Douluo Continent: I can nurture soul beasts and even perform super evolution.

Chapter 141 The Round of 16 Begins, Snow Empress is Obtained
The group stage has passed in the blink of an eye.

We've reached the end.

Since Su Wen's stunning performance against Yun Luo in the first match, he has rarely appeared on the field again. The deterrent power of a strong team is very necessary. Therefore, many teams in the same group who encountered Shrek Academy could only sigh their bad luck, test the waters a couple of times, and then raise the banner of surrender.

Even the few teams that fought to the death with a glimmer of hope were swept away by Mu Qiu'er and Gu Yuena, the duo of strength and element.

One golden dragon spear, one silver dragon spear.

They were invincible on the field.

This has also drawn considerable attention.

Other strong teams, such as Di'ao, Xingluo, and Riyue, rarely show their main players. They only send out reserve players to match one or two main players, and they can easily sweep most teams, creating an extremely mysterious and powerful feeling.

Haotian Academy has kept a low profile since the first battle. The guy who used what appeared to be the "Blue Silver Emperor" has not reappeared. They swept all the way, and their betting rate in some underground casinos soared, making them the dark horse of the year.

Shrek rest area.

"Group stage is over..."

Su Wen looked at the newspaper and pondered.

Shrek Academy, in Group 8, qualified for the top 16 with a score of 14 points. The second place went to Thousand Spirits Academy, the very academy whose clever scheme backfired, causing everyone's legs to tremble when they saw Su Wen. In the original story, Thousand Spirits Academy fought hard against Shrek Academy but naturally lost, which also damaged their strength, resulting in poor performance in the subsequent round-robin matches and missing out on second place in the group. This year, however, they were lucky, directly conceding defeat and then winning all the way, finally securing second place and successfully qualifying.

Throughout the entire round-robin tournament, only Changning, Zhengtian, and Qianling Academy received special attention and were led by Soul Kings. The rest didn't even have Soul Kings, so they were naturally no match for them.

"We'll have to take the next match seriously," Su Wen said softly.

The Round of 16 has begun.

This means a return to the "elimination tournament" format. Although the process is still a round-robin with three teams competing for one spot and a tiebreaker, there is no room for compromise... Winning means advancing to the next round, while losing means being eliminated.

"Tch~ It's nothing but a chicken and a dog." Ma Xiaotao complained.

"Douling Academy!"

Wang Yan strode into the rest area, his expression grave.

"The results are in. Our opponent in the round of 16 is the Douling Royal Team."

"Teacher Wang, are they very strong?" Jiang Nannan asked.

"It seems that only if Xiao Wen and Xiao Tao join forces can they secure a spot in the top four last year," Wang Yan said solemnly.

Teams of this caliber are all aiming for the championship, so they dominate and win all the way. The home team rarely shows its face, so even though Wang Yan knows all the details of the matches over the past few days by heart, he couldn't find any flaws in their strategy.

Based on the limited information available, the main team of Douling has five Soul Kings and two Soul Masters, and they also have considerable research experience in Soul Guidance Devices. They are definitely a formidable opponent, and even if they can win, they will have to reveal some of their trump cards.

"it is good."

Su Wen took a sip of coffee and nodded slightly.

His mind, however, was no longer on the competition. He was thinking about bringing back some coffee beans, a specialty of Xingluo, after the competition, grinding them into coffee and blending them with his milk tea to create some new products. Of course, considering that coffee might not adapt well to the local environment and the taste might change, he also planned to open a milk tea shop in the Xingluo Empire...

Bubble tea shops are a panacea; with official backing, they're poised for rapid growth and expansion.

Seeing Su Wen's solemn expression, Wang Yan felt a pang of emotion.

As expected, when a lion hunts a rabbit, it uses its full strength.

Su Wen's cautious spirit is something everyone should learn from.

But the next second, Su Wen downed his coffee in one gulp, stared at the empty cup for a moment, and then turned his gaze to Wang Yan with satisfaction: "Hey, by the way, Teacher Wang Yan, who are our opponents in the round of 16 this time?"

Wang Yan: "..."

……

The round of 16 to the quarterfinals is different from a regular round-robin tournament.

Each team has two chances: the team battle on the first day and the individual elimination round on the second day. Even if they lose the team battle, they can turn the tide and win as long as they eliminate all of the opponents with three or fewer members in the individual elimination round.

However, the day before the match.

As usual, Su Wen received a notification from the top auction house, delivered personally by Xu Jiujiu.

This time, the auction hall was different from the previous lowest-grade white one. Instead, it was located in a private room at the far end of the corridor. Because the amount of money involved in the auction was large, the so-called masks were no longer sufficient to completely conceal their identities, so they moved to this venue with full security measures.

"..."

After whispering a few words to Su Wen for a long time, she smiled and said goodbye before leaving.

The young woman wore light makeup and a red gauze dress tonight; clearly, she was the auctioneer for this auction.

This scene also drew the attention of many maids.

Especially elegant.

Xu Jiujiu is a top auctioneer at the Star Luo Auction House and also a princess of a nation, yet she is so intimate with a young man; this is highly unusual…

However, since the other party was Shrek Academy, a top-tier power, it was normal for them to form a marriage alliance with the Star Luo Empire. Not daring to provoke Su Wen, she quietly set her sights on Wang Yan and, taking advantage of the conversation, secretly sat down beside him to tempt him.

Su Wen caught a glimpse of this scene and smiled without saying a word.

A few minutes later.

The auction proceeded as scheduled.

The first item, the Level 8 Soul Tool, the Tyrant Tiger Soul Refining Blade, fetched 650,000 gold soul coins, setting the stage for the event. Since Dai Yueheng wasn't present and no one else had a suitable one, the focus shifted to the items that followed.

Xu Jiujiu: "Twelve fixed-position soul-guided cannons of various attributes!"

Su Wen: "Buy!"

Xu Jiujiu: "Level 8 Long-Range Soul Guidance Device... Heaven-Opening Earth-Splitting Cannon!"

Su Wen: "Buy!"

"Soul bone!"

"Pass……"

Shrek Academy has no shortage of soul bones.

As the auction drew to a close, the atmosphere grew heavy.

The second to last item. The Ice Jade Scorpion Soul Bone arrived as scheduled!

Xu Jiujiu continued his enthusiastic explanation on stage: "There are two flaws. First, the Soul Master it absorbs must be of the Ice type, which is probably less than one percent in the entire Soul Master world. Second, according to tests conducted by experts at the auction house, its Soul Skill has already solidified..."

"The price ranges from 50,000 to 70,000 per year, and the viewing time is only one minute~"

"..."

Su Wen tapped his fingertips on the sofa, pondered for a moment, and then said to Qingya, who was talking to Wang Yanchang, "Please inform your princess that something has happened."

"……Yes!"

Qingya was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly left.

A few minutes later, Xu Jiujiu pushed open the door and looked at Su Wen in surprise. Having been in contact with Su Wen these past few days, she knew that he was a steady person and would not do anything abrupt. Otherwise, she would definitely not have paid any attention to anyone else.

"The Ice Jade Scorpion is the ultimate ice attribute; ordinary ice attributes would be overwhelmed by it."

Su Wen's brief remark surprised Xu Jiujiu.

"This……"

The girl took a deep breath, her beautiful eyes gradually hardening: "Are you sure?"

"Ice Emperor."

Su Wen said softly.

A bright green scorpion appeared in the narrow room. The aura of this thousand-year-old soul beast made the maids turn pale, and after a long while, their pupils suddenly contracted... This guy really does have a trump card!

A storm raged in her heart. Suddenly, a possibility occurred to her. Considering the several soul beasts under Su Wen's command, his ability was very likely beast taming!
However, there are actually quite a few beast-taming martial souls throughout history, and countless records have been consulted. But those of Su Wen's strength are extremely rare.

“The Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, one of my soul beasts,” Su Wen said softly.

"Ice Jade Scorpion...no, Emperor Scorpion!!!" Xu Jiujiu was increasingly astonished. Her throat bobbed; she was probably really mistaken...

If this were to actually be sold and result in a death, it would undoubtedly have a significant impact on the reputation of the Star Luo Empire Royal Auction House.

"..."

"I understand, thank you."

After a long bow, he jogged out of the room.

Just like in the original story, the Star Luo Venue bought this item at an astronomical price. When the last item was auctioned, Emperor Xu Jiawei came to the room, with Princess Xu Jiujiu by his side.

"Since Brother Su Wen has the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion among his tamed beasts and has pointed out the drawbacks of the Soul Bone, out of gratitude, I will give it to you..." Xu Jiawei held the Soul Bone and revealed a smile.

"Then thank you, Your Majesty." Su Wen accepted the gift with a smile, neither humble nor arrogant.

But just as the two were about to leave, Su Wen stopped them.

"I wonder if the last item up for auction will be a 100,000-year-old soul beast embryo?"

"..."

inside the room.

Xu Jiawei's smile froze, and Xu Jiujiu's pupils shrank.

The Shrek team members were dumbfounded, and the maid was trembling with fear, afraid that if she knew such a secret, she would die violently in the house.

"It seems so," Su Wen sighed softly.

I never expected the Snow Woman to take this step. It's fate.

"Phew..." Xu Jiawei's face was a little ugly, but he still forced a smile. "I wonder how Brother Su Wen found out about this. The security work at my Xingluo venue should be quite discreet."

"If I'm not mistaken, it's a soul beast from the far north, right?" Su Wen didn't answer, but instead asked calmly.

"Yes!" Xu Jiawei said in a deep voice.

The Star Luo Empire went to great lengths to devise such a meticulous plan; if Shrek Academy could easily discover it, it would be a severe slap in the face for them.

“What a coincidence, I know the Snow Emperor. Not long ago, a 100,000-year-old soul beast in the far north suddenly disappeared when it was about to transform. It asked me to inquire about it in the human world. I didn’t expect…” Su Wen said.

"hiss……"

If it were anyone else, they would probably immediately label Su Wen as a complete idiot. Who is the Snow Empress? She is the third of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, the lord of the far north, and a being comparable to a Limit Douluo.

Asking you to find out information? What a joke, even a Super Douluo wouldn't dare to boast like that.

But Xu Jiawei and Xu Jiujiu exchanged a glance and both saw the shock in each other's eyes.

So what An Lengye said was true! The Hall Master was right too! This kid is human, but he knows a ferocious beast like the Snow Maiden! All the mysteries are solved… wait! An even bigger mystery has arisen: how did this kid know such a peerless ferocious beast?!
Judging from this, they seem to have a close relationship!
The thought of Su Wen conversing so fluently with the Snow Emperor made Xu Jiawei's face twitch. Even he, the Star Luo Emperor, would probably not be able to remain calm when facing a ferocious beast of this level. Yet he dared to order Titan Snow Demon King, one of the three Heavenly Kings of the Far North, to deal with the Snow Spirit Pig?!

No wonder he is neither humble nor arrogant when facing himself.

This composure is genuine...

“If we bring it back, the Lord of the Far North will surely reward us handsomely. If Your Majesty does not believe me, I can pre-order it with one hundred million gold soul coins. Perhaps Your Majesty could choose a different item as the final item for the auction,” Su Wen said.

"One hundred million gold soul coins!"

Xu Jiawei's expression improved considerably, indicating that Su Wen was not trying to get something for nothing. In his estimation, even if the item could be auctioned for more than 100 million, it probably wouldn't be much higher.

"it is good!"

Xu Jiawei nodded.

His tone was somewhat strained: "However, I will not accept Shrek Academy's 100 million gold soul coins. Consider it a gift from the Star Luo Empire to foster good relations with the far north. I hope that when I return, I can convey this message to the Snow Emperor."

Su Wen's expression was strange.

Who would have thought that the 100,000-year-old soul beast the two were talking about was actually the Snow Empress?
Coincidentally.

Only soul beasts that have lived for 100,000 years can take human form. This is a consensus between the human and beast realms. After 100,000 years, their enormous energy becomes difficult to suppress with human flesh and blood. It was only because the Snow Maiden encountered a 10,000-year-old snow lotus that she was able to take human form.

Otherwise, if Xu Jiawei knew that the Snow Empress was inside the Conferred God Platform, he would never have let go...

P.S.: One more chapter will be released at 1:30 PM. Today's daily 10,000-word count.

(End of this chapter)