Chapter 71: Pain, but Not Completely
"You scoundrel!"
Chicken Drumstick Douluo saw the casualties among the main team and instantly evolved into Gluttonous Douluo, with nine soul rings revolving around him.
"Soul Douluo?!"
The true strongest Soul King saw the nine soul rings on Xuanzi and was dumbfounded, especially the ninth crimson ten-thousand-year soul ring, which exuded a terrifying aura.
This bunch of weaklings actually had a Titled Douluo backing them?
However, the strongest Soul King didn't show the slightest hint of panic and sneered.
"So what if you're a Titled Douluo? Give me a few more years, and even Titled Douluo will fall at my hands!" The Death God Envoy shrieked, extending his withered right hand and clenching it suddenly.
Yao Haoxuan, who was the most severely injured and already had corpse poison in his body, began to swell.
Corpse Explosion!
As long as someone had corpse poison in their body, regardless of whether they were alive or dead, they could serve as bombs for the Death God Envoy's Corpse Explosion, unless they had the ability to resist and fend off the poison.
But Yao Haoxuan was already unconscious from the explosion, clearly unable to resist.
Xuanzi initially intended to crush this Death God Envoy immediately, but his peripheral vision caught sight of Yao Haoxuan's swelling body, and his eyes turned red.
Ignoring the Death God Envoy, Xuanzi's immense soul power surged towards Yao Haoxuan, attempting to stabilize his body.
The Death God Envoy seized this opportunity to transform into a wisp of gray mist and disappear from Xuanzi's mental lock.
Outrageous! A Soul King escaping from a ninety-eighth-level Super Douluo!
Celebrate! Celebrate!
The Death God Envoy stood up for the disadvantaged group of Soul Kings!
But Xuanzi didn't realize that he had become the disgrace of Super Douluos. He focused on stabilizing Yao Haoxuan's body to prevent the impending explosion.
Despite Xuanzi's ineptitude, the power of a ninety-eighth-level Super Douluo was not to be underestimated, and he managed to stabilize Yao Haoxuan's explosive condition.
However, Yao Haoxuan, who was initially only severely injured, was now on the brink of death after the intense struggle.
As long as he wasn't dead, Xuanzi sighed in relief.
If a soul engineer died, Xuanzi wouldn't care much since he always looked down on them. But if a core martial soul system team member died, he would be overwhelmed with shame.
Yes, purely ashamed of his own incompetence, not saddened by the loss of a student.
Remember the original story? The casualties were even worse, but what were the Shrek members thinking?
They were concerned about how their academy would compete in the Soul Master Tournament with the main team in such a state!
Ridiculous.
At that moment, Xuanzi's mindset was similar.
He was somewhat relieved.
Fortunately, only Yao Haoxuan, an auxiliary system member, was out of commission. Fortunately, it was only a soul engineer who died.
The remaining five main team members, although injured, weren't seriously hurt thanks to the soul tools' protection and could still bring glory to Shrek after some rest.
Pain, but not complete pain!
Completely manageable!
Xuanzi felt a sense of relief, initially fearing that he, as the Supreme Elder of the Holy Spirit Sect, would be forced to act again. Recently, he had already wiped out almost an entire team of inner courtyard disciples.
If he messed up Shrek now, his hidden identity as the Supreme Elder might be exposed.
So, Xuanzi put on a sorrowful, pained expression.
"Children, this failure is all my fault. I will return to the academy and atone for my mistakes, but the tournament must go on. Shrek's glory depends on you," Xuanzi said heavily, his eyes welling with tears.
"I will take Yao Haoxuan back to the academy for treatment. This tournament is in your hands. The glory belongs to you, and the failure and shame are mine!"
Xuanzi left.
He wiped his hands clean, leaving Wang Yan, the substitute team leader, to deal with the aftermath.
Despite Xuanzi's words, if Shrek lost this tournament, Wang Yan would undoubtedly be the scapegoat.
But Wang Yan was unaware of this!
Along the way, he diligently encouraged the reserve team members.
He had no choice!
The main team wouldn't recover quickly, and the reserve team had to step up for the initial matches, giving the main team enough time to recuperate.
The seven reserve team members were nervous.
At the gates of Xingluo City, Di'ao Academy's team coincidentally encountered Shrek Academy's team.
What is this?
Du Qianjue wore a strange expression as he glanced over the Shrek team.
Hmm, Ma Xiaotao was missing, and he didn't recognize the others. But that golden-haired loser must be Dai Yueheng; he'd make sure to focus on him.
Looking at their faces, they were paler than a corpse.
At least five main team members were here, which meant it wouldn't be too one-sided.
He glanced at the reserve team members, and apart from Huo Yuhao, he didn't recognize any of them. Judging by their appearances, he could guess who they were.
His gaze lingered on Jiang Nannan for a while. The author had written extensively about her beauty.
But Du Qianjue only had four words to describe her:
Not as pretty as Ice Empress.
As Di'ao Academy scrutinized Shrek, the Shrek members observed Di'ao Academy, recognizing them as another tournament team.
"Who are they?" Xu Sanshi asked Beibei in a low voice.
"They're from Di'ao Academy, the royal academy of the Tianhun Empire. They're strong," Beibei, more knowledgeable, explained to Xu Sanshi.
Standing close enough, the others also heard Beibei's words.
Huo Yuhao focused on Du Qianjue.
He remembered this person from the Star Dou Forest.
The aura of elegance and grace left a deep impression, and Du Qianjue's appearance hadn't changed much, making him easy to recognize.
"Yuhao, do you know him?" Wang Dong, standing beside Huo Yuhao, asked.
"Yes, I met him when I went to the Star Dou Forest to hunt soul rings with the academy teachers," Huo Yuhao replied softly.
"What impression did he leave on you?" Xu Sanshi asked curiously.
Huo Yuhao tilted his head, thought for a moment, and said two words.
"Mysterious and powerful, like a divine couple."
Yes, those were the two impressions Huo Yuhao remembered. One was the overwhelming strength that left their accompanying teacher too afraid to act rashly.
The other was the heavenly beauty of the girl beside Du Qianjue.
"A divine couple?" The six reserve team members' voices sounded odd.
"Yes, when I was in the Star Dou Forest, there was a powerful and beautiful girl with him. I don't know why she isn't with their team," Huo Yuhao nodded earnestly.
"How beautiful?" Xu Sanshi's eyes lit up.
His old habits resurfaced.
(End of Chapter)
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