In Douluo Continent, I am the mastermind behind the scenes.

Chapter 42. There are always oddities every year, but today there seem to be an unusually large number.

As he spoke, Li Zhan quickened his pace. Suddenly, his foot slipped, and the "Strawberry Sundae" flew out of his hand, hitting Xu Sanshi squarely in the face.

Xu Sanshi subconsciously pursed his lips. Hmm? It really does taste like strawberry. Hmm? Why does it taste a little bitter?

Bitter, so bitter?

The thought of having excrement smeared on his face and then eating it made Xu Sanshi's expression extremely distorted. He then shook off the "strawberry sundae" from his face, jumped off the platform, and vomited by the roadside.

Is Lee Chan's "Strawberry Sundae" really that bad?

It's not that it tastes bad; after all, it's "food" made with soul power. It just tastes a bit strange, at most it's not tasty. There are plenty of foods that taste worse than it.

The problem is... food, no matter how bad, is still food; excrement, no matter how delicious, is still excrement. The two cannot be compared. The young sect leader of the Xuanming Sect eating excrement in public—regardless of whether it tasted good or not—is no less than an empress wearing the clothes of a courtesan in public; the psychological attack is off the charts.

Xu Sanshi leaned against the wall with his right hand, vomiting incessantly. He even brought up his dinner from the night before. Chen Yu quickly stepped forward and patted his back, trying to make him feel better.

"Yu'er, I'm fine. Help me back to my dorm to rest," Xu Sanshi said softly.

Chen Yu wasn't stupid; she could tell that Xu Sanshi had no face to stay any longer. She quickly waved towards Huo Yuhao and the others, then helped Xu Sanshi away.

The culprit behind this series of events, Li Zhan, had long since disappeared. Looking at the empty space above the high platform, the five members of the Tang Clan felt their blood pressure soar and cursed Li Zhan countless times in their hearts.

It was intentional. Li Zhan was definitely doing it on purpose. He came here deliberately to cause trouble and make the Tang Clan suffer a setback!

With no other option, Bei Bei had to bite the bullet and walk onto the platform to take over Xu Sanshi's task and continue interviewing substitutes for the Tang Sect. They had already made their statement, and even if all the students who signed up later were Mi Tian Gong Soul Masters, they would still have to bite the bullet and continue the interviews.

"Next."

As Bei Bei's somewhat deep voice rang out, a fairly attractive purple-haired female Soul Master walked onto the platform and bowed in Bei Bei's direction.

"Hello, Senior Bei Bei. My name is Li Xueyan, and my martial soul is Nine Heart Begonia. I am a level 31 support-type weapon spirit master."

"Nine-Heart Begonia," Bei Bei shook her head, saying with regret, "Our Tang Clan team doesn't lack support players; you don't meet our requirements."

As she spoke, Bei Bei walked to the edge of the platform and shouted to the students below, "Our Tang Sect only recruits strong men and women, as well as powerful control-type Soul Masters. Support-type Soul Masters, please leave and don't waste your time here."

As soon as he finished speaking, most of the Soul Masters gathered below the stage left. Of course, only a small portion of them were support-type Soul Masters. Most of the other students were just there to join in the fun and try their luck to see if they could get a ride on the plane. Even if they couldn't get on stage, they could still be mascots serving tea and water.

But since Beibei had already said all that, relying on looks to coast along was no longer an option, so she had to go back to her original position and continue hawking her wares.

"Next."

A cube-shaped woman, about 150cm tall and weighing 160kg, walked onto the platform. Bowing... a proper bow was out of the question; at that height and weight, even bending over would be difficult. She simply cupped her hands towards Beibei's position and said, "Cheng Xiao, Martial Soul: Mighty Vajra Bear, Level 31 Power Attack Type Battle Soul Master!"

Beibei: "..."

Gazing at the cube-shaped woman before him, Bei Bei fell into deep thought. In his understanding, most female Soul Masters were tall and slender with decent figures. Even if their appearance was somewhat ordinary, they could attend large banquets as greeters with a simple dress.

Occasionally, there are female Soul Masters with robust figures, who are never too short. When they wear specially made dresses and pantyhose, their overall appearance is acceptable.

Unlike this cube-shaped lady, whose face is full of fat and whose two elephant legs are almost as thick as Huo Yuhao's waist, her ice-blue dress is a complete waste on her.

Bei Bei took a deep breath, looked at the cube-shaped woman in front of her, and slowly said, "Cheng Xiao, you meet all the requirements of our Tang Sect team, but... your appearance doesn't quite fit the general aesthetic, so you're not really suitable to represent Shrek Academy in the Soul Master Competition. What do you think..."

"If you think I'm ugly, just say so. And then you say I'm not suitable to represent Shrek Academy in the Soul Master Competition? It's not even a question yet, who are you trying to fool with this act?"

Cheng Xiao stomped her foot and stepped off the platform. It was only because she couldn't beat Bei Bei that she realized she could easily slap Bei Bei twice.

"Next."

Another female Soul Master stepped onto the platform. Her figure was... well, above average. She quickly walked up to Bei Bei, clasped her hands together, and said in a deliberately high-pitched voice, "Hello, Senior Bei Bei, my name is Liu Qingqing, and I just turned thirteen this year..."

"stop!!!!"

Beibei scolded, "We Tang Sect fighters don't need scheming girls! And we especially don't want girls being manipulated!"

There are always oddballs every year, but there seem to be more than usual today. Beibei has a feeling that her luck hasn't been good lately; how come they keep running into all sorts of strange students?

After a busy morning, Beibei finally found a male Soul Master with a relatively normal personality from dozens of candidates: Zhao Chong, fourteen years old, with a White Armor Earth Dragon Martial Soul and level thirty-four Soul Power. His strength was barely passable; he wouldn't be a burden in a winning game.

As noon approached, the Tang Clan members went to their dormitory to call Xu Sanshi and Chen Yu, and then left Shrek Academy for the Tulip Hotel to have lunch while holding a battle meeting.

As soon as the Tang Clan members stepped into the Tulip Hotel, they saw... Qin Xue and the others sitting in the lobby, happily eating. In addition to the eight students from the 10002nd class, there was also a girl in purple clothes with rabbit ears.

Huo Yuhao was incredibly resentful. The Tang Clan had spent the entire morning working at the intelligence agency and only managed to recruit Zhao Chong, that little piece of trash. Meanwhile, none of you went to the intelligence agency and instead managed to connect with Jiang Nannan, who possesses the magical girl's inheritance. This... this is infuriating!

If he had known, he should have encouraged his third senior brother to invite Jiang Nannan. Now look what happened, an outsider got the benefit.

Huo Yuhao quickly stepped forward, came to Qin Xue's side, bent down, and whispered, "Qin Xue, I see your team has seven people. How about... we have a friendly match this afternoon, to spar and practice our seven-team battle tactics?"

(End of this chapter)