[Note: If no one enters a camp within one hour, every camp will be deemed to have failed the mission!]

Klee covered her face and ran toward Favonius Cathedral, sobbing.

All that remained were a disoriented Lumine and Emergency Food, along with—every living being on the Douluo Continent, completely dumbfounded!

"Wait, this treasure—is actually a bomb?"

"No, weren't we told this treasure was that thing called a Gnosis?"

"Isn't this a complete disaster?"

Just as countless people stood stunned and shocked, the Heavenly Dao's majestic voice rang out!

[The Heaven Dou Empire camp's contestant "Ma Hongjun" has lost the ability to fight and fallen unconscious. He is deemed to have failed the mission and will now be teleported back to the Douluo Continent.]

[Mission failure penalty: The Soul Power Level of all members of the Heaven Dou Empire will be reduced to the first level of their respective Spirit Master ranks. The mental power and spiritual awareness of all future contestants will be reduced by fifty percent!]

[The Teleportation Gate is now open again. All camps may send contestants through the gate to undertake the mission!]

[Note: If no one enters a camp within one hour, every camp will be deemed to have failed the mission!]

As the voice faded, the Heaven Dou Empire's Teleportation Gate flashed red. Ma Hongjun's charred body shot out like a lump of burnt phlegm coughed up by an old man, then tumbled to the ground.

Even the members of the Spirit Hall Empire atop Jialing City's walls saw the whole scene clearly.

"This—"

Inside the Heaven Dou Empire's military tent!

Xue Beng was faring all right. He was only a Soul King, and his Soul Power Level had merely fallen to fifty-one.

But—

Tang Xiao, the Clear Sky Sect's five great elders, Dugu Bo, Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, Oscar, and the other Titled Douluo were not so lucky!

Tang Xiao most of all!

He hadn't even understood what the voice meant when a feeling like air leaking out of him surged through his body. His Soul Power Level, which had reached the peak of level ninety-seven, plummeted like a deflating ball. In less than two and a half minutes, it had fallen to level ninety-one!

The same thing happened to Dai Mubai, whose Soul Power Level had peaked at level ninety-five, and the other Titled Douluo. Their Soul Power Levels also plunged to level ninety-one!

It was just like the Titled Douluo rank they had entered after absorbing their ninth Spirit Ring.

"This—"

"How could this happen!?"

"Why has my Soul Power fallen to level ninety-one!?"

After a brief silence, the Titled Douluo erupted into an uproar!

They had to understand!

With the exception of the Clear Sky Sect's four great elders, nearly all the Titled Douluo of the Heaven Dou Empire had been above level ninety-two. Not a single one of them had been a level-ninety-one Titled Douluo!

But now—

Tang Xiao abruptly raised his head and fixed Yu Xiaogang with a fierce, icy stare. "Grandmaster, what was it you just said?"

Yu Xiaogang, "*"

Tang Xiao's words were like a soul-piercing interrogation.

Yu Xiaogang's face instantly stiffened!

Under the mission's penalty, his Soul Power Level had also dropped from—He opened his mouth, but couldn't say a word. "This—"

"Enough, enough!"

Liu Erlong couldn't bear to watch. "Who could have known that the treasure the little girl mentioned was actually a bomb?"

"What kind of decent person calls a bomb a treasure?"

Tang Xiao chuckled. "If you didn't know that, then what were you saying just now?"

"What, sending my uncle to risk his life once wasn't enough? Now you want to use your students as sacrificial lambs?"

Flender wasn't having it. "His Excellency Xiaotian, don't you think that's going too far?"

Liu Erlong chimed in, "Exactly. We did it all for the Heaven Dou Empire. How did that become sending people to their deaths?"

"You were just lucky you didn't die!"

Tang Xiao snorted. "Out of all the people who took part, only my younger brother Hao truly died for his country!"

"Yu Xiaogang, are you trying to make every member of my Clear Sky Sect die as heroes?"

At those words, the Shrek Four Monsters, who had been about to smooth things over, and even Xue Beng, the Heaven Dou Emperor, fell silent. None of them dared speak up.

If this had only been about taking sides, they could have said a thing or two. But making an entire clan die as heroes—They hadn't forgotten that Tang San still bore the Tang surname!

Speak up for the Clear Sky Sect?

But Yu Xiaogang was Tang San's teacher, and their mentor too!

So—

The best thing to do was keep their mouths shut.

"This—"

Tang Xiao's words had indeed left Flender and Yu Xiaogang at a loss for words. They stewed in silence until their faces turned red, but neither could manage a reply.

"Enough, enough!"

Liu Erlong snorted. "Fine. The three of us will go next time. That'll settle it, right?"

As she spoke, she grabbed Flender with one hand and Yu Xiaogang with the other, then started dragging them toward the Teleportation Gate.

"Hey, Erlong, calm down, calm down!"

The sight nearly scared Yu Xiaogang out of his wits.

He was a strategist! Strategists didn't go to the battlefield!

However—

At that moment!

[Star Dou Great Forest camp contestant "Chen Fan" has entered the Teleportation Gate.]

[The Teleportation Gates of all other camps are now closed!]

"Star Dou Great Forest camp? Chen Fan? Wait, wasn't he with the Spirit Hall Empire camp?"

"Isn't he the one who got a perfect score on the second trial? How did he end up in the Star Dou Great Forest camp?"

"Did the Spirit Hall Empire kick him out?"

The sudden announcement left everyone stunned, and many wore bewildered expressions.

It had only been a dozen or so hours since the second trial. Naturally, nobody could have forgotten him already.

So—

Why had he appeared in the Star Dou Great Forest camp?

Across the Douluo Continent, the powerful figures of each camp exchanged bewildered looks. They had no idea what was going on.

Yu Xiaogang, however, lit up at once!

If Chen Fan could defect from the Spirit Hall Empire, then—did he have a chance to recruit him into the Heaven Dou Empire camp?

Besides, he was a Peerless Douluo at the peak of level ninety-nine. If Yu Xiaogang could take him as a disciple, then wouldn't that mean he had trained two gods?

At the thought, Yu Xiaogang felt an unprecedented rush of pleasure shoot straight to his head!

Two gods trained by him!

Just imagining it made him feel as if he were floating blissfully up into the heavens. He was so elated he could hardly contain himself!

"My lord, about this—"

The Star Dou Great Forest, restricted zone.

When Beast God Di Tian saw this, a golden glint flashed through his eyes. He silently asked the question in his heart.

"It's fine."

Hearing the Silver Dragon King's voice, Di Tian swallowed the words that had been on the tip of his tongue.

If his lord said it was fine, then—it should be fine, right?

Meanwhile—

Chen Fan appeared beside Favonius Cathedral, apparently at the same spot where Ma Hongjun had landed earlier.

Only—

Dusk had fallen over Favonius Cathedral, with the sun setting in the west—

"Hmm?"

The moment Chen Fan landed, he released his vast, ocean-like mental power.

The mental power of a level-ninety-nine Peerless Douluo was far beyond Ma Hongjun's. Almost at once, he sensed a green figure dash out of Favonius Cathedral—