"I only wanted to bring Tang San under my command!" Qian Renxue snapped angrily.
"It was clearly Bibi Dong's fault! If she hadn't insisted on pushing the Soul Hunt Operation forward ahead of schedule and forced me to act in haste, how could my disguise have been exposed?"
She had spent twenty whole years undercover in the Heaven Dou Empire! All of it had gone up in smoke because of Bibi Dong's Soul Hunt Plan. How could she not be furious?
Compared to Qian Renxue's fury, Bibi Dong's emotions inside the Sky Screen were far more complicated when she heard those words.
There was anger, confusion, and resentment. In the end, Bibi Dong's gaze gradually softened, revealing a heartache Qian Renxue had never seen before.
Bibi Dong let out a heavy sigh.
Watching this, Ye Chen ventured a question.
"Teacher, don't you blame Qian Renxue?"
Perhaps because she had witnessed Qian Renxue's death with her own eyes, Bibi Dong's thinking was now very different from before.
"She is my daughter, after all. How could I blame her?"
Outside the Sky Screen, Qian Renxue felt as though she had been struck by lightning.
She had never seen Bibi Dong like this!
All she remembered was the disdain Bibi Dong had shown her when she was little.
She would never forget that cold, loathing gaze as long as she lived!
"What a joke! Now you're trying to play on my emotions?"
Qian Renxue clenched the papal robes she wore in both hands. She stopped looking at the Sky Screen and returned to her room without looking back.
But on the way back, her steps faltered unevenly, as though she might fall at any moment...
The next day,
Only the final eight teams remained in the elimination tournament.
The moment Ye Chen and Dai Huabin met, the air between them reeked of gunpowder.
Watching this from the spectator stands, Huo Yuhao could not have been happier.
"Dai Huabin, Ye Chen, you've both paved your own roads to death!"
He wished his two enemies would start fighting right then and there, and both get expelled!
Inside Huo Yuhao's Sea of Spirit, Electrolux heaved a heavy sigh.
It seemed Huo Yuhao was still blinded by hatred.
During the draw, the other teams all avoided Ye Chen's team and Dai Huabin's team.
After all, theirs were the only teams with Soul Elders left. Nobody wanted to encounter them at this stage.
While waiting for the draw, Xiao Xiao was still a little worried. She quietly approached Ye Chen and asked.
"I heard Dai Huabin and that girl named Zhu Lu have a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Can we win?"
Hearing this, Ye Chen ruffled Xiao Xiao's hair.
"We won't lose. We're the strongest!"
"Got it, class monitor, but could you stop ruffling my hair? I just washed it!"
Xiao Xiao instinctively lowered her head and fiddled with the hem of her clothes as she spoke, looking a little bashful.
"???" Now it was Wang Dong's turn to be unhappy.
The subsequent draw placed them and Dai Huabin's team in separate brackets.
That meant they would not face Dai Huabin's team until the grand final.
Ye Chen and his teammates won the next two matches easily. They were practically under no pressure at all.
Teams without Soul Elders simply could not withstand their attacks.
Of course, even those with Soul Elders could not hold out. Ning Tian and Xie Huanyue were the best proof of that!
On the day of the final, two deans of Shrek Academy sat in the spectator stands, each scheming against the other.
Qian Duoduo was pondering how to poach Huo Yuhao from Yan Shaozhe.
As for Yan Shaozhe, he saw through Qian Duoduo's scheme at a glance.
"Old Qian, have you taken a fancy to another student from our Martial Soul Department?"
"No, I haven't. Lin'er has." Qian Duoduo immediately used Xian Lin'er as his excuse.
"Come on, Old Qian. That's no fun." Qian Duoduo had opened by playing his trump card, leaving Yan Shaozhe at a loss.
"Don't worry. The student I want definitely isn't a Core Disciple of your Martial Soul Department. Besides, he won't reach level thirty before finishing his second year. That should be fine, right?" Qian Duoduo said.
Yan Shaozhe eyed Qian Duoduo suspiciously. "Come on, Old Qian. How many students like that do you take away every year?"
Qian Duoduo said gloomily, "There's nothing I can do about it. These youngsters all have their eyes on top of their heads. Hardly any of them are suited to our Soul Guidance Department."
"You know that training someone for that plan requires an extremely thorough familiarity with soul tools, including both making and using them! Don't forget, the Sea God Pavilion has already approved this plan."
Seeing how earnest Qian Duoduo looked, Yan Shaozhe relaxed a little. As long as he had not set his sights on Ye Chen, everything was negotiable.
Then he asked, "You really won't choose a Core Disciple? Or any of our students outside the second year who are below level thirty?"
Qian Duoduo immediately put on a righteous expression. "Of course! When have I, Qian Duoduo, ever gone back on my word?"
Yan Shaozhe nodded and agreed at once. "All right, then."
But a moment later, he changed tack again. "Old Qian, top-tier soul masters are inherently more useful than top-tier soul engineers. A top-tier soul master can turn the tide of battle. Can your top-tier soul engineers do that?"
To be honest, Yan Shaozhe had never thought much of soul guidance technology. In his eyes, powerful soul masters could never be replaced by soul tools!
If anyone from the Legend of the Dragon King era had heard that, they would have treated Yan Shaozhe to a Level 12 Fixed-Installation Soul Tool Shell, no matter what.
What was all that gibberish? Go tell it to my Level 12 Fixed-Installation Soul Tool Shell.
"Yan Shaozhe, you're being shortsighted. Believe it or not, one day soul masters will be replaced by soul tools. Our Soul Guidance Department aims to produce an unparalleled Level 10 Soul Engineer!" Qian Duoduo retorted.
"Old Qian, let's wait and see, then."
Bibi Dong, inside Ye Chen's Sea of Spirit, naturally noticed the two Shrek Academy deans in the stands as well.
"Ye Chen, are those two the deans of Shrek Academy?"
"Yes and no. One is Yan Shaozhe, dean of the Martial Soul Department-the man you saw before. The other is Qian Duoduo, vice dean of the Soul Guidance Department," Ye Chen said.
At this point, Ye Chen could not resist griping.
"Who knows whether it's a Shrek Academy tradition, but Shrek Academy's deans always seem to have some strange love triangle going on."
Outside the Sky Screen, during the Spirit Hall Era, inside Shrek Academy.
Yu Xiaogang: "..."
Liu Erlong: "..."
Flender: "..."
During the Legend of the Dragon King era, inside Shrek Academy.
Yun Ming: "..."
Ya Li: "..."
Cai Yue'er: "..."
Inside the Sky Screen, while the two deans were conversing.
Ye Chen's team and Dai Huabin's team had already stepped onto the arena.
The supervising teacher announced the rules for the final match.
"For the upcoming final, there will be some changes to the rules. You may move freely within the arena, but those with flying martial souls may not fly higher than ten meters."
"Furthermore, during the match, you may attack with all your strength. There is no need to hold back. I will regulate the intensity of the match. Anyone I rescue from the arena will be considered eliminated."
"Any questions?" the supervising teacher asked.
"No questions!" The same words rang out from both sides at once.
But one side's voices were utterly icy.
The other side sounded completely relaxed, as though the outcome of this match had been decided from the very beginning...