Chapter 338.2: Ju Zi's Reminder
“Calm down, teacher. I believe they’ll be here soon. In the end, the rewards are very generous and extravagant.” Ninety-Six, Huang Zheng, chimed in with a smile on his face. He was as calm and steady as he had always been. This was in stark contrast to Ninety-Eight standing beside him, who had already been eliminated from the tournament. Ninety-Eight’s face seemed a little dark and gloomy.
The only thought in Mocke’s head was his Darkness Green Dragon.
“Don’t trouble him anymore, Old Three. I believe that kid will arrive. We need to have a proper discussion with him after the tournament.”
A deep and thick voice rang out; the Duskwater Alliance Master, Nangong Wan, appeared in the hotel’s main lobby.
The entire green hotel seemed like it was under martial law as uncountable men in black filled up half of its main hall. Nangong Wan, Old Three, Mocke and Huang Zheng stood in the center of the main hall, along with several large trunks. What they contained was obvious; these trunks were used to carry the rare metals that were to be used for the tournament!
Sounds travelled from the entrance right at this moment.
Under the guidance of two men in black, a wheelchair appeared in Nangong Wan and Third Elder’s field of view.
Huo Yuhao had become Tang Wu, and he was still wearing a cold and solemn look on his face. He Caitou had become Tang Si, and he was wearing a mask as always.
Nangong Wan and Third Elder appeared a lot more delighted when they appeared, and Chen An hurriedly went forward to welcome them.
“You guys are finally here, my honorable guests.” He didn’t dare to question why Huo Yuhao was late, and he gave him a light nod when their gazes met to signal that the deal that they had agreed upon was prepared and everything was fine.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Huo Yuhao’s mouth, and he returned a look to signal that everything was in place on his end as well.
Nangong Wan came forward personally to greet them. “You guys made it here in the end, and all is well as long as you guys are on time. The Duskwater Alliance’s honor and glory will be on your shoulders to uphold and defend.”
“Naturally, we will do our best,” Huo Yuhao replied in a cold mutter.
Huo Yuhao was wary and cautious of these two people, who could well be elders of the Holy Ghost Church. Huo Yuhao couldn’t determine their strength with his current cultivation, and their power could definitely be described as deep and immeasurable.
The Holy Ghost Church’s mighty influence and strength had gradually entered Huo Yuhao’s field of view as they gradually surfaced in the world.
The Dragon God Douluo, Mu En, had told Huo Yuhao before that evil soul masters had a very difficult time becoming Titled Douluo. However, Huo Yuhao was sure that the Holy Ghost Church, which had been through many years of experience and history, should have mastered a way for evil soul masters to break through that barrier. Of all the evil soul masters that he had seen so far, four or five were undoubtedly Titled Douluo… and the two men in front of him were at least Titled Douluo. The Sea God’s Pavilion’s elders would have a real headache if they had to face these guys, let alone himself.
Furthermore, Huo Yuhao didn’t know what positions they held within the Holy Ghost Church. He knew that their ranks couldn’t be that low, as the Duskwater Alliance controlled nearly half of the overall underground economy. The Duskwater Alliance was the Holy Ghost Church’s financial source, so it had to be under the command of people who were relatively higher in rank and status.
Nangong Wan stared at Huo Yuhao curiously and said, “You gave me a very strong and lasting impression when we last met, Tang Wu, my little friend. We have to get a little closer to each other after the tournament.”
Huo Yuhao immediately put up a wary and cautious expression as he said, “There’s nothing to be close about. I’m just here for the tournament, and I won’t establish any connections with your underground organizations.”
Nangong Wan laughed heartily and replied, “That’s alright. We’ll talk about this again after the tournament. Chen An, please introduce tomorrow’s finals to our two little friends.”
Chen An felt his heart pumping vigorously in his chest as he listened to Huo Yuhao and Nangong Wan’s conversation. This guy’s circumstance seems to be a little different from my judgment. The Duskwater Alliance Master should be from that place, so how can he not recognize him? But Tang Wu’s abilities are clearly…
Chen An felt a little doubtful and suspicious inside, but he had no other choice at this point in time. He had gotten many benefits from Huo Yuhao already, and this was in addition to the fact that they were about to work together again. Chen An forced the doubts in his heart down.
“Yes, Alliance Master.” Chen An bowed respectfully in Nangong Wan’s direction before he turned towards Huo Yuhao and He Caitou. “This season’s Radiant City Elite Soul Engineering Tournament’s grand finals shall be carried out tomorrow. The Duskwater Alliance is organizing the grand final together with the Common Alliance and the Alto Chamber of Commerce, and it will happen in the western suburbs. We have arranged everything on our side.
“We have finally decided upon the tournament’s rules after meticulous discussion. All three sides will send three people each for the grand finals. Every participant will be given six hours to craft a soul tool, and there are no limits on the materials to be used. However, each contestant can only make one soul tool, and this phase will conclude after six hours. All nine participants will go through three competitive rounds after that: technique will be tested in the first round, during which a mysterious task will be given. We’re not sure what it is at the moment. All nine soul engineers will be very exhausted after six hours of crafting, so this round will undoubtedly be a great test for you all. The lowest scoring participant will be eliminated, while the remaining eight will proceed to the next round.
“The second round will be actual combat. Those who obtain the highest score in the technique round will face off against the lowest scorers in the final eight, and four people will progress into the next round. The second-highest scorer will fight the second from the last, and so on. The four who will go on into the next round will be determined this way, and the final four will draw lots for the next round, and the final round will happen after that.
“The tournament’s rules have been designed to be as fair as possible. However, there are some things that we have to pay attention to: first, everyone can only forge and use one single soul tool, so it will be up to the soul engineer himself or herself whether the soul tool will be focused on attack or defense. They cannot expend too much energy when crafting them, either. Otherwise, they’ll run a risk of being eliminated in the technique round. Furthermore, the higher they score in the technique round, the greater the advantage they’ll have in the subsequent round-of-eight. You guys need to have proper planning from the moment you start the six-hour crafting phase.”
Both Huo Yuhao and He Caitou felt a little astonished as they listened to Chen An’s introduction. The grand finals organized by the three underground organizations were far more complicated than they had imagined. They had to craft soul tools first, and they would have to go through a technique assessment and three different rounds of combat to clinch the championship. Winning in this tournament would be quite a challenge!
What they didn’t know was that all three underground organizations were treating this championship very seriously. Furthermore, the Common Alliance and the Alto Chamber of Commerce intended to team up against the Duskwater Alliance. This was the reason why the three organizations went through countless rounds of discussion and negotiation before they came up with these rules for the grand finals. These rules were so that their representative soul engineers had to rely on their own abilities to finish the tournament.
Of course, it did seem like the Common Alliance and the Alto Chamber of Commerce had an advantage overall. They had six people after all, so it would be a lot easier for them to arrange their strategies.
Chen An finished his introduction, and Nangong Wan’s expression became a little more solemn than before. He lowered his voice and said, “My three friends, you are representing the Duskwater Alliance in this competition, and I have absolute faith in your abilities. However, you have to be prepared to resist the other two organizations, as their strategies are likely to target us. Since you are representing the Duskwater Alliance, we will not waste your time; every one of you will be rewarded whether or not you clinch the championship in the end, and I believe the Common Alliance and the Alto Chamber of Commerce cannot possibly match up to these rewards. Furthermore, we will give them out here, on the spot. Bring them up, please.”
Nangong Wan waved his right hand as he spoke, and four men in black immediately walked over carrying a big trunk between them.
All four men were tough and muscular, but even they struggled a little as they lifted the trunk together.
Huo Yuhao subconsciously released his spiritual power and surveyed the trunk. However, even his reliable spiritual power couldn’t pierce though this thick and heavy black trunk as it brushed against its surface; his spiritual power was kept completely outside. Some of his spiritual power was even refracted away.
“Eh? This is…”
Huo Yuhao swiftly came to a conclusion; this truck had to be lined with thick lead, meant to block all kinds of tricks and intangible things. There was a layer of steel alloyed with mithril on the outside. Furthermore, he could tell from how these muscular men were struggling that the trunk should weigh between two hundred and fifty to five hundred kilos. What is this? It’s forged from pure lead, and wrapped with metal that contains mithril.
Huo Yuhao wasn’t the only one who was surprised. He Caitou and even Huang Zheng widened their eyes as they stared at the trunk. They didn’t have Spiritual Detection, but they were still quite sensitive to metal as soul engineers, and they could both feel that the trunk contained mithril.
So precious and valuable…
The trunk was placed carefully in front of them. Nangong Wan personally walked towards the trunk, raised his right hand and pressed on the trunk’s side. A small screen bounced up, with many sophisticated characters and patterns on its surface.
Nangong Wan pressed his palm against the screen, and all five of his fingers tapped rapidly and rhythmically.
This was a Passcode-Locked Explosive Case.
Passcode-locked cases were considered special trunks that were sealed with both soul tools and a passcode, and they could only be opened with preset patterns and activation methods. As for the “explosive” in the name, there was no question that an erroneous passcode entry would trigger the explosives inside, and a frightening explosion would follow!
However, these explosive cases typically gave a few chances for wrong passcode entries, and thus wouldn’t explode on the first wrong try. Still, these chances couldn’t be more than five, and there were many different kinds of secret passcode forms to seal away whatever was inside. This was just a trunk, but it could match a Class 6 soul tool!