Douluo: What the hell is the academic master development system?

Chapter 615: Falling into the Trap

Upon hearing this, all three referees showed a hint of agreement in their eyes.

If Chen Ping were to create several level-five soul tools, they could explain it as a trade-off made by Chen Ping in order to create more soul tools within a limited time.

However, the soul tools that Chen Ping made at this time were all level four soul tools, which were indeed more suitable for the competition rules mentioned by No. 98.

However, just as the three judges were about to walk up to Chen Ping and announce that he had been eliminated, Chen Ping stretched out his wrist and showed the baby bottle tied to it.

“Look, judges, it’s true that the fourteen bottles I made before were only level four, but the bottle I’m wearing on my wrist is a proper level six bottle. So, it shouldn’t be considered to be subject to the rule mentioned by number ninety-eight.”

Chen Ping's tone was not urgent, and could even be described as gentle, but it made Number Ninety-Eight, who had already taken a step forward and was about to walk up to Chen Ping to take the carving knife, change his expression drastically.

"You, you're a level six Soul Master? Don't you need a carving knife to assist you when making level five Soul Tools?"

At this moment, Number Ninety-Eight looked at the faint smile on Chen Ping's face, and his mind went blank.

He had been hiding his true abilities, betting that people would covet his engraving tools! He'd fallen right into their trap!

For a moment, Number 98's face turned extremely ugly, and even Number 96's face stiffened.

His own fire wizard has also joined the fray!

The chief referee took the megaphone from the master of ceremonies, first announced the number of soul tools made by everyone, and then said in a deep voice: "In that case, Soul Tool No. 88 is qualified to participate in the upcoming semi-final battle against No. 98."

"Now I'll conduct my routine inquiry. The soul tool production phase is complete. Since this is the final six battle, I'm asking you all: if anyone feels their soul tool is insufficient to fight against their opponent, they can choose to withdraw. Otherwise, once the battle begins, any injuries or deaths will be their own responsibility."

These words immediately created a tense atmosphere on the competition stage.

At this moment, a large number of staff members went up on stage to remove the six soul tool manufacturing tables and temporarily move the rare metals used as rewards away.

Clearly, this circular arena will be the place where the six Soul Masters will determine their victories.

No one quit. With such a generous reward, who wouldn't want to give it a try?
Even if you're no match for them, you can at least admit defeat. In a competition that pits you against soul tools, the chance of dying from losing is quite small.

"Very good. Since no one has withdrawn, please have Soul Masters No. 88, 96, and 98 hand over your engraving knives as stakes for the next round of betting."

The head referee kept his head down, ignoring number 98's urgent hints.

He could have skirted the rules and kicked Chen Ping out of the competition because of the huge gap in Soul Master level, preventing him from continuing to participate. But since the other party had created a Level 6 Soul Tool, the competition had to proceed step by step.

Otherwise, while Number Ninety-Eight might have gotten a valuable engraving knife for the list and be quite pleased with himself, does the Xi Shui Alliance still want to make money in the future?
For the sake of a favor from a ninth-level Soul Master disciple, he risked his career and even his life. The entire Xishui Alliance never recovered and became the target of two neighboring forces to take advantage of the situation. What was he after? Therefore, the referee pretended not to see the hint from number 98 and immediately began to urge the three people who had made the bet to hand over their carving knives.

Inside the VIP room, the female Soul Master sitting in the middle was taken aback by this scene and spoke calmly.

"Third brother, what do you think of the situation with number eighty-eight?" the woman sitting in the center asked calmly.

The man she called the third brother was an elderly man in his sixties with long silver-gray hair draped behind his head. He was very robust, and despite his age, his eyes were quite sharp.

“Vice Sect Leader, that young man is no simpleton. He’s ruthless and cunning. He probably planned this scheme several days ago, intending to double-cross my two disciples. And judging from the way he put the baby bottle in the soul tool, it’s probably a sealed baby bottle that Jing Hongchen hasn’t given us yet.”

"From this perspective, these two juniors are probably not disciples trained by elders from other branches of the Sun Moon Empire, as I initially guessed. Rather, they are disciples trained by several ninth-level soul masters under Jing Hongchen and his group from the Mingde Hall. Moreover, they are born with the potential to become evil soul masters, which is why they have not appeared in the public eye."

"However, I must say that judging from how easily this kid made a level six soul tool, his talent is probably even greater than Huang Zheng and Mo Ke. Mingde Hall is indeed Mingde Hall. I just don't know if we can take him under our wing."

An elderly man sitting on the other side of the vice leader smiled and said, "Since the third brother has even taken a liking to talent, in that case, after the competition, I'll have someone talk to him and see what he thinks."

"My men just reported that, after careful examination, the soul tool he used for the bet is indeed a sealed milk bottle that Mingde Hall currently supplies exclusively to the military. In addition, the way he used the soul tool processing bed with ease suggests that he was trained by one of the level nine soul masters at Mingde Hall."

"Xu Tianran wants to use us and cooperate with us, but at the same time he wants to keep things to himself, making Jing Hongchen keep things hidden. He's not even willing to give us the technology to seal baby bottles. If it's necessary, it would be just right to dig out some information from this junior."

The vice-leader said with some surprise, "Who knows, this junior might actually be Jing Hongchen's disciple. Third brother, do you think he can defeat your precious disciple?"

The third brother shook his head and said, "It's hard to say. Of my two apprentices, Huang Zheng is more composed and steady in his actions. As the senior brother, he is very competent. But in terms of talent, Mo Ke is better. However, this kid has one major flaw, which is that he is too arrogant."

“He’s a little better in front of me, but he always looks down on people in front of outsiders. I’ve told him off many times, but he just can’t change.”

"I actually hope he loses to that number 88 today and takes a big tumble. Then I'll take the opportunity to scold him a bit and make him use the standard engraving knife for two years. Who knows, that might actually turn things around."

The vice-leader said, "Then let's wait and see. Second Elder, how has the Xishui Alliance fared in this competition?"

The old man who had spoken to the third brother earlier said, "The profit is about the same as our original plan. In fact, we should have earned at least 30% more."

"However, the number 88 below was quite lucky, winning a lot of gold soul coins with consecutive bets, which is why we earned less this time."

The vice-leader nodded and said, "It's alright. The gold soul coins themselves aren't important. Just gather the rare metals together. We'll increase our efforts to control the rare metal mines currently in the hands of the authorities. You'll need to send more people to our side then. These are the core resources of our sect."

"Yes," the Second Elder replied respectfully.

(End of this chapter)