Capítulo 607: Chapter 45 I didn't earn anything, instead I lost heavily_2
Apart from Shrek Academy, there are few schools that can overpower them.
But this Soul Master competition is different.
The strength of the Shrek Academy's participating team had been witnessed by all. Even if another Ma Xiaotao joined, what difference would it make?
Could they possibly defy the heavens?
They were only destined to be suppressed by others.
No.
With their strength, it wasn't even certain whether they could make it to the finals.
"Cough cough."
Watching the excited crowd, Elder Ma coughed lightly, "Everyone should remain calm."
"In truth, Shrek Academy has never been our enemy. What we need to do is to overcome ourselves."
The crowd wore strange expressions.
Elder Ma, that's not the attitude you just displayed.
"Everyone calm down. Our team is going to take the stage tomorrow, I will explain the battle plans for tomorrow."
"Do we even need any arrangements?"
Ma Rulong, with his hands in his pockets, said, "We don't have any opponents left."
Thump.
Elder Ma waved his hand and gave Ma Rulong a big thump on the head.
Ma Rulong held his head and crouched down.
Elder Ma said, "For tomorrow's elimination round, Qin Xiao doesn't need to take the stage. I've assessed the strength of our opponents, and their average power isn't even at the Soul King Realm; we can easily defeat them.
Let's hide some of our abilities and give our opponents in the final a little surprise."
...
Late at night.
Xuan Zi, drunk, returned to the hotel from the imperial palace.
To his surprise, he found that everyone was waiting up for him, all neatly gathered.
"You all... want to say thank you for today's affair?"
Xuan Zi wobbled as he waved his hand dismissively, "No need, absolutely no need.
I'm a member of Shrek Academy, guarding Shrek Academy's honor is my duty.
Rest assured, I promised to get you into the top four, so I will fulfill my promise."
Xuan Zi would have been better off not saying that. Hearing his words, everyone was so angry they could hardly contain themselves.
Shrek Academy's reputation was completely ruined by them today...
This was a rigged match... if it had been secretly fixed to look more realistic, they would have not objected.
But it was too obviously fake.
Even commoners with little discernment could see there was a problem.
Thus, today's actions not only failed to bring honor to Shrek Academy but instead left it utterly disgraced.
Now the whole of Xingluo City knew that Shrek Academy had been falsifying...
"Elder Xuan, even if you didn't help us, we would have no complaints,"
As Mu En's grandson, Beibei had some confidence when facing Xuan Zi.
He was truly angry.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have spoken such words of reproach.
Wang Yan gritted his teeth; today he had also decided to let loose, "Elder Xuan, it appears like you're helping us, but in reality, you're harming us, even smearing Shrek Academy's good name.
Following your plan, how can we return to the academy with our heads held high, how can we face the people of Shrek Academy?
Bias in judgment, rigging matches... such stains are unprecedented in Shrek's history."
He felt like he was already a sinner.
Ashamed of the trust entrusted by many great figures of Shrek...
"Pfft, what's the big deal?"
Xuan Zi raised an eyebrow, unconcerned as he said, "I'd like to see who dares to wag their fingers at us, with one flick of my finger, I'll squash them all."
"And what if the whole world condemns us?"
Upon hearing this, Xuan Zi took a fierce gulp of wine and said with a chilling tone, "Then I'll fight until they dare not speak a word."
Everyone's expressions changed.
They felt a chill in their hearts.
The murderous aura emanating from Xuan Zi was no joke. This old drunkard really might be capable of anything.
"Forget it, forget it, let's disperse,"
Wang Yan, disheartened, waved everyone off.
There was no reasoning with this person.
With such people in charge, the future of Shrek Academy was doomed...
...
The three-day elimination tournament finally ended amid the curses of the public.
Although no cheating or match-fixing incidents were discovered during these three days, the public's sentiment did not soften due to the subsequent good performances; they did not forget the scandal involving Shrek Academy.
It's worth mentioning that on the second day of the competition, the Imperial Sun Moon Soul Academy effortlessly defeated its opponent and advanced smoothly.
Next up was the round-robin stage of the competition.
The round-robin, while not as intense as the elimination round, had its own characteristics, with a variety of combat styles and a greater test of an academy's combat strength.
Logically, after the first round of eliminations, the remaining academy teams would be stronger, and the competition was expected to be spectacular and very appealing.
The Xingluo Empire had long been prepared, spending a fortune on expanding Star Luo Plaza to accommodate 200,000 spectators for the matches.
Some scholars predicted that even 200,000 seats might not be enough to accommodate all the viewers.
It would still be a picture of a ticket being as hard to come by.
However.
The reality was a surprise to many.
200,000 tickets... less than half were sold.
This showed the extent to which the Shrek Academy match-fixing scandal had resonated.
It caused the public to become averse.
Moreover, many people proclaimed it was better to spend money on watching monkeys than on tickets, for at least monkeys won't deceive me, will they?
When Xu Jiawei, the Star Luo Emperor, heard about this from his finance officer, he was so shocked that his mouth hung open for a long time, unable to close it.
He was stupefied.
You see, before the continent-wide Soul Master competition, there was exhaustive expenditure, all to make a big profit once the competition commenced.
A surefire way to make money was through ticket sales.
But now... not even half the tickets were sold, let alone make a lot of money, even breaking even was going to be a struggle...
"Your Majesty, there's also the marketing strategies we thought up earlier, not a single report was sold."
The financial officer finished speaking, discreetly wiping the sweat from his cheek.
What he did not say was that, according to feedback from subordinates' investigations, the public was also resistant to the battle reports, calling them a bunch of deceiving nonsense, not even worth a dog's glance.
They also said it was too stiff even for wiping one's backside...
"Another loss?" Xu Jiawei asked with a gloomy face, "Are there any other losses?"
"Yes, there are the travel and accommodation expenses, as well as allowances for those academies that were eliminated. We are responsible for the medical treatment of the injured and the relief of the deceased... These expenses would not have mattered much, but since the Soul Master competition is not making any money, these expenses are also coming from the national treasury..."
Besides, there's an even more crucial expenditure, the cost to bribe Sky Spirit Academy and other academies, which is not a small figure. It's almost as much as one-tenth of the predicted earnings from this round of the competition..."
The expected revenue from the Soul Master competition was 60 million golden soul coins. One-tenth would then be 6 million.
And they had spent 6 million without even earning it yet.
Looking at the current situation, it was a significant loss...
The financial officer hastily clarified the account to Xu Jiawei.
So that in case of a shortfall, he wouldn't be mistakenly thought to have embezzled and be executed as a corrupt official.
Upon hearing this, Xu Jiawei clenched the arms of his chair so tightly that they creaked.
"Your Majesty, I must say, the backlash this time is too great, it's very hard to suppress."
"If we can reflect on our mistakes in time, there may still be a chance to salvage the situation.
This is just the round-robin stage; there are still the semi-finals and the finals to come. By then, with a good reputation, this Soul Master competition might not make a huge profit, but we won't lose either," said the financial officer, forcing himself to offer another suggestion.
Xu Jiawei fell silent upon hearing this.
After a long while, he slowly said, "You may go, I need to think this over."
"Yes."
The financial officer answered, bowed, and left.
Xu Jiawei rubbed his temples with his hand.
He had not anticipated that one rigged match, one oversight, could lead to the current situation.
It was truly headache-inducing.
"Your Majesty, the headmaster of the Yun Luo Advanced Soul-mater Academy requests an audience."
Just at that moment, a Gold Armored Guard hurriedly came into the hall and knelt on one knee before Xu Jiawei.
"Yun Luo Advanced Soul-mater Academy?"
A thought flashed through Xu Jiawei's mind, remembering that this was one of the Xingluo Empire's Soul Academies.
At the same time, it had another crucial identity.
That was the ghost supposed to be Shrek Academy's stepping stone to advance to the semi-finals.
Could it be that this academy had some changes as well? Putting his hand down, Xu Jiawei sat upright and said, "Let the headmaster of the Yun Luo Advanced Soul-mater Academy come in."
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