Holy Spirit Manor.
Su Mo said flatly, "Alright, I’ve already notified the Cyan Emperor. He and Sect Leader Chu will personally greet you and show you the way."
"Chu Tianxiong?"
The Ink Flood Dragon gave a bitter laugh. "Thank you, Elder Su. I will definitely get along with Sect Leader Chu. I won’t cause any trouble for you."
Back then, it had gone to great lengths to escape from the Beast Taming Sect.
Now, it had to go back again.
Fate is a cruel mistress.
Su Mo curled his lip. "Scram. Don’t waste my time. I have a Holy Spirit Assembly to attend."
"Yes, yes, yes, I’ll scram right away!"
The Ink Flood Dragon respectfully withdrew, leaving everyone stunned and in disarray.
Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.
They had all thought they were dead for sure.
They never expected that such a massive tide of Demon Beasts would be so easily resolved by Su Mo with just a few words.
You really can’t judge a book by its cover.
After shooing away the Ink Flood Dragon, Su Mo said impatiently, "Elder Li, hurry up and announce the start of the third round."
"Huh?"
Li Nan was dumbfounded. "Elder Su, don’t tell me you’re still planning to participate in the Holy Spirit Competition."
Su Mo nodded. "Of course. I’m still waiting to become the champion of the Holy Spirit Competition."
"This..."
Li Nan looked toward the Saint Spirit Manor Master.
The Saint Spirit Manor Master forced a smile. "Sir, you must be joking. With your status, it’s not appropriate for you to participate in this kind of children’s game."
"Why wouldn’t it be appropriate?" Su Mo asked.
The Saint Spirit Manor Master replied respectfully, "The Holy Spirit Competition is held for the younger generation of the Northern Profound Domain. You no longer fall into that category."
Su Mo said, "But I am part of the younger generation of the Northern Profound Domain."
"But your Realm..." the Saint Spirit Manor Master said hesitantly.
Su Mo answered, "My Realm is only Warrior Great Perfection. Didn’t I tell you all that when I registered?"
"What? Warrior Great Perfection?"
The Saint Spirit Manor Master was stunned. ’Someone at the Warrior Great Perfection Realm can subdue a Tier Five Demon King and scold it like a disobedient child? That’s completely impossible!’
Seeing everyone’s disbelieving faces, Su Mo said, speechless, "I really am at Warrior Great Perfection. If you don’t believe me, you can test it."
"There’s no need for a test!"
Li Nan stepped forward. "Manor Master, I’ve already observed him with my Wisdom Eye. Elder Su is indeed at the Warrior Great Perfection Realm."
The Saint Spirit Manor Master was shocked.
Li Nan whispered, "If I’m not mistaken, Elder Su must have an incredibly powerful expert backing his family. That’s the only way he could intimidate a Tier Five Demon King. While he himself is monstrously talented, his combat power is at most Martial Master Great Perfection, or perhaps Early Stage Grand Martial Artist."
As soon as he said this, everyone understood.
"So he subdued the Demon Beast by relying on the elders in his family."
"His family’s elder is probably the number one expert in our Northern Profound Domain. Otherwise, there’s no way a Tier Five Demon King would obey so meekly."
"The number one expert in the Northern Profound Domain? Tsk, tsk, tsk. His background is anything but simple."
The crowd broke into discussion.
Xiao Fan had a sudden realization. ’So that’s how it is,’ he thought. ’At best, he’s just as talented as I am. We all overestimated him just now.’
Hua Celestial Sect narrowed his eyes and said nothing, his thoughts a mystery.
Bai Luoxue marveled internally. ’To have the combat power of an Early Stage Grand Martial Artist while at the Warrior Great Perfection Realm... He truly is a prodigy. However, I might not necessarily lose to him.’
Ren Fan sneered, "A competition of backgrounds? Heh, the Holy Spirit Competition is a contest of strength, not background. You have to take your opponent down with real skill."
His lackey next to him whispered, "Young Master Ren Fan, this kid doesn’t seem easy to deal with."
"What’s there to be afraid of!" Ren Fan whispered. "Later, I’ll have my dad pay off some people to build connections. We’ll team up and take him out!"
The lackey hesitated. "What if he retaliates against us?"
SMACK!
Ren Fan slapped the lackey on the head. "Are you an idiot? We’ll be killing him within the rules of the Holy Spirit Competition. If he wants revenge, he’ll have to go after Holy Spirit Manor first. What’s it got to do with us? Just be vicious later and don’t leave any evidence."
"Yes!" the lackey replied with a nod.
Ren Fan said coldly, "With a great reward, there will always be brave men. I don’t care how much money I have to spend today, I’m going to take him out."
"Man Mountain," Mu Qing said worriedly, "it looks like Ren Fan is going to make a move against Elder Su."
Man Mountain just smiled. "He’s just asking to die."
Wu Hao curled his lip. "He might just mess around until he gets his own head chopped off, and his family destroyed along with it."
Soon, the Saint Spirit Manor Master invited the Patriarchs of the various families to the plaza.
To properly host these Patriarchs, the Saint Spirit Manor Master had arranged a private room for each of them.
Therefore, these Patriarchs had no idea what had just happened.
One of the Patriarchs asked, "Manor Master, didn’t you say the Holy Spirit Competition was about to begin? Why has it taken so long?"
"Sigh... It’s a long story," the Saint Spirit Manor Master sighed.
"Did something major happen?"
All the Patriarchs looked at the Saint Spirit Manor Master curiously.
The Saint Spirit Manor Master shot a furtive, wary glance at Su Mo and said, "Distinguished Patriarchs, please watch the Holy Spirit Competition for now. Once the competition is completely over, I will be sure to tell you everything that happened."
"Alright, then!"
Everyone took their seats.
Li Nan announced in a loud voice, "All disciples participating in the third round, enter the plaza! I will now announce the rules and rewards for the third round."
WHOOSH!
A full two hundred disciples surged into the plaza.
Mu Qing said excitedly, "Hehe, I can’t believe I actually managed to stumble my way into the final round, and in fourth place, no less."
Originally, he had just come along for the ride.
The place was full of geniuses, many of whom were Late Stage Martial Artists or even at the Perfection Realm.
With his level of strength, he really didn’t measure up.
Man Mountain smiled. "We just got lucky and latched onto Elder Su’s coattails. That’s the only reason we achieved such good results."
"Hahaha, we really do have Elder Su to thank," Wu Hao laughed heartily.
「Outside the plaza.」
The Sect Leader of the Celestial Blade Sect, Barbarian Tyrant, laughed. "Patriarch Wu, your son Wu Hao has performed quite well in this Holy Spirit Competition. He actually managed to get into the top four! He’s even trampled over geniuses like Bai Luoxue, Hua Celestial Sect, and Xiao Fan."
"Isn’t your son, Man Mountain, also in the top four?" Patriarch Wu laughed. "And Patriarch Mu’s son, Mu Qing, is also in the top four. All of our sons have brought honor to their ancestors. Let’s not flatter each other, lest people say we’re showing off."
"What’s wrong with showing off?" Barbarian Tyrant said, unconcerned. "If they’ve got the skills, let them raise a good son of their own."
The adjacent Patriarch Mu shook his head. "Our three sons are indeed outstanding to have achieved places in the top four, but the gap between them and first place is enormous—a world of difference."
"Oh?"
Barbarian Tyrant and Patriarch Wu looked at Patriarch Mu curiously.
Patriarch Mu said, "The disciple who took first place is named Su Mo. His Points broke one hundred million, completely crushing all the other disciples."
"Over a hundred million? That can’t be real!" Barbarian Tyrant’s face was filled with disbelief.
Patriarch Wu murmured to himself, ’Su Mo? I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere before.’
Just as the three men were celebrating their sons’ achievements, Li Nan announced, "The rules for the third round of this Holy Spirit Competition will be different from previous years. We will be adopting a battle royale format."