"What have you done to our captain and vice-captain?" The subst.i.tutes for the Clearjade Sect, as well as You Chen, Qin Yueyue, Chen Jun, Qingqing and the rest, surrounded them as they descended from the stage.

Huo Yuhao smiled and said, "They will be fine. After a few days, I"ll defrost them when my soul power recovers."

"In a few days? Why does your soul power take so long to recover?" Qin Yueyue was furious as she glared at Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao sighed and said, "I"m sorry! Can"t you see that I"m crippled? It"s already not easy for me to compete. Furthermore, I"m the only one who can defrost them. Please be nicer to me. Otherwise, I"ll leave them frozen forever."

Chen Jun said, "How long will it take before you are willing to defrost them? If you take too long, their lives will be in danger."

Huo Yuhao said, "Three days. I"ll take at most three days before I defrost them. You must give me some time to rest."

Three days? Won"t they miss the next round if it takes three days? Everyone from the Clearjade Sect looked extremely furious and resentful. However, they were helpless!

Jing Ziyan and Ji Juechen had already arrived at this point. Ji Juechen lifted his Judgment Sword and coolly said, "There"s still another way. If any one of you can beat me in a duel, he can also help to defrost your captain and vice-captain."

After everyone from the Clearjade Sect heard his words, their eyes brightened.

Chen Jun asked, "Are you going to stay true to your promise?" He was staring at Huo Yuhao instead of Ji Juechen.

Huo Yuhao"s expression turned weird, and he nodded his head. He said, "Yes. He"s with us. If you can defeat him, I"ll defrost your captain and vice-captain."

"Let"s go. Let"s find a place!" everyone from Clearjade Sect shouted quickly.

Jing Ziyan chuckled and responded, "We don"t have to go to too much trouble. It"s the suburbs, anyway. We just need to move a bit further from the tournament venue. If he loses, Yuhao will defrost them when we return to the Ming Yue Hotel. Let"s go!"

After seeing Ji Juechen off, Jing Ziyan left with everyone from the Clearjade Sect. Huo Yuhao shook his head helplessly.

w.a.n.g Dong"er was amused. "It"s my first time hearing Brother Ji speak so much."

Huo Yuhao sighed and said, "He must have been holding it in for too long! Originally, I wanted to freeze those two fellows for a few days and let them off only after they finished their fight with Team Shrek. However, it seems like they won"t even have seven members available for the fight the day after even if I defrost those two now. Na Na, can you follow them and tell Brother Ji not to kill anyone? We have no enmity with the Clearjade Sect."

"Yes." Na Na hurried after them.

------

After this fight, the Tang Sect was recognized as a dark horse in this tournament. They managed to emerge victorious in two fights even though their opponents were strong. In addition, no one from their side was injured. This series of results made them one of the favorites to win their group.

There were a lot of people who were guessing how the Tang Sect would fare against Shrek Academy. However, it was still too early to say. That was because the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy were only facing off in the last match of their group.

Shrek Academy"s schedule was very kind to them. They were going to face Team Sun Moon in their penultimate match. Before that, they didn"t really have any strong opponents. The Clearjade Sect might have potentially hurt their chances, but their encounter with the Tang Sect greatly hampered their abilities.

Everyone from the Tang Sect returned to the hotel to rest, not staying to watch the rest of the matches. Once they reached the hotel, they received a notification that they were being moved to the second story of the hotel, into an extremely luxurious suite.

This was undoubtedly the result of their performances in the tournament.

"Eldest senior, this was what happened." Huo Yuhao recounted the details of their fight to Bei Bei.

Bei Bei nodded and said, "Good job. Yuhao, you are even better than me in terms of commanding the team. Continue to work hard!"

Huo Yuhao sighed in his heart as he saw that Bei Bei"s face was still as pale as ever. "Eldest senior, your condition doesn"t seem to be improving. The opponents we"ll be meeting in the later stages of the tournament are only going to get stronger and stronger. I"m under a lot of pressure!"

Bei Bei chortled and said, "Since when were you scared of pressure? Don"t think too much, and strive forward. From what you said, our main opponents are Shrek, the Sun Moon Soul Engineering Academy, the Holy Ghost Sect, and the unknown Body Sect. Apart from these few teams, there are the other traditional powerhouses, as well! None of them will be easy to deal with! This tournament might be the most intense compet.i.tion for the past few thousand years! You just need to remember to be steady as you take each step."

Huo Yuhao nodded and said, "I"ll do my best. Our advantage is still quite great. However, it"s difficult to judge our opponents" abilities. As the tournament continues, our opponents will also slowly learn about our trump cards. Their a.n.a.lysis and research of us will be more thorough, and it"ll become increasingly difficult to advance further."

Bei Bei smiled as he saw the mature look on Huo Yuhao"s face, "Yuhao, don"t put too much pressure on yourself. We are representing the Tang Sect this time. This means that we are representing ourselves too! We don"t have to be bothered about our final ranking. I believe our name has spread far and wide from our last two performances. It won"t be difficult to advance from the round-robin stage. We"ve actually already met our intended goals."

"In fact, Sans.h.i.+ and the others drew a good lot this time! If Shrek can advance to the quarterfinals, we"ll meet them in the finals. We won"t have to worry about meeting them earlier. How"re things on their side?"

Huo Yuhao said, "Under Qiu"er"s guidance, their overall abilities have greatly increased. Qiu"er"s abilities seem to have become stronger too. Their first few opponents in the round-robin stage were quite easy to deal with. They are facing the Clearjade Sect in their next match. We deliberately battered the Clearjade Sect today. I don"t think they"ll be a threat to Shrek anymore. If they want to advance, we"ll have to see how they fare against the Sun Moon team. It"s a pity that Xiao Hongchen was too cautious, and wasn"t willing to challenge us in the team fight. Otherwise, we would"ve given them a good beating even if we had to pay a hefty price for it."

Bei Bei chortled and said, "We"ve already tried our best. We don"t have to be too hard on ourselves, either. Yuhao, you still need to compete in the underground tournament tomorrow night. Quickly go and rest."

"Alright." Huo Yuhao nodded, "Eldest senior, rest well too. We"re looking forward to your leaders.h.i.+p. The round-robin stage isn"t too tough. You don"t have to worry. However, I"m confident we can become champions if you can recover to lead us again."

As he saw Huo Yuhao"s grin, Bei Bei patted Huo Yuhao on his shoulder, "I"ll try my best."

"Okay. Dong"er, let"s go."

Bei Bei sat up after w.a.n.g Dong"er left with Huo Yuhao. His eyes brightened, and he didn"t seem as fatigued as before. He sighed and said, "Yuhao, I"m sorry for putting you under so much pressure. However, I have no choice! Good luck! With you around, the Tang Sect will only become stronger and stronger no matter what happens to me."

------

The Star Luo National Academy resting lounge...

Princess Jiujiu was quietly sitting in the main seat, the other team members of the academy in the room with her. They had just won in the afternoon and achieved two consecutive victories in their last two fights.

"I didn"t expect the Tang Sect to still be so strong, even though Huo Yuhao is in a wheelchair and Bei Bei hasn"t appeared. They were still able to defeat their opponents easily even though their opponents consisted of two Soul Emperors and five Soul Kings. They aren"t easy to deal with!"

One young man who was seated just beside Princess Jiujiu smiled and said, "Your Highness, they are the champions from the last tournament. It wouldn"t be right if they didn"t perform well. However, don"t worry. Even if we meet them in the quarterfinals, we might not lose to them."

If the Tang Sect reached the quarterfinals, it was very likely they would meet the runners-up of Star Luo National Academy. Apart from the Star Luo National Academy, the Holy Ghost Sect was also in their group. As a result, the Star Luo National Academy was fighting to finish as runners-up.

"You are so confident?" Princess Jiujiu looked across at him.

The young man smiled and said, "In fact, every team should be able to tell that the Tang Sect is strong, but their weakness is that they don"t have a preparatory squad. This tournament is very intense. Who can guarantee that none of them will get injured? In my opinion, I don"t think it"ll be smooth-sailing for them all the way."

Princess Jiujiu was a little cold as she said, "What about us? Do you think we can make it out of the quarterfinals?"

The young man"s expression turned rigid. "Your Highness, forgive me for being direct. Our opponents in this tournament are very strong. If we can make it out of the round-robin stage, it"s because our group is easy."

Princess Jiujiu glared at him. He remained very calm, and wasn"t suppressed by her aura.

At this point, someone knocked on the door.

"Come in." Xu Jiujiu s.h.i.+fted her attention.

The door opened, and a fearless-looking middle-aged man walked quickly to Xu Jiujiu. He whispered something in her ear.

"What? Do they really dare to..." Xu Jiujiu"s eyes were filled with astonishment. "Continue to investigate. I want accurate information!"

------

The weather in Radiant City had turned chilly over the past few days. After sunset, the temperature would drop significantly. Due to a few ore mines being active around Radiant City, the air quality here was worse than other places on the continent. The air would only clear up after strong winds blew.

w.a.n.g Dong"er looked to her sides as she strolled along the streets. "I still prefer the simplicity of Shrek City. The metallic feel here is too strong."