Douluo; Zhongli Adventures in Mortal World with Paimon

The sun was high in the sky; it was already noon.

The Heaven Dou City Grand Spirit Arena was still packed with people.

The opening ceremony of the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament's preliminary round was underway.

At this moment, in the contestants' rest area...

The conversation between Heaven Dou Royal Team 2's captain, Yu Tianheng, and Shrek's vice-captain, Tang San, was making everyone look increasingly serious.

What they thought would be a mere clown team, just there to irritate others, had actually defeated Yu Tianheng and his teammates before.

Such strength truly made them a dark horse contender.

"Interesting! Now, this is what a competition should be!"

Divine Wind Team's captain, Feng Xiaotian, crossed his arms, a slight smirk on his face, his eyes gleaming with an intense fighting spirit.

Xiao Feilian and the others might be out of his league, and he accepted that.

But as for this preliminary round's first place, he had to fight for it!

With that thought, Feng Xiaotian glanced toward Blazing Academy's direction.

Under normal circumstances, he might let Blazing Academy win a round.

But this time, he had no reason to go easy on them!

Only through victory could he use a spirit bone to prove his feelings.

"Sorry for the trouble, Huo Wu."

As the battle-hardened Feng Xiaotian, he had confidence—beyond just his spirit power in the forties, it was due to his own self-created spirit ability!

Sensing Feng Xiaotian's gaze, Huo Wu felt a chill on her back and subconsciously looked in his direction.

"???"

Their eyes met, and Huo Wu was stunned.

This battle-driven expression on Feng Xiaotian, that resolute look, left Huo Wu a little confused.

It was her first time seeing Feng Xiaotian like this.

With his face mask on, his expression was unreadable, yet his gaze had already conveyed so much.

"Huo Wu, I'm going to take first place in these preliminaries, no matter how strong they are, including you."

Feng Xiaotian's eyes narrowed as he murmured.

He knew Blazing Academy's strength all too well, having been with them day in and day out.

Securing a spot in the top five was no problem for them, but when it came to first place, Blazing Academy had no qualifications to compete for it.

This was why Feng Xiaotian had resolved to aim for first place himself.

In Shrek's rest area, everyone was pondering Grandmaster's words.

The "Master" was right—if all the main forces weren't going to play, it would be no different from conceding.

For the sake of washing away their past shame, Yu Tianheng and the others would surely give their peak performance in this first match, aiming for a flawless victory.

"Tang San, for this round, I permit you to use your Eight Spider Lances!"

"Your Eight Spider Lances and second martial spirit, Clear Sky Hammer, have long been an open secret. Use them freely."

Grandmaster patted Tang San's shoulder with a solemn expression.

It was as if Tang San wouldn't use them unless he granted permission.

Wasn't it that Tang San used his second martial spirit even when the Grandmaster didn't permit it?

The most absurd part was that, under that sword, the Clear Sky Hammer felt as fragile as tofu.

Grandmaster's joy was actually quite simple—he'd get humiliated outside, then act authoritative around Tang San to regain some self-esteem.

"Guiding" a genius like Tang San, a prodigy, and having Tang San listen to him, gave Grandmaster a peculiar sense of accomplishment.

This was why he was always saying what Tang San could and couldn't do.

"Yes, Teacher!"

Tang San was still very respectful toward Grandmaster, even if he understood that Grandmaster might not possess the depth of knowledge he imagined.

Yet, for the fact that Grandmaster was willing to share his "borrowed" knowledge with him, Tang San felt grateful.

Can you call it theft when it's academic borrowing?

"I will give it my all!"

Tang San nodded, but he couldn't shake a vague sense of foreboding!

It was as if, once again, he was going to be humiliated.

"Must be my imagination."

They had managed to defeat Yu Tianheng and the others at the Spirit Elder stage, so at the Spirit Ancestor stage, they should be able to do it again.

The unfortunate part was that they couldn't use external tools during the competition, or else he would've had a way to knock out one of their main forces.

Tang San was equally determined to secure first place in the preliminaries!

In the original timeline, even knowing the life-threatening risks, he resolutely headed to Spirit City.

This showed just how much he craved victory in the competition, this "vanity."

As a Tang Sect disciple who wasn't fully accepted by the Tang Sect, he desperately wanted to prove himself.

Victory in this competition might be the only way to show that he, Tang San, was no weaker than anyone else—a way to fill that void in his heart.

"With Brother San on the field, isn't this already in the bag?" Ma Hongjun said with a grin, unaware of what awaited them ahead.

Even with his immunity to fire and ice and a ten-thousand-year fourth spirit ring, Tang San was once still frustrated by Shui Bing'er from Skywater Academy.

Now, without a ten-thousand-year fourth ring, without fire-and-ice immunity or powerful mental strength, how could he possibly overcome the obstacles of Shui Bing'er and Huo Wu?

Perhaps even the Asura God of the Divine Realm would be pondering this question at this moment.

"Of course!" Xiao Wu said proudly, as if Ma Hongjun's praise was meant for her.

She hadn't shown herself for a while, mainly out of fear.

Even after taking the Shapeshifting Grass, she was still worried about being recognized.

So she stayed hidden within Shrek Academy, training in peace.

This meant her strength was one level higher than in the original timeline, reaching level 39.

Shrek was gearing up to give their all; the original Shrek Seven Devils were warming up, ready to take the stage.

On the other side, however, Heaven Dou Royal Team 2 had a bit of a disagreement.

"Yu Tianheng, since you guys lost to the Shrek Seven Devils, wouldn't it be better for us to play instead?"

The original captain of Team 2 crossed his arms, expressionless.

He was supposed to be Team 2's captain, but Yu Tianheng and his group, after losing to Xiao Feng and the others, had been relegated to Team 2...

Granted, they couldn't defeat Xiao Feilian either, let alone disciples of the Body Sect. They'd had to accept this outcome.

"You have seen Tang San, Dai Mubai, and the others' abilities. We just let our guard down at that time."

"If you really want to go out, go ahead. But if you lose, you'll take the responsibility!"

Yu Tianheng didn't assert his position but instead "reasoned" with him.

He knew exactly what was on Team 2's captain's mind—he looked down on the other teams, believing himself to be an unbeatable Spirit Ancestor, capable of taking first place in the preliminaries.

The captain of Team 2 fell silent at this.

He had to admit that none of them could truly match up to Yu Tianheng and his teammates, which was why they had been placed in Team 2 in the first place.

If they lost the match and he took the blame, there was a high chance the clan would sideline him.

"All right, I'm just a substitute; I'll follow the captain's orders..." the former Team 2 captain grumbled. Though spoiled, he wasn't stupid.

Taking the blame?

Not a chance!

"Hmph! When you lose again, I'd like to see how you still have the face to show up!"