Douluo, my clone Groudon

Chapter 420 Ming Baixue's Reprimand, Second Round
The Beast Academy lodged a strong protest against Liu Niandao's ruthless actions, accusing him of violating the spirit of soul master sparring.

However, the competition rules set by the Sun Moon Empire were extremely lenient, even allowing for the killing of opponents. As long as it was not intentional torture and the opponent did not admit defeat, the organizing committee naturally dismissed such behavior as "merely" seriously injuring the opponent with the excuse that it was "permitted by the rules," and the protest was invalid.

Seeing that their protests were fruitless, the Beast Academy team held an emergency meeting and decided to change their strategy—since they couldn't defeat him, they would try to deplete Liu Niandao's soul power as much as possible.

They are hoping to expend a lot of their soul power in the individual competition and drag it out into the team competition, where they might still have a chance to turn things around.

Unfortunately, the ideal is very full, and the reality is very skinny.

No matter whether the Beast Academy sent out agility-based, defense-based, or control-based Soul Kings, none could evade those twelve elusive nine-leaf flying knives that appeared and disappeared like invitations from the Grim Reaper.

Under Liu Niandao's terrifyingly precise control, each throwing knife seemed to possess its own independent will, always able to find the opponent's weakest point and deliver a decisive blow.

Because of the referee's ruling, Liu Niandao could no longer maintain the Heavenly Gang and Earthly Fiend Blade Formation. He simply sat cross-legged on one side of the arena, closed his eyes to rest, and waited for the challenger to come up.

Once the match begins, he doesn't even need to get up. He can simply control a dozen or so throwing knives to launch precise point-to-point attacks, which will keep his opponents busy and overwhelmed, ultimately leading to their defeat.

What's even more despairing is that not only is his soul power immense, but he also possesses the dual endurance of mental and soul power provided by his second psychic martial soul. Even after easily defeating the last member of the Beast Academy team, he still showed no signs of fatigue, and his breathing was frighteningly steady.

The referee announced loudly: "Natural Gate wins! Seven points for a 1-7 victory in the individual competition! Five points for the team competition! Total of twelve points!"

The entire venue was silent at first, then erupted into a huge uproar.

"The first one to defeat seven opponents in a row! I didn't expect it to happen on the very first day of the tournament!"

"The Beast Academy is really unlucky to have run into such a monster."

"That's because the Natural Sect is too strong. That Liu Niandao is simply unfathomable!" Everyone who heard this nodded in agreement, their gazes toward the Natural Sect filled with apprehension.

The morning's matches have now concluded.

After a short break, the afternoon matches continued until evening, with a total of twenty-six matches played and thirteen more teams advancing.

At night, outside the hotel room where Natural Gate was located, many people from all walks of life came to test the waters and visit, some out of curiosity, some to find out the truth, and some to make a good connection.

But without exception, they were all turned away.

This naturally led many to believe that the Natural Gate acted coldly and aloofly. But Gula clearly didn't care about these trivial opinions.

The competition continued on the second day, and it was the Tang Clan's turn to fight.

Huo Yuhao was the first to take the stage. His "disabled" image, sitting in a wheelchair, immediately drew whispers and undisguised contempt from the audience.

Their opponents were the Earth Dragon Sect. Huo Yuhao cleverly took advantage of this underestimation, first using his simulated soul skill to conjure up the adorable image of a snow maiden, which he then used to "confuse" and defeat three Earth Dragon Sect disciples.

He then took advantage of Nan Qiuqiu, the daughter of the Earth Dragon Sect leader, for her carelessness and subconscious contempt for "disabled people." After playing around with her, he made a bet with her and successfully "won" her into the Tang Sect.

Just as the Tang Clan members were secretly rejoicing over the success of their tactics, a clear, ethereal voice, yet distinctly resonant, echoed across half the arena, emanating from the direction of the Natural Sect:
"Despicable people, they win by exploiting the contempt and pity that able-bodied people have for the disabled. This is a cruel test and exploitation of human kindness. I heard that the Tang Clan also sells self-made soul tools? Hmph, they are nothing but a group of warmongers who promote war and are only interested in profit."

The speaker was Ming Baixue. Her voice was not loud, but it was clear and distinct, like ice beads falling on a jade plate, carrying a condescending and critical tone.

Huo Yuhao's expression suddenly changed. He abruptly turned towards the Natural Gate, his eyes as cold as knives, and said in a deep voice:

"Your Excellency! The Tang Clan has never offended your sect, so why are you publicly slandering our reputation? If you do not provide a reasonable explanation, the Tang Clan will personally retrieve it!"

His tone was firm, showing no sign of backing down despite the possibility that the opposing team might be a strong one.

A faint smile appeared on Ming Baixue's beautiful face, tinged with a hint of mockery: "You can use your special mental detection soul skill to freely probe the strength of the entire hotel's participating teams. Are you afraid that I will expose the hypocrisy of your Tang Sect in public?"

Huo Yuhao was shocked, but having undergone rigorous training under Shrek Academy's Extreme Individual Soldier Program, he remained calm and composed, coldly saying:
"I don't know what nonsense you're spouting! Please don't slander the Tang Clan and me!"

Ming Baixue smiled, a smile so beautiful it sent a chill down the spines of a few with keen senses: "Oh? So, it wasn't you who leaked the news yesterday that our Natural Sect has 'three Soul Saints'?"

These words were like a boulder thrown into a calm lake! The members of the other teams around them felt a sudden jolt in their hearts.

Similar rumors did circulate privately yesterday, but most people dismissed them as nonsense. After all, a Soul Saint under the age of twenty is too extraordinary; even one such person is a once-in-a-century occurrence. For a sect to have three at the same time? That's simply a fantasy!

But now that it was said by a member of the Natural Gate team, its authenticity suddenly increased.

At the same time, many people suddenly realized that Huo Yuhao, who was in a wheelchair on the stage, was probably not as simple as he appeared to be disabled, but a Soul Master with extremely high spiritual attainments.

He was able to bypass the perception of a Title Douluo to detect the strength of each team; his mental power was truly terrifying.

For a moment, many teams looked at Huo Yuhao and Tangmen with wariness and defensiveness.

The match continued in a tense atmosphere. Huo Yuhao ultimately relied on his superior strength to achieve a seven-kill streak, securing victory for the Tang Sect.

But there was little joy on his face.

Back in the players' rest area, Wang Dong'er greeted him, saying excitedly in a low voice, "Yuhao, several groups of people came to us earlier to inquire about the Zhuge Divine Crossbow Cannon and other Tang Sect soul tools. It seems that our Tang Sect is about to receive a large number of orders again!"

Upon hearing this, Huo Yuhao's expression grew even more grave: "This is not good news, Dong'er. That woman from the Natural Sect called us warmongers; she's trying to label our Tang Sect!"

"This goes against the principles of our Tang Sect in maintaining peace and fighting against evil spirit masters. She wants to destroy the reputation that our Tang Sect has just built up!"

Wang Dong'er wasn't stupid; she immediately understood the key point and blushed with anger: "That wretched woman! Don't let me run into her in the competition, or I'll make her pay for what she said today."

Huo Yuhao shook his head, his brows furrowed: "Compared to that, I'm more interested in how she discovered my mental detection. It's impossible..." He had great confidence in his million-year soul skill.

Wang Dong'er speculated, "Perhaps they are their leader? Maybe a Super Douluo who is extremely skilled in mental power?"

Huo Yuhao knew it wasn't that simple. His mental detection was a million-year-old soul skill, extremely well-concealed, and would be almost impossible for any super Douluo who wasn't a specialist in mental power to detect.

In the Douluo Continent, there are almost no known Super Douluo with the mental ability.

This incident raised Huo Yuhao's vigilance towards the Natural Gate to its highest point.

On the contrary, he completely ignored Ming Baixue's accusation that he was exploiting human compassion.

In the cruel world of Soul Masters that he knew, using every available means to win was the rule of survival, while being soft-hearted was the way to death.

Gula could see it clearly at this moment as well. Because Ming Baixue inherited the healing abilities of the Underworld Flower and the characteristics related to the Underworld, she amplified and twisted the "compassion" side of her personality into her unique character.
However… her “compassion” might stem from the belief that ending suffering and sending the victim to the underworld or eternal freezing is the greatest mercy for the sufferer. Such “compassion” is probably beyond the reach of most people.

Next, Nan Shuishui, the leader of the Earth Dragon Sect, arrived with his daughter Nan Qiuqiu, intending to use his cultivation to forcibly terminate the bet.

However, Nan Shuishui possessed a unique physiognomy technique. After carefully observing Huo Yuhao and the Tang Clan members, she changed her mind. Not only did she not forcibly take her daughter away, but she also left Nan Qiuqiu at the Tang Clan, as if she had seen something.

The match quickly progressed to the Holy Spirit Sect, also known as the Holy Spirit Cult, versus the Heavenly Capital Academy.

The Holy Spirit Sect sent only one person, whose bizarre insect-like martial soul instantly devoured the soul of the captain of the Heavenly Capital team in full view of everyone, causing the first death since the start of the competition, and it was clearly a malicious murder!
The Tiandu team protested in grief and anger, but the rules "allowed" it, rendering the protest ineffective. In the end, the Tiandu Academy team leader announced defeat in resentment and withdrew from the competition.

The cruelty and power of the Holy Spirit Sect sent chills down the spines of all the teams.

The first round of competition concluded two days later, with 84 teams successfully advancing.

In the second round, Shrek Academy was once again the first to appear, facing off against the Heavenly Armor Sect.

Gula's clone said to the reserve team members beside him, "Proceed according to plan. Focus on training and adapt to the rhythm of the competition as soon as possible. Xie Huanyue, Cao Jinxuan, Lan Luoluo, and Lan Susu, the four of you will take turns going on stage."

Xie Huanyue was the first to appear. Relying on the defense and unpredictability of the Pipi Elephant Martial Soul, she defeated two opponents in a row before voluntarily conceding defeat to conserve her strength.

Then Wu Feng took the stage, unleashing the powerful Red Dragon Martial Soul. After winning two more rounds, he also conceded defeat to preserve his strength.

Seeing that Shrek Academy seemed to be training its troops and that its members were quite strong, the Tianjia Sect, after discussion, decisively gave up the remaining individual matches and directly requested to enter the team competition, hoping to win a victory by relying on team strength.

After the referee's confirmation, both teams went up onto the stage.

Shrek Academy adopted their classic triangular offensive formation.

Cooler's true form, which had not appeared before, now stood at the very front, replacing the clone.

To his left and right rear are Xie Huanyue and Wu Feng, with Ning Tian (support type) in the center behind him, and Lan Susu, Lan Luoluo, and Cao Jinxuan (control type) in the middle.

Zhou Sichen's summoning style is relatively limited in team battles and usually only appears in individual matches.

The Tianjia Sect, on the other hand, adopted a rare, concave, single-line formation.

As the competition began, the seven people simultaneously released their martial spirits, their auras instantly connecting, and their soul power intertwined.

"Seven-in-One Martial Soul Combination Skill!"

Those who knew their stuff exclaimed in surprise. The same Heavenly Armor Shield Martial Soul, using the same Soul Skill, amplified exponentially in power through a special formation and Soul Power Resonance!

A massive, solid shield, over ten meters tall and exuding an aura as heavy as a mountain, materialized in the center of the arena. Its sharp front, like a battering sledgehammer, was aimed at the Shrek team, its imposing presence seemingly capable of crushing everything.

Gula stood at the front of the formation, looking at the rare combination technique with a hint of curiosity. He even wondered if his avatars could learn this technique, but then he shook his head inwardly.

Faced with absolute power, such skills appear flashy but impractical.

"No wonder that in the later Dragon King Legend era, this kind of combination technique was gradually lost. The individual amplification of the three-word battle armor surpassed everything, and the role of the individual soul master began to completely overshadow team cooperation."

He sighed softly and said to his teammates with a hint of regret, "It seems I won't be able to give you any practice in this match."

Before he finished speaking, he took a step forward. A dazzling, holy light shone from behind him.

What's even more breathtaking is the seven spirit rings rising from beneath his feet—four black and three red!
boom!
The entire audience, and indeed all the participating teams, were so shocked by this unbelievable configuration of spirit rings that their minds went blank!
However, Gula's actions did not stop. With a wave of his hand, the solidified soul of the Holy Sun Angel, radiating heat and divine aura, materialized, wielding a longsword burning with holy flames.

At the same time, Gula's gaze passed over the arena and landed precisely on the Holy Spirit Sect's rest area. He revealed a smile full of provocation and "gratitude" towards that gloomy place, as if to say, "Thank you for the spirit rings you contributed."

An uncontrollable commotion and intense killing intent suddenly arose from the direction of the Holy Spirit Sect.

On the arena, the seemingly invincible giant Heavenly Armor Shield, forged by the combined power of seven members of the Heavenly Armor Sect, was as fragile as paper before the flaming holy sword raised by the Holy Sun Angel's soul. A dazzling holy light slashed through!
"Swoosh—Boom!!"

The massive shield shattered with a crash, turning into countless points of light. The seven members of the Heavenly Armor Sect were struck as if by a devastating blow, simultaneously spitting blood and flying backward, the formation collapsing instantly.

The referee was stunned for several seconds before he announced with difficulty, "Shrek Academy... Shrek Academy wins!"

He was a Contra player, but he felt that even if he went on stage, he would probably be no match for Cooler.

The entire audience fell into a deathly silence, before a deafening murmur of discussion erupted long afterward.

Soul Saint, three 100,000-year soul rings, Holy Angel Martial Soul... These elements combined completely overturned their understanding of the Soul Master system.

Many teams are already convinced that Shrek Academy will be the champion of this competition!

Even the mysterious and unpredictable Natural Gate, with its three Soul Saints, would probably find it difficult to contend with such a terrifying Gula.

Of course, while the powerful teams such as the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy, the Holy Spirit Cult, the Body Sect (Snow Demon Sect), and the Tang Sect were shocked, their eyes burned with more defiance and fighting spirit.

These are essential qualities for becoming an excellent Soul Master. They will not easily admit defeat. No matter how strong Gula is, there is only one of them. They believe they still have a chance.

As Gula led his team off the ring, they were met with countless stares, many of them filled with awe and admiration.

He keenly sensed that wisps of invisible "positive beliefs" were converging on him. He remained silent and secretly tried to capture and guide these beliefs, attempting to transform them into a purer power of faith for deeper research.

On the high platform, Regent Xu Tianran's expression was more serious than ever before. He turned to Ju Zi beside him and asked, "Is he Gula? The madman who threatened me at Mingde Hall? What's going on with his spirit rings?"

Ju Zi felt a chill run down her spine, but maintained a respectful and bewildered expression: "Your Majesty, although I studied under the same teacher, Xuan Ziwen, he was aloof and eccentric, and I had little interaction with him. As for his secrets... I know nothing about them."

Xu Tianran nodded, his expression unreadable, then turned to Zhongli Wu, who was shrouded in a black robe, and asked, "Master, what is your opinion?"

Zhongli Wu's voice, lurking beneath his mask, rang out ominously: "Your Majesty, this matter is most likely related to his mutated, separated Angelic Martial Soul and his slaughter of my Holy Sect disciples. He must have used some kind of evil technique to increase his own cultivation and the age of his Soul Rings by killing our sect's powerful members!"

He naturally thought of the three Title Douluo subordinates who had died tragically, and his heart bled. This guess was the most logical and in line with his interests.

Upon hearing this, a hint of relief flashed in Xu Tianran's eyes.

If that's the case, then the Holy Spirit Cult, as the "victim" of this enormous threat, will naturally have a headache to deal with. He might be able to sit back and watch the tigers fight, without having to immediately use the Empire's power to confront this strange and insane guy head-on.

(End of this chapter)