Douluo Continent: Steadily Growing Stronger in Shrek Academy

Chapter 190 Dark Clouds Loom

Wang Dong'er and Bei Bei both looked at Lin Chen, their eyes revealing a hint of nervousness. They didn't want anything to happen to anyone from the academy.

Lin Chen said casually, "There's nothing to prepare. I can handle it all by myself tomorrow."

Huo Yuhao said with some concern, "Are you sure you'll be alright on your own? Everyone in the Holy Spirit Sect is a malevolent soul master!"

"Yeah, Lin Chen, can you really defeat so many evil soul masters all by yourself?" Wang Dong'er chimed in.

"Oh, it's nothing serious, just a bunch of small fry."

Wang Qiu'er said, "Tomorrow, I'll go with you."

"No, no..."

"Lin Chen, let Qiu'er go with you. She's very strong, and going with you will give you a better chance of winning," Wang Dong'er said.

Lin Chen waved his hand and said, "I'm enough on my own. A younger generation of the Holy Spirit Cult is no threat to me, unless those old guys are unethical."

"I'll go with you," Wang Qiu'er said again.

Lin Chen was also stumped. Why was this girl so stubborn?

"Lin Chen, don't argue with Qiu'er. You can see her personality; she'll definitely go on stage," Huo Yuhao said.

"Sigh, alright then." With a sigh, Lin Chen had no choice but to agree.

"We've come to tell you what we've discovered. What Princess Jiujiu said may not be the whole story. As far as we know, Mingdu is indeed under lockdown. The Sun Moon Empire has deployed several Soul Master legions to form a defensive line, each with a high-ranking Soul Master in command. All the teams that left earlier should be under their control. But strangely, they haven't completely surrounded Mingdu on all sides. Instead, they've left one side open, the west side, which is the furthest from where we can return to the academy," Lin Chen said.

The information Lin Chen brought was very important to Huo Yuhao and his group. Shrek Academy and Tang Sect were, in a sense, one entity, and he clearly didn't hold back, revealing everything he had discovered.

But he couldn't possibly say that the Qiankun Wenqing Valley in the west was used by Tang Shenwang to train dogs, could he?

Huo Yuhao immediately took out a map of Mingdu and looked at the terrain around Mingdu. The map was bought when they participated in the exchange program.

After examining the map, Huo Yuhao frowned. "Surround three sides and leave one open. From a military strategy perspective, this is to prevent the enemy from fighting desperately, deliberately leaving an opening. But logically speaking, the Sun Moon Empire doesn't need to do this at all! Their goal should be to wipe us out in one fell swoop, so why would they leave a way out? Moreover, the mountainous terrain is complex, making it ideal for hiding and concealing oneself. Closing off the mountains is much more difficult than setting up an ambush on the plains."

"The Sun and Moon Mountain Range is right next to Mingdu, so it can't be a gathering place for soul beasts. It should be an ordinary mountain range," Beibei analyzed.

A look of doubt appeared in their eyes.

"We've considered all these questions. Currently, the most likely scenario is that the Sun Moon Empire knows the combined strength of the Academy and the Body Sect is formidable, and deliberately left us a way out, but made us take a long detour to return, serving as a delaying tactic. As for why they're delaying us, we don't know. After all, the combined forces of our Academy, the Body Sect, and the Star Luo Empire exceed ten Title Douluo. The Sun Moon Empire would have to pay a huge price to keep us here, something they might not be able to afford. Capturing members of other teams is also a significant blow to the three original kingdoms of the Douluo Continent," Wang Qiu'er said.

"No, it can't be that simple. Think about it, although we have to take a detour from the west, how much of a detour can we take? Let alone a Title Douluo-level expert, even we can make up for that distance in a short time with our flying soul tools. And if the Sun Moon Empire wants to take any action, it's impossible for them to do anything in just a few hours. If they succeed, it's beyond our control." Huo Yuhao shook his head violently. He absolutely did not believe that the Sun Moon Empire would let them live.

At this point, he seemed to have grasped something: "If we consider this from the perspective of the Sun Moon Empire, and really want to deal with all the participants in this competition, what would we do? Would we just capture some members from other academies while letting the strongest ones go?"

Then, turning to the silent Lin Chen, she asked, "Lin Chen, what will you do?"

He always felt that Lin Chen possessed a kind of magic, as if everything was under his control.

Lin Chen said calmly, "Either don't do it at all, or do it thoroughly."

Upon hearing the name Lin Chen, the expressions of the group changed.

It seems there might be a problem to the west of Mingdu.

"I agree with Lin Chen. I'd rather let those small fry go than let the strongmen from Shrek Academy and Body Sect escape. After all, neither the academy nor Body Sect can mobilize their entire forces. This means their strength is already scattered. Ten Title Douluos are indeed powerful, but this is the Sun Moon Empire. With the cooperation of the Holy Spirit Cult, a powerful evil soul master sect, plus a level nine soul master, they are still enough to threaten us," Bei Bei said.

"Lin Chen is right. If we could capture all of us, including the titled Douluo from all sides, that would be a truly fatal blow to all the forces! If I were Xu Tianran, I would do everything in my power to do so, and try my best to capture all the titled Douluo."

"In this light, the west is likely a dead end. The Sun Moon Empire is creating the illusion that they are 'giving us a way out,' and then they will surround and annihilate us."

"That's just your speculation. We sent people to investigate the Sun and Moon Mountains, and there's nothing wrong with them. Although there are a small number of Sun and Moon Empire troops stationed there, they certainly don't pose a threat to us. Aren't you overreacting?" Wang Qiu'er said, frowning.

To be honest, he didn't expect Lin Chen to side with Huo Yuhao and the others.

The Tang Clan members still had their brows furrowed.

After a while, Huo Yuhao asked, "Lin Chen, who from the academy came this time?"

"Elder Xuan, along with four other elders of the Sea God Pavilion, and Dean Xian Lin'er of the Soul Guidance Department, have also arrived. There are a total of six Title Douluos, including Elder Xuan, and four of them possess the combat power of Super Douluos."

Wang Qiu'er continued, "The reason we suspect the western route is a deliberate escape route left for us by the Sun Moon Empire is because Elder Xuan personally investigated it. He even surveyed the entire mountain range from the air before reaching this conclusion. Your guess is probably untenable."

(End of this chapter)