Douluo: Emerald Poison King

Chapter 449 Unchanged Servility

It was no secret that Blue Tyrant Academy was effectively controlled by the Clear Sky Sect, so other soul master academies generally kept their distance from it. This made the students and teachers of Blue Tyrant Academy somewhat unhappy.

In the room assigned to Blue Tyrant Academy, Tang San, as the appointed captain, met his teammates for the first time in person.

The team members are Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Dai Mubai from Shrek Academy, and Yu Tianheng, who originally studied at Tian Dou Royal Academy but transferred to Lan Ba ​​Academy after being attacked by Chen Ming.

In addition to these transfer students, the team also includes four students from the original Blue Tyrant Academy: Tai Long, a power-type Soul Master with the Martial Soul of a Great Ape; Jing Ling, an agility-type Soul Master with the Martial Soul of a Skeleton; Huang Yuan, a power-type Soul Master with the Martial Soul of a Lone Wolf; and Jiang Zhu, an support-type Soul Master with the Martial Soul of a Healing Scepter.

And finally, there is a heavyweight guest who just joined the team a few days ago: Bai Chenxiang, a Soul Master of Agility and Attack with the Swift-tailed Martial Soul.

Many people harbored some reservations and complaints about Tang San assuming the role of team leader after joining. However, because of Tang San's status, none of them dared to voice their opinions, and could only outwardly show their welcome.

Aside from Xiao Wu and Dai Mubai, who were already close to Tang San, the two soul masters from the four great families who welcomed Tang San the most were Tai Long and Bai Chenxiang.

After Titan was captured by the Blacksmiths' Guild, the Strength Clan's situation deteriorated significantly. Later, when Tang Hao caused further trouble, the Strength Clan dared not intervene. They dared neither side with the Clear Sky Sect nor denounce it.

Originally, Tyrone was full of frivolous thoughts, but under pressure, he had to squeeze out every bit of his potential, which is why he became a Soul Master earlier than his original self in the timeline.

After Tang Chen returned, Tai Nuo, as the acting patriarch of the Power Clan, immediately took his son Tai Long to the Clear Sky Sect to pledge their loyalty. They stated that the Power Clan had always supported the Clear Sky Sect, but dared not openly support them due to the gravity of the situation.

Tang Xiao, the sect leader, and several other elders told Tang Chen about how the Power Clan had secretly helped the Clear Sky Sect hunt for soul rings over the years, and hinted that the three fallen elders might have some connection with Gengxin City, the blacksmith capital.

It would have been better if Tang Xiao and the others hadn't mentioned it, because once they did, Tang Chen immediately remembered what Qian Daoliu had said about how these elders had used some kind of evil contraption he had obtained years ago to sacrifice their blood relatives in order to rise to the rank of Title Douluo, and how Qian Daoliu had killed them in a fit of rage after seeing it.

After that, Tang Xiao and the three elders had their limbs broken by Tang Chen and had to stay in bed for a month before they were allowed to seek treatment from a healing-type soul master.

For this reason, the Haotian Sect didn't promise Tai Nuo Tai Long or his son that they would help the Li Clan break free from the Blacksmith Association. They even disliked the Li Clan for getting involved, causing them to be beaten by Tang Chen and lose face within the sect. They just didn't want to openly kick them out because of face-saving.

From the perspective of the deeply servile Power Clan, this was a test from the Clear Sky Sect. Tailong had to achieve something in the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament in order to gain the support of the Clear Sky Sect and rescue Titan and other high-ranking members.

As for Bai Chenxiang and the Min clan, their situation is much simpler. Bai He's sister is the wife of Tang Zhen, the son of Tang Chen. Bai He is Tang Chen's junior, making them practically an insider of the Clear Sky Sect. In fact, the Min clan itself initially prospered with the support of the Clear Sky Sect, making them arguably the closest of the four single-attribute Soul Master clans to the sect.

Since the news of Tang Chen's return spread across the mainland, many people have tried to establish connections with Bai He. A medicine merchant from who-knows-where even spent over 100,000 gold soul coins to "buy" the Crystal Dragon Blood Ginseng from Bai He at a "premium" price to express his support for the Min Clan, giving the Min Clan a taste of success.

When Bai He came to Tang Chen's door crying and complaining, Tang Chen learned that the Min Clan had become a mess because they refused the monthly gold soul coins that the Spirit Hall gave to soul masters. Tang Chen could only sigh that Bai He was truly loyal and straightforward, which is why he had given the Min Clan a lot of support.

With Tang Chen's tacit approval, Bai He put his granddaughter, Bai Chenxiang, into the team. However, unlike what appeared to be a simple competition, Tang Chen was actually secretly trying to spark a romance between Tang San and Bai Chenxiang.

Although the union between cousins ​​was somewhat unsettling, Tang Chen thought that if Tang San and Xiao Wu were to marry, their child would only have a quarter human blood, potentially becoming a creature like the Wolf Bandit—neither human nor spirit beast. This made Tang Chen realize the issue wasn't so problematic. There were nine people in the group. The three commoner spirit masters, Jiang Zhu and Xiao Wu, dared not voice their opinions. The remaining five were all on Tang San's side, so it was clear who was in charge. Yu Tianheng, the only remaining member, although harboring his own thoughts, outwardly displayed a subservient attitude towards Tang San.

This year's preliminary selection included over sixty Soul Master academies and nearly a hundred teams from various fields. Compared to previous years, both the quantity and quality have increased significantly, making it a competition of unimaginable difficulty.

The rules remain unchanged. Although the number of academies has increased, the number of qualifying teams remains the same, with only fifteen teams from each of the two empires eligible to advance.

The three teams from Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Starfall Royal Academy, and Spirit Hall have been guaranteed a spot in the next round. A total of thirty-three teams will advance to the second round of the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament in Spirit City, where the champion team will be determined.

Yu Xiaogang, using the alias Huang Sangui, began his usual theoretical exercise, planning tactics. Although Tang San no longer trusted Yu Xiaogang, his lack of experience in the Grand Soul Arena left him completely ignorant of team tactics, leaving him no choice but to submit to Yu Xiaogang's commands.

Even if it's just theoretical, it's still better than blindly launching a chaotic attack, right?
Shortly after, the preliminary rounds began in Tiandou City, Tiandou Empire. Emperor Xue Ye of Tiandou Empire and Crown Prince Xue Qinghe appeared, Ning Fengzhi, the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, appeared with two sect-protecting Douluo, and Yu Luomian, the second-in-command of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, made an appearance.

In addition to these veteran Title Douluos, Hei Sha, the sect leader of the Black Tiger Sect who recently advanced to Title Douluo, and Hu Yanzhen, the sect leader of the Elephant Armor Sect who also recently advanced to Title Douluo, also publicly demonstrated their strength, attracting much attention.

Even the Haotian Sect, which was nominally in a state of seclusion, sent its sect leader Tang Xiao to appear at the opening ceremony of the competition, demonstrating the strength of the Haotian Sect's sect leader.

At less than eighty years old, he displayed a soul power of level ninety-seven, shocking many soul masters. It even nearly caused Ning Fengzhi and Sword Bone Douluo to have some mental problems.

Mainland Soul Masters also generally believed that compared to Tang Hao, who was hailed as the youngest Title Douluo on the entire continent back then, Tang Chen was older when he became a Title Douluo, but his talent should be even better. By all accounts, he was the one who could inherit Tang Chen's mantle and become a future peerless Douluo.

Of course, Tang Chen had reported Tang Xiao's public appearance to the Spirit Hall and Qian Daoliu beforehand.

After all, the Haotian Sect is still officially closed to the public. Since Qian Daoliu has abided by the rules of the past and has not attempted to exterminate the Haotian Sect, Tang Chen does not want to shamelessly disrupt the Haotian Sect's current state of closure.

The two sides are actually both enemies and friends, with a complex yet close relationship. Tang Chen had already lost face once before, suffering defeat at the hands of Qian Daoliu, and he didn't want to lose face again because of that. He also didn't want to be besieged and killed by Qian Daoliu and the Spirit Hall, thus completely severing the Clear Sky Sect's lineage.

The Platinum Bishop from the Spirit Hall, who is in charge of the Heaven Dou Empire region, is a control-type Spirit Master named Oakland. His Spirit is the Book of Curses, and his Spirit Power is only a pitiful 82.

After all, former Platinum Bishop Salas broke through his title and returned to the Spirit Hall's main family, and former Platinum Bishop Oscar was also brought back to the Spirit Hall for extra training because of his merit in capturing Tang Hao. Therefore, Oakland, who was originally in the third position, was inexplicably promoted to the position of Platinum Bishop.

Looking at the group of big shots around him, Auckland, whose strength was not even as good as any of the three members of the teaching committee of the Heavenly Dou Royal Academy, could only tremble in fear and dare not express his opinion.

Looking at Tang Xiao from the Haotian Sect, he trembled even more, fearing that this Tang Xiao, who looked like Tang Hao, had a bad temper like Tang Hao and might hit him with a hammer or secretly stab him in the back.

With each party having its own agenda, the first round of the opening ceremony officially began.

(End of this chapter)