With the conversation at this point.
There was no need for Qian Chenming to offer any further hints.
Everyone understood that the young master's grand palace drama, after more than a decade of lying low, was probably nearing its end.
Soon.
Two days had passed.
As the Soul Master Elite Tournament finals drew near, the vast Spirit City bustled with unprecedented excitement.
This sacred place, already yearned for by Soul Masters across the continent, now welcomed a gathering of extraordinarily powerful young Soul Masters from various nations and sects.
The city gates stood wide open, crowds surged like tides, and shops on both sides of the streets were hung with Soul Master banners of every color.
Soul Masters from every corner of the land crowded the stone-paved roads, talking in low voices as they gazed intently at the towering Soul Fighting Arena in the city center.
A party entered through the eastern gate, led by a bespectacled middle-aged man. A group of young people followed behind him, their steps orderly, but each with their own pride in their eyes.
"Shrek Academy."
Someone recognized them.
"That Monster Academy that fought its way up from Suotuo City?"
"They're the biggest dark horse this year!"
Flender adjusted his glasses, a faint, ambiguous smile on his lips. Without turning around, he said quietly, "You all heard that? Don't let it go to your heads. Get a good rest tonight. Tomorrow is when the real blades come out."
Dai Mubai walked at the very front of the group. He glanced back at the fat boy gnawing on a chicken leg at the rear and frowned. "Fatty, you already ate five bowls of rice at lunch."
Ma Hongjun chuckled. "The dean said we need to build up our strength before the competition. I'm stockpiling reserves, understand?"
Tang San walked in the middle without speaking, his gaze sweeping over both sides of the street.
When the Heaven Dou Royal Academy party entered next, their procession was even grander.
Qin Ming led the way in fitted combat attire, followed by the academy's core students. Each wore a platinum-colored uniform with Heaven Dou's emblem embroidered on the chest, drawing attention wherever they went.
"Heaven Dou Royal Academy is here!"
"Look at the one in front. That's Dugu Yan, isn't it? I hear her grandfather is Poison Douluo, Dugu Bo."
"Tsk, not someone you want to cross. Definitely not."
Dugu Yan walked among the group, her expression cool, her gaze carrying a trace of lofty indifference as it passed over the crowd.
Beside her, Yu Tianheng stood tall and straight, but his eyes remained fixed ahead as he asked quietly, "Yanyan, did your grandfather really come?"
"Yes." Dugu Yan's tone barely shifted. "He said these finals seemed rather interesting, so he wanted to see them for himself."
Afterward.
Teams such as the Star Luo Royal Academy Team also entered the city with considerable fanfare.
But clearly, today's focus was not on these so-called contestants.
As news of Bibi Dong's imprisonment spread throughout the city, it quickly swept through every competing team.
Inside the hotel housing the competing teams.
Flender had just finished checking in with the Shrek group when they met up with Yu Xiaogang, whose broad face was swollen.
"Teacher, what happened to your face?" Tang San hurried over in concern.
"Just a little wind and frost."
Yu Xiaogang waved a hand, signaling him not to ask further, and swept his gaze over everyone. "Is everyone here? Let's go upstairs to a room."
The room was small. With more than a dozen people packed inside, even the air felt cramped.
Only after closing the door and drawing the curtains tightly did Flender lower his voice and ask, "Xiaogang, are the rumors outside true?"
Yu Xiaogang fell silent for two seconds, then nodded.
"Bibi Dong has been arrested and imprisoned. Everything within Spirit Hall changed overnight. The new Supreme Pontiff is named Qian Chenming."
The room fell silent.
Dai Mubai frowned. "Qian Chenming? I've never heard of him."
"It's perfectly normal that you haven't," Ning Fengzhi said helplessly. "Before this, even our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had no idea such a person existed."
"A nobody became Supreme Pontiff overnight?" Ning Rongrong could not help asking.
Ning Fengzhi picked up the thread, his voice slow and grave. "The danger isn't that he's a nobody. It's that this nobody may be far beyond anything we can fathom."
"Then why was Bibi Dong arrested?" Tang San asked.
Yu Xiaogang glanced at him, then recounted the matter between Bibi Dong and Qian Xunji to everyone with a complicated look in his eyes.
"What thunderous methods," Flender remarked with a click of his tongue after hearing the account.
In the corner, Xiao Wu had remained silent.
Her eyes were lowered, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes.
When she heard that Bibi Dong had been imprisoned, and might even never have another chance to turn things around for the rest of her life, the excitement in her heart far surpassed anything she had ever felt.
Tang San noticed and asked quietly, "Xiao Wu, what's wrong?"
"Nothing." She raised her head, the corners of her mouth curving slightly. "It's just... quite unexpected."
Tang San paused, saying nothing in reply.
Yu Xiaogang, however, looked past everyone and held a hand to his face. "This newly appointed Supreme Pontiff, Qian Chenming, harbors sinister intentions and is utterly fickle. Everyone needs to be even more careful from now on."
The room fell quiet.
No one responded.
Sitting to one side, Ning Fengzhi had his own thoughts, but did not speak.
His opinion was precisely the opposite of Yu Xiaogang's.
As he saw it.
Bibi Dong was the one who truly harbored sinister intentions. During her decade or more in power, she had stopped at nothing to achieve her aims.
Had she not been imprisoned this time.
Ning Fengzhi could hardly have guaranteed the personal safety of their competing teams, including whether they might face overt or covert threats.
Otherwise.
The Heaven Dou court would not have dispatched so many elite cavalrymen, nor would he himself have brought Chen Xin along.
Was preventing such things not the very reason?
But this time.
Those threats had not materialized.
This left Ning Fengzhi with a reasonably favorable subconscious impression of the new Supreme Pontiff.
However.
The human heart was difficult to fathom.
He did not know whether the other man was concealing murderous intent. Perhaps he was holding back something big.
His longstanding wariness of Spirit Hall's ambitions left Ning Fengzhi unable to rule out that possibility.
In the blink of an eye.
The morning sun rose.
The Soul Master Elite Tournament finals began.
As morning light spilled over the enormous arena in the center of Spirit City, a pale golden sheen spread freely across its granite surface.
This arena had been built specifically for the Soul Master Elite Tournament finals. A hundred meters in diameter, it was surrounded by high walls and lavish to the extreme.
Early that morning.
The stands roared with voices. Spectators from across the continent filled every seat, their gazes all directed toward the center of the grounds.
Besides the contestants' preparation seats within the grounds.
Spirit Hall's officials had also set aside a special area on the opposite side, called the VIP judging seats.
Here.
Observers from Heaven Dou, the Star Luo Empire, and other sects would take their seats.
At that moment.
Ning Fengzhi and Dugu Bo, and even the Heaven Dou Crown Prince, Xue Qinghe, were seated there.
Holding a teacup, Ning Fengzhi swept a thoughtful gaze over the contestants' preparation seats.
Dugu Bo sat to one side, his thoughts unknown.
In the contestants' seating area.
The competing teams were already rubbing their fists and palms, ready for the great battles ahead.
Even the Spirit Hall Team, confident of claiming the championship, was no exception.
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