Chapter 153: That Hurts, Bro!

In a private room of a teahouse, sipping tea, Qian Renxue quietly listened to Iron Flower's report.

"...Subordinate has failed in my duties. I ask for punishment, young master."

Having finished explaining why the plan had not gone smoothly,Flower looked ashamed, her face full of self-blame.

"There's no need for that. In life, how can everything go as planned? Just do your best."

Qian Renxue waved her hand indifferently, brushing it off.

The self-orchestrated "life-saving grace" had not been completed, but it wasn't a big deal. As Mu Yang's "Brother Qinghe," she would have plenty of opportunities to deepen their relationship in the future.

Though that was how she reasoned with herself, Qian Renxue still made a mental note of Salas.

It was true that they had underestimated Shui Bing'er's strength, and the hired assassins had not been strong enough to pose a lethal threat to Mu Yang and his companion. Moreover, Huo Lie and Mu Xiyue had been secretly protecting them. Even without Salas's interference, her self-directed plan would not have succeeded. But this was not something she could just let go of.

She, Qian Renxue, wanted to recruit Mu Yang, yet that bastard Salas was trying to kill him. Was Salas trying to go against her?

Qian Renxue was magnanimous. If it was an unintentional offense due to a lack of communication and did not cause any major consequences, she could forgive it—this time.

After all, no one is perfect, so who can be without fault?

But all of this hinged on whether there were other consequences!

And now, look what happened. The two Soul Saints sent by the Heaven Dou Temple had been captured alive. Through interrogation, hypnosis, and other methods, Mu Yang and Blazing Academy would likely find out that the mastermind behind the attack was the Spirit Hall.

Thankfully, she, Qian Renxue, had a dual identity. Otherwise, any future attempts to recruit Mu Yang, Blazing Academy, or Sky Water Academy would probably be impossible.

Of course, this still wasn't the most important issue.

To Qian Renxue, the most critical point was that when the two Heaven Dou Temple Soul Saints attacked, Title Douluo Huo Lie and Mu Xiyue were able to intervene in time.

That meant the two Title Douluo had been secretly following Mu Yang and his companion. Otherwise, Qian Renxue refused to believe such a coincidence could occur.

And since Mu Yang and his companion had been her luncheon guests today, that meant these two Douluo had been guarding against her?

Even if they were wary of assassination attempts from other factions, would it really require two Title Douluo? A single one should be more than enough to handle any hidden threats within Heaven Dou City.

'Could it be… I've been exposed?'

Qian Renxue couldn't help but speculate.

As she pondered this, she felt as though she was falling into a dangerous situation.

'No, I need to have Grandpa send more experts. If I really am exposed, then I'll just seize power by force!'

Clenching her fist, Qian Renxue made up her mind.

Meanwhile, in the dean's office at Shrek Academy…

"Dai Mubai, Tang San, the top five teams in the preliminary round will advance to the qualifying and final stages. Tomorrow's opponent is Blazing Academy. My suggestion is to forfeit. What do you think?"

Yu Xiaogang scanned the Shrek team members before addressing Dai Mubai and Tang San.

"Teacher, do we really have to forfeit?"

Tang San asked reluctantly.

Who was he, Tang San? He was the only (self-proclaimed) transmigrator in this world, the son of the mighty Clear Sky Douluo, an innate full soul power genius with twin martial souls!

He had already displayed such incredible talent, yet now, against Blazing Academy's team, he had to surrender without even fighting?! This was suffocating—absolutely humiliating!

"Tang San, don't act on impulse. We have to admit that the Blazing Team is extremely strong. All of their main members are above level 40, and they even have three Soul Kings with five rings. We have no chance of winning.

Moreover, if they decide to use excessive force in the match, our team will be placed at a severe disadvantage for the upcoming battles.

If you're not satisfied with this, then let's secure our spot in the next round first. We can settle things with Blazing Academy in the qualifiers!"

Dai Mubai patted Tang San's shoulder, speaking earnestly.

For now, everything else could wait. The top five teams in the preliminaries would advance, and their priority was securing one of those spots. If they recklessly challenged Blazing Academy and ended up unable to continue in the tournament, that would be a disastrous loss.

After struggling with his emotions for a long time, Tang San finally nodded.

There was no other choice. Their team was weaker, and to make matters worse, their opponents' attributes countered him. For the sake of the bigger picture, he had no choice but to endure it.

If Mu Yang and his team were present at this moment, they would surely label Tang San as someone "already walking the path to his own demise."

"By the way, Oscar, Blazing Academy's blue-haired captain is also a food-type soul master. Do you think his soul skill incantations are as weird as yours?"

Ma Hongjun asked Oscar curiously.

Even though four rounds of the preliminaries had passed, Mu Yang had yet to use a soul skill in battle.

His teammates were too strong, and their opponents were too weak—there simply had been no need for his food-type support.

"Weird? You're the weird one! Fatty, let's see if I ever let you eat my sausages again!"

Oscar said, clearly displeased.

"Haha~ Come on, Oscar, don't take it so seriously~"

Ma Hongjun laughed it off.

Sure, Oscar's soul incantations sounded weird, but they were effective. Having something to eat was always better than having nothing at all.

"Speaking of Mu Yang from Blazing Academy, don't you all think it's strange?"

At this moment, Ning Rongrong spoke up.

"Strange?"

Hearing this, everyone turned their attention to Ning Rongrong.

Ning Rongrong explained, "If Oscar's soul power level were the same as Dai Mubai's, Tang San's, and Xiao Wu's, reaching the Soul Ancestor realm, could Oscar become the captain of our Shrek team?"

"This…"

Everyone was momentarily stunned.

Exactly!

Mu Yang was just a food-type soul master—how could he be the captain of Blazing Academy's team?

After all, Blazing Academy had both Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu, two powerful Soul Kings.

By logic, Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu should be the captain and vice-captain. Yet, the truth was that Mu Yang was the captain, with Huo Wu as his vice-captain.

"Maybe this Mu Yang has an unusual strength and has developed his own soul techniques?"

Tang San speculated thoughtfully.

"That's not impossible!"

Dai Mubai nodded in agreement.

"Perhaps he can create special soul power-infused food that allows a food-type soul master to fight like a battle soul master?"

Oscar guessed.

Seeing her teammates discussing Mu Yang's strength, the ever-"honest" Xiao Wu delivered a brutal truth:

"What does it matter to us? Just based on Blazing Academy's main members' levels and soul ring configurations, even if their captain has little combat ability, we still aren't their match."

Shrek Team: "…"

That hurts, bro!