We've Got This in the Bag!

"Teacher, Shrek Academy seems really famous. I can't believe so many people are talking about them."

"What a bunch of tasteless fools. Some people actually think the Shrek members are handsome? That Thousand Hand Asura should be Tang San, right? He's got so many fangirls, even though he's already turned into a pockmarked face."

"And that Evil Eye White Tiger should be Dai Mubai. Evil eyes? Looks more like he's cross-eyed to me."

"I agree."

A youth dressed in a Peach Blossom White Robe walked into Suotuo City's Great Soul Arena with three young girls of different charms and a tall, sturdy, honest-looking youth.

As they made their way in from the entrance of the Great Soul Arena, Ning Rongrong and the others discovered that many passersby were discussing a Soul Master team called the Shrek Team, and among them were even quite a few children of nobles.

In this world where Soul Masters were mainstream, Soul Master was an extremely prestigious profession. One of the nobles' greatest hobbies was watching Soul Fighting Competitions. If they encountered someone with good talent, they would even spend heavily to recruit and curry favor with them, and many nobles also liked choosing Soul Masters with better aptitude as sons-in-law.

They had already spent heavily placing blind bets on Shrek Academy's match tomorrow. The vast majority were optimistic about the Shrek Team, which had already displayed outstanding performance, and extremely so. Some were even placing bets on the Finisher and MVP of tomorrow's winning side.

The so-called Finisher was the person who ended the match by defeating the enemy's final contestant.

The MVP was the best-performing member of the victorious team, in other words, the MVP.

Fifty to sixty percent of the people were betting on Thousand Hand Asura to take both Finisher and MVP, because he had performed the best in the match against the Imperial Dou Team.

Around thirty percent of the people placed their bets on Evil Eye White Tiger, and around twenty percent favored Evil Fire Phoenix.

Only ten or twenty percent of opportunists had put a portion of their gold coins on this Peach Blossom Spring Team, which had never shown itself before.

As an academy neighboring Shrek Academy, Ning Rongrong and the others could be considered fairly familiar with Shrek's situation. Just by listening, they had already guessed most of their aliases.

Ning Rongrong pouted. There was nothing she could do about these people's ignorance.

"Teacher was right. Prejudice in people's hearts really is a mountain."

"The fact that they performed well in Soul Fighting Competitions doesn't mean we're bad. Once we win, you'll all be crying."

"All I can say is these people have never tasted anything good. Even Shrek's boys can become their idols. Sigh~"

Ning Rongrong was very helpless.

"Yes, yes, Rongrong, you've tasted the good stuff, and you even kept it all to yourself," Meng Yiran followed behind and quipped.

"Sigh, Junior Sister Yiran, I know you really want the reward for victory, but don't start shouting just yet."

Ning Rongrong sighed. "I really want to keep it all to myself too, but Teacher won't let me."

"Which part of Teacher do you want to eat? Giggle, giggle~"

"Look at you, you really don't know how to talk. How can Teacher be eaten? How can you treat Teacher like food? Junior Sister, that's not good. You can run your mouth, but you can't get greedy with it."

"All right, stop running your mouths. The match is about to start, and you're still this disunited. Do you really want to lose?"

Su Ran, wearing the Immortal Dragon Peach Blossom Mask and walking at the very front, heard Ning Rongrong and Meng Yiran bantering and felt rather helpless. Zhu Zhuqing was a little better. Her personality was relatively cool and aloof, and she rarely made a fuss; she would only echo something when she felt it was right.

But Meng Yiran was different. She had grown up following her grandparents, and like Ning Rongrong, she had been spoiled by her family. Once these two got together, their endless chatter gave Su Ran a headache.

"Don't worry, Teacher. We'll definitely win!"

Ning Rongrong said confidently.

Zhu Zhuqing was calmer. "Rongrong, don't be careless. Teacher said that Team Battle isn't the same as Single Combat. And only four of us are participating. If Shrek Academy sends out the standard number for a Team Battle—seven people—then it's equivalent to each of us having to fight nearly two Soul Masters. The pressure on us is still very great."

Wang Sheng also nodded. "Rongrong, have you forgotten the encouraging words Teacher posted on the academy wall? A proud army is doomed to defeat!"

"Senior Sister Rongrong~ are you deliberately acting arrogant and planning to throw the match on purpose? That way we won't get Teacher's reward, and you'll be the only one who knows what Teacher looks like. Senior Sister, you've got some naughty thoughts~"

Meng Yiran looked at Ning Rongrong suspiciously and said faintly.

"Hey~ I—I'm not! How could I throw the match on you? I wouldn't!"

Ning Rongrong denied it flatly!

"Teacher, do something about Yiran! She's slandering me!!!"

"Hello, we'd like to register a soul fighting team."

At the front desk, Su Ran spoke to the Great Soul Arena's staff.

The staff member in charge was a woman with purplish-red hair dressed in professional attire. She glanced at Su Ran, and her first impression was that his bearing was extraordinary.

"Certainly, sir. May I ask whether you wish to register for a 2v2 or 1v1 Soul Fighting Competition?"

"We're registering for a Team Battle."

Su Ran said calmly.

"Team Battle? If I'm not misunderstanding, sir, you wish to register for a 7v7 Team Battle?"

"Yes. What's wrong? Is there a problem?"

"No problem... Excuse me, sir, I saw that there are only five of you in total, so I thought you temporarily had no plans to participate in a Team Battle."

The staff member hurriedly apologized.

"Mm, to be precise, there are only four of us. May I ask if four people can register for a Team Battle?"

Su Ran asked.

"Huh?"

The female staff member with purplish-red hair clearly froze, staring blankly for two seconds before she came back to herself.

"Sir, you're not joking, are you? You only want to register four members for a Team Battle?"

"Yes. Can we register?"

Su Ran was different from Shrek. He would not casually recruit a few students to teach just to fill out a team and win matches. Although these students had yet to complete their training, they should be good enough for Soul Master Team Battles. He had that much confidence in his own teaching and Cultivation Methods.

"You can, yes. Missing members can be added at any time in the future, but almost no Soul Master team would choose to do this."

The staff member took a deep breath. "Even missing one or two teammates, when facing a Soul Master team of the same level, or even a Soul Master team with a lower level than their own, their Winning Chance would be extremely low. There would be almost no possibility of victory. Even if there are occasional cases where they can win, it is extremely difficult. And your team is missing three members, sir. Are you certain?"

Su Ran smiled faintly. "I'm certain."

"All right. Please enter your names and collect your fighting spirit badges."

The staff member continued asking, "May I ask what your team's name is?"

"Peach Blossom Spring Team."

Su Ran spoke calmly.

"All right, wait—Peach Blossom Spring Team? You're the Peach Blossom Spring Team?!"

The staff member had just recorded the team name when she suddenly froze, looking in surprise at the boys and girls before her.

"What? Got a problem with our Peach Blossom Spring Team?" Ning Rongrong snorted.

"Excuse me, I'm just very surprised. Please forgive me for asking, but are you the Peach Blossom Spring Team that has never shown up, the one scheduled for a special PK match against Shrek tomorrow?"

The staff member asked in some disbelief.

"That's right. It's us," Zhu Zhuqing answered calmly.

"Gulp~"

"You're going to face Shrek's seven-person team with a four-person team?"

"So what?"

Meng Yiran and Ning Rongrong both very much disliked this feeling of being looked down on.

"Peach Blossom Spring Team? They're the Peach Blossom Spring Team?"

"Look, they're the team that's going to PK the undefeated legend, Shrek Team, tomorrow, and they actually only registered four or five people?"

"I'm betting on Shrek to win!"

"All in! I'm going all in! Isn't this guaranteed profit? Earning a little spending money is still good!"

"I'll add another thousand Gold Soul Coins!"

"I'll add ten thousand!"

"I'll add ten thousand too!!!"

Inside Suotuo City's Great Soul Arena, after seeing the Team Members of Peach Blossom Spring Team appear—and register for the first time with only four members—everyone went wild.

The situation, which had already favored Shrek heavily in the betting, became completely one-sided.

Ning Rongrong's little face was full of dissatisfaction.

"Teacher, let's go place a bet too!"

Su Ran said calmly, "I already did."

"How much did you bet?"

"Two thousand Gold Soul Coins."

"Huh? Only two thousand Gold Soul Coins? Isn't that too little?" Ning Rongrong pursed her lips.

"It isn't little. Did you think your usual body tempering, blood nourishing, and all those training devices in the academy came for free? I'm still counting on you beating Shrek this time so I can earn their ten thousand Gold Soul Coins."

Su Ran sighed. Teaching and educating people was truly no easy task. Although the system rewarded him with Cultivation Methods and Soul Bones, there were still many things he had to purchase himself. Having enough left in his balance was already pretty good.

"Teacher, you don't have money?"

Unexpectedly, after hearing Teacher complain, Ning Rongrong's eyes lit up instead. She pulled a Gold Card from her clothes and slapped it onto the table with a smack, shocking the entire room.

"Teacher, why didn't you say so earlier? If you don't have money, I do!"

"I'll bet one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins, and all the winnings will go to Teacher!"

"But if we win, Teacher, you only have to kiss me once! Pretty worthwhile, right?"

Another chapter at noon.