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He Caitou and his group were going back, and Xiao Hongchen and his group were also coming back. After more than two and a half years, or nearly three years of exchange study, both sides benefited a lot.
Huo Yuhao slowly walked towards the exit of the academy.
Xue Di asked with interest: "What are your next plans?"
“I plan to contact the Holy Spirit Church and the Sun Moon Royal Family to see what they are planning.” Huo Yuhao said, “And I have to admit that the evil soul master’s method of upgrading by absorbing soul power does make me a little tempted.”
"So, while the plan is slowly being implemented, I will also start hunting evil soul masters."
As he spoke, an evil smile appeared at the corner of Huo Yuhao's mouth.
Hyotei asked doubtfully, "You just told that human that you would still participate in the next competition?"
"Yes." Huo Yuhao said as a matter of course.
"You didn't plan to participate, why did you change your mind now? Who are you fighting for? Xing Luo?"
“I didn’t intend to participate in the competition. I went there to cause trouble.” Huo Yuhao snorted, “I need to maintain a high degree of freedom because participating in the competition is just a cover to attract hatred and attention. Joining another team will not only hinder my plan, but also bring danger to them.”
"My 'identity' requires not only to compete, but also to perform in a high-profile manner."
"Aren't you afraid of attracting other people's attention?"
"Except for participating in competitions, my 'identity' will remain invisible to ensure my absolute safety."
"Which side will you represent?"
"Ice Emperor, I have to remind you that this competition has introduced sect teams, and Soul Emperors can already establish their own sects. At the same time, according to the rules of the new competition system, as long as you meet the requirements of winning all the individual elimination rounds, you can win and advance."
"what do you mean……"
"I don't represent any party, I represent myself."
Huo Yuhao grinned grimly and said confidently.
"I am a sect all by myself."
Chapter 299 Contact with Xishui League
The Youth Soul Master Competition held every five years will be held soon, and this time the organizer of the competition is the Sun-Moon Empire.
This competition also specially introduced sect teams to participate. Compared with pure college teams, sects have completely different training methods. The younger generation of large sects with a long history will not necessarily lose to those soul master academies with rich faculty.
As the most watched event in the entire continent, if one can rank among the top and shine in this competition, not only will there be generous material rewards, but also a resounding reputation for one's own sect.
The competition is an opportunity for all the big powers to become famous, but it can also be a trap to lure them into falling into it.
Huo Yuhao now has every reason to speculate that the Sun-Moon Empire has the motive and ability to take advantage of this competition to capture all the participating players from various forces on the continent.
Whether it was using these young talents as hostages or annihilating them all to create a talent gap for all parties, it meant that the Sun-Moon Empire was ready to break off relations with the three continental countries and launch an all-out war.
“Has this day come so soon?” Huo Yuhao muttered to himself as he walked on the streets of Mingdu, but he was not surprised.
The competition is held in rotation among the four countries, and it is the Sun-Moon Empire's turn only every twenty years. If they want to launch a full-scale war, now is an excellent opportunity to target them.
With Mingdetang's huge investment, the sealed milk bottle was finally launched, marking a new solution to the power and energy problems.
The research on soul guide machine tools has also made great strides. After the core array is decomposed through mathematical principles, automatic engraving becomes much simpler. Mingde Hall is already able to mass-produce level 5 soul guides.
A fifth-level soul guide device is already the standard equipment for an elite soul guide team.
An invisible war machine seemed to be right in front of us, ready to operate at high speed at any time.
Of course, whether the Sun-Moon Empire would declare war was just Huo Yuhao’s guess. He didn’t think that starting a war now was a good choice for the Sun-Moon Empire.
But the Ten Thousand Souls Douluo accidentally revealed that the Sun-Moon Empire would take advantage of this competition to take action, which made him resolutely decide to contact the Holy Spirit Church and the royal family to understand their true intentions.
In order to fight against foreign aggression, one must first stabilize the internal situation. Huo Yuhao was confident that as long as he stayed in Mingdu, he could silence the Sun-Moon Empire's war machine at full capacity at any time.
There is still one very important thing that is not very clear, that is, Huo Yuhao does not know how many level 9 fixed-type soul guide shells Mingde Hall has in reserve.
It was not appropriate to ask Jing Hongchen directly. He was considering whether he could infer the result based on the rare metal consumption of Mingdetang.
The plan cannot be completed overnight.
At this moment, Huo Yuhao had turned into a man with black hair, wearing a thin black short-sleeved shirt and a pair of black goggles. He seemed to be wandering aimlessly on the street, but in fact he was searching for information about the Xishui League.
Huo Yuhao tried to actively ask the people of Mingdu, such as the vendors in the market, but they all avoided the question with a look of fear on their faces.
Although nothing was found out, it at least showed that the Xishui League was not as secretive as the Holy Spirit Church. Even the common people had heard of their reputation, but it was just a bad reputation.
There were also a few kind vendors who reminded Huo Yuhao not to talk about the Xishui League and to stay as far away from this terrifying underground force as possible.
Unable to get any information from civilians, Huo Yuhao began to contact the black market in Mingdu.
Finally, relying on his ability to collect information from all sides, Huo Yuhao found out the situation of the underground forces in Mingdu.
The three largest underground forces in Mingdu are Xishui League, Pingfan League and Aodu Chamber of Commerce. Among them, Xishui League is the largest.
Soul mentors have an extremely high status in the Sun-Moon Empire and have always been talents sought after by various forces. The three major underground forces are naturally no exception.
Now, Huo Yuhao was standing in front of an ordinary three-story building.
Even without using mental detection, he could see that something was wrong with the building.
People kept coming in and out of the three-story building in front of me, and the flow of people seemed to be quite large.
How many people can a three-story building accommodate? Why do so many people come in and out?
In front of the small building stood two guards in black, watching the people coming in and out with cold and vigilant eyes.
They would just take a quick glance at people going out, but for those who wanted to come in, they would stop them and ask a few questions.
To some they bowed respectfully and gave an ingratiating smile, while to others their tone was less friendly.
There was even a person who was stopped by them, pushed to the ground, yelled at and not allowed to enter, so he had to leave in disgrace.
“Even the guards are Soul Kings? It seems that this black market is very important to the Xishui League.” Huo Yuhao saw through the strength of the two guards at once and thought to himself.
He quietly released his spiritual detection and saw the mystery of the underground. Compared with the ordinary things on the ground, there was a different world underground.
Ten meters below the ground is an extremely chaotic black market where nearly a thousand people are conducting shady transactions.
Prohibited soul guides, rare metals, banned drugs...many items that are difficult to purchase through regular channels or simply unavailable for purchase can be found everywhere in the stalls here, but the prices are also rising.
This is one of the black markets opened under the name of Xishui League.
Not only were there two Soul Kings guarding the gate, there were also one or two powerful, impenetrable auras underground, which might have come from Titled Douluo.
And in the black market, there is also the eerie aura of evil soul masters.
“It seems we have come to the right place.” Huo Yuhao said coldly, and then walked towards the two guards.
"This is a private place. Please stay." A tall guard stopped Huo Yuhao and asked, "May I ask, Your Excellency..."
They conduct routine questioning of every person coming in and out.
Huo Yuhao understood what was going on when he was observing from the side. Without wasting any time, he threw a small object directly at the guard.
The guard caught it subconsciously, and was stunned for a moment after seeing it clearly.
This is actually a sixth-level soul guide badge, and it is also the exclusive badge of Mingde Hall. It cannot be imitated anywhere else.
No matter whether he obtained it himself or it was given to him by others, this young man was obviously a big shot that the Xishui League had to pay attention to, and he could not afford to offend him.
The black-clad guard immediately put on a flattering smile, respectfully handed back the object thrown by Huo Yuhao, and made a gesture of invitation.
"Sir, please come in."
The direction he pointed to was actually a tunnel leading underground.
"Ah."
After Huo Yuhao took the item, he responded calmly and walked towards the underground black market.
When he actually stepped into this underground black market, it meant that he had officially started contact with the Xishui League and the Holy Spirit Church.
Chapter 300: The Black Market and the Attempt to Create an Illusion
The entire underground black market is very prosperous, and its level of liveliness is no less than that of the large regular shopping malls under the royal family.
Unlike the Xingluo Xingguang Auction House or the Jubao Pavilion in Shrek City, which have official intermediaries, here all transactions are direct between buyers and sellers.
Buyers and sellers just sit on the ground or stand there, write down what they want to buy or sell, and wait quietly for others to come up and ask the price.
Those who don't set up stalls just wander around the black market slowly, searching for possible buyers and sellers.
Soul guides, elixirs, rare metals, and even soul bones... The variety of items that can be purchased here is no less than that of large shopping malls, and so are the prices.
The extremely spacious underground space has not been properly planned at all, but is entirely up to everyone to set up stalls on their own initiative, making it appear chaotic and crowded.
Some stalls are more formal, with the goods neatly displayed and the money and goods handed over. The owners of these stalls are all powerful and have more manpower. They dare to do this, obviously not afraid of others snatching them.
“It’s so messy.” Huo Yuhao thought to himself as he walked in the narrow aisle.
The first impression of this underground black market is very bad. There are soul guide lights, but the light is not bright.
Logically speaking, it doesn't take too much technical content to use soul guide lights to make such a large underground venue extremely bright, but the Xishui League did not do so.
It seemed as if the organizers did this deliberately because they hate bright environments.
Not far away, at a formal stall, a deal had just been completed.
A middle-aged man lowered his voice and asked the bearded stall owner, "Why has the price of mithril increased again?"
The bearded stall owner snorted, "Rare metals are already under control, and recently there was news that the royal family is going to increase control. Buy now, because I think the prices of these rare metals will go up like crazy."
The middle-aged man sighed helplessly, took out his soul guide card and swiped it with the stall owner, only to receive a small and exquisite box in return.
There was only a small piece of mithril in the box, no more than a hundred grams.
He quickly put the box into his storage ring and quickly left the underground black market.
Huo Yuhao used his spiritual detection to witness the entire transaction process between the middle-aged man and the bearded stall owner, and he couldn't help but sigh in his heart.
As expected of a black market, the prices here are insane.
He had seen some of Mingdetang's accounts. According to Mingdetang's accounts, the price of one hundred grams of mithril fluctuated between four hundred and five hundred gold soul coins.
And in this black market, the price paid by the middle-aged man just now was even five times more than the official recommended price of Mingdetang.
He should be a free soul guide, otherwise he would not pay such a high premium to get that piece of mithril.
For him, it seemed easier to get so much mithril on the black market than through regular channels.