"Sis, give me a spot in this match. I happen to feel like having a little fun."
After Su Yun spoke, Su Qingxue casually pointed at a Soul King and replaced him without another word.
They might have needed to give it some thought against Shrek Academy, but there really was no one on the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's side who could put up much of a fight. Their cultivation ranks were merely a little higher, so the choice was straightforward.
And as Su Yun joined the lineup, Shrek Academy hesitated for a moment, but soon chose a team member to take out as well.
They had heard and seen Dai Yueheng's circumstances, so Shrek Academy was very supportive of his choice.
Getting to face the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's captain for the next Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament ahead of time would benefit Shrek Academy.
Moreover, Su Yun's age could not possibly be hidden from the Soul Masters of the Douluo Continent. Everyone could gauge roughly how old he was.
Dai Yueheng was fourteen, even approaching fifteen, while Su Yun looked twelve at most, and very likely younger than twelve.
With an age gap of more than three years, coupled with Dai Yueheng being a candidate for Shrek Academy's next captain and a rank-forty-four Soul Ancestor, they had confidence in him.
Especially when Su Yun called Su Qingxue "Sis," Shrek Academy's control Soul Master even devised a fighting strategy specifically targeting Su Yun.
They did not know how strong Su Qingxue and Su Yun were. After all, neither of them had stepped onto the competition stage from beginning to end.
But his age of around eleven was enough. Even at Shrek Academy, few could reach rank thirty at around eleven.
Even if they counted him as a Soul Elder, and a relatively strong one at that, a Soul Elder was still two entire major ranks below a Soul King, especially when they were all high-level Soul Kings of at least rank fifty-five.
Rank fifty-five against someone whose upper limit was barely above rank thirty-it could be said that Su Yun would face certain death as soon as he encountered one of them.
Combined with his being the younger brother of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's captain, this would make Su Yun the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's weakest point in the team battle.
By comparison, with Dai Yueheng's rank-forty-four Soul Power and Evil Eye White Tiger Martial Soul, even if he could not join a Soul King-level battle, he would absolutely have no trouble protecting himself, and could even put up something of a fight.
With the enemy weakened by a large margin while their own side was weakened only a little, Zhang Lexuan and the others naturally would not refuse.
Although the member of the Shrek Seven Devils who had been replaced at the last minute was somewhat dissatisfied, he had no right to voice that dissatisfaction now. Shrek was merely informing him.
Soon, as the opening ceremony ended and both teams' lineups were confirmed, the referee came over to announce the rules.
"The finals of this Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament will begin with one-on-one matches, followed by a team battle. In the one-on-one matches, each opponent defeated earns one point, while the team battle is worth five points. The team that earns the most points will be the champion of this tournament."
Hearing the referee announce the rules, Su Yun inexplicably found them somewhat familiar, but could not immediately remember why.
But when Zhang Lexuan chose to take the stage first after hearing the rules, Su Yun instantly understood where that familiarity came from.
Weren't these the very rules that had screwed the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy over in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament held in Mingdu in the original story!
The Tang Sect's team had killed three people right at the start of the one-on-one matches, leaving Xiao Hongchen facing a four-against-seven situation with no choice but to give up.
Then Wang Qiu'er had followed the Tang Sect's example and begun killing students from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
When Zhang Lexuan came out first, others might not know what that meant, but how could Su Yun, who had read the original story and knew exactly what Shrek was like, fail to understand?
Seeing Su Qingxue about to step forward after Zhang Lexuan took the stage and have a captain-level fight with her, Su Yun broke into a cold sweat in an instant.
"Sis, wait. Take this with you."
After figuring out what was happening, Su Yun hurriedly stopped Su Qingxue, who was about to take the stage, and handed her the Storage Soul Tool containing the Snow Empress.
"A Storage Soul Tool? What are you giving me this for?"
"Just in case. Sis, don't worry about anything else. Just pretend this thing doesn't exist."
Su Yun spoke to Su Qingxue, then used his soul power to transmit his voice to the Snow Empress.
"Snow Empress, sorry for the trouble, but please watch the match closely in a moment. Nothing else matters. What's important is making sure my sister stays safe."
Hearing this, the Snow Empress, who was lying on a sofa reading, unhurriedly turned her gaze outside and spoke with the attitude of a spectator who did not mind the commotion getting bigger.
"What, are you sure you want me to protect her? That barrier blocks things out quite thoroughly. If I focus all my attention on protecting her, I won't be able to help if something happens to you."
"Don't worry about me. Naturally, I have other ways to save my life. Protect my sister first."
Su Yun's words reached the Snow Empress's ears without the slightest hesitation.
Hearing them, the Snow Empress suddenly fell silent.
After a brief silence, the Snow Empress slowly spoke, her voice carrying a trace of indescribable strangeness. "You really are good to your sister."
"She's the only sister I have, after all. Besides, she takes good care of me too. Snow Empress, please. Nothing else matters. Protect my sister."
"Understood."
As she spoke, the Snow Empress put down her book. The expression of someone watching a spectacle was gone from her face, leaving only seriousness and some unidentifiable emotion.
"Family..."
The Snow Empress silently watched the two of them. This time, she had not used her spiritual power to transmit her voice, so no one heard what she said at that moment.
Seeing that her younger brother insisted she accept the Soul Tool, Su Qingxue did not ask any more questions. She casually put it on her wrist and stepped onto the competition stage.
Zhang Lexuan was a rank-sixty-nine Soul Emperor. Moreover, with the explosive increase in Soul Bones over the past thousand years, every successive Shrek captain was certain to possess a Soul Bone, perhaps even more than one. That showed just how strong Zhang Lexuan was.
But strong as Zhang Lexuan was, the current Su Qingxue did not believe she was in any way inferior to her.
A twenty-thousand-year Purple Lightning Netherworld Python had combat strength comparable to a Soul Saint. Besides, summoning the Purple Lightning Netherworld Python did not leave her completely unable to fight herself.
With the Su Clan's Martial Soul, which was highly compatible with Soul Tools, along with her own three Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Skills-and not ordinary ten-thousand-year skills at that-Su Qingxue was very confident in this battle.
Across from her, Zhang Lexuan frowned when she saw Su Qingxue take the stage.
In theory, the safest approach was for Shrek to kill three students from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, then begin the team battle.
But with the appearance of Su Qingxue, their captain, things were clearly not heading in the direction Shrek had initially envisioned.
Still, Zhang Lexuan merely frowned at this. If the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy sent up a team member, there was a way to fight a team member; if the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy sent up its captain, there was a way to fight its captain.
Since the captain had come up first, she simply had to kill the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's captain.