The next day, the preliminaries continued as usual.
The Soul Master Tournament was organized by the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires, with the Spirit Hall merely acting as a co-organizer. The destruction of the Heaven Dou Soul Hall would not significantly impact the tournament.
Moreover, the tournament had a set schedule. If the progress of the Heaven Dou division's preliminaries was delayed, it would greatly affect the subsequent advancement matches and the finals. As long as conditions permitted, the tournament could not be postponed.
Now that Salas was dead, the highest-ranking members left in the Heaven Dou Soul Hall were merely Red-robed Bishops. Lacking figures of significant weight, they were unqualified to represent the Spirit Hall in the front row of the VIP section.
Since even three prominent figures couldn't be gathered for the front row of the VIP section, Emperor Xue Ye, to demonstrate Heaven Dou Empire's emphasis on the tournament, specially invited five Title Douluo: Chen Xin, Dugu Bo, Huo Lie, Mu Xiyue, and Shui Yanyu.
In the end, Chen Xin, Dugu Bo, and Huo Lie accepted the invitation and took their seats in the front row of the VIP section, while Mu Xiyue and Shui Yanyu politely declined.
Emperor Xue Ye sat in the center, with Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin to his left, and Dugu Bo and Huo Lie to his right.
By morning, the sixth round of the preliminaries was about to begin.
Gazing at the tens of thousands of spectators filling the stands, Emperor Xue Ye once again delivered a speech. He officially addressed the malicious assassination attempt that occurred outside the Great Spirit Arena after yesterday's matches. While condemning the 'unknown' mastermind behind it, he also issued another warning to various factions on behalf of the Heaven Dou Empire.
Given that the Spirit Hall had already suffered a severe blow—not only had the Platinum Bishop and Hall Master Salas perished, but even the Heaven Dou Soul Hall had been reduced to ruins—Emperor Xue Ye chose to spare them some face. He did not explicitly direct blame at the Spirit Hall, considering its immense influence.
Of course, with tens of thousands of spectators present, many well-informed and sharp-minded individuals were among them. Even if they hadn't personally witnessed the assassination attempts of the past two days, they could still deduce that both incidents were inextricably linked to the Heaven Dou Soul Hall.
And as for last night's destruction of the Heaven Dou Soul Hall, it was clear that Hall Master Salas had brought it upon himself, ultimately suffering retaliation from the target's powerful elder.
The logic was simple—Soul Masters placed great importance on lineage and inheritance. Most talented Soul Masters came from Soul Master families, so it was perfectly normal for them to have a powerful and protective elder in their family.
Additionally, according to some unofficial sources, the one who destroyed the Heaven Dou Soul Hall last night was none other than the legendary Clear Sky Douluo himself.
This was the same man who had once hammered the former Supreme Pontiff of the Spirit Hall to death. Was it really surprising that he had now wiped out the Heaven Dou Soul Hall?
In the sixth round of the preliminaries, Blazing Academy was up against a formidable opponent.
After yesterday's match, Mu Xiyue had drawn lots on behalf of Blazing Academy. When she returned, Mu Yang already knew who their opponent would be today.
It was none other than Divine Wind Academy, and their match was scheduled as the second battle of the day.
Originally, Mu Yang thought that Feng Xiaotian, the infamous bootlicker, would surrender outright. After all, not only was he known for fawning over others, but he was also Huo wu's defeated opponent.
But surprisingly, even after the first match had started, there was still no news of Divine Wind Academy forfeiting.
Well, it made sense. In the original story, Divine Wind Academy was strong while Blazing Academy was weak, so Feng Xiaotian could casually surrender on behalf of his team.
At that time, their withdrawal wouldn't be seen as a sign of weakness—everyone knew it was simply Feng Xiaotian going easy on Blazing Academy.
However, now the situation was reversed. Blazing Academy was the stronger team, while Divine Wind Academy was weaker. Even if Divine Wind Academy wasn't a match for Blazing Academy, they couldn't forfeit outright. As one of the renowned elemental academy teams, how could they justify such an act?
Moreover, among the twenty-eight teams in the Heaven Dou division preliminaries, aside from their own Divine Wind Academy, only Blazing Academy and Sky Water Academy had five-ring Soul Kings. The rest of the teams were at most four-ring level, and even then, not all of their main members were at that level.
Even if some main members sustained significant injuries in their match against Blazing Academy and couldn't recover immediately, it wouldn't be a major issue.
At the very least, one of the five qualification spots for advancement was guaranteed for Divine Wind Academy.
Since Divine Wind Academy hadn't forfeited, it wasn't bad news for Mu Yang and Blazing Academy.
If they had surrendered, then the plan he had devised would have fallen apart before it even began.
"Feng Xiaotian, it's almost our turn to go on stage. Aren't you going to at least try to bribe me, the team captain?"
At this moment, Mu Yang, who had memorized the script flawlessly, smiled as he teased Feng Xiaotian.
"Bribe you? That wouldn't be right. As much as I want to defeat Xiao Wu, I, Feng Xiaotian, refuse to resort to such underhanded methods."
As he spoke, Feng Xiaotian puffed out his chest and glanced at Huo Wu beside him.
He wanted to win, yes, but he had to win fair and square—not through trickery!
"Listen to yourself. Have you been listening to too many twisted arguments? 'Forcing things won't lead to happiness'? Wrong! Completely wrong! How can you know whether the fruit is sweet or not if you don't take a bite? Even if it's not sweet, it can still quench your thirst!"
Seeing that Feng Xiaotian wasn't taking the bait, Mu Yang's expression shifted as he spoke in a deep and meaningful tone.
"Let's talk about this in private."
After hesitating for a moment, Feng Xiaotian finally gave in to temptation and pulled Mu Yang aside.
After all, his goddess had promised that as long as he could defeat her, she would give him a chance to pursue her!
Huo saw and heard their conversation and actions, but since she had read the script beforehand, she merely glanced at them with a blank expression before looking away.
"Brother Mu, how exactly does this work?"
Once they were alone, Feng Xiaotian, unable to contain his excitement, eagerly inquired about the bribery deal. His manner had even shifted from calling Mu Yang by his full name to the more familiar "Brother Mu."
"That depends on your sincerity.
In Blazing Academy's team, my word is law. Aside from Huo Wu, everyone, including Huo Wushuang, listens to me.
If your sincerity is enough, then it's not impossible for Huo Wushuang and the others to suddenly feel 'unwell' and be unable to fight properly today."
Mu Yang spoke with deep implication.
Immediately, Feng Xiaotian's eyes widened.
Good heavens—'feeling unwell' and 'unable to fight properly'?
At this rate, his goddess's real opponent wasn't an external threat but internal sabotage!
But… this was fantastic! He loved it!
"Brother Mu, my sincerity is absolutely genuine! Just say the word! No matter what it is, I, Feng Xiaotian, will make sure it's done!"
Feng Xiaotian pounded his chest in assurance.
Mu Yang waved a hand dismissively and said, "No need for anything extravagant. Just promise that whenever I need your help, you'll support me unconditionally."
"For real?"
Feng Xiaotian was stunned.
This was blatant match-fixing in the Soul Master Tournament, yet the price was just… this?
Putting aside everything else, if Mu Yang ever really needed his help, would Feng Xiaotian even refuse?
After all, Divine Wind Academy and Blazing Academy had a great relationship, and Mu Yang, being an extremely talented food-type Soul Master, was someone that anyone would want to befriend as long as there was no bad blood between them.
Not to mention, Mu Yang was his goddess's cousin.
Yes, his goddess's cousin was practically family!
Mu Yang nodded. "It's as real as it gets."
"Deal?"
"Deal!"
Thus, Mu Yang successfully roped Feng Xiaotian into his scheme, while Feng Xiaotian, thinking he had struck a great bargain, unknowingly walked right into a secret and unspeakable PY deal.
For additional chapters
Versatile mage {40 chapters}
Douluo Dalu:This Soul Master is to Weird {30 Chapters}
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