Douluo Dalu (Soul Land): Shadow Monarch

"Shrek... has lost…"

In the spectator area, Flender slowly closed his eyes. He couldn't bear to look at the miserable state of those children, or rather, he didn't dare to.

From that terrifying explosion, he felt a genuine sense of dread. If Cheng Xiao were to unleash that move one day, even he wouldn't fare much better...

The ear-piercing sound of explosions resounded across the battle stage, but due to the protection of the black smoke barrier, the surrounding area remained unaffected aside from the battle platform itself. However, the deafening explosions forced the spectators to instinctively cover their ears.

After a long while, as the residual effects of the explosion gradually dissipated, the crowd finally lowered their hands and turned their attention toward the ruined stage.

On the stage, Cheng Xiao slowly lowered his hand, which was still emitting black smoke, while trying to steady his slightly rapid breathing.

"It seems the power was even greater than expected," Cheng Xiao thought to himself as he sensed the rapid decline of shadow energy within him. Then, he looked towards the direction of the lingering smoke.

With a gentle wave of his hand, a gust of wind surged from thin air, swiftly dispersing the dense smoke.

As the dust settled, a massive crater immediately came into view, shocking everyone who witnessed it.

The crater was at least three to four meters deep and quite large. Cracks and fissures extended continuously from the edges of the pit, spreading outward.

Within the crater lay two faintly breathing figures, quietly motionless. When the energy sword had exploded earlier, Tang San had decisively used his Blue Silver Grass to shield everyone. Though the energy sword was powerful, Cheng Xiao hadn't intended to kill them. After the sword pierced the ground, he merely detonated the fusion of two energies.

However, despite Cheng Xiao's lack of lethal intent, the energy ripples from the explosion still caused significant injuries to the Shrek team. Aside from Tang San and Ma Hongjun, who were closest to the energy sword, the others were less severely injured, though still wounded.

Even so, both Tang San and Ma Hongjun had fallen unconscious. Their clothes had been completely destroyed by the energy shockwave. Although they hadn't died, they would still be bedridden for months.

At this moment, aside from Ning Rongrong, Oscar, and Xiao Wu, who had been relatively spared from the blast, the other four members of Shrek lay on the ground, their faces pale and their breaths weak.

Looking at the two figures lying in the crater, Oscar's eyes flashed with panic. He instinctively took two steps back, unable to bear looking at the people in the pit.

"Oscar, let's admit defeat," Ning Rongrong said, her face pale, her voice trembling.

Ning Rongrong's words caused Oscar to shudder. He lifted his head with difficulty and looked toward the Shrek spectators, his expression more pitiful than a cry.

He was certain that if they continued, it wasn't a question of victory anymore—they might lose their lives here. "Oscar, what are you waiting for? Heal Tang San quickly! As long as we take down Cheng Xiao, victory will still belong to Shrek!" Grandmaster's voice rang out angrily from the spectator area, noticing Oscar's gaze.

At this point in the match, there was no other choice. After unleashing such a powerful spirit skill, Cheng Xiao's spirit power must have been greatly depleted. Even though Tang San was unconscious, the Grandmaster firmly believed that as long as Oscar gave Tang San a recovery sausage, once Tang San recovered, victory would still be theirs.

However, the Grandmaster failed to notice the changing expression on Flender's face beside him.

Flender had never expected his friend to be so stubborn. No matter how the fight went from here, whether Tang San woke up or not, the outcome of this battle had already been decided. If they continued, they might not walk out of the Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena in one piece today.

As the headmaster of Shrek Academy, Flender wanted these children to grow into powerful spirit masters, so he had to stop the Grandmaster now. He could not allow the Grandmaster's selfish desires to destroy them just to prove his theories.

Having made up his mind, Flender quickly circulated his spirit power, leaving the spectator box and rushing onto the battle platform at top speed.

Seeing Flender arrive, Oscar breathed a sigh of relief. Without hesitation, he immediately created a sausage for each of the unconscious team members, and together with Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu, he fed them to the four fallen fighters.

From the spectator area, the Grandmaster's face turned red with anger at this sight. His chest heaved as he breathed heavily, fuming like an enraged bull.

It was as if he could already see Shrek Academy collapsing, the third phase of training becoming impossible, and Tang San failing to grow into the powerful figure that would validate his theories.

"I am the leader of Shrek. I hereby declare that the Shrek Team forfeits this match," Flender announced to the host floating in midair.

With that, Flender carried the unconscious Tang San and Ma Hongjun out of the crater. He instructed Oscar briefly, then carried one in each hand as he stepped off the battle platform.

Oscar followed closely behind, carrying Dai Mubai, while Xiao Wu carried Zhu Zhuqing. Ning Rongrong, walking behind them, used her spirit power to boost their strength and lighten their load.

No one had expected Shrek Academy to lose the match in such a manner. The host, Dou Dou, stood in midair in a daze for a moment before coming to her senses.

After a quick glance at the departing Shrek team, Dou Dou nervously glanced at the Emperor Battle Team, who had been healed by Ye Lingling. Inwardly, she sighed—was this truly a battle between Spirit Elders? The power of these spirit skills was strong enough to severely injure even a Spirit Emperor.

Shaking her head, Dou Dou loudly announced, "The winner of this team battle is—the Emperor Battle Team! Let's congratulate them on their victory!"

As soon as her words fell, the audience in the boxes erupted in thunderous applause. There were, of course, discussions and doubts, but most of all, there was shock.

No one had imagined that a mere Spirit Elder could possess a spirit skill powerful enough to defeat the entire Shrek team with a single move. Moreover, judging from the residual effects, if Cheng Xiao hadn't used his shadow energy to shield the battle platform, the entire arena might have been reduced to rubble by the explosion.

Watching the retreating figures of the Shrek team, the Emperor Battle Team also slowly descended from the platform and headed toward the rest area for Spirit Masters.