Black World, Douluo Continent.
Regarding Teacher Wang Yan's words, many people expressed agreement:
"Teacher Wang Yan is right, the strategy is to drag it out. The round-robin tournament is not an elimination tournament; they can afford to lose."
"But those teams aren't fools. Sooner or later, they will realize that Shrek only has these few people."
"So what if they realize it? The round-robin tournament is a points-based system, not a single-match elimination. As long as Ma Xiaotao and the others can make it back..."
"Can they make it back? Although Ma Xiaotao is a Spirit Emperor, she was injured so severely. Can she recover in half a month?"
The argument in the tavern continued endlessly, but most people knew that Shrek was truly on the edge of a cliff this time.
However, some of the commoners voiced different opinions:
"Has Shrek Academy run out of successors? The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament requires participants to be under twenty years old. Even if selecting reserve members, they should be fourteen or fifteen. Why would Shrek let Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao—these three second-year students—join the reserve team?"
"Hey, this is actually Shrek's foresight. They are training the students in advance, letting them gain more experience and broaden their horizons!"
"It's just that they didn't expect to encounter that kind of situation while executing their monitoring mission."
"Then why not let all fourth-year students take the field? That way, these reserve members wouldn't be so exhausted, and it would be easier to monitor the appearances of the main team members!"
"Sigh, to be honest, the difference between having all fourth-year students and having four fourth-year students leading three second-year students isn't that big. Swapping people out wouldn't achieve the effect of training them!"
"Only in such adversity can people grow faster!"
"That's true!"
...
Shrek City, Inner Court.
Xuan Zi gazed at Teacher Wang Yan standing by the window on the Sky Screen, remaining silent for a long time.
Yan Shaozhe said softly: "In that year's tournament, that was exactly how they toughed it out."
Qian Duoduo sighed: "Teacher Wang Yan, although his strength isn't great, he is genuinely good to his students."
Xuan Zi did not speak. He just watched the Sky Screen, watching that group of youths, watching that teacher who shouldered all the pressure.
And this situation was all caused by him!
[The elimination tournament continued. In the following days, those established academies appeared one after another, mostly advancing with overwhelming strength.]
[Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, Star Luo National Academy, Heaven Dou Empire Academy... Strong teams appeared one by one without much turmoil. Shrek's stunning debut was gradually overshadowed by new matches.]
[But for the higher-ups of the various teams, their attention on Shrek never ceased.]
...
Black World, Douluo Continent.
"Those strong teams have all advanced. The real hard battles are still to come."
"How far Shrek can go depends on the round-robin tournament."
"No matter how far they go, these children have already lived up to the Shrek brand."
...
At the same timeline, the Soul Dueling Tournament in the White World was also in full swing.
[In Star Luo City, on another competition field, the match for the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy had just ended.]
[As a favorite to win the championship, the Sun Moon Team crushed their opponents with absolute advantage and easily advanced to the round-robin tournament. Xiao Hongchen's metal manipulation and Meng Hongchen's Ice Toad Spirit displayed overwhelming strength on the arena stage.]
[However, what was most eye-catching was not the victory on the field, but the youth quietly watching the match from the sidelines.]
[Huo Yuhao. The youngest member of the Sun Moon Team with the lowest spirit power.]
[He did not participate. This was an arrangement decided before the match—the elimination tournament was too cruel and left no room for error. Given his age and experience, he needed more time to adapt to the atmosphere of the tournament.]
[But no one dared to underestimate him. The forces watching the Sun Moon Team had long since dug up everything on Huo Yuhao. A fourth-level Soul Engineer, three-ring spirit power, inventor of several new types of spirit tools, hailed by Xuan Ziwen as a "genius rarely seen in a century."]
...
White World, Sun Moon Empire, Bright Capital.
The commoners looked at the Sky Screen and discussed among themselves.
"Venerable Ming didn't participate? What a pity, I was looking forward to seeing him show off his skills."
"The elimination tournament is too important; the academy wouldn't dare to take risks. Wait for the round-robin tournament; there will definitely be a chance."
"Those teams must be keeping an eye on Venerable Ming, right? A fourth-level Soul Engineer, three-ring spirit power, only twelve years old—who wouldn't be jealous?"
...
Black World, Douluo Continent.
The atmosphere in the tavern was somewhat subtle.
"The Huo Yuhao in that World is sitting on the sidelines watching the match. Our Huo Yuhao is fighting for his life on the field."
"They have a genius, a treasure they are reluctant to use. Ours is a pillar of support; if he doesn't take the field, there's no one left."
"This is the difference. Two Worlds for the same person—one in heaven, one in hell."
Someone looked toward the figure in the crowd surrounded by golden light and said softly: "If he had also gone to the Sun Moon Empire, would he..."
"There are no 'ifs'." The person beside him interrupted, "He chose Shrek, and this is his path."
...
Black World, Shrek Academy.
After seeing the images on the Sky Screen from the White World, Yan Shaozhe, Xuan Zi, and others began discussing the personnel selection of the Shrek Team in the White World.
"Hmm? The reserve members in that World are all fourth-year students. Why aren't there any first or second-year students?" Qian Duoduo was the first to speak and ask.
After speaking, the eyes of all the elders in the Sea Gods Pavilion focused on Yan Shaozhe, as he was the one who formulated the regulations for selecting reserve members back then.
"Ahem!"
Feeling the eyes of everyone, Yan Shaozhe coughed once and then explained:
"The reason we have first and second-year students here is something none of you elders should be unfamiliar with. It was because after Yuhao manifested another Spirit, Elder Mu intended to increase the training for Yuhao, which is why we made an exception to allow second-year core disciples to participate in the assessment!"
"Moreover, Bei Bei is Elder Mu's great-grandson. Before the assessment, I had already told Bei Bei that no matter what, he had to get Huo Yuhao to join the reserve team."
"And since Yuhao was already a Tang Sect disciple at the time, Bei Bei agreed to my request on the spot and did not let me down. Eventually, he successfully got Yuhao to join the reserve team!"
"As for Wang Dong and Xiao Xiao, that was an unexpected turn of events."
"Wang Dong was able to enter the reserve team mainly because he has a Spirit Fusion skill with Huo Yuhao. Otherwise, he is a member of the Clear Sky Sect, and under normal circumstances, we wouldn't have brought him."
"And Xiao Xiao was also included because of her twin spirits, and since she doesn't have a deep background, we can increase resources to train her, and she has the potential to become one of the pillars of our academy in the future!"
"As for why the students sent by the other World are all fourth-years, I have a certain guess. After all, the Shrek Academy in that World doesn't have Huo Yuhao, so the matter of opening a back door for first and second-year students doesn't hold up. Naturally, there are only fourth-year students!"
After hearing Yan Shaozhe's explanation, the others nodded in deep agreement. Clearly, Yan Shaozhe had convinced them.