That evening, Zhu Ziyang sat leisurely on the sofa in his room, sipping tea.
It was dinner time, and everyone else had gone to eat, leaving him alone in the spacious suite. This was a perfect opportunity, a good time to receive guests.
"Seniors, since you've arrived, there's no need to linger outside. Come in and have some tea. This junior has been waiting for a long time," Zhu Ziyang said, taking a slow sip from his teacup without raising his head, his tone as light as a floating cloud.
"Hmph!" Perhaps surprised by Zhu Ziyang's detection, or perhaps out of a strong individual's demeanor, a cold snort came from outside the room. A terrifying pressure suddenly surged from the window, like a sudden downpour, sweeping towards Zhu Ziyang, yet no one was visible.
"Haha!" Zhu Ziyang chuckled, shaking his head slightly in exasperation, and muttered, "How cliché!"
With that, he set down his teacup. The teacup stood firmly on the coffee table, like a divine needle calming the sea, a jade pillar supporting the sky. The pressure that had swept through the entire room was instantly suppressed, as if a mountain's peak had been forcibly lowered by the teacup, unable to rise again.
"Impressive!" an old but vigorous voice came. This voice was clearly different from the previous cold snort. "No wonder Xuan Zi dared to pass the position of Pavilion Master to you!"
As his voice fell, two figures appeared in Zhu Ziyang's room. One was a kind-looking old man with white hair, while the other was even more striking. Although he was also an old man, his physique was tall, his body filled with exaggerated muscles, and his short hair stood up like steel needles, looking quite intimidating. Compared to the first man, this man's face was full of displeasure. Clearly, the cold snort and immense pressure had come from him.
"Haha!" Zhu Ziyang smiled. Even though it was his first time meeting him, he immediately recognized who this displeased old man was: the current Sect Master of the Body Sect, Body Douluo, the Level 98 Super Douluo, Du Busi. He hadn't expected the Body Sect to actually ally with the Tianhun Empire's imperial family. It seemed the academy's intelligence was accurate.
As for the other old man, he was naturally the Chief Enshriner of the Star Luo Empire's Hall of Enshrinement, Starlight Douluo, also a Level 98 Super Douluo, Xu Luo. Starlight Douluo had only recently broken through to Level 98. Five years ago, when he sent Princess Xu Jiujiu to Shrek Academy, he received guidance from Elder Mu. After returning to the Star Luo Empire, he entered secluded cultivation and had only emerged less than a year ago.
"Long time no see, Elder Xu," Zhu Ziyang first greeted Xu Luo, then looked at Du Busi and smiled, "You must be His Excellency Body Douluo, I've heard much about you!"
"Elder Mu has truly taken in an excellent disciple!" Xu Luo said with great emotion. "You must only be twenty years old, right? Tsk tsk, a twenty-year-old Level 94 Titled Douluo. Alas, it truly makes us old folks feel ashamed!"
"Kid, you sure have a big ego, making the two of us come personally. Hmph, you have no respect for your elders," Du Busi snorted, his face full of displeasure.
"Du Busi, are you mistaken? You are the ones who have a request of our Shrek Academy, not the other way around!" Zhu Ziyang did not speak, but Xuan Zi, who had suddenly appeared, retorted.
After Xuan Zi appeared, he first nodded to Zhu Ziyang, then looked at Du Busi with a displeased expression. He said, "Ziyang is the Pavilion Master of our Shrek Academy's Tian Yuan Pavilion. Disrespecting him, I have reason to believe you are declaring war on Shrek Academy!"
"You!" Du Busi hadn't expected Xuan Zi's attitude to be so unyielding. For a moment, his face flushed, and he stared at Xuan Zi with anger in his eyes.
"Alright, alright! Everyone calm down. We're here to seek cooperation, not to argue!" Xu Luo played the peacemaker, pulling back Du Busi, who had taken a step forward, and said with an apologetic smile.
"Elder Xuan, please sit down first. Elder Xu is right, we are allies, we shouldn't have internal strife!" Zhu Ziyang said to Xuan Zi with a faint smile.
Hearing this, Xuan Zi said nothing more and sat down directly.
Zhu Ziyang then looked at Xu Luo and Du Busi, smiling as he said, "Elder Xu, Your Excellency Body, please both sit down as well. Let's discuss official matters."
"Thank you!" Xu Luo said, a relieved smile appearing on his face. He released Du Busi's hand and sat down. He was truly afraid that Du Busi and Xuan Zi would start fighting. As a newly promoted Level 98, he was truly no match for two veteran Level 98s. Moreover, if they really fought, their plan would most likely fall through.
Fortunately, both Du Busi and Xuan Zi knew their limits. After Xu Luo sat down, Du Busi snorted and also took a seat.
"Heh heh, thank you both for your cooperation," Zhu Ziyang said with a satisfied smile, his tone calm and indifferent. "Then, to make a long story short, you two represent the Star Luo Empire and the Tianhun Empire, respectively. What kind of lineup and strength have your two sides dispatched for this assassination of Xu Tianran?"
"I'll go first," Xu Luo glanced at Du Busi, who had his eyes closed and showed no intention of speaking, so he said, "Our Star Luo Empire has dispatched seven Titled Douluo, including myself and the Medical Immortal Douluo, both Super Douluo, and five ordinary Douluo."
"It seems your Empire is determined to succeed in this assassination!" Zhu Ziyang said, a hint of surprise on his face. The Star Luo Empire had no more than ten Titled Douluo, yet this time they had dispatched seven directly, led by Starlight Douluo, a Super Douluo. Clearly, the pressure from the Sun Moon Empire had forced them to go all out.
Du Busi, who had been closing his eyes, suddenly opened them, looking at Xu Luo in surprise, as if asking him how he could have reached this point.
Seeing everyone's surprised gazes, Xu Luo couldn't help but smile bitterly. He said, "Alas! At this point, we can only blame ourselves for not valuing the power of spirit tools in the past. As you know, the border between our Star Luo Empire and the Sun Moon Empire has never been peaceful, but we've always been on the losing end.
The Sun Moon Empire's spirit tools are truly diverse and powerful. According to our frontline generals' assessment, if a real war breaks out, the Sun Moon Empire would only need two Soul Engineer legions to sweep through our Star Luo Empire!
Therefore, we need time, time to research spirit tools, to upgrade our army. Hence, the later the war comes, the better!"
After listening to Xu Luo's words, Zhu Ziyang and Xuan Zi showed no change, but Du Busi's expression became somewhat grim. It was well known that the Body Sect was the faction most opposed to spirit tools. Now, hearing Xu Luo praise spirit tools so highly, Du Busi felt as if his face had been slapped, but more than that, he felt fear. The Star Luo Empire was the strongest country among the original Douluo Three Kingdoms. If even it could only resist two Soul Engineer legions from the Sun Moon Empire, then what about their Tianhun Empire?
Du Busi was very uneasy. He opened his mouth and said, "Our Tianhun Empire only has five Titled Douluo, but they are all Super Douluo: one Level 98, one Level 97, one Level 96, and two Level 95s."
Du Busi's words surprised Zhu Ziyang and the other two, because the Tianhun Empire could actually dispatch five Super Douluo, which meant that the number of Super Douluo they possessed was definitely more than five. Although it was a combined force of the Tianhun imperial family and the Body Sect, it still made Zhu Ziyang and Xuan Zi feel threatened.
"Very good, thank you both seniors for your cooperation," Zhu Ziyang said with a smile. "Our Shrek Academy has only dispatched Elder Xuan and myself, but..."
Zhu Ziyang looked at Xu Luo and Du Busi, whose expressions had suddenly changed, and raised his hand to signal them to calm down. Then he continued, "I think the two of us, Elder Xuan and I, are already sufficient, both in terms of strength and status, to represent Shrek Academy!"
Xu Luo and Du Busi's expressions relaxed slightly. Although Zhu Ziyang's words were infuriating, they had to admit that what he said was true.
"Presumably, neither of you has any objections, so let's discuss the timing of the operation," Zhu Ziyang smiled and said, "Our provisional time is the eve of the Soul Master Competition finals. The specific arrangements are as follows..."
In the following time, Zhu Ziyang, Xuan Zi, and Xu Luo, Du Busi discussed the arrangements and deployment of the assassination in detail.