In Douluo Continent, I am the mastermind behind the scenes.

The next morning, after the team members finished eating the nutritious meals provided by the tournament organizers, they left their respective rest rooms under the guidance of their team leaders and went to their designated waiting areas near the Battle Arena.

Xu Tianran has never been one to procrastinate. Even though it wasn't the designated time yet, the moment he saw all 170 teams standing neatly in their respective waiting areas, he immediately decided to start the opening ceremony of the Soul Master Tournament ahead of schedule.

Accompanied by a deafening drumbeat, Xu Tianran and his family of three walked onto the platform, surrounded by a silver-armored guard.

Orange's cool voice echoed throughout the entire Soul Arena.

"Fellow citizens of the Sun Moon Empire and distinguished guests from afar, on behalf of His Majesty, I welcome you all. At the same time, on behalf of His Majesty, I hereby declare the Continental Elite Youth Soul Master Tournament officially... open!"

The opening ceremony was very simple, without any fancy decorations or unnecessary formalities. After the announcement, Xu Tianran and his family of three did not linger and walked directly down from the platform.

An elderly man took over the positions of Xu Tianran and his family of three.

"In the first match of the preliminary elimination round, the Tangmen team will face off against the Dilongmen team. Both teams are requested to select seven players to proceed to the final waiting area."

Earth, Earth Dragon Gate?

Huo Yuhao slapped his thigh as his memories of the Earth Dragon Gate team became clearer. He wondered why it felt so familiar. It turned out that a core member of the Tang Clan in his previous life had come from the Earth Dragon Gate.

"The Crimson Dragon, possessing the attribute of annihilation, could very well inherit the position of the God of Destruction if properly nurtured."

With that in mind, Huo Yuhao didn't linger. He didn't even ask Ling Luochen, the team leader, for his opinion, and stepped directly onto the Soul Battle Platform.

In this life... without the aura of reduced intelligence, the members of the Earth Dragon Gate quickly recognized Huo Yuhao's identity.

Without the slightest hesitation, Nan Qiuqiu gritted her teeth and stepped onto the Soul Battle Platform with a solemn expression.

"Earth Dragon Gate, Nan Qiuqiu!"

"Tang Sect, Huo Yuhao!"

Huo Yuhao clasped his hands in a fist salute towards Nan Qiuqiu and said with a smile, "Miss Qiuqiu, I see you have extraordinary talent, a martial arts prodigy that comes along only once in ten thousand years. Would you be interested in joining our Tang Sect?"

ah???????

A martial arts prodigy who appears only once in a millennium?

What does this have to do with whether or not I join your Tang Clan?

Could it be that Huo Yuhao has taken a liking to this girl? Is he planning to... take advantage of her through some underhanded means?

Looking at Huo Yuhao's wicked grin, Nan Qiuqiu took a deep breath and said through gritted teeth, "What if I don't agree? Are you going to force me to join your Tang Sect?"

"You can think that way," Huo Yuhao chuckled. "Our Tang Sect was once the number one sect in the world. We have studied all the martial souls ranked on the Soul Master list. Take your Crimson Dragon martial soul, for example. Compared to the Tang Sect, your Earth Dragon Sect's understanding of the annihilation attribute is like that of a frog in a well!"

"So... I'm not forcing you, I'm saving your future!"

As he spoke, Huo Yuhao struck a pose, as if everything was under his control, the Great God King Huo.

"Does Huo Yuhao have no shame? He even knows about the martial souls ranked on the Soul Master World list? Haha, who doesn't know that the Tang Sect is just a bunch of arms dealers who specialize in selling all kinds of weapons and never bothers to study martial souls and the Soul Master system? He's really putting on a good show for the Tang Sect."

In the Sword Rain team's exclusive waiting area, Wang Dong'er, using the pseudonym Dong Qianqiu, couldn't help but tease Huo Yuhao several times.

Although Wang Dong'er's voice wasn't loud, everyone present was a Soul Master, so while they couldn't hear her perfectly, the general meaning was still conveyed.

Zhu Ningyu had a chance to stop Wang Dong'er from "causing trouble," but she ultimately decided to let her speak freely.

For no other reason than that if even one person in the original story dared to speak the truth, Huo Yuhao wouldn't have been praised to the skies.

Does someone who feels superior even when cheating deserve to be called a gentleman?

As expected, Wang Dong'er's words acted as a fuse, sparking discussion among the participating Soul Masters.

"That Huo Yuhao is such a hypocrite! He actually tried to deceive that young girl in front of so many people. If he was interested in her talent, he should have just said so. Why did he have to resort to such coercion and bribery? And this is the former number one sect in the world? Does such a force even deserve to have that title?"

"Shh! Shh! The first leader of the Tang Sect was the Sea God! How dare you speak ill of the Tang Sect? Are you out of your mind?"

"So what? Right is right, and wrong is wrong. Does that mean... if members of the Tang Sect do something wrong, we have to go against our conscience and grovel before them? How can there be such a logic in the world? Gods? So what if they are gods? They are just a group of powerful Soul Masters. Don't forget, in the Battle of Jialing Pass, Dugu Bo from the Allied Forces was the culprit who massacred the city, but the history books replaced his name with Bibi Dong! Is this the justice that the Sea God Pavilion proclaims?"

"But you can't say that! No matter how much of a scoundrel the Sea God is (whispering), he's still a god. Do we ordinary people have the right to discuss Soul Masters who are even stronger than Limit Douluo?"

Those who dared to discuss the Tang Sect and the Sea God Tang San were always a minority. Most people pretended not to hear and silently watched the two on the Soul Fighting Stage.

Huo Yuhao paid no attention to the conversation among the Soul Masters below the stage. Inspired by Gu Yuhan, he decided that from now on, he would be a complete bastard in order to dispel Tang San and the others' fears.

But the problem is... wasn't Huo Yuhao's behavior just now a kind of natural performance?

Huo Yuhao said with a smile, "Nan Qiuqiu, you'd better think this through. I'll give you a chance; let's make a bet. If you win, I'll apologize for my rude behavior just now. But if I win, you'll have to join our Tang Sect!"

"I've heard your mother, Nan Shuishui, is still quite attractive. Miss Nan, you may consider yourself extraordinary, but you wouldn't want your beautiful mother to be with so many men, would you?"

"You... bastard!"

Nan Qiuqiu could no longer tolerate Huo Yuhao's insults. She rushed in front of him and attacked Huo Yuhao's heart with a pair of pink dragon claws.

Huo Yuhao sneered, then activated the first soul skill of his second martial soul, the Twin Dragon Daggers: Blood Demon Shadow. He transformed into a phantom and flashed behind Nan Qiuqiu.

"Is that all you've got? You can't even touch my clothes, and you dare call yourself a favored daughter of heaven?"

While dodging Nan Qiuqiu's attacks, Huo Yuhao didn't forget to taunt her.

Seeing this, the referee naturally wouldn't stop it, nor could he possibly. He quickly activated the protective shield around the arena, pretending the match had already begun. (End of Chapter)