The conflict between them and Flender and others at the academy gate was no secret; even many students knew about it, so how could Qin Ming, as a teacher, not know?
From this perspective, his loyalty to Shrek wasn't that deep.
In the original work, the reason he took the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Team to Soto City was probably just to strengthen the team after hearing news of Spirit Hall's Golden Generation.
As for why he left with Flender and the others, that's not hard to understand; after all, Tang San and their group were stronger than the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Team. Even if they didn't win the championship, their final ranking would definitely be higher than the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Of course, this was just Li Qing's unilateral guess.
It's also possible that he was judging a gentleman's heart with his own petty thoughts; perhaps their relationship with Flender and the others was very deep, but he didn't dare to act out due to his background.
After waiting for a moment, the battle was finally about to begin.
"Quiet!"
The referee was a Spirit Saint-level teacher, and he didn't even need a spirit tool; he simply used his voice to quiet the noisy arena, and the entire arena instantly fell silent.
The referee said, "The first match is between the Heavenly Water Academy Team and the Heaven Dou Team. Please, members of both sides, ascend the stage."
As the referee's words fell, the members of Heavenly Water Academy began to ascend the stage, while Tang San and the others each ate a Sausage before ascending.
Li Qing: "..."
As the host, they openly cheated. It was only because the four major academies didn't know that those Sausages were Oscar's Spirit Ability; otherwise, the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's reputation would have been completely ruined by them.
If they had brought Oscar to the stage, it would have been one thing, but they didn't.
It was ridiculous.
This made Li Qing suddenly recall that in the original work, the protagonist group was able to defeat the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Team not only because Tang San had a burst of power, but also because they used external items like realgar wine.
They struggled to win even with cheating, so it's hard to say if they could win with pure strength.
On the Heaven Dou Royal Academy Team's side, besides Tang San, Dai Mubai, and the two others, there were also the original captain of the second team, Gao Bin, and the original vice-captain, Xie Meng, as well as two female disciples of the Clear Sky Sect.
Heavenly Water Academy's side had all their members present because they only brought seven.
After ascending the stage, both sides stood in a line as directed by the referee and bowed to each other. This was the most basic etiquette for standard Spirit Master team battles, just like declaring one's Spirit and rank in a duel.
"Dai Mubai, captain of Heaven Dou's second team, a twenty-eighth-level attack system Battle Spirit Master."
Dai Mubai's spirit power level was not much different from the original captain's, but he gained the position of captain of the second team due to his strength advantage, with Gao Bin moving to the vice-captain position.
"Shui Bing'er, captain of Heavenly Water Academy, a thirty-first-level control system Battle Spirit Elder."
Although she disliked Dai Mubai deeply, Shui Bing'er didn't show it in this setting and honestly reported her information.
Hearing their information, Li Qing immediately felt bored.
Both of them should have the highest spirit power levels in their respective teams, but Shui Bing'er was only thirty-first level, and Dai Mubai wasn't even a Spirit Elder yet.
The gap between them and the Heaven Dou first team was not small at all.
And when Dai Mubai and the others heard that Shui Bing'er was actually a Spirit Elder, their hearts immediately tensed. There was already a gap in spirit power level,
and she also had a Spirit Fusion Ability.
How were they supposed to fight?
Although it seemed like only a few levels of spirit power difference, Shui Bing'er had an extra spirit ring, and it was most likely a thousand-year spirit ring. The strength gap could not be expressed by just a few levels of spirit power.
Even if she didn't use her Spirit Fusion Ability, it wouldn't be easy for them to win.
Other members of both sides also reported their general situations, and the results were as Li Qing expected: besides Shui Bing'er, who was a Spirit Elder, all the others were just Spirit Grandmasters.
Tang San was even only a pitiful twenty-third level.
Without the help of Immortal Herbs, it was unlikely that anyone would reach Spirit Ancestor before the Spirit Master Tournament, even Dai Mubai would struggle, as he was still a bit short in the original work.
He just didn't know if getting motivated earlier now could help him catch up a bit.
If they participated in the Spirit Master Tournament with a lineup of all Spirit Elders, they probably wouldn't even make it to the finals, even if Tang San exposed his Clear Sky Hammer.
"Both sides prepare, you may release your Spirits."
As the referee's words fell, both sides immediately took their battle formations and released their Spirits. Everyone had the standard two hundred-year spirit ring configuration, and Shui Bing'er had an additional purple thousand-year spirit ring.
Heavenly Water's side was similar, only Shui Bing'er was in the center, and Xuewu was at the back.
On Dai Mubai's side, he and the two women holding Clear Sky Hammers were at the very front of the team, Tang San was in the middle,
the original captain and Ma Hongjun protected the left and right.
The original vice-captain stood at the very back.
Gao Bin's Spirit was a lion, and his strength could only be described as upper-middle. Xie Meng's Spirit was an ice-blue halo, and her Spirit Abilities specialized in control.
They already had Tang San, a control system Spirit Master, yet they still brought Xie Meng, who was also a control system Spirit Master.
It's unclear if they intended to use Xie Meng as a second control system Spirit Master to surprise Heavenly Water Academy, or if the other members of their team were simply not up to par.
"Match begins!"
The referee immediately announced the start of the match after seeing both sides had released their Spirits.
"Attack!"
Although Dai Mubai was the captain, the command, as in the original work, came from Tang San, because control Spirit Masters naturally need to oversee the entire situation, making them the best position for command.
As Tang San's words fell, Dai Mubai and the two female disciples of the Clear Sky Sect instantly charged out.
Gao Bin and Ma Hongjun circled out from the left and right flanks. As Tang San followed, he released five Blue Silver Grass strands tied around their waists, to provide timely rescue in case of any mishaps.
"Go all out!"
Shui Bing'er was determined to teach Dai Mubai and the others a good lesson, and with her Spirit Elder advantage, she had no intention of playing any probing attacks with them.
As her angry shout rang out, her first spirit ring lit up.
An ice-blue light flashed, and Tang San and the others suddenly felt a chill throughout their bodies. Their forward momentum instantly stopped, and they were frozen within a block of solid ice.
At the same time.
Shui Bing'er's second spirit ring also lit up, releasing a total of five ice rings that enveloped her side's three attack system Spirit Masters and two agility-attack system Spirit Masters.
A miraculous scene appeared: a layer of crystal-clear blue armor suddenly condensed on the bodies of the five Spirit Masters enveloped by the ice rings.
"!"
Dai Mubai broke out of the ice, simultaneously activating his only two Spirit Abilities. The White Tiger Barrier protected him, while the White Tiger Light Wave bypassed the three attack system Spirit Masters charging at him, striking directly at Shui Bing'er.
Shui Bing'er calmly added a layer of armor to herself, and the blue light behind her merged with the ice armor.
"Bang!"
Shui Bing'er only took one step back and did not suffer any substantial damage.
"First Spirit Ability, Binding!"
Tang San broke out of the ice first. To prevent Dai Mubai from being surrounded and ganged up on, he unhesitatingly injected his spirit power into his first spirit ring.
Five Blue Silver Grass strands swept out, and in the blink of an eye, they had bound the five Heavenly Water individuals.