In the rest area, Lin Xiao also looked at the high platform beside him and slightly furrowed his brows.
He was not surprised by the vacancies in the rest area. After all, with such a big commotion last night, it definitely wasn't just Title Douluo or the leading teachers who took action; some contestants must have been involved as well.
And now that the Sun Moon Empire had captured them all in one sweep, these people naturally could no longer continue participating in the Elite Tournament.
Even Shrek Academy, because four of their members were unable to take the stage, could no longer continue participating.
He just didn't know whether they simply hadn't shown up at the venue or had been taken out of Mingdu by Xuanzi.
Although there were still Holy Spirit Cult members and the Sun Moon Empire's soul engineer legions outside Mingdu, whether they could stop a Super Douluo was something Lin Xiao truly didn't know.
"Dear audience, due to some unclear incidents that occurred in Mingdu last night, some teams are unable to continue participating in the Elite Tournament and can only regrettably announce their withdrawal from this Elite Tournament's competition."
"The remaining teams will continue to compete according to the original schedule. We hope all audience members can enjoy the remaining content of the Elite Tournament."
The voice of Unbreakable Douluo rang out, and below the stage, a burst of chaotic discussion also arose.
Especially for teams like the various imperial royal academies and Shrek Academy, which were originally the stronger teams, the audience had all been looking forward to matches between them. Now that they had inexplicably withdrawn from the competition, naturally, many people were dissatisfied.
Some even more agitated people had already started shouting "black curtain," and there were even those who left directly in anger, unwilling to watch any further.
However, Unbreakable Douluo on the stage seemed as if he hadn't seen any of this; he neither stopped the audience from leaving nor offered any further explanation, simply allowing the audience below to make all kinds of guesses.
In the rest area, Lin Xiao's expression under the mask didn't look good. This sudden change had already made this Elite Tournament completely different from what he remembered.
Xu Tianran still hadn't shown up, and even the palace had been sealed off. Could something unexpected have happened?
No, impossible. Not to mention that because of the existence of the soul detection devices, the actions of the three great empires had long been known to Xu Tianran. Even if he had been caught off guard, with Long Xiaoyao present, it was impossible for him to truly be in danger.
Moreover, last night he had observed that some of the soul tools arranged in Mingdu showed no signs of having been used at all. Clearly, it hadn't really reached that kind of critical moment.
Xu Tianran should have deliberately sealed off the palace and was secretly plotting something. It was just that for Lin Xiao, there was no way to guess what it was; after all, this was something that had never happened in his memories at all, with no basis to follow.
The only thing he could guess was that what Xu Tianran was going to do must be related to the upcoming continental war.
Because of Shrek Academy's absence, the group where the Holy Spirit Sect was located suddenly only had them and two not particularly strong teams left. The matches on stage had almost no suspense and were already over.
On the way to the Holy Spirit Cult stronghold after the competition, Lin Xiao had already heard several kinds of rumors from the surrounding people's mouths. All kinds of speculations and public opinion had uncontrollably spread throughout the entire Mingdu, with a trend of continuing to spread to the whole Sun Moon Empire.
"Old Eight, you're finally here. Come, come quickly."
In the Holy Spirit Cult stronghold, the Dark Lightning Douluo seemed completely unaffected by the changes outside as he counted his gold soul coins. Beside him, aside from Huang Zheng and Mo Ke, Huo Yuhao had already changed into a black cloak and was following behind him.
"It's all because His Highness accelerated the schedule of the Elite Tournament, forcing even our Soul Engineer Tournament finals to be brought forward." The Dark Lightning Douluo let out a long sigh. "It caused far fewer people to place bets on our side."
"Third Brother, haven't you heard the rumors outside?" Lin Xiao's gaze swept across Huo Yuhao as he stepped forward and sat down opposite the Dark Lightning Douluo.
"What does that have to do with us? Anyway, it doesn't affect our business for the time being. Hurry up and take care of the Soul Engineer Tournament finals first, then we can swallow up the Common Alliance and the Alto Chamber of Commerce. That's what will put people's minds at ease."
Upon hearing this, Lin Xiao slightly adjusted his posture to sit more comfortably. The Dark Lightning Douluo's thoughts were probably the same as most people in the Holy Spirit Cult; they actually didn't care much about the affairs of the Sun Moon Empire.
Now that Xu Tianran had already acknowledged the Holy Spirit Cult as the state religion, they wished the Douluo Continent would become even more chaotic so they could reap benefits from it. The matters happening in the Sun Moon Empire didn't have much to do with them.
Lin Xiao didn't continue on this topic either. "The finals venue has been set in the western suburbs. It's about time—we should head to the competition grounds first."
"Alright." The Dark Lightning Douluo put away the gold soul coins and nodded.
"Teacher." Just as the Dark Lightning Douluo stood up, he saw Mo Ke take a step forward.
"What is it now?"
"Teacher, that Tang Si is already dead. We have a vacancy in the slots for the finals. Why not let me go up instead?" Mo Ke was slightly excited. "I definitely won't embarrass you."
The Dark Lightning Douluo's expression slightly darkened upon hearing this. "You speak so arrogantly. I went to great lengths to send you to the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy to study soul tools, yet you can't even beat your junior brother, who is younger than you. And you still have the face to talk about participating in the finals?"
Mo Ke's expression changed slightly. He hadn't expected that the person who had made him lose all face on the Soul Engineer Tournament stage the day before had suddenly become his own junior brother, and it seemed his teacher quite appreciated him.
"Teacher, but now we're short on people. Look, three slots, three brothers, one each. Isn't that perfect?"
"Enough." The Dark Lightning Douluo interrupted Mo Ke. "I have my own plans for the slots. You'll know when the time comes."
Seeing the somewhat gloomy look on the Dark Lightning Douluo's face, Mo Ke finally said no more.
On the other hand, Huo Yuhao, listening to the conversation between them, had his expression constantly changing.
Ever since last night, the Dark Lightning Douluo had kept him by his side. Although his movements were restricted, many things were not deliberately hidden from him. Just from the conversations with the people around him, he could hear a lot of information.
Now he already knew that the Holy Spirit Cult had at least eight elders, plus the Cult Master and Vice Cult Master, at least ten experts whose cultivation was probably all above rank 90. Such strength was already comparable to Shrek Academy.
The more he understood, the more shocked he became. No wonder the academy had forbidden members of the Shrek Supervisory Group below rank 90 from entering the Sun Moon Empire to carry out missions.
Thinking of this, Huo Yuhao sighed inwardly.
He just didn't know how the academy was doing now. Wang Dong and He Caitou were still at the place where the Holy Spirit Cult piled up corpses, and without them, he didn't know what would happen to the rest of the Elite Tournament…
Huo Yuhao's mind was heavy with worries, but now he was no longer in control of his own fate and could only follow the Dark Lightning Douluo toward the finals venue in the western suburbs of Mingdu.
Lin Xiao walked at the very back of the group, looking at the Huo Yuhao from his memories wearing this black cloak, and a strange feeling always lingered in his eyes.
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