The morning sun was as gentle as ever, with not a single cloud in the clear blue sky.
At the venue outside Mingdu City, there was a sea of people, all with expectant smiles on their faces, awaiting the grand finals of the upcoming Soul Master Competition.
Today was destined to be a day recorded in history, no matter from what perspective.
On the VIP platform, Xu Tianran, Ju Zi, and a host of Sun Moon Empire officials had been seated for some time.
Xu Tianran had a smile on his face, showing no trace of the unpleasantness caused by the troubles of the past few days.
As the saying goes, 'joyful events lift the Spirit,' and as the Regent, the crown prince of a nation, Xu Tianran was no exception.
Last night, he had reached a cooperation agreement with Ye Xishui, the Grand Elder of the Holy Spirit Church.
The Holy Spirit Church would fully support him, and with two Limit Douluo on his side, how could he not be happy?
"Your Highness, the Tang Sect people don't seem to be here!" Ju Zi reminded him in his ear at this moment.
Xu Tianran was startled and looked towards the contestant waiting area.
Indeed, in the vast waiting area, there was only the Shrek Academy team.
The Tang Sect team had not arrived.
He immediately understood what was going on and said, "It seems today's competition can't be watched after all! How shameless!"
Ju Zi's expression remained unchanged, clearly also understanding the reason behind it.
Evidently, the Tang Sect had forfeited this final.
This was actually a decision made by the Tang Sect team themselves.
As Inner Courtyard Disciples of Shrek Academy, Tang Ya and the others were extremely familiar with the strength of the Shrek Academy team, led by Zhu Ziyang.
They clearly knew they were no match and there was no need to humiliate themselves.
So, on the evening of the day the semifinals ended, Tang Ya and Bei Bei found Zhu Ziyang and informed him of the Tang Sect's forfeiture.
By now, they were probably already on their way back to the Star Luo Empire.
Time quickly arrived at the start of the competition.
Zheng Zhan on the arena looked at the empty Tang Sect resting area below and immediately understood what it meant.
So, he said with a grim face, "Due to the Tang Sect team choosing to forfeit, I announce that the champion of this Soul Master Competition is Shrek Academy!"
The audience immediately erupted into an uproar, curses rising and falling.
They were extremely dissatisfied.
It should have been a very exciting final, but they didn't expect the Tang Sect team to flee without a fight.
What was this?
Wasn't this just playing with them?
They had been waiting here since before dawn, and this was the result?
The scene was chaotic, but no one cared about the audience's dissatisfaction.
Zhu Ziyang stood up and said to the Shrek Academy members, "You all stay here.
No matter what happens, do not act rashly, understood?"
"Understood!" The Shrek Academy members replied in unison.
Zhu Ziyang calmly walked onto the arena.
The prize for the competition champion was a ninth-rank spirit tool; he couldn't just leave it.
On the arena, Zheng Zhan looked at Zhu Ziyang walking towards him step by step, feeling very nervous.
If it weren't for the dignity of being a Titled Douluo supporting him, he probably would have already knelt before Zhu Ziyang.
There was no other way; Zhu Ziyang's display of power earlier was simply too terrifying.
He, Zheng Zhan, was just a small Titled Douluo, completely unworthy of being compared to such a powerful individual.
"Where's the reward? Hurry up, don't waste everyone's time!" Zhu Ziyang said directly, with no intention of following any procedures.
Zheng Zhan was stunned, but he couldn't make the decision, so he had to look at Xu Tianran on the VIP platform.
Xu Tianran didn't want to deal with Zhu Ziyang at all, so he simply nodded to Zheng Zhan.
Seeing this, Zheng Zhan immediately waved his hand, and then a group of people carried a strangely shaped spirit tool cannonball onto the arena.
This spirit tool cannonball emitted a terrifying aura; just by looking at it, one could tell it was extraordinary.
"This is a ninth-rank fixed-load spirit tool cannonball..." Zheng Zhan began to introduce, but Zhu Ziyang had no intention of listening to his nonsense.
He raised his hand and waved, and the ninth-rank fixed-load spirit tool cannonball, which required five or six people to carry, disappeared.
This greatly startled Zheng Zhan, his eyes wide, pointing at the cannonball's former position, somewhat stammering, "You, you, how did you do that?"
Zheng Zhan was truly scared because a ninth-rank spirit tool cannonball could not be stored in an ordinary storage-type spirit tool.
These Soul Engineers stored high-level spirit tools through special means.
However, this person clearly wasn't a Soul Engineer, yet he could easily store a ninth-rank spirit tool.
How was this possible?
Given Shrek Academy's spirit tool level, it was impossible for them to possess a ninth-rank spatial spirit tool!
No matter how much Zheng Zhan racked his brain, he couldn't have imagined that while Zhu Ziyang didn't have a ninth-rank spatial spirit tool, he had a Saint Law Demiplane.
Wasn't that even more impressive than a spatial spirit tool?
Zhu Ziyang glanced at Zheng Zhan, then said, "Also, give me the Tang Sect's runner-up reward and the Snow Demon Sect's third-place reward!"
"Yes, yes!" Zheng Zhan heard this and, without any defiance, immediately handed over the eighth-rank spirit tool for the runner-up and the seventh-rank spirit tool for the third place to Zhu Ziyang.
"You're very good!" Zhu Ziyang was very satisfied with Zheng Zhan's actions, gave him a deep look, and then walked off the arena.
Zhu Ziyang's actions made Xu Tianran feel very bored, extremely displeased but helpless.
So, after seeing Zhu Ziyang walk off the arena, he was also preparing to return to the palace.
However, at this moment, an unexpected turn of events occurred.
"Xu Tianran, you rebellious beast who murdered your sovereign and father, die!" An assassin suddenly rushed out from the audience, seven spirit rings flashing around his body, and with a determination to die, he attacked Xu Tianran.
The entire venue instantly fell into a dead silence.
Everyone was startled by this desperate assassin, staring blankly at his actions.
Just as the assassin rushed onto the VIP platform, about to attack Xu Tianran, he suddenly exploded, startling the audience.
Looking again, a black-clad figure stood in front of Xu Tianran.
The black-clad figure was expressionless, toying with a dagger in his hand, and nine spirit rings shimmered around his body, indicating his identity as a Titled Douluo.
This was Xu Tianran's personal dark guard, Shadow Douluo, whose Spirit was the Shadow Dagger.
"Seeking death!" Xu Tianran was very calm, not taking the Spirit Saint assassin to heart at all, instead pondering who could have done such a foolish thing.
But soon, he couldn't remain calm.
The purpose of this Spirit Saint assassin was merely to let everyone know that someone was trying to assassinate Xu Tianran; the subsequent actions were the key.
"It's starting." Zhu Ziyang sat in the resting area, with only Ma Xiaotao beside him.
Jiang Nannan and the others had all been taken into the Saint Law Demiplane.
What was coming next would be a big scene; their strength was insufficient, and staying would only cause more trouble.
"Xu Tianran, you murdered your sovereign and father; heaven will not tolerate it!
Today, I shall avenge my imperial father!"
The grand show began.
Xu Tianci, the second prince of the Sun Moon Empire, appeared on the arena.
Several cloaked figures stood beside him.
He pointed at Xu Tianran and shouted righteously.
Xu Tianci's appearance immediately drew the attention of all the spectators.
Their hearts sank, somewhat regretting not leaving immediately.
What was this?
Coming to watch a competition and getting caught up in imperial infighting?
Could they not have some peace?
"Xu Tianci!" Xu Tianran's eyes were incredibly cold, his heart filled with extreme rage.
He said grimly, "Idiot, do you, of all people, dare to lay a hand on me?
Kill them for me!"
As Xu Tianran's words fell, the Shadow Douluo in front of him immediately charged out, and three or four figures also rushed out from behind him, all of them Titled Douluo.
Among them, impressively, was Jing Hongchen, the head of Mingde Hall!
"How can this be?" Xu Tianci was instantly dumbfounded, because this was not what he had expected.
He looked blankly at the people beside him, but they showed no intention of looking at him, instead directly engaging the Titled Douluo from Xu Tianran's side.
At this point, Xu Tianci was completely flustered, because the number of Titled Douluo on his side was actually one less than the opponent's, and that extra Titled Douluo from the other side was charging straight at him.
Xu Tianci immediately fell to the ground in fright, shouting loudly for help, but no one paid him any attention.
Watching Xu Tianci be killed by one of his subordinates, Xu Tianran felt incredibly pleased.
He hadn't originally planned to deal with his foolish younger brother, but he didn't expect him to jump out himself.
How foolish!
With Xu Tianci dead, the Titled Douluo he brought immediately began to retreat.
However, how could Xu Tianran let them go?
He directly waved his hand, signaling his subordinates to pursue them.
He himself kept watching Zhu Ziyang in the resting area.
Although he was very puzzled as to why the other members of Shrek Academy were gone, when he saw that Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao were both there, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Xu Tianran had long known that Xu Tianci was colluding with people from the Heaven Soul and Star Luo Empires to assassinate him.
His only concern was Shrek Academy.
Now, seeing that Shrek Academy was not involved, his tense heart immediately relaxed.
"Your Highness, this..." Ju Zi said with some concern.
She wanted Xu Tianran to return to the palace first, so he would be safer.
She certainly didn't want Xu Tianran to die now, as she still needed him for her revenge.
"No need!" Xu Tianran confidently waved his hand.
He knew that one of the terms of his cooperation with the Holy Spirit Church was for Ye Xishui to protect him.
So, even if Zhu Ziyang were to act against him, he would be able to leave calmly!
However, just as Xu Tianran was feeling smug, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest.
He subconsciously looked down, only to see a pure white, slender jade hand clutching a rapidly beating heart, so red...
That was his heart!
Xu Tianran turned his head back in disbelief, and a beautiful face with cold, pitch-black eyes appeared before him.
So beautiful...
This was Xu Tianran's last thought.