Douluo: One Man Returns, Heaven-Defying Seal Smashes Tang San to Death — Section 35

"Sure!" The young man grinned, set the hare beside Lu Yu, then eagerly ran off to sit down some distance away.

The first young man to return with prey was Feng Xiaotian, captain of Godwind Academy's student representative team and the leading figure among Godwind Academy's current generation of students.

Lu Yu's rule was that the students were to hunt game by their own abilities. The first ten to bring their prey before him would earn a spot.

On the surface, Lu Yu seemed approachable, sacrificing his own cultivation time to grill meat for everyone else.

But no one knew that he had other motives...

The students from the various academies were generally not very highly cultivated. Most were around Rank 30, and only a handful had reached Rank 40.

Since Lu Yu intended to build his own foundation, he naturally could not place all his hopes on Blue Tyrant Academy.

On the surface, he was helping people grill meat, but in truth, he had already spread out his spiritual power, observing every student's hunting process.

If he found promising talent, he would not mind poaching a few people from the Five Great Elemental Academies.

Feng Xiaotian was one of the targets Lu Yu had set his sights on.

Feng Xiaotian's cultivation had reached Rank 41. Though he had only just obtained his fourth soul ring, he was already the strongest among the Five Great Elemental Academies. Moreover, Lu Yu knew that he possessed Innate Full Soul Power and the mutated martial soul, Gale Twin-Headed Wolf. At such a young age, he had even created his own soul skill. He could certainly be called a genius.

In Lu Yu's view, Feng Xiaotian was better than many of the Shrek Seven Devils. He had simply lacked the right opportunities.

Before long, the roasted rabbit was ready. Lu Yu tossed it to Feng Xiaotian.

During that time, nine more students had gradually brought back their prey.

Lu Yu put all the game over the fire at once. Once it was cooked, he distributed it to everyone before beginning to eat himself.

After finishing the wild boar leg in his hand, Lu Yu clapped his hands to draw everyone's attention, then said softly, "Everyone, once we enter Star Luo Empire territory, I'll be focusing on cultivation inside the carriage."

The moment he said this, everyone instantly understood what he meant. Quite a few faces fell, and the roasted meat in their hands suddenly no longer seemed appetizing.

They had enjoyed delicious food all along the way, yet Lu Yu was suddenly quitting. The news had come far too abruptly.

Just then, a smile appeared on Lu Yu's face as he changed his tone.

"If anyone is willing to join our Heaven Dou Royal Academy, I wouldn't mind sparing some time for my own classmates..."

Everyone froze.

The teachers from the various academies who had been watching the commotion from afar wore especially colorful expressions.

Good lord!

This was blatant poaching!

Looking at Lu Yu in the camp, everyone's gazes turned strange.

This guy...

Did he really think he could poach all these geniuses to Heaven Dou Royal Academy with nothing but grilled meat?

What a joke!

But at that moment, a blue-haired girl with short hair, her cheeks puffed out as she chewed on roasted meat, raised her hand and said indistinctly, "M-me-me! Handsome Lu! I can!"

"Bang!"

But in the next instant, a long-haired girl who looked seventy to eighty percent similar to her punched her on the head. She glanced at Lu Yu and smiled apologetically in a cool voice. "Sorry, my little sister has a stutter. What she meant to say was, 'I can't.'"

With that, she dragged the short-haired girl toward Skywater Academy's carriage.

The students from the other academies also scattered. Feng Xiaotian ran toward Blazing Fire Academy's carriage and stopped before a strikingly beautiful, tall girl with dark-red wavy hair. He handed her a rabbit leg and said, "Sister Huo Wu! I saved this especially for you! Hurry and eat it while it's hot!"

In the distance, Lu Yu shook his head with a laugh and turned to board the carriage.

Among the students from the various academies, a few of them were truly rather odd.

For instance... that lovestruck short-haired girl, Shui Yue'er...

Or Feng Xiaotian, who possessed the "Two-Headed Bootlicker" martial soul...

And Hu Yanli, who was supposedly "unyielding and steadfast" yet bent the knee for grilled meat...

In another carriage, Meng Shenji was already overjoyed. He had not expected Lu Yu to pull something like this.

But if Lu Yu could truly poach a few geniuses from the various academies, it would undoubtedly be a tremendous boon for Heaven Dou Royal Academy!

However, among the Five Great Elemental Academies, Thunder Academy's students had always kept their distance from Lu Yu.

Meng Shenji and Lu Yu both knew that Yu Tianxin, captain of Thunder Academy's student representative team, was Yu Tianheng's cousin. The two had a close relationship.

Presumably, Yu Tianheng's crushing defeat at Lu Yu's hands had dealt him a heavy blow, which was why Yu Tianxin harbored some hostility toward Lu Yu.

Lu Yu did not care. Thunder Academy's students were not particularly impressive, and only Yu Tianxin had some merit. But he was a direct descendant of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and could never betray his family, so Lu Yu could not be bothered to waste time on him.

Early the next morning, the convoy set out once more and entered Star Luo Empire territory.

Although the students remained relaxed, the imperial experts brought by Xue Qinghe and the teachers from the various academies had clearly become far more cautious.

Inside the carriage, Lu Yu, who had been cultivating cross-legged, suddenly opened his eyes. He frowned, deep in thought.

He had noticed something was off ever since they set out.

The various academies had only sent a few teachers.

Meng Shenji had personally come with Heaven Dou Royal Academy because Lu Yu was incomparably important to Heaven Dou Imperial Medical Academy.

As for Skywater Academy, Shui Ningyan's stepdaughter, Shui Yue'er, and her biological daughter, Shui Bing'er, were both among the student team. It was only natural for her to personally join the exchange delegation.

But Hu Yanzhen, the sect master of Elephant Armor Sect, was truly suspicious.

As one of the Heavenly Dou Empire's Seven Great Sects, although Elephant Armor Sect was comparatively weak, it was still far stronger than the various academies. It could easily have sent another eight-ring expert to oversee things. Why did its sect master have to make the trip personally?

Most importantly...

Although Xue Qinghe was only the Crown Prince, he controlled most of the Heavenly Dou Empire's power. Relations between the Heaven Dou Imperial Family and the Star Luo Empire were tense. Why would he, the Crown Prince, personally place himself in danger?

If the Star Luo Empire disregarded the consequences and forcibly detained Xue Qinghe, or even secretly eliminated him, the Heavenly Dou Empire would surely descend into chaos!

Something unusual was bound to be suspicious. Coupled with Xue Qinghe's true identity and the fact that, in the original story, Elephant Armor Sect had long been secretly colluding with Spirit Hall, Lu Yu became increasingly convinced that something was wrong.

This seemingly simple exchange between the two empires likely concealed a deeper scheme!

And it was definitely related to Spirit Hall!

Lu Yu knew that Spirit Hall's ambitions were vast. Before its plans were fully laid out, Bibi Dong would never allow the two great empires to notice anything amiss. Naturally, she could not cause trouble in the Star Luo Empire's capital either.

Which meant...

If Spirit Hall wanted to make a move, it could only strike while the exchange delegation was traveling to and from its destination!

They had traveled safely through Heavenly Dou Empire territory, and now that they had entered the Star Luo Empire, if anything happened to the delegation, the blame could be placed entirely on the Star Luo Empire.

Therefore, Lu Yu was certain that the road ahead would not be peaceful!

For three consecutive days, nothing major happened. Other than during meals, Lu Yu remained cultivating in the carriage.

After the incident from three days earlier, the students from the various academies intentionally kept a certain distance from him.

The only exception was Shui Yue'er...

Not only was the girl lovestruck, she was also extraordinarily bold. She made no attempt to hide her admiration for Lu Yu. Whenever she had the chance, she would run to his carriage, chattering away and asking all sorts of questions.

Every time, it was only when her elder sister Shui Bing'er could no longer stand it that she forcibly dragged her back.

Shui Ningyan did not stop her. It was unclear whether she simply had no way of dealing with her daughter or wanted to let things take their natural course...

Then, on the fourth day, something finally happened!

The imperial delegation encountered a group of bandits. The other side was rather strong, with several Soul Kings and two Soul Emperors, but before the experts of the various academies and the imperial family, they were utterly vulnerable.

However, the bandits fled quickly. In order to look after the students, the imperial delegation's experts did not pursue them, only killing a few insignificant underlings.

But this made Lu Yu even more certain of his suspicions!

A test!

This was very likely Spirit Hall testing the strength of the imperial delegation!

On the fifth day, a sudden change occurred!

As the convoy traveled onward, a terrifying pressure suddenly descended. The horses pulling the carriages instantly panicked, and the entire convoy fell into chaos.

Lu Yu jumped from the carriage at once, while Meng Shenji immediately came to his side.

Meng Shenji's most important task on this journey was to protect Lu Yu. When the convoy had faced the bandits previously, Meng Shenji had not acted at all and had remained by Lu Yu's side the entire time.

"Chief Meng, what's going on?"

Lu Yu narrowed his eyes. Possessing Dao resonance, he was naturally unaffected by that pressure.

But he could sense that this pressure was more than a hundred times stronger than that old Soul Emperor woman he had faced before!

A Soul Douluo? Or a Title Douluo?

"A powerful enemy has come! It may very well be a Title Douluo! Don't leave my side!" Meng Shenji's expression was grave.