Douluo Continent II: You're an evil spirit master, but also a philanthropist?

Xu Cheng remained expressionless.

Tang Ya lowered her head: "..."

"Okay, I haven't even asked the question I asked yet..."

"What do you want to ask?"

Xu Cheng glanced at the girl sideways.

The girl immediately exclaimed with delight, "I want to ask..."

"do not know!"

Xu Cheng said leisurely.

Tang Ya: "..."

……

"So this is the carving knife?"

In the conference room.

Xiao Hongchen stared in astonishment at the carving knife on the table.

"It feels even more powerful than the [White Blade] that Grandpa used. Grandpa's carving knife was ranked ninth on the carving knife list. Acheng, you've really struck gold!"

"This carving knife has seen over thirty owners die tragically, and it was purified overnight. It's quite something..."

"I have a brilliant plan," Xu Cheng said with a smile.

A good carving knife is extremely important for a Soul Master. The higher the level of the core formation to be carved, the better the carving knife needs to be. Also, the sharper the knife, the better it is for cutting materials.

"Alright, let's get ready for today's match!"

Old Ma clapped his hands.

Draw attention to yourself.

"After three days of elimination rounds, the group stage will begin. The top sixteen teams will advance based on their scores. The format for the group stage will be determined by a draw, including 3-3-2, one-on-one duels, and team battles. Today, our opponent is..."

"Team Dion!"

"Wuhu, so ruthless right from the start?" Xiao Hongchen grinned.

"There's nothing we can do, we were put in the same group. But it's not a big deal. Whoever wins or loses won't affect the finals. After all, with the strength of the Di'ao team, apart from us, the other teams in the group, such as Tianluo Academy and Tiandou History Academy, are no match for them..."

Old Ma shrugged.

"Moreover, Shrek Academy is already out of the running for champion in this competition. Even if their two Soul Emperors recover before being eliminated, they won't be a match for us. Our biggest competitors, besides the Star Luo Team, are Di Ao..."

Chapter 97. Princess Tang left the umbrella held for her by King Tang, only to find that it wasn't raining at all.

……

"As for Di'ao Academy, apart from their captain Jiang Peng who's got some skills, there aren't many others who can fight," Lin Xi said with a satisfied expression.

“Indeed, but you shouldn’t be the one saying that. And what you call having some skill is just the result of someone hitting you with two axe blows. Are you going to jump in right away?” Mika retorted.

"Hmph, isn't that right? He only knows three tricks now. Five years ago, when I was in the reserve team for the major competition, I even fought him one-on-one, although I narrowly lost..."

Lin Xi disagreed.

"Come on, in these five years, they've undergone earth-shattering changes, a true transformation. Five years ago, you could last ten minutes, but now you probably wouldn't even last a minute," Chen Fei retorted.

"Hey, you people, why do you always boost the morale of others while diminishing your own?"

Lin Xi's eyes widened.

"Alright, given Your Highness's previous display of strength, I estimate that the other side won't go all out against us in this match. They'll most likely just send out their reserve team and finish it quickly. After all, as one of the favorites to win the championship, they definitely need to conserve their strength for the semi-finals."

Ma Rulong analyzed, then looked at Lin Xi with a smile.

"In that case, we don't need to send out anyone too strong. Lin Xi, you can go on stage now."

Lin Xi: ? ? ?

……

The competition proceeded as scheduled.

We were drawn into a 3-2-2 group stage format.

The Sun Moon Empire sent Lin Xi, Chen Fei, and Chen An as the first group, Jiang Nannan and Huo Yuhao as the second group, and Mi Jia and Xiao Xiafeng as the third group.

It seems that all the teams sent out are regular members, but the situation of the Sun Moon Empire this time is special. If Jing Hongchen hadn't decided on the regular members early, they would probably have become the reserve team. The truly powerful ones are the reserve team members led by Xu Cheng.

Needless to say, Xiao Hongchen was as if he carried a soul-guided cannon position with him at all times. With hundreds of cannons and Xu Cheng's mental sharing, the accuracy was abnormal. It was no longer a large-scale firepower coverage, but a precise firepower coverage, all of which accurately covered the enemy.

Meng Hongchen is slightly weaker, but with the Soul King and Martial Soul characteristics, ice and poison, he caused the Shrek Academy members quite a headache in the original work.

Tang Ya, although a fourth-ring Soul Master, was elevated to a level beyond that of a fourth-ring Soul Master by the Evil Soul Master buff. Even Meng Hongchen was not confident of defeating her.

Ji Juechen, needless to say, is a five-ring sword fanatic. In terms of combat power alone, even Xiao Hongchen is ashamed of himself and can be compared to a Soul Emperor.

As for Jiang Nannan, she is also formidable, but on par with Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi. She is an assassin, and apart from Huo Yuhao, she is the weakest, which is why she was sent to the competition.

As for the results.

Three wins secured the victory.

The Imperial Academy didn't devise any tactics and only sent out their reserve team, so apart from Huo Yuhao's group experiencing some setbacks, the rest were basically swept aside.

Shrek's team also unusually came out to watch the game.

But perhaps it's because he broke both of Cai Tou's binoculars.

But to Xu Cheng's surprise...

The odds of betting on Shrek Academy remain surprisingly high. Even though they encountered setbacks in the knockout stage, the odds were not significantly affected. Countless gamblers, like fanatics, are hoping that Shrek Academy will create another miracle and win the championship again.

Although gambling never ends well, Xu Cheng also went all in, betting a large portion of the funds transferred from the Sun Moon Empire, hundreds of millions of gold soul coins, on the Sun Moon Empire Royal Team.

Anyway, the Star Luo Empire's royal family is behind the bookmaker. Even if he loses everything, as long as Xu Jiawei still has some shame and doesn't intend to lose the royal family's most important word, "trust," he will have to grit his teeth and obediently compensate him.

Sitting in the rest area.

Xu Cheng glanced at Wang Dong unintentionally.

The latter seemed somewhat listless. Xu Cheng suddenly realized that the Sun Moon Empire had just put on a show of soul tools. Although Mika, Lin Xi, and the others were weak, they were still from the Sun Moon Empire and carried the most advanced technology of the Sun Moon Empire, including light-gathering rays, automatic tracking long-range soul-guided cannons, stealth technology, and so on.

The girl was quite excited, but the thought that she couldn't use the soul tool made her sullen.

Xu Cheng sighed softly.

When Wang Dong leaves the umbrella held by Tang San, he discovers that it's not raining at all outside, and there's even a sprayer inside the umbrella. I wonder what he'll think.

but……

Xu Cheng pondered.

He really wanted to see a scene of fatherly love and filial piety, especially now that the Tang God King was destroyed and unable to interfere with the lower realm...

However, this is just a thought for now. This girl is, after all, a member of Shrek Academy. It would be too arrogant to kidnap her in front of everyone. Moreover, to remove the divine seal left by Tang San, only someone of Elder Yi's level would have any hope.

Inside the Shrek rest area.

Wang Yan quietly watched the competition stage.

But in his heart, he was thinking of a way to break the deadlock.

As he had planned, the initial battle would be a resounding victory. Even if subsequent battles were hard-fought victories, the participants would still mostly be from the reserve team, giving the impression that "Shrek must be in some trouble." Then, when they were likely to fail in the quarterfinals or semifinals, he would rush onto the stage to play the victim, recounting how difficult Shrek's situation was, how the participants were all from the reserve team, and how the main team had heroically sacrificed themselves while besieging the evil spirit masters, and so on...

But the first battle completely disrupted his plans.

Almost all the academies saw Shrek Academy's weakness, and they would face a storm of attacks when they faced Shrek Academy in the future. Just like in today's match, the opposing academy was only ranked third in the Cloud Soul Empire, but they fought with all their might, just like a knockout match.

Only after forcing Xu Sanshi into injury and exhausting Bei Bei's soul power did she barely win the match.

What's next? To advance to the top 16, they only have one chance to make a mistake; they must win the other two rounds...

"call……"

Wang Yan looked helpless. "It's difficult..."

……

Inside the hotel.

Xu Cheng lay on a bench in the room, where several figures in black robes were also present.

Some of the figures were familiar, while others were quite rare.

Zhang Peng smacked his lips, clicked his tongue, and exclaimed, "The spicy blood curd from the Star Luo Empire is pretty good, much better than the Sun Moon Empire's. I'd even like to recruit a few chefs there..."

Wu Yun's lips twitched: "How come your technique can extend to the culinary world?"

"Slurp, the blood of a soul beast, what a delicious drink that is! It's a pity that none of you know its value; only I can appreciate its taste," Zhang Peng said, lost in thought.

"Then what does this have to do with Mao Xue Wang? If it's cooked this way, wouldn't it lose its original flavor?" Xu Cheng asked curiously.

"Well... that's what I originally thought too, but it wasn't until I tasted it that I opened the door to a new world," Zhang Peng said with an awkward smile. "Anyway, when I drink blood again in the future, I will definitely bring pots and pans, cook it using the method of Mao Xue Wang (a spicy Sichuan dish), and then absorb it."

Xu Cheng: "Alright, now that everyone is here, let's take advantage of this trip to the Star Luo Empire to hold a meeting about the [New Holy Spirit Cult]..."