Douluo Continent: It Became Huo Yuhao's Golden Finger!

Chapter 285 Even their underwear was stolen! A ruthless extortion!
This is a "royal envoy" of the core members of the Temple of Light, who does not need to kneel before the emperor and has unimpeded access to the Sun and Moon Empire.

It wasn't that Xu Tianran valued the Temple of Light that much, but rather that he was saving face for himself.

—After all, these are people who are not afraid of death. Even if you don't do them this favor, they will still do it.

The royal family will be the ones to lose face then.

It would be better to just grant him a special privilege, which would also demonstrate Xu Tianran's magnanimity.

It's just that it's easy for a key minister like Jing Hongchen to harbor some resentment, and Xu Tianran can't do anything about it.

—Who told you you couldn't revive on the spot?
Fortunately, the Title Douluo was very fast, and arrived outside the Imperial Study in just over ten minutes.

Zhuge Lan and his two companions, along with the four leaders of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Corps, the Fire Phoenix Soul Master Corps, the Evil Monarch Soul Master Corps, and the Terror Claw Soul Master Corps—the most elite figures in the Sun Moon Empire—were all waiting outside.

But the most eye-catching was the masked man with a chilling aura. His short silver hair was like steel needles, and his eyes were deep purple, exuding the resentment unique to evil spirit masters.

This person, whom I know in the mortal world, is Zhongli Wu, the contemporary leader of the Holy Spirit Cult!

A level 98, powerful attack-type Super Douluo, who has an enormous need for the souls of strong individuals, and has made several shady deals with him.

Even he has come today. With such a grand display, is His Majesty preparing to start a national war?

Speculating.

Then, the Empress's voice rang out: "Come in, everyone."

The door to the Imperial Study opened, and the three members of the Light Palace Master's group took the lead, followed by the titled Evil Soul Master. Only then did the others dare to enter.

Once inside the Imperial Study...

The three leaders of the Guangdian Palace were seated on the left, while Zhongli Wu was seated on the right.

The rest of the people stood in their positions according to their official ranks.

Jing Hongchen, the head of Mingde Hall, could only stand in the center.

Beside Xu Tianran were Kong Deming, the head of the Sun and Moon Offering Hall, and Empress Ju Zi.

"Everyone."

Xu Tianran began to speak—

"I have summoned you here today for the upcoming Soul Master Competition."

"This time, I plan to change the competition format so that the sect leader can also participate."

"When the time comes, you should do a good job of receiving them, and strive to ensure that all guests are under our watchful eyes from the moment they set foot on our land."

"do you understand?"

Those present were all shrewd old men; they could easily understand the subtext.

—Is Your Majesty planning to use the Soul Master Competition to detain the elites of all the major sects and academies across the continent, and then use them to blackmail and gain benefits?

Would the three great empires and their respective overlords agree to that?

Absolutely not.

Then the battlefield broke out.

Moreover, Xu Tianran is ambitious and makes no attempt to hide it. The three great empires will definitely make big moves in this Soul Master Competition.

The game involves...

It remains to be seen who will win and who will lose.

Next.

Xu Tianran detailed the specific arrangements for the Soul Master Competition, assigning responsibilities to each individual and clearly defining their duties.

Those who had received their assignments withdrew one after another.

till the end.

Only the four factions remaining on the scene were the Temple of Light, the Hall of Bright Virtue, the Holy Spirit Cult, and Kong Deming's worshipper Tang.

These are all Xu Tianran's "confidants".

of course.

It is still divided into different tiers.

"Lord Guang, Sect Leader Zhong, and Jing Hongchen, in this Soul Master Competition, the three of you must occupy the top ten, and the champion must be the Sun Moon Empire."

"I don't care about the process in between, I only care about the final result."

"The party that ultimately wins the championship, I can grant them one request."

Zhongli Wu chuckled softly, not even glancing at Jing Hongchen, and instead glanced at the three people, including the Palace Master of Guangdian.

A blood-red longsword appeared between his brows.

Asura Mark!

This guy actually passed the Asura God Test too?
It seems that Long Xiaoyao has given up and chosen a new "spokesperson".

"This championship belongs to our Holy Fire Cult."

"Your Majesty, prepare to declare the Holy Spirit Cult the Protectorate of the Nation." "Hehehehehe—"

Amidst his signature villainous laugh, Zhongli Wu transformed into a blood-red cloud and drifted away.

Xu Tianran's expression remained unchanged as he looked at the fourth clone.

"Minister Lan, is it permissible to use humanoid soul tools during the Soul Master Competition?"

Jing Hongchen's lips twitched.

No!

Even if Lan Yu accepted the humanoid soul tool project, he is still the head of Mingde Hall. So what's the deal with Lan Yu?

The fourth clone pondered for a moment, then shook his head regretfully.

"The progress of the humanoid soul tool is fast, but because the initial blueprints were too rough, modifications have consumed a lot of manpower and resources."

"It will take at least another year before the first prototype can be put into operation."

"But the rest is simple; three units can be replicated within six months."

"If we add any more, it will consume too many resources."

Upon hearing this, Xu Tianran glanced meaningfully at Hongchen through his glasses.

Nod.

"A total of four? That's about right, considering the three great empires plus Shrek Academy."

"MK-2 Legion and MK-3 Squad, take some time to patrol them. They will be key in this Soul Master Competition."

"Ideally, it is possible."

There was a pause.

Xu Tianran changed the subject: "Under ideal circumstances, who is the strongest person that Minister Lan can kill?"

"We can temporarily intercept up to five Super Douluo below level 95." The fourth clone replied, "If we disregard the cost, we can kill a non-defense Super Douluo of level 97, but in that case, both battle armor soul tool legions will be basically destroyed."

This answer drew attention from everyone present.

Kong Deming, who had been standing in the background the whole time, couldn't help but say—

"you sure?"

"Of course." The fourth clone nodded affirmatively: "The soul tool I designed has already been used to kill two Title Douluos. According to the data analysis, it is definitely true. But if Your Majesty can send strong people to assist in the training and collect enough materials, the success rate can be increased."

Xu Tianran tapped his fingers, pondering the pros and cons.

The Empire's high-end combat forces are absolutely secretive, and if they are to be trained together now, all kinds of data will inevitably be exposed.

However, Lan Yu is a member of the Temple of Light and has made great contributions to the Empire in recent years. The overall combat strength of the MK Legion he has built is already above that of all Soul Master Corps.

trustworthy.

He nodded and said, "Grand Elder, please make arrangements for this matter."

“Yes, Your Majesty,” Kong Deming replied.

Zhuge Lan chuckled inwardly, thinking to himself, "Now the Sun Moon Empire's true colors are about to be revealed."

in this way.

The full extent of the power of the four great empires was laid bare before them.

How can you lose if you play with your cards upfront?
The only unexpected factor is the number of Limit Douluo cultivated by each of the six major inheritance lands, with three from each land, making a total of eighteen.

At a crucial moment, it can change the course of the battle.

There are also two level-100 divine officials from the Haotian Sect, who are quite troublesome as well.

Fortunately, the Phoenix God switched sides to their side, and the combined strength of 20 Limit Douluos greatly alleviated the problem.

"Lord of the Light Temple," Xu Tianran inquired, "is the Light Temple confident of winning the championship this time?"

"I already have the power of an eighth-tier Soul Douluo," the Lord of the Light Palace said calmly. "Ji Juechen and the others are too old. The highest-ranking people sent in by the various families have only been trained to the sixth tier, Soul Emperor level."

Contra?

Apart from the previous Soul Master Competition, there hasn't been a single Soul Saint with seven rings in the past ten thousand years.

Normally, there's a high probability of winning.

But the previous cohort produced a group of monstrous talents like Huo Yuhao, all of them seven-ring Soul Saints.
Five years have passed, and it's really hard to say whether he's broken through to the Contra Master level.

It seems we need to work on the competition format and the draw.

Seeing that the discussion was almost over, Zhuge Lan stepped forward.

"Your Majesty, I have a request to make."

"Oh?" Xu Tianran asked in surprise, "Lan Zhu, this is the first time you've spoken. What trouble have you encountered?"

Jing Hongchen's spirits lifted. They've arrived!

(End of this chapter)