Join my Patreon to be 30 chapters ahead of the webnovel releases:
patreon.com/ZeroMoney
I would appreciate your help if you could join my Patreon and support me because it would keep me motivated.
******
"What?"
The voice of Xu Jiawei echoed in the Star Luo Empire's royal court.
"It's impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Shrek Academy wants to withdraw? They're considering pulling out of the Soul Duel Competition?
And they expect me to approve this request? No way!
Xu Jiawei felt a surge of anger boiling within him.
While Shrek has the right to withdraw and enjoys various privileges, where did those privileges come from? Doesn't he know?
The Soul Duel Competition is about to begin, and you're telling me you want to withdraw? How am I supposed to recoup the vast resources and manpower our empire has invested in this event?
What do all those spectators come to see during each Soul Duel Competition? Doesn't Shrek understand the stakes?
To cooperate with Shrek, our empire has invested tremendously—not just in organizing the Soul Duel Competition, but in promoting Shrek itself every year.
And now you tell me you want to withdraw? After all these years, you've always had that right!
Why do you choose to do it now, while I'm in power? Is it because you look down on me, Xu Jiawei?
Anger surged within Xu Jiawei as countless thoughts flashed through his mind.
Without hesitation, he decided to reject Shrek's withdrawal request.
"Your Majesty, we cannot allow this."
Shrek has numerous powerful individuals. Offending them would make things very difficult for the Star Luo Empire in the future.
Why do we promote Shrek every year? Because we need to leverage their strength.
Xu Jiawei harbored resentment in his heart.
That damned Taotie Douluo.
This isn't the first or second time this has happened—each time, it leads to disaster!
Last time, an incident occurred in the Star Dou Forest, and they even asked the Star Luo Empire to deploy troops for assistance.
Although Shrek offered compensation afterward, the mistakes made by Xuanzi cannot be covered up.
And now another crisis arises.
It's one thing for you to be unreliable, but why take risks at such a crucial moment?
A few low-ranking evil spirit masters pose no threat? You didn't sense any danger beforehand?
Damn it! Just thinking about it makes me even angrier.
Every year, you chase down low-level evil spirit masters, claiming it's to train the students' abilities. Don't we cultivate our own future generations in our empire?
You kill off the weaker evil spirit masters for them; what are we supposed to cultivate?
The worst part is that so many talented individuals die each year.
Sending those talents to Shrek is truly shortsighted!
Xu Jiawei cursed inwardly, but he had to maintain his composure in front of his esteemed ministers.
"Your Majesty, why not ask Shrek to send us new competitors as quickly as possible? We can update the participant list for them."
Changing participants is one of Shrek's privileges.
As for the fact that most of the inner academy students are out on missions? Hmph, we'll call them all back.
At the very least, for those Shrek students currently on missions within the Star Luo Empire, Xu Jiawei could guarantee that the military could take over their tasks.
"What's with the Shrek Seven Monsters' name, acting like they're something special?"
Does Xu Jiawei not realize what Shrek Academy is considering?
If they send new students, they would be the Shrek Seven Monsters and their reserves.
However, only the academy's most outstanding students can qualify as the Shrek Seven Monsters.
They simply don't want the reputation of the Shrek Seven Monsters to be tarnished by the performance of this year's team.
"Your Highness, what my brother and sister-in-law suggest is indeed a good idea. Shrek Academy has plenty of other students.
Not to mention the inner academy; just looking at the outer academy, there may not be many Soul Kings under twenty, but there are plenty of Soul Elders, and many of them possess top-tier martial souls.
It's not impossible to have them act as reserves to carry the team through the early rounds of the competition."
Xu Jiujiu suggested to Xu Jiawei.
Suddenly, a chilling aura of violence swept over everyone present.
A middle-aged man clad in full armor strode in with a powerful gait.
"Your Majesty."
"Dai Hao, you're back. No need for pleasantries today; this isn't a formal occasion, and we don't need any of that pretense."
Duke Baihu had rushed back from the front lines after learning of the current events.
"Your Majesty, Shrek Academy cannot withdraw."
This wasn't just an economic blow to the Star Luo Empire; the military implications were equally concerning.
As the supreme commander of the Star Luo Empire, Dai Hao had a keen awareness of the ongoing conflict with the Sun Moon Empire. Despite his efforts, the Star Luo Empire had barely held off the Sun Moon Empire's advances. He knew that the Sun Moon Empire was merely biding its time, wary of outside forces, and hadn't yet launched a full-scale attack.
If Shrek were to withdraw, the consequences would be dire.
Our morale would plummet.
The enemy, namely the Sun Moon Empire, would undoubtedly seize this opportunity to spread slander about Shrek.
Over time, Shrek's position would undoubtedly be shaken.
But that wasn't Dai Hao's greatest worry.
What troubled him most was the Sun Moon Empire's strategy.
He sensed that the Sun Moon Empire had been waiting for the right moment to unify the entire continent.
If the Sun Moon Empire were to win this year's Soul Duel Competition, what kind of atmosphere would reign within their territory?
They might not launch an immediate attack, but the military buildup they could pursue over the next few years would be substantial, leveraging the boost in morale.
If they won again in the next Soul Duel Competition, the Star Luo Empire would be in serious jeopardy!
To make matters worse, the next Soul Duel Competition would be hosted by the Sun Moon Empire.
Shrek Academy would be facing a devastating blow, with many of its outstanding students injured or even lost.
Thus, Shrek absolutely cannot afford to lose the championship in this competition!
They must not withdraw outright to protect that title!
The other ministers voiced their opinions, and in the end, their conclusion was unanimous.
Shrek cannot withdraw.
Their reasons were primarily economic.
After all, who among them lacked a background, and who wasn't hoping to benefit from this event?
If Shrek were to withdraw, wouldn't everything come to ruin?
Meanwhile, Su Yu was unaware of the discussions taking place within the Star Luo Imperial Palace.
He only knew that Shrek had encountered another unfortunate incident.
During the journey of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy delegation, Kong Deming captured an evil spirit master, who was holding a boy about fourteen or fifteen years old.
"This person is known as the Harbinger of Death and attempted to make contact with the Spirit Hall. It seems he wanted to join, but I discovered him and killed him," Kong Deming reported.
Su Yu's lips twitched in response.
This was purely coincidental.
It was just bad luck.
Su Yu turned his gaze to Xu San Shi.
"This should be a Shrek student."
Kong Deming kicked Xu San Shi, who was lying on the ground, turning him over to reveal the tattered Shrek emblem on the back of his uniform.
"By the way, could this be one of Shrek's competitors for this Soul Duel Competition?"
"Teacher, why not just ask him?" Su Yu suggested, pointing at Xu San Shi.
"He has serious corpse poison and critical injuries, but with your top-tier life energy, you should be able to save him."
Su Yu summoned his martial soul.
"First Soul Skill: Star Spirit Power!"
"Second Soul Skill: Purple Moon Purification!"
(End of Chapter)