Chapter 142

Qian Daoliu then handed the letter to the Crocodile Douluo; although they were not blood brothers, their relationship had already surpassed that of brothers, and on this matter Qian Daoliu concealed nothing from the Crocodile Douluo.

After reading the letter, the Crocodile Douluo's expression matched Qian Daoliu's earlier one; his face was now filled with a smile.

"This child possesses extraordinary talent; if he cannot be united with Xue'er, he must be nipped in the bud, otherwise he will surely become a grave future threat!" said the Crocodile Douluo.

Qian Daoliu sighed: "Xue'er has finally found someone she likes; if you move to kill him, how do you think Xue'er will react?"

Hearing this, the Crocodile gave an embarrassed smile: "I was just saying that."

"Besides, this boy is only fifteen, considerably younger than Xue'er, and he already has engagements with two girls, both from prominent families, which indeed makes things difficult."

The difficulty the Crocodile Douluo referred to concerns Qian Renxue's side; if they forcibly take Gu Xuan away, or assassinate Du Gu Yan and Ye Lingling, then Gu Xuan would naturally not willingly be with Qian Renxue.

This would be indirectly sabotaging the relationship between Qian Renxue and Gu Xuan, but if we don't do that, what other way could let Qian Renxue rise while the other two women remain subordinate?

Neither Qian Daoliu nor the Crocodile Douluo are pedantic; for a man, especially one so extraordinarily gifted and talented, having several beloved confidantes is perfectly normal, but they must ensure that Xue'er is the mistress, the eldest sister.

After a moment's thought, Qian Daoliu said: "The opening of the Continental Elite Soul Master Academy Tournament is just around the corner; that boy will also appear. When he comes to Wu Hun City, we will give him a thorough test. If he is worthy of Xue'er's devotion, I will go straight to the Seven Treasure Glazed Sect to arrange a heavenly marriage!"

Listening to his elder brother's words, the Crocodile pondered a moment and replied: "Elder brother, this plan is feasible."

"The Seven Treasure Glazed Sect has always put profit first; we are merely letting Xue'er rise without affecting that boy's other two beloveds, for our Xue'er is peerlessly beautiful and extraordinarily gifted."

"Moreover, with this friendship you have forged, his Seven Treasure Glazed Sect will not lose out!"

Afterwards, Qian Daoliu and the Crocodile Douluo began discussing the feasibility of this matter, for saying it is one thing, actually doing it another.

For any other matter, these two old men would never be so concerned; just as they are willing to hand over authority of the Spirit Hall, a holy land of Soul Masters, to Bi Bi Dong, but in their hearts the affair of Qian Renxue is absolutely the most important.

The final two months flew by, and in the blink of an eye the time for the opening of the Continental Elite Soul Master Academy Tournament arrived; Gu Xuan also broke through one level of soul power in the last two-odd months, reaching rank fifty-six.

Yu Tianheng and the others also reached the peak of their respective ranks; Yu Tianheng was only a step away from breaking through rank fifty to become a Soul King powerhouse.

Shímó peaked at rank forty-eight; Shímò, Àosīluó, and Yùfēng were all at the peak of rank forty-seven.

Ye Lingling had already broken through rank fifty, but she had not yet gone to obtain a soul ring, because the Continental Elite Soul Master Academy Tournament had already opened.

That day, the opening ceremony of the Continental Elite Soul Master Academy Tournament, Tian Dou Empire division, was held grandly in Tian Dou City.

As the grandest event in the Soul Master world, it attracted not only the attention of Soul Masters but also everyone from the imperial family and nobles down to commoners; every citizen of Tian Dou City regarded this tournament as the greatest festival.

The opening ceremony was held inside the Tian Dou Grand Soul Battle Arena in Tian Dou City.

As early as one month prior, the tickets for the opening ceremony had already sold out; you should know that these tickets were priced the same as the admission fee for the main battle center of the Tian Dou Grand Soul Battle Arena.

Thus, the ticket revenue alone was enough to fill the Tian Dou imperial coffers to overflowing.

As the main venue for the Tian Dou division, the Tian Dou Grand Soul Battle Arena had, from one month earlier, ceased all soul battle matches and undergone internal renovation; after the renovation, all sub‑arenas inside the Grand Soul Battle Arena were merged with the main battle center to form a single enormous competition ground.

Apart from the VIP section remaining on the north side of the entire venue, the renovated Grand Soul Battle Arena could still accommodate eighty thousand spectators at once; although ticket sales brought in considerable income, the arena itself also incurred substantial costs.

In the coming period, all of the Tian Dou division's preselection matches will be held here.

In the early morning, before the sun had risen in the east, the renovated Tian Dou Grand Soul Battle Arena had already welcomed countless spectators.

Coming this early, the spectators were naturally not there just to enter the venue sooner, since each ticket had a designated seat number; they wanted to see, up close, the participating young Soul Masters on the first day of the opening ceremony.

Among them were many lovestruck handsome youths and maidens, for the total number of Soul Masters on the whole continent does not exceed six figures, and those who can represent advanced Soul Master Academies in the competition are the cream of the crop.

Moreover, with the age limit of twenty‑five, they undoubtedly become the ideal objects of youthful affection for handsome young men and women; to marry or wed a powerful Soul Master would surely bring both fame and fortune.

Even the nobles who had bought VIP tickets were now gathering outside, for nobles have always delighted in recruiting Soul Masters.

The Continental Elite Soul Master Academy Tournament itself is a cradle of talent; not only those who achieve certain scores, but even merely the participants are objects of contention for nobles and clans.

Some nobles even, because plebeian youths have never seen the world, bestow upon them the nobles' own bored‑with "pets"; some commoner Soul Masters then feel they have struck it lucky and thus join a certain faction.

Such occurrences are common even within the Soul Master world.

At this moment, with the Tian Dou Grand Soul Battle Arena as the center, nearly one‑third of Tian Dou City presented a scene of the streets emptied of people.

Since a few days ago, every hotel in Tian Dou City has been fully booked, and the city's internal population has nearly increased by fifty percent.

From this one can see how great the attraction of this Continental Elite Soul Master Academy Tournament is for people.

For this tournament, Tian Dou City mobilized a full five thousand municipal guards to maintain order, thereby doing its utmost to prevent riots from occurring.

………

Today is the opening ceremony, and also the first day of the entire Continental Elite Soul Master Academy Tournament; aside from the opening ceremony, there is only one match.

The second team of the Tian Dou Royal Academy, i. e., the reserve team, draws an opponent for the first round of the round‑robin, which also counts as a somewhat exhibition‑style group battle of soul combat.

Otherwise, merely an opening ceremony would obviously fail to satisfy the audience's interest.

Meanwhile, Gu Xuan's Royal Battle Team needs no preselection and advances directly to the final championship!

Because, as the official Tian Dou Royal Academy and Star Luo Royal Academy each have a main team and a reserve team, the main teams go straight to the finals, exempt from the preliminary selection.

ps: typos will be corrected later.

(End of chapter)