Chen Zifeng, who was standing nearby, slowly shook his head upon hearing this and countered with a certain tone, "No, that's impossible."
"The exhaustion and injuries of Xu Tianhao and the others were definitely not faked; we all saw it with our own eyes."
"After a full five days of rest, they still look unwell. The Mingluo Sect couldn't possibly have the ability to act out such a realistic scene of severe injury right under everyone's noses."
Ma Xiaotao also shook her head slightly and withdrew her gaze.
She knew very well that although Shrek Academy and the Sun Moon Empire had always been on opposite sides and were rivals on the field...
...they still had some understanding of the Sun Moon Empire's style of doing things.
Several years ago, in order to purge the Evil Soul Masters from the continent, the Sun Moon Empire specifically established the spirit tool Inspection Team.
They mobilized the entire nation's power to suppress and encircle Evil Soul Masters.
The Inspection Team was extremely lethal toward Evil Soul Masters; as long as a trace of one was found, they showed no mercy.
While the Sun Moon Empire was ambitious, the idea that their Fourth Princess and Sixth Prince would openly collude with Evil Soul Masters to fix a match was simply unbelievable, no matter how one looked at it.
It was precisely based on this understanding that the Shrek group had never suspected from the start that the Mingluo Sect would join forces with the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy to fix a match.
Yet everything happening on the field now left them full of doubt and utterly perplexed.
Just as the Shrek group was discussing it with confusion...
...on the other side, Xu Jiawei's face was already ashen, his entire body radiating an anger suppressed to the extreme.
His hands were clenched tightly, his knuckles white, and his palms were marked with blood from his fingernails.
In his original expectations, this match was supposed to be the battle that made his sister, Xu Jiujiu, famous.
It was a golden opportunity for Xu Jiujiu to shine with her Star Crown Spirit and promote the prestige of the Star Luo Empire.
As long as they secured this victory, the Star Luo National Academy could march forward triumphantly, and Xu Jiujiu could thoroughly establish her reputation.
But he never imagined that the final outcome would be so tragic.
Not only was the match a crushing defeat, but his sister had ended up in such a state.
The anger and regret in Xu Jiawei's heart almost threatened to consume him.
One must know that the Xu family's Star Crown Spirit Legacy was already rare, and those with outstanding talent were a once-in-a-century occurrence.
His sister Xu Jiujiu's Spirit talent far exceeded ordinary people, even surpassing his own; she was the future hope of the Xu family.
Following a normal trajectory, Xu Jiujiu would very likely have reached the realm of Super Douluo in the future, becoming a top combat power for the Star Luo Empire.
But now, Xu Jiujiu had been heavily injured. If her Foundation was completely destroyed and could not be recovered...
...then for the Xu family and the Star Luo Empire, it would be a truly irrecoverable and massive loss!
"Damned Evil Soul Masters!"
Xu Jiawei glared at the calm Cult Leader Zhongli Wu, killing intent churning in the depths of his eyes, his heart filled with a mixture of regret and fury.
Originally, he had been plotting to kill with a borrowed knife, thinking of keeping the Mingluo Sect as a sharp blade to deal with the Sun Moon Empire's representative team in subsequent matches.
But now, he had lifted a stone only to drop it on his own feet.
Not only had he failed to utilize the Mingluo Sect, but he had also caused his sister and the entire Star Luo National Academy to pay such a painful price.
How could he swallow this breath of humiliation and loss!
The competition did not stop because of the severe injuries to Xu Jiujiu and the others.
The intense competition continued to play out on the Soul Fighting Platform, with every duel tugging at the heartstrings of the entire audience.
Because of the precedent set by Shrek Academy's previous matches...
...even though Xu Jiujiu was now heavily injured and her strength nearly completely ruined, no matter how much unwillingness and fury Xu Jiawei felt, he was ultimately left speechless.
He couldn't find any reason to lash out and could only suppress his full indignation in his heart.
But silence on the surface did not mean the hatred in his heart had dissipated.
All the participating teams from the Star Luo Empire, seeing their own imperial family members fall into such a miserable state, were already fuming with rage.
Hatred for the Mingluo Sect grew wildly like vines, firmly taking root in their hearts.
Their eyes were gloomy, and the looks they cast toward the Mingluo Sect team were full of icy killing intent and undisguised hostility.
If looks could kill, the members of the Mingluo Sect would have been cut into a thousand pieces by now.
Unfortunately, the Mingluo Sect members led by Huo Yuhao didn't care at all; they didn't even take the hostility of these Star Luo Empire teams seriously.
Even though many observant people off-stage were already secretly speculating that their previous injured state was likely a deliberate act...
...and that all of it was just a means to deceive their opponents, Huo Yuhao and the others remained unperturbed.
They left the stage maintaining an appearance of being weak and exhausted, as if they might collapse at any moment.
Huo Yuhao's current philosophy was 'I will not attack unless attacked,' but if anyone dared to be foolish enough to jump out and bare their teeth or provoke them...
...then what awaited them would surely be a thunderous heavy punch and a merciless, devastating blow.
Now, all the participating teams facing the Mingluo Sect had only two choices before them.
Either recognize the gap in strength and take the initiative to surrender, preserving themselves and withdrawing safely from the duel.
Or brace themselves for a head-on confrontation, gambling the fate of their entire team to fight the Mingluo Sect to the death.
But everyone knew that the price of choosing to fight head-on was extremely heavy, and they might very likely pay with their lives.
Even with a bit of luck to survive, the mildest outcome would be ending up like Xu Jiujiu—heavily injured and crippled.
In the face of an absolute gap in strength and the threat of life and death...
...even though the vast majority of teams hated the Mingluo Sect so much they were gnashing their teeth, they only ever cursed in their hearts.
No team dared to make any actual provocative or retaliatory moves; they could only be angry but dared not speak, enduring in silence.
After all, Cult Leader Zhongli Wu of the Mingluo Sect had already revealed his unfathomable and terrifying strength in previous duels.
Cult Leader Zhongli Wu had faced six Titled Douluo alone and yet remained unfazed, without showing the slightest hint of fear.
Even when facing the combined siege of several veteran Titled Douluo, he always held the upper hand with ease.
Such Heaven-Defying strength was enough to make all the powers in the entire arena tremble.
Ordinary Spirit Master teams, or even small to medium-sized Sects, simply didn't have the courage to provoke the Mingluo Sect, fearing they would bring about their own destruction.
In the eyes of the crowd, Huo Yuhao and his group were like a pack of wolves that appeared gentle but were actually man-eaters.
Those Star Luo Empire teams who harbored hatred but didn't dare to act could only pray secretly in their hearts.
They hoped that the Sun Moon Empire's team would encounter the Mingluo Sect more often, preferably with both sides suffering losses.
Even if the Sun Moon Empire team was defeated and surrendered, it would be the Sun Moon Empire's team that was disgraced, which had nothing to do with them.
Seeing the Mingluo Sect being tied down, even if only for a moment, would allow them to slightly alleviate the hatred in their hearts.
The competition in the arena was still in full swing, with powerful veteran teams showing off their skills on the Soul Fighting Platform, stunning the audience.
Slightly weaker teams didn't give up easily either, doing their best to show their strength and style.
Even if they eventually lost, they wanted to earn the respect of the entire crowd.
And because Xu Jiujiu and the others had been crippled previously, the Star Luo National Academy instantly lost its core combat power.
So, in the subsequent Two-Two-Three duel against the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, they had no power to fight back at all.
Led by Ma Rulong, the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy suppressed their opponents throughout the match, easily securing victory without any suspense.
The substitute members sent by Star Luo National Academy were all at the Spirit Ancestor level, which would be considered quite strong in an ordinary Spirit Master academy.
Even among the younger generation of Spirit Masters, they could be considered outstanding.
But when they faced Ma Rulong and the other top young Soul Engineers of the Sun Moon Empire...
...whether it was Spirit Master strength, combat experience, team coordination, or spirit tool enhancements, they were completely on a different level.
The gap between the two sides was like a chasm. The reserve members of the Star Luo National Academy were simply unable to compete and ultimately suffered a miserable defeat.
If they hadn't surrendered in time, they probably would have been crippled as well.