Chapter 202: Still Dunking on Xuan
Seeing Furina walk over, Huo Yuhao immediately went up to greet her. "Sister Furina, perfect timing. Senior Brother Xu Sanshi wants to join the Tang Sect, but Senior Brother Bei Bei says the Tang Sect is now a subsidiary sect of the Water God Church and wanted to get your opinion on it. Also, Senior Brother He Caitou wants to join our Water God Church too."
After listening, Furina smiled and looked towards Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi.
"No problem at all." She waved a hand dismissively. "Besides, Bei Bei, didn't I already tell Tang Ya this? Your Tang Sect has a certain degree of autonomy. As long as the recruits meet the standards and aren't some kind of heinous villains, you don't need to ask me about recruitment at all."
Bei Bei smiled as well, a teasing lilt in his tone. "We still have to ask for your opinion, Your Holiness the Pope. Besides, our Sect Master Tang Ya isn't here right now, so we can only ask you first."
"Relax, I have no objections," Furina said offhandedly.
She knew full well that while Tang Ya wasn't the most eloquent person, she didn't have a bad heart. If she were truly twisted, she would have long since used the hidden devouring attribute of her Bluesilver Grass to evolve it into Dark Bluesilver Grass and walked the path of an evil soul master.
It was only later, limited by her innate talent and unable to raise her strength, finding it hard to stay at Shrek, anxious in her heart and unwilling to drag others down, that she returned to Heaven Dou City to rebuild the Tang Sect. In the end, suppressed and ostracized at every turn outside, and finally pushed past her breaking point, she activated the devouring attribute and evolved it into Dark Bluesilver Grass to seek revenge.
As for Bei Bei, he was the classic love-brain plus good guy. He had an eye for selecting and employing people; his only real flaw was taking emotional matters too seriously.
But that couldn't be helped. This was the Douluo Continent, also known as the Love-Brain Continent. If you were a strong soul master, you probably had this problem to some degree.
Furina pulled back her wandering thoughts and turned to He Caitou.
In the original story, He Caitou had also applied to join the Tang Sect after becoming a reserve team member. Only this time, it was the Tang Sect swapped for her Water God Church.
"He Caitou, are you truly willing to join the Water God Church?" Furina asked. "What suddenly made you want to join us?"
He Caitou gave a simple, honest grin and scratched his head. "When Yuhao was making soul tools, he incorporated a lot of elements from the Water God Church's firearms and the Tang Sect's hidden weapons. I want to follow along and learn. Besides, I'm pretty interested in the Water God Church too. I've heard people talk about it before; they say it's a pretty good sect."
He continued, "I'm a soul engineer, so joining a sect won't really affect anything. And I heard from my teacher that Shrek is also planning to cooperate with the Water God Church. If I join, it'll be more convenient to get along with Bei Bei, Yuhao, and the others in the future."
Furina nodded. "Alright, welcome aboard. The Water God Church doesn't have many rigid rules or complicated ceremonies. As long as someone isn't a bad person or a villain, they can join."
She swept her gaze over the group and suddenly seemed to remember something. She asked, with deliberate intent, "Speaking of which, did you get any benefits after passing the core disciple assessment?"
She knew perfectly well they'd become the Shrek Seven Devils reserve team. But the others didn't know she knew.
Wang Dong immediately lifted her chin, a hint of pride in her voice. "Of course! Let me tell you, we're now reserve members of the Shrek Seven Devils. In five years, we'll be able to represent Shrek in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Spirit Dueling Tournament!"
"Oh, is that so?" Furina smiled. "Well, that's great. But I actually think it's a bit of a shame that your cohort isn't participating in this one. Didn't I mention before? The Water God Church's Canaan Academy is also competing. If we got the chance to face off, that would be really interesting."
Wang Dong waved a hand, her face full of confidence. "Actually, we might participate after all. Elder Xuan told us that we're not just going to this tournament to be spectators. As long as the opponent isn't too strong, we'll all get to go up. That way, we can help cover for the main team and keep others from figuring out their full strength."
Her eyes lit up, and she said excitedly, "So there really is a chance we'll run into your Canaan Academy team. Just don't come crying when we beat you senseless."
Furina laughed. "I think you should watch out that they don't beat you senseless."
"Impossible!" Wang Dong waved her hand dismissively, her tone utterly certain. "Absolutely impossible! The strongest fighter on your side is Ye Guyi. She's a Soul King now, but her martial soul hasn't fully transformed into an ultimate attribute yet. In that situation, the martial soul fusion technique between me and Huo Yuhao should be able to control her. The others won't be much of a problem."
She thought for a moment, then added, "Maybe that Gu Qiuer, who looks so much like me, could be a bit more troublesome, since we don't really know what her strength is yet. The others are all at the three-ring level right now. We've got four four-ring fighters on our side, plus Yuhao's support and control. Victory will definitely be ours."
Furina nodded. "You do make a fair point."
Her tone then shifted, carrying a hint of something deeper. "But, that being said... if something were to happen to the main team, you guys might have to fully step in and fight all the remaining matches for them."
Xiao Xiao chimed in from the side, "How could something that easy go wrong?"
Furina smiled faintly, her gaze drifting into the distance. She said offhandedly, "Who knows?"
She knew in her heart that the current Shrek Seven Devils would run into trouble before long. Wounded and dead.
Elder Xuan would be leading the team then. He'd probably figure the opponent was just a Soul King evil soul master, and people like Ma Xiaotao were strong, Inner Court disciples who were used to hunting down evil soul masters as a routine matter. There was no need to worry too much.
So he completely dismissed the enemy, thinking that with his own speed and strength, even if something happened, he could step in in time. So he just sat off in the distance, munching on a chicken leg and sipping some wine, leisurely watching the show.
And in the end, he underestimated the opponent.
That Soul King evil soul master who called himself a Death God Envoy had a nasty trick like Corpse Explosion. Without any preparation or defense, taking a hit from that meant either death or crippling injury.
Elder Xuan, as their supervising teacher, bore the primary responsibility. A dignified Rank 98 Hyper Douluo—if he'd been paying close attention nearby, he definitely could have sensed something was off. Not to say he could've resolved it without a scratch, but he could have at least avoided such massive losses and directly killed that evil soul master.
Instead of what happened in the original story, where he let the enemy blast the current Shrek Seven Devils, wounding and crippling them, and even took a hostage, escaping right from under his nose.
What, did he suddenly forget how to use soul power suppression? His speed was no match for the other guy either?
Thinking about it later, it made sense. Elder Xuan's ability to break through to Limit Douluo was purely from taking the pills Huo Yuhao gave him—just forcibly piled on. When the Body Sect's Sovereign, Du Busi, had invaded Shrek, he didn't take Elder Xuan seriously at all.
Sigh.
Furina sighed inwardly. The title "Shame of Hyper Douluos" was one Elder Xuan truly deserved.
She shook her head and pulled her thoughts back to the present.
"Alright, since you've become the Shrek reserve team, we have to celebrate." She clapped her hands. "Come on, let's go out and have a good meal. My treat."
Wang Dong's eyes lit up. "It'd be even better if Yuhao cooked!"
Huo Yuhao immediately waved his hands, his face full of exasperation. "Give me a break, I still want to rest a while."
Everyone burst out laughing.
Xu Sanshi sidled up next to Bei Bei and lowered his voice to ask, "Hey... what did Furina mean by that just now? Something about the main team running into trouble?"
Bei Bei glanced at him and whispered back, "Don't overthink it. Furina just said that casually. Are you really taking it seriously? Are you stupid or what?!"
"I'm not stupid!" Xu Sanshi retorted, unwilling to back down.
Then he snuck another peek at Jiang Nannan.
Jiang Nannan was still as she was before, head lowered, but the corner of her mouth was ever so slightly upturned, as if she, too, had been infected by the laughter from just now.
Xu Sanshi's heart was soaring. Today... today was just an absolutely perfect day.