Regular spectators knew that the formations two teams chose before a match usually hinted at how the battle would unfold.
Both the Seven Treasures Team and Shrek Team had lined up in balanced offensive and defensive formations. Under normal circumstances, neither side would launch an all-out assault immediately, and the early stages would usually become a cautious battle of attrition.
It was already late at night. After watching matches all day, many spectators were exhausted.
Some simply asked their companions to keep an eye on the match while they closed their eyes to rest for a while.
But when the audience saw what was happening on the arena, their eyes widened in disbelief. The entire venue fell into complete silence.
Those who had only been dozing had not actually fallen asleep. Afraid of missing the exciting moments, they had been listening carefully to the sounds from the arena.
When they noticed that everything had suddenly gone silent, they lazily asked their friends beside them, "What happened? Was the match paused, or did something unexpected happen?"
Their companions swallowed hard before replying in disbelief, "The match is already over."
"What?"
The sleepy spectators instantly jumped to their feet. When they looked toward the arena, realization finally dawned on them.
Since the Seven Treasures Team had already decided to end the match as quickly as possible, they unleashed their Spirit Skills one after another without holding back, relentlessly bombarding their opponents.
The Shrek Seven Devils had been completely caught off guard.
Like most of the audience, they had assumed that the Seven Treasures Team would spend some time probing and testing them after the match began.
Instead, the Seven Treasures Team completely ignored conventional tactics. They paid no attention to maintaining formation and charged forward as a whole.
Once they were caught in the attack, Ma Hongjun, Xiao Wu, and Oscar, who were positioned in Shrek's backline, did not even have the chance to release their martial spirits.
Swept into Wu Qi's storm, they were unable to release their martial spirits, much less mount any counterattack.
Although Tang San reacted quickly, the overwhelming gap in both individual strength and numbers left him powerless to turn the situation around.
In the end, every member of the Shrek Team was severely injured, collapsing unconscious on the arena.
Now that the Seven Treasures Team possessed a second Spirit King, one whose Spirit Ring configuration was even more extraordinary, their chances of winning the championship seemed even more secure.
Below the arena, it took quite some time before Yu Xiaogang recovered from his shock.
Yes, the supposedly powerful Shrek Team had been defeated in an instant, with every member suffering serious injuries.
His anger erupted. Breathing heavily, Yu Xiaogang pointed at Wu Qi on the arena and shouted, "Attempted murder! This is attempted murder! I demand that the Seven Treasures Team be immediately stripped of their victory and thrown into prison!"
The audience was still immersed in shock, leaving the entire venue silent. Yu Xiaogang's voice sounded especially jarring.
As the spectators came back to their senses, many found his words oddly familiar.
"Haven't we heard that before?"
On the arena.
Wu Qi had long anticipated this. Smiling, he calmly asked, "Then may I ask, Master Yu Xiaogang, have any of your students died?"
The referees had already prepared for this situation. They immediately rushed onto the arena to examine the members of the Shrek Team.
Moments later, the head referee announced loudly, "None of the Shrek Team members are in life-threatening condition. Your accusation is unfounded!"
Liu Erlong angrily shouted, "A cover-up! This is obviously a cover-up! Everyone knows the Seven Treasures Team has the imperial family's backing. You've clearly been bought by the imperial family and are deliberately taking revenge on Shrek Academy!"
Hearing that, many spectators looked at her with disdain.
"Why would anyone target Shrek Academy? You should know the reason yourselves."
"And did you notice? The Seven Treasures Team's support Spirit Master never deactivated his martial spirit."
On the arena, Wu Qi smiled as he pointed toward Ning Tianyu behind him.
"Our attacks may have been a little heavy, but to prevent the students of your academy from suffering fatal injuries, our support Spirit Master kept his enhancement active on them the entire time."
"Although the Seven Treasures Pagoda doesn't possess powerful healing abilities, its colorful light can preserve their lives. That should make our intentions quite clear."
Overcome with rage, Yu Xiaogang shouted, "How dare you! You're clearly targeting Shrek Academy on purpose, yet you're dressing it up with such self-righteous words! I demand to file a complaint!"
The referees ignored his outburst and immediately announced, "The Seven Treasures Team committed no rule violations during this match. Therefore, the victory belongs to them."
"Oh, one more thing. This match lasted only twenty-nine seconds, breaking the previous record that had been held by Shrek Academy."
Yu Xiaogang no longer cared about the record. Instead, he noticed that Ning Tianyu had still not dismissed his martial spirit after the match had ended and immediately seized on it.
"I want to report them! The Seven Treasures Team is still using a martial spirit after the match has ended. Isn't that a serious violation? I demand that their victory be revoked immediately and that they be expelled from this tournament!"
Everyone who understood the situation knew exactly why Ning Tianyu had kept his martial spirit active.
Without his enhancement maintaining their condition, whether the Shrek Seven Devils could have survived was another matter entirely.
On the VIP platform, Ning Fengzhi's expression darkened. Rarely losing his composure, he muttered, "That man has no shame."
Gu Rong was equally furious.
However, after what had happened with the imperial family before, they, as the parties involved, could not easily take action against Yu Xiaogang themselves. Otherwise, public opinion might turn against them.
In the end, the truth would speak for itself.
The Shrek Seven Devils had brought this upon themselves. If they had not defeated the Heaven Dou Royal Team Three in the opening match using the very same method, even forcing them to withdraw from the tournament, then today's retaliation would never have happened.
The Seven Treasure Team had not violated any rules, so the referees had no intention of entertaining Grandmaster's unreasonable accusations.
Besides, while Grandmaster was busy shouting insults, he was making no effort whatsoever to save his own students.
The Seven Treasure Team had extended a helping hand to the Shrek Seven Devils out of basic humanitarian concern. What had they done wrong?
Moreover, such conduct should be held up as an example.
On the battlefield, they were opponents. After the match, they could still be respected rivals who appreciated each other's abilities, never allowing personal grudges to override sportsmanship. Wasn't that the kind of conduct worthy of admiration?
Flender let out a long sigh. He had no expectations that Grandmaster or Liu Erlong would accomplish anything, so he immediately rushed backstage to hire healing-type Spirit Masters at a high price before hurrying back onto the arena to carry his injured students away.
Grandmaster still refused to let the matter rest. Relying on his status as Yu Yuanzhen's direct son, he berated the referees and even the imperial family without restraint.
He even launched a personal attack against Wu Qi.
"You little bastard! Back then, I merely refused your request to become my disciple, and this is how you repay me? You ungrateful bastard! I hope you die a miserable death!"
Wu Qi could not be bothered wasting words on him.
Instead, it was Salas who slammed his hand onto the armrest of his seat and rose abruptly.
"Enough! You're a Level 29 waste. What gives you the confidence to slander such a young Spirit King?"
Even Ning Fengzhi was stunned by Salas's reaction.
So even the Spirit Hall was speaking up for them. That alone showed just how disliked Grandmaster had become.
Still, this was actually a good thing. With Salas acting as an impartial third party, no one could reasonably accuse him of bias.
Grandmaster was shaken speechless by Salas's thunderous rebuke. Before he could respond, Salas continued.
"Wu Qi became a Spirit King at such a young age. Tell me, who else on the continent can compare with him?"
"You, a man forever stuck at Level 29, what could you possibly offer that would make a genius like him want you as his master?"
"If anything, it's more likely that you failed to take him as a disciple and became resentful out of wounded pride. Truly disgraceful!"
"I have always judged matters fairly. Right is right, and wrong is wrong."
"As one of the organizers of this tournament and the supervising official for the referees, I hereby declare that the Seven Treasure Team committed no rule violations."
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