Under the guidance of the hotel staff, they arrived at the registration desk. As team captain, Ning Tian carefully filled out detailed information for each main and substitute team member on the official forms.
Next, a soul-engineered imaging device captured each member's likeness, which was then printed directly onto their completed registration sheets.
The final step was physical verification—medical checks and biometric measurements—to confirm that all participants were within the permitted age limit.
At first, everything went smoothly without incident.
But just as Chen Junting's group finished registering and the next team was about to begin, a new group entered—and immediately drew everyone's attention.
A squad of black-clad figures strode through the lobby doors, their expressions icy cold, radiating an aura utterly devoid of warmth. Instinctively, everyone nearby stepped back, giving them a wide berth.
"Who are they?" someone murmured.
The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect members had no desire to probe further into this unsettling group and turned to leave.
Yet one person caught Huo Yuhao's eye—their leader.
Clad in a dark hood, his face was obscured, impossible to discern clearly. The way he concealed himself screamed "not a good guy."
Huo Yuhao frowned slightly and instinctively reached for a soul skill to investigate—but before he could act, a firm hand pressed down on his shoulder.
"Don't make any rash moves."
"Brother Junting?"
He looked up to see Chen Junting's face like frozen ice. Huo Yuhao instantly understood this wasn't the time for questions. He fell silent and followed the group toward their assigned floor.
After they left, however, the black-clad leader slowly turned his head, his gaze sharp and frigid. Beneath the hood lay a face covered in thick, brutal features—so grotesque it sent chills down anyone's spine.
Fortunately, Huo Yuhao hadn't seen it. Had he, he would've understood exactly why the man wore that hood. A visage so horrifying it could silence crying children—if revealed, it would surely cause panic.
And if people knew his name? The chaos would be even worse.
"That scent just now… was that from a Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect soul master?" The hooded man clicked his tongue with relish. "Tsk tsk—what a pity. They left so fast. Brings back memories…"
He said nothing more and quickly led his black-clad followers through registration.
After all, the orders from the Sect Master couldn't be taken lightly.
If he botched this, he'd be the one to suffer.
Meanwhile, once Chen Junting's group reached the stairwell corner—out of sight of the black-clad group—Huo Yuhao finally asked the question burning in his mind: "Who were those people?"
Chen Junting's voice turned glacial. "That reek of cold, nauseating malice—could only belong to evil soul masters."
"What?!"
Everyone froze in shock.
Evil soul masters—despite their rumored covert alliance with the Sun Moon Empire—dared to enter the tournament so brazenly?
Ning Tian's brow knotted in disbelief. "Has Xu Tianran lost his mind? Evil soul masters are universally despised across all empires. How can he allow the Holy Spirit Cult—a den of evil soul masters—to compete? Doesn't he fear—"
"Fear what?" Chen Junting cut in sharply, catching her off guard.
"Participating under a sect banner is perfectly within the rules. And aside from a few insiders, who even knows the Holy Spirit Cult is run by evil soul masters? According to tournament regulations, aside from age and appearance, the organizers remain deliberately ignorant of a competitor's background. The truth likely won't surface until they're actually on stage—by then, it'll just be blamed on the evil soul masters deceiving the Sun Moon authorities. So… what does Xu Tianran have to lose?"
For a moment, the group fell silent, their expressions shifting as they absorbed the grim reality. Beneath Mingdu's glittering facade, darkness festered—allowing monsters like this to walk freely.
"And Xiao Tian," Chen Junting's icy tone snapped her back to attention.
"Yes? Brother Junting?"
"Go inform Second Grandfather—the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's most wanted fugitive has just shown himself." As he spoke, killing intent seeped from Chen Junting's words like frost creeping across glass.
"I got a clear look at the Holy Spirit Cult's leader. That brutal, monstrous face—no mistake."
Ning Tian's expression hardened instantly.
Killing intent.
Yes—killing intent.
Something almost never seen in gentle, composed Ning Tian now surged within her, ignited solely by the mention of that leader.
Why?
Nine years ago, a Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect merchant caravan was ambushed. That caravan had been transporting gold soul coins—earnings from the previous year's Mingdu Seven Treasures Pavilion—back to the sect's headquarters. It was guarded by a Soul Douluo and a direct-lineage Soul Saint from the sect itself.
Yet this routine escort ended in catastrophe.
When the caravan failed to arrive at its next stop—a Seven Treasures Pavilion located near the border between Star Luo and Sun Moon Empires—an investigation was launched along the planned route.
What they found was horrifying.
Every member of the caravan was dead. The direct-lineage disciple tasked with escort duty had been reduced to nothing but a pile of bleached bones.
Worse, the investigators themselves were ambushed by waiting attackers—led by an evil soul master who was a Soul Douluo.
Fortunately, Elder Tai Yu—then a Level 93 Titled Douluo—had already been dispatched upon receiving the death signal via soul tool. He arrived just in time to rescue the survivors.
But because that evil soul master was on the verge of breaking through to Title Douluo—needing only to condense his soul core—and because Elder Tai Yu had to prioritize protecting the remaining disciples, the villain escaped.
Still, his appearance and cultivation level were recorded. He topped the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's most-wanted list—not just for the massacre, but because he had used their direct-lineage disciple as blood food.
The bounty? One hundred million gold soul coins.
Over the following year, though he evaded capture, intelligence networks across the continent unearthed his identity:
Zhang Xuan.
Martial Soul: Man-Eater Bear.
Title: Bloodbear.
As for his current cultivation…
He was likely no less than Level 95 by now.
"To consume my sect's disciples as blood food—this man must die!" Ning Tian's voice was so cold it felt like plunging into the deepest abyss.
Her hatred ran bone-deep.
"Just tell Second Grandfather… don't kill him too quickly."
"Don't worry," she replied, eyes blazing. "He won't die easily."
Chen Junting said nothing more to her venomous vow—but his own eyes gleamed with chilling light.
Perfect. This Bloodbear Douluo would serve his purposes well.
Nearby, the others listened in stunned fury and disgust.
The very idea of cannibalism—using humans as sustenance—was beyond comprehension.
Xiao Xiao and the Lan sisters looked positively ill, barely holding back nausea.
Thankfully, after delivering this de facto death sentence to the Bloodbear Douluo, Chen Junting and Ning Tian dropped the subject and moved on.
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