Douluo Continent: Huo Yuhao obtains the Flame Emperor template

Chapter 161 I Teach Undercover Agents! The Competition Begins

At the Star Emperor Hotel, all the academy teams and the private rooms of various factions were brightly lit, discussing tomorrow's Soul Master Competition. Only the Holy Spirit Cult's private room was pitch black.

They concealed their malevolent aura, disguised themselves as legitimate Soul Masters, and infiltrated Star Luo City to complete the sacred mission of "finding the Holy Son and Holy Daughter."

In the darkness, the eyes of the seven holy servants gleamed with an eerie light, like venomous snakes lurking in a cave. Seven pairs of eyes were fixed on the Holy Spirit Elder at the headquarters, waiting for him to speak.

"Could it be that those fortune tellers at the main altar have been instigated by some evil spirit?"

Elder Holy Spirit was in a bad mood and said coldly, "For decades, our Holy Spirit Sect has failed to find a suitable Holy Son or Holy Daughter... Now, they dare to say that a Holy Son or Holy Daughter will appear in this Soul Master Competition? Is that even possible?!"

A holy servant tentatively whispered, "Elder, it seems that the most evil soul masters in the world are all in our Holy Spirit Cult."

"Who else could possibly instigate us?"

The Holy Spirit Elder was not angry when he heard what the servant said. After thinking about it carefully, he felt that there was some truth to it.

Their Holy Spirit Cult is mysterious and unpredictable, with bizarre methods, ruthless and chilling... The Holy Spirit Elders believe that no one in the world is more evil than them.

"Could it be that the envelope from headquarters contains a hidden secret that we failed to decipher?"

The Holy Spirit Elder muttered to himself, shook the envelope, and a Holy Spirit Cult token fell out, bearing a dark, malevolent aura.

This token is nothing special; it's just a modified soul tool. If they find clues about the Holy Son or Holy Daughter, they should report to the headquarters in a timely manner using the token.

The Holy Spirit Elder unfolded the envelope, about to examine it closely to see if there were any hidden secrets inside, when he suddenly frowned.

"Why aren't the lights on?"

Another servant respectfully whispered in response, "Elder, have you forgotten that during the last meeting in Tiandou City to find the Holy Maiden, you said the atmosphere was bad, and the bright lights were affecting your thinking? The mission in Tiandou City is likely doomed because there's no cult atmosphere there."

"I thought to myself, this mission to find the Holy Son and Holy Daughter of Xingluo City is even more important, and we must learn from this experience."

"Moreover, we evil spirit masters do like to plot and scheme in dark places, so I deliberately didn't have anyone turn on the lights to create a dark and pleasant atmosphere."

A certain fifth-ring evil soul master, who was very willing to reveal his name, ambushed and killed three Shrek Academy Soul Kings in a dark cave with a corpse explosion.

This shows that the environment is indeed very important. And it's true, not turning on the lights does create an atmosphere conducive to the Holy Spirit Church planning important matters.

Furthermore, from the outside, the Star Emperor Hotel is all lit up, except for their room, which is dark, perfectly in line with the heretical doctrines of their evil soul masters who go against the natural order.

"Hmm, your understanding of cults is quite good."

The Holy Spirit Elder nodded, finding it reasonable, and stopped asking his men to turn on the lights. This atmosphere was indeed conducive to developing their thinking and releasing their spiritual power to perceive every detail of the envelope.

However, he didn't see anything special about it.

Snapped!

The Holy Spirit Elder angrily slammed the envelope on the table, utterly incomprehensible! The only way to find the Holy Son and Daughter was written: Watch the game carefully.

"Absurd! Could it be that an undercover agent from our sect suddenly conjures up a saintess on the field and delivers her to us?"

Elder Holy Spirit clenched his fists, gritting his teeth: "If we can't find the Holy Son and Holy Daughter this time, when we get back, we'll definitely kill the culprit who spread these rumors and throw him into the sea to feed the fish!"

And so, the Holy Spirit Cult pondered how to find the Holy Son and Holy Daughter, Shrek discussed the secret plan to ensure Xuanzi's advancement to the top four, and Sun and Moon explored how to casually win the championship and wash away the shame of being the runner-up in previous years. The night passed peacefully.

……

The following morning, as the first rays of sunlight shone into Star Luo City, the first day of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament was about to begin, bringing a different kind of spirit to Star Luo City.

Specifically, it manifests in a unique solemnity.

Soldiers, in neat formation, swiftly charged into Xingluo City from outside the city walls, which were hundreds of meters high and hundreds of meters thick.

With such a thickness, ordinary people would have to walk through the wall for a while to enter or leave the city.

Squads of soldiers in gleaming armor entered Xingluo City and stood in an orderly fashion on both sides of each road, blocking off all the streets.

Especially near the Star Emperor Hotel, fully armed soldiers have completely sealed off the streets leading from there to Star Luo Square, allowing only those with tickets to the competition and participating team members from various academies to pass through.

"Elder Xuan, is it really alright for us to send in the reserve team?"

Among the Shrek Academy team, Wang Yan was filled with worry. In previous years, they had often sent their reserve team to the field to demonstrate the teaching ability of the continent's number one academy.

But my mindset now is very different from before; I no longer have the confidence to forge ahead and be invincible.

Wang Yan was even a little worried that he had been tricked by Xing Luo.

Xuanzi picked up his wine gourd, took a swig, and chuckled, "Don't worry, I doubt Xu Jiawei would dare to harbor such disrespectful thoughts!"

To outsiders, Shrek's main team is very strong, so it's normal for them to send out the reserve team to practice.

Xuanzi told Wang Yan not to worry: "Xu Jiawei will match us with good opponents for the first half of the competition, and we're guaranteed to reach the semi-finals."

As the champions of the previous Soul Master Competition, the Shrek Academy team was assigned to the first row of Star Luo Square.

The arena used for this year's Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Battle Tournament is not located in the center of Star Luo Square, but in front of the main gate of the Imperial City.

With this arrangement, the Star Luo Emperor and his civil and military officials could directly observe the battle from the top of the imperial city, enjoying not only the best view but also guaranteed safety.

In the Sun and Moon team, Xiao Hongchen and others were discussing who should go first: "Yuhao, Di Ruiqiu, in the first opening match, will it be my Soul Guidance Cannon that wipes out the enemy in one wave, or will Yuhao use Fire Lotus, or will you use Golden Dragon Spear to defeat seven opponents in one go?"

"As for my sister, she won't reveal her One-Word Battle Armor before the finals, so she can just muddle through."

Meng Hongchen took out a bottle of beverage, added some Ice-Fire Toad Poison to it, and then handed it to Xiao Hongchen: "Brother, drink this. It has a very good calming effect; you'll fall asleep as soon as you finish it."

"Uh..." Xiao Hongchen's face stiffened. Was it really okay to poison someone right in front of him?

However, seeing the dangerous glint in his sister's slightly narrowed eyes, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and accept the drink, but he didn't dare to take a single sip.

Meng Hongchen ignored Xiao Hongchen, took out ice cream cones from her storage ring, and gave one to Huo Yuhao and another to Di Ruiqiu, saying with a smile:

"Yuhao, do you think it's possible for me to wear only one or two pieces of battle armor in the finals?"

Huo Yuhao licked the ice cream cone a few times and thought about it seriously: "That works too. Wearing a pair of battle armor, outsiders who don't know what battle armor is will just mistake it for a close-combat soul tool."

If Meng Hongchen's strength is boosted by two rings by wearing a full set of battle armor, then wearing several pieces of battle armor can still increase his combat power by 30% to 40%.

Di Ruiqiu laughed and teased, "Miss Meng, if you're only wearing a pair of battle armor, I might as well use the Golden Dragon Spear to knock all your opponents away. If you were wearing even one less piece of battle armor, you wouldn't be able to beat me."

Jing Hongchen laughed and said, "Alright, the Shrek team will play their first opening match. Let's see how they perform first, and then decide how much intensity we should bring."

As the runner-up in every Soul Master Competition, the Sun and Moon Team was naturally placed in the second row, directly behind Shrek Academy.

As for the teams from other colleges, they were all very excited.

Although they are no match for Shrek or Sun Moon teams, the organizer, Star Luo Empire, always has some weaker teams that can only crush Star Luo's teams, which is still very fulfilling.

The competition stage used for this year's Soul Master Tournament was not built in the center of Xingluo Square, but in front of the main gate of the Imperial City.

The entire competition platform is 100 meters long and wide, and 5 meters high. There are 108 metal pillars around the platform.

This is not just for decoration, but a real protective soul tool. After the competition begins, 108 soul masters will be in charge of protecting the competition stage.

These metal pillars will form a protective shield, preventing all soul skills from leaking out, so as to avoid damaging the imperial city or harming innocent people.

On the city wall, a middle-aged man wearing a red and gold imperial robe inlaid with stars and beads, and a purple and gold crown with eight treasures, stood with his hands behind his back, exuding an imposing aura. This was Xu Jiawei.

Xu Jiawei was standing in the very center of the main gate of the imperial city, which was also the best spot to watch the match below.

"Your Majesty, this old minister and Princess Jiujiu have made all the arrangements." A minister dressed in a bright red civil official's robe stepped forward quickly and bowed respectfully to Xu Jiawei.

"Prime Minister, how will we face our opponents in the opening match?"

"Have Shrek and Sun Moon teams changed their opponents for the first round opening match?"

Xu Jiawei appeared calm and composed, asking with a smile.

But thinking about the Shrek team's poor lineup in this tournament, and the possibility that their Star Luo team could replace Shrek and make it to the finals to compete against the Sun and Moon team in a king-to-king showdown, a strong sense of excitement welled up inside him.

Unexpectedly, the Star Luo team has become the spiritual pillar of the people of the three kingdoms in this tournament.

"Brother, according to your plan, the seed teams that were originally assigned to Shrek Academy to demonstrate their dominance have all been assigned to the Sun and Moon Team."

Xu Jiujiu, dressed in a purple star-patterned long dress, followed behind the minister and gracefully approached Xu Jiawei, giving him an elegant bow.

"Excellent! This Soul Master Tournament may be the highest honor our Star Luo team has ever achieved in ten thousand years."

Xu Jiawei was quite excited. He let out a long sigh and looked at his sister with a smile, comforting her:

"Jiujiu, you don't need to feel too much pressure. If the Shrek team falters halfway through, we just need to defeat the Royal teams of Tianhun and Douling to make it to the finals."

After a long while, a faint smile appeared on his lips, as if he had victory in his grasp.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. Our Star Luo team might not be able to defeat Shrek Academy at its peak, or the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy."

Xu Jiujiu, who has always been calm and composed, also revealed a confident smile at this moment.

"But the royal teams of Tianhun and Douling are very confident that they can defeat them and lead their teams into the finals."

"Good! It's good that you have this confidence for a long time."

Xu Jiawei laughed heartily a few times, looked at the audience, and then fell into a brief moment of contemplation.

"In that case, Shrek Academy and the teams from the other two countries need to make full use of their remaining value to deplete the Sun and Moon Team's strength."

"In this way, Jiu Jiu can lead the team to the finals at the lowest cost. At that time, they will be well-rested and have the home advantage of our Xingluo Empire, so there may be a certain probability of winning."

"If we manage to turn the tide and defeat the Sun and Moon team, the whole country will celebrate!"

If they lose, it just means that the people's beautiful fantasies have not been realized. However, everyone can understand that the Shrek team did not participate in the finals, and everyone knows that the Star Luo team has never been a match for the Sun Moon team. The runner-up has already broken the record of previous competitions.

The Shrek Academy team was weak in this year's Soul Master Competition. Only the Star Luo Royal Team can carry the banner and compete with the Sun Moon Team.

For Xu Jiujiu to lead the team to the finals can be considered a great success.

The people of the Star Luo Empire will unleash an unprecedented surge of enthusiasm the moment the Star Luo team advances to the finals.

Just as Xu Jiawei thought, if there was even the slightest possibility, he might win against the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy by sheer luck.

For the people of the empire, it was the greatest shock in ten thousand years.

Perhaps the Star Luo Empire's national fortune will be greatly enhanced by this victory in the Soul Master Competition.

The Prime Minister whispered to Xu Jiawei, "Your Majesty, everything is arranged. Shrek Academy's opponent in the knockout stage has been replaced with a relatively weaker team."

"The academy matchups for the opening game have been arranged, and the surrounding area is in good order, so the public can be allowed to enter."

With a warm smile, Xu Jiawei nodded slightly and waved his hand. Upon receiving the order, the soldiers lifted the restrictions on the audience seats, and the audience members gathered into the arena like long dragons.

Meanwhile, the waiting areas for each college team were being prepared.

At the very front of the Shrek team, the stunning red-haired beauty was none other than Ma Xiaotao.

Ling Luochen remained as icy as ever, pushing his wheelchair himself as he followed behind Ma Xiaotao.

As regular team members, they had seen a lot and appeared calm and composed on the surface. However, Ling Luochen, being in a wheelchair, felt somewhat embarrassed and would occasionally tuck a few strands of hair from her white forehead.

"It's the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy!"

Ma Xiaotao turned around and helped push Ling Luochen's wheelchair. Her crimson eyeshadow lit up slightly. She gestured to Ling Luochen with her eyes and glanced at the Sun and Moon Team, the Shrek Team's most competitive rival in history.

Ma Rulong touched his spiky short hair, his gaze also fixed on the Shrek Academy team, wanting to see the demeanor of the undefeated legend and the number one academy team on the continent. A look of astonishment appeared on his face.

"What's going on? Our intelligence shouldn't be faulty, right?"

He suddenly looked at Elder Ma, his pupils widening: "Wasn't it agreed that the Shrek Academy team would have two Soul Emperors and five Soul Kings? Where are the other three Soul Kings?"

(End of this chapter)