He had twisted the differences in the Heavenly Treasures' inherent grades into the result of the Shrek members not working hard enough.
This way, at least in the short term, the Shrek members would not notice anything amiss.
Even if they realized it later, the Soul Master Tournament would already be over. Any discord within the team would no longer matter.
"Get yourselves ready. I'll arrange for Dean Flender to take you Soul Hunting. At the very least, you'll enter the Soul Master Tournament as a team made up entirely of Soul Ancestors, with a fair chance of winning the championship." Tang Hao raised his expectations for the Shrek members.
Tang Hao's main objectives were not complicated. First, Spirit Hall had increased the prizes for the Soul Master Tournament. Three Soul Bones were enough to tempt even a Titled Douluo like him.
Second, if they won the championship, Spirit Hall could never renege under everyone's watchful eyes. The thought of biting off Three Soul Bones from Spirit Hall filled Tang Hao with immense satisfaction.
Of course, this was merely the interest he was collecting from Spirit Hall.
After hearing Tang Hao's words, even someone as dim as Ma Hongjun understood that he had lost his place in the starting lineup.
Even if he worked closely with Tang San and the others, Tai Long had outright acknowledged Tang San as his master. Whether in closeness or strength, Ma Hongjun could not compare to Tai Long.
Besides, Tai Long was a strength-type Soul Master with formidable defenses of his own, making him better suited than Ma Hongjun to protecting the team's back line.
Though Ma Hongjun felt helpless, he was not actually that invested in the Soul Master Tournament. If the team achieved better results, he could bask in their reflected glory