Dai Hao discovered that Huo Yuhao was an illegitimate son born to him and Huo Yun'er, a maidservant in his residence. If it had been just that, it wouldn't have mattered much; the White Tiger Duke's Mansion did not lack an extra mouth to feed. Given Huo Yuhao's dual martial soul talent, Dai Hao wouldn't have minded acknowledging this illegitimate son. After all, he had more than one illegitimate child anyway.
The critical issue, however, lay in this illegitimate son's relationship with his second son, Dai Huabin, as well as that disgusting martial soul fusion skill. Once the news that the two were biological brothers was confirmed, then he, Dai Hao, and the entire White Tiger Duke's Mansion would completely lose face.
Seeing that Dai Hao ignored him, Huo Yuhao's eyes welled with tears, and a surge of grievance instantly flooded his heart.
Dai Huabin's attention had been on Huo Yuhao the entire time. Seeing him like this, he quickly spoke up to comfort him: "Yuhao, don't worry. Once we win the competition, Father will definitely recognize you."
"Yeah." Huo Yuhao nodded slightly, his fighting spirit reignited.
Yet, the more they acted like this, the more Dai Hao disliked Huo Yuhao.
Xu Jiawei, the emperor of the Star Luo Empire, noticed Dai Hao's increasingly grim expression. A faint smile appeared on his face as he nodded to Xu Jiujiu beside him.
Xu Jiujiu smiled and said, "I didn't expect that among the Shrek team members participating this year, three would actually be the sons of Big Brother Dai Hao. Big Brother Dai Hao is truly excellent at educating his sons."
Dai Hao's face turned slightly cold. "The Princess misunderstands. I only have two sons, Yueheng and Huabin. That Huo Yuhao is just the result of false rumors from the outside world. If he were truly my son, how could I be foolish enough to cast someone with dual martial souls out of the house?"
Xu Jiawei maintained a faint smile. After exchanging a look with Xu Jiujiu and sneering inwardly, he slowly spoke, "So that's how it is. It seems Jiujiu misunderstood. Since everyone has arrived, let's begin."
"Silence, the competition is about to begin. His Majesty will now speak," Dai Hao barked in a deep voice. He did not use an amplification soul tool, but his voice carried far and wide, a resonant and powerful aura of iron and blood spreading from the top of the city walls.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!..." All the soldiers maintaining order on the scene raised their weapons simultaneously and shouted.
The eyes of these soldiers were filled with fanaticism, directed entirely at Dai Hao. Their respect for the White Tiger Duke surpassed their respect for Emperor Xu Jiawei.
This made Xu Jiujiu grind her teeth in anger. She glanced at Dai Hao next to her, her eyes filled with fury and dissatisfaction.
Xu Jiawei, however, did not show any signs of displeasure. He still carried a smile, though what he was actually thinking in his heart was something only he knew.
Dai Hao did not care about Xu Jiujiu's reaction at all. His lips merely curved into a slight smirk. He had just deliberately shown off his power, demonstrating to the Star Crown Clan and the Xu family his unique and unparalleled prestige within the military.
A moment later, after Xu Jiawei finished delivering a few trivial remarks, a flash of light beamed from the city wall and landed in the center of the competition stage. It was the Fiend Absolute Douluo, Huang Jinxu.
He looked toward the Shrek direction with a panicked expression. Unbeknownst to anyone, a sloppy old man holding a wine flask and gnawing on a chicken leg had appeared behind the Shrek group.
Following Huang Jinxu's gaze, the members of Shrek Academy and the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy also noticed the newcomer.
"Elder Xuan," Zhang Lexuan called out with an indifferent expression, her tone completely lacking the respect she used to have.
Xuan Zi stuffed the chicken leg into his mouth, bones and all. Because he had placed all his focus on Feng Piaoling, he completely failed to notice the change in Zhang Lexuan's mood. Chewing as he spoke, he said, "Just do what you need to do, pretend this old man isn't here. Anyway, with me around, no one will dare to play any tricks."
As he spoke, he didn't forget to glance in Feng Piaoling's direction, transmitting his voice: "Kid, if you can defeat these little youngsters this time, I am willing to take you as my closed-door disciple."
"Heh..." Feng Piaoling sneered inwardly and ignored him.
Xuan Zi merely assumed Feng Piaoling was acting proud, but it didn't matter. As long as the boy could return to Shrek, that would be the best outcome.
Right at that moment, Huang Jinxu finished explaining the rules of the competition.
The seven members from Shrek Academy and the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy were about to enter the stage.
"You are the captain, arrange this match yourself," Zhang Lexuan told Ma Xiaotao nonchalantly, showing absolutely no intention of planning a strategy for Shrek.
Ma Xiaotao assumed the other party simply trusted her. After exchanging looks with everyone else, she nodded heavily, raised her hand, and shouted loudly, "Shrek forfeits the team battle."
The moment these words were spoken, they immediately triggered a heated discussion among the spectators. Many people felt that Shrek was afraid of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, or rather, afraid of the Spirit Hall.
Huang Jinxu did not speak right away. Instead, he looked at Xuan Zi first. Seeing that the old man had no intention of stopping it, he then announced, "Shrek forfeits. Therefore, I declare that the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy wins the team battle of the finals. Next, we will directly enter the individual elimination matches."
Meanwhile, up on the imperial city wall, Emperor Xu Jiawei saw Shrek forfeit and said in a low voice to Dai Hao beside him, "My good brother, what do you think of Shrek's arrangement?"
Dai Hao pondered for a moment and replied, "A wise choice. With that Huo Yuhao's spiritual sharing soul skill, they can completely have him support from below the stage. With the Taotie Douluo present, even if the Fiend Absolute Douluo notices something, he won't risk exposing it at the cost of offending a Rank 98 Super Douluo."
Xu Jiujiu could not stand seeing Dai Hao pleased with himself for even a moment. Hearing this, she stopped calling him Big Brother Dai Hao and said sarcastically, "The White Tiger Duke is truly well-informed. Arriving to witness the competition for the first time, you have already grasped Huo Yuhao's abilities so thoroughly."
Dai Hao frowned, and just as he was about to say something, Xu Jiawei stopped her. "Jiujiu, do not be impolite to my brother."
"Yes, Your Majesty," Xu Jiujiu knew her brother was wary of Dai Hao. Despite her immense displeasure, she chose to shut her mouth.
At the same time, her gaze toward Huo Yuhao turned somewhat playful.
Huo Yuhao, oh Huo Yuhao, this father of yours is even more cold-hearted than you think. In order to protect the reputation of the Dai family, he has no intention of recognizing you as his son.
During this brief exchange, the first contestants from both sides entered the stage.
Shrek Academy sent out that newly joined Soul King.
As for the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, the one stepping up was naturally Feng Piaoling.
Seeing Feng Piaoling take the stage, the members of Shrek Academy revealed expressions of wild joy. The person they feared most was Feng Piaoling.
As long as they could defeat Feng Piaoling, then with the assistance of Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing, the remaining Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer students would pose no threat to them at all.
If possible, it would be best to heavily injure him.
The only pity was that they couldn't kill him, otherwise, they wouldn't be able to bear the blame if Xuan Zi took offense.
On the competition stage, Feng Piaoling and his opponent stood fifty meters apart.
Just as Feng Piaoling had thought, this Soul King was an Inner Courtyard student of Shrek named Wang Ying, a Rank 54 Agility and Power dual-system Battle Soul King.
His martial soul was a top-tier beast martial soul, the Demon Eagle, which possessed a relatively rare evil attribute.
As for why he wasn't classified as an evil soul master...
That was, of course, due to Shrek Academy's consistent tradition.