"Eh? Sect Master, did you take the wrong path?"
In the sky, from within a streak of fast-moving dark-green light, a puzzled voice came.
Yu Tao scratched his head and asked doubtfully.
The direction Poison-Not-Die was heading in was completely opposite from the one he'd pointed out.
"Hmph! I'm heading to the Heaven Soul Empire's royal family first."
"I'm going to catch two birds with one stone."
Poison-Not-Die carried Yu Tao along, a glint flashing in his dark-green eyes.
Although their Body Sect acted without much restraint, as the sect master, he still had to be thorough in his considerations and couldn't treat matters like a game.
"What are we going to the Heaven Soul Empire's royal family for? Sect Master, shouldn't we be hurrying to the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament?"
Yu Tao was still confused.
Poison-Not-Die glanced at the Yu Tao in his grip and sighed inwardly. The Body Sect was strong, but there was no shortage of people like Yu Tao who didn't bother to think.
They just followed orders and charged ahead without asking questions.
"We'll first investigate the background of that 'Jiang Jue' kid you mentioned."
Poison-Not-Die's eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke.
Jiang Jue's Body Martial Soul was very tempting to him, but before making a move, he had to investigate, otherwise trouble could come later.
Besides, there was still time before the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament ended. At his speed, getting there before the finals was no problem at all.
But in his mind, Poison-Not-Die had already decided—no matter which faction Jiang Jue belonged to, he would take him away. Even if he was from Shrek, he would still snatch him!
Over the years, the Heaven Soul Empire had taken the initiative to establish friendly relations with the Body Sect. Originally, Poison-Not-Die wanted the Body Sect to remain independent and apart from worldly affairs, but a Heaven Soul Empire princess had awakened a Body Martial Soul—specifically a Brain-type one—and it was even a twin martial soul.
This made Poison-Not-Die change his mind. With the Heaven Soul Empire's influence, finding others who had awakened Body Martial Souls would be far easier and more efficient. Thus, in recent years, relations between the Body Sect and the Heaven Soul Empire had grown increasingly close.
The Heaven Soul Empire helped the Body Sect search for soul masters with awakened Body Martial Souls, while the Body Sect covertly helped the Heaven Soul Empire handle certain matters that couldn't be brought to light. The two sides had become bound together.
"Why don't we just snatch him directly?"
Yu Tao raised his burly arm and grabbed at the empty air in front of him, as if to say: They all belong to our Body Sect anyway.
"Show some manners. We call it 'guiding wayward Body children back home.'"
Poison-Not-Die glared at Yu Tao.
"You're brilliant, Sect Master!"
Yu Tao shrank his neck, grinning sheepishly to show he understood.
Within the Body Sect, there was none of the scheming found in other sects—disciples and elders got along well.
As Poison-Not-Die said, once you joined the Body Sect, you were family. As long as you had talent, the best soul rings would be arranged for you, and when breaking through to Title Douluo, you might even get the rare chance to go hunting soul beasts as a group.
Time ticked by.
The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Tournament was in full swing.
Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy – Waiting Area
"This woman is way too vicious!"
Micah gasped sharply, covering his vital parts with both hands, his face showing shock.
Among the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's regular members, aside from Ma Rulong, Micah was one of the steadier ones. But right now, even he looked shaken.
The other male members of the academy also twitched at the corners of their mouths and eyed the stage warily.
All of this was thanks to Ma Xiaotao, who was currently on the competition stage. Just now, she had condensed her flames into a low blow and, from a distance, sent the Dou Ling Team's captain, Gu Zhu Jian, flying off the stage.
Even from far away, they could see the twisted expression on Gu Zhu Jian's face—it was brutal.
Who says men lack empathy?Gu Zhu Jian's screams were enough to make listeners weep and onlookers wince.
With that one kick, Ma Xiaotao had directly secured Shrek Academy a spot in the top four.
Recently, both Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yaoheng of Shrek had recovered and returned to the stage.
Since this was Ma Xiaotao's first match after recovery—and given Gu Zhu Jian's pre-match taunting—she had been instantly provoked.
So, in the individual elimination round, she crippled him on the spot.
"Ah, Gu Zhu Jian… you really shouldn't have provoked her. Now look at you."
Jiang Jue shook his head as he watched Gu Zhu Jian being carried off, silently thinking to himself.
At this time, although Ma Xiaotao had recovered, the evil fire in her body was still building up. She was like a powder keg ready to explode at the slightest touch. Combined with her level 67 soul power, meeting her on the stage meant instant injury.
"Ahem… let's keep our focus where it belongs."
"We need to watch our opponents' soul skills carefully and think of countermeasures. Other things can wait…"
The old man sitting on the sofa reminded them, though his tone was a bit unnatural. Even at his age, this scene had made him wince.
"Yes, Elder Lin."
Everyone responded.
This old man was none other than Elder Lin, who had been hidden in the shadows. After Elder Ma left, Elder Lin had stepped into the open.
The top four teams were now confirmed: Xingluo Academy from the Star Luo Empire, Di'ao Academy from the Heaven Soul Empire, their own Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, and Shrek Academy.
"Tomorrow is the semifinals. Hopefully, we draw Di'ao Academy—that way we can keep some of our trump cards hidden."
Ma Rulong frowned, speaking seriously.
"Boss Ma, why Di'ao Academy? Wouldn't facing Xingluo Academy be better? They don't even have a Soul Emperor."
Lin Xi asked in confusion.
Among the four strong teams, aside from their Sun Moon Academy, both Di'ao Academy and Shrek Academy had Soul Emperors, while Xingluo Academy did not.
Ma Rulong was about to answer when Jiang Jue's voice cut in.
"Because although Di'ao Academy has a Soul Emperor, Jiang Peng, he's their only one."
Ma Rulong's eyes lit up and he continued:
"Jiang Jue is right. Jiang Peng was raised with nearly all of Di'ao Academy's resources. Aside from him, the other members aren't particularly strong. If we take him out, Di'ao Academy will inevitably lose.
"And we'll be able to preserve much of our own strength. On the other hand, Xingluo Academy, though lacking a Soul Emperor, has uniformly strong members—all Soul Kings, with high-quality martial souls capable of fighting above their level.
"And one more thing—Xingluo Academy has the Star Luo royal family behind them. I have a feeling they're hiding some kind of ultimate weapon."
"So that's how it is."
"Boss Ma, Brother Jiang—you two are thinking on a whole different level!"
Lin Xi looked enlightened, giving both Jiang Jue and Ma Rulong a thumbs-up.
"Tch, I thought of that too."
Xiao Hongchen muttered proudly.
(End of Chapter)