"It's okay. I haven't been back for a long time, so it's normal that you don't recognize me. What you did just now was right. Go on with your work."
Pulled along by Xiao Wu, Hao Yun entered the academy. Tang San stared intently at Hao Yun, eager to know if Hao Yun's strength had improved during his trip and whether the hidden weapon he had just developed could harm him.
The Soul Master Competition has already held several rounds, and the Heaven Dou Empire is currently conducting internal selections. Due to tactical arrangements, not all members of the Shrek Seven have made an appearance.
During Hao Yun's absence, all members of the Shrek Seven were level 50. According to Grandmaster's investigation, only the Spirit Hall team had three level 50 Soul Kings.
The strongest players in a normal participating team are only around level 40. Some weaker academies even have players who are only around level 30.
If it weren't for the desire to conceal their true strengths, the Shrek Seven Devils would have been prepared to go all out and sweep everyone aside.
In the matches currently underway, only Dai Mubai and Xiao Wu have made an appearance. Even just the two of them are enough to instill fear in the other academies. A Soul King at the age of twenty—how terrifying is that?
To ensure victory and prevent the other main team members from being exposed, the master selected seven more people from within the academy to join the team as backup personnel.
Hao Yun expressed his contempt for the master's approach. They were all Soul Kings, so why were they afraid of losing? Only the Spirit Hall's team could pose a threat to them; the rest of the teams would be easily defeated.
Hao Yun returned to the academy and was warmly welcomed by the group of seven, who even held a celebration.
As for tomorrow's opponents, they didn't take them seriously at all, and this attitude of theirs worried the master greatly.
However, Hao Yun resolved this concern the following night, as he thoroughly beat up the group of seven. These people were far too arrogant, especially Xiao San.
When Tang San obtained his fifth spirit ring, he hunted a spirit beast and obtained a spirit bone, which was an external spirit bone called Spider Leg.
Hao Yun couldn't help but sigh at this, saying that plot-driven deaths are powerful; even with his interference, Tang San still managed to obtain an external soul bone.
These guys upgraded to Soul Kings. When Zhao Wuji fought them, he would get ganged up on and beaten if he wasn't serious. It was precisely because they defeated Zhao Wuji that these seven guys became extremely arrogant.
However, after being beaten up by Hao Yun, the seven men's arrogance vanished, because they realized that they were still no match for Hao Yun. Even if they became Soul Kings, they were not as strong as they had imagined.
Tang San was the most upset. He had tried every means possible, but the hidden weapons he had created over the past six months were completely useless against Hao Yun.
This blow made Tang San question his life; the Tang Clan's hidden weapons that he had researched didn't seem to be that powerful after all.
After being reprimanded by Hao Yun, the Shrek Seven finally calmed down and reflected on the mistakes they made in the battle. Three days later, they challenged Hao Yun again, but suffered another crushing defeat.
This defeat taught the seven-man group a lesson: to fight Hao Yun head-on was as stupid as pigs, and to fight him again in the future would make them pigs.
The Soul Master Competition was still ongoing, and Hao Yun, out of curiosity, went to the venue with them.
After observing for a day, Hao Yun felt his brain was a bit overwhelmed. The Soul Master Competition format was so complicated, with team battles and individual battles all mixed up.
The competition, which was originally supposed to end in three days, dragged on for more than a month. Shrek Academy successfully won first place and secured a spot in the finals.
"Are you coming to Wuhun City tomorrow?"
The speaker was Zhao Wuji. Ever since Blue Tyrant Academy was renamed Shrek Academy, he, as a teacher, had truly retired. He only taught a few classes a month and spent most of his time eating and sleeping.
"Go ahead, are you going too?"
Hao Yun looked at Zhao Wuji, remembering that Zhao Wuji had a grudge against the Spirit Hall.
"I'm not going. This time Flander is leading the team, and Master and Liu Erlong will be coming too. I'm staying at the Management Academy. I don't have time to wander around with you guys."
Zhao Wuji spoke with an air of confidence, while Hao Yun, standing to the side, curled his lip and said, "What management academy? You're just a coward, afraid of being besieged by the Spirit Hall."
Chapter 72 Defeating the Spirit Hall
Outside the capital of the Heaven Dou Empire, a large and imposing team of participants set off. Sitting in a Shrek Academy carriage, Hao Yun frowned in thought.
According to the plot, the participating teams would be attacked by the Spirit Hall this time when they went there. However, due to my interference, many plot points have changed, and it is unknown whether the Spirit Hall will attack again.
The carriage traveled for more than ten days without incident, and the journey was calm and uneventful.
"Boss, what are you thinking about? You've been frowning a lot lately."
Oscar was the one speaking; he was squatting next to Hao Yun, roasting sausages over a fire.
Now that Oscar is a five-ring Soul Master, he can create more types of sausages, including the mushroom sausage (his third Soul Ring) and the crystal sausage (his fifth Soul Ring), both of which taste absolutely top-notch.
"Just grill your sausages, why are you talking so much!"
Hao Yun glared at Oscar with annoyance. He wished the Spirit Hall would send someone to attack him immediately, as he still had one option to complete.
[Option 1: Defeat the Spirit Hall and unify the continent (Reward: World Tree)]
[Option Two: Join the Spirit Hall (Reward: 100,000-Year Spirit Ring)]
Option 3: Let the story unfold as it may (Reward: One electric drill)
The reason this option was activated was because Hao Yun unexpectedly met Xue Qinghe. The reason he met him was all due to Ning Fengzhi, the sect leader of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.
This old guy, I don't know what's wrong with him, he insists on recruiting Hao Yun into the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.
He even wanted to marry Ning Rongrong to Hao Yun. How could Hao Yun possibly agree? If it were Zhu Zhuqing, he might have considered it, but Ning Rongrong was flat-chested and spoiled, which he didn't like at all.
Choosing option one proved difficult for Hao Yun. Defeating the Spirit Hall was easy; he could simply storm the Spirit Hall and kill Qian Daoliu, Bibi Dong, and the others.
Unifying the continent was a bit of a challenge for Hao Yun. He had no experience with it. Did he have to fight city by city? How long would that take? Besides, even if he conquered the cities, who would rule them?
Hao Yun couldn't come up with a good solution after thinking about it for a long time, which gave him a headache.
"Give me a sausage."
The group of seven surrounded Oscar and snatched six sausages from his hand to eat.
Hao Yun glanced at the group of seven, his eyes darting around. How could he have forgotten about Dai Mubai? He was the heir to the throne of the Star Luo Empire.
"Mu Bai, come with me."
Hao Yun pulled Dai Mubai to a secluded corner, and after a heated discussion, an hour later, Dai Mubai returned to the group with a serious expression.
"Mu Bai, what did the boss say to you? Why do you look like that?"
Tang San noticed the change in Dai Mubai's expression and asked a question in confusion.
Dai Mubai sighed and then shook his head.
"The boss told me not to tell you."
Ma Hongjun jumped up immediately, "Is the big devil going to try to mess with us again? Boss Dai, don't you dare trick us."
Dai Mubai gave a bitter smile. This was far more terrifying than tricking everyone; he actually wanted to unify the continent.
With a heavy heart, Dai Mubai quickly ate something and went back to his car to rest, wondering if Hao Yun's plan was feasible.
After some calculations, Dai Mubai felt that he had a high chance of winning, but only if he could inherit the throne.
The Spirit Hall's ambush did not occur, the participating teams arrived at Spirit City smoothly, and the competition was held as scheduled.
Shrek Academy advanced triumphantly, defeating one academy after another. After all, they had seven Soul Kings at level 50-plus, making their participation in the competition akin to a dimensional reduction attack.
In the end, Shrek Academy and the Spirit Hall began to compete for first place.
In this final match, all seven members of Shrek Academy appeared, and when they activated their spirit rings, they dazzled everyone's eyes.
Some academies even ordered urine tests on the Shrek Seven Devils, suspecting that the seven had taken banned drugs.
The Spirit Hall team was surprised to see that all seven Shrek Seven Devils were Soul Kings, but they quickly calmed down.
They're just a bunch of Soul Kings; it's not like they haven't seen them before. If they really fight, it's hard to say who will win or lose.
At the start of the battle, both sides engaged in a contest of spirit fusion skills. Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing combined their powers to clash with the spirit fusion skills of the Spirit Hall team.
Tang San and his group took the opportunity to knock the rest of the Spirit Hall participants off the field. This battle was destined to be unfair, as Tang San and his group ganged up on the other side and beat them up.
The entire battle lasted no more than five minutes, with Shrek Academy achieving a complete victory over the Spirit Hall team.
Pope Bibi Dong's expression changed slightly, but she still generously presented the prize: three ten-thousand-year-old soul bones.
Hao Yun, who was mixed in with the college's representative team, was ready to go at this moment.
After the prizes were awarded, Bibi Dong launched an attack because she noticed that Xiao Wu was the incarnation of a 100,000-year-old soul beast.
"Everyone, listen up! Seize that girl! She's the avatar of a 100,000-year-old soul beast!"
At his command, the Spirit Hall's army surrounded the Shrek Seven Devils. Tang San's expression remained unchanged, because he had long known that Xiao Wu was not human.
"Xiao Wu, don't be afraid. Even if I die, I will die before you."
Protecting Xiao Wu behind him, Tang San summoned his martial soul, the Mother-Child Soul-Chasing Life-Stealing Dart in his hand.
"Take them all down!"
Bibi Dong snorted coldly. In order to add a soul ring to her second martial soul, she had been hunting down a 100,000-year-old soul beast. She never expected that a 100,000-year-old soul beast would deliver itself to her door today.
"Who dares to touch my son!"
Tang Hao, who had long been lurking in Wuhun City, made his appearance at this moment. He summoned the Clear Sky Hammer and struck the Papal Palace with rage.
Boom!
With a single blow, half of the Papal Palace collapsed.
Tang Hao's move stirred up a hornet's nest. The Papal Palace was the highest symbol of the Spirit Hall, and it had been demolished like this. Where would they put their face?
Five titled Douluo rushed into the venue, with Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo protecting Bibi Dong.
The other three Title Douluos were all from the Qian Daoliu lineage. When Tang Hao appeared, Qian Daoliu immediately dispatched them.
Qian Daoliu's son, who was also the previous pope, died under Tang Hao's hammer.
"Don't be so arrogant! Let me teach you a lesson!"
The somewhat aged Golden Crocodile Douluo, who had been famous for a long time, made the first move in order to successfully capture Tang Hao.
Chrysanthemum Douluo, who was protecting Bibi Dong, asked in a low voice, "Your Holiness, do you need our help?"
Bibi Dong remained calm and did not answer Chrysanthemum Douluo's question. He had a long-standing feud with Qian Daoliu, and now that one of his titled Douluos was clashing with Tang Hao, it would be beneficial to him no matter who died.
Seeing that the Pope remained silent, Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo exchanged a glance and then fell silent, silently guarding the Pope as his protectors.
The soldiers then began their attack on the Shrek Seven. The Grandmaster in the audience grew anxious and stood up to leave the stage.
"etc."
Hao Yun pulled the master back, then jumped off the stands himself.
"You all need to leave the city immediately to meet up with Tang San and the others. Once you've reunited, you should return to the Heaven Dou Empire as soon as possible."
The master was about to say something when Flanders stopped him, shaking his head.
"Hao Yun is right. If we get involved, Shrek Academy will be in big trouble."