A Wagered Battle

Seeing the strange atmosphere, not only the quick-witted Hu Liena, but even the slow-witted Yan noticed that something was wrong.

But his first reaction was to laugh, a sarcastic laugh.

He glanced at Li Kai, then at Sun Chuantao, and said disdainfully, "You want to be the boss?"

Sun Chuantao didn't look at him, but instead looked nervously at Zhou You. Seeing that Zhou You just had a look of watching a good show, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Then a surge of joy welled up inside him.

It seems the rumors were true; Zhou You is not interested in leading the team.

Although Zhou You had previously refused Xie Yue, who could guarantee he wouldn't suddenly change his mind? After all, he had said he wouldn't participate in the competition, yet he's here today, isn't he?

Fortunately, it seems that he has no interest in leading the team, so Sun Chuantao's only real opponent is Xie Yue.

So he shifted his gaze and met Xie Yue's eyes.

At this moment, Hu Liena's brows were tightly furrowed. She had been on guard, but she never expected that the person vying for leadership with her brother was not Zhou You, but Sun Chuantao.

This was someone she had never taken seriously before.

"Xie Yue, I think you understand what I mean. Let's take this opportunity to have a fair duel and decide who will be the 'captain'."

Xie Yue was also a proud and arrogant person. He had long, narrow eyes and a slightly raised chin, which gave him a disdainful look.

"You?"

Although both are Soul Grandmaster, their Soul Power Levels are roughly equal. However, one is 8 years old and the other is 12 years old. Despite the only 4-year age difference, the difference in their Talents is quite obvious.

Moreover, this gap will widen further as time goes on.

The Soul Master system becomes increasingly difficult to cultivate as you progress, with the difficulty increasing dramatically at the high-level Soul Master stage. Even reaching the Soul Saint level is a height that most Soul Masters cannot reach in their entire lives, no matter how many resources they are given.

However, at this stage, the two haven't yet established a significant qualitative gap, which is why Sun Chuantao chose to issue the challenge.

Cultivation also depends on one's mindset. If he can subdue Xie Yue today, it will have hidden benefits for his future cultivation. Meditation Method also depends on one's state of mind. The strong become stronger, and this is the principle.

Sun Chuantao's ability to enter the Central Academy and the Elite Class is a testament to his Talent. If it weren't for the even more astonishing Talent of Xie Yue and others, Sun Chuantao would have been qualified to be the captain of this generation.

It's worth noting that the previous team captain representing the Spirit Hall in the tournament had Talent roughly equivalent to Sun Chuantao's.

The term "Golden Generation" is originally used to describe a group of people who are exceptionally different from others.

However, the competition is a team event, not a one-on-one battle, which is very different from the usual one-on-one Arena battles.

Sun Chuantao admitted that Xie Yue was very strong, and he didn't have much confidence in one-on-one combat, but team battles were a different story.

Who says the leader of a squad has to be the strongest?

This is also why Sun Chuantao believes he has a chance to "seize power," so he responded, "Not by my own merit, but by ours!"

His teammates are the reason he dared to challenge Xie Yue.

Excluding Xu Yu, who is Support System, the remaining three members of our team are all Soul Grandmaster, with cultivation levels roughly equal to Xie Yue and the others, but our team composition is clearly more balanced.

Moreover, they had a longer period of adjustment, and since Zhang Ping filled the gaps in their team, Sun Chuantao has had more confidence in his team.

He stood up, and Xu Yu and Zhang Ping beside him also stood up, seemingly to cheer him on.

"Xie Yue, I now formally challenge you and your team. The winner will become the core of the team and have leadership."

Yan gritted his teeth. "You bunch of weaklings? Don't even mention Boss and Xie Yue, I could easily beat you all with one hand!"

"Heh." Xu Yu curled his lip in disdain.

If you're talking about a one-on-one fight, then Yan's boasting has some credibility, but if it's a four-on-one fight, Yan will definitely get beaten to a pulp.

Sure enough, this kid is just as stupid as Li Kai.

Yan was furious when he saw that Xu Yu, a mere 19th-grade nobody, dared to look down on him.

However, before he could even begin to criticize, Xie Yue had already stood up.

The other side has already issued a challenge, so he has to give a positive response. He can't refuse, otherwise he can't lead the team.

"It's just a challenge, isn't it?" he replied, since it wasn't the first time he'd faced a challenge like this.

"I accept your challenge!" But then a wicked smile crept across his face. "However, you just said you were challenging my team, right?"

Sun Chuantao's face tightened, and his eyes involuntarily glanced in Zhou You's direction.

In fact, it wasn't just him; others were also secretly watching Zhou You out of the corner of their eyes.

Despite not having many matches in the academy, Zhou You is the only student with a perfect record. Moreover, although he rarely takes to the stage, the opponents he faces each time are of very high quality.

He almost exclusively fights against students of the same level who are among the strongest, such as Yan and Xie Yue. His other opponents are mostly older students who are a level above him.

He dared to fight Soul Grandmaster at the first stage, and continued this matching principle after the second stage, directly fighting Soul Elder, and not just a novice who had just entered the Soul Elder, but a veteran Soul Elder.

And... it was still a complete rout.

This is the most incredible place.

Because he always fought so easily, people once doubted whether he could defy two major realms and contend with the Soul Ancestor.

It should be noted that Soul Ancestor has already met the standards for participating in the Elite Soul Master Tournament and is a strong contender who has a chance to advance to the finals.

Zhou You now seems to possess such strength, a strength and Talent that is truly admirable.

Unfortunately, despite the much discussion, no real challenger from the Soul Ancestor ever appeared.

Now, no one in the academy questions Zhou You's abilities anymore.

With such a powerful figure in the team, joining any team would be extremely disruptive to the balance, which is the only thing Sun Chuantao is unsure about.

However, even Zhou You cannot stop his determination to challenge Xie Yue now.

He was gambling, gambling that Zhou You wouldn't go all out for Xie Yue. Otherwise, with Xie Yue's strength, how could he possibly be worthy of having Zhou You as his assistant?

If Xie Yue, who is slightly weaker, dares to stand in the center position, then why can't Sun Chuantao?

Xie Yue saw his determination, his smile vanished, and his expression turned cold.

"Very well, since you're so determined, then come and try it? Try... to challenge us." He still held Sun Chuantao and the others in contempt.

In his view, apart from Sun Chuantao, who was reasonably strong, everyone else was no match for him.

Hu Liena stood beside her brother with a stern face, offering her silent support.

Yan glanced at Zhou You: "Boss?"

"Isn't it interesting?" Zhou You stood up with a smile.

He looked at Sun Chuantao, who was ambitious but still seemed somewhat nervous, then at Xie Yue, who had a disdainful look on his face and seemed to look down on everyone, and said to Hu Liena with a smile:

"I only promised to help the team win, I don't think I promised to support your brother to become the leader, right?"

He's not a nanny. If others don't submit to Xie Yue, does he have to protect them? That's enough.

Upon hearing this, Hu Liena's face immediately showed a look of astonishment, followed by a hint of anger, and her calm demeanor vanished instantly.

In contrast to her, Sun Chuantao's confidence immediately soared, and the morale of his troops was visibly boosted.

Xie Yue smirked but said nothing. After all, he couldn't beat Zhou You; being weaker, his words carried no weight.

However, he was confident that even without Zhou You's help, he, Hu Liena, and Yan would be able to defeat the four opponents.

Thus, a 4v4 betting match was decided over a tense breakfast, with the stakes being the future dominance of the participating teams in the tournament.

The well-prepared Sun Chuantao team and the newly formed Xie Yue team—which side is more suited to take the lead? The answer will be revealed in the outcome of the battle.