I am the son of the Dragon God in Douluo Continent.

The small tavern in the western part of Mingdu is located in a quiet alley. Its exterior is simple and unassuming, blending almost seamlessly with the surrounding buildings.

A weathered wooden sign hangs at the entrance of the tavern, bearing the three characters "Zui Xian Ju" (醉仙居). Although it has a long history, it still exudes a touch of elegance.

Pushing open the heavy wooden door, a rustic woody fragrance wafted out.

The interior of the tavern was also decorated in an antique style, with simple and heavy wooden floors and walls, and a few old-fashioned oil lamps suspended from the ceiling, emitting a soft glow.

In the center of the tavern were several round wooden tables, surrounded by simple wooden chairs. On the tables were simple ceramic wine jugs and cups, emitting a faint aroma of wine.

In the corner, there was a small stage with a guqin (a traditional Chinese stringed instrument) on it, seemingly waiting for the arrival of a certain artist.

The tavern's windows were small, through which one could see the slightly dim alley outside. It was clear that compared to the high-tech buildings unique to Mingdu, this place retained a more traditional atmosphere.

In this unusually quiet atmosphere, representatives from all sides arrived one by one, and a tense yet secretive atmosphere permeated the entire tavern.

"It looks like they'll be here soon," Ma Xiaotao said in a low voice, her eyes scanning her surroundings warily.

"Yes, stay vigilant." Xu Jiujiu nodded, his fingers lightly tapping the table. "Proceed according to plan."

The first to arrive were representatives from Shrek Academy, including Bei Bei, the captain of this Elite Soul Master Competition, and Zhang Lexuan, the senior sister of Shrek Academy's inner court.

Seeing that Xu Jiujiu had already found a seat and was waiting, Beibei greeted her with a smile: "Princess Jiujiu, it's been a long time. I remember the last time we met was at the last All-Continent Elite Soul Master Competition."

Xu Jiujiu smiled and replied, "That's true. After all, I'm very busy with my work at the Spirit Tower, so I haven't seen Captain Beibei even in Shrek City these past few years."

"However, there is one thing I must correct: I am no longer the princess of the Star Luo Empire, so you can relax and just call me Jiu Jiu."

"Right now, I am merely a wife to my fiancé, representing the Chiling Tower."

After speaking for a long time, he took out a silver token with the words "Qi Ling" written on it.

Looking at the inscription on the token and the terrifying aura left behind by its original owner, Beibei had no doubt about its authenticity.

It seems that the news that the eldest princess of the Star Luo Empire was deposed by the Star Luo Empire and became a member of the Qiling Tower is true.

What I didn't expect was that she would become Xu Xingyu's fiancée. Doesn't he already have Wang Dong'er and Jiang Nannan? Could he have taken them all in?

While Beibei was daydreaming in his mind, he finally noticed Ma Xiaotao next to Xu Jiujiu, which made him frown.

He knew Ma Xiaotao very well, after all, she was the captain of the previous Soul Master Competition.

At the same time, she is also the personal disciple of Yan Shaozhe, the dean of the Martial Soul Department. Considering that Yan Shaozhe's teacher is his ancestor Mu En, Bei Bei has to call her senior sister.

Originally, with Xu Xingyu's help, she purified the evil energy in her martial soul and evolved from the original Evil Fire Phoenix into a Fire Phoenix with extreme fire (Beibei didn't know that Ma Xiaotao's martial soul had actually become the Vermilion Bird). She was regarded by the people led by Elder Xuan as a candidate for the Sea God Pavilion Master, just like Zhang Lexuan.

As a result, after she applied for graduation last year, she declined the academy's invitation to become a member of the Sea God Pavilion and instead joined the Spirit Pagoda, saying that she wanted to repay the Spirit Pagoda for helping her solve the problem with her martial soul.

Given the terrifying power of the Spirit Tower and the fact that Shrek Academy might need its help in the future, the elders of the Sea God Pavilion could only suffer in silence.

Now, not only is Ma Xiaotao here, but her strength also seems to be comparable to that of her senior sister. This means that in just a few years, Ma Xiaotao has broken through from the Soul Emperor to the Title Douluo level.

Xu Jiujiu's strength may not have increased dramatically, but it should at least be at the Soul Saint level.

If Xu Jiujiu weren't just over twenty, she would likely become one of Shrek Academy's biggest rivals in this Elite Soul Master Competition.

However, considering the strength displayed by Wang Dong'er and others in the first match of the Spirit Tower without revealing their spirit rings, this is a different story.

Beibei had already suspected that the average cultivation level of each member of the Spirit Tower team was around that of a Soul Emperor, which was already terrifying.

If that's the case, he might not be able to uphold Shrek Academy's glory of ten thousand years.

This made Bei Bei feel somewhat discouraged. The glory of ten thousand years might be lost in this Elite Soul Master Competition, and anyone would feel sad about it.

However, what Beibei didn't know was that he should be more wary of the two men in black beside Xu Jiujiu and Ma Xiaotao than of them.

Zhang Lexuan, as a titled Douluo, knows this best.

Since Ma Xiaotao left, the heavy responsibility of being a candidate for the Sea God Pavilion Master has fallen on her shoulders.

As a result, Zhang Lexuan spent the rest of her time cultivating, except for her efforts to improve relations between the academy and the Spirit Tower.

This resulted in her being a newly promoted Title Douluo, but her strength and perception far surpassed those of other Title Douluos of the same rank, and she could even compete with weaker Super Douluos.

In her perception, the two men in black were extremely powerful, and both were much stronger than herself.

Within the entire Sea God Pavilion, only Elder Xuan could rival their strength. As for Yan Shaozhe and Elder Song, both level 97 Super Douluo, they might be able to compete with them, but she wasn't sure.

However, it's normal for Zhang Lexuan to have such thoughts, after all, the true identities of these two are the Crimson King, ranked eighth among the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts, and the Demon Queen Zi Ji, ranked tenth.

Both are super soul beasts with cultivation levels exceeding 300,000 years. The former is a super soul beast with some pure true dragon blood flowing through its veins, while the latter is a rising star among the existing dragon race, the patriarch of the Abyss Demon Dragon race, and like Di Tian, ​​a true dragon soul beast that still exists in the world.

It's perfectly normal that they all possess combat power capable of competing with Super Douluo of level 97 or higher.

As for why Zhang Lexuan was interested in Xu Jiujiu and Ma Xiaotao's two bodyguards, it was because she thought that one of the light-elemental mages, with whom she got along very well, would also come along.

After some investigation, she discovered that this person had not come with Qilingta, which made her a little disappointed.

I wonder what Zhang Lexuan's attitude will be after she finds out the truth about that person?