Zhou Yi's face was full of anxiety, though it was unclear whether she was anxious about Ma Xiaotao and the others' condition or the matches ahead.
"What exactly happened to you? Why did you suddenly collapse?"
"Our soul power suddenly disappeared. We couldn't even maintain our martial souls, and our soul power is recovering extremely slowly. The upcoming matches..."
Ma Xiaotao could not go on. Unwillingness to accept it was written all over her face.
"Then what about using milk bottles?"
He Caitou spoke up then. Only now did Zhou Yi remember them, and she hurriedly told them to use milk bottles to restore their soul power.
But the result was disappointing.
"It still doesn't work. The problem isn't external replenishment. It's the aftereffect of having our bodies drained of soul power."
"Damn it! They actually used such a despicable move."
Zhou Yi's words were rather laughable. This had clearly been a perfectly open and aboveboard move, so how had it become despicable in her mouth?
"Teacher Zhou, what do we do about the upcoming matches, then? Are we supposed to just concede?"
Wang Dong asked then, while Huo Yuhao and the others also looked at Zhou Yi.
Zhou Yi looked at Xuan Zi, who asked Ma Xiaotao and the others, "How much soul power can you recover before the individual matches begin?"
Dai Yueheng spoke first. "Ten percent at most."
"So little?"
"I can recover fifteen percent at most."
Ma Xiaotao spoke up as well. As for the others, they could not even recover ten percent.
That left Xixi as the only member of Shrek Academy's main team who had escaped disaster and could still take part in the individual matches.
"In that case, we can only send in the reserve members. No matter what, we absolutely cannot give up on the competition."
Hearing Xuan Zi say this, Xu Sanshi was rather excited. "We finally have a chance to show what we can do."
Bei Bei, however, felt immense pressure. "Judging by their past performances in the individual matches, I'm afraid it'll be very difficult for us to beat them there, too."
"Eldest Senior Brother, we have to try anyway. We just need to show our full strength."
"Exactly. We're the Tang Sect too. We can't let this so-called New Tang Sect look down on us."
"That's right. No matter what, they still have to return to Xiaoya's hands."
While Shrek Academy discussed who would fight in the upcoming individual matches, the Players were discussing the same question.
Wang Zhongwang: "How about letting us go up and have some fun first in the individual matches? You three main fighters can stay until the end."
Ten-Year Veteran: "I have no objections, but isn't Xixi the only one left on their side?"
Spirit Hall Eternal: "Doesn't Shrek Academy still have the protagonist's bunch of reserves?"
Ten-Year Veteran: "Right, I almost forgot about them. Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong's martial soul fusion skill is still something of a threat, so we'd better not drag this into the third round's two-two-three format."
Primordial One: "I'm a support, so I don't need to go onstage, right? Wouldn't I just be asking for a beating?"
Agile Dog in the Mountains: "I'm not going up there to get beaten up either. We can talk about it once my level is higher."
Spirit Hall Eternal: "Then Wang Zhongwang and I will go first. Once we lose, you can go up and finish the match."
Wang Zhongwang: "We'll do our best to take out one or two for you."
Soon, the intermission ended, and the arena had been cleaned up as well.
"The second round of the Soul Master Tournament finals, the individual matches, will now begin."
After Xu Jiawei, the Star Luo Emperor, announced the start of the second round's individual matches, he handed the microphone back to the host.
"Now, let us welcome the competitors from both sides for the first individual match."
The first Player to take the stage was Wang Zhongwang, while Shrek Academy sent Xu Sanshi out first.
Xu Sanshi held a folding fan, looking as though he had everything under control.
"We're acquainted, after all. Why not do me a favor and step down yourself?"
Hearing Xu Sanshi's words, Wang Zhongwang's lips could not help twitching.
Wang Zhongwang: "Do I know you that well? Cut the crap. Let's start!"
"Don't regret it!"
The reason Xu Sanshi was so confident was, of course, his soul skill, Xuanming Swap.
He had not revealed this soul skill before, so he planned to use it to pull a dirty trick.
He figured he might not manage to catch I Am an Angel, Ten-Year Veteran, or Qian Xixi with it, but catching Wang Zhongwang would be no problem at all.
What Xu Sanshi did not know, however, was that the Players knew exactly what his Xuanming Swap did.
The Players had even discussed how to counter Xu Sanshi's Xuanming Swap before.
Their eventual conclusion was to hit him with hard crowd control before he used Xuanming Swap, interrupting his skill outright.
As it happened, Wang Zhongwang had just such a hard crowd-control skill, and it worked very well.
After the referee announced the start of the match, Xu Sanshi immediately turned and ran toward the edge of the arena.
Seeing this, Wang Zhongwang immediately understood what the fellow wanted to do and chased after him.
The smile on Xu Sanshi's face grew even more pronounced. He thought Wang Zhongwang had already fallen into his trap.
Xu Sanshi reached the edge of the arena and jumped off without hesitation, activating Xuanming Swap at the same time.
Wang Zhongwang: "First soul skill: Tiger's Roar in the Mountain Forest!"
A tiger's roar erupted with perfect timing. Xu Sanshi was stunned for an instant and failed to activate Xuanming Swap, then plunged onto the hard stone slabs below the arena.
Now Xu Sanshi, who had wanted to show off with a single Xuanming Swap, had made a complete fucking idiot of himself.
When Xu Sanshi climbed up from the ground, rubbed his slightly red and swollen forehead, and realized what had happened, he felt utterly awful.
Immediately afterward, the audience's unrestrained laughter rang throughout the arena.
On Shrek Academy's side, Huo Yuhao and the others also felt disgraced.
Jiang Nannan even gritted her teeth. "What the hell is that embarrassing fool doing? Did he go up there just to make a spectacle of himself?"
"Ahem, don't be too hard on him. His trick was probably seen through, and that's why he made a fool of himself."
Bei Bei still put in a good word for Xu Sanshi. But judging by Xuan Zi's and Zhou Yi's dark expressions, once this Soul Master Tournament ended and they returned to Shrek Academy, Xu Sanshi definitely would not have an easy time.
Meanwhile, the Players' team voice chat was even more boisterous.
Agile Dog in the Mountains: "Hahaha, I'm dying! This guy thought we didn't know about his Xuanming Swap and wanted to pull a fast one on us. Now he's made a fucking idiot of himself."
I Am an Angel: "This guy is the one I dislike most. Jiang Nannan even ended up with him. It's just disgusting. Put yourself in her shoes. He's probably the person Jiang Nannan least wants to see, yet he keeps shamelessly hanging around her."
Invincible Tyrannosaurus Warrior: "Speaking of which, the author put quite a lot of twisted tastes into Jiang Nannan and Xu Sanshi."
Primordial One: "You mean that backdoor bit? It really was pretty disgusting. Who knows what was going through his head when he wrote it."
Before you continue