After hearing Xuan Zi's response, that middle-aged man didn't dare to linger for a single moment.
"Yes... Yes! Your subordinate will see to it immediately!"
He stammered out a response, feeling as if he had been granted a grand pardon.
He turned around and practically jogged away from the room where the air felt frozen solid.
He was terrified that if he stayed for one more second, he would become the target of Xuan Zi's redirected anger.
As the door shut with a loud 'thud', the room fell back into an eerie silence.
The atmosphere was awkward to the extreme.
The members of the Shrek Team didn't even dare to breathe too loudly.
Dai Yueheng stared down at the tabletop as if a flower were growing out of it;
Ma Xiaotao toyed with the ends of her hair out of boredom, her gaze drifting aimlessly;
Even Xu Sanshi, usually the most active, was now pulling his head into his shoulders, trying his best to minimize his presence.
Sitting at the head of the table, Xuan Zi felt uncomfortable all over.
His old face still stung with a burning pain, as if Mu En's scolding was still echoing in his ears.
He could even sense that although these little brats were keeping their heads down, they were probably mocking him, a leading Elder of the Sea God Pavilion, in their hearts.
"Ahem..."
Xuan Zi coughed twice with a guilty conscience, breaking the silence.
He didn't launch into a long speech as he usually did, but instead waved his hand somewhat listlessly.
"That... since Old Mu has given his orders, you've all heard them. For the upcoming matches, everyone pull yourselves together and stop being so careless."
"It's getting late today. Even though there are no matches tomorrow, don't go running around everywhere."
Xuan Zi stood up, not even daring to look Huo Yuhao in the eye, and hurriedly dropped a final sentence:
"Alright, you're dismissed. Get some rest early."
With that, he grabbed the wine gourd on the table and walked out of the meeting room in a hurry as if fleeing, his departing figure looking rather pathetic.
...
The night passed in silence.
The next day.
Although Shrek Academy had successfully advanced in the first round of the knockout stage and had no matches scheduled for today, staying cooped up in the hotel was clearly not the style of these high-spirited young students.
Moreover, knowing oneself and one's enemy ensures victory in every battle.
It was also very necessary to go to the scene to observe the strength of other academies.
Thus, under Xuan Zi's lead, the Shrek group still headed to Star Luo Plaza to watch the matches.
Today's matches were still exciting, especially the appearance of several veteran powerhouses, which ignited the entire crowd.
However, as they watched, looks of confusion gradually appeared on the faces of the Shrek group.
They scanned the spectator stands over and over again.
They couldn't find them.
Whether it was the most prominent seats or the inconspicuous corners, there was no sign of the Sun Moon Team.
"Strange..."
Xu Sanshi scratched his head and said with some bewilderment:
"Where are those people from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy? Why haven't I seen a single one of them?"
"Yeah," Jiang Nannan also said, somewhat puzzled. "As last year's runners-up, they didn't need to participate in the first round of the knockout stage. Logically, they should all be here today to observe their opponents."
He Caitou hummed in a muffled voice:
"They're probably too arrogant. They think they're invincible and don't care about the other academies at all, so they can't even be bothered to watch."
"Arrogant?"
Hearing this word, many Shrek members nodded inwardly.
This was indeed a reasonable explanation.
However, Huo Yuhao and Bei Bei, standing at the back of the group, exchanged a glance and both saw a trace of gravity in each other's eyes.
Arrogance?
No.
If someone else were leading the team, they might truly not come out of arrogance.
But the one leading the team was Liu Yuan.
If it were him, it was absolutely impossible to make such a mistake.
"Senior Brother, what do you think?" Huo Yuhao asked in a low voice.
Bei Bei frowned slightly, pondering for a moment before saying:
"Yuhao, you also know Liu Yuan's character. His absence is definitely not due to arrogance."
"On the contrary, I think this is even more frightening."
Bei Bei looked at the empty seats of the Sun Moon Team, his tone turning heavy:
"This means he is doing something more important than 'observing opponents'."
Huo Yuhao nodded, deeply agreeing.
A faint sense of unease rose in his heart.
But he still couldn't guess what Liu Yuan's side was actually doing.
Neither of them spoke further.
Although they had a good personal relationship with Liu Yuan,
in this kind of setting, on this stage concerning the academy's glory, their stance outweighed personal friendship.
They were opponents.
As members of Shrek, they could not, and should not, defend their opponent at a time like this.
...
Meanwhile, on the other side.
In a luxury suite on the top floor of the Star Luo Grand Hotel.
Just as Huo Yuhao and Bei Bei had guessed, the members of the Sun Moon Team were indeed busy.
"Core Formation inscription complete! Precision at 99.8%!"
"Alloy casing shaping finished! Pressure test passed!"
"Energy conduction lines connected normally!"
Inside the room, the buzzing sound of spirit tool workbenches operating filled the air.
Liu Yuan, Xiao Hongchen, Meng Hongchen, Ma Rulong... all the main forces of the Sun Moon Team had transformed into the most skilled Soul Engineers, feverishly producing spirit tools.
The air was thick with the distinct smell of rare metals being melted at high temperatures, along with the pressure brought by high-intensity mental force fluctuations.
They had barely stepped foot outside their room.
They ate at their workbenches, took short naps beside them when tired, and continued working as soon as they woke up.
This kind of high-intensity, non-stop work might be torture for ordinary Spirit Masters, but for this group of fanatical Soul Engineers, it was a form of enjoyment.
Especially when they thought about what kind of "surprise" these soon-to-be-born works would bring to that insufferable Shrek Team, their movements became even more efficient.
"Whew..."
Finally, with the insertion of the last core component, Liu Yuan let out a long breath of turbid air.
He wiped the fine sweat from his forehead and looked at the strange device on the workbench that had just been assembled and was emitting a faint white light, a satisfied curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.
It was an unremarkable-looking metal ball, its surface covered in complex patterns.
But beneath this seemingly simple exterior was hidden a power sufficient to make an Assault System Soul Master like Dai Yueheng question his life.
Class 6 Specialized spirit tool—dragon binding rope.
Specially created to counter the White Tiger Martial Soul's abnormal physical defense and strength.
"Finally finished one."
Xiao Hongchen slumped into a chair and shook his aching wrists. Looking at the metal ball, his eyes were full of excitement:
"It was a bit tiring, but this thing... tsk tsk, I can't wait to see Dai Yueheng tied up like a rice dumpling."
Liu Yuan glanced at the time and smiled faintly:
"It's only one, it's still early. We have to hurry with the rest."
...
And so,
time flew by.
Over the next two days, the Sun Moon Team remained behind closed doors, everyone working themselves to the limit.
Until the morning of the fourth day.
With the conclusion of the first round of the knockout stage, the original hundred-plus teams had been ruthlessly halved. The remaining sixty-seven teams would officially enter the even more brutal and intense Round-robin Tournament.
On this day, the sky was somewhat overcast, as if portending a coming storm.
Early in the morning, the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Team, which had disappeared for two days, finally reappeared in the lobby of the Star Luo Grand Hotel.
"Let's go."
Liu Yuan adjusted his collar and led the way out of the hotel doors:
"The round robin matches are about to begin."
"I wonder what the results of the draw will be this time?"
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