Soon, the referee's voice rang out across the scene.
"Shrek Academy, Captain Ma Xiaotao, has lost the Ability to fight!"
"The winner of this Round-robin Individual Match—Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, Liu Yuan!"
Boom—!
Star Luo Plaza, which had been so quiet that a needle drop could be heard, was instantly submerged by the boisterous voices of the crowd.
Countless spectators snapped back from their previous shock, and a flurry of intense discussion erupted.
"Heavens! Won? He actually won?!"
"That Liu Yuan actually defeated Ma Xiaotao?"
"This is just too ridiculous!"
"Unbelievable... this is Shrek Academy!"
People's faces were filled with shock, confusion, and the excitement of witnessing history.
After all, for so many years, Shrek Academy had always been a symbol of invincibility in the Continental Soul Master Tournament, an insurmountable mountain.
But today, a corner of this mountain was forcefully brought down by Liu Yuan!
However, Liu Yuan, standing in the air above the ruins of the arena, still had a calm expression on his face.
He narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze passing through the noisy crowd and falling on the referee, who was currently wiping cold sweat from his forehead.
Because he had keenly captured a key point—
The referee had just announced that Liu Yuan had won 'this Individual Match,' not that 'Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy' had won.
This was a matter of procedural rigor.
Although according to the previous bet, if Ma Xiaotao lost, the entire Shrek Team would have to admit defeat.
But the bet was a private oral agreement after all. Although the entire audience could bear witness, in the official tournament process, the leading teacher of Shrek Academy had to personally confirm the withdrawal from subsequent matches for it to become officially effective.
As expected.
After having the heavily injured and unconscious Ma Xiaotao carried down for treatment, the referee turned around and cast his gaze toward Shrek Academy's Waiting Area, toward Xuan Zi, whose face was pale and who still had blood at the corner of his mouth.
"Leading teacher of Shrek Academy, may I ask..."
The referee's voice echoed through the venue, carrying a hint of inquiry and a trace of invisible pressure:
"Given that your captain has been defeated, and both sides had an agreement before the match that 'the losing side would directly admit defeat'..."
"Will Shrek Academy continue to send members onto the stage? Or do you choose to... admit defeat?"
Swish—!
At this moment, the gazes of the hundreds of thousands of spectators in the audience converged on Xuan Zi like spotlights.
In those gazes, there was expectation, mockery, sympathy, and a sense of amusement waiting to see a joke.
Xuan Zi sat on his chair, feeling as if he were sitting on pins and needles, as if he were being roasted over a fire.
Humiliation.
Endless humiliation and distress gnawed at his heart like poisonous snakes.
He clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging deep into his palms, but he didn't feel a hint of pain.
To be honest, at that moment, he really wanted to go back on his word.
He wanted to stand up and shout 'the bet doesn't count,' he wanted the remaining members to continue onto the stage, even if it meant using a war of attrition to wear Liu Yuan to death, he wanted to win this match!
After all, this was a major matter concerning Shrek's ten-thousand-year glory! How could they admit defeat so easily?
However, when he looked up and saw the hundreds of thousands of eyes around him, the words at the tip of his tongue simply could not be spoken.
Under the watchful eyes of the public!
The previous bet was made under the witness of the entire audience, and even the Emperor of the Star Luo Empire was watching from the city wall.
If he went back on his word in public now and reneged on the bet, the face Shrek Academy would lose would likely be even greater than losing the match!
That would be firmly pinning the labels of 'untrustworthy' and'sore loser' onto Shrek Academy! This stain would likely follow Shrek for centuries without being washed away!
What's more...
Xuan Zi's gaze swept over the remaining Shrek Team members behind him.
Dai Yueheng, Chen Zifeng, Gongyang Mo...
These usually arrogant Genius students were all pale now, their eyes dodging, not even daring to meet Xuan Zi's gaze.
Especially when their gazes touched the unscathed, demon-god-like Liu Yuan on the stage, an unconcealable fear surfaced in the depths of their eyes.
Even the Spirit Saint Ma Xiaotao, who possessed the Phoenix Evil Fire and had activated her Martial Soul True Body, was beaten like a dead dog.
What could they do if they went up?
Go to their deaths?
In a one-on-one situation, facing Liu Yuan, who was currently in peak condition and hadn't even consumed much spirit power, the Shrek Team simply couldn't find a single person capable of putting up a fight!
If they didn't admit defeat and insisted on sending people up, the result would only be being slaughtered one by one by Liu Yuan, which would be an even greater humiliation!
"Huff... huff..."
Xuan Zi gasped for air, his chest heaving violently.
He felt as if his throat were blocked by something, dry and painful.
Reason told him that admitting defeat was the only choice.
But emotionally, making him say those two words personally was harder than killing him.
Finally.
Just as the referee was about to urge him again, and as the whispers of the audience grew louder.
Xuan Zi closed his eyes, looking as if he had aged ten years in an instant. He slumped against the back of his chair and, with a raspy voice that was almost inaudible, forced out a sentence:
"Shrek Academy... admits defeat."
Though the voice was small, it was exceptionally clear in the silent Waiting Area.
The referee nodded and immediately announced loudly:
"Shrek Academy withdraws from subsequent matches!"
"The winner of this Round-robin match—Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy!!!"
Boom—!!!
If the cheers when Liu Yuan won earlier were a wave, then at this moment, the referee's announcement was a true tsunami!
"We won! We won!!!"
Inside the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's Waiting Area, the atmosphere instantly exploded.
Xiao Hongchen jumped up abruptly, grabbing his sister Meng Hongchen beside him, his face full of ecstasy: "Did you see that! We actually beat Shrek!"
Meng Hongchen was also so excited that her pretty face was flushed, her eyes sparkling with admiration: "So cool! Brother Liu Yuan is just too cool! This is Shrek!"
Mi Jia, Ma Rulong, and the other team members were even more excited, high-fiving each other, and some even couldn't help but shed tears of excitement.
At this moment, they made history!
Although this was only a Round-robin match, although it wasn't the final, and although Shrek Academy still had the qualification to advance.
However, they had genuinely defeated the arrogant Shrek! They shattered the 'myth of invincibility' that had loomed over all academies for ten thousand years!
That was enough!
In the spectator stands, people were also sighing with emotion.
"I didn't expect it, I really didn't expect... that I'd actually see Shrek Academy lose in a Round-robin match in my lifetime."
"Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy has truly risen this time; that captain named Liu Yuan is simply a monster."
"It seems that for this year's tournament, it's really hard to say who the final champion will be."
"Shrek didn't lose unfairly this time; even their leading teacher was so angry he spat blood, tsk tsk tsk..."
All kinds of discussions filled the entire plaza. Today's battle was destined to go down in history and become a topic of conversation across the continent.
As for Liu Yuan, who was at the center of this storm.
He didn't show much excitement at this time.
He slowly descended from the air and stood on the messy arena. Letting the cheers and gasps from all around surge like a tide, his heart was a pool of tranquility.
Because at the very moment the referee announced the match result.
That familiar, cold, synthesized mechanical voice sounded in his mind as scheduled.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the Host for successfully completing the mission: Achieve total victory in the Round-robin Tournament.]
[Mission Evaluation: Perfect. The Host crushed Shrek Academy's strongest combat power with absolute strength and forced the opponent to admit defeat while remaining unscathed, greatly demoralizing the opponent's morale.]
[Issuing rewards...]
[Reward: Random Ability ×1]
Liu Yuan's golden vertical pupils brightened slightly.
This was what he cared about the most.
The previous 'Flash Fire' Ability had made him almost invincible when facing Ma Xiaotao.
So, what good thing will he draw this time?
[Randomly drawing an Ability...]
[Ding!]
[Congratulations to the Host for successfully obtaining the Ability...]
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