Rigging the Match

Ning Tian and Wu Feng had also come over. Facing Yue Hongchen and the others, they felt no pressure whatsoever. Their performance had been quite good to reach the semifinals. They couldn't beat Yue anyway, and with Meng on their side, it would just be a formality later.

Meng was led away by Ning Tian and the other two, standing opposite Yue on the stage.

"Both sides, state your names."

"Rookie Class Nine: Yue Hongchen."

"Rookie Class Nine: Meng Hongchen, Ning Tian, Wu Feng."

"Zone One, Quarterfinals, begin!"

On the stage, Mu En looked at Xuan Zi beside him. "Who do you think these two little ones will win?"

Xuan Zi took a big bite of a chicken leg and thought, "Aren't they siblings? Normally, I'd think Yue Hongchen would win, but as a brother, he'll probably hold back against his sister. Plus, Meng Hongchen's Martial Soul has the Ultimate Poison, so it's hard to say who will win."

Mu En smiled and didn't answer his question. Instead, he asked who Yue Hongchen's homeroom teacher was.

"If I remember correctly, it's Mu girl!" Xuan Zi said, tilting his head back and taking a large gulp of wine. "That girl's talent is alright. If she hadn't focused her mind on the wrong things, her cultivation wouldn't only be at the Soul Emperor level."

Mu En nodded and waved at Mu Jin, who was not far away.

Mu Jin, who was listlessly watching the upcoming class battle, sensed someone looking at her. She turned her head and saw Mu En waving at her. Without any hesitation, she immediately flew to Mu En's side.

"Elder Mu, Elder Xuan," Mu Jin said respectfully.

"Who do you think will win?"

Following Mu En's gaze, she saw he was referring to Yue and Meng. Without hesitation, she said, "Yue will win, and this match will probably be called a fixed match by the students."

"Oh? Why?"

"The relationship between these two is especially good. No matter the reason, they won't be able to fight each other. Furthermore, from what I understand, that kid Yue Hongchen is sly. He won't attack his sister, but he'll restrain her and then it won't be difficult to deal with the other two."

As she spoke, she turned her gaze back to the stage in Zone One. "Elder Mu, just watch how these two put on a fixed match. Consider it a little entertainment to spice up your peaceful life."

"Haha, alright!"

Returning to the stage, both sides had already completed their Martial Soul Avatar. Ning Tian's three Soul Rings lit up simultaneously behind him, instantly providing buffs for both of them.

The observing students and teachers, seeing that Meng Hongchen's side had two Soul Elders and one Soul Grand Master, and possessed the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda Martial Soul, were more optimistic about Meng Hongchen and her team.

In contrast, Yue Hongchen had only summoned his Martial Soul so far, not even his Soul Rings.

Although everyone knew Yue's strength, no matter how strong he was, he was still only a Soul Elder. Moreover, his sister's talent was not weaker than his.

Just as everyone was imagining how badly Yue Hongchen would be beaten, they saw Yue Hongchen quickly run towards Meng Hongchen, allowing her First Soul Skill, Poison of the Ice Toad, to enter his body.

In the blink of an eye, he arrived in front of Meng Hongchen and reached out to grab her.

"Second Soul Skill, Ice... Ah, forget it." Meng Hongchen, who instinctively prepared to unleash her second Soul Skill, remembered that the person in front of her was her brother, not someone else. The Soul Ring that had just lit up instantly dimmed.

She allowed Yue Hongchen to pick her up in a princess carry. However, to make the fixed match less obvious, she mobilized the Soul Power within her body to freeze Yue Hongchen's limbs, thus creating some hindrance to his actions.

But Yue Hongchen merely vibrated his Soul Power, and the ice on his limbs shattered and fell to the ground.

Seeing this, Ning Tian sighed and retracted his Martial Soul. Wu Feng beside him also retracted her Martial Soul: "We surrender."

Now it was Yue Hongchen's turn to be shocked. He exchanged glances with Meng Hongchen in his arms. "Didn't you guys communicate properly?"

Meng Hongchen, buried in his arms, shyly hid her face in his chest, her voice so low that Yue almost couldn't hear it. "I forgot..."

What to do now? His original plan was to restrain Meng, then use a bit of his strength to "politely" escort Ning Tian and the others off the stage, and then put Meng down. But just as he grabbed Meng, Ning Tian and the others surrendered.

Suddenly, the entire spectator stands fell silent, followed by a furious uproar.

"What the hell? They surrendered already? The fixed match is too obvious!"

"Exactly! If I remember correctly, Yue Hongchen and Meng Hongchen are siblings, right? Could it be that Yue Hongchen couldn't beat his own sister and wanted to get into the finals to win the championship, so he made Meng Hongchen throw the match for him?"

"Damn it, that's so shameless! They're both Soul Elders, and they didn't even try to fight. What kind of person is that? I watched his previous matches and thought he was so strong."

The students' curses grew louder and more unpleasant. The teachers, seeing that the three from the Sea God's Pavilion hadn't spoken, didn't dare to say anything. Moreover, they had all, more or less, understood Yue Hongchen and Meng Hongchen. Whether they fixed the match or not didn't matter much. In terms of strength, Yue Hongchen was definitely the strongest among all the teams. Mu En, Xuan Zi, and Yan Shaozhe, however, watched Yue Hongchen with smiles, curious to see how he would resolve the situation.

Yue Hongchen first looked up at the high platform. Yan Shaozhe had also gone to Mu En's side. Seeing the three looking at him, he immediately understood that they wanted to see how he would handle this.

Since that was the case, it would be easy.

Yue Hongchen gently put the girl in his arms down. After landing, Meng first retracted the Ultimate Poison from Yue's body, lowering her head and not daring to look at Yue. She said with a wronged tone, "I'm sorry, brother."

Yue squatted down, smiled, and ruffled her head. At the same time, four blue and white Soul Rings appeared behind him. "It's okay. No matter what mistake you make, your brother will cover for you. Don't worry."

After comforting Meng Hongchen, Yue Hongchen looked up at the students in the spectator stands who were still cursing incessantly. Although some students wisely shut up after seeing the four Soul Rings behind Yue Hongchen, most of the followers were still spewing foul language.

"Xiao Ka, I need to borrow your authority." Yue said to Xiao Ka in his Sea of Consciousness.

"What's mine is yours. Just take it and use it." Xiao Ka, who was in the Sea of Consciousness at this time, had reached her limit listening to the curses. If Yue Hongchen hadn't stopped her from coming out, she would have already gone up to fight.

Xiao Ka's authority was separation, fusion, and a weak spatial ability. Earlier, Lin Muxue and the others' Soul Skills had failed because Xiao Ka had used her separation authority. Lin Muxue and the others were only in their twenties, so their Soul Skills were naturally completely separated.

What Yue Hongchen was about to use now was his spatial authority.

From the very first curse, he had begun observing the people in the spectator stands. He found that quite a few people seemed to hate him intensely. When Ning Tian surrendered, they had dispersed into the crowd and started stirring up trouble.

Yue Hongchen accurately locked onto their positions. Most of them were students from the second and third years, with a minority of first-year rookies. As for the fourth years, there were none.

Yue Hongchen let out a cold snort. Three Soul Rings lit up behind him, and the sword shadows of the Divine Authority Sword, the Sword of Unalienable Rights, and the Sword of Human Rights descended. The sword shadow of each blade shot straight into the sky, enveloping the entire assessment area. The Blood Oath Pact in his hand had, without anyone noticing, transformed into the Indomitable Fate Crown.

The moment the massive sword shadows fell, the jeers and curses within the assessment area ceased. All the students stared at Yue Hongchen in the center of the arena with terror, feeling the aura of death emanating from him.

Yue Hongchen took a step forward, and the students he had marked were teleported to the arena one by one.

They looked at each other, bewildered as to how they had ended up here. However, sensing the killing intent in Yue Hongchen's eyes, the group couldn't even summon their Martial Souls and could only retreat continuously.

"I just took a look, and it was you guys stirring up trouble in the crowd, cursing me, saying I didn't dare to fight, that my strength was lacking, that I fixed matches, that I was a hypocrite?"