He Caitou, who by this time had recovered slightly, rushed up to the stage and helped Wang Yan hold his teammates. He Caitou was a person who looked simple and straightforward on the outside, but actually harbored a deep hatred in his heart. At this moment, the most outstanding student from Shrek Academy’s Soul Tool Department couldn’t rein in his tears any longer.

  Wang Yan temporarily passed the three people in his hands to He Caitou, then stood up. He was no longer able to control the emotions in his heart anymore, and he had to stand in testimony for the venerable and adorable kids he was a teacher of. He took large strides forward and said a few words to the referee, who nodded back at him and passed the sound-amplifying soul tool over to him.

  Wang Yan took a deep breath, then used the sound-amplifying soul tool as a medium to say loudly, “Everyone, please quiet down a little. I’m the teacher in charge of Shrek Academy’s team, Wang Yan, and I have a few words to say.”


  The atmosphere in Star Luo Plaza now was astonishingly frenzied, but it instantly quieted down upon hearing Wang Yan’s announcement.

  The gazes of the audience were all drawn towards the tear-filled Wang Yan.

  “Fellow friends, teachers, and students from the various participating academies. You all saw what just happened. For the sake of defending our academy’s glory, my children from Shrek Academy have fought a long, bloody battle to obtain a final victory.”


  “I know. A lot of you are asking: why has Shrek Academy suddenly become so weak? Why was it so difficult for Shrek Academy to win? These kids have done all they could to finally create a miracle. This was simply an unwinnable match! They relied on their own willpower to persevere under all this, but why would a situation like this occur?”


  “This is a story known only to a few people in the academy, and I shouldn’t say anything about it. However, I can’t hold it in anymore; I have to stand in place of these venerable, admirable, and adorable children of mine to testify.”


  “Our Shrek Academy is known as the continent’s number one academy by everyone here, and we made ample preparations for this year’s tournament like everyone else. However, none of the participating students you see in front of you were official members; they were preparatory team members who came here to gain some experience. They aren’t representing our academy to take part in this tournament because we decided to give them this much experience; it’s because we had no other choice.”


  At this point, the various representative teams from the various academies, the populace, and even the Emperor, who was originally planning to leave the city walls, felt curiosity in their hearts.

  “Before we came to Star Luo City to participate in this tournament, our academy’s official and preparatory teams were assigned to do something else. We were to eliminate a group of bandits that were led by an evil soul master in the Ming Dou Mountain Range. They were a group of bandits who wantonly killed, robbed, and committed every imaginable evil act. For the sake of the safety of the merchants and common people who live in the Ming Dou Mountain Range, our Shrek Academy decided to take it upon ourselves to solve this problem. Finally, we found those bandits and their leader in a cave. We completely dominated them in terms of strength, but that evil soul master used an evil skill to detonate the corpses of his fellow bandits. Due to the large number of dead bandits, that detonation caused severe injuries to our official team members. One of which died, and the other six received injuries to different extents. Of which, we’ve sent a few back to the academy to recuperate. The academy didn’t have enough time to send more people, and thus we came here with a disjointed team. A few of our official team members who have lighter injuries are still resting in the hotel, and the only people we have who can come up are these preparatory team members.

  “In reality, even the first match that we participated in was extremely tough for us. This team was only able to slowly get to this stage by diligently working together. For the sake of Shrek’s glory, they have already given all they can, and as a teacher of Shrek Academy, I am proud of them. They will always be Shrek Academy’s most dazzling students.”


  “The reason why I chose to stand in front of all of you today is because I wish for everyone here who has placed their hopes on Shrek Academy to not criticise these kids too harshly. Of the seven of them, there are even three who are only twelve years old! The other four aren’t even fifteen yet. What more can we ask of them? Even if we lose this tournament, in my heart, they have won. That is all. Thank you, everyone.”


  With that, Wang Yan handed the sound-amplifying soul tool to the referee, and bowed deeply towards the audience. Only then did he return to He Caitou’s side and bring the three unconscious people down from the stage. The audience remained silent for a few seconds. Nobody cheered, but what replaced it was the sound of intense clapping. It started out soft, but it infected the entire arena. Even Shrek’s opponents and the Emperor and his ministers above the city walls were clapping for Shrek Academy.

  The enigma behind Shrek Academy’s team was finally solved. It was exactly this that stunned everyone present. This was especially true for Wang Yan’s last words; there were actually three of these kids who were only twelve years old!

  As their opponents, Justsky Academy felt like they couldn’t raise their heads at all. They had lost. Not only had they lost to Shrek Academy’s preparatory team, but they had lost to such young opponents.

  Naturally, there were two exceptions to this. Ye Wuqing and Yan’er were still stuck in Huo Yuhao’s Frost Seal, and no matter how hard the medical soul masters sent by the tournament’s organisational committee tried, they were unable to melt the ice that covered them.

  Protected by a large number of medical personnel and soul masters from the empire, Shrek Academy once again left the arena. Only, their departure was filled with a moving and tragic air. The audience wasn’t even sure whether or not they could participate in the next match.

  They truly didn’t wish for this tournament to lose the presence of Shrek Academy. They weren’t just the continent’s number one academy, but one that could make its students go crazy to defend it. Without them, this tournament would definitely lose its luster.