Round Robin Begins and the Auction

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, the three intense days of the Preliminary Round had ended.

During that time, the arena had been filled with fierce battles and flying blood and flesh. Yet Star Emperor Hotel remained peaceful, because Wang Yan had ordered Huo Gua's seven-person group not to watch the matches in person in order to preserve Shrek's mystery and strength.

After three days, those who understood naturally understood.

Wang Yan truly was not much of an actor.

As for Zhou Huan and two others, there was no need for Wang Yan to say anything, because he knew Zhou Huan might understand even more than he did. Or rather, Wang Yan had always treated Zhou Huan as a mentally mature adult.

There was no helping it. Over the year or so that they had known each other, Zhou Huan had never felt like a youth to him.

Of course, during these three days, Zhou Huan had not constantly taken Wang Qingya and Wen Xiaoshuai to watch matches. They had only watched several stronger teams, such as Star Luo National Academy and Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy.

Unfortunately, the Preliminary Round matchups had been arranged quite reasonably. They were basically strong teams against weak ones.

The main purpose was to eliminate the truly weak teams first. It was impossible to let a weakling team enter the second round of the Round Robin, and even less possible to have teams capable of reaching the Top 16 meet during the Preliminary Round.

Therefore, under such circumstances, Zhou Huan could not possibly see Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy display its true strength.

On the fourth day of the Soul Master Competition, the Preliminary Round had ended, and Shrek welcomed its first match of the second-round group Round Robin.

When Zhou Huan, seated in Shrek's rest area, saw that Beibei had drawn Cloud Net Academy for a one-on-one Individual Challenge Elimination Match, he could not help but feel shaken.

The opponent had not changed, and the match format was exactly the same as in the original plot.

So, was it really like this?

Zhou Huan suppressed his doubts, because Wang Yan had already begun laying out their strategy.

Just as in the original storyline, Xu Sanshi was still the first to take the field.

Wang Qingya softly asked from beside him, "Zhou Huan, how many matches do you think Senior Xu can win?"

Zhou Huan answered casually, "He should be able to take down all seven by himself."

The people sitting nearby, including Huo Gua, Xiao Xiao, Jiang Nannan, and the others, all stared at Zhou Huan in disbelief.

Wang Qingya's eyes widened. "How is that possible? No matter how powerful Senior Xu is, he's only a Soul Ancestor. Cloud Net Academy might be weak, but they still have three Soul Ancestors. Can he really defeat all seven?"

Hearing that, Zhou Huan answered absentmindedly, "The reason is simple. Senior Xu is rather shameless."

Wang Qingya: "..." How was she supposed to argue with that?

Xiao Xiao, Huo Gua, and the others: "..." Being shameless could win a match?

Only Jiang Nannan's eyes lit up as she gave Zhou Huan a friendly look. Though she was completely unfamiliar with this junior, she seemed to have found a kindred spirit at that moment.

At that instant, Zhou Huan seemed to shine in Jiang Nannan's eyes.

However, before everyone could think for long, Xu Sanshi on the stage used a Mysterious Nether Swap and directly eliminated his first opponent—Ma Yingjun, who was not handsome at all.

His shameless style was displayed beyond all doubt.

Aside from Beibei, everyone looked at Zhou Huan in disbelief. "Did you know Senior Xu—Xu Sanshi—had that soul skill?"

Zhou Huan shook his head. "How could I know? I only know that a book once said: the shameless are invincible! Senior Xu is obviously one of those people."

In truth, Zhou Huan did not like simps like Xu Sanshi. Although Xu Sanshi had succeeded in the end, who knew whether Jiang Nannan had merely accepted reality, thinking that since things had already come to this and Xu Sanshi truly treated her well, she might as well live with him—or whether she had genuinely fallen in love with him by the end?

Perhaps even Jiang Nannan herself did not have a clear answer to that.

Zhou Huan had always believed that if you liked someone, you could express it and pursue them. But after they had clearly rejected you so many times, if you still stubbornly kept bothering them, that was no longer pursuit. It was harassment.

That had always been Zhou Huan's view on relationships. It was rather simple.

Perhaps that was also why he had remained single in his previous life.

But that was not important. What mattered was that he believed people should have some boundaries.

Huo Gua and the others were speechless at Zhou Huan's explanation. Were there really books in this world that wrote things like "the shameless are invincible"? Don't bully them just because they had not read much!

If Zhou Huan had known what they were thinking, he would definitely have mocked them: "You just don't read enough. How many times have you even been to the library? A bunch of uncultured brutes!"

As they chatted, Xu Sanshi defeated another female Soul Ancestor from Cloud Net Academy. When the female Soul Ancestor named Shang Yue left the stage, she was still gritting her teeth at Xu Sanshi, clearly furious.

By then, Wang Qingya and the others had already been won over by Zhou Huan's "foresight."

Afterward, Cloud Net Academy's Captain, Situ Yu, took the stage. He decided to settle the outcome in a single battle. If he lost, Cloud Net Academy would concede, but he demanded that Xu Sanshi fight him fairly and openly!

Xu Sanshi naturally agreed.

Zhou Huan watched and kept shaking his head. Situ Yu was Cloud Net Team's strongest Soul Ancestor and also a Soul Engineer, so he had originally been quite formidable.

Unfortunately, his combat style was wrong. He used Fortress Tactics, which were extremely powerful but entirely unsuitable for an individual battle. It was practically the same as standing there and letting others hit him.

Especially when facing a top-tier Defense System Soul Master like Xu Sanshi.

The result was obvious.

"First match of Group One's Round Robin: Shrek wins!"

The Referee's announcement signaled that Shrek had claimed a victorious start to its first Round Robin match with only one Soul Ancestor!

The audience's enthusiasm soared as well. Although they were not as unable to contain their shock as they had been during that Preliminary Round match, seeing one Soul Ancestor defeat an entire team still thrilled them. They had not supported Shrek in vain.

Afterward, Shrek once again left immediately as usual, seemingly completely uninterested in the other teams' matches.

Night fell over Star Luo City, before what appeared to be a very ordinary auction house.

Yesterday, Xu Sanshi had defeated Cloud Net Academy all by himself, which put Wang Yan in an excellent mood.

Thus, after a round of heartfelt persuasion and logical reasoning, he finally brought Huo Gua and the other six, along with Zhou Huan and two others, here to attend a special auction for Soul Tools.

That was right, Wang Dong had not come. Unlike the other Shrek students, whose disdain and arrogance toward Soul Tools stemmed from their attitudes, she inexplicably hated Soul Tools from the bottom of her heart.

Zhou Huan naturally knew the reason. It was nothing more than the subtle meddling of some God King.

Once they entered the auction house, what appeared before them was a gigantic structure of dazzling gold and jade, completely unlike its understated and ordinary exterior.

This was actually Star Luo City's largest auction house, the Starlight Auction House. Its owner was none other than Xu Jiawei, the Star Luo Emperor.

However, tonight's dedicated auction for Soul Tools below Level Six was relatively low-end, so the bidding was not held in the main hall but in Auction Hall No. 12.

Once Wang Yan and the others had put on masks to conceal their faces and taken their seats at the auction venue, the auction was about to begin.

"Good evening, esteemed guests. Welcome to the Starlight Auction House. I am the auctioneer, Qingya." The lightly dressed auctioneer had a very pleasant voice. "I hope every esteemed guest returns home with a full harvest tonight."

Upon hearing the young auctioneer's name, Zhou Huan nudged Wang Qingya's arm and smiled. "Qingya, look. There's a bigger Qingya over there."

Then Wang Qingya fiercely pinched his muscular bicep, while Xiao Xiao and Wang Qingya rewarded him with four sharp glares.

It made Zhou Huan's heart turn icy cold.

Really, you could provoke anything, but never an angry girl.

That was Zhou Huan's only thought at that moment.

It was also then that Wang Yan bid on the first item of the night, a Level Three Soul Tool called the Soul Tool Paralysis Ray. At He Caitou's suggestion, he gave it to Huo Gua.

"Next is the second item, a Level Three Soul Tool: the Green Sun Dagger." The young auctioneer continued working diligently. "This Soul Tool's greatest strengths are its concealment and explosive power. It is absolutely the first choice for Agility Attack System Soul Masters."

"The starting price is 1,200 Gold Soul Coins, and each increase must be no less than 50 Gold Soul Coins. Bidding begins!"

The moment she finished speaking, Wang Yan raised his bidding paddle.

There was no helping it. He had brought everyone here tonight to go on a shopping spree. The academy would reimburse the expenses anyway, and this dagger was especially suitable for Jiang Nannan.

"Very good, esteemed guest No. 166 has made a bid. Does any esteemed guest wish to raise it?"

"1,200 Gold Soul Coins, going once!"

"1,200 Gold Soul Coins, going twice!"

"Good, esteemed guest No. 132 has raised the bid by 100 Gold Soul Coins! Does anyone else wish to raise it?"

"Excellent, esteemed guest No. 166 has raised the bid by another 200 Gold Soul Coins! Any further bids?"

"1,500 Gold Soul Coins, going once!"

"1,500 Gold Soul Coins, going twice!"

"1,500 Gold Soul Coins, going three times!"

"Sold! Congratulations to esteemed guest No. 166 for obtaining item No. 2 once again!"

Just like that, with no concern for money that was not his own, Wang Yan bought more than a dozen Soul Tools in succession. Most were Level Three to Level Five Soul Tools, including offensive and defensive ones, as well as several bought purely for Shrek's Soul Tool Department to research.

Of course, Wang Yan had not bought so many Soul Tools for himself. Most were distributed among the six members of the Reserve Team, while even Zhou Huan and two others each managed to get a Level Three Soul Tool.

Wang Yan said this was private sponsorship. After all, Zhou Huan and the others were not part of the Reserve Team and did not have the qualifications for the academy to pay for them.

Just as Wang Yan felt that tonight's haul was sufficient and prepared to stop, Zhou Huan made his move.

Not only did he bid, he bought five Level Three Soul Tools in one go, all offensive Soul Tools such as sabers, swords, and daggers.

It practically blinded everyone's eyes. Several question marks arose in their minds. Was Zhou Huan planning to start a collection?

However, only Wang Yan asked aloud, "Zhou Huan, why are you buying so many offensive Level Three Soul Tools? You can't use that many by yourself."

Zhou Huan merely smiled. "I have my own uses for them, Teacher Wang. You'll find out later."

Well, since he had put it that way, Wang Yan could not ask further. Besides, it was not his money being spent.

The final item before the auction ended was naturally the Spirit Devouring Carving Knife. More precisely, it was a carving knife made from Gold of Life. Unfortunately, Huo Gua still managed to pick it up for a bargain.

Zhou Huan had no choice. First, he did not have the auction funds provided by the academy, and since no one competed with Huo Gua, Huo Gua only spent 100,000 Gold Soul Coins to obtain the carving knife.

He was poor. He had already spent nearly 10,000 Gold Soul Coins on five Level Three Soul Tools, and he had even borrowed that money from Wen Xiaoshuai.

Second, Zhou Huan did not have Electrolux to help him deal with the carving knife's soul-devouring danger. Even if he got it now, he would have no way to use it. Besides, with Huo Gua around, he most likely would not be able to obtain it anyway.

So he decided to let it go. After all, Huo Gua could still take the blame.

After the auction ended, everyone returned to Star Emperor Hotel, because the second group Round Robin match would arrive tomorrow.

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