Douluo Continent: My Martial Soul is the Black Dragon, I am the Lord of the Gods

Chapter 273 Shadow
……

"As expected of a star Soul Master in the Great Soul Arena, he truly exceeded my expectations."

The chilling voice echoed from the darkness, elusive and unpredictable, its source even Xuanming could not pinpoint.

"This is my first mistake, and it will be the last."

"I hope you'll have that kind of luck next time."

As soon as he finished speaking, the faint dark aura vanished completely without a trace.

Xuanming dared not relax in the slightest, and continued to fully unleash his domain.

That guy was completely unaffected? Was it a soul bone skill that granted immunity to control, or...?

At this moment, the ghostly figure guarding nearby, sensing the commotion, also rushed into the forest. His figure flickered in the night and arrived beside Xuanming in a few breaths.

The ghostly figure's eyes, hidden beneath his black robe, gleamed with a chilling light as he warily scanned his surroundings. His voice was low and hoarse as he asked, "What's going on?"

Xuanming withdrew his domain, still gripping the blood spear, "I almost got tricked by a grandson."

"Where is he?" the ghost asked.

"You couldn't keep him?"

"That guy was like a ghost, even more sinister than you." Xuanming was still a little scared; it was the first time he had ever encountered such a sinister person.

"Like a ghost? Describe it," the ghost said.

"He moved using his shadow, and in an instant he was right in front of me. If I didn't have the dark attribute, I wouldn't have been able to sense him at all," Xuanming said.

"He also said that he hadn't made a mistake in eighty years."

"Eighty years?" Ghostly's tone changed slightly.

"You know him?" Xuanming asked.

"If nothing unexpected happens, you've encountered Shadow, the number one assassin on the continent and the executioner of the seven great families," Ghost said in a deep voice.

"The number one assassin on the mainland?" Xuan Ming raised an eyebrow.

"so smart?"

“Thirty years ago, that guy attacked and killed a Title Douluo,” Ghostly said in a low voice.

"A Title Douluo?!" Huo Wu and Shui Bing'er couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"Did you succeed?" Xuanming asked.

"Of course, if he had failed, he would have died long ago," Ghost said calmly.

"The deterrent power of the seven major families is inseparable from this guy's existence."

Nowadays, more than 70% of the Soul Master forces in Douluo Continent, apart from the three upper sects and the seven great families, have come under the command of the Spirit Hall.

The three upper sects are strong because of their long history and powerful strength. The seven great families, on the surface, do not have any titled Douluo, but the Great Soul Arena they founded can be found all over the continent, and no soul master dares to cause trouble in it. A large part of the reason is that the seven great families control special assassin organizations.

Those assassins were either strong individuals who had survived the life-or-death arena of the Great Soul Arena, or assassins specially trained by the seven major families.

The power of the Spirit Hall and the seven major sects are obvious, while the deterrent power of the seven major families lies in the shadows.

They lack the ability to directly confront the Seven Great Sects and the Spirit Hall, but the assassination organization they control possesses a deterrent power no less than that of a Title Douluo!
That shadow was the trump card of the seven great families, an assassin who had successfully killed a titled Douluo, someone even the Elders' Hall was unwilling to provoke.

"We hadn't heard from him for decades; we thought he was long dead." Ghostly's tone was somewhat heavy.

"Can you sense his cultivation level?"

“I can’t sense him. His aura is very strange, even stranger than yours,” Xuanming said.

"His direct offensive power isn't strong. Do you know what his martial soul is?"

"I don't know, but based on the information we've gathered, we've speculated that his martial soul might be a special kind of shadow martial soul," Ghost said.

"Shadow?" Xuanming subconsciously looked at Huowu.

Huo Wu's martial soul is also shadow, but it's fire-attribute. The guy just now had a shadow martial soul with dark attributes.

“No one has ever seen Shadow’s true face, and these assassins are all unidentified. Even the Spirit Hall’s investigation of the seven major families couldn’t find any information about that guy,” Ghost said.

"Even this guy has made a move. It seems the seven major families are determined to kill you."

In order to elevate Xuanming to that level, the seven major families invested a great deal, not only to make money, but also because they wanted Xuanming to grow up in the camp of the Heaven Dou Empire in order to fight against the Spirit Hall.

After all, there is no other special existence like Xuanming who stands between the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, the Heavenly Dou Royal Family, and the Great Soul Arena.

But now, Xuanming has started fighting with them first. This is not only a huge loss of interests for the seven major families, but also a matter of face.

To have one's face trampled on by a child who is not even twenty years old is even more humiliating than when Tang Hao killed the Pope of the Spirit Hall. Even so, the Spirit Hall forced the Clear Sky Sect to retreat into seclusion before finally stopping. If the seven major families allow Xuanming to continue living, they will become a laughing stock on the continent.

"Xuan Ming!"

Upon seeing the white light emerge from the forest, Xue Qinghe and his group quickly rushed in. Noticing the restless blood spear in Xuan Ming's hand, everyone showed expressions of worry.

"What happened?" Xue Qinghe asked.

Xuanming put away the blood spear. "It's nothing. A soul beast just passed by and has already run away." Xue Qinghe frowned slightly, clearly not believing Xuanming's perfunctory explanation. If even ghosts and demons have appeared, it's probably an attack!
But there were no signs of a struggle here. Did the person who came run away?

Even the abilities of Xuanming and the ghosts couldn't be retained?
"It's getting late, everyone should get some rest." With that, Xuanming looked at Huowu and Shui Bing'er, "You two should go back too."

Huo Wu and Shui Bing'er exchanged a glance, their faces still a little pale. "We'll take our leave now."

……

"What happened?"

Back at the camp, Xue Qinghe rushed into Xuanming's tent once again.

Xuanming sighed and briefly explained what had just happened.

"Shadow?" Xue Qinghe frowned.

"You can't even control him within your own domain?"

“That guy must have a soul bone that’s immune to control, or a special soul skill,” Xuanming said.

"I'm more inclined to believe that what attacked me was his special soul skill, something like Zhu Qing's Netherworld Shadow Clone."

His current domain is so powerful that even a Title Douluo cannot remain completely unaffected!

But that guy didn't react at all, and his aura was extremely strange.

Xue Qinghe's expression was somewhat solemn. "You'll stay with me from now on, and you're not allowed to wander off."

Xuanming's eye twitched slightly. "Why?"

“They’ve even used their strongest assassins; they clearly won’t give up easily,” Xue Qinghe said.

"My divine attributes are extremely sensitive to these dark attributes. If that guy comes again, I will be able to detect it."

The Shadow, the strongest assassin of the seven great families, she had heard some legends about before, but such a person who can only play dirty tricks in the shadows cannot face the glory of the six-winged angel.

"Forget it, if you're with me, I'll have to divide my attention to protect you," Xuanming said.

“I’m already on guard. Next time he comes, I’ll keep him here.”

Xue Qinghe stepped forward, leaned close to Xuan Ming, and stared intently into his eyes. "Xue Qinghe is the Crown Prince of the Heaven Dou Empire. The seven great families dare not lay a hand on him. Besides, I'm not discussing this with you!"

"..."

……

The assassination under the cover of night did not spread, and this royal hunting ground, known as an impregnable fortress, was unaware that a top assassin had infiltrated it. Of course, even if they knew, it wouldn't have mattered.

The training ground was specially renovated to serve as the venue for the qualifying rounds. Unlike the qualifiers, the qualifying rounds didn't have as many spectators. A total of fifteen teams participated in the qualifying rounds, with one team having a bye each day, and seven matches played each day.

The rules of the competition are also very simple: each side sends seven players to the stage for one-on-one battles until all seven players on one side are defeated.

Just like during the qualifiers, the Pope specially arranged a seat for Xuanming in the VIP section, right next to her. He could sit there if he came, and the seat would be empty if he didn't.

"Aren't you going to play?"

Seeing Xuanming watching the game from the seat next to her, Bibi Dong couldn't help but ask a question.

In the first round of the qualifying tournament, the Royal Fighting Team will face off against the Barak Academy Team.

This was actually somewhat of a behind-the-scenes operation. After all, the Barak royal family had been very close to the Spirit Hall for years, and now that they finally had such a rare opportunity to put pressure on them, the Heaven Dou royal family naturally wouldn't miss it.

“Team battles require coordination, but individual battles don’t,” Xuanming said.

"They're just not good at teamwork, but they shouldn't be so bad as to lose even this qualifying round."

Gu Yuena and Dugu Yan both possess the ability to defeat seven opponents at once, and if there were no restrictions, it wouldn't be difficult for them to take on seven opponents at once.

Soon, the first match began, with Dugu Yan taking the stage first.

During the qualifiers, because it was a team battle, she easily lost control of her power and poisoned people to death. But now that it's a one-on-one fight, she can control her power better.

She was seething with anger during the qualifiers, but now she's not holding it in anymore.

Without any suspense, it was almost a crushing victory. Dugu Yan used less than half of her soul power to poison everyone from Barak Academy, defeating seven opponents in one fell swoop, which was a good start for the promotion tournament.

In the second match, the Beast Academy team faced off against a team that Xuanming had never heard of.

In this match, Meng Yiran, the captain of the Beast Team, although not as easily as Dugu Yan, also achieved a seven-kill streak. In the end, she even cast a special glance at Xuan Ming in the VIP seats, with a somewhat complicated expression.

Almost instantly, the atmosphere in the VIP section changed.

Bibi Dong, Ning Fengzhi, Xue Qinghe, Hu Liena, Yue Guan, and several other gazes turned to Xuan Ming. Even Emperor Xue Ye's eyes were somewhat unnatural, clearly shocked by Xuan Ming's popularity with women.

“Xuanming, I’ve never heard of this young lady before,” Xue Qinghe asked.

Xuanming sighed, "We met by chance when we were hunting for spirit rings in the Star Dou Great Forest."

"You've had quite a few accidents at such a young age," Yue Guan teased.

Xuanming glanced at Yueguan speechlessly.

Are you trying to stir things up?
(End of this chapter)