Xiao Hongchen continued:
"That brings me to my second point. After that boy left the arena today, Shrek's other six members quickly fell into a disadvantage. That also suggests that all six of them might be weaker than him.
"Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that they were putting on an act. Also, weren't you wondering why all seven members of Qianling Academy suddenly lost? I asked around. Apparently, all seven were defeated at once, in an instant, by a terrifying surge of spiritual power.
"As it happens, as far as I know, among Shrek's other six members, there's only one mental-attribute Soul Master, and he's merely a Soul Elder. What do you make of that?
"Or perhaps they have some special technique. That's possible too. But the next point I'm going to make is the most important...
"I learned that one of Qianling Academy's students had seen a hundred-thousand-year soul beast before. She recognized that the aura of that boy's soul rings was identical to a genuine hundred-thousand-year aura!
"Although that might also have been fabricated, even so, I can sense that, at the very least, he's no weaker than me..."
The entire room fell deathly silent. Xiao Hongchen was incredibly arrogant and never thought much of anyone else, much less lied to provoke them. For him to say this now, he had to have some basis for it.
Then, seeing the mood take a turn, Ma Rulong spoke again:
"Based on what you've said, combined with everything we've discussed, I've reached a fairly clear conclusion.
"I believe something must have gone wrong at Shrek Academy. Although the members of the team they sent to compete are outstanding,
"they look more like a reserve team than their main lineup. A few other people appeared on the first