...
Everyone took their seats, and lunch proceeded in a subtle and quiet atmosphere.
Halfway through the meal, Xuan Hao put down his chopsticks, wiped his mouth,
"For the next period of time, I plan to go into seclusion at the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well in Sunset Forest.
If nothing major happens, I estimate I won't come out until before the start of the Continental Elite Tournament of Advanced Soul Master Academies."
At this point, he glanced at Ning Rongrong and Na'er and the others.
"As for Tang San, you can keep an eye on him as he pleases in Heaven Dou City, but don't waste your time on such trivial matters.
Go cultivate or do whatever you need to do."
"Understood." The women all nodded.
Xuan Hao's gaze immediately shifted and landed on Zhu Zhuqing, who was silently eating her rice with her head down beside him:
"Zhu Qing, I plan to add you to the Royal Fighting Team and have you join us for this year's Soul Master Tournament.
With you, our team will be at full strength."
Xuan Hao counted on his fingers: "Me, plus Yan Yan, Rong Rong, Ling Ling, Xiao Wu, Na'er, plus you.
No more, no less, exactly seven starting players."
"Me? Join the Royal Fighting Team?"
Zhu Zhuqing was stunned for a moment. Her previously dizzy mind cleared up instantly, and her expression became somewhat unnatural. "But... I am a person from the Star Luo Empire."
"You've been following me all this time, do you still have any illusions about the Star Luo royal family?"
Xuan Hao chuckled lightly, "Even if you still care about your family, do you think your family will still care about you?
From the moment you came back to Tian Dou City with me, in the eyes of the Xing Luo higher-ups, you have probably already become a traitor who has disgraced the family."
"Since they're so heartless, let's just go all the way!"
"If you're still not satisfied and can't swallow this anger, I can take you straight to Star Luo City after I come out of seclusion.
We'll kill Dai Mubai and all those old bastards who keep nagging all day long, and completely resolve this trouble!"
Hearing Xuan Hao's harsh words about frequently going to the Star Luo Empire to wreak havoc, Zhu Zhuqing felt a warmth in her heart, but she quickly shook her head:
"No need. Even if we really have to face them, we'll wait until after the tournament. I'm not strong enough right now."
Zhu Zhuqing raised her head, her eyes hardening: "I'll compete with you."
"Alright, then let's make the most of our time and work hard on our training."
Xuan Hao nodded. "After this tournament, I'll take care of all the mess I have on hand, and then
I'll take you all to travel all over the continent. I've been in Tiandou City for so many years, and all I see are nobles who only know how to talk big. I'm tired of it."
Hearing that she could go out to play, Ning Rongrong immediately perked up and curiously leaned over: "Where are we going?"
"It's not certain yet, we'll see how things go later." Xuan Hao shrugged. "Where we go depends on how things develop."
At this moment, Dugu Yan, the former vice-captain of the Royal Fighting Team, suddenly frowned and discovered a blind spot:
"Wait a minute. Now that we seven have just made up a starting team, what about the original members of the Royal Fighting Team? Did you kick Yu Tianheng and the Shi brothers out?"
"Simple." Xuan Hao waved his hand. "I'll talk to the Crown Prince later.
He'll have Yu Tianheng take the original group to the Royal Fighting Team 1 and get them a guaranteed spot in the finals from the Heavenly Fighting Royal Family.
As for me, I'll take you guys and form a Royal Fighting Team 2.
We'll play around with each other from the preliminary rounds and the qualifying rounds."
Xuan Hao said confidently, "After all, it's a grand event for the entire continent, so we have to fight from beginning to end to feel involved!
If we're directly guaranteed a spot in the finals, there won't even be a warm-up round of crushing weaker opponents.
Just thinking about it makes me feel bored."
Upon hearing this, the girls at the table exchanged bewildered glances, their expressions instantly becoming extremely strange.
Ning Rongrong's eye twitched violently, and she couldn't help but retort, "You don't actually... plan to lead us to the lower-level qualifiers, do you?!"
"Come on! Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about your own strength?
You're already a Soul Saint, bro!"
Ning Rongrong pointed at Xuan Hao, utterly at a loss for words, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
Those who can participate in the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Competition are indeed the best of the younger generation from various advanced academies.
However, due to the age limit of 25 for participating in the competition, those who can reach the level of Soul Master in the 30s are already considered to be the absolute main force in this age group!
Those who can break through level 40 and reach the Soul Master level are all ace players and captains of their respective teams!
As for someone like Dugu Yan, who was forcibly nurtured to level 50+ Soul King by Xuan Hao using immortal herbs...
Looking at all the participating teams across the continent in previous years, they are extremely rare!
What's the result now?
A Soul Saint, a level 70+ individual capable of activating their Martial Soul True Body, shamelessly declared they would compete in the preliminary rounds against a group of Soul Venerables and Soul Sect Masters?!
"You, a Soul Saint, going to participate in this kind of competition?
Is that considered participating?
You're more like going to buy pigs to slaughter!" Dugu Yan couldn't help but roll her eyes.
Seeing the girls' disdainful looks, Xuan Hao blinked innocently:
"I never said I was going to personally get involved in the fight.
I already said I was just taking you guys out for fun, and you guys are the main force!"
"Besides, even if I ever get the urge to fight, I'll definitely suppress my cultivation level and play along with them!"
"Suppressing your cultivation level?!"
Dugu Yan mercilessly exposed him: "Stop trying to fool me!
You can deliberately suppress your soul power level, but how do you suppress your monstrous physical body?!"
Dugu Yan had personally witnessed how Xuan Hao fought.
This guy's physical strength is comparable to that of a pure-blooded true dragon that has lived for tens of thousands of years!
With a casual punch, she could go toe-to-toe with a Title Douluo like her grandfather, Poison Douluo!
Let alone suppressing soul power, even if Xuan Hao stood still the whole time without using a single trace of soul power, he could still crush an ordinary Soul Saint with his invulnerable and incredibly strong body!
Send him to fight a bunch of Soul Masters?
"Tsk, why are you all so anxious about such a small matter?"
Xuan Hao pursed his lips speechlessly, "I'll just seal and suppress my own blood and energy as well, and pretend to be a delicate and weak support-type Soul Master, right?"
"Don't worry, I value the gaming experience the most when I play games!
I would never use my god-tier gear and insane stats to bully those kids!"
...
After lunch, Xuan Hao stopped interfering with Ning Rongrong and the others' plans to "subdue Tang San".
Next, he was going to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well in Sunset Forest for secluded cultivation.
Before leaving, he still had to go to the Crown Prince's residence to say goodbye to Qian Renxue, lest this extremely controlling young lady lose her temper again when she couldn't find him.
Xuan Hao, familiar with the route, again did not announce his arrival, but quietly activated his teleportation, directly passing through the heavily guarded blockade of the Crown Prince's residence.
In the pavilion in the backyard, at noon, Qian Renxue, who had transformed into "Xue Qinghe", was having lunch at the stone table.
Xuan Hao appeared silently behind her, stretched out his arms, and pulled her and the chair into his embrace.
"who?!"
Qian Renxue was startled, her soul power surged violently, and she was about to retaliate when she smelled that familiar aura and forcibly stopped herself.
She turned around and glared at Xuan Hao, annoyed:
"Are you crazy? You sneaked in here so quietly, I almost attacked you!"
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