Douluo Continent, Huo Yuhao who returned from Sekiro

Chapter 687 Elder Xuan Takes the Blame (6K)

Don't forget that, just like the Holy Spirit Cult's team leaders are Scorpion Tiger Douluo Zhang Peng and Ma Xiaotao, the leaders of other teams are not necessarily participants, but core members with experience from the previous competition.

"The first match of the quarterfinals: Shrek Academy vs. Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy. Both teams enter the waiting area."

This quarterfinal battle was arguably the most intense battle of the entire tournament. All the members of the Sun Moon team went all out, trading injuries and even their lives for each other, which completely overwhelmed many of the Shrek Academy members who were participating in the tournament for the first time.

Unlike the Holy Spirit Cult, whose fighting style is all about killing blows but who are actually afraid of dying, the Sun and Moon Team, with the sacrifices of Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, clearly entered an atmosphere of "a desperate army will surely win."

Not only are all sorts of high-energy-consuming soul skills flying everywhere, but even after using up their invincible shields, the members of the Sun and Moon Team will still detonate their powerful soul tools without hesitation.

Even though Zheng Zhan risked his life, he still managed to seriously injure several people due to a moment of carelessness, most of whom were members of the Sun and Moon team. However, the situation on Shrek Academy's side was not much better.

At this moment, both teams were fighting with real intensity, and Wang Qiu'er frequently glanced at Huo Yuhao.

It was only at this moment that Wang Qiu'er realized that being a captain required more than just strong martial arts skills. The captain's responsibilities also included managing the mental state of his teammates and reacting quickly to changes in the opponent's tactics.

It's obvious that Wang Qiu'er doesn't know how to handle this situation.

"Why."

Huo Yuhao sighed, clapped his hands, and gestured for the others to look at him: "Next match, Xie Huan Yue Shang, Dong'er, go and call a short timeout with the referee to cool down the Sun Moon team."

Huo Yuhao's move hit the nail on the head, not only making a tactical judgment but also temporarily halting the Sun Moon Team's ever-increasing momentum with a single timeout.

The momentum of the Sun and Moon team is strong, but it will eventually wane and be exhausted. It would be very dangerous to let the Sun and Moon team continue to gain momentum, and Wang Qiu'er's tactical arrangements are not rational.

Just as Huo Yuhao expected, when he called a timeout, everyone in the Sun and Moon team was clearly stunned. Ye Nongfeng, who was standing on the Soul Battle Platform and bearing the aging ray, was even more bewildered for a long time before he remembered that he should quickly recover his soul power.

At this point, the score between Shrek and Sun & Moon teams was 3 to 2, with both sides locked in a tight battle.

Wang Qiu'er was somewhat dejected at this moment, with a look of unwillingness flashing in her eyes: "I'll play in the next match, I'm sure I can beat them."

Huo Yuhao simply shook his head slightly: "No."

Huo Yuhao turned to the others and said, "Put your minds at ease and listen to what I have to say. Don't get anxious just because Ye Nongfeng is recovering his soul power. Listening carefully to what I'm about to say will be much more beneficial than fighting Ye Nongfeng to the end."

When Huo Yuhao said this, he also added a trace of mental energy. As soon as he said this, the others finally broke free from that state of brutal, relentless bloody battle.

Huo Yuhao walked unhurriedly to the front of the Soul Battle Arena, glanced at Ye Nongfeng whose eyes still held a hint of madness, chuckled, and raised his voice slightly.

"When this short timeout ends, remember to call a long timeout to give them a break."

The pauses in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament are very particular. Only individual matches and two-two-three battles are eligible for a pause. There are long pauses and short pauses, and a pause can only be called when the opponent is defending their position.

In this way, whether it's a short or long pause, it's disadvantageous to the side that calls the pause. After the advent of soul-guided devices like the baby bottle, the pause rule is almost never used.

The longer the pause, the greater the disadvantage, as the opponent recovers more soul power. Calling a pause is a losing proposition no matter how you look at it. Even if a few teams use pauses, they will only call a short pause to discuss the lineup.

More often than not, the players for the next match are already decided during the previous match.

The tactic of calling a short timeout, followed by a long timeout, as Huo Yuhao does, is something many people have never even heard of.

Even the chief referee, Zheng Zhan, had to take out the rulebook from his storage soul tool, read it carefully for a while, and nod after confirming that a short timeout and a long timeout could be called separately without violating the rules.

After arranging the matters, Huo Yuhao turned to look at the Shrek Academy members and shook his head slightly.

It must be said that even though he went to great lengths to make up for Shrek Academy's shortcomings and gave these genius soul masters soul tools, Shrek Academy, which had always crushed its opponents in major competitions with its talent, still had all sorts of flaws.

For example, they completely fail to understand how to use the rules to maximize their own gains.

In the previous match of the Sun and Moon team, even Xiao Hongchen, a Soul Saint, knew that he should destroy the Soul Arena as much as possible to buy himself time to recover his Soul Power. However, the Shrek team members clearly did not have this awareness.

Simply put, the Shrek team has played too many easy battles and doesn't know how to get through tough times.

Often, the Shrek team played the role of those tanky opponents that Huo Yuhao had faced before—high attack power, high health, almost inexhaustible stamina, and ruthless characters who could get up and continue fighting even after being killed by a ninja.

When their combat resources were not as abundant as before, all sorts of problems immediately arose.

Huo Yuhao returned to the rest area at a leisurely pace and sat down. He gestured for everyone to take a chair and sit in a circle around him before speaking slowly.

"First of all, as the team leader, Wang Qiu'er, your performance is unacceptable."

Huo Yuhao's words immediately drew Wang Qiu'er's dissatisfaction, but Wang Qiu'er just sulked and didn't say anything to refute Huo Yuhao.

Clearly, she was also aware of the intense back-and-forth battle and the unpleasant feeling of the game's outcome being completely out of her control.

"However, this matter cannot be entirely blamed on you; if anyone should be blamed, it should be Elder Xuan."

"puff--"

On the battle stage, an old man who was drinking bone broth suddenly choked and coughed violently.

Huo Yuhao didn't give Elder Xuan any face and continued, "Elder Xuan's selection of the captain is problematic. The position of captain requires not only strong combat power, but also other responsibilities."

"Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of other teams and arranging tactics in advance are the responsibilities of the coach. However, once the match begins, reading the opponent's tactical intentions and controlling the pace of the game are the captain's duties."

"That's why I say there's a problem with Elder Xuan's method of selecting people."

Hearing Huo Yuhao's words, Wang Qiu'er's angry expression softened considerably.

But before Wang Qiu'er could even catch her breath, Huo Yuhao continued, "Wang Qiu'er, tell me, what is the Sun and Moon Team's tactical intention?"

Wang Qiu'er was taken aback by the question and weakly replied, "It should be...it should be to win the game, what else could it be for?"

Upon hearing this, Wang Dong'er immediately nodded in agreement. Of course, the Sun and Moon team's tactical intention was to win the game.

Seeing that Wang Dong'er, that silly girl, still dared to nod, Huo Yuhao was furious and tapped her on the head with his finger.

Seeing Wang Dong'er, who looked almost exactly like her, get tapped on the head, Wang Qiu'er subconsciously flinched, only to feel that Huo Yuhao had also tapped her head, and subconsciously touched her own head.

(End of this chapter)