Rich Second-Gen's Thirtieth Day

Tang San had been in Douluo Continent for over a decade. How could he possibly fail to understand what Dai Mubai meant? Not to mention the native-born Oscar and Ma Hongjun.

For the first time in ages, Tang San felt what it was like to be scorched by fire. He was from Spirit Hall—had Dai Mubai lost all restraint once he had revealed his secret?

The bedroom fell silent. Then a piercing burst of noise suddenly erupted, only to be deliberately lowered for fear of waking the girls across the way. In the end, it turned into one sentence: "To hell with Spirit Hall!"

"No, no, Dai Laoda, what is all this supposed to mean? What do you mean, offer fruit tea? Third Brother and Sui Sui... damn it, Third Brother, say something!" Ma Hongjun stammered. Ma Hongjun was at a loss. Ma Hongjun was wildly excited.

His Third Brother was still playing dead, while his Second Brother, Oscar, was immersed in savoring this earth-shattering piece of gossip.

Only his eldest brother had suddenly become energetic, chattering on and on about how he had discovered that someone wanted to offer fruit tea to his idol, Saint Light Your Excellency.

"He copied me by bringing snacks to Zhuqing. This time, he stuffed tasty food into Sui Sui's hands in the carriage, and he kept sneaking glances at her. After every fight, he'd inspect her with his eyes. Last time Xiao Wu ran out of strength and Sui Sui went to carry her—oh, the resentment on his face..."

Oscar and Ma Hongjun went from "Oh," to "Ahhh," to "Hiss," to "Ha."

Was he really that obvious? Dai Laoda had noticed—what about the others? Did Sui Sui know? Tang San's thoughts were in complete turmoil, and all he heard was Dai Mubai saying, "I don't think Sui Sui has caught on yet. You can tell at a glance—she's always so open and natural, never blushes."

He could not tell whether he felt relieved or disappointed. Tang San could not help asking, "She really hasn't caught on?"

"Xiao San, you're beyond saving," Dai Mubai clicked his tongue. Given Tang San's usual temperament, once he exposed something like this, Tang San should have had to humble himself for a while before speaking to him again. And during their next team battle, he would definitely get roughed up a little. But now he was already talking to him. He was finished.

As for Oscar and Ma Hongjun, two experts who deeply understood the importance of respecting their Control System teammates, although they had never offered fruit tea themselves, immediately began drawing on their extensive experience to help their Control System teammate solve his troubles.

"Third Brother, let me tell you, you need to be subtle, like rain nourishing things in silence. It doesn't matter that she hasn't caught on yet. But once she does, I guarantee you'll be the first person she thinks of." Ma Hongjun spoke with great authority.

"Xiao San, atmosphere is important too. You need someone to give her a push. Don't worry—in the future, I'll be your best wingman." That was Oscar.

Dai Mubai, who had offended Tang San the most deeply, was once again trampled on by his two good brothers.

Dai Mubai gritted his teeth, thinking of how badly he had suffered whenever he fought Tang San. "I'll definitely keep an eye on Sui Sui for you. If there are any signs, any troubling tendencies, I'll snuff them out immediately."

That would do for now. In any case, Tang San had never intended to keep this matter secret. He smugly curled his lips, thinking that he had gained three free assistants. He slept soundly that night, then got up the next morning and gave Nian Nian a massage, serving the young miss until she purred happily.

The qualifying matches were held at Heaven Dou Royal Academy. Broadcast screens had been installed around the enormous Spirit Fighting Arena, allowing the spectators in the stands to clearly see every detail of the battles.

The Shrek group went straight to Ming Zhen's private box. A high-definition display screen had also been installed inside, letting them watch the match directly. The table had been laid with all kinds of tea and snacks, so they could eat while watching. Their comfort level was maxed out.

Ming Zhen had not arrived yet, so Ming Sui ushered everyone to sit down and watch. Then she took out paper and pens. This was homework—they needed to analyze the battles and write reports afterward.

When the time came, an elder took the stage. With great ceremony, he welcomed the emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, several important members of the royal family, Bishop Salas of Spirit Hall, Sect Master Ning of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and a number of distinguished guests. He then praised the Heaven Dou Empire's royal family for their outstanding contributions to the development of the academy. Only after listening for quite a while did everyone realize that this was one of Heaven Dou Royal Academy's education committee members. Ming Sui secretly glanced at Flender. Thankfully, Flender was not like this. Looking at the others, they too had vacant expressions in their eyes. At long last, the speech reached the part about thanking His Majesty, thanking the royal family, and thanking the academy, and everyone instantly perked up.

The real show was here. The referee entered the arena. She was also a member of the royal family; the son of a prince from a closely related royal branch was her husband. With a solemn expression, the referee walked to the center of the arena and began reading the rules, after which the two teams entered.

The captain of Heaven Dou's first team was Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, while the captain of Heaven Dou's second team was Xue Ling, son of Prince Xue Xing. Prince Xue Xing had never gotten along with the Crown Prince and strongly supported the Fourth Prince, Xue Beng. In other words, this qualifying match was actually a confrontation between the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince.

The two teams put on their armbands. After the referee once again reminded them that anyone whose armband turned red or who left the boundaries of the arena would be eliminated, she revealed her Spirit: yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black. Nine Spirit Rings in the optimal configuration revolved around a greatsword Spirit.

A Titled Douluo! The spectators immediately grew excited. This was a Titled Douluo they had never seen before!

Ming Sui searched through her memories, trying to recall which Titled Douluo this was. Seeing her deep in thought, Ning Rongrong said helplessly, "That's Skybreaker Douluo. Someone from the royal family married her—ah, no, the two of them got married."

Right, right, it was her—the cool and dashing older sister. Ming Sui nodded. "Your Excellency is very decisive. I've met her and her spouse before; they complement each other very well."

Skybreaker Douluo poured Soul Power into a device around the arena. A thin film seemed to cover the entire platform. "This is a protective barrier. When someone's armband turns red, it will automatically protect the eliminated person. But you still need to be careful. Don't get too carried away fighting." As she spoke, the membrane became invisible again and did not obstruct anyone's view of the match.

In the stands, Salas sat beside the emperor and smiled as he praised, "Your country has prepared quite thoroughly this time."

The emperor wore the same diplomatic smile. "We have Sect Master Ning to thank for that. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect truly lives up to its reputation. This thing is excellent—it can protect Spirit Masters. Nothing could be better."

As they spoke, both teams had already released their Spirits. The fourteen dazzlingly colorful Spirits bloomed at once, prompting cheers from the spectators. Shouts of praise and encouragement filled the air, and the atmosphere instantly became heated.

The most eye-catching Spirits were naturally the two identical Swan Spirits on either side, belonging to Xue Qinghe and Xue Ling respectively.

Salas said unhurriedly, "Your country's royal family certainly produces remarkable talent."

Prince Xue Xing, seated behind the emperor, was thoroughly disgusted by his sarcastic tone and gave a soft snort.

Down in the arena, Yu Tiancheng, the Assault System Spirit Master from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan on the first team, was fiercely clashing with the second team's Assault System Ice Bear Spirit Master. Both were four-ring Soul Ancestors. Every collision between Thunder Dragon Claw and the solid-ice bear paw sent shards of ice flying and left crackling remnants of thunder in the air.

When Master saw the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Spirit, his expression darkened and his lips pressed into a thin line.

"They're just letting those two collide head-on? Why isn't the Agile Attack System going after the support? Why don't the other Spirit Masters understand?" Ma Hongjun could not make sense of it.

It still took the young miss Ning to dig up information on the two from her memory. "Those two have been at odds for a long time. Maybe they agreed on it beforehand—the two of them fight first, and everyone else fights afterward."

The two teams had identical Spirit Ring configurations, their Spirits were all of high quality, and their support Spirits were both Swan Spirits. The only difference was that the second team's Spirits were all ice or water attribute, giving their team better compatibility. Oscar muttered, "The Ice Bear Spirit is at a disadvantage now. It would have been better off fighting with the team."

No matter how the experts viewed it, the spectators watching the match were having a feast for the eyes. There was a dragon and a bear, and they were fighting with real force. One Spirit Skill followed another, thoroughly living up to the audience's expectations.

"What kind of tactic is this?" Xiao Wu pinched her ears. Even inside the private box, she could hear the audience cheering outside.

"How is this not part of a tactic?" Ming Zhen entered the room and waved to stop everyone from standing. "Including this match—who knows whose tactic it is?"

Dai Mubai frowned, while the others seemed not to have heard him.

Ming Zhen sighed inwardly. Other than the one he could not recruit, why did none of the rest have any instinct for scheming? Especially you, Ming Sui—what was a father supposed to do with you? Then he noticed Tang San's thoughtful expression and felt a little comforted.

Amid the cheers of the audience, the Ice Bear was knocked down by the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon. Skybreaker Douluo had just dragged the Ice Bear Spirit Master out when she saw that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Spirit Master was also swaying on his feet. Fine, this one was done too. Sure enough, a few breaths later, she had to drag the dragon out as well.

Both sides had suffered crippling losses. Xue Qinghe's expression changed for an instant.

Xue Ling spoke, his voice as cold as ice. "Your Highness, forgive my offense."

"Ice Sky Snow Land!"

All four Spirit Rings of the Swan Spirit lit up at once, their light connecting simultaneously to the other five people. In an instant, the arena turned into a world of ice and snow. Snowflakes filled the air, and visibility blurred.

Xue Qinghe remained calm. The Vermillion Bird Spirit Master on the first team took the initiative to break the situation, lighting up her first and second Spirit Rings at the same time and firing flame projectiles. But the melted snow quickly turned back into ice.

"Shadow Ghost Leopard, attack their support! Diamond Elephant, protect me! The rest of you, watch your Soul Power consumption. Maintaining this domain must be extremely draining—hold them off until they exhaust their Soul Power, and we'll win."

Xue Qinghe's thinking remained clear. That was indeed the right approach. The Tian Dou First Team's offensive formation instantly shifted to one centered on defense. Even under the cover of the domain, the Second Team's Ice Fox and Xue Yan Soul Masters were unable to break through their defenses.

On the other side, however, the Shadow Soul Master and Ghost Leopard Soul Master also began attacking Xue Ling. The Second Team's Ice Bull and Ice Turtle Soul Masters met them head-on. Both teams were now pitting agile attackers against defenders, and with the boost of the Ice Snow Domain, the Second Team's members were even more at ease.

This grand spectacle thoroughly thrilled the audience.

In the stands, Salas continued praising Crown Prince Xue Qinghe to the emperor—calm judgment, unflinching in crisis, masterful command. His compliments made the emperor's smile grow much more genuine, while Prince Xue Xing behind him wore a grave expression.

"The Second Team is going to lose," Tang San and Ming Sui said at the same time.