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"I must say, you all secretly organized this grand tournament without even inviting our Xiangjia (Elephant Armor) Academy?"
The speaker was none other than Huyan Zhen, the leader of the Xiangjia Sect.
The inter-academy exchange tournament was a public event. With the intelligence capabilities of the Xiangjia Sect, it was impossible for them to have remained unaware of it.
Three days after the tournament began, their arrival to cause trouble raised suspicions about their underlying motives.
"The Xiangjia Sect? How did they get here?" Feng Xiaotian frowned.
The Xiangjia Sect had long oppressed the three great families of Element City. Feng Xiaotian certainly wasn't going to give them a warm welcome.
It wasn't just him; the members of the Chi Huo team also harbored deep resentment toward the Xiangjia Sect.
On the high platform, the trio representing wind, water, and fire stood up simultaneously and scolded, "Huyan Zhen, this is no place for you to act so arrogantly!"
"Oh, aren't these my three old friends? How could you come to participate in this tournament without inviting us?" Huyan Zhen spread his arms wide, his gaze sweeping across the crowd.
To those who didn't know the truth, his words made it seem as though the three principals of wind, water, and fire were heartless individuals.
On the high platform, Ke Jie remained calm, leisurely sipping his tea before setting the cup down gently. His voice rang out, "Sect Leader Huyan, I remember clearly that the three principals of wind, water, and fire have no connection with you whatsoever. For you to say such things—well, it's quite shameless."
"Damn Huyan Zhen, always twisting the truth like Yu Luomian! Are you two cut from the same cloth?" Huo Lie cursed angrily.
Thankfully, Yu Luomian hadn't returned to the scene after the first day of the tournament; otherwise, there might have been a confrontation between the two.
Ning Tianchen's gaze sharpened as he stared at Huyan Zhen.
In the original timeline, during the Spirit Hall's invasion of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, it was the Xiangjia Sect that led the charge.
Ning Tianchen had almost forgotten about them, but now they had suddenly revealed themselves.
Behind Huyan Zhen stood the Spirit Hall. The appearance of the Xiangjia Sect here made their intentions clear.
"Principal Ke, you're truly impressive—one sentence and you want to sever my ties with the three principals. However, I don't care. Our purpose here is simple: we want Xiangjia Academy to join this year's tournament."
The arena matches had already ended. Allowing Xiangjia Academy to join midway would require changing the rules of the competition.
The Seven Treasures Academy didn't want to earn a reputation for inconsistency.
Ke Jie's expression remained unchanged as he firmly rejected the request. "Sect Leader Huyan, you've come at the wrong time. For the next inter-academy exchange tournament, if you register early, perhaps I'll consider letting you join."
---
"Teacher, what's the deal with Xiangjia Academy? I've never heard of any disputes between them and Seven Treasures Academy," Tang San asked in confusion.
When he encountered Huyan Li earlier, he had vaguely guessed that the other party might be here to stir up trouble.
However, there was no history of conflict between Xiangjia Academy and Seven Treasures Academy. For Huyan Zhen to recklessly offend the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect—it wasn't a wise move.
Yu Xiaogang knew little about the current situation in Tiandou City and slowly shook his head. "Xiao San, let's continue watching."
Yu Tianheng interjected, "Xiangjia Academy has been targeting the three academies of wind, water, and fire both openly and covertly. It's normal for the three principals to oppose them. But why is the Xiangjia Sect causing trouble at Seven Treasures Academy? I can't figure it out."
Are they not afraid of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect?
After all, either Sword Dao or Bone Dao Douluo alone could annihilate their entire sect!
The sharp-witted Flender quickly deduced the reason. "Their actions are like those of lackeys. Perhaps their backers sent them to test the strength of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect."
The Xiangjia Sect was the leading sect among the lower four sects, second only to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Family in terms of influence. What kind of power could make them submit so willingly?
Yu Xiaogang's expression showed a hint of realization, as if he had guessed the answer, but he chose not to speak it aloud.
---
"Principal Ke, are you dismissing me, Huyan Zhen, so lightly?"
As he spoke, eight soul rings appeared beneath his feet—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, purple, black, black, black. The overwhelming presence of a peak Soul Douluo was undeniable, and it seemed he was ready to fight.
Ke Jie's expression grew serious.
There were many people gathered at the tournament venue. If a peak Soul Douluo were to start fighting here, countless lives would be lost.
Moreover, Ning Fengzhi had instructed him to conceal his true strength. If he were to fight Huyan Zhen, his abilities would naturally be exposed.
"Principal Ke, the four of us will handle Huyan Zhen together," Huo Lie, with his fiery temper, didn't care about the consequences.
"Old Fire, don't rush," Shui Ningbing tried to calm him down.
Ke Jie took a deep breath, his lips moved slightly, but no sound came out.
Below the arena, Dugu Bo, who had witnessed everything, abruptly stood up. The overwhelming presence of a 94th-level Title Douluo pressed down on Huyan Zhen.
"You dare to cause trouble here knowing full well that I'm present? Do you think my reputation isn't strong enough, or are you trying to test my patience?"
"Old man." Seeing him step forward, Ning Tianchen felt a surge of joy.
Since Ke Jie's strength couldn't be revealed, sending someone to the sect for reinforcements at this moment would clearly be too late.
Initially, Ning Tianchen had said he wouldn't force Dugu Bo to work for the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, but he hadn't expected Dugu Bo to step forward voluntarily.
Of course, he didn't know that Ke Jie had secretly communicated with Dugu Bo.
There was an insurmountable gap between a Title Douluo and a Soul Douluo. The 94th-level soul power was enough to suffocate Huyan Zhen.
Enduring the immense pressure, Huyan Zhen ground out each word: "Dugu Bo, this is a matter between us and the Three Elements Academies. What does it have to do with you?!"
"I am a specially appointed teacher of Seven Treasures Academy. By causing trouble here, you're slapping me in the face." Dugu Bo's eyes narrowed, and under his control, the tail of his Jade Phosphorus Serpent Emperor martial soul lashed out violently.
Huyan Zhen inwardly cursed.
He had clearly insulted Seven Treasures Academy, yet the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect remained silent while Dugu Bo stepped forward instead.
Could it be that Dugu Bo had joined the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect?
But why hadn't there been any news of this in the outside world?
Before he could think further, the serpent's tail crashed heavily onto his body.
Huyan Zhen's body was flung into the air, and Dugu Bo leapt up, taking the battle to the skies.
Without flight capabilities, Huyan Zhen struggled to stabilize himself in midair.
Dugu Bo's attacks landed on him, and he had no chance to retaliate.
"Speaking the harshest words, receiving the deadliest beating." Ning Tianchen watched the scene with icy eyes.
About five minutes later, the unconscious Huyan Zhen's body crashed heavily back to the ground.
Thankfully, his sturdy build saved him—anyone else might have been killed by the fall.
"Grandfather (Sect Leader)!"
Huyan Li and others quickly surrounded and protected Huyan Zhen, their eyes wary as they scanned their surroundings.
Without Huyan Zhen as their backing, how could the seven of them possibly leave Seven Treasures Academy with their current strength?
"In the future, if anyone dares to come to Seven Treasures Academy looking for trouble, I will grind their bones to dust."
A fierce shout rang out, and the expressions of the students below varied.
The academy's own students straightened their chests proudly, while students from other academies looked on with envy.
"Get out of here before I change my mind."
Huyan Li and the others didn't dare to disobey. Several of them lifted Huyan Zhen and fled from Seven Treasures Academy in disgrace.
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