69novels Chapter 274 The Changed Ones, the Unchanging Opponents
Chapter 274 The Changed Ones, the Unchanging Opponents
Since He Caitou had already participated in the qualifying rounds on the territory of the Ordinary Alliance, he was now just a spectator, and also worked as a photographer and carried bags and poured tea for Huo Yuhao, the young master of the Tang Clan.
In the original story, Huo Yuhao and He Caitou received news of the Soul Master Competition far too late. Therefore, what was supposed to be a simple qualifying round turned into a series of dramatic events, condensing a mere hour into a multitude of moments of showing off and getting humiliated.
However, in this timeline, although the Tang Clan members arrived at the Qingse Hotel in batches, everyone's arrival time was within the time frame for the start of today's qualifying matches. Therefore, none of the troubles from the original story occurred this time. The hotel waiters respectfully led Huo Yuhao and the others to the competition venue, while He Caitou, after some pretentious "instructions," sat alone in the "VIP" seat, continuing to provide Long You with a live broadcast, and also taking the opportunity to observe from a more comprehensive perspective whether they could find any high-value talents suitable to bring back to the Tang Clan.
Hidden cameras capable of providing Blu-ray quality constantly patrolled the entire "talent market," occasionally focusing on the control panel of a certain Soul Master. What should have been a slightly boring waiting time turned into a lively and interesting discussion session thanks to Long You and He Caitou's actions.
About half an hour later, He Caitou felt a slight touch in his mental energy. Realizing that Huo Yuhao was looking for him, He Caitou immediately looked at the control panel where Huo Yuhao was. Through the focus of the camera, both Long You and He Caitou could see that Huo Yuhao was making a soul tool, which was nearing completion.
"Alright, chat time is over. I need to get back to my job now. It's kind of you, Junior Brother, to remember to remind me to be mindful of my role even while you're making the soul tool."
"Haha, you should say you felt sorry for Yuhao. It was just a level four baby bottle, and he took a whole half hour to make it, and he even used such extravagant materials."
"Uh, what you said makes a lot of sense."
The camera pans to Huo Yuhao's location, where an elderly man in yellow robes accepts the baby bottle soul tool that Huo Yuhao hands him with a rather complicated expression. This elderly man in yellow robes is a qualifying referee sent by the Xishui Alliance to the Qingse Hotel. Although the elderly man in yellow robes is only a level three soul master, his judgment is still sharp.
Although Huo Yuhao had been very careful to control his movements during the creation of the soul tool, many habitual actions were impossible to change. Therefore, the old man in yellow had long ago determined that Huo Yuhao was a relatively high-level soul master.
Logically speaking, the yellow-robed elder, as a level three Soul Master, should show respect to higher-level Soul Masters. However, Huo Yuhao's actions of trying every means to obtain more rare metals during the qualifying rounds made it impossible for the yellow-robed elder to show him any respect.
A pure gold badge marked with the number 71 was handed to Huo Yuhao, signifying that Huo Yuhao had qualified to continue participating in the Mingdu Soul Instructor Elite Competition. Huo Yuhao casually tossed the badge in his hand, then, holding his "masterpiece," found He Caitou, who was "respectfully" waiting for him.
"How was the situation you observed with your senior brother? Are there any suitable targets for us to recruit?"
"There are quite a few people whose soul tool making skills meet the requirements of our Tang Sect, but judging from their clothing, speech and behavior, there are probably not many people who are truly suitable to be our recruitment targets."
However, whether or not I can recruit them depends on my visual assessment alone. I've marked these people in the videos I filmed, and we can do further analysis back at the hotel. But there's one person, junior brother, you need to pay special attention to.
Although his demeanor and the casual attitudes of some Soul Masters who might recognize him suggest that this person may have some issues, I believe that whatever those issues may be, when he wields a ranking engraving knife, such problems become negotiable.
"A list-carving knife?!"
For a Soul Master, a carving knife is like a sword to a soldier. A good carving knife is like a divine weapon, allowing a Soul Master to fully utilize their abilities. The Liebang carving knife, widely recognized as the best among Soul Master carving knives, can completely enable a Soul Master to perform beyond their usual level.
Almost the instant he heard He Caitou say that it was indeed the engraving knife that had been used, Huo Yuhao activated his mental detection.
Considering this place was likely one of the Holy Spirit Cult's strongholds, Huo Yuhao didn't dare to use his mental detection at full power, nor did he dare to release his mental detection soul skill for an extended period. However, with just a momentary release of his soul skill, Huo Yuhao had already successfully located the "target" that He Caitou had mentioned.
The unique aura of the engraving knife was so obvious in Huo Yuhao's perception world. Concealing the fleeting glint in his eyes, Huo Yuhao maintained his proud expression and nodded slightly to He Caitou.
To an uninformed person, this might be the young master's affirmation of his follower's work, but to He Caitou, it was an indication that Huo Yuhao had already marked his target with his mental signature.
He Caitou immediately stopped talking and stepped forward slightly to remind him, "Young Master, it's getting late. If you don't have anything else to do, you should probably head home now."
This line is part of Huo Yuhao's character portrayal. Regardless of whether it's useful or not, or whether it's awkward or not, some methods that can prevent one's true identity from being exposed too early should still be used.
"Alright, I've achieved my goal for coming out this time. As for betting, there aren't enough options right now. Let's talk about it in the later rounds (it'll be time for me to step in with my capital after those guys are eliminated)."
After saying this, Huo Yuhao's eyes briefly met those of Wang Dong'er, who was dressed as a maid, and Long You, who was still on guard duty but no longer had the strength to walk. Then, he walked straight out of the underground lobby of the Qingse Hotel.
Considering the difference in the level of soul tool manufacturing, Huo Yuhao, who was originally going to enter separately from the other members of the Tang Sect, could not possibly leave together with Bei Bei and the others after they finished the qualifying rounds. If he did that, the original plan of entering separately would become a stupid plan, and it would be better not to have it at all.
Having anticipated this situation, the Tang Clan members had already arranged a meeting point before entering the Qingse Hotel. Huo Yuhao would then go with He Caitou to the night market, which was about two streets away from the Qingse Hotel, to find some good food, catch Long You, who had secretly slipped out of the Mingyue Hotel, and wait for Bei Bei and the others to finish their competition.
As for why Long You, who was originally hiding in the Mingyue Hotel to recover, would appear in the Starlight Night Market in Mingdu at this time, it was actually somewhat out of necessity.
First, the backup Longyou is about to run out of power. According to Byrne's deduction, without recharging, this thing will no longer have the chance to walk back to the Mingyue Hotel on its own. This means that the Tang Clan members who set off together may be missing a person when they return to the Mingyue Hotel. The Tang Clan members need to do everything they can to avoid something that could arouse the curiosity of the Sun Moon Empire's officials. Therefore, the real Longyou needs to set off on his own to ensure that the backup does not give itself away.
Of course, this wasn't the main reason. With a little thought, getting the backup Long You to walk into the hotel on his own wasn't entirely impossible. The real reason Long You had to leave the hotel room was a competition system officially implemented by the Sun Moon Empire—the loser loses everything, while the winner gains more.
In this Continental Elite Soul Master Tournament organized by the Sun Moon Empire, the losing teams do not receive free spectator tickets; they either have to pay for their own rooms or slink home. The winning teams, however, will receive much more luxurious accommodations.
In other words, after almost every round of the competition, a "moving" wave would occur at the Mingyue Hotel. It wasn't the participants who moved themselves; the Sun and Moon Empire provided excellent service to the winners. The hotel staff would begin moving the room the moment the winner finished the competition and then respectfully wait for the winner to return to the hotel at the entrance.
After his keen hearing detected that a waiter was approaching Beibei's room, Longyou realized what was going to happen and could only silently clean up the traces of his presence. Then, he used his soul tool to conceal his figure and slipped out of the room the moment the waiter opened the door.
At the Starlight Night Market, in front of a stall selling glutinous rice cakes, Huo Yuhao and He Caitou found Long You waiting in line. Although Huo Yuhao had already confirmed that the person in front of him, who had lost at least two sizes, was his cousin (before Huo Yuhao entered the academy, he had become Long You's godson), the fact that a deep meditation could make a Soul Master lose so much weight still left Huo Yuhao, who had never experienced anything like this before, somewhat unsure of the reason.
"Alright, alright, although this meditation process was somewhat thrilling, I gained far more than I expected. Even disregarding the gains in understanding the laws, just considering the soul power gains alone, all the dangers I experienced during this meditation were well worth it. If nothing unexpected happens, the day my body recovers will be the day my soul power level breaks through level seventy."
Upon hearing Long You's words, Huo Yuhao, whose soul power level was increasing slowly due to the extreme ice attribute, immediately felt like he had swallowed a trainload of lemons. When facing others, Huo Yuhao could comfort himself by saying that soul power level did not represent combat power, and that his combat power could crush those whose soul power level exceeded his. However, when facing Long You, Huo Yuhao really couldn't say that his combat power was stronger.
"I am clearly the chosen one!"
Huo Yuhao, who is still unaware of the power of destiny, is unlikely to utter these words. However, the sudden surge of his mental sea still shows that Huo Yuhao's emotions are anything but calm.
Compared to Huo Yuhao's speechless silence, He Caitou, who was closer to Long You, revealed a simple and honest smile and punched Long You on the shoulder: "Congratulations, brother. You always manage to find the right opportunity at the right time. Don't forget to show us what you've gained when you get back to the hotel."
"Don't worry, I won't forget. But before that, let's eat something good."
"So, are the others alright? Even though they're only half-baked, it would be really embarrassing if they couldn't even get past the qualifying rounds."
"Hmm, this glutinous rice cake tastes really good, no wonder so many people are queuing up."
You should worry about your backup robot instead of those guys. Yuhao checked before he left; everything's going smoothly. We should be back at the hotel in about half an hour.
A person only has one mouth, and compared to companions who don't pose safety concerns, delicious food is obviously more important.
At nine o'clock in the evening, the Tang Clan members, still exuding the vibrant atmosphere of a night market, arrived at their new rooms, led by a hotel waiter. The new rooms were still within the standard double room range, but each room was much more spacious. At least when all the Tang Clan members gathered together, the cramped feeling of not being able to turn around as before was gone.
The Tang Clan members, who hadn't returned to their rooms to rest, gathered here naturally to see what benefits Long You had gained from his extremely dangerous deep meditation.
After a series of cautious (without destroying the entire hotel room) but extreme (using all available attack methods) tests, everyone in the Tang Clan except Long You had a strange expression on their faces.
Although the following description may not fully express the feelings of Beibei and the others, from Longyou's perspective, he saw a total of six lemon-shaped people.
As for why Bei Bei and the others became envious, the reason is actually quite simple. After Bei Bei and the other six went into battle together and used all their attack methods except for truly lethal ones, Long You, who appeared to have not moved at all, did not suffer even a single attack.
Although Long You isn't an enemy, and Bei Bei and the others don't need to think of countermeasures like they would against an enemy, even good friends have their competition. Right now, Long You has practically thrown out an invincible card. Competition? Welcome to competition, but you can't touch me.
Speechless and frustrated, the Tang Clan members kicked Long You out of Bei Bei's room. In the second round of the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament, the Tang Clan members also did not allow Long You, who was still in the recovery period, to participate.
However, when Bei Bei, who represented the Tang Sect to draw opponents for the third round, returned to the team with a strange expression, the Tang Sect team, whose atmosphere had been odd for several days, returned to normal in an instant.
Although the draw has changed, Tang Sect's opponent in the third round of the competition remains the same. Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy warmly welcomes you.