When Xiao Lin and the others walked out of the backyard room, Dugu Bo was already waiting for them at the door.
"Xiao Lin, I don't care what you talked about, but I'm reminding you to pay attention to your safety."
If it were anyone else, Dugu Bo wouldn't care whether they accepted Xue Qinghe's invitation or not.
But Xiao Lin and his group were different. Dugu Bo didn't want them getting close to the deeply scheming Xue Qinghe.
"I've never been able to see through Xue Qinghe. There's something wrong with him."
Dugu Bo added one last sentence.
"I know. I'm a super suspicious person—definitely won't believe others easily."
Xiao Lin nodded in response.
Even though Qian Renxue had revealed her identity, Xiao Lin still didn't dare fully trust her.
There was no other reason than this:
Qian Renxue was far too ruthless.
In this regard, she was different from Tang San. Tang San cared deeply for those around him, especially family.
But Qian Renxue was born into a family where even her mother wanted her dead. Whether her personality was twisted or not was unknown.
If there were no benefits involved, Xiao Lin absolutely didn't believe that Qian Renxue would speak nicely to them.
As for the God Trials, Xiao Lin was also cautious.
Regarding the matter of the God Trials, he wouldn't rely solely on Uncle Hao—one titled Douluo.
It would be best if Dugu Bo was present too. Even better if the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's two titled Douluo were also there.
Xiao Lin had already planned it—if possible, let Ning Rongrong participate in the God Trial as well.
Isn't Xue Qinghe Ning Fengzhi's disciple?
Ning Rongrong participating shouldn't be a problem, right?
If Ning Rongrong joined them, things shouldn't get dangerous again.
Otherwise, with several titled Douluo acting together, even Qian Renxue would need her life intact to ascend to godhood.
Not thinking too much further, Xiao Lin soon said goodbye to Dugu Bo.
"Old man, we're going back to Heaven Dou Imperial Academy first."
"Xiao Lin, you're going too?"
Dugu Bo looked at Xiao Lin with surprise.
"Yes, don't worry—just for the next little while."
Seeing how concerned Dugu Bo was, Xiao Lin wondered if calling him "old man" wasn't too rude.
"You're not going back to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well?"
"No."
Facing Dugu Bo's confusion, Xiao Lin nodded firmly.
In Xiao Lin's view, the only real threats were the titled Douluo-level powerhouses of Spirit Hall.
If it was only Soul Douluo-level opponents, he had enough strength to hold his own.
Besides, the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy wasn't without Soul Douluo experts.
And right now, with Qian Renxue's guarantee, Spirit Hall shouldn't come looking for him.
If Qian Renxue wasn't lying, and if Bibi Dong and the others didn't come after him…
Finally, they discussed the matter of Emperor Xue Ye's poisoning.
Xiao Lin did not directly agree to Qian Renxue's request. Whatever Dugu Bo decided to do wasn't Xiao Lin's concern.
He simply asked Dugu Bo to handle it freely.
But Dugu Bo was smart—he had his own judgment.
After finding a carriage outside Dugu Bo's residence, Xiao Lin and the others headed toward Heaven Dou Imperial Academy.
Meanwhile, at Heaven Dou Imperial Academy
Imperial Battle Team Classroom
The members of the Imperial Battle Team were currently studying combat tactics under Qin Ming's instruction.
Among them, Zhu Zhuqing—who had only recently joined and was the weakest—felt extremely overwhelmed.
Ahem. "Everyone, pay attention to this question."
"This question is testing your understanding of martial souls."
"In a seven-person team battle, when facing seven Soul King-level spirit masters with maxed-out defense abilities, how do you win with the smallest cost?"
"And in this question, you cannot use the team's strongest combat power, so as not to expose the Imperial Battle Team's strength."
Qin Ming held a test paper and spoke from the podium.
He had already given many tests like this.
He discovered that ever since Master Xiao Yan released the martial soul data panel system, everyone's understanding of their martial souls had become deeper.
So they must make use of that understanding.
And they needed to develop the ability to assess opponents' strength.
Absolutely no arrogance was allowed (like Dai Mubai vs. Tai Long).
Qin Ming also believed that future battles would be intelligence warfare.
This was the result of everyone knowing their martial souls better and selecting soul rings more precisely.
If it were before, a power-attack spirit master mostly used power-attack skills.
But now? Everything had changed. A power-attack type could specialize in defense, a defense type could specialize in control, a support type could specialize in control, and so on.
After explaining the key points, Qin Ming looked up.
In less than a second, he spotted one particular failing student.
Zhu Zhuqing was struggling to put anything on the paper and kept glancing at others' work.
"Some students—stop looking around."
"When doing problems, focus. If you never try, how will you know how strong you really are?"
Hearing Qin Ming's words, Zhu Zhuqing blushed with embarrassment.
Two red clouds quietly appeared on her beautiful face.
Damn it. Why is the Imperial Battle Team so strong, and yet we still have to take academic exams?
Shrek's Yu Xiaogang never taught this—he only made us run laps. How am I supposed to write this?
Zhu Zhuqing secretly complained in her heart, but her competitive spirit was strong.
Looking at the problem, she quickly confirmed her first candidate.
It was Dugu Yan, with the Jade Phosphor Poison Dragon martial soul. Zhu Zhuqing understood clearly:
Against seven defense-max Soul Kings, brute force had no hope.
Rather than attack directly—it was better to use poison. Wide-range poison.
With Dugu Yan to easily handle extreme defense, Zhu Zhuqing wrote her own name next.
Because the exam required not exposing the team's true strength.
As the weakest, she was completely safe to be exposed.
So she definitely had to be included.
Next, she chose one of the Shi Brothers, the ones with the Black Tortoise martial souls.
This ensured the team wouldn't collapse under a counterattack.
Then she picked Yu Feng and Oslo.
They were all agility-attack spirit masters, like herself. They just needed to keep harassing and distracting the enemy, buying time for the poison to activate.
Once she decided on five members, Zhu Zhuqing's lips curled slightly upward.
Teacher Qin Ming was right—this isn't that hard.
Just two more picks, and the problem would be solved.
Who to pick next?
Ning Rongrong, of course.
Her auxiliary ability was exceptional, and the Nine-Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda was so famous.
Even if she didn't appear, the opponent would assume her skill set was known.
Then the last member…
Ye Lingling? Her group healing ability was also known, but was there a need for two support-type spirit masters?
Wouldn't that increase weaknesses?
Maybe both Shi brothers should go instead?
Two Black Tortoise martial souls means absolute defense.
But then could Yu Feng be removed? Replace him with Ye Lingling?
After all, Lingling's soul skills were also publicly known.
By the end, Zhu Zhuqing was completely confused.
She could only write down a lineup randomly.
Should be right… right? She prayed silently.
(End of Chapter)