The drawbacks of a dual-support lineup were obvious. The two support-type soul masters in the back row, along with the control-type soul master, all required protection from their teammates.
Bao Zhen was no Tang San—she had no means to deal with close-range ambushes and could only rely on her teammates for protection.
With this arrangement, the pressure on the Seven Treasures team's back row would be immense.
"Huang Wu and Fatty, you two stay in the back row. Zhu Qing will roam around the battlefield to threaten the opponents—you don't need to go after their back row. Your main task is to support our own back row."
"Tianchen, with this setup, you'll be the only one in the front line. And with Xiaotian not participating, if you fall, there won't be anyone left to take up the mantle," Oscar said with clear concern.
"I believe in Brother Tianchen," Ning Rongrong clenched her fists and affirmed confidently.
Ke Jie suddenly chuckled. "Are you planning to take on the entire Shrek Team by yourself?"
Ning Tianchen shook his head. "I'm not alone—I have Rongrong, Xiao Ao, and Bao Zhen backing me up. This is a team soul duel—I'm not foolish enough to fight alone."
Feng Xiaotian grumbled, "Back when I was at the Godwind Academy, I was forced to become a lone wolf. Now that I have strong teammates, you're willingly choosing to play the lone wolf."
Ning Tianchen smiled faintly. "There are quite a few people in the Shrek Team who dream of defeating me. Let's give them a chance and see if they can seize it."
With that said, Ke Jie didn't try to stop him any further and instead reminded him earnestly, "Tianchen, prioritize your own safety above all else. If you find yourself in danger, the others must break formation to come to your aid, no matter what!"
---
On the other side, inside the Shrek Team's rest area.
Flender's face lit up with excitement as he announced, "Good news, everyone—the uniforms are finally ready. We can start selling them shortly."
"Let's sell them now while the pre-match hype is still high. We can sell a lot more this way," Liu Erlong chimed in with a reminder.
They needed to secure the money—it was better to be safe than sorry. Even if they only sold half of the stock, they'd still make a fortune.
Flender nodded. "For today's match against the Seven Treasures Team, everyone focus on strategizing. I'll go find some vendors to help sell the uniforms."
After Flender left, Yu Xiaogang turned his gaze to the group. "The first priority for this match is what Xiao San mentioned earlier."
"As for the rest of the tactics, Xiao San, you handle the arrangements."
Tang San took over, his tone serious. "For this match, all seven members of the Shrek Seven Monsters will take the field."
"Tianheng and Boss Dai will form the front line. I'll support you, focusing on restraining Ning Tianchen and Feng Xiaotian. Hongjun and Tai Long will protect the back row, while Xiaowu will stand on the side, ready to provide support at any time."
"Our positioning should be as far back as possible. If the opponent's assault becomes too intense, we can use the edge of the stage to maneuver against them."
Fighting near the edge of the stage was risky—one wrong move and you'd fall out of bounds. But if handled correctly, using the boundary to turn the tide wasn't impossible.
Outside, Flender hired a group of street vendors, handing them the Shrek uniforms and equipping each with a box, just like how the Seven Treasures Team had done when selling their merchandise.
"When we enter the venue, follow my instructions."
"How much will we earn?" one vendor asked.
The others quickly echoed their most pressing concern.
Flender smiled. "Don't worry. For every uniform sold, I'll give you five gold soul coins as commission. The more you sell, the more you earn. Once all the uniforms are sold, we'll settle accounts immediately."
"Ten thousand sets—isn't that too much?" one vendor couldn't help but express his doubts.
The arena seating could hold at most 15,000 spectators, and even with those sitting in the aisles, the total wouldn't exceed 20,000 people.
Among them, only about three to four out of ten might be willing to buy the Shrek uniforms. And of those, only a few hundred would actually have the 500 gold soul coins to spend.
After all, the Seven Treasures Team had been heavily promoted by the Tiandou Empire before the tournament. The people coming to watch their matches were die-hard fans. In contrast, most of the Shrek Team's fans were casual viewers—they only stuck around because of their impressive record, not because they genuinely liked them.
Flender waved dismissively. "Don't worry about payment. You'll get paid based on how much you sell. Our Shrek Academy is right here in the city—do you think we'd run away?"
The vendors gradually calmed down and followed Flender toward the arena.
Just as they reached the entrance, the Tiandou Empire's guards immediately blocked them.
The captain of the guards, clad in silver armor and wielding a long spear, strode forward and barked, "Halt! What do you think you're doing?!"
Flender plastered a smile on his face and pulled out a small bag of gold soul coins from his soul-guided device, saying ingratiatingly, "You've all worked hard—here's a little something for tea."
The guard captain remained upright and refused the bribe. "This is a restricted area. Unauthorized personnel are not allowed to enter."
Flender forced an awkward smile and pulled out another small bag of gold soul coins. "We're not here to cause trouble, as you can see. We just want to go in and do a bit of business—what do you say?"
"Leave immediately. No unauthorized sales are allowed within the arena premises."
"This…" Flender was dumbfounded.
Unwilling to give up, he quickly asked, "Then why were the Seven Treasures Team allowed to sell souvenirs inside the arena a few days ago?"
The guard captain glanced at him and sneered, "The Tiandou Great Spirit Arena has a 40% stake owned by the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect Sect. What do you think?"
With that, he gave no room for argument and signaled the guards to disperse them.
Returning to square one, Flender felt utterly dejected.
If only he had asked around beforehand—he wouldn't have ended up in such an embarrassing situation.
"Hmph, I thought you were capable of selling things at the tournament site. Tch, turns out you're good for nothing."
One vendor angrily removed the wooden box hanging from his chest and stormed off.
Seeing this, several other vendors also decided to quit.
"Boss, why don't we sell here instead? After the match ends, many spectators will leave through this road—it's the only exit from the arena," one vendor suggested.
Those who stayed behind were all desperate for money.
Only by following Flender's instructions and selling the goods could they earn anything, so naturally, they were brainstorming solutions.
After some thought, Flender found the idea feasible and instructed the vendors to set up stalls on both sides of the road.
By the time everything was arranged, it was already noon. He immediately returned to the arena to watch the match between the Shrek Team and the Seven Treasures Team.
---
When Flender returned, he didn't see any vendors moving through the stands. Yu Xiaogang couldn't help but ask, "Flender, did you fail to find anyone?"
Flender gave a bitter smile and recounted what had happened.
Yu Xiaogang fumed, "The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect owns shares in the arena, so they can do whatever they want? Hmph, this is blatant hypocrisy—they're allowed to light fires, but we're not even allowed to light a lamp!"
"Hah, even if we lose to the Seven Treasures Team, we'll make sure to tear a chunk of meat off them!"