Chapter 55: Influence of Shrek Academy

"Bang!"

On the viewing platform, the glass of the seventh box suddenly shattered as a figure shot toward the arena like a green bird.

No matter how fast she was, at this moment, she was already too late to stop what had happened.

By the time she arrived, Xia Yi had already released Ye Xinglan.

"Ah, it's been a while since I felt so good." Xia Yi stretched his body, completely ignoring Shen Yi, who had appeared behind him.

"Such viciousness at such a young age. Is this how your academy teaches you?" Shen Yi cradled Ye Xinglan in her arms, her voice icy cold.

She waved her right hand, and a faint green radiance flickered over her body. A mist of green light, resembling mimosa leaves, floated toward Ye Xinglan. In the next moment, it merged into her body and disappeared.

"How boring. I thought Shrek Academy students were supposed to be strong. Who knew they couldn't even beat a one-ring Spirit Master like me?" Xia Yi said casually as he started walking off the stage, never once sparing Shen Yi a glance.

"Did I say you could leave?" Shen Yi's dark green eyes turned sharp in an instant. She stepped forward, and six spirit rings—two yellow, two purple, two black—flashed brightly. A powerful aura locked Xia Yi in place.

"You're not leaving until you give me a proper explanation," she said coldly. This was her first time leading a team outside the academy, and such an incident had occurred.

First, Shrek Academy's reputation had been damaged. Then, Ye Xinglan had suffered a crushing defeat.

Thanks to the restaurant incident, Ye Xinglan had already become a celebrity across the Douluo Continent. Now, her loss to Xia Yi would undoubtedly be sensationalized by the media.

When that happened, Shrek Academy's reputation would suffer another blow.

Shrek Academy was supposed to be unbeatable among equals.

And now, they had lost so miserably.

No matter what, Shen Yi needed to provide a proper excuse for Ye Xinglan's defeat while Xia Yi was still present.

Otherwise, the academy's reputation might be irreparably damaged.

A two-ring Spirit Master losing to a one-ring Spirit Master—without a suitable explanation, this would inevitably shake the faith of spirit masters in Shrek Academy as a sacred institution.

"Explain what? In a spirit master duel, whether you look back two thousand years or to the time of the Spirit Hall's rule, participants have always been required to give their all. Who can hold back while going all out? It's the referee's job to control the match. If someone dies, that's on the referee, not me," Xia Yi said indifferently, seeing no problem with his actions. Yesterday, the referee had specifically told him to go all out against his opponents without any reservations.

So how could this possibly be his fault?

"I told you to stop, yet you kept going. Now you dare say it's not your responsibility?" The referee's face darkened. In any spirit master competition, injuries and even fatalities could occur, no matter how well the referees tried to control the matches.

As long as it wasn't intentional negligence, referees usually weren't held accountable.

But this was different. The injured party was Ye Xinglan—from Shrek Academy.

The academy was infamous for protecting its own.

"Stop? How could you say that? Don't forget, my opponent is a top student from Shrek Academy. If I had hesitated even slightly, she could have turned the tables on me. If you truly believed she had no chance of winning, you could have stopped the match entirely. Telling me alone to stop—what kind of nonsense is that?" Xia Yi asked calmly.

"I also believe our student did nothing wrong. Facing a two-ring opponent from Shrek Academy, how could he afford to let his guard down?" said Long Hengxu, who finally appeared on the stage. He hadn't been watching Xia Yi's match because he thought it wasn't worth the time.

After all, this was supposed to be a complete mismatch—a two-ring spirit master from Shrek Academy against a one-ring spirit master from Eastsea Academy.

Who would bother watching a foregone conclusion?

Instead, Long Hengxu had gone to watch the youth division matches.

It wasn't until Xia Yi defeated Ye Xinglan that someone rushed over to inform him.

After all, he was Eastsea Academy's lead instructor.

Long Hengxu looked at Xia Yi as if he were a monster, all traces of his previous disdain gone.

The fact that Xia Yi had defeated a Shrek Academy genius completely shattered his expectations. From this day onward, who would dare to underestimate Eastsea Academy?

Xia Yi glanced at Long Hengxu before turning away and walking off the stage with a carefree demeanor.

With Long Hengxu handling the situation, he didn't need to worry about anything else.

As Xia Yi stepped down from the stage, he came face-to-face with a stunned Mu Xi and the ever-calm Gu Yue.

"You... you actually won?" Mu Xi stammered, her expression still dazed.

"Is there a problem?" Xia Yi asked with a smile.

"Ugh..." Mu Xi suddenly burst into tears, her pretty face twisting in apparent anguish. "Shrek Academy actually lost. My sacred institution..."

"Are you crazy?" Xia Yi rolled his eyes at her, baffled by her reaction.

"The crazy one is you. Look around before you say anything," Gu Yue said. As she spoke, she waved her hands, summoning a gust of wind to envelop her and Xia Yi. She grabbed his hand and started running toward the exit of the Tianhai Arena.

Xia Yi, still clueless, glanced around and saw that most of the audience was still in a state of shock.

Clearly, they hadn't yet recovered from the stunning fact that a one-ring spirit master had defeated a two-ring genius from Shrek Academy.

Only a small number of spectators had snapped out of it. Like Mu Xi, they looked distraught, as if they couldn't accept Shrek Academy's defeat.

A shiver ran down Xia Yi's spine, and he abandoned all other thoughts, sprinting alongside Gu Yue as fast as he could.

If they didn't leave now, once the audience regained their senses, he might be mobbed by hundreds—if not thousands—of people.

The mere thought of that scene made Xia Yi's scalp tingle.

"The influence of Shrek Academy is just too terrifying," Xia Yi muttered as he ran.

All he'd done was defeat Ye Xinglan. Why did these people look like they'd lost their parents?

"This is Eastsea City. Once the news reaches Shrek City, things will only get worse. Just wait—you're in for it," Gu Yue said, a hint of amusement on her face. From today onward, Xia Yi wouldn't know what peace was anymore.

Xia Yi was too focused on escaping the Tianhai Arena to notice that Gu Yue had been holding his hand the entire time.

Gu Yue didn't seem to care either; she only wanted to get Xia Yi out of there as quickly as possible. The audience was still in shock now, but once they came to their senses, leaving the arena would become a much harder task.

While neither of them paid it any mind, Tang Wulin's gaze remained fixed on them from the moment Gu Yue grabbed Xia Yi's hand.

Watching their retreating figures, hand in hand, he felt an inexplicable surge of irritation.

"Defeating a Shrek Academy student? I can do that too," Tang Wulin murmured, clenching his fists tightly. After Xia Yi and Gu Yue disappeared from view, his eyes landed on Ye Xinglan, who lay in Shen Yi's arms. A fiery determination ignited within him.

If Xia Yi could do it, he was certain he could too.

(Chapter End)