In Star Luo City, the eye of the storm was currently in the calm before the storm.
Neither the bloody battle unfolding at Tianxing Port nor the colossal dragon of the Tianhun Empire, which attracted countless eyes, had any effect here.
This most prosperous city of the Star Luo Empire was still immersed in the heated atmosphere of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament.
A large number of merchants brought goods from all over the Douluo Continent, making the city a trading hub for a time.
Huo Yuhao was sitting in a coffee shop, legs crossed, stirring his brown coffee with a spoon while browsing the magic network.
Coffee was originally a niche hobby in the Douluo Continent, but thanks to enthusiastic promotion, it had become widely accepted, and various coffee shops had sprung up in cities.
However, those who frequented coffee shops were generally merchants, scholars, or nobles; Soul Masters or mercenaries were not interested in this bitter drink.
They preferred the strong liquor and boasting in bars.
Soon, a figure appeared before Huo Yuhao.
The woman pulled out a chair, adjusted her white skirt, and sat down, saying,
"Boss? What is it?"
Huo Yuhao closed the magic network and smiled at Gu Yuena, saying,
"Long time no see, Na'er."
"Didn't you apply to become the head of the future Spirit Pagoda of the Heavenly Soul Empire a while ago?"
"I approved it. After the Continental Advanced Soul Master Competition ends, we can start construction."
"The Heaven Dou Plain and Dragon City are fine, but the central part of the Heavenly Soul Empire is not an easy task."
"If you're willing, I can transfer you to the Star Luo Empire as a branch tower master."
Gu Yuena's purple eyes revealed joy as she said earnestly,
"Thank you, Boss!"
"I'd rather stay in the Heavenly Soul Empire.
The enthusiastic members in Shrek City are too lax, and I'm not too comfortable with them." "
I haven't become the city lord of Shrek City yet, and I don't want to leave.
Leave the affairs of the central part of the Heavenly Soul Empire to me! I can handle it!"
Hearing Gu Yuena's words, Huo Yuhao's brow twitched.
Looking at her serious expression, he was sure she wasn't joking.
He had only said it casually, but he hadn't expected the dragon to take it seriously.
Did she really want to be the lord of Shrek City?
But since she had said that, what could Huo Yuhao say?
He'd just let her be. With her around, the Heavenly Soul Empire wouldn't encounter any problems.
After all, she was a god-level expert; as long as she wasn't infected by the Xuanzi virus, she was absolutely reliable.
"By the way, you should have seen the intelligence report, right?
Soon, Star Luo City will become a battleground for heroes from all sides."
"Do you want to stay here, or take the children from the Xilu City Research Academy and leave first?"
Gu Yuena lowered her eyes slightly, thought for a moment, and said,
"Let's stay here."
"The competition isn't over yet, and the students haven't had enough fun. Don't worry, boss, I'll protect them."
Gu Yuena was mainly worried about Di Tian and the others. As allies of the Star Luo Empire, they would inevitably clash with the Sea God Family.
After all, the Sea God Family had the name "Sea God" in their name and was connected to the gods of the divine realm.
Who knew if they had any hidden trump cards, such as the ability to perform divine descent?
Di Tian was powerful, but dealing with the Sea God was still a challenge. She, as the master of the soul beasts, had already fallen short and couldn't stand by and watch Di Tian and the others suffer.
By staying here, she was confident she could suppress the Sea God's family should they display power beyond their current plane .
After all, the Sea God was only a first-level god; even though she was severely injured, defeating a first-level god was no problem.
Even if she couldn't win, she could easily escape with her boss and the others.
This was the confidence of the Silver Dragon King.
Back then, she had successfully escaped from the clutches of Asura, Evil, and Good, even her own brother, the Golden Dragon King, hadn't escaped.
Although now she thought they had probably held back and weren't paying much attention to her, her superior spatial manipulation abilities certainly played a part!
Huo Yuhao glanced at the time and said,
"The match is about to start, do you want to come along?"
"I remember this match is Shrek Academy vs. Di'ao Academy, and it might be the last one."
"Who knows if the finals will even be held?"
Gu Yuena nodded obediently. She naturally wanted to go with Huo Yuhao. In her eyes, Huo Yuhao possessed great wisdom, at least much smarter than her.
Being with Huo Yuhao meant she didn't need to use her brain at all; she just had to follow orders.
It was incredibly easy, and she loved this feeling, like having an external brain.
If it were up to her, she couldn't build a super organization like Passion. On the surface, Passion was known among the continent's powers for its high-end soul tools, but in terms of soul master combat strength, it could only be considered a first-rate force.
Because it was close to Shrek Academy, not many forces dared to target it, only able to engage in minor actions.
Gu Yuena and the other high-ranking members of Passion were well aware of just how strong Passion truly was and how deep its foundation was.
Holding two great treasure troves, they have no shortage of rare and precious materials.
They even have people in the upper echelons of the Sun Moon Empire.
It's uncertain whether the true lineage of Mingde Hall is currently at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy or in Xilu City.
Their number of top-tier experts is far more than just one Super Douluo. Leaving aside herself, Adam's strength is a mystery.
Gu Yuena couldn't discern Adam's exact realm, but she was certain that anyone below the Super Douluo level was practically a chick in his presence.
According to Di Tian and the Ten Thousand Demon King, the Water Dragon King was likely the boss's soul spirit, his strength needing no further explanation.
Passionate members could be seen almost everywhere on the continent, and many Holy Spirit Cult strongholds had already been seized by them.
They not only received resources from the Holy Spirit Cult but also aid from Passionate.
They could secretly devour disciples sent by the Holy Spirit Cult for training—killing two birds with one stone.
Gu Yuena followed closely behind Huo Yuhao with small, quick steps, feeling a strong sense of security just by looking at his back.
Anyway, if anything happened, someone would find a solution; she only needed to provide the force.
She preferred using super power directly to super intelligence.
What intelligence could that Dragon God possibly have?
Gu Yuena's romanticized view of the Dragon God had long since crumbled.
She knew the truth about the Dragon God War: a bunch of shoddy workers made the most rash decisions, leading to the tragedy of later generations.
Her own poor judgment was most likely the Dragon God's fault!
The Dragon God was just too wicked!
…
Star Luo Square was now in a frenzy, everyone shouting the names of the four finalist teams.
However, the main focus was on the Shrek Academy team, given their outstanding performance this year.
Although the main team didn't have any players surpassing Soul Masters, their combat power was stronger than Soul Kings, and their outrageous methods dazzled everyone.
The battle between Shrek Academy and Zheng Tian Academy clearly showed everyone the full power of the main team—a terrifying strength capable of turning even the arena into a deep crater.
In previous matches, we mostly saw the emergence of spatial attributes, but this year, extreme martial souls are appearing one after another, with time power, death power, and other heaven-defying powers making their debut.
Today's first match is Shrek Academy versus Di'ao Academy.
Neither the stadium nor the black market favors Di'ao Academy.
Di'ao Academy is the royal soul master academy of the Heavenly Soul Empire, and while strong, it's far inferior to Shrek's regular team.
"Teacher Xia, Teacher Aglaia, Teacher Wang Yan."
"We'll go first."
Bai'e waved to the main team and Na Kexia and the others, preparing to step onto the stage.
Na Kexia sighed and said,
"How long do I have to remind you before you call me Teacher Anaxagoras?"
Aglaia chuckled beside her,
"I think Teacher Na Kexia is a very nice title."
"After all, your real name is so hard to pronounce, why don't you change it?
I can personally change your name for you."
Na Kexia snorted and said,
"Ms. Jinzhi, I didn't expect you to start attacking others with names. This doesn't quite fit your romantic way, does it?"
Aglaia's light blue and yellow eyes looked at Na Kexia quietly, with a hint of pleasure in them.
"Why doesn't it fit?"
"Correcting things that are not beautiful is also a kind of romantic way."
"But you, Teacher Na Kexia, being so easily agitated is not in line with the way of rationality."
Bai'e and the others saw that Na Kexia and Aglaia were arguing again, so they hurriedly went onto the stage, leaving the reserve team and Wang Yan to watch and prevent the two from fighting.
The semi-finals and knockout rounds have similar rules, both consisting of team battles and individual matches.
However, both teams must win both matches to advance. If one wins and the other loses, a 2-2-3 match will determine the winner.
After Bai E and his team arrived at the arena, the opposing team, Di'ao Academy, also took to the stage.
The team leader was not Di'ao Academy's captain, Jiang Peng, but an old acquaintance of Bai E's—Su Nuo.
Bai E and the others' eyes narrowed; except for Wang Dong, they all recognized the person on the other side.
"I didn't expect him to be here,"
Maidemus sneered, crossing his arms and saying,
"It's been a long time since I've seen this guy."
"He left the orphanage after his martial soul awakened."
"I didn't expect to see him here today; I haven't seen him in previous matches."
"I'll give him a good beating. I haven't settled the score with him for bullying Xiao Qing back then."
Bai E and the others didn't have a good impression of Su Nuo; he liked to bully other children in the orphanage and liked to reopen old wounds.
He always acted nonchalantly and arrogantly, doing whatever he pleased, even killing a small animal out of curiosity.
Feng Jin disliked him intensely because she had witnessed Su Nu tormenting a bird with a broken wing, constantly trying to throw it into the sky while chanting, "Fly!"
Fortunately, Feng Jin managed to save it with the help of Dr. Roman.
Su Nu also saw Bai E, his face lighting up with excitement as he said,
"Haha!"
"It's been so long, Bai E."
"I've wanted to cut you to pieces every single moment."
Bai E said seriously in a low voice,
"Su Nu..."
"I didn't expect to run into you here."
Su Nu grinned, his brown eyes gleaming with bloodlust; he had been looking forward to this day for a long time.
"Bai'er, playing for two days is so boring."
"This competition system is cumbersome and meaningless."
"Being watched like a monkey is disgusting and makes me nauseous."
"When the competition starts later, I'll make everyone from Di'ao Academy leave, and you make everyone from Shrek Academy leave too."
"We'll have a one-on-one duel. Whoever loses will be the one to concede in tomorrow's individual competition, how about that?"
Madmos, Tibo, and the others looked at Bai'er, waiting for his decision. No matter what Bai'er chose, they would support him.
Bai'er glanced at his trusted companions around him, and thinking of Su Nuo's cruel nature, he said seriously:
"Okay!"
"I accept the proposal."
Su Nuo's smile became even brighter, but it gave people a strange sense of fear as he said:
"That's good. Be careful not to get cut into pieces."
The Di'ao Academy teammates were all a little afraid of Su Nuo.
They knew their companion's cruel nature and how much support the Body Sect had for him.
Jiang Peng, as the team captain, sighed and looked at Su Nuo, saying,
"Will you win, Su Nuo?"
"If not, let's just have a normal match."
Su Nuo glanced at him and said,
"We'll win."
"Stop arguing, you guys go down on your own in a bit."
On the competition stage, Huo Yuhao was also watching Su Nuo. Roman, standing beside him, said,
"Others might not hear, but you, boss, should have heard, right?"
"Can Bai E win? Will there be any danger?"
Huo Yuhao shrugged and said,
"What are you afraid of?"
"I personally gave Bai E his cheat codes.
The God of Destruction and the Goddess of Life both left hidden weapons within him."
"There's also a super artifact in his spiritual sea."
"Su Nuo, to be honest, apart from the martial soul I gave him, everything else is basically from the Body Sect."
"Even if Medmus were to play, there wouldn't be much of a problem."
(End of Chapter)
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