Arrival at Spirit City

Watching the retreating "bandits," Tang San's heart finally settled down. He couldn't understand why these terrifyingly powerful individuals would regard him as a thorn in their side. Not many people knew about his talent and background; apart from Oscar and a few of his original companions, absolutely no one else knew.

If Oscar wanted to kill him, why would he need to go through all this trouble? Why would he need to be trained like this?

Etc!

Suddenly, Tang San thought of someone—the only person besides Oscar and the others who knew about his talent and background.

Could it be...?

Just as he thought of this, Tang San shook his head violently. He couldn't believe it. Although that person had buried him for six years, surely he wouldn't do something like this? Besides, he was just a Soul Grandmaster. How could he possibly mobilize two Titled Douluo and so many powerful figures? But who else could it be besides that person? Tang San knew very well that after eliminating all other possibilities, even the last one, which he thought was impossible, would become possible.

For a moment, Tang San was speechless with shock. If it really was that person's doing, then he no longer needed to consider past favors.

The Fifth Elder slowly descended from the sky, and Oscar went straight to meet him. "Fifth Elder, how strong is that person?"

The Fifth Elder smiled slightly, "It's acceptable."

In fact, these Fifth Elders were just an avatar of Gai Yue. After all, to create momentum for the Sword Sect, some powerful figures were needed to support it, and an elder at the Titled Douluo level was enough.

It's normal for a gifted Young Sect Master to have someone secretly protecting him when he travels outside.

At this moment, Ning Fengzhi, Chen Xin, and Xue Qinghe approached from afar. Ning Fengzhi bowed slightly to the Fifth Elder: "Ning Fengzhi of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."

Chen Xin also bowed slightly to the Fifth Elder as a greeting.

Xue Qinghe also bowed and greeted the Heaven Dou Crown Prince: "I am Xue Qinghe."

The Fifth Elder returned the greeting with courtesy. "Fifth Elder of the Sword Sect, greetings from all of you."

Ning Fengzhi forced his opponent to retreat as soon as he appeared. The reason was simple: although his own offensive and defensive abilities were not strong, as long as he was there, one Titled Douluo was equivalent to two.

With his assistance, Sword Douluo Chen Xin alone would be enough to deal with Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo, not to mention the Fifth Elder of the Sword Sect and the Golden Sacred Dragon were also there!

"Dad, what brings you here?" Ning Rongrong excitedly rushed over and threw herself into Ning Fengzhi's arms.

Ning Fengzhi hugged his daughter and smiled, "I'm not here to protect you. I'm entrusted by His Your Majesty to protect His Highness the Crown Prince."

After speaking, Ning Fengzhi glanced at Oscar subtly. Oscar simply smiled and said nothing more.

As the representative of the Heaven Dou Empire, Crown Prince Xue Qinghe did not bring many attendants. In addition to the fifteen Soul Master Academy, he was also provided with a carriage, but he was not the only one in the carriage.

Ning Fengzhi and Sword Douluo Chen Xin were also included.

As the Crown Prince, Xue Qinghe is the future of the Heaven Dou Empire. How could Xue Ye allow him to personally risk his life? Therefore, he earnestly requests Ning Fengzhi to protect him secretly.

As the sect master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Fengzhi always has a powerful guardian by his side. This time, it is Sword Douluo who follows him, while Bone Douluo is stationed at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

In the previous battles, they hadn't rushed to appear. Originally, Chen Xin was prepared to make a move when the second Golden Eagle Soul Douluo was about to attack, but who knew that Oscar would have a protector.

In this way, the battle lost its suspense. When Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin appeared, they had already completely suppressed their opponents. Those two Titled Douluo were not fools, so they immediately led their subordinates to retreat.

Having forced their opponents to retreat, everyone felt a sense of relief. If the Soul Master Academy hadn't paid much attention when the 'bandits' first appeared, their hearts were in their throats when the two Titled Douluo appeared one after the other.

Those are Titled Douluo! There are four of them today, which is almost a quarter or a fifth of the total number of the entire continent (that's how it's described in the original novel). Compared to Titled Douluo, they are so insignificant.

Xue Qinghe fully demonstrated the imperial education he had received since childhood. As soon as the enemy retreated, he immediately and methodically began to direct the Royal Knights, pulling the undamaged carriages to the front, treating the warhorses, and restoring formation.

In a short while, apart from the warhorses that had died, most of the five hundred Royal Knights had recovered their fighting strength.

The black-clad bandits hadn't shown much killing intent during the initial exchange; most were merely engaging in defensive maneuvering to buy time for the two Titled Douluo. Therefore, the heaviest casualties were actually among the hundred or so people Tang San had killed with his poisoned Hidden Weapon.

Oscar watched Xue Qinghe directing the operation silently, a strange feeling stirring within him.

Oscar wondered if Xue Qinghe knew about this operation. This group's target was still Tang San, just like in the original story, but Tang San hadn't been exposed in this life.

What could be the reason?

After finishing his work, Xue Qinghe returned to Ning Fengzhi's side and respectfully asked, "Teacher, what do you think we should do next?"

Ning Fengzhi smiled calmly, "Continue to move forward according to the original plan. Having learned their lesson this time, they will not act rashly again. After all, they will not pay too high a price for Tang San."

Anyone with eyes can see that this operation is for Tang San. However, now that they know Ning Fengzhi, Chen Xin, and the Fifth Elder of the Sword Sect are in charge, unless they are fools, no one would dare to rush out and die at this time.

"Yes," Xue Qinghe said to the knight captain, "Continue forward."

The group continued forward, but the atmosphere had become noticeably tense. Tang San immediately boarded the Shrek Academy carriage, knowing that he had now become the center of attention.

The mission of those two Titled Douluo was clearly to kill him.

One failure does not mean they will fail again. Being targeted by a powerhouse of the Titled Douluo level is more than just a thorn in their side.

Afterwards, Oscar took Tang San to the carriage where Ning Fengzhi was and paid his Ning Fengzhi. To Oscar's surprise, Xue Qinghe was also in the carriage.

The appearance of Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin undoubtedly helped Tang San avoid this life-or-death crisis. The reason why Ning Fengzhi knew about Tang San was naturally because of Ning Rongrong.

After learning Tang San's identity, Ning Fengzhi actually wanted to befriend this young genius. Although Tang Hao was officially abandoned by the Clear Sky Sect today, everyone with eyes could see that with Tang San's talent, it was only a matter of time before he would gain the support of the Clear Sky Sect in the future.

Although Xue Qinghe was present, Oscar didn't treat him like an outsider when he spoke, since Xue Qinghe already knew most of what he needed to know.

After Tang San thanked Ning Fengzhi offered him some advice. However, Oscar ultimately advised Tang San to give up the competition, arguing that Tang San was indeed very outstanding: a member of the Clear Sky Sect, son of Tang Hao, level 44 at less than fifteen years old, and possessing Twin Martial Souls ...

These are all titles that would be enough for the Spirit Hall to kill, let alone when they are all concentrated on one person. However, in the end, Tang San did not choose to back down, but firmly decided to participate in this competition.

Tang San frowned, and after thinking for a moment, he shook his head. "No, I must participate in this competition."

"Uncle Ning, Senior Student, I understand what you mean, but I think this should also be an important test in my life. If I can get through it, then it will be much more difficult for the Spirit Hall to deal with me in the future. They can't always cover up everything."

Upon hearing this, Xue Qinghe silently stared at Tang San without saying a word.

"Alright, since you've made your decision, I won't try to persuade you anymore. Your uncle will do everything he can to ensure your safety." Ning Fengzhi's words were calm, but as the head of a sect, this was practically a promise he was making to Tang San.

"Uncle Ning, perhaps I cannot join the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, but as long as I live, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect will always be my friend," Tang San promised in his last words.

Oscar smiled silently and watched Xue Qinghe in thought.

Xue Qinghe noticed Oscar's gaze, then turned her head away, seemingly lost in thought.

When did the Spirit Hall become like this?

Oscar did not object to Tang San's decision, because this was the result he wanted to see. Moreover, Tang Hao might be spying on them from the shadows, so Tang San's safety was not a concern.

Now that the Fifth Elder has also stayed behind, along with Chen Xin and Ning Fengzhi, and considering Flender and Liu Erlong's Golden Sacred Dragon, any ordinary Titled Douluo who comes here would be sent to their death.

Back in the carriage, Oscar met with Flender and Flender Liu Erlong alone. Seeing the excitement on Liu Erlong faces, Oscar said, "Dean, this isn't the first time you've used the Golden Sacred Dragon with Teacher Erlong, so why are you so excited?"

Flender waved his hand dismissively. "Xiao Ao, you really have foresight. You left Xiao Gang's blood to make so many Copy Sausage. Now, all we need is me, Erlong, and one of my clones to form the Golden Sacred Dragon."

"Moreover, as my strength and Erlong's strength increase, the power of the Golden Sacred Dragon will continue to increase. You don't know, but Chrysanthemum Douluo is a level 95 Super Douluo."

"Do you understand that feeling when we managed to stop him for so long?"

Liu Erlong, standing to the side, was similar to Flender. She fought against a Titled Douluo with the strength of level 79 and was not injured. This was enough to shock countless people.

At this moment, besides Flender and Liu Erlong, there was another middle-aged man inside the carriage who resembled Flender. He was Flender's clone, but this clone had consumed Sausage made from Yu Xiaogang's blood and could only exert the strength of level 29.

However, despite this, it is still much Yu Xiaogang. After all, although this clone can only exert the strength of level 29, it has the Soul Power reserve of a Soul Douluo, which increases the usage time and power of their Martial Soul Fusion Skill by more than several times.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to stop Yue Guan, a level 95 Super Douluo.

In a teahouse on a street in Spirit City, Tang Hao was quite shocked when he saw Yu Xiaogang appear there, because the three young men accompanying him were all exceptionally talented.

According to his information, the three young men beside Yu Xiaogang are the current Golden Generation of the Spirit Hall, who are only around twenty years old and have already reached the Spirit King Realm.

Seeing Yu Xiaogang so close to these three young men, his gaze turned somewhat gloomy. This scoundrel abandoned his son and switched sides to the Spirit Hall.

In other words, Tang Hao was unaware that his son had been ambushed and killed; otherwise, he would have definitely been unable to resist going up and tearing Yu Xiaogang to pieces.

Because only Yu Xiaogang knew his identity, and Tang Hao even gave Yu Xiaogang the Elder Token he had on him, he never expected that this scoundrel would directly defect to the Spirit Hall? Tang Hao wanted to find Yu Xiaogang to ask him for clarification, but Spirit City was full of dangers, not to mention that these three Golden Generation were treasures of the Spirit Hall. If he messed with them here, he probably wouldn't be able to leave either.

Tang Hao glanced at the heavily guarded Spirit City; he needed to think about his escape route...

The Heaven Dou Empire's participating soul master team continued their journey. No further incidents occurred along the way. To better protect these Soul Masters, Xue Qinghe temporarily transferred 3,000 Ironclad Army soldiers from the cities they passed through to assist in their protection. He also summoned some Soul Master experts from the capital to come quickly.

Finally, on the twenty-first day, the entire team arrived at Spirit City. Due to the special regulations of Spirit City, Xue Qinghe ordered the Ironclad Army and the Royal Knights to garrison outside the city, and led fifteen Soul Master teams into Spirit City.

Compared to a massive city like Heaven Dou City, Spirit City Spirit City much smaller, only about one-third the size of Heaven Dou City. However, it still manages to amaze Soul Master.

Despite its small size, Spirit City's city walls were built entirely according to the standards of a capital city. The walls, reaching a height of eighty meters, are extremely imposing from the outside, and are over thirty meters thick, constructed entirely of granite.

This city didn't exist originally; it was entirely built with funds from the Spirit Hall. How easy was it to build such a city? What's most peculiar is that Spirit City isn't a quadrilateral like ordinary cities, but a hexagon, meaning it has six walls.

All those patrolling the city walls were Soul Master, dressed in the special uniforms of the Spirit Hall.

On each of the six city walls, there is a huge relief, exactly the same as the one on the Spirit Hall token, symbolizing six powerful Martial Soul.

Upon entering Spirit City, one is struck by its emptiness. There are few pedestrians on the streets and even fewer shops, most of which sell items needed by Soul Master.

A cardinal came out of Spirit City to greet them, and under his leadership, the group of more than two hundred people were quickly settled in.

They stayed at an inn on the west side of Spirit City. To everyone's surprise, even the inn's staff were all Soul Grandmaster with at least level 20 Soul Power.

The hexagonal Spirit City is built around a hill, on which stand two very prominent buildings.

The building halfway up the mountain is the most magnificent; it can be clearly seen even from this distance.

It was a completely columned structure with a dome, and the exterior of the building was covered with a golden material that shimmered in the sunlight. That was the brand-new Pope's Palace, where the supreme ruler of the Spirit Hall resided.

P. S.: Typos will be corrected first and then fixed later.