Douluo Continent: The Book of Witness and Peerless Tang Sect

Chapter 303 Stealing Treasure, Breaking Through 1

"tsk"

Looking at Cain, the captain of the Holy Spirit Cult, who had been reduced to pieces on the competition stage, Long You couldn't help but grimace and let out a sound of annoyance. Although evil spirit masters were universally hated, in this situation, three against three, with the opposing team completely wiped out and his own side unscathed, Long You could easily imagine how furious the opposing team must be.

Sure enough, along with the explosion came the sinister gazes of the Holy Spirit Cult contestants in the waiting area on the other side of the competition stage. Although he was not afraid of the Holy Spirit Cult's next Soul Saint-level evil soul master, Long You couldn't help but tremble when stared at by those sinister and murderous eyes.

Without any communication, without any process of collecting the body, and without waiting for the referee on the competition stage to urge him on, the next Soul Saint contestant from the Holy Spirit Cult—Gu Lixuan—had already stepped onto the competition stage.

Seeing Huo Yuhao standing on the stage without making a move to leave or admit defeat, Long You was no longer the only one frowning on the Tang Sect's side.

"What is Yuhao trying to do? He's just a Soul King. Winning against a Soul Saint was already a close call. Why does he have to face a second Soul Saint? Senior Brother, shouldn't we quickly ask the referee to substitute him?"

Although Beibei had just completely shaken off the aftereffects of being attacked by the Soul-Summoning Banner, Wang Dong'er, overwhelmed with concern, couldn't care less about anything else and anxiously asked him.

"No, no rush." ​​It wasn't Bei Bei who answered Wang Dong'er, but Xu Sanshi. "Dong'er, you're getting a little flustered. Junior Brother wasn't injured in the previous battle, and we can see from the soul probe that Junior Brother's soul power reserves are far from depleted."

This Gu Lixuan is unremarkable in the information we've gathered before; he's a newly emerged opponent today. If possible, we need to gather some information about the opponent for Xiao You.

Junior Brother isn't reckless. He still has soul power, and he hasn't used his invincible shield yet. A slight probing followed by immediate surrender wouldn't pose any danger.

Although he's usually a bit unreliable and has always been incredibly cheap when it comes to matters of the heart, Xu Sanshi's ability to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Bei Bei in the outer courtyard shows he's definitely got the brains. Bei Bei missed the earlier information, but Xu Sanshi didn't. While he trusted Long You's fighting prowess, Xu Sanshi also believed Huo Yuhao had the ability to test his opponents and wouldn't be easily swayed by Wang Dong'er's words.

As the match began, after completing the process of wielding his martial soul, Gu Lixuan unleashed a pair of white bone dragon wings on his back and rapidly approached Huo Yuhao. The overwhelming dragon's might spread out, causing the Tang Sect members, who were intently observing the arena, to frown.

“Something’s not right! This Gu Lixuan is not right. His dragon aura is too righteous. If he weren’t in the Holy Spirit Cult, I wouldn’t even suspect that he is an evil soul master.”

Even without Xiao Yan's analysis, Long You noticed the anomaly the moment he saw Gu Lixuan make a move and immediately spoke up to warn him. He needed to brainstorm and figure out what was going on with Gu Lixuan. Having not fought an unprepared battle for too long, Long You was now a little intimidated by this unpredictable Gu Lixuan.

“Xiao You is right. This Gu Lixuan’s aura is too righteous. The evil aura and bloodlust of evil soul masters cannot be hidden once they make a move. But Gu Lixuan is different. Although his bone dragon’s might is full of killing intent and baleful aura, it is not evil. Those tactics that are used to counter evil soul masters may be useless against him.”

The Tang Clan members may not be as knowledgeable about evil spirit masters as the teachers in the academy, but when it comes to the elemental counters of evil spirit masters, Bei Bei is very familiar with them. Now that he says this, it basically confirms that Gu Lixuan is not actually an evil spirit master.

"boom--"

The violent shockwave interrupted the communication on the Tang Sect's side. Huo Yuhao, who was indeed trying to gather intelligence, did not dodge Gu Lixuan's charge. Instead, he activated his Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion Martial Soul and clashed head-on with Gu Lixuan, having prepared to change his move.

Although the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion isn't the ultimate power in terms of attributes, the Ice Emperor's strength is already considerable. Against a Soul Saint who isn't particularly skilled in strength, Huo Yuhao might not have been at a disadvantage. However! Huo Yuhao's current opponent is Gu Lixuan, the owner of the Bone Dragon Martial Soul, who is also skilled in strength, and whose Soul Power level truly overwhelms Huo Yuhao.

After adjusting his body in mid-air, which had been bruised and thrown by the head-on collision, Huo Yuhao released a large number of soul-guided rays to block Gu Lixuan from pressing forward further, while also releasing a soul-guided defensive shield and shouting that he was admitting defeat.

Using the same amplifying soul guide device to amplify the sound of surrender to all the spectators, the referee, who had already been booed, didn't deliberately delay this time but decisively stopped the match. However, Long You strongly suspected that the referee stopped the match so quickly not because he still cared about his reputation, but because a white towel was thrown out from the Holy Spirit Cult's rest area almost simultaneously.

The scattered icy mist dissipated, and Huo Yuhao had retreated to the edge of the arena where the energy shield had been removed. One more step and he could leave the arena. On the other side, Gu Lixuan was still near the center of the arena, but the audience could see that the right wing of the white bone wings behind Gu Lixuan was completely covered in frost.

Considering the order in which they conceded defeat, Huo Yuhao undoubtedly lost this match. However, after the referee communicated with the leader of the Holy Spirit Cult, the Tang Cult inexplicably won the entire round.

As soon as the referee announced the result, the entire arena erupted in unprecedented chaos. While the audience of the Sun Moon Empire did not accept the identity of the Holy Spirit Cult's evil soul masters, this did not mean they would condone the Holy Spirit Cult, representing their nation's fighting strength, so easily forfeiting the match.

However, all of this was no longer relevant to the Tang Clan. Having confirmed that the Holy Spirit Cult had indeed forfeited this round of the competition, Bei Bei, frowning, immediately ordered the Tang Clan members to return to the hotel quickly.

"Winning the game is a good thing, but why did we win so poorly? It can't be that the Holy Spirit Cult backed down, can it?"

In the hotel conference room, because the victory was so inexplicable, the Tang Clan members were reviewing the game. Tang Ya, who was a little impatient, couldn't wait to ask a question as soon as she sat down.

"No, the Holy Spirit Cult has backed down, or rather, the Holy Spirit Cult's leader and Gu Lixuan himself are not die-hard members of the Holy Spirit Cult. They are not prepared to take risks for the Holy Spirit Cult." Although Long You was also confused at first, after confirming that Gu Lixuan was indeed not an evil soul master, and after Xiao Yan analyzed a rather familiar aura from the dragon's might on Gu Lixuan, Long You connected the cause and effect of the matter.

"Based on the premise that Senior Brother's judgment is that Gu Lixuan is not an evil soul master, I can basically confirm that Gu Lixuan should be a disciple of the Dark Holy Dragon Long Xiaoyao. Long Xiaoyao's relationship with the Holy Spirit Cult is somewhat complicated and difficult to explain, but one thing is certain: they are not entirely of one mind."

Our previous three matches ended in a draw, with no survivors, and we even eliminated the core of the participating team—Saintess Cain of the Holy Spirit Cult. At that time, Yuhao froze Gu Lixuan's right flank. If Yuhao chooses to use the Ice Explosion skill again, Gu Lixuan will definitely be injured, and an injured Gu Lixuan is not confident that he can defeat me.

After all, my battle record is verifiable, and Gu Lixuan has indeed just been promoted to Soul Saint. With those above him gone, and knowing he wasn't entirely aligned with the Holy Spirit Cult, nor had he received much of their support, why would Gu Lixuan risk his life to continue fighting us? Gu Lixuan doesn't want to risk his life, and even if the other members of the Holy Spirit Cult have ideas, they'll realize they're no match for him; giving up is perfectly normal.

Long You's explanation was very general, but no one present was stupid; everyone immediately understood.

"That was just luck. Although Yuhao had already given up and wasn't thinking of using Ice Blast again, the opponent chickened out the moment they saw Gu Lixuan's right flank frozen and also gave up."

Although he would surely realize afterward that he had surrendered too quickly, the saying goes, "A first effort, a second, a third, and then exhaustion." Since the outcome of surrendering cannot be changed, he might as well go all the way. After all, Gu Lixuan would also have to participate, and without Gu Lixuan, the others in the Holy Spirit Cult would have virtually no chance of defeating Xiao You.

"It's a good thing for those guys from the Holy Spirit Cult."

"Alright, let's end the discussion about the competition here. If nothing unexpected happens, tonight will be the time the Star Luo Empire chooses to make its move. Yuhao is going to participate in the finals of the Soul Master Competition, and Xiaoyou is going to steal the treasure. Everyone, get ready. Tonight's breakout battle will be much more dangerous than the daytime competition."