At this moment, the Shrek Melee Selection Tournament had ended. During the battles, Huo Yuhao had displayed the strength of two Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings, leading Wang Dong, Bei Bei, and the others in a crushing advance.
At the edge of the stands, Wang Yan held the match record book in his hand, unsure what to write down. Two Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings—there was no need to record that. Other than complete domination, what else was there to say?
Because the team lacked functional support, and because Huo Yuhao in this world was not familiar with He Caitou, He Caitou's original position had been taken by the strongest support-type Soul Master.
Ning Tian of the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect.
With the support of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, their strength after receiving buffs was no weaker than the official members of an ordinary academy team.
One had to know that official team members from ordinary academies were generally only Soul Ancestors, with Soul Kings being rare. A team like Shrek's, composed entirely of Soul Kings with even a Soul Emperor among them, was probably unique in all of Douluo Continent.
At this moment, Ning Tian looked at Huo Yuhao behind her, with his two Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings, and was utterly astonished.
After Xia Liang had taken Huo Yuhao to the White Tiger Duke's Estate to demand justice a few days ago, Huo Yuhao had become someone all major factions needed to know about.
Countless people had begun investigating the faction behind him, and the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had obtained information the fastest.
Aside from Huo Yuhao's early experiences, which could not be investigated for some inexplicable reason, everything else had been uncovered clearly.
Ning Tian had read all the intelligence concerning Huo Yuhao. It was written very clearly, but precisely because it was so clear, she was deeply shocked.
According to intelligence from a few days ago, Huo Yuhao had only been Level 21 during the advancement assessment. Moreover, there had been no reason for him to conceal his strength at the time. Yet in only a few days, he had surged straight to Level 30. And with this combat power, he was clearly no ordinary Soul Elder—he was no weaker than a Soul Ancestor, was he?
Suddenly, Ning Tian thought of intelligence regarding a certain treasure. If Huo Yuhao had really absorbed that...
Then everything seemed to make sense.
But after thinking of that, Ning Tian did not dare continue. Even the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect would not dare openly reveal such a treasure.
If it appeared in the world, then throughout Douluo Continent, aside from the various imperial families, only Shrek might be able to protect it.
To get close to Huo Yuhao, the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had paid a considerable price to approach the academy, even using Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi as connections.
Bei Bei had concealed his identity very well and could not be investigated. The Nine Treasures Glazed Sect only knew that he had come out of Star Dou Forest with Huo Yuhao, so their relationship should have been close. Xu Sanshi was from the Xuanming Sect, which was obvious enough, since his martial soul could not be hidden.
On top of that, the few of them often barbecued together. That could be discovered with a simple investigation, since they had never considered avoiding outsiders during their gatherings, nor had they needed to.
Thus, the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had approached the two of them, though they could only say that they would do their best.
After all, although it was called a selection tournament, it was actually Huo Yuhao who decided whom to choose. As long as Huo Yuhao was present, he would undoubtedly be the main character.
In the end, following Jiang Nannan's reminder, Huo Yuhao kept Ning Tian.
The selection had ended. The students who had not been chosen left, leaving only the seven who had won the selection tournament.
"Elder Xuan has something to take care of. You can rest on your own for now."
Wang Yan stepped forward and spoke.
Xuan Zi had left for some unknown reason just now. He had not said what he was going to do, leaving Wang Yan to explain things.
But Wang Yan's rank was not high enough for him to speak of something as important as going to the Soul Master Tournament.
For now, he could only wait for Xuan Zi to return and let the others rest and get to know one another.
"Classmate Huo Yuhao, thank you for letting me stay."
Ning Tian took the initiative to thank him. From a certain perspective, she was the only outsider here.
"You don't need to be so polite. I also wanted to experience the support abilities of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, the world's number one support-tool martial soul."
Huo Yuhao answered. He had felt it during the selection tournament just now. It truly deserved its reputation as the best in the world. He doubted any other support martial soul could compare to such abilities.
"You flatter me. These are the recently famous Torch Berries. They've already been processed, and the fire element inside has been removed. Everyone can try them."
Ning Tian took out the Torch Berries. These had been obtained from Twilight Forest's simple difficulty. Their quality was also among the best in Twilight Forest. After the fire element was removed, their medicinal effects could simply refine Soul Power, making them a rare medicinal ingredient.
"Hm?"
When Huo Yuhao saw the Torch Berries, he froze for a moment. He could practically say that he was sick of eating them.
Over the past few days, Xia Liang and the others had been pioneering Twilight Forest. He had heard they were nearly finished clearing it.
Because the berries tasted good, Little Snow Empress and Ice Empress had directly gathered an entire box of them while traveling.
Now, Ice Empress and Little Snow Empress were both eating them, and Huo Yuhao was occasionally fed some as well.
"Thank you."
Huo Yuhao and the others accepted the berries, which could be considered their acceptance of Ning Tian joining them.
Just as expected...
When she handed over the berries, Ning Tian had been observing Huo Yuhao's expression. For an instant just now, Huo Yuhao's expression had stiffened.
From that expression, Ning Tian could determine that Huo Yuhao had definitely seen Torch Berries before, and had eaten plenty of them.
Ning Tian remembered that when she had eaten too many medicinal herbs in the past, to the point of vomiting, her expression had been similar to Huo Yuhao's just now.
It seemed that the Spirit Pagoda truly was connected to the faction behind Huo Yuhao. Ning Tian was now ninety percent certain.
During the period when the Spirit Pagoda had risen to prominence, the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had also purchased many items from Twilight Forest. Torch Berries were only a small portion of them.
There was also the Shield Scepter, with its extremely powerful defensive ability, capable of resisting nine attacks at the Soul King level, as well as certain special armors.
The Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had now split into two groups. One group had gone to the Spirit Pagoda to study Soul Spirits. The sect had already sent several disciples of suitable rank to the Extreme North to obtain Soul Spirits.
No matter the cost, the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had to bring back a Soul Spirit.
The other group was Ning Tian.
The Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had sent Ning Tian to Huo Yuhao's side to participate in the Soul Master Tournament. Yes, merely to participate in the Soul Master Tournament, with no mission whatsoever.
Whether Huo Yuhao belonged to the Spirit Pagoda or not, Xia Liang stood behind him. They could neither investigate him directly nor approach him directly. Ning Tian had merely come to communicate with Huo Yuhao normally.
A peaceful exchange. Absolutely, absolutely no conflict could arise.
The Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had no intention whatsoever of coming into conflict with Huo Yuhao.
Especially after the Spirit Pagoda had emerged.
All factions had now confirmed one thing: the Spirit Pagoda was an exceedingly wealthy force.
Soul Spirits, Twilight Forest, special medicinal herbs—these were not things ordinary factions could possess.
Some people within the Nine Treasures Glazed Pagoda even believed that the Spirit Pagoda possessed Aromatic Silk Beauty. Even if it did not, it might possess a method to evolve the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda.
The Nine Treasures Glazed Sect now had only its name; in essence, it was still the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. The appearance of a Nine Treasures Glazed Pagoda was something the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect desperately needed, as it concerned the sect's stability.
Not far away, Xu Sanshi ate the berries while glancing at Huo Yuhao from time to time. Like the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect, the Xuanming Sect had also received information about the Spirit Pagoda and had given Xu Sanshi the task of getting close to Huo Yuhao.
Thinking of the expression on his father's face when he learned that Xu Sanshi knew Huo Yuhao made Xu Sanshi feel sick. In the past, his father would have cursed at him the moment he saw him. Now, he greeted him with a smiling face instead.
"Did your family give you a mission too?"
Seeing Xu Sanshi's constipated expression, Bei Bei knew that his family had assigned him a task as well.
"Sigh..."
Hearing Bei Bei's words, Xu Sanshi sighed. One word from his father, and the son had to run himself ragged.
But he could not refuse. After all, he knew his own circumstances. Xu Sanshi understood the issue with his martial soul awakening very well. If Huo Yuhao truly had a solution, then the Xuanming Sect could really pay a great price.
Yet Xu Sanshi did not know how to bring it up, so he could only look to Bei Bei for help.
"I really can't help you with this."
Having spent so much time with Xu Sanshi, Bei Bei naturally knew about the problem with his martial soul. But there was nothing he could do about it. Still, regarding Huo Yuhao's personality...
"You might be able to just ask him directly."
Bei Bei said this because Huo Yuhao might not care about it. As long as the Xuanming Sect was willing to offer the right price, there should not be a problem.
"I'll think about how to put it."
Xu Sanshi spoke after hearing that. He needed to go back and talk to that old bastard.
It was not only the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect and the Xuanming Sect that had begun contacting the Spirit Pagoda. Shrek had also made contact.
"Elder Mu went to contact the Spirit Pagoda?"
"Yes. Before Teacher left, he asked me to give this to you."
Yan Shaozhe produced a bowl in his hand. Inside was a steak, a Nine-Headed Serpent Steak from Twilight Forest's ordinary difficulty.
"This..."
This was exactly the food he had been hoping for!
The moment Xuan Zi saw the steak, he felt his martial soul craving it. This was far better than the flesh of other soul beasts.
"According to our speculation, the Spirit Pagoda has someone close to the Limit level, perhaps even a Limit Douluo within it."
Based on the intelligence gathered over the past few days, Yan Shaozhe had analyzed that the Spirit Pagoda could so quickly deal with so many Titled Douluos and Soul Douluos while keeping the bodies of those experts completely intact.
That indicated the existence of at least several Super Douluos within, perhaps even a Limit-level expert. Mu En had gone there this time for friendly exchanges.
"Limit..."
Upon hearing those two words, Xuan Zi frowned. In recent decades, there had been no news of any Limit Douluo appearing anywhere on the continent. Yet now, three had appeared all at once. How had the world become like this?
If not for the flaw in his martial soul, he would probably already be a Limit Douluo...
Feeling his martial soul, Xuan Zi picked up the Nine-Headed Serpent Steak and bit down hard.
If not for the flaw in this martial soul, he would already be at the Limit level. With two Limit Douluos overseeing Shrek, why would they need friendly exchanges with other factions?
If he were also at the Limit level, the Star Luo Empire would probably have directly offered up that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast Embryo, wouldn't they?
"Elder Xuan, whether Huo Yuhao belongs to the Spirit Pagoda or not, you must take good care of him during this mission."
Yan Shaozhe said that the Sea God Pavilion had decided to have Xuan Zi escort these children to the competition.
"A trivial matter, a trivial matter. With me here, how could anything happen?"
Xuan Zi waved his hand, still chewing the steak. The fragrance of the Nine-Headed Serpent Steak spread between his lips and teeth, while the nourishing sensation of Soul Power slid down his throat, making his entire body feel more comfortable. The more he ate, the more satisfying it became, and he paid little attention to Yan Shaozhe's words. After all, he was a Level 98 Super Douluo. How could anything happen while he led the team?
"Hahaha, that's true."
Yan Shaozhe laughed rather stiffly. Still, that was right. There were no soul beast gathering grounds along the way, nor could a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast possibly appear.
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