The Star Luo Empire had to win this match no matter what. If this were a best-of-five trial and Tang Wulin won another match, then he would sweep the Star Luo Empire three to zero. Even if the empire were to win the final two matches, the overall victory would still belong to Tang Wulin.
It was a completely unfair condition that Tang Wulin had to win all five matches of the Trial of Five G.o.ds, so it was easier for everyone to accept this as a best-of-five trial.
They were all looking forward to seeing Tang Wulin"s performance during the soul skill battle, and they were also speculating about who would be the one to represent the empire. All types of rumors and theories were being pa.s.sed around, and the hype surrounding the match was at an all-time high.
Early the next morning, Tang Wulin snuck out of the hotel, accompanied by a woman with a hood over her head.
Heaven Dou City had been extremely lively and bustling the past few days, with many people from nearby cities flocking to the capital. Even those who didn"t have tickets wanted to experience the atmosphere of the Trial of Five G.o.ds in the city.
"There"s really no need for you to go out of your way to accompany me, Your Majesty," Tang Wulin said to the woman beside him.
The hooded woman was none other than Holy Spirit Douluo Yali.
Yali smiled, and replied, "The glory of the Trial of Five G.o.ds belongs not just to the Tang Sect, it belongs to the academy as well. Even if you had lost the first two matches, it wouldn"t have impacted your body much, but this match is different, so I have to come with you to ensure your safety. On top of that, the Star Luo Empire has already exposed itself to be completely shameless by publicizing your ident.i.ty and forcing you into this Trial of Five G.o.ds, so we have to prepare some countermeasures."
Tang Wulin nodded in response and didn"t say anything further.
As he was having breakfast earlier, the Holy Spirit Douluo had come to find him and told him that she would be accompanying him to the sports stadium.
Tang Wulin had chosen to walk to the stadium for a very simple reason: the Tang Sect vehicle simply drew too much attention, and it would most likely take even longer to drive through the crowd that would inevitably gather than to go to the venue on foot.
Hence, he and Yali had put on hooded activewear along with masks and sungla.s.ses, so no one would be able to identify them. On top of that, Tang Wulin had used his spiritual domain to alter their auras.
As they were walking along, they occasionally caught sight of people holding newspapers with Tang Wulin"s photograph printed on them, and Yali couldn"t help but chuckle, "I feel like the entire Star Luo Empire knows who you are at this point."
A wry smile appeared on Tang Wulin"s face. "The federation will most likely have been made aware of this as well; there"s going to be some trouble when we get back."
Yali replied in a calm voice, "Some things simply have to be done; it"s about time we spoke up. This isn"t necessarily a bad thing as you can take advantage of this opportunity to rally the allies of Shrek Academy under your flag. Otherwise, you would have to think of other ways to increase your popularity and heighten your reputation, so this makes things a lot more convenient."
Tang Wulin"s heart jolted upon hearing this. "Do you mean... Aren"t we getting ahead of ourselves a little, Your Majesty?"
Yali smiled, and replied, "Time is of the essence. Also, I"m guessing you"re not aware of just how much influence our Shrek Academy has. All will be revealed to you when the time comes."
In the distance, the sports stadium was already visible to Tang Wulin and the Holy Spirit Douluo, and they could see that the entrance was completely packed with people. Some of them had gathered here to watch the large screen, some were hoping to buy second-hand tickets, and some were waiting for Tang Wulin"s arrival. It would be a wonderful experience if they could see the Tang Sect Master up close and hear his all-curing voice.
Tang Wulin chuckled, "Looks like we made the right decision to come here on foot; the Tang Sect vehicles most likely wouldn"t even be able to enter the stadium!"
There were many workers who were maintaining order, but there were simply too many people gathered here. The Star Luo Empire clearly hadn"t expected the Trial of Five G.o.ds to become this popular, and things were rather chaotic.
Tang Wulin and Yali snuck into the crowd and made their way toward the entrance. Right at this moment, a stir ran through the crowd in the distance as they caught sight of a group of Tang Sect vehicles.
"Sect Master Tang is here!" someone suddenly yelled, and the entire crowd immediately flooded toward that direction, creating a large pocket of s.p.a.ce around Tang Wulin and the Holy Spirit Douluo.
The two of them exchanged an amused smile before calmly making their way over to the entrance. When Tang Wulin displayed his identification doc.u.ments, the workers at the entrance were all completely blindsided, and they cast a glance toward the ma.s.sive crowd in the distance before hurriedly ushering the two of them into the venue.
After entering the sports stadium, Tang Wulin shook his head with a wry smile. "Judging from the expressions of the workers at the entrance, this trick most likely isn"t going to work tomorrow."
"You"re the Tang Sect Master and the main attraction here; you"ll definitely be granted pa.s.sage into the venue. I"m sure the Star Luo Empire will step in to ensure that this chaos is resolved."
Tang Wulin made his way to the resting area, and at this point, the entire sports stadium had already been packed to the rafters. Aside from the rostrum, there were some designated booths in the sports stadium, and one of them belonged to the Spirit PaG.o.da.
Zhang Geyang was seated in the Spirit PaG.o.da booth with a dark expression, while Gu Yuena sat calmly beside him.
Zhang Geyang had approached En Ci the day before and expressed a desire to represent the Star Luo Empire in this third match, only to be turned down by En Ci, so he wouldn"t even have a chance to exact his revenge. It made sense considering he had already been defeated by Tang Wulin, and the rules of the Trial of Five G.o.ds stated that no one person could represent the Star Luo Empire in more than one match.
Zhang Geyang had mostly recovered from the match, but the dent in his powers was permanent. He had stayed up the entire night, trying to think of a way to rectify the situation, and the only plausible course of action he could think of was to kill Tang Wulin and take back his soul spirit.
Tang Wulin was currently a Soul Douluo and had a full set of soul spirits, which meant that he wouldn"t be able to fuse with the Infernal Lightning Vine in the immediate future. He didn"t know how Tang Wulin had managed to make the Infernal Lightning Vine pledge its loyalty to him, but there was still a chance for Zhang Geyang. Before Tang Wulin fused with the Infernal Lightning Vine, he could take back the Infernal Lightning Vine and restore the contract between them to recover his powers. It would still be more difficult for him to become a Limit Douluo than it had been in the past, but at the very least, it would be a possibility.
Hence, Tang Wulin had to die. Only then would he be able to recover his soul spirit.
Even just by sitting beside Zhang Geyang, Gu Yuena could sense the burning resentment in his heart. She was naturally able to guess the reason for this. Following her arrival the day before, she hadn"t asked Zhang Geyang any questions about the soul spirit battle as she didn"t want to bring up a topic that was clearly still very painful for him. However, it seemed that he wasn"t willing to simply give up on the matter.
Gu Yuena lowered her head slightly, and a hint of killing intent flashed through her eyes. Anyone who dared to plot against Tang Wulin had to die!
In the stadium, the announcer was currently introducing the rules and tradition of the soul skill battle of the Trial of Five G.o.ds, and the spectators were all extremely excited. The burning question in everyone"s mind was which Soul Master the Star Luo Empire was going to send out. Shrek"s Six Monsters were also wondering the same thing. They had made it into the sports stadium with great difficulty in a Tang Sect vehicle.
The crowd outside had been extremely displeased by Tang Wulin"s absence, and they held up the group of Tang Sect vehicles for close to half an hour before the imperial military stepped in to address the situation and grant the Tang Sect vehicles free pa.s.sage.
Who was his opponent going to be? It definitely wasn"t going to be En Ci. He was currently sitting beside Dai Tianling in a calm and composed manner.
On Dai Tianling"s other side was the Smiling Douluo, and true to his Douluo t.i.tle, he was beaming from ear to ear. It was no wonder that he was in such a good mood; he had just obtained a Holy Radiant Dragon Crystal from En Ci as part of their bet from the day before.
No matter how reluctant En Ci was to hand over the crystal, he couldn"t not follow through with a bet that had been made with the emperor as the witness!