Chapter 276: Leading the Tianshui Team into Battle

The open-style exchange meeting concluded just like that.

Qin Jian also laid the crucial groundwork for his future path, possessing the most important support.

His base of operations had always been the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect; if he could control the Spirit Hall, plus the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, then unifying the Dalu would be a simple matter, although he didn't really care much about unifying the Dalu anyway.

Compared to that, living a happy and uninhibited life with a group of beautiful girls was far more desirable...

The Spirit Master teams from the Heaven Dou Empire participating in the competition continued forward.

In the journey that followed, no further accidents occurred.

To better protect these Spirit Masters, Crown Prince Xue Qinghe temporarily requisitioned three thousand Iron Armored Army soldiers from the cities they passed through to assist as guards, and also summoned some expert Spirit Masters from the imperial capital to arrive quickly.

This guy also knew that the Spirit Hall's target was mainly Qin Jian, so he likely wanted to use these actions to gain Qin Jian's favor.

Qin Jian was... expressionless about this.

A woman capable of lurking for over a dozen years with deep schemes—no matter what she did, it could not dispel the vigilance in his heart.

Finally, the entire team arrived at Wuhun City.

A Cardinal came out to greet them in Wuhun City, and under his guidance, the group of over two hundred people was quickly settled in, staying at a hotel on the west side inside Wuhun City.

According to news from the Spirit Hall, the competition would officially begin in three days.

The journey was exhausting, and having these three days of rest was enough for each academy to make adjustments.

Early that morning, all participating academies were led by designated Spirit Hall personnel to the competition venue.

Each academy had a separately built rest area, constructed around the competition venue.

On the side opposite the Pope Palace was the VIP judging stand, where those representing the two great empires were watching the battle, and of course, there were also people from the Spirit Hall.

"The academy we drew in the first round is the Kamikaze Academy, but they have withdrawn from the finals."

Flender returned after drawing lots, his face full of smugness: "How about that? A top-tier draw, we had a bye in both the first and second rounds."

But Qin Jian shook his head; he had already guessed what the situation was.

Although because Feng Xiaotian was seriously injured, the Kamikaze Academy members ultimately joined the Blazing Academy, the result was the same: they had cobbled together a team consisting entirely of Soul Ancestors.

Sure enough, the new Blazing Fire Team that appeared next shocked all the teams from the Heaven Dou Empire.

Many academies lodged protests with the Spirit Hall, but the Spirit Hall's attitude was tough, only saying: "Within the rules; if you are not satisfied, you may withdraw from the competition."

"This is too excessive!"

The Shrek side was also filled with indignation; after all, the Kamikaze Academy and the Blazing Academy were both difficult to deal with, and now that they had combined, they had added a powerful enemy out of thin air.

"Since it is within the rules..."

Qin Jian suddenly said to Grandmaster and the others: "I will be leaving for the second round; don't be surprised in a moment."

"Rongrong, what is he going to do?" Grandmaster looked at Ning Rongrong and asked.

Ning Rongrong blinked her large eyes: "Grandmaster, I don't know either."

"Even you don't know? Then what on earth is he going to do?" Grandmaster was very confused.

The others were also a bit baffled; they had originally thought Ning Rongrong would definitely be able to guess...

"Second round, third match: Tianshui Academy versus Blazing Fire Team!"

A great deal of clamor suddenly erupted around the competition arena.

"Isn't that person walking at the very front wearing the water-blue team uniform a man? How could Tianshui Academy have a male student?"

"Isn't this Shrek Team Vice-Captain Qin Jian? The most flamboyant one in the entire preliminary and promotion tournaments!"

"Who? What are you all talking about? What happened in your Heaven Dou Empire competition zone?"

"..."

Perhaps the clamor off-stage had already affected the progress of the match, so the host announced loudly: "According to the registration information, student Qin Jian was simultaneously nominated as Captain of the Tianshui Team and Vice-Captain of the Shrek Team, so his participation is also within the rules."

The entire arena fell slightly silent, and those team leaders who had objections were left speechless.

One could only say that the lack of a duplicate-check mechanism during registration was a loophole, but what normal person would have the strength to participate in two teams at once?

Of course, Qin Jian, who had single-handedly cleared the Promotion Tournament, was an exception...

"Qin Jian, I originally thought I would have to wait until the fourth or fifth round to meet you..."

Huo Wushuang stood at the very front, silently observing Qin Jian, who was dressed in a light blue team uniform.

That's right, what Qin Jian was wearing was the Sword Outfit that perfectly complemented the uniforms he had given to the Tianshui Team—the very sets that Shui Bing'er had designed and sewn herself.

Looking from outside the arena, the one man and six women appeared as a seamless whole, without any sense of incongruity.

"This time, I want to seek justice for my sister!" Huo Wushuang said coldly.

Huo Wu was still standing in the central position for a Control System Soul Master; she didn't speak, but she didn't show any signs of sorrow either.

She just curled her lips and muttered: "I've never seen someone seek justice for their sister while having to rely on their sister's strength..."

The voice was not loud, but everyone present was a Spirit Master, and their hearing was extremely keen.

"Pfft."

The six beautiful girls on Qin Jian's side, along with Feng Yunwu from the opposing Kamikaze Academy, could not help but laugh.

Huo Wushuang's face instantly swelled to the color of a pig's liver: "Huo Wu! Big brother is helping you!"

"I don't need it, can you stop trying to move yourself, please?"

Huo Wu wouldn't worry about the occasion when she flipped the table: "Brother, if you were really good to me, you wouldn't disregard my wishes, but would ask clearly whether I want it or not! Please don't impose the desire to satisfy your own self-image as a 'good brother' onto me!"

Just like many people who think they are filial and think they are good to their children, their actions are nothing more than 'I think you need this,' rather than asking whether you actually need it.

On the stage, Huo Wushuang's eyes widened; he had been righteous and justified in looking for trouble with Qin Jian, but before he could even fight, his momentum had mostly dissipated: "But you... you were dumped by this scumbag after all! Isn't it right for me to want to teach him a lesson?"

"That is my own business!"

Huo Wu waved her hand irritably: "The matter between Qin Jian and me is not as simple as you see it; even if we temporarily broke up, it was just me wanting to calm down... From beginning to end, I have never felt that he was bad."

"I..."

She walked to the front of the team, her gaze like fire as she looked directly at Qin Jian: "... still like him, and I like him very much."

Huo Wushuang: "......"

The crowd off-stage sat on stools and ate melon seeds, watching with great relish.

"Hehehe, don't I have a great head for business!"

Flender sold a round of melon seeds and stools, smiling quite cunningly: "If melons weren't so hard to carry, I'd really want to bring some watermelons to sell."

"Crack... ptoo!"

Liu Erlong spat out a melon seed shell and said: "Boss Flender, did you foresee that wherever Qin Jian is, there's a good show to watch?"

"That goes without saying, this little guy is a show-maker!"

Flender laughed heartily: "Come, come, everyone, Shrek-brand melon seeds and stools, you won't find this shop again once you leave this village..."

At this moment, the voice of the Spirit Hall referee spread out, nakedly manifesting their overbearing nature: "Everyone, this is a competition arena, not a chat room. If you continue to talk nonsense, you will all be judged as having lost."

88/97

Extra update

(End of this chapter)