Chapter 197: Overdid the Showing Off
The situation on the field instantly became Furina versus the seven of them—Huo Yuhao and his group.
On the platform, Elder Mu leaned back in his wheelchair and spoke slowly: "Shaozhe, and Xuanzi, you two take a guess—who will win?"
Yan Shaozhe thought for a moment and answered respectfully, "Elder Mu, I believe no matter how strong Furina is, she can't possibly defeat seven opponents alone. Although Huo Yuhao and the other seven just went through a chaotic melee, on the surface, their soul power consumption doesn't appear that great. Moreover, Huo Yuhao's monstrous first soul skill is still active, and his second and third soul skills have barely been used."
He paused and continued his analysis: "As for Furina—though she is the Pope of the Water God Church and has reached the Soul King level at such a young age, plus those bizarre soul bone skills, when it comes down to it, she is still a Food-type support soul master."
"The defensive power of her fifth soul skill's barrier is indeed outrageously strong, but it has a time limit—once the time is up, it's gone. Her other soul skills are all support in nature; there are very few that can truly fight."
Yan Shaozhe felt his analysis was quite on point. After all, up until now, this was indeed the strength Furina had displayed.
But he suddenly remembered something and his words halted.
Not long ago, Furina had come to him asking for the ultimate martial soul cultivation method.
Also, during the freshman assessment, she had single-handedly suppressed Ma Xiaotao, who was in a berserk state at the Soul Emperor level.
Yan Shaozhe's expression shifted, and he hurriedly added: "No... Furina might also possess a second martial soul, and it could be an ultimate martial soul."
Before Elder Xuan could even open his mouth, Elder Mu laughed.
"You've said so much. What a pity the match below has already ended."
Elder Xuan and Yan Shaozhe both froze and simultaneously looked down toward the Spirit Arena district.
Furina was not on the stage.
Down below the stage, she was standing there, dusting off her hands. The arena floor, aside from the craters and scars left by the previous melee, bore no new traces of combat whatsoever.
It was as if there hadn't been a fight at all.
Yan Shaozhe stared blankly: "What... what happened?"
Elder Mu stroked his beard and said leisurely, "There was no fight at all. That little girl withdrew on her own."
Elder Xuan bit into his chicken leg and asked indistinctly, "Didn't she just say that the last seven should come fight her? Why'd she change her mind in the blink of an eye?"
Elder Mu smiled: "Too lazy."
"..."
Just as Elder Mu said, Furina had indeed found it too troublesome.
It was originally just an offhand remark. She wasn't competing for the title of Shrek Seven Devils anyway—why put in that much effort?
While Elder Mu and the others were discussing, Furina walked up to Huo Yuhao and his group, clapped her hands, and said with a beaming smile, "Not bad, not bad! I've seen everyone's performance! I knew you guys could take on a hundred."
Wang Dong rolled her eyes and snorted: "If you hadn't tipped them off, we could've finished the fight even faster and more easily."
Clearly, she still had a bit of a grievance about Furina helping Dai Huabin's side with her words earlier.
Furina stuck out her tongue and said with a cheeky grin, "Ha ha ha, I was just showing my faith in your strength—just adding a little difficulty for you all. You wouldn't blame me, would you?"
Wang Dong took a step forward and crooked a finger at Furina: "Alright, now there's only you left. Come on, the seven of us against you alone!"
She turned her head and glared at Huo Yuhao, emphasizing: "Huo Yuhao, no holding back!"
During the freshman assessment, Furina had deliberately forfeited midway to give Huo Yuhao a chance to get his revenge, causing her to miss the chance to fight Furina. She'd finally caught an opportunity this time—she definitely wanted to see just how strong Furina really was.
Huo Yuhao smiled helplessly and nodded: "Don't worry, don't worry. I'll definitely go all out."
In the end, Furina simply turned around, walked a few steps to the edge of the arena, and jumped straight down.
"Sorry! I forfeit! You guys win!"
Standing below the stage, she waved at Wang Dong and said with her tongue still sticking out: "Just consider what I said earlier a joke. I'm not interested in the top seven. You all enjoy your hard-earned victory. Next time there's a chance, we'll fight."
With that, she tucked her hands behind her back, stepped back a few paces, and turned to leave.
Only, she didn't watch her step and tripped over a rock, stumbling forward two steps and nearly falling flat on her face.
"Pfft—" Wang Dong, who had still been huffing with anger, burst out laughing at this sight. "Ha ha ha ha! Furina, so even you have days like this!"
Furina's face flushed red. She steadied herself and muttered: "Damn it, got careless... overdid the showing off..."
The others on the field also laughed out loud. It wasn't every day they got to see Furina eat humble pie like this.
Elder Xuan bit into his chicken leg and waved at the teachers by the sidelines: "Those eliminated and those who forfeited, all of you can go back. You seven, stay."
Furina didn't rush off. She found a step to sit on, propped her chin on her hands, and prepared to watch the show.
The eliminated students stood where they were, not moving, their gazes all falling on Elder Xuan. Quite a few of their faces still carried dissatisfaction. They felt they hadn't even gotten to display their true strength before being eliminated—far too unjust.
Elder Xuan took another bite of his chicken leg, chewed, and let out a cold snort.
"Not convinced?"
He swept a glance over the crowd, his gaze somewhat fierce: "In the future, if you're not convinced, I hope you'll show it through your strength—not have it written all over your faces."
"Think my selection method is unfair? Think it's unjust that you lost before you could even show your strength?"
The core disciples said nothing, answering him with their silence.
Elder Xuan curled his lip: "But is this really unfair? The chaotic brawl targeted every single one of you. If you were on a battlefield, could you choose your own opponents? Could you pick the environment? No. At the very least, in this chaotic brawl, you all started from the same point—you weren't forced into a desperate corner."
He paused, took a bite of his chicken leg, and spoke while chewing: "With the mentality you have now, not a single one of you is qualified to enter the Inner Court. This seemingly unfair chaotic brawl is precisely the best way to test your comprehensive strength. In this short time, what I saw was your cooperation ability, individual strength, and character."
"'The virtuous enjoy abundant support'—that saying is crap. If you want people to help you, first you need to be likable, and second you need to have strength. A person with a withdrawn, antisocial personality cannot achieve great things."
He stretched out a finger and pointed at the seven still standing on the stage in the distance: "This kind of chaotic brawl is daily routine in the Inner Court. Without even this level of reaction ability, what right do you have to be an Inner Court disciple? Do you know what the most tragic experience of the Inner Court disciples has been?"
"That one time, twelve Inner Court disciples got separated from their teacher and encountered a hundred-thousand-year soul beast. In the end, eight died in battle; only four survived. Those four are now the top existences of the Inner Court. One of them obtained the soul ring and soul bone of that hundred-thousand-year soul beast."
Furina propped her chin on her hands and grumbled silently in her heart: That teacher who got separated was you, wasn't it, Elder Xuan? An impressive Hyper Douluo, getting separated from his students—truly a talent. It's fine. You'll screw up again later—if I don't step in, that is. A Hyper Douluo who can't catch a Soul King-level evil soul master and lets the hostage be taken away—who would believe that if you told them?
She rather admired Elder Xuan's ability to speak of his own dark history, but toward the man himself, she could only shake her head.
Drowning himself in alcohol out of guilt, giving in to self-abandonment—what kind of behavior was that? Show some backbone, for goodness' sake. Stop running away all day.
"Don't think that just because you're studying in the academy, everything is fine." Elder Xuan's voice continued to carry over. "If you want to become true powerhouses, even within the academy, you must always be prepared with the resolve to face life-and-death crises."
Furina thought to herself: Shrek is indeed safe enough, but that's because Elder Mu is here to hold the fort. With just the two of them—Elder Xuan and Yan Shaozhe—once Elder Mu is gone, things are bound to go wrong. Otherwise, there wouldn't have been that incident where Ma Xiaotao lost control and nearly killed someone.
Later on, the Body Sect will come to poach people too. With Elder Mu gone, could Elder Xuan beat Du Bushi? The Disgrace of the Hyper Douluo—a title well-deserved.
Thinking to this point, Furina sighed quietly again: In Douluo Dalu 3, Shrek's going to get bombed all over again too.
"Don't think that just because you've become a core disciple, you're guaranteed entry into the Inner Court." Elder Xuan was still lecturing. "Even if you do enter the Inner Court, that's not an honor. It just means you've just stepped through a door—a door between life and death..."
Furina was listening distractedly when, out of the corner of her eye, she glimpsed someone on the platform waving at her.
It was Elder Mu.
She paused, stood up, and dusted off her skirt.
"Looking for me?"
With a trace of puzzlement, she walked toward Elder Mu.
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Thanks for reading the chapter!
I started a new translation and I would be very happy if you decided to check out my new translation for a rather rare fandom. It's a crossover based on Mondaiji (Problem Children Are Coming from Another World, Aren't They?)
This story has a somewhat similar style to my other translation for this fandom (same author, after all), but it's completely different from any other fanfic I've come across for this fandom! It's set thousands of years before the original novel/anime, and the MC literally plays a part in shaping the backstory of this world. I really enjoyed it—hope you will too!
Mondaiji: I Really Didn't Want to Become God https://www.webnovel.com/book/36945944200410205