Watching Meng Hongchen lose, Chen Fei's gaze darkened in the Sun Moon Academy team's seating area below the stage. Soul power instantly surged through him, and he lifted his foot to step into the arena.
No matter what, the 1v1 gauntlet wasn't over yet. He had to go up and withstand the pressure. He couldn't just let Sun Moon Academy end things with a defeat.
But just then, a figure suddenly blocked his path. It was their captain, Ma Rulong.
"Don't go." Ma Rulong's voice was heavy with resignation and concern. He pressed a hand onto Chen Fei's shoulder, stopping him.
Chen Fei frowned deeply. "Captain Ma? If I don't go up now, we lose outright!"
"Losing is still better than having everyone seriously injured." Ma Rulong shook his head, his gaze fixed on Solitary Bamboo Sword, who stood in the arena breathing steadily, completely unscathed. His tone was utterly certain. "We both know how strong Meng Hongchen is. Even going all out, she couldn't beat him. She couldn't even scratch him. If you go up, you'll only lose worse."
"Once you're badly injured, we won't even have enough people for tomorrow's seven-on-seven team battle. Then we'll truly be wiped out."
Xiao Hongchen hurried over as well, his face full of anxiety. "Then what do we do now? Just give up on the gauntlet? We still have a chance to turn this around!"
Their original strategy had been solid. They planned to have Meng Hongchen use her unusual abilities to launch a surprise attack and seriously injure one of Dou Ling Academy's Soul Emperors, then send Ma Rulong in to finish off the second.
As long as they took out two of the enemy's core fighters, they would have a real chance in the team battle that followed. They might