area51novel Chapter 267 The Mingdu Soul Master Elite Competition is the Real Goal
Chapter 267 The Mingdu Soul Master Elite Competition is the Real Goal
Ten minutes later, Long You, looking speechless, carried the super bubble slime that had exploded but was now protected by an energy shield to the door of another double room not far away. The dismantling of the entire mechanism went very smoothly. The only thing that made Long You somewhat undecided was whether or not he should send a message to Bei Bei and the others.
When they were dismantling the mechanisms, they were trying to avoid being disturbed, but even after all the mechanisms were dismantled, no one came out, which surprised Long You and He Caitou. After some investigation, they were astonished to find that the row of eight double rooms was indeed the residence of the Tang Clan participants, but there was no one there, not even a single person, not even the luxury sphere.
"What's going on? The competition starts the day after tomorrow, and these people are taking advantage of their last bit of free time to go out and have fun?"
When Long You returned to his room, he saw He Caitou, still refusing to believe it, operating the soul-detecting device to search the other rooms again, and then asking Long You with a distressed expression.
"I don't know, but this is probably the effect that group of people wanted to create. Whether it was intentional or just a coincidence, they wanted the two of us to contact them."
"What a despicable person! Knowing that they might be at a complete disadvantage in the skill of soul tools, they set up a seemingly difficult welcoming mechanism as bait, so that after we painstakingly solved the mechanism, we would still have to contact them again. This is just forcing us to 'bow down and submit'."
"Well, it's just a harmless quirk. But we don't need to rush to contact them now, since the competition registration is already done. We have other things to do, so come on, follow me."
The tournament hosted by the Sun Moon Empire was rather pointless for Long You, but other things in Mingdu besides this overt competition were truly captivating. Having progressed to a certain level as a Soul Master, Long You needed to clash with high-level opponents of the same rank to unleash even stronger inspiration. Therefore, the underground Soul Master Tournament, currently in its registration phase, was the opportunity Long You had long coveted for improvement.
Pulling He Caitou away from the hotel once again, Long You began to lead He Caitou around the streets and alleys of Mingdu like a local.
While wandering through the streets and alleys, Long You effortlessly filled his stomach and also scattered some special soul-guided creatures throughout the streets and alleys of Mingdu.
Seeing Long You clap his hands lightly, He Caitou, who knew Long You quite well, knew that this was a ritualistic gesture after Long You had completed a certain stage of his goal.
"Is everything done? Now can you tell me what you're going to do next?"
Long You's cautious yet blatant actions within the Ming capital clearly indicate that he has ulterior motives, perhaps even grand ones.
"What I'm doing now involves Mingdu's war reserve warehouse. If everything goes smoothly, I might be able to obtain multiple Level 9 fixed-position soul-guided shells by the end of this competition."
However, this matter depends on luck. What I'm doing now is merely preparation to potentially increase the success rate of the operation; it's not our main objective. Our main objective is actually an underground Soul Master Tournament that corresponds to the overt Continental Elite Soul Master Tournament.
"The Underground Soul Master Competition? I feel this isn't the first time you've mentioned this competition. Is there anything special about it?"
"It is indeed special in some ways, but most importantly, compared to the Soul Master Competition on the surface, this Soul Master Competition can truly hone my skills."
Alright, we're here. Let me explain in detail. First, let's start with what we both already know: Beibei and Tang Ya want to take advantage of this competition in Mingdu to buy some rare metals unique to the Sun Moon Empire through the black market, right?
“That’s right. I even suspect that the reason we didn’t find those guys in the hotel this time is because those guys needed to meet with black market dealers.”
"Well, we can't rule out that possibility. After all, based on the information I have, it's unlikely that Beibei and the others have been able to buy rare metals from black market merchants recently."
"Why is that? Is it related to the match you mentioned?"
"It's related, but if we trace it back to its source, it's probably related to Xu Tianran, the current regent of the Sun Moon Empire. It's rumored that His Majesty the Regent is extremely averse to gambling, so he has banned all betting, whether openly or secretly, during this Mingdu Continental Elite Youth Soul Master Tournament."
"Not being allowed to open for business means a significant loss of income for some people!"
"That's right, the most profitable business for those underground forces is basically running a gambling operation. However, in the current Sun Moon Empire, the Regent is all-powerful, and there are very few people who dare to disobey his orders. These people do not include the underground forces in Mingdu."
However, where there's a will, there's a way. The current crowds gathered in Mingdu couldn't be wasted. Since betting on the official competitions was prohibited, they'd start something else. The three largest underground organizations in Mingdu, leveraging the crowds from the Continental Youth Advanced Soul Master Elite Tournament, organized another underground competition. Considering that Journey to the West Metal was the most important hard currency in the underworld, almost all the rare metals circulating in Mingdu's underworld had been used as betting stakes.
When Long You mentioned Xu Tianran, He Caitou's brow twitched noticeably. However, this former crown prince, who harbored his own secrets, was clearly not an impulsive person, and quickly focused his attention on Long You's narration, "Another competition, a competition that doesn't require a contest of combat strength, but only a contest of soul tool making abilities?"
Although Long You did not explicitly state what this underground competition was about, He Caitou was able to deduce some of the details based on the amount of information he provided.
"That's right. The three giants of the Mingdu underworld are the Pingfan Alliance, the Aodu Chamber of Commerce, and the Xishui Alliance. Among the three forces, the Pingfan Alliance is the largest leader in Mingdu's adult entertainment industry and is the most superficial underground force among the three giants. The Aodu Chamber of Commerce controls black market activities such as assassin guilds and thief guilds. The most high-end is the Xishui Alliance, which owns the most profitable industries in the underworld, such as pharmaceuticals, weapons, and people."
The Ordinary Alliance has a relatively close relationship with the Aodu Chamber of Commerce, and there seems to be some underlying tension with the Xishui Alliance. However, none of that matters. Only two things are important: First, the name of this underground competition is the Mingdu Soul Master Elite Competition; second, the Xishui Alliance is a subsidiary of the Holy Spirit Cult, and its leader is the wife of the Holy Spirit Cult's leader, Zhongli Wu.
After a brief silence, He Caitou glanced at Long You with some curiosity. This was Mingdu, the most central location of the Sun Moon Empire. Even if the Xingluo Long family had made arrangements in Mingdu before, it was still somewhat unusual that Long You possessed so much information.
However, He Caitou always believed that everyone has their own secrets, so he wouldn't ask about these things. Moreover, these questions weren't information he urgently needed to know right now. So, after a brief moment of thought, He Caitou directly asked, "What you really need to know is the situation of the Capital Soul Instructor Elite Competition, right? You've dragged me out here, so you probably want me to participate with you, right?"
"It's making it seem like I don't want you to participate. When you knew there was such a competition, could you resist participating? Even if you don't care about the rare metal rewards, can't you afford not to improve your soul tool manufacturing technology?"
Dead fish eyes. Although this adjective has always only appeared in anime, for some reason, when Long You saw He Caitou's eyes at this moment, this adjective popped into his mind immediately.
"Tell me more. You surely know more than just this. What other information do you have about the Mingdu Soul Master Elite Competition? Tell me everything."
"This competition is a money-making scheme organized by the underground forces of the Sun Moon Empire. Although they specially invited a level nine Soul Master from the Sun Moon Empire's royal family to serve as the chief referee, and there are also twelve Soul Masters of level seven or above forming the referee committee, don't expect the competition to be very rigorous."
Anyone under thirty years old can participate as a Soul Master of all levels. The competition format is a pure elimination tournament, but the rules are different for each round, so all I know so far are the rules for the first qualifying round. The rules for the qualifying round are quite simple: after paying a registration fee of one hundred gold soul coins, you just need to create a level four Soul Tool on the field during the qualifying rounds.
However, the qualifying rounds are merely a screening process, so those who pass do not receive any rewards. In subsequent rounds, each qualifier will receive a very generous reward of rare metals.
Another point to note is that because the Mingdu Soul Master Elite Competition is jointly hosted by the three major underground forces of Mingdu, the competition is divided into three regions. Each region will produce a champion, and then a grand final will be held.
Seeing that Long You indicated he had finished speaking, He Caitou paused for a moment before saying, "The rules are quite simple, and basically fair. But they're very attractive! The underground alliance offers a sufficiently appealing opportunity for both those who place bets and those who participate."
"That's right. Because of this competition, I can imagine that there are basically no rare metals circulating in the black market of Mingdu anymore. So if you want to get more rare metals, participating in the competition is the only way."
"Alright, let's get to the point. What kind of place is this? Which of the three major underground forces is this territory? Do Junior Brother and Fatty know about this competition? Which side will they go to?"
"I'm not sure if those two know about this competition, but under normal circumstances, they should go to the competition area hosted by Xishui Alliance. Qingse Hotel is very close to Mingyue Hotel, which the Soul Master Competition Organizing Committee arranged for us to stay at. These two guys are not as familiar with the geography of Mingdu as I am, and they will most likely be the main players in the competition, so under normal circumstances, the competition area they choose should not be too far from Mingyue Hotel."
"That makes sense. So, is this place the territory of the Aodu Chamber of Commerce? Or the territory of the Ordinary Alliance?"
"The Human Resources Service Building on the left is the territory of the Aodu Chamber of Commerce, and the Yafei Auction House on the right is the territory of the Pingfan Alliance. I personally want to go to the Pingfan Alliance competition area. As for you, senior brother, it's up to you."
"I'll go to the left. Shouldn't the qualifiers start now?"
"Yes, it's started. It's already the second day. There are only three days in total."
"Then let's meet at the hotel tonight. If our junior brothers don't know, we'll remind them."
"Well, one last reminder. There are many skilled competitors. You don't have to compete for the regional championship, but don't let yourself slip up before the finals."
"Mind your own business. Don't focus all your attention on what others are doing and neglect your jade carving skills."
As Long You gave his final reminder, He Caitou had already swaggered towards the Aodu Chamber of Commerce Human Resources Service Building across the street. Although he couldn't see He Caitou's expression, he could tell from his voice that this time, his mind wasn't necessarily on the Soul Master Competition in the open.
[Isn't this a coincidence? My focus isn't on that farcical Soul Master Competition either. I also have many ingenious ideas about spatial laws that I haven't had time to actually test, so this is a perfect opportunity.]
After settling his bill with He Caitou for the snacks, Long You put on a pair of glasses as he left the sweet water shop. The moment the glasses were on Long You's nose, he appeared as a completely different person—his appearance and aura of spiritual power were entirely different from the person he had been in the sweet water shop.
As he strode towards the auction house not far away, his gaze behind his glasses shifted slightly, and the corners of Long You's mouth involuntarily turned up. The entrance to the auction house looked unremarkable, seemingly similar to the entrances of most auction houses on the continent, grand and magnificent, accompanied by two guards in tight-fitting clothes.
However, from Long You's perspective, this gate held a hidden secret. Aside from the fact that it was likely a soul-guided device combining offense and defense, the two gatekeepers were actually minor experts at the Soul Master level.
[Tsk, is the Ordinary Alliance lacking confidence? Or is it simply showing off their strength while maintaining a cautious attitude?]
With a small thought swirling in his mind, Long You didn't stop walking, and his hands also made some movements.
Given the Ordinary Alliance's posture, it seemed getting into the auction house wouldn't be easy today. To avoid being stuck at the door explaining himself, Long You naturally needed to make some preparations beforehand. For example, he brought his Soul Master level badge. Although he hadn't taken the exam for a while, a level five Soul Master badge should still be of some use.