Prelude to the Talks

The small tavern in the western part of Mingdu is located in a quiet alley. Its exterior is simple and unassuming, blending almost seamlessly with the surrounding buildings.

A weathered wooden sign hangs at the entrance of the tavern, bearing the three characters "Zui Xian Ju" (Drunken Immortal Abode). Although it has a long history, it still exudes a touch of elegance.

Pushing open the heavy wooden door, a rustic woody fragrance wafted out.

The interior of the tavern was equally antique, with simple yet heavy wooden floors and walls, and several old-fashioned oil lamps suspended from the ceiling, emitting a soft glow.

In the center of the tavern stood several round wooden tables, surrounded by simple wooden chairs. On the tables were simple ceramic wine jugs and cups, emitting a faint aroma of wine.

In the corner, there was a small stage with a guqin (a traditional Chinese stringed instrument) on it, seemingly waiting for the arrival of some artist.

The tavern's windows were small, through which one could see the slightly dim alleyway outside. It was clear that compared to the high-tech buildings unique to Mingdu, this place retained a more traditional atmosphere.

In this unusually quiet atmosphere, representatives from all sides arrived one by one, and a tense yet secretive atmosphere permeated the entire tavern.

"It looks like they'll be here soon," Ma Xiaotao said in a low voice, her eyes scanning her surroundings warily.

"Yes, stay alert." Xu Jiujiu nodded, his fingers lightly tapping the table. "Proceed according to plan."

The first to arrive were representatives from the Shrek Academy, including Bei Bei, the captain of this Elite Soul Master Tournament, and Zhang Lexuan, the Grandmaster of the Shrek Academy's Inner Court.

Seeing that Xu Jiujiu had already found a seat and was waiting, Bei Bei greeted her with a smile, "Princess Jiujiu, it's been a long time. I remember the last time we met was at the last Continental Elite Soul Master Tournament."

Xu Jiujiu smiled and replied, "That's true. After all, my work at the Spirit Contract Pagoda is very busy, so even in these past few years in Shrek City, I haven't seen Captain Bei Bei."

"However, there's one thing I need to correct: I'm no longer the princess of the Star Luo Empire, so you can relax and just call me Jiujiu."

"Right now, I am merely a representative of the Spirit Contract Pagoda, as my fiancé's wife."

After speaking for Xu Jiujiu, he took out a silver token with the words "Qi Ling" written on it.

Judging from the indication on the token and the terrifying aura left behind by its original owner, Bei Bei had no doubt about its authenticity.

It seems the news that the eldest princess of the Star Luo Empire was deposed by the Star Luo Empire and became a member of the Spirit Contract Pagoda is true.

What I never expected was that I would become Xu Xingyu's fiancée. Doesn't he already have Wang Dong'er and Jiang Nannan? Is he going to take them all in?

While Bei Bei was lost in her own thoughts, he finally noticed Ma Xiaotao standing next to Xu Jiujiu, which made him frown.

He knew Ma Xiaotao quite well, after all, Ma Xiaotao was the captain of the previous Soul Master Tournament.

At the same time, she is also the personal disciple of Yan Shaozhe, the dean of the Martial Soul Department. Considering that Yan Shaozhe's teacher is his Mu En, Bei Bei has to call her senior sister.

Originally, with Xu Xingyu's help, she purified the evil energy in her Martial Soul and evolved from the original Evil Fire Phoenix into Fire Phoenix with Ultimate Fire (Bei Bei didn't know that Ma Xiaotao's Martial Soul had actually become the Vermilion Bird). She was then regarded by the people led by Xuan Zi as a candidate for the Sea God Pavilion Master, just like Zhang Lexuan.

As a result, after she applied for graduation last year, she declined the academy's invitation to become a member of the Sea God Pavilion and instead Spirit Contract Pagoda, saying that she wanted to repay the Spirit Contract Pagoda for helping her solve the problem with her Martial Soul.

Given the terrifying power of the Spirit Contract Pagoda and the fact that Shrek Academy might need Spirit Contract Pagoda help in the future, the elders of the Sea God Pavilion could only suffer in silence.

Now, not only is Ma Xiaotao here, but her strength also seems to be comparable to that of her Grandmaster. This means that in just a few years Ma Xiaotao has broken through from the Soul Emperor to the Titled Douluo level.

Xu Jiujiu's strength may not have increased dramatically, but it should at least be at the Soul Saint level.

If Xu Jiujiu weren't just over twenty, she would likely become one of the Shrek Academy's biggest rivals in this Elite Soul Master Tournament.

However, considering the strength displayed by Wang Dong'er and others in the first match of the Spirit Contract Pagoda without revealing their Soul Ring...

Bei Bei had already suspected that the average cultivation level of each member of the Spirit Contract Pagoda team was around that of Soul Emperor, which was already terrifying.

If that's the case, he might not be able to uphold Shrek Academy's millennia-long glory.

This made Bei Bei feel somewhat disheartened. The glory of ten thousand years might just be lost in this Elite Soul Master Tournament, and anyone would feel sad about that.

However, what Bei Bei didn't know was that he should be more wary of the two men in black beside Xu Jiujiu and Ma Xiaotao than of them.

As a Titled Douluo, Zhang Lexuan knows this best.

Since Ma Xiaotao left, the heavy responsibility of being a candidate for the Sea God Pavilion Master has fallen on her shoulders.

Therefore, apart from making efforts to improve relations between the academy and the Spirit Contract Pagoda, Zhang Lexuan spent the rest of her time cultivating.

This resulted in her being a newly promoted Titled Douluo, but her strength and perception far surpassed those of Titled Douluo of the same rank, and she could even compete with weaker Super Douluo.

In her perception, the two men in black were extremely powerful, and both were much stronger than herself.

Within the entire Sea God Pavilion, only Xuan Zi could rival their strength. As for Yan Shaozhe and Elder Song, both level 97 Super Douluo, they might be able to compete with them, but she wasn't sure.

However, it's normal for Zhang Lexuan to have such thoughts, after all, the true identities of these two are the Scarlet King, ranked eighth among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, and the Demon Empress Zi JI, ranked tenth.

Both are Super Soul Beast with cultivation exceeding 300,000 years. The former is Super Soul Beast with some pure True Dragon blood flowing through its veins, while the latter is a rising star among the existing Dragon Clan, the patriarch of the Abyss Demon Dragon race, and like Di Tian, True Dragon Soul Beast that still exists in the world.

It's perfectly normal that they all possess combat power capable of competing with Super Douluo of level 97 or higher.

As for why Zhang Lexuan was interested in Xu Jiujiu and Ma Xiaotao's two bodyguards, it was because she thought that one of the light-elemental mages, with whom she got along very well, would also come along.

After some investigation, she discovered that this person had not come with Spirit Contract Pagoda, which left her a little disappointed.

I wonder what Zhang Lexuan's attitude will be after she finds out the truth about that person?