Chapter 56: Can't afford to Lose

Since the hotel was not far from Skysea Sports Arena, Xia Yi and Gu Yue ran straight back without stopping.

Upon returning to the hotel, Gu Yue suddenly realized that she had been holding Xia Yi's hand the entire time.

Feeling the warmth coming from Xia Yi's hand, Gu Yue silently withdrew her hand.

Xia Yi didn't seem to mind. Instead, he fixed his gaze on Gu Yue and curiously asked, "Between you and Na'er, who is stronger?"

"Why are you asking that?" Gu Yue replied indifferently.

"Nothing special, just curious." Xia Yi shrugged. After his encounters with Xu Xiaoyan and Ye Xinglan, he had a newfound appreciation for Na'er's strength.

Even though both Na'er and Ye Xinglan were two-ring Soul Masters, Na'er was far superior.

He could sense that Na'er could easily defeat Ye Xinglan even without using any soul skills.

Since Gu Yue and Na'er were essentially one entity, with Gu Yue being the main body and Na'er the secondary, it stood to reason that Gu Yue should be even stronger than Na'er.

Xia Yi found it hard to imagine just how powerful Gu Yue would be if she unleashed her full strength.

"Why don't we find an opportunity, and I'll let you experience it?" Gu Yue raised an eyebrow, her expression a mix of teasing and amusement.

"No, thanks," Xia Yi quickly declined, shaking his head. He had pushed Gu Yue to the brink during their encounter in the Star Dou Forest and wasn't eager to give her a chance for payback.

His recent victory over Ye Xinglan was largely due to her underestimating the dark phoenix attack on his arm, which was comparable to that of a peak two-ring Soul Master.

If Ye Xinglan had been on guard, he wouldn't have stood a chance.

What Xia Yi didn't know was that his victory over Ye Xinglan also owed much to Wu Zhangkong tipping off Shen Yi.

Through Wu Zhangkong and Shen Yi, Ye Xinglan learned of Xia Yi's victories over Tang Wulin and Na'er. This gave her the false impression that Xia Yi wasn't strong but relied on trickery, leading her to underestimate him.

From the start of the battle, Ye Xinglan hadn't fought with her full strength.

Had she gone all out from the beginning, Xia Yi likely wouldn't have even had the chance to use his dark phoenix before being defeated.

Even defeating Ye Xinglan had taken so much effort—there was no need to even mention Gu Yue. Facing Gu Yue in an arena setting, Xia Yi wouldn't stand a chance.

In the Star Dou Forest, the only reason he managed to injure Gu Yue was that she had let her guard down, assuming he was just a ten-year soul beast. Even with the help of traps, it would have been nearly impossible to harm her otherwise.

"Coward," Gu Yue said disdainfully, casting him a sidelong glance.

"I can't accept that," Xia Yi retorted calmly. "Just wait until my soul power catches up to yours. Then I'll challenge you head-on."

He knew he couldn't beat Gu Yue now, but that was only due to the disparity in their cultivation levels. Once his cultivation caught up, he wouldn't fear anyone of the same level.

"You'd better speed up your training, then. After all, I won't stop cultivating just to wait for you," Gu Yue replied, her beautiful eyes lighting up. As long as Xia Yi didn't resort to trickery, she wasn't afraid of him at the same level.

Ding!

Just as Xia Yi was about to speak, both his and Gu Yue's soul communicators chimed simultaneously.

Xia Yi checked his communicator and saw that it was a message from the Tianhai Alliance Competition officials.

When Xia Yi and Gu Yue looked at the message, they were both stunned.

"We've been banned from competing," Xia Yi said with a dejected expression.

"I'm not blind," Gu Yue replied with a raised eyebrow, seemingly deep in thought.

It turned out that after they left, Shen Yi of Shrek Academy had filed an official complaint with the Skysea Alliance Competition. She accused Xia Yi of intentionally injuring his opponent during the match and severely wounding the opponent even after the referee had called a stop. She demanded an explanation.

In response, the Skysea Alliance Competition officials disqualified all the participating students from Eastsea Academy.

Xia Yi was disheartened. Since his disqualification came from the competition's official body, not only was he barred from the Soul Master Competition, but he was also disqualified from the Blacksmith Competition.

Gu Yue faced the same fate. She had also registered for the Mecha Design Competition and achieved excellent results, but her qualifications were similarly revoked.

"My two million credits," Xia Yi lamented, visibly upset. He didn't care much about the Soul Master Competition; after all, his victory over Ye Xinglan was a fluke.

With his current cultivation level, he knew he wouldn't last much longer in the competition.

But the Blacksmith Competition was different. The only real competition for the championship was Tang Wulin.

In other words, at the very least, he would have secured second place.

The first-place prize for the Blacksmith Competition was three million credits, while the runner-up received two million.

Knowing that he would've earned two million credits in the third round of the shaping competition the next day made Xia Yi feel like crying.

"What a waste," Xia Yi muttered, resigned.

Xia Yi was frustrated, but the other participants from Eastsea Academy were even more upset. Many didn't even know what had happened before receiving the disqualification notice.

Tang Wulin was particularly distraught. He hadn't even had the chance to defeat Xia Yi or Ye Xinglan before being banned, leaving him on the verge of tears.

He realized that ever since Xia Yi had appeared, nothing had gone smoothly for him.

"Isn't Shrek Academy supposed to be more powerful than the Federation's national team? How could they not afford to lose? A loss is a loss—how can they file a complaint and still feel justified?" Tang Wulin asked, clearly upset.

Indeed, as Tang Wulin suspected, the internet was already ablaze with arguments.

Many people, still reeling from Shrek Academy's defeat, were shocked to learn that the academy had filed a complaint, leading to the disqualification of all Eastsea Academy participants.

"How could this happen? Isn't this embarrassing enough? Zhuo Shi, this is all thanks to your disciple," one elder of Shrek Academy's Sea God Pavilion said angrily. All eyes turned to Zhuo Shi, the Scarlet Dragon Douluo.

Shen Yi's handling of the matter had utterly disgraced Shrek Academy.

Losing wasn't the end of the world. A single defeat didn't define the academy. If anything, it could have motivated the students to train harder.

Though it might have slightly tarnished Shrek Academy's reputation, the academy's twenty-thousand-year legacy couldn't be shaken by a single loss.

However, Shen Yi's complaint, resulting in the disqualification of Eastsea Academy's participants, made it seem as though Shrek Academy couldn't accept defeat.

"This isn't Shen Yi's fault. I've looked into it," Yali, the Holy Spirit Douluo, explained solemnly. "Shen Yi filed the complaint because Ye Xinglan was severely injured, and she wanted an explanation. The mass disqualification was the decision of the Skysea Alliance officials, influenced by the Federation's high-ranking officials. Xia Yi was right—the Federation is deliberately targeting Shrek Academy."

"What do we do now?" Long Yeyue, the Light and Darkness Douluo, asked pointedly. As the most senior member of the Sea God Pavilion, she didn't mince her words, even with Yali.

"There's nothing we can do. We lost, and we filed the complaint. Even if we try to explain, no one will believe that the Federation is framing us. This matter can only be dealt with quietly," Yali replied with a slight shake of her head. Mishandling the situation would only worsen relations between Shrek Academy and the Federation.

"Yali, is Xia Yi truly a support-type Soul Master?" Long Yeyue asked again, watching the recording of Xia Yi's battle with Ye Xinglan.

Even she found it hard to accept that a disciple of Shrek Academy's inner court had lost to a support-type Soul Master.

"His first soul skill is indeed a healing-type skill," Yali said with a wry smile. She finally understood why Xia Yi was so unwilling to be a support-type Soul Master—he was strong even without using his first soul skill.

"With his talent, he'll undoubtedly apply for the next Shrek Academy enrollment. When that happens, hehe…" Long Yeyue chuckled meaningfully.

The combat footage of Xia Yi defeating Ye Xinglan not only reached Shrek Academy's Sea God Pavilion but also caught the attention of the Spirit Pagoda's headquarters.

"His combat instincts are impressive, though his martial soul and soul power leave much to be desired. Still, if we can recruit him, we should try," Qiangu Dongfeng said solemnly.

Leng Yaozhu stared at Xia Yi's dark phoenix attack for a long time before contacting Gu Yue. "Yue'er, tell me—what's your relationship with Xia Yi? And what's the story behind his dark phoenix?"

"Teacher, I truly don't know," Gu Yue replied seriously. She couldn't reveal Xia Yi's identity or the fact that Leng Yulai was imprisoned within him.

"If possible, bring him to the Spirit Pagoda's headquarters in Shrek City sometime," Leng Yaozhu said without suspicion. Even she couldn't figure out what was going on, so she didn't doubt Gu Yue's ignorance.

After ending the call, Leng Yaozhu gazed out the window, her expression softening. She murmured, "Sister, why has your ability appeared in a child? Did you deliberately place him in my path? Where are you?"

(End of Chapter)