Today, the Emperor Battle team won easily, but it also exposed the truth of how Dugu Yan controls her opponents with poison. The first two auxiliary spirit abilities have such uses—this was quite an eye-opener. As expected of the granddaughter of the Poison Douluo.
While the matches outside continued in full swing, inside the Pope's Hall, four Titled Douluo, including Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo, knelt on the ground, reporting to Bibi Dong the reasons for the failure of the ambush plan. This time, not only had they failed, but they also lost several Soul Sages. They were all a little terrified as they gave their report.
"I didn't expect Tang San to be so lucky. Even after sending out four Titled Douluo, we still couldn't kill him." Fortunately, Bibi Dong was not angry this time. After all, Yu Yuanzhen's appearance was something even she hadn't anticipated.
"Your Holiness, if not for the coincidental arrival of Yu Yuanzhen, our plan would have succeeded. We can only say Tang San's luck is just too good," Yue Guan said unwillingly.
"You call it coincidence? Luck?" Bibi Dong glanced at them in disappointment. Having these people as subordinates was truly exhausting. "If you want to say coincidence, this coincidence is too much. Yu Yuanzhen rarely leaves his clan, yet he suddenly appears and just happens to catch us from Spirit Hall trying to kill someone. He could have arrived at Spirit Hall at any time, but he just so happened to show up the day we took action. There are so many routes, and yet he just happened to walk through that canyon. Rather than calling this a coincidence, I'd say someone is manipulating things behind the scenes."
"You mean there's a traitor inside Spirit Hall, causing the plan to be leaked?" Gui Mei guessed but quickly denied it. "Impossible. Only us Titled Douluo Elders and your disciple Hu Liena knew about this plan. Others like Lor Diarra were merely executors."
"It's precisely because there couldn't possibly be a traitor among these people that I'm even more worried," Bibi Dong said in a deep voice. "Because that means someone was able to deduce our plan—when, where, and even roughly how many people we'd send—just by guessing. They've got us completely in the palm of their hand."
"In my memory, nobody has that kind of intelligence, not even him." A figure from the past flashed through Bibi Dong's mind. He only had some research in Martial Soul Theory because of the resources his family and she gave him. As for intelligence, he might not be that remarkable.
Worst of all, this incident had now backfired. Originally, they only wanted to kill Tang San, but now the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan had joined forces to save this disciple of the Clear Sky Sect.
Tang San is Tang Hao's son. Even though Tang Hao was expelled from the Clear Sky Sect, his title as Clear Sky Douluo was not stripped. This means the Clear Sky Sect hasn't completely given up on Tang Hao. Their decade-long seclusion was less an escape and more about nurturing strength in secret. No one knows the true strength of the former number one sect today.
As for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, their development in recent years was obvious to everyone. In just six years, their strength nearly doubled. Even the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, which usually kept to itself, was now being drawn out to thwart Spirit Hall's plans and openly stand against them.
It was as if there was an invisible thread tying together the Upper Three Sects.
...
In a luxurious room in Spirit City, Ning Fengzhi stood on the balcony, looking at the blue sky, a smile on his lips.
Yu Yuanzhen has come out—next is Tang Hao. He needed to figure out a way to draw him out, and then the Clear Sky Sect.
However, Ning Fengzhi's idea of the Upper Three Sects being united was a bit different. With the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, the tie was green, representing true cooperation—sharing risks and blessings seventy-thirty. After all, the Seven Treasure Clan was now much stronger than Blue Lightning, so naturally, they'd bear and gain more.
But with the Clear Sky Sect, the tie was red. Ning Fengzhi simply wanted to draw them out as a shield. Back then, the Clear Sky Sect abandoned the loyal Four Single Attribute Clans without a second thought; with that kind of betrayal, how could Ning Fengzhi ever fully trust them?
...
"Master, today's matches are all over."
While Ning Fengzhi and Bibi Dong were plotting against each other, Hu Liena entered the Pope's Hall to report the results.
Bibi Dong nodded. "There weren't any surprises, right? Did Jun Tianlin and Tang San both participate?"
"No surprises, they both participated. Both Shrek and Emperor Battle teams won easily. Although Tang San has twin martial souls, he hasn't matured yet and relies on teamwork. As for Jun Tianlin, I think apart from our Spirit Hall Academy, no one can stop him," Hu Liena said, then requested, "Master, from the next match, can my brother, Yan, and I join the team? To face Jun Tianlin, we need to strengthen our teamwork with the others."
"Oh, you three are thinking of teamwork now? Before, the three of you could easily defeat your opponents on your own," Bibi Dong said calmly.
"This time the opponent is different. Although I don't want to admit it, the truth is that any one of us facing Jun Tianlin alone will surely lose. The strength he's shown has already far surpassed mine. Even with the wisdom head bone you gifted me, teacher, I still can't guarantee victory," Hu Liena admitted, showing a rare lack of confidence.
But instead of being angry, Bibi Dong was pleased. "Recognizing your shortcomings is good. Just treat this Sword Prince as an obstacle on your path—crush him, and you will go farther."
"Don't worry about anything else. Whatever you do on the battlefield, even if you kill Jun Tianlin, I can handle it. Just go all out," Bibi Dong declared domineeringly. This was Spirit City, and she was the legendary female Pope—here, everything was under her control.
"Yes, thank you, Master! I will take my leave." Hu Liena left the Pope's Hall and soon found her brother and Yan to relay Bibi Dong's instructions.
The two were overjoyed. Now, they had no more concerns. The humiliation of the past could be paid back to Jun Tianlin.
At Spirit Hall Academy, upon hearing the news that the Golden Generation could join early, they were ecstatic. They couldn't wait to watch Spirit Hall sweep the competition, believing that even the strong Emperor Battle team wouldn't be a match.
Unfortunately, because Emperor Battle Team was the top seed in the qualifiers and Spirit Hall was the seeded team, both had a bye in the second round. They wouldn't compete again until the third round.
In the third round of the finals, only ten out of the original thirty-three academies remained. Those who made it this far were the best of the best. Today, under the watchful eyes of Spirit City, Spirit Hall Academy's Golden Generation finally appeared!
However, they did not face the Emperor Battle Team. Today, Spirit Hall Academy's opponent was Skywater Academy.
Emperor Battle Team, on the other hand, faced the new Godwind team—still manipulated behind the scenes. This was why Spirit Hall agreed to let Huo Wu and others transfer mid-tournament, just like in the original story against Shrek.
But such petty tricks couldn't even trouble Shrek, let alone Tianlin and his team.