The Heaven Dou Emperor's Invitation

"Oh? An invitation for me?"

Dai Chengqian was somewhat surprised.

His group's arrival in Heaven Dou City was no secret, so it was perfectly normal for the Heaven Dou Emperor to know.

But he had not expected an invitation to meet him, especially when today was the opening ceremony of the preliminaries.

"Yes. His Majesty personally sent me to invite you."

As he spoke, the man turned to Dugu Bo and said:

"Oh, and Poison Douluo, please come along as well."

Dai Chengqian exchanged a glance with Dugu Bo, then said calmly:

"Since His Majesty has invited us, old monster, let's go take a look."

After letting the women know, the two followed the man to the highest VIP stand.

Everyone on the VIP stand held considerable status within the Heaven Dou Empire.

Upon reaching the entrance, Dai Chengqian looked toward the center of the front row.

The man seated there wore red robes and a crown set with golden diamonds. Though he looked somewhat elderly, his imperial presence could be felt even from a great distance.

The man led Dai Chengqian before the Star Luo Emperor. Dai Chengqian bowed and said, neither servile nor overbearing:

"Dai Chengqian, Sixth Son of Star Luo, greets Your Majesty, the Heaven Dou Emperor."

The Heaven Dou Emperor looked at Dai Chengqian and smiled faintly.

"Dai Chengqian, I've heard of you for quite some time. When I heard you had arrived, I specifically summoned you for a meeting.

"I hear you poached two members from our Heaven Dou Empire's Imperial Fighting Team a few months ago. Is that true?"

Dai Chengqian rubbed his nose awkwardly and said:

"Your Majesty, that only proves those two weren't worthy of the Imperial Fighting Team. If they could be poached, they clearly weren't a good fit."

Casting Dai Chengqian a glance, the Heaven Dou Emperor said with a smile:

"Hmph, what a glib tongue. Your temperament is nothing like your father's.

"So, now that yours is Star Luo's main team and you don't have to compete in the preliminaries, have you come to our Heaven Dou Empire to scout out your opponents in advance?"

"Not at all. Under your rule, Heaven Dou's talents have been springing up like bamboo shoots after the rain these past few years.

"You might not believe me, but I actually came here to make friends."

"Hahaha... I know you're flattering me, brat, but I do enjoy hearing it."

After laughing, the Star Luo Emperor addressed an attendant beside him:

"Go find seats here for our guests from Star Luo."

"Yes."

Dai Chengqian and Dugu Bo were then led to seats in the third row.

The VIP stand was filled with prominent figures. Once they sat down, Dugu Bo began introducing them to Dai Chengqian in a low voice.

"Look, Dai boy. That man in white to the Heaven Dou Emperor's left is Ning Fengzhi of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

"The man in red robes to his right belongs to Spirit Hall. See the five-pointed platinum crown on his head? That marks him as a Platinum Bishop."

Dai Chengqian nodded repeatedly, committing each name and face to memory.

In the plaza, all the teams competing in the preliminaries had already entered.

Everyone looked toward the VIP stand, waiting for the emperor to announce the opening.

Xiao Wu glanced at Dai Chengqian behind Ning Fengzhi and asked Ning Rongrong beside her:

"Rongrong, who's that handsome guy behind your father? He looks about our age, but he's sitting in the VIP stand.

"I think I even saw him talking to His Majesty just now."

"A handsome guy? Let me see."

At Xiao Wu's words, Ning Rongrong looked at Dai Chengqian, then shook her head.

"I don't know him. Maybe he isn't from our Heaven Dou Empire."

Just then, Dai Mubai, who had vaguely overheard the two girls' discussion, looked toward Dai Chengqian.

Once he recognized Dai Chengqian's face, his expression darkened.

He had long since received word that his sixth brother had performed exceptionally well in Star Luo over the past year and was highly regarded by the Star Luo Emperor.

More recently, he had even snatched Star Luo's sole guaranteed place in the finals from Dai Weisi's jaws.

Even the Eldest Prince, Dai Weisi, had failed to gain the upper hand against Dai Chengqian. In his mind, Dai Mubai ranked Dai Chengqian as an opponent on the same level as Dai Weisi.

Noticing something wrong with Dai Mubai's expression, Tang San patted his shoulder and asked:

"What's wrong, Boss Dai? Do you know that person up there?"

Dai Mubai nodded. "San, the person behind Sect Master Ning is Dai Chengqian, the sixth brother I told you about."

Tang San looked toward Dai Chengqian. Upon seeing his handsome face, he secretly compared it with his own.

Feeling that he seemed to fall a notch short, Tang San frowned slightly, then said to Dai Mubai:

"Don't worry, Boss Dai. Your enemy is our enemy. Everyone on the Shrek Team will help you."

After hearing Tang San and Dai Mubai, Ning Rongrong looked at Dai Chengqian again and said in surprise:

"So he's the Dai Chengqian who poached two of the Imperial Fighting Team's main members. I heard Yu Tianheng was practically furious enough to die back then."

Glancing at Dai Chengqian, Tang San said:

"All right, let's stop discussing him. His team has a guaranteed place in the finals. It'll be a long time before our team can face his."

"Please welcome His Majesty, the Heaven Dou Emperor, to announce the opening of this tournament!"

The host's voice rang out across the arena.

Everyone turned to the Heaven Dou Emperor, who wore robes of crimson and gold.

The Heaven Dou Emperor slowly rose and announced the official opening of the tournament through the Amplifying Soul Tool.

Next came the draw, where each team drew its opponent for the first round of the preliminaries.

Just as in the original story, the Shrek Team drew the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's second team.

Once the Shrek Team's match began, Tang San revealed his black fourth Soul Ring from the center of the formation.

It drew cries of astonishment from everyone present.

Dugu Bo was somewhat surprised to see Tang San's Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring.

But it was only a slight surprise. After all, he had a freakish brat beside him whose third Soul Ring was already ten thousand years old.

Dugu Bo chuckled and whispered to Dai Chengqian beside him:

"Dai boy, I'm already starting to look forward to seeing you compete.

"Once those two Ten Thousand Year Soul Rings appear, won't all these Heaven Dou girls get so excited they'll swallow you alive?"

As he spoke, Dugu Bo gave Dai Chengqian a look any man would understand.

Naturally, the Shrek Team's first match ended in an easy victory over the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's second team.

The moment Tang San unleashed his Blue Silver Cage, every member of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy's team was trapped. After that, they could only take a beating. It would have been strange if they hadn't lost.

Dai Chengqian looked toward Xue Ye, the Heaven Dou Emperor.

At that moment, he was glaring at Prince Xue Xing beside him, his face livid.

Finally, the Heaven Dou Emperor gave a cold snort and left the VIP stand.

Seeing this, Ning Fengzhi smiled faintly and followed the Heaven Dou Emperor out.

Since the Heaven Dou Emperor had left, Dai Chengqian did not intend to linger either.

He turned to Dugu Bo and said:

"Let's go too. Back to our own seats."

As soon as he returned, the women began chattering away, asking what the Heaven Dou Emperor had summoned him to discuss.

Dai Chengqian briefly explained, then continued watching the matches.

He watched for a while.

Then Dai Chengqian suddenly noticed the people from Shrek Academy heading out of the arena. They appeared to be returning to their academy.

If he remembered correctly, Ning Fengzhi would take Tang San to meet Xue Qinghe, who was disguised as Qian Renxue, this time.

For now, Dai Chengqian had no intention of approaching Qian Renxue.

He planned to take advantage of Tang San's absence to try approaching Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong.

After briefly considering what he would do once he went down, Dai Chengqian whispered to Zhu Zhuyun:

"I have something to do. Stay here and watch with the others."

"Oh, all right."

Outside the Great Soul Arena.

Ning Fengzhi had already been talking with Tang San and the others for a while.

Upon spotting them, Dai Chengqian strode over.

"Sect Master Ning, what a coincidence. We only just met, and here we are again."

Seeing Dai Chengqian, Ning Fengzhi smiled and said:

"Ah, it's His Highness the Sixth Prince of the Star Luo Empire.

"Perfect timing. The Shrek Team, who shone so brilliantly in today's match, is here too. You can get acquainted and become friends."

The moment Ning Fengzhi finished speaking.

Dai Mubai extended his right hand toward Dai Chengqian and said with a smile that never reached his eyes:

"Sixth Brother, it's been a long time. You've changed so much that your elder brother almost didn't recognize you."