Was Xu Jiawei's plan perfect? No, it wasn't, but it was certainly effective.
To put up for auction something so good that the Sun Moon Empire couldn't refuse would not only allow them to acquire a large number of soul tools, but later, they could also use this opportunity to post bounties on the black market, disrupting the Sun Moon Empire's situation.
In the original story, Xu Jiawei's plan, if not completely halting the Sun Moon Empire's war efforts, certainly significantly weakened their national power.
Mingde Hall was attacked by the Body Sect, resulting in not only heavy casualties among high-rank soul engineers but also the loss of a large number of soul tools from the Mingde Hall headquarters.
These all required time and resources to replenish.
The greater blow was the loss of the Snow Empress embryo and Experiment Subject No. 1, that ten-meter-tall soul-guided robot, which embodied countless efforts of the Sun Moon Empire and was a true crystallization of soul tool technology.
Without that thing, it would have been wishful thinking for Huo Yuhao and Xuan Ziwen to create the prototype battle armor, the Ice Ultimate War God Armor.
In this process, although the Star Luo Empire didn't gain much benefit, only acquiring a few resources and soul tools, Xu Jiawei's plan was undoubtedly successful.
But now, no matter how much distress Xu Jiawei felt, he could only cut off his subsequent plans.
This was because the power that purchased the Glazed Jade Tea was the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda Sect, an ancient power that had existed for ten thousand years and belonged to the original Douluo Three Empires.
They naturally stood with the Douluo Three Empires.
The Star Luo Empire could post bounties on the black market and mobilize Soul Masters to cause trouble for Mingde Hall because Star Luo and Sun Moon were already hostile forces. No matter how dirty Xu Jiawei's actions were, as long as they weren't done openly, the Sun Moon Empire could only grit their teeth and accept it.
And Jing Hongchen in the original story had already anticipated the Star Luo Empire's potential actions and wasn't too surprised.
Because all of this was normal; it was reasonable for hostile forces to resort to any means necessary.
At most, Jing Hongchen just didn't expect the Body Sect's tunneling skills to be so proficient.
But if the target were changed to the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda Sect, would Xu Jiawei still need to do so?
Would attacking the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda Sect cause losses to the Sun Moon Empire, or would attacking the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda Sect make the Sun Moon Empire halt the war?
It was completely unrealistic!
Even for actions not done openly, everyone would turn a blind eye and pretend not to see. But as fellow powers of the Douluo Three Empires, you first make me spend a fortune to buy your immortal herb, and then turn around and treat me as a gullible fool by hiring people to attack me?
From both an emotional and logical standpoint, the Star Luo Empire would have no leg to stand on. If he dared to do that, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda Sect could go to the Sun Moon Empire the next second, and no one would accuse them of treason.
Xu Jiawei was truly suffering in silence this time.
If he had known things would turn out this way, he would have just given this Glazed Jade Tea to his younger sister, Xu Jiujiu, to consume!
It's important to know that Glazed Jade Tea has a tremendous effect on the Star Crown martial soul. Even a Glazed Jade Tea not of immortal-grade can transform a Star Crown Soul Master into a top-tier genius.
And an immortal-grade Glazed Jade Tea would absolutely allow Xu Jiujiu to become a prodigy whose talent is no weaker than Ma Xiaotao's.
Even if it didn't lead to an ultimate attribute transformation, it would at least elevate Xu Jiujiu's Star Crown martial soul to the quality of a Super Martial Soul, and it might even evolve into the legendary Star Crown of the Star Crown Sect.
As for gold soul coins?
What's the use of that crap?! The Star Luo Empire isn't short on money; resources are the most important thing!
Now, recalling Xu Jiujiu's longing and reluctant gaze at the immortal herb after the Glazed Jade Tea auction ended, Xu Jiawei felt incredibly guilty.
He probably needed to slap himself twice upon waking up in the middle of the night.
Carelessness!
And each Glazed Jade Tea requires a significant amount of time to cultivate. The Star Crown Sect had cultivated Glazed Jade Tea for over ten thousand years, yet only twice had a Glazed Jade Tea been successfully cultivated to immortal grade.
One was ten thousand years ago, several hundred years after the first generation of the Shrek Seven Monsters ascended to the Divine Realm, when the first immortal-grade Glazed Jade Tea was successfully cultivated.
It was precisely after the sect master of the Star Crown Sect of that era consumed it that it laid the foundation for the Star Crown Sect to replace the White Tiger family and become the basis of the Star Luo imperial family.
And the second time was not long ago.
Immortal-grade herbs seize the creations of heaven and earth; only one can appear in an era on the Douluo Continent. This fact, Xu Jiawei obviously didn't know.
The Glazed Jade Tea successfully cultivated by the Star Crown Sect ten thousand years ago was because Tang San plucked the Glazed Jade Tea from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, and the Glazed Jade Tea, already on the verge of advancement, completely ascended to immortal herb status.
However, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well has an amplifying effect on plant growth. This Glazed Jade Tea of the Star Crown Sect hadn't fully matured yet, and the Glazed Jade Tea in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well recovered again. This is also why they hadn't cultivated a second immortal-grade Glazed Jade Tea in ten thousand years.
Lin Yun plucked the Glazed Jade Tea from the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well again not long ago, and this one from the Star Crown Sect naturally advanced in due course.
All of this can only be described as a coincidence.
Xu Jiawei initially believed that if they could cultivate the first one, they could cultivate a second, and since they had already cultivated a second immortal-grade Glazed Jade Tea, it was certainly not impossible to cultivate a third.
Therefore, he relied on his 'long-term vision' to try and use this Glazed Jade Tea to delay the situation and find a new path for the Star Luo Empire.
But unfortunately, in this competition, Lin Yun brought the only rich young lady from Shrek Academy.
For a moment, Xu Jiawei truly wanted to snatch back that Glazed Jade Tea. Even at the risk of being scorned by the entire continent, he wanted Xu Jiujiu to be able to consume the immortal herb and undergo a complete transformation.
But in the end, he gave up.
He was willing to bring out this Glazed Jade Tea to find a way out for the Star Luo Empire, so he naturally wouldn't let this Glazed Jade Tea cause the Star Luo Empire to fall into an unjust situation, isolated and reviled by the entire continent.
Heritage was the most important thing.
"Jiujiu, Royal Brother is very sorry…"
The premium auction concluded. The day after the auction, the top sixteen elimination rounds arrived as scheduled.
The top sixteen elimination rounds were even more brutal than the round-robin matches. In the round-robin, there were at least several chances; even losing one or two matches wouldn't mean immediate elimination. But in the matches after the top sixteen, one loss meant direct elimination.
Shrek Academy, with a perfect record of seven wins in the elimination rounds, deservedly became the number one seed team in the top sixteen.
And their opponent in the top sixteen?
It was an old acquaintance…
The Zheng Tian Academy team.
When the draw results came out, Lin Yun could see that everyone on the Zheng Tian team had turned green, their fighting spirit instantly plummeting to rock bottom.
How could they fight?
They simply couldn't!
(End of Chapter)
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