[Ding, side quest "Grandmaster's Forgiveness II" completed.]
[Reward obtained: 100,000-year Golden Holy Dragon Head Spirit Bone!]
...
The opening ceremony of the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament began.
The opening ceremony was officially held at the Heaven Dou City Grand Spirit Arena.
On the day of the opening ceremony, forces from all sides gathered. This competition was personally organized by the Heaven Dou Empire's imperial family throughout.
Due to Emperor Xue Ye being bedridden and paralyzed, the military and political power of the Heaven Dou Empire had been completely taken over by Crown Prince Xue Qinghe. Although it was said to be temporarily managing state affairs, anyone with eyes could see that before long, once the old emperor died, the new Emperor Qinghe would ascend the throne.
So at today's opening ceremony, Xue Qinghe sat in the highest position as Crown Prince.
There were three seats on the main platform. Xue Qinghe sat in the middle, with Spirit Hall's Bishop Salas on the right, and Meng Bei on the left. Today Ning Fengzhi had matters to attend to, so Meng Bei sat beside Xue Qinghe representing the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan.
As soon as he sat down, Bishop Salas said sarcastically:
"Sect Master Ning has been very busy lately. He's absent even from such an important occasion. I wonder what he's secretly busy with?"
Hearing this, Meng Bei smiled and said: "To be honest with Your Eminence, my father-in-law is currently busy traveling across the continent purchasing grain and iron ore!"
Hearing this answer, Salas felt very puzzled and asked:
"Why purchase grain and iron ore for no reason?"
Meng Bei answered:
"Of course to buy it up and sell it to Spirit Hall at high prices! After all, everyone knows that the current Pope is ambitious. Since taking office, she's been secretly stockpiling provisions and training armies. This is a great opportunity to make money!"
After hearing this, how could Salas not know that Meng Bei was mocking him? He immediately became so angry his beard trembled.
"Nonsense! Pure nonsense! The Pope trains soldiers to protect Spirit City. There are always petty people who misinterpret the Pope's intentions!"
"Oh, so that's how it is!"
"Looks like I misunderstood the Pope!"
Meng Bei's voice was drawn out long.
Bishop Salas felt increasingly irritated listening.
Fortunately, Xue Qinghe stepped in to smooth things over.
She reached out to hold Meng Bei back and said: "Xiao Bei, and Bishop Salas, today we only discuss the competition, nothing else!"
So Meng Bei and Bishop Salas immediately quieted down.
Bishop Salas glanced at Meng Bei and turned his head away.
Salas had no good feelings toward Meng Bei, this guy who had made Spirit Hall lose face several times.
Meng Bei wasn't paying attention to Bishop Salas at the moment.
He secretly reached out and grasped Xue Qinghe's small hand, then gently kneaded it.
This wasn't really anything outrageous. Compared to what the two had done in private, just holding hands was nothing.
But currently they were under the gaze of thousands, with half of Heaven Dou Empire's upper echelon watching from below. In this situation, even though she had done more excessive things, Xue Qinghe still couldn't help but become nervous.
Soon came the lottery drawing segment.
This segment determined the order of matches in the preliminaries.
Additionally, one team that drew number 1 would compete on the first day today.
At this time, the leaders of various academies went down to draw lots.
And just then, under everyone's gaze, Meng Bei's figure walked down from the main platform step by step, went on stage to draw a lot, then walked back to the main platform as if no one else existed.
That's right—although Meng Bei sat on the main platform, he was also a participant.
His identity was Shrek Academy's dean and team leader, as well as one of the competitors in this competition.
The students from various academies below watched Meng Bei's figure, took a deep breath, and swallowed the words "rigged" back down.
If it were someone else, there might really be rigging.
But Meng Bei had already proven with his strength that his power was equivalent to a Title Douluo, so if Meng Bei wanted to win, he didn't need any rigging at all.
After returning to the main platform, Meng Bei once again grasped Xue Qinghe's small hand to play with.
Seeing this, Xue Qinghe gave Meng Bei a look, quietly removed her long boots below, and under the cover of the red cloth on the main platform, used her small feet to gently tease Meng Bei.
Soon, the two teams that drew number one came on stage to compete.
Coincidentally, the number Meng Bei drew was exactly number one.
And the other team was Canghui Academy!
Meng Bei didn't have much impression of this Canghui Academy. The only thing he remembered was that some dean or teacher from Canghui Academy seemed to have a spirit bone and wanted to assassinate Tang San.
However, the current Canghui Academy and Shrek Academy were at peace. Naturally, Meng Bei had no intention of killing someone to seize a mediocre spirit bone.
Meng Bei didn't participate in this match. His existence was to guarantee Shrek Academy's success, not to work for Shrek Academy. Therefore, unless they were about to be eliminated, he wouldn't easily take action.
Among the students who went on stage this time were Tang San, Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, Tai Long, and Jing Ling.
Among the seven Spirit Masters, all were strong attack or agile attack Spirit Masters. There were no support or defense Spirit Masters.
They pursued a quick victory. With Shrek Academy's current strength, there was no need to hide anything. The best approach was to use full force from the start to defeat the opponent.
Soon, the battle began.
Shrek Academy's spirits rose across the field, with Tang San's fifth spirit ring most eye-catching.
Previously, under Meng Bei's brilliance, Tang San's talent had been overshadowed.
But now, when that naked spirit power of over level 50 was displayed, everyone present was shocked.
"Blue Silver Entanglement!"
The next moment, Tang San instantly struck.
Blue Silver Entanglement directly killed one Canghui Academy member with lightning speed.
A spirit power gap of over twenty levels left Canghui Academy's members unable to even resist.
On the main platform, Salas stared intently at Tang San on the field, feeling very familiar.
I seem to have seen this person somewhere... I remember now!
A flash of light appeared in Salas's eyes. He was instantly overjoyed, but this joy only showed for an instant before he suppressed it.
"Can't alert them. This matter is of great importance. If handled well, it can definitely severely damage the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan's prestige. I need to secretly report to the Pope, then secretly collect evidence from back then..."
Salas thought secretly to himself.
At this moment, Meng Bei beside Salas should have been able to notice Salas's change in that instant, but he was currently immersed in his flirtation with Xue Qinghe, so he overlooked this matter.
At the same time, Dai Mubai on the field, seeing Tang San steal the spotlight, couldn't help but feel competitive.
If it were facing others, even if Dai Mubai felt competitive, it wouldn't be this strong. But when facing Tang San, due to the immortal herbs they both consumed, Dai Mubai's competitiveness became uncontrollable.
Why could Tang San cultivate to level 50! Why could Tang San steal the spotlight!
Dai Mubai roared and said, "Everyone fall back, let me handle this."
Speaking, Dai Mubai consecutively activated White Tiger Barrier, White Tiger Vajra Transformation, then charged toward Canghui Academy's formation.
On the other side, Canghui Academy had been caught off guard by Tang San. Now with Dai Mubai charging over, they hurriedly gathered together, preparing to execute their six-in-one spirit fusion technique.
(End of Chapter)