Chapter 124: Repeated Withdrawals Spark Heated Debate
"Ah?"
Hearing this, not only the team members, but even Lin Beiya revealed looks of astonishment.
None of them had expected Blazing Academy to be so utterly spineless as to directly forfeit the match.
As the referee announced the result, waves of curses erupted from the spectator stands. These were all people who had paid real money to buy tickets and watch the competition.
Yet a highly anticipated showdown had ended just like that, hastily concluded due to one side's withdrawal.
The shouts of "Give us our money back!" rose and fell, making Xue Ye's face on the high platform turn grim.
After all, Blazing Academy belonged to the Heaven Dou Empire's faction. Such conduct was a blatant embarrassment to him.
"What's wrong with this Blazing Academy? Do they have no backbone at all?"
"Father Emperor, please calm your anger. Your son believes that Blazing Academy likely judged that they stood no chance in the wheel battles, so they chose to preserve their strength for the team battles."
"Oh? That explanation does make sense. Very well—then I'll look forward to their performance in the team battles."
After hearing Xue Qinghe, who was in fact Qian Renxue in disguise, offer this explanation, Xue Ye immediately suppressed the trace of displeasure in his heart.
After all, it was merely a tactical arrangement, something he could understand.
In truth, the Spirit Hall team came to the same conclusion.
"Those guys want to crush us in the team battles?"
"Hmph. Pure delusion."
Qiu Tete scoffed at Blazing Academy's supposed plan. Their own side possessed the tournament's only Soul King, a core control system soul master suited perfectly for team battles, not to mention Mo Xue, the number one support of the entire competition, backing them up. In team battles, they feared no one.
Wei Xu, on the other hand, said nothing, though he felt somewhat disappointed by Blazing Academy's decision.
Only Lin Beiya's eyes flickered with an indescribable light. He seemed to have guessed that Blazing Academy's withdrawal hid another reason altogether.
And the developments that followed thoroughly confirmed his suspicions.
When facing Star Luo Royal Academy, God Wind Academy likewise withdrew, abandoning the wheel battles for the day.
If one could still excuse this by saying that Star Luo Royal Academy was indeed very strong, then Thunder Academy's withdrawal against the clearly weaker Radiant Academy made everything suddenly far more intriguing.
The audience erupted in curses once again, and on the high platform, Xue Ye's anger flared up anew.
"Hmph. Are these two also preserving their strength for the team battles?"
"Uh… this…"
Even Qian Renxue felt extremely awkward now. She could not figure out what these academies—each with strength close to that of the seeded teams—were really plotting.
All she could do was force an awkward smile and speak up to placate Xue Ye.
Nearby, Salas wore a look of disdain. In his view, these elemental academies had simply been intimidated by the strength displayed by the Spirit Hall team and had lost all fighting spirit, choosing to flee through forfeiture.
...
"What are they doing? They're forfeiting this, too?"
Qiu Tete and even Ye Lüsu were completely baffled. If they were going to give up so easily, then why even come to compete? Was this some kind of publicly funded sightseeing trip to Heaven Dou City?
Aside from Lin Beiya, only Yu Quan noticed something amiss. Before the draw a few days ago, he had seen Huo Lingyun and Feng Changge exchange a few words.
"Senior Sister, Senior Brothers, I'm afraid things aren't as simple as they seem. The major elemental academies are playing a very big game."
"Oh? What kind of big game? Let's hear it."
Yu Quan shook his head, indicating that he still wasn't certain.
"I can't be sure yet. We'll have to wait until tomorrow and see whether they even abandon the team battles."
"What? Are they really going to give up the team battles, too? Are they actually here just to travel?"
Patting the loli senior sister on the shoulder, Lin Beiya smiled and shook his head.
"A simple withdrawal is probably impossible. There's a high chance these academies will pool their talents into this round's bye team—Sky Water Academy—and form a super team to deal with us."
Hearing this, Yu Quan immediately revealed an expression of agreement. That was exactly what he had been thinking as well.
"Th-This… would the organizers even agree to something like that?"
This kind of opportunistic shortcut made Qiu Tete instinctively spread her hands, her expression a mix of astonishment and faint disdain.
"Why wouldn't they?" Lin Beiya replied calmly. "Judging from the strength we've already revealed, Xue Ye has probably realized that the Royal Fighting Team isn't our match at all."
"Rather than watching the championship fall straight into our hands, it's better to let the five elemental academies under the Heaven Dou Empire pick up the prize instead. That way, the championship reward money can be used as development funds for those academies, nurturing more talent for Heaven Dou Empire."
"Everyone wins—so why not?"
For Lin Beiya, who had lived through the spectacle of a certain superstar's 'Decision' in his previous life, this sort of maneuver wasn't strange at all.
The sheer underhandedness of it left Qiu Tete dumbfounded. She spoke unwillingly,
"Aren't they afraid people will point fingers behind their backs and say they took shortcuts?"
"Years later, who would even remember?" Lin Beiya said lightly. "All anyone will remember is that the champion of this tournament was an elemental academy. Nothing more."
As for the five elemental academies pooling all their talents into Sky Water Academy, everyone felt disdain—but there was little they could do about it. All they could manage was a helpless shake of the head and a sigh.
"What's there to be afraid of? Even if they join forces, the championship will still be ours. Mark my words."
Seeing the heaviness on everyone's faces, Lin Beiya quickly injected the team with a much-needed boost of confidence.
At once, everyone's spirits lifted. That's right—they still had Invincible Lin. There was no reason to fear the other side forming a coalition.
"Hmph. When the time comes, and they still can't win even after banding together, I'd like to see where they'll hide their faces!"
...
After a brief cleanup, the group left the venue and headed back to the hotel. The rising and falling curses from the crowd left everyone in high spirits.
Whether or not your so-called super team ends up succeeding, at the very least, you've already failed the audience.
See? You're getting cursed at, aren't you?
The next day, as the team battles officially began, everyone once again had their suspicions confirmed.
Whether it was Blazing Academy, God Wind Academy, or Thunder Academy, they all coincidentally chose to forfeit their matches.
This directly handed free passes into the quarterfinals to the Spirit Hall team, Star Luo Royal Academy, and one filler academy.
At this point, if anyone still claimed these academies weren't planning to join forces, no one would believe it.
Listening to the unbroken chorus of "Give us our money back!" from the stands, Xue Ye's expression darkened to its limits.
Fortunately, Qian Renxue quickly stepped in to explain,
"Father Emperor, applications have already been received from Blazing, God Wind, and Thunder Academies. Huo Lingyun and the others will directly merge into the Sky Water Team and participate in the quarterfinals as members of the Sky Water Team."
"Oh? So that's what they were planning?"
Xue Ye's clouded eyes instantly lit up, and a look of delight spread across his face.
In truth, he had already mentally prepared himself for the championship to most likely fall into the Spirit Hall team's hands. He hadn't expected there to be such a twist.
He had personally witnessed the strength of the elemental academy captains. A brand-new team formed by them truly did have a chance to shake the Spirit Hall team.
Nearby, Salas caught every word. His expression immediately turned displeased as he spoke up,
"Your Majesty, this doesn't seem to conform to the rules, does it?"
"Uh..."
Faced with opposition, Xue Ye hesitated visibly. Fortunately, Ning Fengzhi quickly came to his rescue.
"Bishop Salas, is there any rule stating that new members cannot join midway through the competition?"
"These children simply wish to bring their talents to a new team. What's wrong with that?"
"You—!"
Salas felt deeply aggrieved, yet he couldn't find any grounds to refute the argument. In fact, the Spirit Hall team could theoretically do the same, but where would they find so many young and outstanding talents on such short notice?
—
End of Chapter