"Xiaotao, Teacher Wang Yan is right. You won't recover in a week."
Silence hung over the room.
As one of their only two Soul Emperors, Dai Yueheng stepped in to play peacemaker.
"Besides, if you take the stage but can't deliver the absolute suppression expected of a Soul Emperor, you won't just fail to help-you'll let the other academies see how weak we really are, costing us the advantage we should have."
"At this point, our only advantage is mystery, the unknown. Once even that advantage is exhausted, elimination won't be far off. As Soul Emperors, we're the pillars of this team. If we reveal our strength too early and our opponents study us inside out, what will we have left to compete for the semifinals, let alone win the championship?"
"..."
Those words dragged Ma Xiaotao out of her agitation and back to reality.
It was like a basin of cold water poured over her head.
Wang Yan glanced at Dai Yueheng in surprise. He hadn't expected the vice-captain to step forward at such a critical moment.
"Teacher Wang, please tell us your strategy," Dai Yueheng said gently.
Wang Yan hurried to take the offered way out.
"Yueheng, roughly how many weeks will your injuries need?"
At the same time, he cast him a grateful look.
"About the same as Xiaotao. I can fight after a week and a half, but returning to peak condition will take around two weeks," Dai Yueheng said after some thought.
"Whew. A little over a week. That's enough." Wang Yan took a deep breath.
He looked at everyone.
"Yueheng is right. Our only advantage right now is the unknown. With the academy's glorious record over the past ten thousand years, others see us as mysterious and invincible. In fact, merely standing opposite us