Star Luo City

Although Lin Yun saw what the Sun Moon Empire was up to, he had no intention of calling them out on it.

He had only just transmigrated when he was confronted with his original body's parents' deaths, and nearly got himself killed by Shrek for being an Evil Soul Master.

After that, he had studied at Shrek Academy, where even surviving each day had been a struggle.

He felt no sense of belonging to any of the four great empires.

As a transmigrator who had arrived in one piece, he figured the four great empires could fight all they wanted. In any case, in this era, as long as a Limit Douluo didn't want to die, no one could kill them.

Lin Yun had made up his mind: all he had to do was arm himself with every resource and means available.

As for the other empires' disputes, so long as they didn't come bothering him, he could simply pretend they weren't there.

While Lin Yun was mulling over his thoughts, Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen sat across from him, their eyes fixed on him.

Ma Rulong had already persuaded Xiao Hongchen that he could accept taking a slight loss in his dealings with Lin Yun, and that he should do his best not to pick a fight with him.

But Xiao Hongchen was still unconvinced. In the past few days, he had suffered more losses at Lin Yun's hands than he had in the previous five years combined.

If Lin Yun had known what Xiao Hongchen was thinking, he would have looked utterly innocent. It was rare to find a rich kid with such a simple mind.

Xiao Hongchen had a whole host of grievances, but the rest of the journey went very smoothly.

After all, the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy didn't have such lofty ideals. They weren't going to stop along the way to hunt Evil Soul Masters.

Lin Yun was actually curious to see how the strongest Soul King, Mr. Death God, would fare in this timeline.

After all, in this timeline, some of Mr. Death God's achievements as the Death God Soul King had already been taken care of ahead of time by the Blood Saber Douluo.

At that moment, the most undignified Mr. Death God was being chased around and beaten like a spinning top.

Two days later, on the afternoon of the second day, the aircraft carrying the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy team landed outside Star Luo City.

After they landed, the teacher in charge had the two teams get ready and straighten out their slightly disheveled clothes. Then they entered Star Luo City through the dedicated entrance prepared by the Star Luo Empire.

The two teams, their accompanying teachers, and the support staff, including several cooks, made up a grand group of nearly thirty people as they entered Star Luo City.

Once inside the city, their style of dress was completely different from that of the locals, naturally drawing plenty of attention.

The Star Luo Empire and the Sun Moon Empire were bitter enemies. The Star Luo Empire in particular had even launched attacks on the Sun Moon Empire through public opinion.

So when the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy team arrived, they naturally faced all sorts of nitpicking and snide remarks.

At first, Xiao Hongchen had scoffed at the comments. Then his barbs grew sharper and sharper, until he couldn't help turning around in anger.

Lin Yun was quick to react. He grabbed Xiao Hongchen and pulled him back toward the group.

"If you don't want to drag us into trouble—or make your sister suffer for it—then don't sweat the small stuff."

"Can't you see the Star Luo Empire's guards all along the street? If you lay a hand on them, you'll be arrested the very next moment."

"We may have considerable immunity, but that only applies to public prosecution. If they kick you, punch you, or slap you while they're dragging you off, there's no one you can complain to."

Xiao Hongchen gradually tamped down his anger, then patted Lin Yun on the arm to show he understood.

"Bunch of big mouths. By the way, what's that smell on your hand?"

Lin Yun glanced at his hand and chuckled.

"Aw, I just had the runs and didn't wash my hands."

Xiao Hongchen: "Ugh!"

Suppressing a laugh, Lin Yun kept walking. Nothing else happened along the way.

When they reached the hotel the Star Luo Empire had prepared for the competitors, they registered at the front desk.

The Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy had been runner-up at the previous Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament.

Though they hadn't been champions, they still enjoyed certain privileges. Like the previous champions, Shrek Academy, they were assigned rooms on the top floor.

They occupied half the rooms on that floor. Not only did everyone get a room of their own, they also had a private dining room and a dedicated strategy room.

Clearly, despite the tensions between the two nations, the Star Luo Empire recognized the commercial value of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy team when it came to a money-making event like this.

And they showed that commercial value the respect it deserved.

It was a world apart from the ordinary people who had been blinded by public opinion.

Lin Yun even noticed a few little details that hadn't been mentioned in the original story.

For instance, some of the young female staff at the hotel were quite interested in the male students on the main team.

Ma Rulong had only just escaped their clutches. When he returned to the strategy room, he still carried the scent of women's perfume.

Lin Yun couldn't resist teasing him.

"Not bad, Captain Ma. You've only been in Star Luo for a few hours, and you've already had a romantic encounter."

Ma Rulong's expression was stern as he replied, "Keep running your mouth and I'll kick you down to the second floor. I mean, you're from the Star Luo Empire too. Are all you Star Luo people this uninhibited?"

Lin Yun smiled. "Whether someone's uninhibited depends on who they're with. If you've got high commercial value, what you've seen so far doesn't even count as uninhibited."

Ma Rulong slapped the table. "That doesn't count? If they got any more uninhibited, would they suck me dry?"

Lin Yun smiled. "If they were really uninhibited, you wouldn't be able to get up right now."

Ma Rulong shuddered. At that moment, the teacher in charge tapped the tabletop in front of him.

"All right, all right. You two captains, settle down. I've gathered everyone here for our first pre-tournament briefing."

"First of all, Shrek Academy is in the middle of changing its roster for this tournament. Some new academies have appeared among the three original nations of the Douluo Continent as well. Almost all of them obtained their qualifications through special channels."

"By the standards of an academy's history, several of these teams' academies don't actually qualify."

"So our first task is to gather enough intelligence."

"Ideally, by the first few rounds of the tournament, we'll have a good grasp of the latest situation at most of the academies."

"At this stage, I'd like to entrust the intelligence-gathering work to the reserve team under Captain Lin. What do you think, Captain Lin?"

The teacher in charge wasn't targeting anyone with this suggestion. The intelligence-gathering wouldn't involve any dangerous activities like silencing witnesses.

The main team needed to rest and prepare for the upcoming tournament. As for the reserve team, they obviously wouldn't have many chances to compete in the early elimination rounds.

At the very least, they wouldn't be the first choice to take the field, so they would have more free time than the main team...