Chapter 203: Changes to the Competition Format

The three who felt something was wrong saw the world in their eyes replaced by a swath of emerald green.

The three were all Soul Douluo, but they had previously been heavily wounded by Tang Lie; when faced with Du Gu Bo's poison skill they couldn't react and ended up with no bodies left.

"Old Ghost, aren't you coming out to help?"

The battle between Ju Douluo and Tang Lie stalled, and when he tried to have the three Soul Douluo attack Tang San, he found their auras had vanished from the battlefield.

"Here it comes!"

A black silhouette appeared; terrifyingly, it was impossible to see clearly.

Another titled Douluo appeared.

Two yellow, two purple, five black!

Tie Li's gaze stayed on their Soul Rings—nine Soul Rings.

I'm still short by four, just four more.

Tie Li's five fingers instinctively clenched, and the change in his expression caught Du Gu Bo's attention.

"After this Grand Competition ends, stay by my side and cultivate properly; when you reach Soul Douluo, with your powerful martial soul, even if you can't deal with a titled Douluo, you'll at least have the ability to protect yourself;

You need the sixth and seventh Soul Rings; I can help you obtain them;

Your fifth Soul Ring has already reached a limit of twenty thousand years, and the sixth Soul Ring's ceiling is at least over forty thousand."

"Fine."

As Gui Mei's attack was about to hit Tang San, another surge of domineering soul power erupted.

Another titled Douluo wielding the Haotian Hammer martial soul appeared.

"San Ge, protect Xiao San well," Tang Lie shouted.

"Don't worry, with me here, Xiao San won't get into trouble."

The two titled Douluo with Haotian Hammer, and Ju Gui Douluo narrowed his eyes; from this stance, they couldn't kill Tang San today.

"Weren't we told there's only one titled Douluo?"

"After so many years of the Haotian Sect Hidden World, no one knows the true state of the Clear Sky Sect; even if another titled Douluo appears, I wouldn't find it strange," Gui Mei said coldly.

"We'll leave first; there will be plenty of chances later."

The two realized they couldn't kill Tang San today and didn't want further entanglement, so they turned and vanished.

Seeing the two titled Douluo withdraw, the Black-clothed People each received a retreat signal.

In a short time, the Black-clothed People vanished to the other side of the hill; before leaving, they always take their comrades' corpses with them.

Before the Soul Master Competition ends, the Spirit Hall won't act brazenly, but once it concludes, it's a different matter.

Du Gu Bo counted on that, so after the Soul Master Competition, he plans to take Tie Li with him.

If Tie Li dies at the hands of the Golden Generation in the finals, the matter may end there.

But if Tie Li survives or defeats the Golden Generation, it will undoubtedly provoke even crazier retaliation from the Spirit Hall.

"Juhua Pass, I have a small gift for you," said the old man.

"What?"

Ju Douluo sensed Du Gu Bo's aura; originally he wasn't afraid of Du Gu Bo—having cultivated to the titled Douluo level, it's hard for him to affect Du Gu Bo.

Moreover, considering the gap in their martial souls, he possesses the top-tier martial soul 'Qi Rong Tong Tian Ju', while Du Gu Bo's martial soul is the Biluese Snake Emperor, creating a disparity.

Yet it's unclear what opportunity Du Gu Bo received; his poison skill surged dramatically, and his martial soul underwent a metamorphosis, reaching top-tier level, making his poison truly extraordinary.

Not long ago, he almost suffered a huge loss at Du Gu Bo's hands.

An emerald-colored poison dragon erupted from Du Gu Bo's body, its terrifying toxin seeming to corrode even the surrounding space.

Ju Gui Douluo felt his scalp tingle and jointly used a soul skill to block the poison dragon.

"What?"

Thinking they'd blocked the poison dragon, they found its venomous gas could pass through their soul power, piercing their meridians at an incomprehensible speed.

Ju Gui Douluo viciously uttered harsh words and fled the area quickly.

"Old Poisonous Object, we've recorded this grudge."

"Hahaha, letting you taste my poison is rare," Du Gu Bo's smile lingered.

After the Black-clothed People retreated, the teachers and students of the various teams breathed a sigh of relief.

The two titled Douluo who just emerged from the Black-clothed People had their hearts in their throats.

Fortunately, Shilake Academy is under the Clear Sky Sect's influence, and an elder of the Clear Sky Sect was stationed in the team.

As expected of the number one sect in the world, they could even dispatch two titled Douluo to be stationed.

Anyone with eyes can see that the Black-clothed People's target this time is Tang San, and the two Clear Sky Sect elders in the team are probably also there for Tang San.

Just from this alone, one can see Tang San's standing within the Clear Sky Sect.

Many female trainees' gazes toward Tang San changed.

His noble status, outstanding talent, and formidable strength all centered on him alone.

As expected, during the team's cleanup, several female trainees expressed affection for Tang San.

In the earlier Preselection and Promotion Match, this had occurred, though it was then more restrained.

But now it's a blatant confession.

Yet Tang San's eyes were on only Xiao Wu, which instantly drew sighs from the Shilake crowd.

The clumsy wording was a bit awkward, yet sincere.

Dai Mubai instinctively looked toward Zhu Zhuqing, but saw her gaze directed toward the Tiandou Royal Team, reigniting Dai Mubai's fury.

Zhang Xiaohe had a minor injury, and Tie Li was helping him up.

Feeling something, he looked toward Shilake's direction and met Bing Ling's eyes.

"Boss, take it easy."

Zhang Xiaohe let out a wail, and Tie Li's subconscious force almost turned his light injury into a serious one.

Shan Shan smiled wryly and took Zhang Xiaohe back to the car.

Wu Hun City is smaller in area than the capitals of the Two Great Empires, but its construction follows the standards of an imperial capital.

Once you enter Wu Hun City, any random passerby could be a Soul Master.

Unlike square‑shaped cities, Wu Hun City is hexagonal, and each wall bears a carved pattern representing one of today's six top martial souls in the Soul Master World.

Upon entering Wu Hun City, dedicated staff make the arrangements.

However, the rules for this final tournament have changed.

The 70,000‑year‑old Yinlei Magic Dragon Left Arm Bone produced exceptionally strong contestants among the Two Great Empires' teams, a development the Spirit Hall had not anticipated.

On the Xingluo Empire side, teams led by the Soul King have all appeared.

Therefore, the Spirit Hall plans to modify the competition format, unlike previous tournament rules.

After receiving the Spirit Hall's notice of rule changes, Zhao Tianhe immediately summoned the members of the Second Team.

"The Spirit Hall has temporarily altered the competition rules; listen to me first:

Originally the two empire zones had a total of thirty participating teams, plus three directly admitted teams, making thirty‑three teams in all;

Under the new rules, aside from the three directly admitted teams, the remaining thirty teams are divided into six groups of five, each group playing a round‑robin; the top two teams in each group advance to the next round,

and among the remaining teams, the one with the highest points also advances to the next round.

That yields thirteen teams; adding the three directly admitted teams makes sixteen teams, which will compete in a 16‑to‑8, 8‑to‑4 format until two teams reach the final and a champion is chosen."

"Teacher Zhao, besides the top two teams in each group advancing, what if two of the remaining teams have identical points?" Gu Qi asked.

"Simple enough: the two tied teams will engage in a Soul Battle, and the winner moves on to the next round."

(End of Chapter)