The Twenty-Eighth Day of the Rich Second-Gen

The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Competition, or Elite Competition for short, was jointly hosted by the three major powers: Spirit Hall, the Heaven Dou Empire, and the Star Luo Empire. Each of them had one team slot that advanced directly to the finals. This qualifying tournament was likely being held to determine who would claim that direct-entry spot.

What a great opportunity! He could personally go see his good brother Ning Fengzhi!

Surely his good brother would be willing to help him connect with the Heaven Dou Empire, successfully letting Calais City sponsor the competition and promoting their new equipment!

"Sir, Dean Flander and Master have arrived." Steward Ming interrupted Ming Zhen's daydreaming.

"Show them in."

"What rare guests. Uncle Ming, tell them to brew the jasmine tea I roasted myself."

Flender and Master took their seats, and each was served a cup of jasmine tea.

Flender spoke first. "Your Excellency, Xiao Gang and I came to trouble you today because of some of the academy's future plans. The children's special training has been going rather well lately. They had a match against the city defense army yesterday, and they won."

Ming Zhen nodded with a smile. "Yunhua told me about it as well. I truly have to thank all of you teachers. You've been accompanying the children throughout their special training lately. However, you are Shrek's dean. You can make the decisions regarding the academy's development plans yourself."

Flender relaxed somewhat. "I wonder if Your Excellency has any thoughts about the Elite Competition. The equipment we've been using for training seems quite suitable for it."

Ming Zhen had not expected that the person with the sharpest business sense he had encountered on the Douluo Continent would actually be Flender!

He was pleasantly surprised, but his expression remained calm. "What brilliant insight does Dean Flender have?"

"Why not let the Heaven Dou Empire try out our products? Once they find them useful, they'll naturally want to buy them. But we barely have enough products for ourselves. We're only taking them out to support the Heaven Dou Empire's participation in the competition." Flender stopped there. He knew Ming Zhen understood what he meant by the rest.

When a crooked merchant met another crooked merchant, they had truly found the right person. Master helplessly shook his head beside them. Seeing Flender lead the topic further and further astray, he spoke up to bring it back. "The children's cultivation progress is not slow now. We were thinking of broadening their horizons. It's not enough to know only how to fight spirit beasts. They will also have to compete against different Soul Masters."

Only then did Flender realize that he had not said a word about the actual matter. He hurriedly said, "When the Elite Competition reaches the advancement rounds, we want to take the children to Spirit City to watch the matches."

Ming Zhen considered it. "That won't be a problem. Training needs a balance between work and rest, and watching matches is also a form of learning. I have some businesses in Spirit City, so the teachers' and children's food and lodging can be arranged then. I'll also approve a sum of money for the academy to use." He had originally wanted to mention that they could also watch the upcoming qualifying tournament in the Heaven Dou Empire, but after thinking about it, he decided not to say anything.

Flender was overjoyed. He had not expected everything to go so smoothly. The most difficult issues—food, lodging, and funding—had been resolved just like that. Delighted, he began chatting with Ming Zhen about business again, until another guest came to visit Ming Zhen.

After leaving Ming Zhen's study, Flender asked Master, "What made you change your mind and agree to come see Saint Light Your Excellency with me?"

Master said nothing and simply kept walking.

Although the teachers had decided that they would go to Spirit City to watch the matches in the future, the children had to train even harder now if they wanted to enjoy themselves then. They were not allowed to bask in their victory for long before their next match arrived. That was right—they had to fight every city defense reserve squad. Yesterday's opponent had only been the first. After the city defense army learned about their martial souls and levels, the information between the two sides became unequal. Their opponents began devising tactics based on the characteristics of their martial souls, and Shrek soon found themselves in a sorry state.

Another person was also feeling rather bedraggled: Ning Fengzhi.

The uninvited Ming Zhen had descended upon the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect without warning and caught Ning Fengzhi completely off guard. It was like the sandstorm Ning Fengzhi had encountered while training on the grasslands in his youth, leaving him utterly disheveled.

The culprit was currently in his study, drinking his tea, reading his books, and criticizing his desk and chairs. Ning Fengzhi raised a hand to press against his throbbing temple. He was from Spirit Hall—there was no holding him back.

"What exactly did you come here for? You have your own residence, yet you insist on coming here to eat my cold looks."

Looking at the proposal on the desk for organizing the third Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Competition qualifying tournament, Ming Zhen was ecstatic inside. What a stroke of luck. Ning Fengzhi was personally handling this matter, making his goal even easier to achieve than he had imagined.

Yet he remained expressionless. "Oh? Sect Master Ning certainly has plenty of confidence on his own turf."

Ning Fengzhi took a breath. He endured it. He thought of Yunhua Your Excellency, thought of his precious daughter still in Calais City, and thought of adorable Sui Sui. "Speak. What do you need? If I can handle it, I'll handle it."

Ming Zhen finally revealed his true purpose. "Don't worry, I won't let you go without benefits. Let me show you a few good things first."

After examining the items, Ning Fengzhi pondered for a moment. "You want to sponsor the qualifying tournament? Have us use this equipment? That isn't impossible, but I have one condition."

"We can sign an agreement. Everything sold to you will be thirty percent off, but you can't tell anyone." Ming Zhen raised the offer first.

A trace of amusement appeared in Ning Fengzhi's eyes. "Shouldn't that be a given? Have I been sending you information every day for nothing? My condition is that Holy Light Douluo must be present during the competition. If anything happens to the Crown Prince, you must intervene."

Ming Zhen was surprised. "Are you sure? Just for Xue Qinghe's safety? What danger could there be that you, the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, can't handle?"

Ning Fengzhi remained silent, only looking at him.

"Since you insist, I agree. I'll just have to return a couple days early and ask the Emperor to let me watch the competition. It's nothing difficult. But let's be clear—only during the competition. I won't care about anything after it ends."

"It's not that I'm meddling. The current situation is truly impossible for me to see through. Spirit Hall's movements are strange, and Star Luo getting involved is also unusual. There's really no other way. We should protect him first, no matter what."

Ming Zhen shrugged. In any case, affairs in the Heaven Dou Imperial City had little to do with Calais City. He was just a businessman now and would not concern himself with such matters. Still, since Holy Light Douluo would be appearing, there was no problem with letting the Shrek Seven Devils come out to watch a match. He would tell Flender when he returned.

"Oh, right. Flender and the others will probably come to the Heaven Dou Imperial City to watch the competition as well. Ning Rongrong can come back and visit then." Ming Zhen deliberately tried to cheer him up.

The worry on Ning Fengzhi's face immediately vanished, replaced by a smile. Before he could speak, Sword Douluo exclaimed in delight, "Really? Rongrong is coming back? Hahahaha! Then we need someone to clean her room in advance. How much taller has Rongrong gotten? We should make several new outfits. Rongrong said in her last letter that there was an Emerald Angel in her dormitory. We should make a few new clothes for the little one too..."

Ning Fengzhi had no room to say anything at all. Ming Zhen smiled at him. "I'm leaving. The rest is up to you. Tell me once the date is set, and we'll come back." With that, he ran off.

Ning Fengzhi was furious. A sandstorm—stupid, foolish, and irritable—that was Ming Zhen!

After competing for some time, the children finally had a rare rest day. Calling it a rest day was not entirely accurate; there simply was no match today. They still had to cultivate, and they had agreed to review the matches from this period together.

Master was quite pleased that they had thought of this. He believed that thinking and reviewing matches were equally important processes. In particular, decisions made through instinct or subconsciousness during a match might leave no room for thought at the time, but afterward, they needed to carefully consider the effects those key decisions had produced.

After morning training, Ming Sui went to see Nian Nian first. There had not been enough time during the special training for anyone to care for it, so they had entrusted Nian Nian to Teacher A'tu. The little fellow had successfully gotten rounder.

Nian Nian had not seen Ming Sui in a long time and clung to her, unwilling to leave. After giving it some thought, Ming Sui greeted A'tu and simply carried it off to find the others. Seeing its long-lost little companions, Nian Nian became even more excited. It enthusiastically ran across Dai Mubai before snuggling up to the girls.

Tang San watched Nian Nian cuddling close to Ming Sui and pursed his lips. "I'll talk about the overall situation first. The traveling part at the beginning was fine. The main problem was that too many spirit beasts kept entangling us. But when we fought the other Soul Masters, we relied a little too much on the pressure brought by the quality of our martial souls. Some of our tactical handling wasn't refined enough, which caused some waste."

Ming Sui nodded. "That's right. We also have too few tactical patterns. The opponents don't even try to attack our backline anymore. We need to come up with more approaches. For example, Third Brother could protect the backline while I go to the front, or we could both go while Little Ma holds the line. We should try more possibilities."

Everyone became excited at that. Tang San was currently the team's main commander. Ming Sui only commanded when they fought one another in practice, and they had not yet tried letting Ming Sui command in an actual match.

"That's a good idea. Let's give them something fresh," Dai Mubai said with great interest. "Right now, we have an all-out attack style and a flexible style. We can also develop a control style. For example, Sui Sui's vines could start with group control, then we could break them apart one by one. We could also use the move from last time when Little Ma flew into the air—throw him up there and attack from above. An aerial style."

Xiao Wu added, "Zhuqing and I can also quickly cut into the backline and attack the opposing Support Spirit Masters first. In these past matches, we've only been providing support. We haven't taken the main attacking role yet."

Zhu Zhuqing nodded as well. "We've mostly been passively responding to team fights. We've hardly ever initiated an attack."

Oscar picked Nian Nian up from Ning Rongrong's side. "Rongrong and I can protect ourselves too. It's just that during team fights, some of the newly made sausages might not reach you in time."

"That will depend on Xiao San. We'll need a strand of Blue Silver Grass at Little Ao's side to pass the sausages around." Dai Mubai looked at Tang San, who nodded.

Ning Rongrong thought for a moment. "Should I also study how to use my tower to hit people?"