Book 12: The Strength of the Preparatory Team
Chapter 87.2: Crazy for Shrek

An opponent like this naturally wouldn"t amount to much in front of the original members of Shrek"s Seven Monsters, but they were a fatal obstacle to the current iteration. If they lost this match, their true strengths would undoubtedly be revealed to everyone. However, did they really possess the capabilities to win this match? This was especially so considering they didn"t even know the format of their match. Regardless of which format they had to fight in, they would be at an absolute disadvantage due to the disparity in strength. w.a.n.g Yan was already considering forfeiting this match; after all, this was the round-robin stage, and losing here wouldn"t mean they would be eliminated from the overall tournament. As long as they were able to win their next match, Ling Luochen would be able to make a comeback. With an ice-type Soul King like her working together with Huo Yuhao"s Ultimate Ice, they would have a much easier time facing their remaining opponents in the round-robin stage. After three more matches at most, Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng would be able to return as well. The arrival of two Soul Emperors would truly grant Shrek the strength needed to take the champions.h.i.+p.

However, w.a.n.g Yan was met with the strong opposition of the current Shrek"s Seven Monsters the moment he suggested forfeiting the next match. They were no longer how they were when they had just arrived; now that they had won two matches while being bathed in Shrek Academy"s glory, how could they just let this glory be tarnished without a fight?

Thus, all seven of them were determined to fight. Even if they lost the match, they still wanted to give it their all. Furthermore, it wasn"t as though they had no chance at all. After all, although their cultivations weren"t strong, every single one of them was a breathtaking genius. The levels of coordination they could bring out could possibly defeat the overall strength of their opponents. In the end, w.a.n.g Yan agreed to their request. This was because he understood that there was a very high chance of leaving a shadow on their hearts if they were to forfeit this match to preserve their strengths; he absolutely didn"t want a situation like this to occur.

At this moment, the reason why Huo Yuhao was feeling so worried was due to the fight they had just gone through. This fight made him understand that there were no weaklings among the academies who were able to partic.i.p.ate in the Continental Advanced Academy Soul Duelling Tournament. They had already gained many advantages in their previous matches, especially Shen Ce losing control of his Thousand-strike Lance at the very start of the match. Even in a situation like this, however, their final victory hadn"t been obtained so easily.

Furthermore, this was only a team that possessed a single Soul King. If that was the case, what would happen the day after? What they had to face was a team that had three Soul Kings, a team whose overall strength was greater than that of the Thousand Spirits Academy by more than a single level. What would the situation be then?

During the first round of the round-robin segment, the Thousand Spirits Academy had faced their upcoming opponent. w.a.n.g Yan had personally seen the results of that match; this was also the match that they had witnessed from the rooftop of the Grand Imperial Star Hotel. At that time, the Thousand Spirits Academy had been completely crushed; they had had no chance at all. That match had been a 1v1 fight, and their opponent"s third member had already decimated the thousand Spirits Academy. Furthermore, only two of their Soul Kings had made an appearance. This had occurred without their team leader making a move.

They couldn"t lose, but how could they win? This was the question that was currently stuck in Huo Yuhao"s mind. He was inwardly questioning himself for ways to raise his cultivation within a short period of time. At the very least, he wanted to bring himself to a level where he could fight against his opponents for the next round.

Huo Yuhao had an accurate judgement of his own strength. From another standpoint, every single one of his soul skills, without any exception, were extremely powerful. This was also the case for his auxiliary-type soul skills. Furthermore, the abundance of soul skills he possessed was something that even a four-ringed Soul Ancestor couldn"t defeat.

Huo Yuhao had an extremely accurate evaluation of himself. Although he was still a two-ringed Soul Grandmaster, he wouldn"t lose to any three-ringed opponents; he had the confidence to defeat Soul Elders. If he were to face four-ringed Soul Ancestors, however, he practically had no chance at all. At the very minimum, he had a very remote chance of winning. He had an advantage over Soul Ancestors in terms of soul skills, but there was too large a gap in terms of soul power. This was also the case even if he had the Milk Bottle. During the tournament, what good would a powerful soul skill do if he didn"t have enough soul power to utilise it?

Because of that, Huo Yuhao knew that he would be able to defeat a three-ringed Soul Elder at most in a 1v1 fight. Moreover, he knew that he would actually be more effective in a team fight.

If he were to encounter an ice-type or fire-type opponent in a team fight, he could use his Ultimate Ice to impose absolute suppression on his opponent"s abilities. This was especially the case for ice-type soul masters. Even if they were Soul Kings, he had the confidence to suppress them, just like he had done earlier. This was perfect elemental suppression. Even if his cultivation was weak, he was still the Sovereign of Ice. No matter how strong ordinary ice was, how could it rebel against the Sovereign? There was no way for his opponent to stop this unless there was too great a difference in terms of cultivation between both parties.

After that, there was the a.s.sistance that his Spiritual Detection Sharing gave to the entire team. Its accurate decision-making capabilities could even predict their opponent"s next movements; that was the main reason why they had defeated their opponents today.

If the next match is a team fight, I might be able to be a bit more useful. At the very least, w.a.n.g Dong and I can restrain Soul Kings by using our Golden Road. Then we"ll have a slight chance.

What the students of Shrek didn"t know, however, was that the students from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy got to their feet and left after the former"s match had ended. Their next match wasn"t going to be held today in the first place. The only reason why they had come was to spectate Shrek Academy"s match.

The two academies which were at the very top of the ladder walked back to the Grand Imperial Star Hotel at what was practically the same time.

"Let"s go to the conference room." These were the words uttered by the two teachers who were leading their respective academies.

w.a.n.g Yan looked towards the Shrek"s Seven Monsters who were sitting around him, then took a deep breath and said sincerely, "Children, thank you all. To put it truthfully, even I didn"t think that you"d be able to win these few matches in a row. You guys have already tried your hardest to protect the glory of the academy. The original reason why you guys came here as members of the preparatory team was to gain some experience, but you"ve now become mainstays. The academy and I won"t demand too much from you."

Bei Bei smiled, "Teacher w.a.n.g, you need not say anymore. Since this is an experience, let"s just treat it as a more thorough experience. Please arrange our strategies, we all trust in your ability."

w.a.n.g Yan looked at them deeply, "You guys have truly come to a decision?"

With Bei Bei taking the lead, Shrek"s Seven Monsters stood up simultaneously. They looked at w.a.n.g Yan with a resolute light in their eyes, and none of them were timid at all. Even Xiao Xiao, who was the weakest of the lot in terms of overall strength, was no exception to this.

"Good. You all are worthy of being called elites of Shrek Academy. I am proud of you all." w.a.n.g Yan"s eyes were tearing up a bit, and his face was slightly red. Right now, he only felt that the kids in front of him were too cute. The academy truly hadn"t made a mistake in choosing them as members of the preparatory team. During the most crucial moment of their current ordeal, none of them were timid; every single one of them was resolute and stubborn. It had to be known that these were seven kids whose average age wasn"t even fourteen!

"Children, I dare say that as long as we can return safe and sound this time, you will definitely become the most outstanding talents our Shrek Academy has had in the past several hundred years. All of you. Good, I won"t be unreasonable. Let"s start making our strategies."

w.a.n.g Yan pushed his hands down, motioning for everyone to sit down.

"Our upcoming opponent is very strong. During the last tournament, they were able to reach become one of the top eight teams. They lost to the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy in the quarterfinals last time. In terms of overall strength, it"s possible that they"ve improved enough to give them the strength needed to reach the top four. There are three Soul Kings and four Soul Ancestors in their lineup of seven. Before coming to this tournament, I only did research on the top 8 academies. This was because of the strength of our original team. I"ve done some deep research into this team, and I have to tell you that their team leader has been referred to as a genius seen once in a thousand years by their academy. If he was in our academy, there"s a chance that he would"ve been chosen to represent us as well. Elder Xuan personally gave him an evaluation in the past. At that time, he said that this student would have definitely been able to break through to become a Soul Emperor before the age of twenty if he was in Shrek. Unfortunately, it seems he"s been delayed a bit."

The expressions of Shrek"s Seven Monsters turned even more grim as they listened to w.a.n.g Yan"s words. Although they knew that their upcoming opponent would be very strong, they didn"t know they"d be that strong. For example, how much confidence would they have if they had to fight an opponent like Dai Yueheng or Ma Xiaotao?

w.a.n.g Yan said in a low voice, "This is the reason why I kept suggesting that we forfeit. Our chances are simply too miniscule with him and the other two Soul Kings there. I don"t know what level his cultivation"s reached, because he hasn"t appeared during the previous two matches they"ve had. However, I reckon from his aura that he hasn"t become a Soul Emperor yet. When a soul master obtains his sixth ring, his physical body and aura will undergo a transformation; its a sign that a person has entered the upper echelon of cultivators. However, although he"s still some ways from there, he shouldn"t be too far from Rank 60."

"According to my research, this person is extremely wild. Because of this, his fighting intent will only increase when he"s fighting against us; he won"t retreat at all. In a situation like this, our chances of winning are even lower. Furthermore, there"s definitely no way we"ll be lucky enough for him not to come out. They"ll definitely go all-out against us to test their strength."

"After much consideration, I only have a single idea right now. That is, we gamble. We gamble that we"ll be able to get a team fight next match. A team fight is the only way we have a sliver of a hope of winning."

Everyone was concentratedly listening to w.a.n.g Yan"s explanation. The current w.a.n.g Yan had already entered a trance, "Our chances of winning in the team fight come from a single one of you. That"s Xu Sans.h.i.+."