However, just as Yu Xiaogang reached into his pocket, he realized Zhang Fan had already spoken.
"You're quite arrogant, Sarath. Look, what is this?"Zhang Fan pulled out a token and held it up vertically for Sarath to see.
Sarath's eyes widened the moment he saw the token. He stared blankly for a few seconds, unable to react. Then he quickly stepped forward and lowered his head to inspect it. His expression shifted slightly, and he immediately bowed respectfully to Zhang Fan."Greetings, Elder."
"..."Everyone was dumbfounded.
No one expected Zhang Fan to possess such a token — one that could instantly flip Sarath's expression and attitude from arrogance to total reverence.
From disdainful to deferential in seconds.
"He... how does he have one too?"Yu Xiaogang was baffled. How could this little guy have a Pope Decree? He felt around in his own pocket for his Pope Decree, checked it again — it was real, no doubt about it. So where on earth did Zhang Fan get his?
Flender was equally shocked.
Ning Fengzhi was astonished too. He hadn't expected Zhang Fan to hold the Martial Soul Hall's highest authority token. A token with six emblems meant it was indeed a Pope Decree — bearing this was equivalent to the Pope personally arriving. Such holders were all honorary elders of Martial Soul Hall.
A Platinum Bishop ranks just below the Pope in the Martial Soul Hall hierarchy.
But they still don't have decision-making power.
Aside from the Pope, Martial Soul Hall also has an Elder Hall, which is the true power core. Major decisions are made by this group.
The Pope has three votes, while the other seven elders each have one.
"Elder Zhang, I was being presumptuous. We'll take our leave now!"Sarath quickly scurried away in embarrassment.
He didn't even dare to get revenge for the gorilla-mouth insult — he simply ran off with his tail between his legs.
After all, the kid had a Pope Decree — not someone he could mess with unless he wanted to wreck his future.
"Xiaofan, how do you have a Pope Decree?"Liu Erlong walked over, clearly shocked. She frowned and asked.
"I ran into the Pope in the Star Dou Forest. She thought I had great potential and tried to recruit me into the Martial Soul Hall. I refused, so she gave me the Decree and said I could find her anytime."Zhang Fan shrugged as he spoke.
"A true prodigy indeed — even the Pope admires him!"Liu Erlong gave Zhang Fan a big thumbs-up.
"Ding! Story-altering mission triggered."
[Yu Xiaogang felt around for the Pope Decree in his pocket.] You may modify the next four characters.
Zhang Fan immediately added "suddenly flew out" after Pope Decree.
"Ding! Story successfully altered. Mild narrative deviation. Reward: 30 Alteration Points."
The Pope Decree in Yu Xiaogang's pocket suddenly flew out and landed on the ground.
"Clang..." went the sound.
Everyone saw the Pope Decree on the ground.
It looked identical to the one in Zhang Fan's hand.
Yu Xiaogang was stunned. How did a token that was securely in his pocket just fly out?
Liu Erlong immediately darted over, picked it up, and inspected it."Yu Xiaogang, you're still in contact with that woman... very well..."
She didn't sound angry — just calm and cold.
Flender hadn't expected Liu Erlong not to explode.
This clearly showed she no longer had feelings for Yu Xiaogang.
Otherwise, upon seeing that token, she'd have pounced on him and delivered one of her signature "love smacks."
"You've misunderstood..."Yu Xiaogang shook his head and said.
"Whether it's a misunderstanding or not doesn't matter anymore! I don't like you anymore. Who you're with is none of my business."Liu Erlong said flatly.
Her gaze pierced him, and Yu Xiaogang felt a deep pain in his heart.He never imagined it would hurt this much.
The girl who once loved him so deeply — no longer did.
Next up in the tournament, both Godwind Academy and Thunderclap Academy forfeited their matches and didn't face off against the Shrek Team.
This surprised Zhang Fan. Wasn't Feng Xiaotian obsessed with beating Shrek? Yet he gave up?
So, the top teams in the preliminaries ended up as:
Shrek Academy: 26 matches, 26 wins.
Godwind Academy: 26 matches, 24 wins (lost to Shrek and Blazing Fire Academy).
Thunderclap Academy: 26 matches, 24 wins (lost to Godwind and Shrek).
Blazing Fire Academy: 26 matches, 23 wins.
Tianshui Academy: 26 matches, 23 wins.
Elephant Armor Academy: 26 matches, 21 wins.
The final match: Shrek vs Tianshui Academy.
Once again, Feng Xiaotian appeared in front of their rest area.
"It's the final round today. Good luck!"Feng Xiaotian smiled and said.
"Didn't you want to fight us? Why forfeit?"Zhang Fan asked, surprised.
"I did want to, but the dean disagreed. I couldn't do anything about it."Feng Xiaotian shook his head helplessly.
"..."Zhang Fan and Xiao Wu were speechless.
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"Is your goal the championship?"Xiao Wu suddenly turned to Feng Xiaotian and asked.
"We haven't really thought about it. After all, who can beat the Martial Soul Hall team? If anyone has a chance, it's probably your Shrek Team."Feng Xiaotian smiled bitterly.
"The Martial Soul Hall team is that strong?"Xiao Wu asked, puzzled.
"They're probably insanely strong!"Feng Xiaotian scratched his head and opened his mouth but said nothing more.
"Big Sis, look, that guy from Shrek — Zhang Fan — he's so handsome! I heard his nickname is 'Sword Immortal'..."A young woman with an oval-shaped face, in her early twenties, petite with short dark green hair, gushed like a fan girl.
This group of girls, all in blue uniforms, were the Tianshui Academy team — Shrek's final opponent.
All five elemental academies had unique admission criteria.
Tianshui Academy admitted only girls — and only beautiful ones at that.
It was also the only elemental academy open to civilians, much like Shrek.
"Xiao Qi, how can you be such a fangirl? He's our opponent! Don't hold back later!"Another girl with a red ponytail chuckled.
"The match is starting. Shrek hasn't lost a single match. We're probably not their match either. Still, we'll go all out."
Compared to the first two, this girl spoke in a more composed tone. Though she wasn't the oldest of the Tianshui Academy seven, she held the deepest respect from the others.
She had long, flowing water-blue hair, delicate facial features, and an almost ethereal beauty.
She was Shui Bing'er, captain of Tianshui Academy.
Their academy chose captains based on strength.
Today being the final match, ticket prices had skyrocketed.
The audience was electric with anticipation.
The Shrek Team and Tianshui Team both walked to the central arena.
"This is the final round of the preliminary tournament! The teams confirmed to advance are Shrek Academy and Tianshui Academy.
Shrek Team is the tournament's biggest dark horse and the only team with a perfect record."**
Shui Bing'er glanced at Shrek's lineup and frowned — they were still using three substitutes.
Three Spirit Masters over level 40 hadn't even been sent out.
Clearly, they didn't take her team seriously.
(End of Chapter)