Liu Erlong rushed onto the stage and caught Yu Xiaogang just before he collapsed.
Her eyes burned like flames, and her Soul Sage-level power erupted instantly as she prepared to teach Ning Tianchen a lesson.
"Hmph!"
Gu Rong's cold rebuke sounded like a thunderclap.
He appeared on the stage and casually waved his hand, unleashing the overwhelming soul power of a Title Douluo. The force sent both Liu Erlong and Yu Xiaogang flying off the stage.
"Tianchen belongs to the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect—it's not your place to meddle."
Xue Ye snapped out of the commotion and lightly tapped the floor with his imperial scepter. "I hereby declare that the Seven Treasures Team committed no wrongdoing in this match. Therefore, Shrek Academy's accusation is invalid!"
"Furthermore, the head instructor of Shrek Academy is officially warned for disrupting the order of the arena. If it happens again, Shrek Academy will be disqualified from this tournament!"
With these words, the matter was settled.
Many spectators applauded and cheered.
This ruling aligned perfectly with public expectations.
Ning Tianchen and his teammates bowed to Xue Ye and the audience before leaving the stage.
In the players' passageway, Oscar muttered gloomily, "Good thing I didn't listen to Dai Mubai's nonsense. This kind of behavior from Shrek Academy is truly despicable."
Zhu Zhuqing nodded in agreement.
Ning Tianchen smiled. "The Shrek Team is simply reaping what they've sown. Remember how arrogant they were when they targeted the Imperial second team? Now they're paying the price."
"The final match will pit the Shrek Team against the Skywater Team."
"The Skywater Team forfeited during the preliminaries, but they won't do so in the finals. Carefully observe their battle spirits and make sure to figure out their strengths."
---
After the match ended, Flender and the students carried Tang San and the others into the rest area.
Liu Erlong stayed by Yu Xiaogang's side, deeply worried about his condition.
Seeing this, Flender sighed and turned to Jiang Zhu. "You stabilize Mubai and the others' injuries first—I'll go find a healing-type soul master."
Fortunately, Shrek Academy's next match was scheduled for the following day, the last one of the tournament.
After finding a healing-type soul master to treat everyone, they wouldn't miss the match.
Just as Flender opened the door to the rest area, he saw Yu Tianxin arrive with two healing-type soul masters.
"Principal Flender, how are Tianheng and the others doing?" Yu Tianxin asked.
Flender's heart leapt with joy, and he quickly ushered them inside.
With Yu Tianxin footing the bill, he could save a significant amount on medical expenses.
Although the Shrek Team had lost to the Seven Treasures Team, they had only lost one match during the preliminaries, which didn't affect their advancement.
Ever since being invited by Yu Tianheng, Yu Tianxin had already begun to see himself as part of the Shrek Team.
Bringing the healing-type soul masters here was a way to build rapport.
As time ticked by, Yu Xiaogang, who had been treated first, finally regained consciousness.
"Erlong, Flender, don't believe that brat's nonsense—I didn't—" In order to avoid losing Liu Erlong's support, Yu Xiaogang hurriedly explained.
Liu Erlong quickly waved her hand. "Xiaogang, I know your character. That bastard Ning Tianchen will pay for this sooner or later."
"Xiaogang, rest well and don't stress too much," Flender sighed.
He didn't want to dig deeper into the past. The priority now was to guide the Shrek Seven Monsters out of the shadow of their defeat.
In the previous match, Ning Tianchen's performance had been overwhelmingly powerful, almost single-handedly decimating the Shrek Team.
This battle would undoubtedly leave a psychological scar on Tang San and the others. If they couldn't recover, they'd end up like the Elephant Armor Team or the Thunderbolt Team—fallen and forgotten.
"Flender, how are the school uniforms selling?" Yu Xiaogang sat up weakly and asked.
Flender's eyebrows twitched.
If Yu Xiaogang hadn't reminded him, he would have completely forgotten about it.
However, given Shrek Academy's significant loss, the sales of the uniforms were bound to be poor.
"I'll go check. Erlong, Tianxin, you take care of everyone."
With that, he hurried out of the rest area.
Most of the audience had already left the stands after the most exciting matches ended.
The remaining spectators were still reminiscing about the match between the Seven Treasures Team and the Shrek Team, with almost no one paying attention to the ongoing matches.
Outside the arena.
Flender found that the stalls selling the uniforms were surrounded by a large crowd. The weight on his shoulders finally lifted.
"Looks like there are still quite a few people supporting the Shrek Team." Chuckling, Flender stepped forward.
The closer he got to the crowd, the clearer the voices became.
Things weren't quite as he had imagined.
When Flender pushed his way into the crowd, he finally understood what was happening.
These onlookers weren't there to buy uniforms.
On the contrary, the people at the front were violently tearing apart the uniforms meant for sale.
"The Shrek Team has no morals—how dare they sell uniforms here? Do they think we're blind?!"
The people in front threw the uniforms to those behind, and the crowd began grabbing them.
But they weren't grabbing them because they liked the Shrek Team—they were tearing them apart.
Watching this scene, Flender's pupils contracted, and his hands trembled. "Y-you…"
"This brother looks new—come tear one up too." A bystander shoved a uniform into his hands.
Flender could no longer tolerate it. His 78th-level Soul Sage aura erupted, sending the surrounding crowd tumbling to the ground.
He roared, "Enough! Who sent you to destroy the Shrek Team's uniforms?!"
"I remember—he's the principal of Shrek Academy! Brothers, surround him."
"What's a Soul Sage? There's so many of us—we don't need to fear him!"
Someone started egging the crowd on, and others immediately joined in.
In an instant, the mob surrounded Flender.
This was the Tiandou City district—would Flender dare harm anyone?
The answer was no.
Back at the arena, Yu Xiaogang had already offended the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect. If Flender acted now, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's enforcers stationed in the city would surely kill him on the spot.
Flender silently endured the jeers around him, his chest rising and falling rapidly, his face contorted with anger.
About the time it took for an incense stick to burn, the guards patrolling the arena finally arrived, dispersing the crowd.
Flender reported the mob's violent actions to them but received only a cold stare from the captain of the guard.
"You know what the Shrek Team did. Let me make this clear—the vice-captain of the Imperial second team is the son of the city's defense commander."
"If these torn-up clothes belong to Shrek Academy, then clean up the mess yourself. Otherwise, don't blame us for being harsh."
A civilian shouldn't fight against officials, especially when Flender lacked the strength to overthrow the Tiandou Empire.
To prevent the Shrek Team from being implicated, he swallowed his pride and began picking up the scattered remnants of the uniforms.
The guards supervised him closely.
As he cleaned, Flender also tallied the number of damaged uniforms.
Out of ten thousand uniforms, only seven remained intact.
With this, Shrek Academy suffered a devastating financial loss.
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