Douluo Dalu II—Chapter 64: Shrek Academy Withdraws from the Competition
After hearing this, the audience began to murmur amongst themselves.
"Yes, Shrek Academy has always been the number one soul master academy on the continent, and they have consistently been the champions of the Soul Fighting Competition. How could they cheat?"
"Could it be that the imperial judge made a mistake in this matter?"
For a moment, confusion filled the audience's faces.
Xuan Zi's expression was a mixture of anger and grief. He declared loudly, "It seems that everyone feels our Shrek Academy has been wronged. I firmly oppose any behavior that smears Shrek Academy! This is undoubtedly a shady plot against us!
Therefore, I declare that Shrek Academy will withdraw from the competition to protest against the shady dealings in the Soul Fighting Competition!"
Xuan Zi thought to himself: With that peculiar anti-cheating soul guidance device, the strength of Shrek Academy would be significantly weakened. Moreover, given the skill level of these reserve players, even if Xu Jiawei assisted in manipulating the situation behind the scenes, it would be challenging for them to secure a place in the top four.
After all, to reach the top four, a team must at least defeat their opponents in the top eight, and the strongest among the reserve players was only a Soul Ancestor. According to the rules of previous Soul Fighting Competitions, the teams that could enter the top eight generally had at least one Soul Emperor!
Even though the students of Shrek Academy were generally of high quality, they were still at a disadvantage when facing a Soul Emperor.
To be honest, if there had been someone among the team who possessed a martial soul fusion skill, Xuan Zi would never have made such a decision. After all, the power of a martial soul fusion skill was usually greater.
As for waiting for the regular players to recover from their injuries before participating in the competition, that was undoubtedly an impossible task. Ma Xiaotao and the others were too severely injured. Unless Immortal Doctor Douluo or Biji intervened, their injuries would not heal during the Fighting Soul Competition!
The former was currently not in the Star Luo Empire. As for the latter, although Biji was a relatively kind soul beast, given the relationship between Shrek Academy and the Star Dou Great Forest, it was nearly impossible to enlist support to treat the regular team members.
Thus, for the sake of Shrek Academy's reputation, the only sensible choice was to withdraw from the competition directly! It was better to withdraw than to be crushed in the Fighting Soul Competition!
As for cheating, one could engage in it, but they must never admit to it!
A single stone caused a thousand ripples. All the spectators wore expressions of disbelief. After all, there had never been a case in the history of Shrek Academy withdrawing from competition. Generally speaking, a team like Shrek Academy would win the championship in every competition. Other academies, regardless of their strength, ultimately served as mere foils to Shrek Academy.
On the city wall, Xu Jiawei's face was so gloomy it seemed water could drip from it. He wondered if Xuan Zi had a serious illness. He had helped Shrek Academy manipulate things behind the scenes and turned a blind eye to their cheating. Should the Star Luo Empire now shoulder the blame?
To say there was a shady deal implied that the Star Luo Empire, as the organizer, was not fair enough.
But the question remained: wasn't the unfairness stemming from Shrek Academy itself?
Contemplating this, he felt some dissatisfaction toward Xuan Zi, but given Shrek Academy's influence, he couldn't afford to place blame there. If a war against the Sun Moon Empire were to arise in the future, he would still need to rely on Shrek Academy!
Xu Jiujiu, who stood beside him, asked, "Brother, what should we do now?"
Xu Jiawei was silent for a moment before sighing, "We must investigate the cheating incident and clear Shrek Academy's name! We must also clear the name of our Empire!"
Xu Jiujiu immediately understood what Xu Jiawei meant. It was nothing more than finding someone to take the blame and assume full responsibility for the matter. For a moment, Xu Jiujiu felt somewhat dissatisfied with Xuan Zi, but the situation needed closure.
The imperial family could not take the blame, nor could Shrek Academy. So wasn't it time to find someone else to shoulder the responsibility?
Jing Hongchen walked back to the audience area and then left with Huo Yuhao and the others. After all, there was nothing more interesting to watch in the next game.
Along the way, this former spiritual Shrek member complained, "According to our intelligence, this Xuan Zi is the strongest person in Shrek Academy! Yet, he is completely shameless!
It was Shrek Academy that cheated, but he can turn black into white! Thanks to the anti-cheating soul guidance device created by Yuhao, otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to see Shrek Academy's true colors!"
After hearing this, Huo Yuhao thought that Xuan Zi was indeed perceived as the strongest member of Shrek Academy in the eyes of outsiders. Although Mu En was a level 99 Ultimate Douluo, he had not taken action for a long time, leading many to believe that the once-famous Dragon God Douluo, Mu En, was already dead.
For Shrek Academy, Mu En was the stabilizing pillar. As long as Mu En remained safe, Shrek Academy would have the confidence to face any opponent.
At this moment, Xiao Hongchen said, "By the way, Junior Brother Yuhao, why do I feel like you already knew Shrek Academy was going to cheat, prompting you to ask your grandpa to use the anti-cheating soul guidance device?"
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao nodded and replied, "After I had the attribute conversion with the auspicious beast, my martial soul underwent some mutations. Since then, I have had a premonition that Shrek Academy was going to cheat.
This premonition allows me to clear the fog of fate, enabling me to faintly see some things in the future. Therefore, to verify this, on the way back to Star Luo City yesterday, I discussed the deployment of an anti-cheating soul guidance device with the dean!"
This time, he refrained from implying that he was the reincarnation of a god; the earlier concept had merely been a ruse to fool Tianmeng and Bingdi.
"Martial soul mutation?" Xiao Hongchen's expression revealed some astonishment. "I see; I didn't expect your martial soul could mutate like this! Doesn't that mean your martial soul is more powerful than before?"
Huo Yuhao did not deny it. "Strictly speaking, yes."
"You've become stronger again! Then won't I only be the second most talented person in the Sun Moon Empire? And will I be overshadowed by you for life?" Xiao Hongchen looked conflicted.
Although he envied Huo Yuhao's martial soul for mutating and becoming more powerful, he had no desire to mutate his martial soul. Sometimes, a martial soul mutation could indeed enhance its power, but most of the time, it could merely weaken it.
A typical example was Tang San's teacher, Yu Xiaogang.
Meng Hongchen interjected, "Xiao, given that Junior Yuhao has become stronger, we should be happy for him!"
"That's true, but…" Xiao Hongchen's mood sank. He was a proud man who never wanted to be overshadowed by others. However, the way things were progressing, he felt he might never have the chance to defeat this junior.
Suddenly, he understood his grandfather's intentions. No wonder his grandfather had always wanted to bring Meng and Huo Yuhao together. Faced with such a genius, everyone would want to recruit him.
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