The Battlefield is Delayed, Did the Other Side Turn Hostile?

"What do you mean the opponent is still recuperating?"

After checking on the students' recovery status, Di Ao paid a visit.

"Uh, the teachers from Shrek Academy said that since the students still need to recuperate, they are requesting to postpone the match date."

Di Ao was also quite helpless; he had allocated a significant amount of resources for this match.

Moreover, the response to yesterday's matches had been excellent, and even after raising the ticket prices twice today, they had still sold out instantly.

As a result, Shrek had dumped a massive pile of trouble on them, which would be frustrating for anyone.

"Then just follow your own rules."

Chen An looked somewhat regretful; if the match were today, it would be best to strike them while they were down.

But since things had reached this point, what could he say? He had nothing to add and couldn't be bothered to care.

"No, no, no, my lord, that is not what I meant." Seeing that Chen An had misunderstood, Di Ao quickly spoke up.

"We also want to postpone this match and would like to ask if you could agree to it."

He was approaching this from a business perspective; the battle between Phantom Star and Shrek had already become a focal point. If it were canceled, the resources invested earlier would be wasted.

As he spoke, he took several boxes out of his soul storage device. They were half-open, revealing that they were filled with Gold Soul Coins.

"This is an apology from the arena for you. What do you think?"

Chen An thought for a moment and replied that it was acceptable.

He then emphasized that they would still be competing as scheduled tonight.

Thus, one could see Di Ao walking out of the hotel, beaming with joy and unable to suppress the smile on his face.

Back in the room, Chen An looked at the Gold Soul Coins and shook his head; it seemed the arena had essentially paid him back all the profits they had made from this match.

They were just looking to build a reputation and generate buzz.

Looking at it this way, this Di Ao was quite the talent.

"Postponed? Is their recovery really that poor?"

Inside Shrek Academy, Dai Mubai and Tang San were the most severely injured, oh, and add Oscar to that list as well.

Ma Hongjun and Xiao Wu had the lightest injuries.

"Xiaogang, you must pull yourself together. If even you are dejected, how can the students be any better?" Flender urged.

He looked at the students and then at his brother, feeling a knot of frustration in his heart.

"Sigh."

Yu Xiaogang still didn't respond. Ma Hongjun remained his usual carefree self, Xiao Wu was silently training on the field, and the remaining three were soaking in medicinal baths.

"I have requested a postponement for the team battle."

Flender felt disappointed in his brother once again and left the area with a sigh.

Shrek's recovery time took nearly a week.

By the time Di Ao went to find Chen An again, it was already the following week.

"Sir, the people from Shrek have recovered. That postponed match will be held tomorrow," Di Ao said respectfully as he entered.

Chen An was stunned for a moment.

He had almost forgotten about the whole thing, and after thinking about it, he quipped, "I thought they had run off."

Di Ao was all smiles upon hearing this.

How could they run off? With him around, no one could run. He wasn't just some minor manager; the entire district was under his jurisdiction.

"You worry too much, sir. They have a contractual relationship with this humble one, so they cannot run."

Chen An suddenly realized; no wonder Di Ao was so confident.

It wasn't hard to guess that if Shrek had run, he would have had Flender arrested and thrown into prison.

After all, with the backing of the three great sects, if they couldn't handle Phantom Star, they could certainly handle a Shrek Academy that violated its contract.

"You political and business types are something else."

Di Ao took this remark from Chen An as a compliment and nodded, saying, "Thank you for your praise."

After Chen An asked a few more questions, Di Ao excused himself as he had other matters to attend to.

Now alone in the room, he began to ponder.

"Does it really take that long for those people from Shrek to heal?"

He felt there was something going on, but after thinking it over carefully, well, they were indeed a bit poor.

Back when he was at his poorest, he had always kept medicine and supplies on hand, and he had forgotten that Shrek was genuinely impoverished.

He thought again about how the students had been performing under restrictions these past few days. The Elite Team hadn't lost a single match, and the High-Rank Team had only lost twice.

Things were going quite smoothly, so he thought that once Shrek finished their matches, he would just head back to teach his students.

Although the trio was looking after things at the academy, he still felt a bit uneasy, having heard that a batch of students was about to reach their second ring.

"Let's wait until things are completely finished here first," Chen An sighed.

His heart was preoccupied with the academy, but he recalled that the name of the Imperial Fighting Team had appeared in the arena a few days ago.

There was a student among them who piqued his interest.

If possible, he wanted to try and recruit them.

"Better to focus my mind on tomorrow night for now."

Chen An composed himself and headed out.

A day passed by in the blink of an eye, just like opening and closing one's eyes.

"Children, the opponents you face today are old acquaintances, so you can afford to be a bit more unrestrained."

Chen An gathered the seven members of the elite team for a pep talk.

Zhu Zhuqing, being the most senior, naturally took on the responsibility of asking questions.

"Master, which opponents are they? Is it Shrek?"

Mentioning old acquaintances led to some speculation, as they had bumped into others over the past few days, so there were other candidates for a moment.

Chen An nodded and said.

"Yes, but for this team battle, they are only fielding five people."

"So arrogant?" Ning Rongrong, unrestrained in her speech, immediately blurted out.

Perhaps feeling that wasn't quite right, she reined in her emotions and added somewhat sheepishly, "I mean, are they really only fielding five people?"

Chen An didn't mind, simply explaining calmly to those present.

"Their academy only has five students in total, so they have always challenged seven-person teams with five, winning more often than losing."

Speaking of these five people, Chen An felt speechless and found the whole thing absurd.

An academy with five people, refusing to accept unqualified students, calling it "Shrek only accepts monsters."

It was like they were putting on a show of "as long as I enroll fewer people, the graduation rate is one hundred percent, and the excellence rate is one hundred percent."

This went against his own dogma, the bastards.

"Hmm? Why do they look so lifeless?"

As he led the children into the preparation area, he glanced at the opposite side; the atmosphere was incredibly oppressive.

He listened in, but there were no sounds of discussion from the other side. It seemed there was no guidance from a teacher, either.

Oh, that wasn't too strange; Yu Xiaogang's ability to handle last-minute situations was truly abysmal.

But the complete lack of any sound was a bit too much.

"Never mind, let's focus on our own."

Chen An said, beginning to explain how they should fight this team battle.

"You need to watch out for that vine grass from the one called Tang San. Even though it's trash, it can still restrict your speed, and it's poisonous, so remember to use your Qi to protect your body. As for that Dai Mubai, he is nothing to fear."

Chen An spoke in detail.

"Yiran, keep an eye out for their hidden weapon ambushes and provide support at any time. Zhuqing, you focus on taking out their support first... actually, never mind, just play as you see fit."

He had originally intended to arrange specific matchups, but considering the state of the opponents, he shook his head and decided to let the students play as they saw fit.

Besides, looking at them, they seemed to be brewing some mischief.

"Don't worry, Teacher, we have a strategy; we will definitely win this match."

Ever since Little Stone had talked with Chen An, he had been in much better spirits.

"Yes, Master, rest assured."

The other three chimed in as well.

Forget it, let them be. At worst, he would keep a close watch; with him there, there would be no accidents.