After blasting Xu Sanshi out of the arena, Xiao Hongchen withdrew his Soul Tools and took his time restoring his Soul Power with a Milk Bottle.
When he heard that his next opponent was Lu Yi rather than Ma Xiaotao, the tension in his chest vanished.
He still remembered the attack he had suffered during the team battle.
Afterward, he had quickly worked out that the attack from the shadows could only have come from Lu Yi.
The fact that Lu Yi had briefly wrested all his offensive Soul Tools from his control forced him to admit that Lu Yi's methods had exceeded his expectations.
But that had only worked because the chaos of the team battle had distracted him, allowing Lu Yi to use Invisibility to sneak up on him from behind.
Against any other member of the team, Lu Yi might have won with that surprise attack.
But Xiao Hongchen was different.
His Three-Legged Golden Toad Martial Soul gave him an innate ability to control metal. If he kept his mind focused, he could regain control of his Soul Tools at top speed even if Lu Yi's attack struck him.
Then Lu Yi would face his fiercest counterattack.
While Xiao Hongchen's thoughts raced, Lu Yi was still nowhere to be seen.
Compared with the other Shrek members, he seemed to be taking an unusually long time. Even the Referee could not help urging them on.
"Shrek Team, send Lu Yi into the arena at once, or the match will be ruled a loss."
"Heh."
Xiao Hongchen seemed to have guessed what was happening and chuckled. "Scared after all? Looks like you're wiser than I thought."
He was happy to wait, though. The longer his opponent delayed, the better it was for him. Lu Yi was only lifting a