"What?"
Within the royal family of the Xingluo Empire, Xu Jiawei's startled voice echoed.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!"
Shrek wants to withdraw from the competition?
Withdraw from this Soul Fighting Competition?
And they want me to approve their application?
Impossible!
At this moment, Xu Jiawei's chest was also a furnace of rage.
Shrek has the qualifications to withdraw and has many privileges, but where did these privileges come from?
Aren't you aware of that in your heart?
The Soul Fighting Competition is about to start, and you tell me you want to withdraw?
How am I supposed to recoup the massive manpower and resources the Xingluo Empire invested in the early stages?
Every edition of the Soul Fighting Competition, what do all those spectators come to see? Don't you at Shrek have any sense of propriety?
To cooperate with you at Shrek, leaving aside the preparations for the Soul Fighting Competition, the annual promotions for Shrek alone involve such huge investments.
Now you tell me you want to withdraw?
Ten thousand years!
You've always had this right.
Why, of all times, do it while I'm in power?
Do you look down on me, Xu Jiawei?
...
Xu Jiawei's heart seethed with anger.
A plethora of thoughts surged in his mind in an instant.
For Shrek's withdrawal application, he wanted to refuse it outright without a second thought.
"Your Majesty, you cannot."
There are many strong individuals in Shrek, and offending them would make things difficult for the Xingluo Empire moving forward.
Otherwise, why do we have to promote Shrek every year?
Because we need to leverage Shrek's power.
Xu Jiawei seethed inwardly.
That damn Taotie Douluo.
This hasn't happened just once or twice; he messes things up every time!
Last time, an incident occurred in the Xingdou Great Forest, which required the Xingluo Empire to use its military for assistance in the search.
Even though Shrek compensated afterward, Xuanzi's mistake couldn't be completely covered up.
And now something happened again.
It's one thing if you're unreliable in your work, but why take risks at such a critical moment?
A few petty Evil Soul Masters, without any danger?
Didn't sense a crisis beforehand?
Damn it!
Talking about this only makes me angrier.
Every year, you hunt down some low-level Evil Soul Masters, claiming it's to train students, does our empire not cultivate our descendants?
If you kill all the weak Evil Soul Masters, what are we supposed to cultivate?
The key issue is that so many geniuses die every year because of this.
Sending these geniuses to Shrek, we've been so blind!
Xu Jiawei cursed inwardly but still had to maintain his composure on the surface.
At this moment, in front of several key ministers, he had to preserve his dignity.
"Your Majesty, why not have Shrek urgently send new contestants? We can adjust their participant list on this end."
Just altering the contestants is also one of Shrek's privileges.
As for most students from Shrek's Inner Courtyard executing missions elsewhere?
Humph, notify them all to return.
At least, Xu Jiawei could ensure that the missions of those Shrek students carried out within the Xingluo Empire could be taken over by the Xingluo Empire's military.
"What's the big deal about the Shrek Seven Monsters' status, treating them like treasures."
Xu Jiawei clearly understood Shrek Academy's considerations.
By sending new students over, that's essentially the Shrek Seven Monsters and their reserves.
The Shrek Seven Monsters, however, can only be filled by the academy's best students.
They simply don't want this and the next generation of Shrek Seven Monsters to end up mediocre, thereby affecting this title's honor.
...
"Elder brother, what sister-in-law said is indeed a good strategy. Shrek Academy has more students other than the current ones.
Not to mention the Inner Courtyard, merely from the Outer Courtyard, there may not be many Soul Kings under twenty, but there is certainly no shortage of Soul Sect members and top-level Martial Souls.
Let them temporarily hold out in the early rounds of the competition under the name of reserves, and there's still hope."
Xu Jiujiu suggested to Xu Jiawei.
Suddenly, a murderous aura appeared in everyone's perception.
A middle-aged man clad in full armor strode in with tiger-like steps.
"Your Majesty."
"Dai Hao, you're back. No need for formalities, today is not an official occasion, and there's no need for pretense."
The White Tiger Duke, upon learning of this incident, rushed back from the front line.
"Your Majesty, Shrek Academy cannot withdraw from the competition."
It's not just about the economic blow to the Xingluo Empire.
We also have to consider the military implications.
Dai Hao, being the marshal of the entire Xingluo Empire, is most acutely aware of the war clashes between the Xingluo Empire and the Sun and Moon Empire.
Even though through his efforts, the Xingluo Empire managed to withstand the Sun and Moon Empire's offensive, he knew full well that the Sun and Moon Empire was merely wary of the involvement of other forces and hadn't attacked with full force.
Once Shrek withdraws, the consequences are unimaginable.
Our side's morale will undoubtedly falter because of it.
The enemy, that is, the Sun and Moon Empire, will absolutely seize this opportunity to wildly disseminate adverse remarks about Shrek.
In time, Shrek's status is bound to be shaken.
Yet, this is not what worries Dai Hao most.
What concerned him the most was the strategy of the Sun and Moon Empire.
He could sense that the Sun and Moon Empire had always been waiting for an opportunity, waiting for a chance to unify the entire continent in one fell swoop.
This edition of the Soul Fighting Competition, if the Sun and Moon Empire wins, what kind of atmosphere would arise within the Sun and Moon Empire?
Not to mention immediately seizing the momentum to start a war.
But by capitalizing on this atmosphere, if the Sun and Moon Empire heavily invests in military development for a few years.
At the next Soul Fighting Competition, if they were to win again.
The Xingluo Empire would be in grave danger!
The next Soul Fighting Competition, incidentally, will be hosted by the Sun and Moon Empire.
And Shrek Academy, coincidentally, suffered heavy casualties this time, with its outstanding students for the next edition included.
Thus, in this edition of the Soul Fighting Competition, Shrek must not lose the championship!
Nor could they forfeit the competition just to avoid losing the championship!
The other ministers also voiced their opinions.
In the end, the conclusion was unanimous.
Shrek cannot withdraw from the competition.
Most of their reasoning was from an economic perspective.
After all, among those present, none were without their own backing, nor were any of them not considering making a profit from this wave.
If Shrek directly withdraws, wouldn't everything go up in smoke?
...
The internal discussions of the Xingluo Empire's Imperial Palace were unknown to Su Yu.
He only knew that something unexpected happened at Shrek.
Because, during the Sun and Moon Royal Soul Guide Academy's delegation's journey, Kong Deming captured an Evil Soul Master...
The other was also grabbing hold of a fourteen or fifteen-year-old boy.
"This man called himself the Death God's Messenger, attempted to contact the Holy Spirit Sect, seemingly wanting to join the Holy Spirit Sect, and I discovered and killed him."
Su Yu's mouth twitched.
This wave was purely accidental.
It was simply bad luck.
Su Yu turned his gaze toward Xu Sanshi.
"This should be a student from Shrek."
Kong Deming used his foot to kick the lying Xu Sanshi over, flipping him face-down, revealing the battered Shrek emblem on his back.
"Tell me, isn't this one of Shrek's Soul Fighting Competition participants?"
"Teacher, why don't you just ask him?" said Su Yu, pointing at Xu Sanshi.
"He has severe corpse poison in his body, and the injuries are also serious, but with your Ultimate Life, 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!"