"Feng Piaoling wins." The referee's announcement rang out as he descended onto the competition stage with Xu Sanshi.
Feng Piaoling, however, showed no intention of graciously accepting the victory. Instead, after casting a meaningful glance at Xu Sanshi, he looked toward the referee. "Forgive me for asking, Referee, but in Shrek Academy's Soul Dueling Arena, are one-on-one duels allowed to have outside assistance?"
The referee froze upon hearing this, his gaze shifting to Xu Sanshi. Caught in his guilt, Xu Sanshi instinctively looked away. The referee immediately realized what was happening and said coldly:
"In any arena, Soul Duels are a matter of absolute fairness. Shrek Academy is no different. Once discovered, cheating will not be treated lightly."
Feng Piaoling continued, "Then it is quite strange. Earlier, while I was dueling Senior Xu Sanshi, he seemed to anticipate my every move, knocking away my Fire Bullet Talismans a step ahead of time."
"Then, just as he was about to attack me, I suddenly felt a powerful spiritual shock strike at me. If that person's spiritual power hadn't been far inferior to mine, I'm afraid I would be lying on the ground right now."
"Furthermore, after that person suffered a backlash from my spiritual power, Senior Xu Sanshi was suddenly unable to predict my movements anymore. He couldn't even dodge a Fire Bullet Talisman that had significantly slowed down. This is quite thought-provoking."
As his words fell, the entire audience erupted in an uproar. Clearly, no one had expected that Senior Xu Sanshi—the renowned owner of the Outer Court's number one defensive martial soul—would choose to use despicable cheating methods against a first-year student.
Jiang Nannan's gaze toward Xu Sanshi became even more disgusted. "He truly is a despicable villain."
Xiao Xiao clenched her small fists. "How could Senior Xu Sanshi do this? The Soul Dueling Arena is a place for fair combat. To openly cheat in such a place is truly shameful."
Zhu Lu sighed. "Although I don't have much fondness for Feng Piaoling, at least he relied on his own strength to defeat his opponent. On the other hand, Xu Sanshi, as the young master of the Xuanwu Sect, stooping to such cheating is truly disgraceful."
Wang Dong'er simply uttered four words: "Shameless and base."
Accusations against Xu Sanshi rose one after another, soon echoing through the entire arena.
Bei Bei and Tang Ya, who had long realized things were going south, were trying to sneak out of the arena while carrying the unconscious Huo Yuhao. Hearing the discussions in the stands, their hearts skipped a beat, and they instinctively quickened their pace to escape.
"What is the meaning of this?" The referee turned a stern gaze toward Xu Sanshi. If today's matter wasn't resolved, the arena he managed would become the laughingstock of all Shrek Academy.
"I... I..." Xu Sanshi was too ashamed to lift his head. Now that his cheating had been exposed, his reputation was in tatters.
If he were to betray Bei Bei and the others now, he would also earn the infamy of selling out his friends.
Rather than that, it was better to endure it. Besides, the opponent had no proof.
Setting his mind, he glared at Feng Piaoling through gritted teeth. "I don't know what you're talking about. If you're worried that I won't honor the bet, or if you're trying to stop me from pursuing Jiang Nannan, there's no need for this."
"I, Xu Sanshi, have always been upright. I will not pester Jiang Nannan."
"I will win her over with my own strength. As for the bet, here is one Mystic Water Pill and twenty thousand Gold Soul Coins. Take these for now. I will have someone deliver the rest to you within ten days."
As he spoke, he produced a gold card and a jade bottle containing the Mystic Water Pill.
But how could Feng Piaoling let him off so easily? After taking the gold card and the pill, he calmly addressed the referee:
"The person who ambushed me suffered a spiritual backlash and must be unconscious right now. Referee, you only need to conduct a search to find the person who helped Xu Sanshi cheat."
Hearing this, the referee wasted no time. Seven soul rings—two yellow, two purple, and three black—lit up as he instantly completed his martial soul possession. Wings sprouted from his back, and he flew high into the air. After a brief sweep, he quickly spotted Huo Yuhao being supported by Bei Bei and Tang Ya.
Seeing the boy bleeding from his facial orifices, his face pale as death and slumped in a coma, it was obvious he had suffered a spiritual backlash.
How could the referee not know that this student was the one who helped Xu Sanshi cheat?
Snorting coldly, he flew over and landed directly in front of them.
"It's over." Tang Ya's face filled with despair when she saw the referee appear.
At the same time, she couldn't help but feel deep regret and started to blame Huo Yuhao in her heart.
Why did you have to show off? she thought. Now that we've been caught red-handed, being expelled would be the lightest punishment.
The students in the audience saw the referee land in front of Tang Ya, Bei Bei, and Huo Yuhao. Seeing Huo Yuhao unconscious and bleeding from his face—a clear sign of spiritual damage—they understood immediately that they were involved.
For a moment, many people cast looks of disdain toward them.
"Tang Ya, I can't believe you conspired with Huo Yuhao to ambush my benefactor. I completely misjudged you." Seeing that this matter involved Tang Ya, Jiang Nannan's heart turned cold, and any trace of friendship she had for her vanished.
Others also expressed their contempt for Huo Yuhao's cheating.
The referee originally intended to take Bei Bei and Tang Ya away as well, but at that moment, Bei Bei pulled a special token from his soul tool. The referee froze, his eyes filled with disbelief. Seeing that Bei Bei had no intention of stopping him from taking Huo Yuhao, he nodded. Without a word, he picked up the unconscious Huo Yuhao and flew back to the stage.
"Bei Bei, what do we do now? Now that the cheating has been exposed, Huo Yuhao is definitely going to be expelled."
Tang Ya hadn't noticed the token Bei Bei displayed. Seeing Huo Yuhao taken away, her expression was helpless. If she had known this would happen, she wouldn't have recruited him into the Tang Sect.
It had only been a few days, and he had already caused such a mess.
The token was given by Bei Bei's great-ancestor, Mu En, and he didn't want Tang Ya to know about it. "I bear some responsibility for this. It seems I can only go and beg Dean Yan Shaozhe. I hope that for the sake of the Tang Sect's legacy, he will give Huo Yuhao a chance!"
"Will Dean Yan Shaozhe agree?" Tang Ya was not optimistic.
"We can only treat a dead horse as if it were alive!"
...
On the other side, after bringing Huo Yuhao back to the stage, the referee performed a check in front of everyone. He stood up and said, "It is indeed a coma caused by spiritual backlash."
He then looked at Xu Sanshi. "Do you have anything else to explain?"
"I don't even know him."
Xu Sanshi knew the consequences of cheating; not only would he be expelled, but it would also bring shame to his clan. So even with the evidence before his eyes, he remained stubborn.
At this moment, Zhou Yi, wearing her old woman mask, walked over with Fan Yu. Zhou Yi said coldly: "Whether you know him or not isn't for you to decide. I will report this matter to Dean Yan Shaozhe. You can wait for your punishment then."
Hearing the "Old Lady" Zhou's words, Xu Sanshi's face turned even grimmer. He turned to leave.
Feng Piaoling called out to him, "Don't forget, you still owe me eighty thousand Gold Soul Coins and one Mystic Water Pill."
Xu Sanshi snorted coldly and left with a dark expression.
Neither the referee, the fierce-looking old woman, nor the burly middle-aged man beside her made any move to stop him.
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