At that moment, Jiang Nannan stepped forward as well. Clear apology and a trace of weariness showed on her exquisite face as she bowed slightly to Dai Youheng. "Youheng, I owe you an apology too."
Dai Youheng looked at her. "Senior Jiang? What for?"
Jiang Nannan sighed, her gaze complicated. "When all is said and done, everything today started because of me. If that bastard Xu Sanshi hadn't targeted you over those ridiculous ideas of his and hounded you relentlessly, you wouldn't have exhausted yourself, much less given Dai Huabin a chance to ambush you. I'm truly sorry for causing you so much trouble."
Her voice was full of helplessness and apology, along with an even deeper disgust for Xu Sanshi.
After what had happened today, she felt even more dissatisfied and exhausted by Xu Sanshi's refusal to distinguish right from wrong and how easily jealousy went to his head.
Dai Youheng smiled. "There's no need, Senior Jiang. This has nothing to do with you. The grievances between Xu Sanshi and me are our own business. I'll settle the score with him myself."
The more reasonable and understanding he appeared, the more he highlighted Xu Sanshi's irrationality and Dai Huabin's despicable conduct.
Looking at his pale face and sincere eyes, then comparing them with everything Xu Sanshi had done, Jiang Nannan felt the scales in her heart tip completely.
She shook her head gently and said firmly, "No, this wasn't your fault. Youheng, get some proper rest. I won't forget what happened this time."
With that, she nodded to Dai Youheng and expressed her apology once more before turning to leave, her retreating figure looking rather cold and resolute.
Clearly, Xu Sanshi's behavior today had squandered what little goodwill Jiang Nannan had left for him.
Huo Yuhao watched Jiang Nannan leave, then looked at his weakened older brother and said solemnly, "Brother, don't worry! When I get the chance, I'll defeat Dai Huabin fair and square in the arena and get payback for you! And Senior Xu Sanshi really went too far today."
Dai Youheng smiled and patted him again. "All right, don't dwell on it. Go join the others. Your Reserve Team probably still has instructions to receive."
Huo Yuhao nodded emphatically and offered a few more words of concern before turning and running toward the Reserve Team's gathering point.
Watching Huo Yuhao and Jiang Nannan walk away, Dai Youheng's eyes flickered with a barely perceptible gleam.
Apology and sympathy were sometimes more useful than deliberate attempts to curry favor. They might well prove useful in the future.
This time, Dai Youheng had put his hypocritical side to good use.
The Lan Sisters watched from beside him. Lan Luoluo muttered, "Brother Youheng, you're far too easygoing... after they treated you like that..."
Dai Youheng collected himself and smiled faintly. "Just a minor setback. It's nothing. Let's head back."
His gaze swept over the reserve members receiving Xuan Zi's lecture, lingering briefly on the gloomy-faced Dai Huabin before shifting away as though nothing had happened.
After the selection match ended, the newly appointed Shrek Seven Devils Reserve Team began special training under Xuan Zi's personal guidance.
However, training went far less smoothly than expected. In fact, it was plagued by one problem after another, a tangled mess.
The first problem lay with Xu Sanshi.
Although his early elimination by Dai Youheng had kept him out of the seven selected members, he relied on his strength and background to shamelessly show up at the training grounds every day.
He dressed it up as observing, learning, and improving together, but in reality, his eyes were practically glued to Jiang Nannan. He kept inventing excuses to talk to her and fawning over her, seriously disrupting both her training and her mood. It drove her to distraction and greatly diminished the effectiveness of her training.
The second-and most fatal-problem came from within.
It was the deeply rooted conflict between Dai Huabin and Huo Yuhao. Proud and arrogant, Dai Huabin found accepting commands from Huo Yuhao, someone he loathed and whose cultivation was far below his own, worse than being killed.
He flatly refused to accept Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing, much less acknowledge his role as the team's main coordinator. During training, he frequently went his own way, disrupting the entire team's rhythm and coordination and preventing the seven of them from combining their strength effectively.
The entire Reserve Team had virtually split into two parts.
Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, He Caitou, Bei Bei, and Jiang Nannan could just about work together, while Dai Huabin seemed like a complete outsider, utterly out of place in the team.
Looking at this Reserve Team, which had no coordination and was riddled with internal conflicts, Xuan Zi finally had to face reality and admit that his free-for-all selection method had gone seriously wrong.
What he had selected was no team at all, but a bundle of explosives that could blow up in an internal fight at any moment!
But given Xuan Zi's status and temperament, publicly admitting his mistake was impossible. Thus, he settled on a second-best remedy.
Add a substitute for the substitutes! At critical moments, this person could replace a member who could not cooperate, such as Huo Yuhao or Dai Huabin. They could also help with regular training.
There were three ready candidates, but he could hardly summon all three to serve as substitutes. He could only choose one.
The first was Xu Sanshi, who faithfully "clocked in for work" every day. Although he let his emotions dictate his actions, his strength spoke for itself, and his defensive abilities were top-notch. He was more than qualified to serve as a substitute.
Then there was Dai Youheng. He was very strong and got along well with the others, so he should be able to fit into the team quickly.
The last was Zhu Lu. Xuan Zi hesitated among the three. Judging by individual strength and his stunning performance in eliminating Xu Sanshi earlier, Dai Youheng was undoubtedly an excellent choice.
But the moment Xuan Zi thought of Dai Youheng's tangled conflicts with Xu Sanshi and Dai Huabin, his head swelled to the size of a bushel. If he brought that boy in, a fight might break out on the substitutes' bench before anything else happened. The team would become even harder to manage!
In the end, for the sake of the overall situation's stability, Xuan Zi chose Zhu Lu.
First, Dai Huabin was one of the selection match's winners, so Xuan Zi needed to consider his position. He was the one being isolated now. Bringing in Dai Youheng or Xu Sanshi would only isolate him further.
Second, Zhu Lu and Dai Huabin could unleash the Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Hell White Tiger. It could serve as a trump card at a critical moment and would, at the very least, guarantee someone could coordinate with Dai Huabin.
Third, Zhu Lu had, after all, placed eighth in the selection match, while the other two had been eliminated early on. To convince everyone, the substitute ought to be the person ranked immediately below the seven winners.
When Dai Youheng learned that Xuan Zi had finally selected Zhu Lu as the substitute, leaving him completely out of this tournament, he felt no disappointment. Instead, he let out a tremendous sigh of relief inwardly!
That was close. I finally managed to dodge the selection match, only to nearly get dragged onto the substitutes' bench by that old conniving schemer and become a substitute for the substitutes. He heard that Xu Sanshi, meanwhile, had been sighing endlessly,
bitterly resentful that he had not been chosen.
For Dai Youheng, however, this was an excellent excuse.
He immediately sought out his homeroom teacher, Zhou Yi, doing his best to put on a complicated expression that mixed disappointment, resentment, and a pretense of strength.
"Teacher Zhou, I'd like to... take some time off." His voice sounded somewhat low and hoarse.
Looking at this student, once so spirited, who had recently grown increasingly calm and strong yet now seemed especially dejected, Zhou Yi could not help sighing inwardly. Naturally, she had heard that Xuan Zi had chosen Zhu Lu as the substitute.
This child has suffered one blow after another. First, he was ambushed and eliminated in the selection match, and now the substitute position has slipped through his fingers too. His state of mind must really have collapsed, Zhou Yi thought, a rare trace of sympathy rising in her heart.
She tried to soften her voice. "Is it because of... Xuan Zi's choice?"
Dai Youheng did not answer directly. He merely turned his head slightly, as though unwilling to let anyone see the emotion in his eyes, and said quietly, "I just feel that I need some time alone to clear my head and adjust my mindset. Please approve my request, Teacher."
The way he seemed to be holding back his disappointment only confirmed Zhou Yi's suspicions. She considered it. Before long, she would be accompanying the main team and the Reserve Team to Star Luo City for the tournament as one of their supervising teachers anyway, and the academy's classes would be suspended.
Letting this shaken child go out to clear his head and regain his balance would be good, lest he get trapped in a dead end of his own thinking.
"All right." Zhou Yi nodded. "I'll approve your leave this time. But stay safe and return on time."
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