they could still advance.
After comprehensive consideration, Xiao Hongchen made this decision, which could potentially ruin his reputation, but he had grown and was destined not to be disheartened by it.
"Tsk tsk tsk! It seems Xiao Hongchen has grown quite a bit these past few years!" Zhu Ziyang smacked his lips, "It's truly rare for someone as proud as him to voluntarily surrender."
"This way, the Tang Sect should be able to advance steadily," Ma Xiaotao, however, was focused on another point. She said, "I've checked, in Group Two, besides the Sun Moon Team, the other six teams pose little threat to the Tang Sect. So, the Tang Sect has a very high chance of entering the top eight. This way, we'll have two teams in the top eight, hehe!"
"That's right!" Zhu Ziyang nodded.
After the morning matches ended, the Shrek Team returned to the hotel. They had a day and a half to allocate freely, but Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao did not allow them free activities, instead instructing them to stay in the hotel to cultivate or rest.
At the same time, during this day and a half, Zhu Ziyang was not idle. He took advantage of the lingering buzz from the Tang Sect's victory over the Sun Moon Academy to introduce business to the Tang Sect. The clients were naturally the two imperial families of the Tianhun Empire and the Star Luo Empire. After all, these two Empires had a very high demand for spirit tools to cope with the military pressure from the Sun Moon Empire, and the Tang Sect's Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannon could temporarily alleviate their urgent needs.
As Zhu Ziyang had predicted, Princess Princess Xu Jiujiu of the Star Luo Empire and Princess Vina of the Tianhun Empire immediately became close sisters with Tang Ya, the Sect master of the Tang Sect, upon seeing the Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannon. They called each other "Sister Tang Ya" and "Sister Tang Ya" (referring to each other as younger and older sister respectively). Tang Ya, seizing the opportunity, immediately reciprocated with "Sister Jiujiu" and "Sister Vina," completely disregarding their princess identities.
Looking at the three women chatting and laughing, one might not know how good their relationship truly was.
Any unprovoked show of goodwill ultimately aims at profit, and Princess Xu Jiujiu and Vina were no exception. After becoming superficial sisters with Tang Ya, the two began to discuss the sale of the Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannon. Naturally, both wanted to pay the lowest price for the greatest benefit. However, Tang Ya was naive, but not foolish, so she naturally wouldn't agree.
Moreover, there was a very shrewd Bei Bei by Tang Ya's side, helping her with ideas. Therefore, the back-and-forth between the seller and buyers lasted for a long time until a mutually satisfactory plan was finally negotiated. The final result was that the Tang Sect gained its first revenue, the two Empires acquired a considerable amount of equipment, and Shrek Academy received thanks from both sides, a win-win situation for all.
At the end of the event, Princess Vina of the Tianhun Empire promised to help the Tang Sect reclaim its old Sect site in Heaven Dou City. Her intentions were not at all hidden. It was just a pity that the old Tang Sect site in Heaven Dou City had only one meaning for the current Tang Sect: it was Tang Ya's sentiment. It had no other use. After all, the Tang Sect in Shrek City had already taken initial shape after years of management and development by Bei Bei and others. They would not be foolish enough to abandon Shrek City and move to Heaven Dou City.
Unlike Vina, who wanted to win over the Tang Sect through its old site, Princess Xu Jiujiu's goal was more precise. She learned that the Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannon was designed by Huo Yuhao and proposed to meet this genius from her Star Luo Empire. Well, it was perfectly reasonable for a princess of the Star Luo Empire to meet a citizen of the Star Luo Empire, leaving no room for criticism. Unfortunately, Huo Yuhao was not in the mood to meet her at this time; young Huo was busy training Wang Dong'er and had no free time.
Time quickly advanced to the third day of the group stage. Shrek Academy would face its second opponent, the Star Luo Empire Royal Academy, in the second match this morning.
The strength of this year's Star Luo Team was very ordinary. With seven Spirit King contestants, they were directly swept 2-7 by Shrek Academy in the individual elimination matches. In the team battle, they were even more helplessly defeated by Zhou Tianhe and Chu Hua leading five members of the reserve team. The entire process took less than a minute, which was utterly humiliating.
Shrek Academy secured two consecutive wins in the group stage, making it six consecutive wins in the overall competition.
On the fourth day of the competition, the match for Group One was between the Tianjia Sect Team and the Holy Spirit Sect Team. This was the Holy Spirit Sect Team's first match in the group stage and the Tianjia Sect Team's second match.
The entire battle could be described as extremely tragic. As a team composed entirely of Evil Soul Masters, the Holy Spirit Sect possessed eerie abilities and cruel methods. The Tianjia Sect Team was no match, and five of their seven members suffered tragic fates, dying without a complete corpse.
Such actions by the Holy Spirit Sect Team immediately aroused the dissatisfaction of most participating teams. Having been warned during the preliminaries, the Holy Spirit Sect Team was warned again. However, everyone knew that this warning was just a formality. By this point in the competition, everyone understood that the Holy Spirit Sect's blatant participation in the competition already indicated the official stance of the Sun Moon Empire.
Everyone could only feel resentment while praying not to encounter them in subsequent matches.
Although the Sun Moon Empire citizens watching the competition were more or less aware of the Holy Spirit Sect Team's abnormality, no one raised any questions. This was because the Holy Spirit Sect Team was a team from the Sun Moon Empire. Before their ridiculous disguise was clearly exposed, if they could bring glory to their nation, these citizens of the Sun Moon Empire could still turn a blind eye.Of course, if the national prestige and reputation were damaged, they would immediately show their deep hatred for Evil Soul Masters and quickly turn against them, which was also an unpredictable matter.