Ke Jie added, "This was a decision made by the tournament organizing committee. Many academies protested, but their complaints fell on deaf ears."
"I inquired with the Sect Leader, and it seems that Bishop Salas of the Spirit Hall orchestrated this matter entirely. There's an unwritten rule among the organizing committee chairmen, so the Sect Leader couldn't object."
Feng Xiaotian frowned in confusion. "When did the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family get so close to the Spirit Hall? Even Thunderclap Academy has never been known to have good relations with them."
Ning Rongrong suddenly recalled, "Big Brother Tianchen, yesterday we saw Yu Xiaogang at the Spirit Hall. Could this be his doing?"
Yu Tianxin was Yu Xiaogang's nephew, so it would make sense for him to act this way.
In this matter, Yu Luomian had no idea that Yu Xiaogang would approach Salas.
Yu Luomian had prepared himself for external scrutiny when he sought Salas' help for Yu Tianxin's case.
But he hadn't expected Yu Xiaogang's appearance to completely dispel any suspicion.
After all, who could have imagined that the Vice Sect Leader of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family would secretly collude with the Spirit Hall?
After a moment of thought, Ning Tianchen nodded in confirmation. "It's highly possible. Of course, relying solely on Yu Xiaogang's own abilities wouldn't be enough."
Ke Jie snorted and added, "The Sect Leaders of the three great families are honorary elders of the Spirit Hall, each holding a Pope's Token. Yu Xiaogang is the son of Yu Yuanzhen—it wouldn't be difficult for him to obtain the token from his father."
Chen Huayu shrugged indifferently. "So what? Yu Tianxin is still someone we've defeated. His joining the Shrek Team won't have much impact on us, right?"
Ning Tianchen chuckled. "This actually makes things easier for us. Both the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family, who are against us, and Shrek Academy are now grouped together. With just one match, we can teach everyone a lesson—how delightful!"
Ke Jie scolded impatiently, "Stop thinking about revenge. Starting now, our official twenty-five days of training begins."
Of course, Ning Tianchen wouldn't actively seek revenge—but if his opponents kept appearing before him, there was no reason to let them off.
---
Inside Shrek Academy
Since the intensive training began, everyone finally understood why Dai Mubai was so afraid of Zhao Wuji.
Zhao Wuji's training methods grew increasingly brutal, even resorting to using his true martial soul form.
Not only him, but Liu Erlong also casually unleashed her true martial soul form during training.
For a time, the members of Shrek Academy suffered greatly.
However, correspondingly, under such high-intensity sparring, everyone's strength was visibly improving at a rapid pace.
One day, while the Shrek Eight Monsters were training, Yu Xiaogang suddenly appeared and called for a halt.
"Xiao San, come with me for a moment—I have something to discuss with you."
Tang San understood that this matter was likely related to training the Hao Tian Hammer martial soul.
Without hesitation, he immediately followed Yu Xiaogang.
Not long after, Yu Xiaogang brought him to the office, where Tang Hao had been waiting for some time.
Ever since his battle with Bone Douluo, Tang Hao had been hiding in a nearby cave to recover from his injuries. This time, his luck was good—after just one month, his internal wounds had been fully suppressed.
Today, he returned to Shrek Academy intending to inquire about Tang San's recent performance in the tournament. However, upon hearing from Yu Xiaogang that Shrek Academy had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Seven Treasures Team, he realized that only by training the Hao Tian Hammer martial soul could they possibly turn the tide.
At first, Tang Hao was against the idea, but after hearing Yu Xiaogang's explanation, he began to waver. He decided to wait for Tang San to arrive and ask for clarification.
"Father," Tang San said excitedly.
Tang Hao gave a subtle glance, and Yu Xiaogang promptly left the office.
"Xiao San, your teacher mentioned that you want to train the Hao Tian Hammer martial soul. Can you tell me what your thoughts are?"
Without hesitation, Tang San replied directly, "Father, the Seven Kill Sword martial soul is the natural nemesis of my Blue Silver Grass martial soul. During my battle with Ning Tianchen, even a casual sword qi was enough to cut through all my attacks."
"The Hao Tian Hammer is the strongest weapon-type martial soul in the world. If I can obtain soul rings for it, my strength will surely rival Ning Tianchen's. Only then will our Shrek Team have a chance to win the championship."
The Hao Tian Hammer was indeed the strongest weapon-type martial soul on the continent, and Tang Hao didn't believe the Seven Kill Sword could surpass it.
After a moment, he spoke gravely, "Xiao San, if you start training the Hao Tian Hammer now, you'll essentially be wasting the slots for the first few soul rings. If you wait until you break through to level 90 before adding soul rings to the Hao Tian Hammer, each soul ring will start at over 50,000 years. Moreover, every soul skill will be as powerful as the ninth soul skill of other Title Douluos. Even so, do you still want to proceed with training?"
Tang San's gaze remained resolute. "Father, the goal of Shrek Academy in this Soul Master Tournament is the championship. If I don't give it my all and the team gets eliminated, I'll regret it for the rest of my life."
Tang Hao burst into laughter. "Haha, worthy son of Tang Hao—truly bold. Aside from the soul ring skills, the Hao Tian Hammer also has many powerful self-created soul skills. I'll teach you all of them in the future."
"If that's the case, the relatively low-year soul rings for the early stages of the Hao Tian Hammer won't significantly affect you."
Tang San had prepared plenty of arguments in his mind, but he hadn't expected Tang Hao to agree so quickly.
A faint smile appeared on his face, which soon turned into determination. "Father, I will not disappoint you or Teacher's expectations."
"But Teacher said that my Hao Tian Hammer martial soul must not be exposed to the Spirit Hall. What's the reason behind this?"
Tang Hao didn't elaborate further, calmly assuring him, "Don't worry. As long as I'm here, these won't be issues."
"Let's go—I'll take you to acquire soul rings."
Tang Hao already had a plan for helping Tang San acquire soul rings for the Hao Tian Hammer.
After all, the ultimate technique of the Great Sumeru Hammer Art—Ring Explosion—caused severe damage to a soul master's body.
If all of Tang San's soul rings for the Hao Tian Hammer were over 50,000 years, the simultaneous explosion of nine high-level soul rings' power while using Ring Explosion might overwhelm his body. Could he withstand it?
If he died from self-destruction, it would surely be a laughingstock.
Acquiring some lower-year soul rings for the Hao Tian Hammer in advance would help mitigate this flaw.
---
On the way to Sunset Forest, father and son conversed for a long time.
From childhood to adulthood, Tang San had never had such a heartfelt conversation with his father. Unconsciously, he slowed their pace.
"I noticed that among the Shrek Eight Monsters, there's someone named Tai Long. Is his martial soul the Vigorous Orangutan?" Tang Hao asked.
Tang San nodded and replied, "Father, Tai Long's martial soul is indeed the Vigorous Orangutan. He's the young master of the Power Clan and has excellent talent as well."
Tang Hao laughed heartily. "Actually, I have a good relationship with Tai Tan, the Patriarch of the Power Clan. In the future, when I'm not around, if you encounter trouble, go seek his help."
Tang San was puzzled.
He had never heard of his father having such a friend.
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