Douluo; Zhongli Adventures in Mortal World with Paimon

"Hmm~"

Violating a contract, Zhongli, as the "God of Contracts," naturally could not sit idly by.

However, if someone exploited loopholes in the existing rules, Zhongli had nothing to say.

It could only be said that this All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament, from what had been observed so far, was not particularly rigorous.

As for exploiting loopholes, he acknowledged it.

Even if it was a contract he himself had set, as long as there were gaps to take advantage of, he would still acknowledge it.

Paimon's words prompted Emperor Xue Ye to make a promise that in the next tournament, such issues would definitely not arise again.

This showed that the other party had the intent to review and improve the rules.

But then again, would the Heaven Dou Empire not wish for stronger teams to emerge on their side?

Perhaps this was precisely why such loopholes existed.

Never assume that people are foolish, most of the time, they are simply weaker in strength and have no choice but to feign ignorance in the face of certain matters.

Take, for example, Tang San's strategy of cutting off enemy supplies.

It was praised as a "timeless strategy" by a marshal who had fought countless battles...

But was he truly praising the strategy?

No, he was praising the inheritor of the Sea God, the master of the Tang Sect, the son of the Clear Sky Douluo, and the Thousand-Hand Douluo!

It was only Tang San and his group who actually believed that the strategy itself was being lauded.

Ning Fengzhi once said: "He who gains the Grandmaster shall gain the world."

But back then, he had not held such a thought in his heart at all.

It was only after Tang San returned from Seagod Island that this idea became reality.

This proves that they were not fools; they simply put on a convincing act.

Zhongli did not dwell on it. He was now in a retired state, and these people were neither his subjects nor bound to him by any contract.

Whatever they did had nothing to do with him.

However, if his own people, the members of the Body Sect or those who worshiped him, violated a contract, the consequences would be severe.

Being under his protection did not come without a price.

"Paimon, Father really spoils you, doesn't he?"

"Xue Qinghe" patted Paimon on the head and smiled.

Hearing this, Paimon seemed a little confused, but the others all nodded in agreement.

If anyone else had brought up this issue, unless it was the Martial God himself, Emperor Xue Ye would never have paid any attention.

Why would he plug a loophole that was beneficial to the empire?

But the one who raised the issue was Paimon!

She was the Martial God's "Martial Soul." In a sense, she represented the will of the Martial God himself.

No one dared to take her words as a joke—what if they were "authorized" by the Martial God?

It was better to be safe than sorry.

As the saying goes, "When one person attains the Dao, even their chickens and dogs ascend to the heavens."

Let alone a Martial Soul!

This was an existence that shared both honor and loss with the Martial God himself.

Emperor Xue Ye stroked his beard, looking quite self-satisfied.

Yes, he spoiled Paimon, not because he feared Zhongli!

As the ruler of an empire, how could he possibly act out of fear?

"Sigh~"

"So that's how it is."

Paimon mumbled in confusion.

"Of course, that's how it is!"

In the contestants' area, the competitors twitched the corners of their eyes.

They had seen shameless people before, but never to this extent!

The Four Elements Academies had actually joined forces, forming two teams almost entirely composed of Soul Ancestors.

Moreover, wind fuels fire, and water enhances lightning!

How were they supposed to fight against that?

Fortunately, this was the qualifying round and not a team battle.

Otherwise, they would have had no chance at all.

"Damn it, we got played by Skywater Academy and Blazing Academy!"

"Speaking of which, if they had formed a team before the qualifying round, would they have had a chance to take first and second place?"

Upon hearing this, everyone fell into deep thought.

That actually made sense. If they had joined forces before the qualifying round, the Elemental Academy's results might have been even better.

"Not necessarily. A team with a Soul King is still a team with a Soul King!"

"No matter how strong Soul Ancestors are, they are still just Soul Ancestors."

"They might be able to put up a fight, but winning would be extremely difficult!"

Their assessment was quite objective.

No matter how strong a Soul Ancestor was, they would still have to avoid direct confrontation with a Soul King. That was common knowledge.

After all, a Soul King had an additional ten-thousand-year spirit ring!

Of course, some Soul Kings only had a purple thousand-year ring as their fifth spirit ring.

"I'm getting more and more excited to see the Heaven Dou Royal Team!"

"Yeah, I heard that the captain of the Heaven Dou Royal Team was already a Soul King two years ago."

"By now, they're probably at the Soul Emperor level!"

"And that vice-captain isn't bad either!"

"I heard that he's also a Soul King and has even undergone a Silver-level Second Awakening!"

The contestants whispered among themselves, their gazes toward the arena becoming more restrained.

With these powerful teams present, they had no chance of claiming the first or second qualifying spots.

Since they were bound to be eliminated, their ranking in the qualifiers didn't matter anymore.

Treating it as a training opportunity wasn't a bad idea.

Almost every team had hidden trump cards, and since they couldn't advance, there was no way they would reveal them now.

Besides, the qualifying rounds were held without an external audience.

Throwing the match was simply the rational choice.

Regardless of their rank, they would all enter the finals.

The purpose of the qualifying rounds was merely to determine the first and second places, granting them a bye in the first round of the finals.

In the finals, the three seeded teams would receive a first-round bye.

The first-place teams from the two empires' qualifiers would receive a second-round bye, while the second-place teams would receive a third-round bye.

This meant that the Heaven Dou Royal Team would automatically advance to the Top 18 without doing anything.

Yes, with three seeded teams and fifteen teams from each empire, a total of thirty-three teams—

In the first round, the three seeded teams would get a bye, leaving thirty teams to compete. The losers would be eliminated.

The remaining fifteen teams, along with the three seeded teams, would form the Top 18.

Without lifting a finger, the Heaven Dou Royal Team would be in the Top 18.

And they wouldn't have to appear in the finals until the second round.

—

Wuhun City, the Pope's Palace.

Hu Liena, Xie Yue, and Yan stood solemnly in the grand hall.

As the finals drew closer, their pressure grew greater.

Especially Hu Liena!

Despite training desperately, none of them had reached the level that Xiao Feilian had achieved two years ago.

And that was Xiao Feilian two years ago!

If she hadn't already broken through to the Soul Emperor level by now, the three of them might as well just give up and freeload.

No wonder none of the elders in the Spirit Hall, including the Pope herself, believed in them.

If they were in their place, they wouldn't believe in themselves either.

The immense pressure Xiao Feilian had left on them was simply overwhelming.

"Pope (Teacher), we swear to do our utmost to uphold the honor of the Spirit Hall!"

Hearing their words, Bibi Dong's expression remained unchanged, but in her heart, she already knew the outcome.

Not just the three of them, even if her younger self and the current Qian Renxue joined forces, they still might not be able to uphold the honor of the Spirit Hall.

Let alone just these three.

The so-called "Golden Generation" still had a long way to go before they could match true prodigies.

After all, they weren't born with innate full soul power.

No matter how hard they tried, bridging that gap in talent was nearly impossible.