Having reached her limit, Shui Bing'er was already using all her strength just to maintain her consciousness. She couldn't even lift a little finger anymore, let alone continue fighting.
But then, in her despairing gaze, Qi Ling slowly walked towards her, his face full of praise.
"We... we lost," Shui Bing'er said softly, her voice filled with resentment. "You really are too strong, Qi Ling."
"You guys weren't bad either. There were many times I thought I was going to lose," Qi Ling said. "This was a very evenly matched battle; perhaps you just lacked a bit of luck."
"Heh, seven people against one? Not to mention, you went easy on us so much, you didn't even let any of us get hurt," Shui Bing'er said with a bitter laugh. "If this can be considered an even match, it's just too ridiculous."
"In any case, your performance was amazing, and I have high hopes for you!" Qi Ling said with a smile. "Now, you should get some sleep first."
As the captain of the Skywater Academy, Shui Bing'er's Soul Power depletion is no less than that of the other team members. The reason she has been able to hold on until now is mainly due to her tenacious will.
However, continuing would undoubtedly put a great burden on her body, so Qi Ling gently tapped her head with her finger, causing her to fall into a deep sleep.
"I... I will definitely defeat you..." In her last second before losing consciousness, Shui Bing'er said these words to Qi Ling, then softly collapsed into Qi Ling's arms.
"Seriously, yet another woman trying to take me down? Have I become public enemy number one?" Qi Ling thought helplessly.
Seeing that Shui Bing'er had also fainted, the referee seemed to wake from a dream and immediately announced Qi Ling's victory.
Amidst the wild cheers of the audience, the people from the Skywater Academy came up and took the unconscious people away, while the members of the Qilin Team also ran up to greet Qi Ling.
Qi Ling finally breathed a sigh of relief after sitting down in the Qilin Team's rest room. To be honest, his condition wasn't much better than that of the people from the Skywater Academy; he was only able to hold on until now simply because of his strong physique.
"It's alright, I don't have to play tomorrow," Qi Ling said with a smile. "You guys have to do your best tomorrow..."
After saying this, Qi Ling also fell into a coma. Only then did everyone realize that he had been merely holding on until now.
When Qi Ling woke up, it was already the afternoon of the next day. He looked around and found Yu Feng sitting next to him. He asked in surprise, " Yu Feng? What are you doing here?"
" Boss Qi? You're awake?" Yu Feng said with delight when he saw Qi Ling wake up. "Don't worry, we'll do our best in the competition. It's just that Yanzi was worried about you, so she asked me to stay behind."
"So, they didn't include you this time either?" Qi Ling said with a strange expression, because if that's the case, Yu Feng didn't play a single game throughout the entire qualifiers, meaning he was truly sidelined.
Yu Feng, on the verge of tears, said, "Sigh, I wanted to fight too, but Yanzi said that Boss Qi is more important, so they need to keep someone who won't affect the competition, so I was left behind."
Qi Ling said helplessly, "It seems that Dugu Yan has underestimated Shrek, and also underestimated you."
"Without you playing, they probably won't win this game."
"Huh? What? Boss Qi, am I that important?" Yu Feng was flattered by Qi Ling's words, because he had always felt that his strength was not outstanding, he did not have any special skills, and he was even a bit of a stretch to be counted as a formal team member.
After all, he was just an ordinary Soul Ancestor at level 42, which wasn't really that strong.
" Yu Feng, don't underestimate yourself. Your role is far more important than you think," Qi Ling said. "But it's too late to say that now. Let's hurry to the competition venue."
When the two arrived at the competition venue, as expected, the Qilin Team had already lost the match. Everyone on the team had some injuries, showing that they had given it their all.
" Qi Ling, I'm sorry, we've let you down." Dugu Yan said to Qi Ling with her head down, "I've ruined the Qilin Team's undefeated record. Punish me."
Qi Ling looked at the dejected group and said with a smile, "It's not your fault. I'm the captain of both the Qilin Team and the Shrek Team, so I know that your strengths are evenly matched. It's not surprising that either of you wins or loses."
"Moreover, I reckon something unexpected must have happened today, right?"
Dugu Yan exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? Qi Ling, you didn't watch the match, how did you know about this?"
Qi Ling smiled slightly and said, "If I'm not mistaken, their secret move was originally prepared for me, to surprise me."
"But they probably didn't expect that I had already exhausted myself yesterday and wouldn't be able to participate in the competition today. Otherwise, they probably would have asked me to participate in the competition, just like Skywater Academy did."
In fact, just as Qi Ling said, today's match was prepared by the Shrek Devils for Qi Ling. For this purpose, all seven members of the Shrek Seven Devils stepped onto the stage, which was also the first time they had participated with a complete lineup.
Even Ning Rongrong and Ma Hongjun, who had been kept hidden as secret weapons, appeared on the battlefield this time, all to use their full strength to fight against Qi Ling.
After all, they didn't believe they could maintain their composure when facing Qi Ling, so they naturally used all their strength.
Therefore, when everyone learned that Qi Ling was unable to participate, their regret was immense, so they had no choice but to compete against the fully prepared Qilin Team.
" Tang San, don't underestimate us!" Dugu Yan said to Tang San, who was the acting captain, at the start of the competition. "Even without Qi Ling, we're still very strong!"
Tang San smiled and said, "Of course, we know better than anyone how strong the team led by our eldest brother is."
In a way, this match could be considered an internal battle, as they all wanted to prove who was the best team under Qi Ling's leadership.
Therefore, everyone went all out from the very beginning of this match. Luna, fully armed, took the lead and once again became the vanguard. Her amazing destructive power made the Shrek team dare not underestimate her at all.
In order to block Luna's offensive, Dai Mubai, with the help of Tang San's restraints and Ma Hongjun's long-range firepower suppression, barely managed to stop her attack.