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As the most important event in the entire Douluo Continent, countless young elite spirit masters have flocked to it for thousands of years.
When the first ray of morning sunlight shone into Mingdu, the largest city on the continent had already become bustling.
At the gate of Mingyue Hotel, a broad road stretched to the distant horizon, surrounded by military soldiers on both sides.
All onlookers were restricted to a distance of 30 meters to prevent disruption of order. Even so, countless spectators still gathered outside the soldiers' fence.
A total of more than a hundred participating teams walked out of the Mingyue Hotel one after another and headed towards the stadium in the eastern suburbs along the avenue.
Among the many participating teams, several teams stand out.
There was a group of people all dressed in black, wearing conical hats with hanging black gauze. Their faces could not be seen clearly. Only the two old men in the lead showed their true faces. They were Scorpion Tiger Douluo Zhang Peng and the fourth elder Netherworld Douluo.
Ma Xiaotao, the Fire Phoenix Saint, followed closely behind the two, and behind them were the young evil soul masters from the Holy Spirit Church.
Ma Xiaotao glanced coldly at the onlookers around her through the black veil, her eyes devoid of emotion.
Suddenly, the thin evil spirit master Jili behind her asked, "Saintess, where is the Saint Son? Isn't he coming to participate in the competition?"
This was the Holy Spirit Church’s participating team, and Huo Yuhao was not among them.
Ma Xiaotao didn't even turn around, and replied coldly: "Do you think the Holy Son has a lot of free time? The Holy Son still has to prepare for the underground soul mentor competition. Do you want to trouble the Holy Son to help in the elimination round?"
Jili replied: "I dare not, but..."
Before he could finish his words, a sense of fear suddenly rose from the bottom of his heart.
Ma Xiaotao's tone became a little more indifferent.
"But what? If you can't even make it to the finals, you will have to offer your souls to the Son of God yourself."
Jili swallowed his saliva and said hurriedly, "Yes, please rest assured, Saint Lady. Even if Saint Son doesn't play, we will definitely be able to enter the semi-finals."
Ma Xiaotao snorted and said no more. The Holy Spirit Cult followed Zhang Peng silently.
Not far behind them, Huo Yuhao, who had regained his original appearance, was sandwiched between the other participating teams, releasing mental detection and observing everything around him.
He wore sunglasses, his hands in his pockets, and was dressed in a simple black short-sleeved shirt and long pants. He walked at a leisurely pace with a casual attitude, and it seemed that he was not here to participate in the competition, but more like a tourist.
"It's all thanks to Xu Tianran that the evil soul masters, who are hated by everyone, can now appear in the sun openly."
Huo Yuhao grunted, and beside him were Tianmeng and the Ice and Snow Emperor.
All three were dressed in casual clothes and did not look like they were participating in the competition at all.
Such a magical team naturally caused a lot of discussion around.
"What kind of sect is that? Why are there only so few people? Has the registration requirement come up?"
"What was their team leader thinking, letting such a young child participate in the competition?"
The crowd of onlookers were chattering in the distance, and their strange gazes were almost all focused on Tianmeng and the other two.
Tian Meng naturally sensed those gazes, and ate the ice cream in his hand with a look of joy, and said excitedly: "Yuhao, it was really your wisest decision to let Tian Meng come out to participate in the competition. You see, everyone is shocked by me."
Huo Yuhao: "..."
He was too lazy to pay attention to Tian Meng, but looked at Xue Di beside him and said curiously: "Xue Di, I thought you didn't like the feeling of being in the spotlight."
Xue Di glanced around naturally and said, "I am not opposed to this feeling. In the Far North, Bing'er and I accepted the admiration of other compatriots like this."
"If you are strong, why should you care about the eyes of others?"
Bingdi said with some surprise: "Yuhao, I didn't expect that human would let you do whatever you want instead of taking you back to the Body Sect. I thought he would go crazy when I met him again. If he goes crazy, Xue'er and I may not be able to stop him together."
The humans she was referring to were naturally not able to be killed by poison.
Huo Yuhao’s expression calmed down and he thought back to Huo Qiuer’s words.
It was because she knew that I was not dead, and then she said something on my behalf in front of Du Bu Si, that's why Du Bu Si was so easy to talk to.
Who is she?
The doubt in his heart could not be solved for a while. Huo Yuhao looked at Bingdi and said casually: "Bingdi, did you change your hairstyle?"
At this time, Hyotei no longer had her usual twin ponytails, but had changed to a single ponytail that she had never had before. Although her temperament was still cold and arrogant, she was unrecognizable just by her appearance.
The Ice Emperor snorted, "Have you forgotten? My appearance was seen by those two humans. Although my aura can be concealed, it was only a one-time encounter. I don't know if they remember it, but it's better to be careful."
"If I find something wrong, return to your sea of spirituality immediately."
Huo Yuhao nodded.
Tian Meng said with some fear: "Bingbing, can you change your hairstyle again?"
Bingdi raised an eyebrow: "Why?"
"Because... your hairstyle is very similar to that woman's. It feels like anyone with this hairstyle wants to eat me..." Tian Meng stammered.
Bingdi said unhappily: "I really want to eat you."
The surroundings were noisy and the people were far away. Many people just focused their eyes on Huo Yuhao and the others but could not hear the conversation between them.
As the sun rose, the 168 participating teams, totaling about 2,000 people, slowly left the center of Mingdu City and gathered towards the stadium in the eastern suburbs.
The eastern suburbs were already crowded with people at this time. The army had been transferred here a few weeks ago to maintain order around the stadium.
Soldiers divided the crowd into sections in the form of lines and isolated them from the playing field.
The competition stage is a wide platform that is ten meters high and over a hundred meters in diameter. The entire floor of the platform is made of metal and exudes a silvery-white luster.
The competition stage was surrounded by a circle of transparent light curtain with a slightly yellowish hue.
“Soul guide light curtain?” Huo Yuhao frowned upon seeing this.
There is a special rule in this competition, that is, there is no limit on the height of the contestants in the air. And with the existence of this light curtain, the contestants will not lose their qualifications for falling outside the field.
This is obviously a rule that is beneficial to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy.
There is a high platform to the north of the competition stage, and there are also neatly arranged huge soul guide screens around the stage, so that the audience can still appreciate the heroic fighting figures of young elite soul masters from multiple angles from a distance.
The rest area for the players is on the east side of the competition stage. Near the competition stage is a large awning that is only big enough to accommodate twenty participating teams. The rest are just some open-air chairs.
The shed is naturally prepared for big forces, and Huo Yuhao is not qualified to sit in it.
When the staff at the reporting office saw Huo Yuhao and his team coming, they asked as usual, "Sir, are you from the academy or sect?"
Huo Yuhao casually gave his name: “Dragon Tiger Gate.”
At the same time he handed in his entry documents.
The staff member was stunned as soon as he took over the formalities. He counted the number of people in front of him to make sure that he was not dazzled, and asked, "Sir, are all your contestants here?"
Huo Yuhao replied: “Oh, sorry, several of my teammates are not feeling well today, so they are all staying in the hotel to rest.”
The staff member was surprised and asked, "This...but the elimination round is just a few days away, why are you feeling unwell at this time?"
Huo Yuhao shrugged helplessly: "There's nothing I can do. I'm not used to the local climate."
The staff was silent for a while, and then led Huo Yuhao to the most remote corner of the bench area. Finally, they said politely and symbolically: "I wish you good luck in the game."
After saying that, he walked away without looking back, and seemed to be mumbling a few words.
Xue Di sat down gracefully and said leisurely, "Yuhao, judging from the seating arrangement, your sect seems to be the least valued among all the teams."
Huo Yuhao said indifferently: “After all, I made up a sect that is about to die. It is normal that it is not taken seriously.”
As he spoke, his expression changed slightly and he slowly looked towards a certain place.
I saw the staff member just now walking towards this side again, and behind him, there was a group of familiar people following. They were none other than the Tangmen team led by Tang Ya.
At this moment, they had already changed out of their Shrek Academy uniforms and put on specially made Tang Sect clothing. Naturally, others would not be so respectful to them just because of their identity as Shrek students.
When Tang Ya and the others saw Huo Yuhao, they were all stunned and stood still.
The staff member didn't notice anything unusual and just said, "Your seats have been taken" and left.
In his eyes, there was no need to serve these two unknown sects that he had never heard of.
"Yuhao!"
Wang Dong was the first to speak excitedly and was about to walk towards Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao’s first reaction was to keep a distance from her cautiously. The same was true for Ice Emperor and Tian Meng. Only Snow Emperor remained calm, but there was a subtle hostility in her eyes.
He no longer took the initiative to contact her, but he unexpectedly bumped into her by chance.
However, Yin Lex stopped him in time and said, "Yuhao, don't be so sensitive. I can feel that she is just a pawn. Her spiritual consciousness cannot attack you directly in this situation due to some rules. Just hold off for now."
Huo Yuhao then revealed a hint of a smile, but the vigilance in his heart did not disappear.
"Wang Dong, long time no see."
Wang Dong couldn't hide his joy: "Yuhao, why are you here?"
Huo Yuhao said: "Of course I am here to participate in the competition."
“Participating?” Wang Dong looked at Tian Meng and the others beside Huo Yuhao, “They are…”
Bei Bei, the team leader, smiled gently: "If I remember correctly, these two should be Yu Hao's cousins, right? I wonder who this one is..."
He turned his gaze to Xue Di, secretly puzzled in his heart.
Why does it feel like after so many years, Yuhao's two cousins haven't grown much...
"This is my cousin, Huo Xueer," Huo Yuhao introduced.
"Hello."
Xue Di greeted him indifferently, but her eyes were always fixed on Wang Dong.
Huo Yuhao and the Tang Clan members met again in this strange atmosphere.
Beibei, Tang Ya, Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nannan, He Caitou, Xiaoxiao, these are all his acquaintances in Shrek Academy, as well as his former roommate who now seems extremely suspicious... Wang Donger, who is still dressed as a man for the time being.
Tang Ya asked curiously, "Brother Huo, which team are you competing for now? And... why are there only so few people?"
Huo Yuhao smiled calmly: "Of course it's for the Dragon Tiger Gate."
Hearing his words, Tang Ya was instantly shocked. Recalling what Huo Yuhao had told her about the past of Dragon Tiger Sect, her eyes softened as she looked towards Huo Yuhao.
After a long while, she said with some emotion: "Brother Huo, your purpose of participating in this competition is also to make a name for yourself in the competition and revive the sect, right?"
"I understand you. Let's work together for a common goal. But if we become rivals, we will not show mercy."
Huo Yuhao smiled and said, “No need to show mercy, just go all out.”
He Caitou smiled heartily and offered a cigar: "Yuhao, long time no see."