Spirit Hall.
Hu Liena walked into the Pope's Hall holding a document. Bibi Dong wasn't present at the moment—she didn't personally handle everything, leaving some matters to the two Titled Douluos.
"Elder Gui, Elder Ju, Teacher has an order for you both. She says that she does not want to see this person in Spirit City." Hu Liena pointed her slender finger at a name on the competition roster—it was Tang San.
Salas's report was very clear: twin martial souls, son of the Clear Sky Douluo. With such an identity, how could Spirit Hall possibly let him go?
"Understood. However, among those coming to Spirit Hall this time, Ning Rongrong and Jun Tianlin from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect are also present. There will be Titled Douluos protecting them. That will be difficult to deal with," Yue Guan said worriedly.
His strength was no longer what it used to be. Over the past few years, although he had managed to eliminate nine-tenths of Du Gu Bo's poison, the aftermath of the Snow Swan Kiss was not so easy to deal with. The aftereffects were severe; his rank had dropped more than one level, and his strength was far inferior to before.
"Elder Ju, Master understands your concerns. The ones escorting the competitors this time are the Heaven Dou Empire's crown prince and Ning Fengzhi. In that situation, if the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect didn't step in, it would be unreasonable. But our target this time isn't Jun Tianlin or Ning Rongrong. I don't think their sect would go all out against us just for Tang San, so as long as someone keeps them busy, that will suffice."
Hu Liena's idea was simple: stage a fake fight, send people to keep the Titled Douluos of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect occupied, and then have the others focus on killing Tang San.
But to hold back Titled-level powerhouses, they would also need to send Titled Douluos.
At that moment, five imposing figures entered the hall. Seeing them, Yue Guan finally relaxed, because all five were Titled Douluos.
Although Spirit Hall was known to have only three Titled Douluos, in reality, apart from the Pope, they had seven great worshippers and nine elders—all Titled Douluo level.
The seven great worshippers were extremely mysterious. Even Ning Fengzhi had little information about them.
But as for the nine elders, the major powers at the top at least knew a bit about them.
From top to bottom, they were: Level 95 Ghost Douluo, now Level 94 Chrysanthemum Douluo, Level 94 Tortoise Douluo, Level 93 Mad Lion Douluo, Level 93 Flame Eagle Douluo, Level 93 Ghost Leopard Douluo, Level 93 Devil Bear Douluo, Level 92 Stinger Porcupine Douluo, and Level 92 Snake Spear Douluo.
In the future, there will also be a Holy Dragon Sect master, Level 91 Holy Dragon Douluo.
Apart from Stinger Porcupine and Snake Spear Douluo, who always protected Qian Renxue, the other seven had all gathered here.
The honest-looking Tortoise Douluo and the wild-looking Mad Lion Douluo stepped forward. "Yue Guan, Gui Mei, we'll go with you this time. If the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect doesn't take action, that's fine; if they do, we'll hold them off."
"Great, with you two joining in, this operation is sure to succeed," Yue Guan replied, satisfied.
Although his strength had declined greatly, as long as the Titled Douluos were kept busy, he had no problem dealing with a bunch of kids.
...
Three days later, under the escort of the Royal Knights, fifteen academy teams set out grandly towards Spirit City.
The journey was smooth and uneventful for eleven days.
In the Heaven Dou Emperor Battle Team's carriage, Tianlin sat with his eyes closed, apparently resting. He was using his formidable spiritual power to scan the surroundings. "No sign of Tang Hao. Hasn't he shown up yet? Is he this confident about letting his already exposed son go to Spirit City? Or does he have too much faith in the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and the Royal Knights?"
"Xiao Tian's spiritual probe again. That's the third time in recent days," said Chen Xin from another Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect carriage, having detected Tianlin's scan. He informed Ning Fengzhi and Dugu Bo.
Even though Tianlin's control over his perception was now very refined—even Level 96 Gu Rong couldn't detect him—he still couldn't avoid detection by Level 98 Chen Xin.
"Uncle Sword, no need to be so surprised. I know what Xiao Tian is sensing for," Ning Fengzhi smiled. "It looks like he's already guessed the relationship between Tang San and the Clear Sky Douluo, and he's very alert to danger."
"Although the past eleven days have been peaceful, if I'm right, the vanguard should be arriving at the great canyon ahead. That's the best place for an ambush."
"Ambush? You mean Spirit Hall may make a move on us here?" Dugu Bo immediately went on alert.
Ning Fengzhi shook his head. "Not us—Tang San. But since we're here, it would look bad if we didn't intervene at all. Uncle Sword, Uncle Poison, when the time comes, you don't have to go all out. Uncle Sword, just use the power of a Level 96, and Uncle Poison, don't use the Snow Swan Kiss. Tang San alone isn't worth our sect turning against Spirit Hall. Besides, as long as we keep a few of their Titled Douluos busy, no one can blame us."
Ning Fengzhi and Bibi Dong had the same idea: as long as Spirit Hall didn't attack Tianlin or Rongrong, they would go through the motions but not interfere. After all, at this point, Tang San was far less important to them than in the original story, and he hadn't given Ning Rongrong the Beautiful Silk Tulip.
"But Fengzhi, if we do this, Tang San will surely die. If Tang Hao goes crazy, he won't care about anything," Chen Xin said worriedly. He knew Tang Hao well—even if the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had nothing to do with it, Tang Hao would still blame them for not doing their best.
Although Chen Xin wasn't afraid of Tang Hao, as the saying goes, "barefoot people are not afraid of those wearing shoes." Tang Hao had nothing left; if he wanted to take revenge on the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Chen Xin couldn't guard against him forever.
"Don't worry, Tang San won't die," Ning Fengzhi smiled. "Even if Tang Hao doesn't show up, someone else will come to save him. A few days ago, I wrote a letter to a friend, asking him to meet us at the canyon ahead today. I think he should have arrived by now."
At this moment, the vanguard entered the mountains, passing between two low hills. Suddenly, a chilling aura came from both sides of the path. All present were soul masters with sharp senses for danger; in an instant, their hair stood on end.
The Royal Knights' captain shouted, "Everyone, be alert! Something's happening!"
The Royal Knights guarding the soul masters immediately raised their lances. The academy competitors, however, remained relaxed. With so many genius soul masters here, what was there to fear? Although they were fewer in number than the Royal Knights, if a real fight broke out, their strength was on another level. Besides, many of the teachers leading the teams were strong—there were at least a dozen soul masters of sixty or seventy ranks. Such a force could handle an army of tens of thousands.
But they had no idea what kind of opponent they were about to face.
PS:Battle formation array exist in Douluo. The Heaven Dou royal family armies managed to repelled Crysanthenum Douluo to save Dugu Bo using this. But the author forgot about it later in the series.