Douluo Continent: Huo Yuhao obtains the Flame Emperor template

Chapter 158 Shrek Academy's Matchmaking Mechanism

"If you follow my instructions, it will be difficult for your Star Luo team not to rise to prominence in this Soul Master Tournament!"

Xuanzi's request to be guaranteed a spot in the top four was affirmed by Xu Jiawei, who nodded in satisfaction, thinking Xu Jiawei was a wise ruler.

Xu Jiawei didn't want to say anything more to Xuanzi. It was clearly Xuanzi himself who had greatly reduced the strength of Shrek disciples, making it difficult for them to compete against the Sun and Moon Team in the finals.

Therefore, as the third place winner of the previous Soul Master Competition, the Star Luo team naturally needs to be prepared to fight their way into the finals.

According to Xuanzi, the fact that the Star Luo team has a chance to maintain second place and compete with the Sun Moon team for first place in this competition is entirely due to the opportunity given by Shrek Academy; otherwise, the Star Luo team would at most remain in third place.

Xu Jiawei was indignant. How could someone with such great abilities have caused the deaths of three regular team members in the Mingdu Mountains? He suppressed his emotions and nodded slightly, saying:

"Don't worry, Elder Xuan, we will follow your arrangements for the first half of the competition and ensure that the Shrek team gets through it safely."

Xuanzi picked up his wine gourd, took a swig, and gave Xu Jiawei a meaningful look.

"Well, Jiawei, we can't be too rigid and limit ourselves to just ourselves. We need to be flexible and adaptable. We can also make some adjustments to the Sun and Moon team during the competition."

"Let Sun Moon encounter some strong teams to test their strength and figure out their tactics as much as possible. Of course, it would be even better if Sun Moon and his team could suffer some minor injuries."

Xu Jiawei originally thought he had already covered up enough scandals, but after listening to Xuanzi's words...

Suddenly I realized that I was being too open-minded and fair.

No wonder he was able to lead a team to wipe out the evil spirit masters; he's clearly familiar with their tactics...

Xu Jiawei, unwilling to be instructed further, raised his hand and replied casually, "Elder Xuan's insight is brilliant; the arrangements for the Sun and Moon Team will certainly satisfy you."

"Hmm...that's good, I'll be going now."

Xuanzi reminded Xu Jiawei to have the Healer Douluo treat Dai Yueheng. Then, with a wave of his hand, the space shimmered with an earthy yellow light, and Xuanzi's figure disappeared from the main hall.

After listening to her elder brother and Xuanzi's arrangements for the Soul Master Competition for a long time, she twirled a strand of purple hair that fell beside her ear and sighed softly.

Hearing the voice, Xu Jiawei looked at her, a gentle smile appearing on his serious face: "What's wrong, Jiu Jiu? Are you feeling pressured by this year's Soul Master Competition?"

Xu Jiujiu gently shook his head: "No, it's just that the elder from earlier seemed a bit different from the righteous elders I remember."

Xu Jiawei was somewhat dissatisfied with Xuanzi's imperious attitude towards him earlier, and he suppressed his resentment and said, "Perhaps Shrek Academy has been having bad luck lately, or maybe Xuanzi is just like that, acting on his nature."

He waved his hand and said, "Never mind. After all, Shrek Academy is an important pillar for stabilizing the continent's current situation. Giving Shrek Team some easy opponents in the first half of the competition is just doing them a favor."

After a long pause, he suddenly remembered something: "Oh right, Your Majesty, before that Elder came, you asked me to go to the White Tiger Duke's mansion to offer my congratulations. Are we still going?"

Xu Jiawei sighed with regret: "I still have to go, but not to offer congratulations... Let's tell the Duchess about Dai Yueheng's situation; she'll find out sooner or later."

White Tiger Duke's Mansion.

Unaware of this, the Duchess sat in front of the mirror and had her maids help her with her makeup and dressing. To celebrate the joyous occasion that both of her sons had been selected for the competition, she held a special banquet.

The Duchess walked out with a beaming smile, and her invited noble friends arrived one after another.

"Congratulations! Both Yueheng and Huabin are outstanding individuals!"

"My two sons are the next two generations of Shrek Seven Devils, and their futures are bright."

"Such talent! A pillar of the empire!"

"..."

The Duchess gave a warm welcome, which greatly satisfied her vanity. She felt even more that it was the right decision to drive that little bastard out of the mansion, otherwise this banquet would have been so unpleasant.

Soon, the Duchess saw Xu Jiujiu approaching from afar, escorted by a group of Star Crown Guards.

She greeted her with a smile, assuming the princess had also come to offer congratulations, but to her surprise, the princess's first words were, "I'm sorry."

After Xu Jiujiu finished recounting the story with a sorrowful expression, the Duchess suddenly fainted from crying. Chaos erupted in the mansion. Under the organization of the Star Crown Guards, the guests left the mansion in an orderly manner. Xu Jiujiu and the servants helped the Duchess into the house and quickly fed her her usual medicine.

……

Star Emperor Hotel.

"Wang Yan, what happened to you?! Were you attacked by terrorists in the city? When Elder Xuan returns, we must have him take you to demand an explanation!"

Fan Yu was shocked to see that Wang Yan and the others were all wrapped in bandages, and angrily asked who was responsible.

Wang Yan gave a wry smile: "At least until my injuries are fully healed, I dare not let Elder Xuan take me to demand an explanation."

"Hmm? What happened to Elder Xuan again?" Fan Yu sensed a strong sense of resentment in Wang Yan's voice when he mentioned Elder Xuan.

Wang Yan sighed and recounted the whole incident to Fan Yu: "Well, that's basically it. The corpse explosions happened three times in total, and our disciples suffered a heavy blow."

"When Elder Xuan led us to complete the mission, he made a small mistake again."

Fan Yu was dumbfounded and remained stunned for a long time before he recovered. A five-ring Soul King sniping a team led by a Super Douluo—this was such a niche group! The whole thing completely overturned his previous understanding.

He sighed deeply and said, "Alas, I never expected that something like this would happen again under Elder Xuan's leadership. It's truly a cruel twist of fate."

Wang Dongning and the others walked over while eating snacks. Before Wu Feng could even figure out what was going on, he jumped out and said gleefully:

"Teacher Wang Yan, you've finally arrived. Teacher Fan Yu just said that you worked very hard on your mission and that you should have a good meal before the competition."

Ma Xiaotao, Ling Luochen, and the others had different expressions, and for a moment they didn't know how to respond to each other. Their mood was completely different from that of Wang Dong and the others.

"Ahem... I'll skip the meal for now." Ma Xiaotao coughed lightly twice.

When Wang Dongning and the others ran into the living room, their eyes widened in surprise; the somber atmosphere in the group was clearly something was wrong.

The Lan sisters, Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo, stood on tiptoe and looked at the back of the line. Their pretty faces were filled with disbelief. Senior Ling Luochen was actually in a wheelchair! Her legs were wrapped in white bandages.

"Ah, Senior Luo Chen, how did your legs get like this?" The two sisters' shoulders trembled slightly, and they couldn't help but take a few steps back, somewhat panicked.

Ling Luochen slowly shook her head and smiled at the two sisters: "I'm fine, I just need some rest."

Ning Tian blinked; something seemed off about the number of people.

She counted them and couldn't help but ask curiously, "Senior Sister Xiao Tao, why aren't Xu Sanshi, Senior Brother Dai Yueheng, and the other three senior brothers from the inner academy here?"

"Did they go to the stadium to scout out the location beforehand?"

Ning Tian and his group arrived in Xingluo City early and found that some students from other academy teams had indeed gone to scout out the area around the upcoming competition venue.

Ma Xiaotao paused for a moment, pursed her lips, and replied, "Xu Sanshi was taken back to school for treatment, Dai Yueheng was taken to the palace by Elder Xuan to find the Immortal Physician Douluo, as for the other three teammates... we haven't seen them now and we won't see them in the future."

Wang Yan turned to look at his somewhat listless disciples behind him, feeling bitter inside, but still forced a smile to comfort them:

"Don't be too pessimistic. With the talent of our Shrek Academy students, even our reserve team is better than the bottom-tier academy teams. Once Ling Luochen is ready to play, as long as we don't face a few strong teams, passing the preliminaries should be easy."

Wang Yan looked at Fan Yu: "These team members you brought to watch the game can come in handy."

"They all suffered injuries of varying degrees, and I will try not to arrange for them to play until they are fully recovered, especially Ma Xiaotao. I don't want her to play unless absolutely necessary."

Hearing this, Ma Xiaotao sighed helplessly, her hands involuntarily gripping the handles of Ling Luochen's wheelchair tightly, causing Ling Luochen's body to tremble slightly, which made her frown and look back at Ma Xiaotao with some displeasure.

Wang Yan once again employed his "trust and bond" technique: "Xiao Tao, you must trust them."

Hearing this, Ma Xiaotao became angry, her voice slightly irritated: "Does such a vague belief really allow Beibei to lead the spectators through the first half of the competition smoothly?"

"If we fail, who will bear the infamy of losing the 'Shrek's eternal glory'?"

"Should the responsibility fall on Beibei and the others who are playing on the field, or on the sidelines who 'believe they can win'?"

Of course, Wang Yan's belief in the art of bonds is not without reason.

After all, the main characters are full of love and ideals. They rush forward shouting slogans like "friends" and "belief," and they can win by relying on the power of love and belief.

Take Dai Yueheng, for example. Although he lost his left arm during the mission, he gained Shrek's ideal. Xuanzi can make a significant mark on Dai Yueheng's special roster.

Wang Yan frowned slightly: "Xiao Tao, you don't want Bei Bei and the others to play because you want to play yourself."

"But you're competing with an injury now. If you get a new injury before your old one has healed, your chances of reaching the final will be even slimmer, meaning you'll have no hope of winning the championship. Is that the result you want to see?"

Ma Xiaotao pouted: "In reality? The fighting force we can field isn't strong."

"Any team that faces a mid-level opponent in the early stages will only become a stepping stone for other academies to achieve success."

Ma Xiaotao still wanted to secure one or two opportunities to play in the early stages of the competition, but suddenly she saw a fluctuation in the space and sensed a familiar aura. She and Wang Yan stopped arguing without prior agreement.

Elder Xuan appeared, took a swig of wine, and chuckled, "When I was talking with Xu Jiawei just now, I mentioned the importance of Shrek Academy's eternal glory, which is the will of the people of the three kingdoms."

"Xu Jiawei is also a wise leader. He volunteered to match the Shrek team, which had suddenly undergone tremendous changes, with an equally matched opponent."

Xuanzi stated that this matching mechanism is based on the latest list of personnel submitted by Shrek Academy and can continue until the final four.

Upon hearing this, Fan Yu involuntarily looked at Xuan Zi, who had just arrived at the back of the group, as if he wanted to ask how someone with a level 98 cultivation and a Taotie Divine Ox Martial Soul could possibly lose to a five-ring Evil Soul Master.

He never imagined he could lose.

But Xuanzi gave him a "that's how you lose" performance, leaving Fan Yu with a thousand words but a long sigh.

Xuanzi sensed Fanyu's gaze and revealed a look of sorrow and shame. He shook his wine gourd to hide his embarrassment, looking ashamed to face everyone.

Wang Yan shook his head: "With the competition just around the corner, let's not dwell on Elder Xuan's mistake this time. Let's first figure out how to do well in this Soul Master Competition."

When Fan Yu met Wang Yan's helpless yet resentful gaze, she immediately thought of Xuan Zi's two previous offenses of leading teams to hunt for soul rings, and dared not ask any further questions.

He couldn't guarantee that if he asked a few more questions and provoked Elder Xuan, the other party wouldn't make a mistake a fourth time.

Elder Xuan coughed and said, "Elder Mu believes that we should not be bound by shackles. Shrek Academy's strength has never needed to be proven by any Soul Master Competition championship, so there is no need for everyone to feel too much pressure."

Wang Yan and Fan Yu nodded. Since Elder Xuan had already discussed a new matching mechanism with the Silla Emperor, it was highly likely that things would be settled during Ma Xiaotao's recuperation period.

Teams like Shrek Academy and Sun Moon Academy, which are top-tier (T0) teams, have Soul Emperors at their helm. First-class teams are composed of Soul Kings, and so on. There are still many peripheral teams composed of Soul Venerables.

These teams came to participate in the Soul Master Competition just to make their presence known and prove that there is such a school on the mainland.

Wang Yan looked at Fan Yu: "Your disciples, including Wang Dongning and Tian, ​​could you please do some motivation work with them?"

Fan Yu nodded and turned to do ideological work with Wang Dong and the others regarding their "official status".

Although Wang Dong and others had considered the possibility that they might end up going on stage to participate in the competition while sitting in the stands.

But when that moment actually arrived, I was a little reluctant to say goodbye to the incredibly leisurely and pleasant vacation—oops, I mean, the life of watching the game—over the past two days.

Normally, spectators cannot have private suites at the Star Emperor Hotel.

But Wang Dong and Ning Tian were both very wealthy; the former was the young sect leader of the Haotian Sect, and the latter was the eldest daughter of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

The two were both quite extravagant, easily acquiring a top-tier suite at the Star Emperor Hotel, where they spent their days eating, drinking, and having fun.

But at this moment, Wang Yan sincerely said, "The senior students encountered a little accident while doing the mission, and they are exhausted in the round-robin tournament. We can only ask you to step up and fight to get through the most difficult moment."

As they were about to be officially hired, they were a little dazed. They remembered that their initial task was to eat, drink, and have fun before sitting in the stands to cheer on the senior students who were dominating the competition.

After all, the school hadn't forgotten them and bought them the best seats to watch the competition. They must live up to the school's kindness.

Xuanzi's eyes welled up with tears when she saw that they had all agreed; she was deeply moved.

"Good children, you are all good children. The academy will not treat you unfairly. When you return from this competition, the academy will give each of you a generous reward."

Xuanzi felt it was necessary to remove the label of "enjoying reserve team treatment" from them.

(End of this chapter)