...
The juiciest gossip in the cafeteria spread like wildfire, reaching every corner of Blue Tyrant Academy within minutes.
Soon, the news reached Ning Rongrong and the others who had also been resting in the Blue Tyrant Academy guest rooms the previous night.
The girls were immediately displeased.
"That bastard!" Ning Rongrong slammed her hand on the table and stood up angrily.
"He clearly said he would come back to find us after finishing his business yesterday afternoon!
And what happened? He came back without even saying hello, and he even got together with Dean Erlong at Lanba Academy behind our backs?!"
Xiao Wu, hands on her hips, puffed out her cheeks and her rabbit ears standing up high, said angrily,
"That's right! We live right here at Blue Tyrant Academy!
Would it kill him to come over and say hello?!
We all thought he was still soaking in the spring water of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well!"
Dugu Yan sneered, cracking her knuckles as she cracked her knuckles:
"Looks like we've been too lenient lately, making this guy think he can get away with it. Let's go! Let's go check it out!"
Even Zhu Zhuqing, who is usually aloof and taciturn, was infected by this atmosphere of shared hatred and was forced to join the "condemnation army".
The group, filled with anger and murderous intent, headed towards the cafeteria.
However, when they stormed into the cafeteria, ready to catch them red-handed and unleash their fury, the scene before them stunned them.
The imagined scene of intimate intimacy and disheveled clothing simply doesn't exist.
Although the large cafeteria was empty, Xuan Hao and Liu Erlong sat facing each other at the table as if nothing had happened.
Xuan Hao maintained his usual unrestrained eating habits, stuffing himself with buns, fried dough sticks, and roast chicken like a starving ghost.
Sitting opposite him, Liu Erlong, dressed in a neat dean's uniform, was holding a bowl of porridge, staring at Xuan Hao's seemingly unfathomable appetite with a look of shock and speechlessness.
Seeing this perfectly normal, even somewhat comical scene, Ning Rongrong and the others' anger was instantly extinguished as if doused with a bucket of cold water, leaving them unable to vent their rage.
There's no reason for him to lose his temper.
Those rumors were so outrageous, but now it seems, what if Xuan Hao really did just rush back early this morning?
As for him appearing with Liu Erlong in his arms... this bastard is used to being lawless in the academy.
He's used to relying on his strength and has even fought with the hot-tempered Dean Erlong before, and even forcibly hugged her.
Besides, looking at how properly and conservatively dressed Liu Erlong is now, it doesn't seem like the kind of secret date that would make people have impure thoughts.
Noticing Ning Rongrong and the others standing menacingly at the door, Xuan Hao swallowed the half-eaten roast chicken in his mouth and waved his greasy hand at them:
"Oh, you're all up so early?
What are you doing standing at the door?
If you haven't had breakfast yet, come and have some with us?"
Ning Rongrong and the others exchanged glances.
Although they still felt something was off, they suppressed their suspicions and went over to sit down at the dining table.
There's no way around it; girls need a legitimate, plausible reason to get angry.
Otherwise, wouldn't that just be making a fuss over nothing?
They knew Xuanhao's temper very well: if he got angry with a valid reason, this bastard would definitely bow his head and admit his mistake, and even put in the effort to coax him; but if he couldn't produce any evidence and was just being unreasonable, he wouldn't pay any attention to him at all.
However, while they didn't get angry, Liu Erlong, sitting opposite them, felt extremely uncomfortable.
Already feeling guilty for doing something wrong, she was now surrounded by Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, and Dugu Yan, and felt a prickling sensation on her back.
Even the hand holding the spoon couldn't help but stiffen slightly.
Ning Rongrong was incredibly clever, and with the keen intuition of Dugu Yan and Xiao Wu, the girls only exchanged a glance before they could immediately sense Liu Erlong's unnatural and guilty state.
It seems there was definitely something fishy going on last night!
But the girls tacitly refrained from confronting him on the spot.
This kind of thing had to be settled privately with Xuan Hao.
They were giving him face in front of others now, so that they could rightfully extort a large sum from him once behind closed doors!
"When exactly did you get back?"
Ning Rongrong picked up a steamed bun and asked Xuan Hao, pretending to be casual.
"Yesterday afternoon," Xuan Hao replied while drinking his porridge.
"When I arrived, I saw you confronting Dai Mubai and his group by the edge of the woods.
However, I saw that Tang San didn't intervene in the end and even used a hidden weapon to subdue the crazed Dai Mubai. It seemed like there wasn't much trouble, so I didn't show myself."
Ning Rongrong looked bewildered: "You came all the way here? In that situation, why didn't you just show up and teach Dai Mubai a lesson?"
"The situation isn't out of control, what value would I have in showing up?
To steal your thunder?"
Xuan Hao rolled his eyes and retorted confidently, "Besides, I overheard you trying to get close to Tang San and discuss business.
That Tang San guy is inherently arrogant, and he has an instinctive psychological aversion to me.
If I suddenly appeared, he would be provoked, and your business would fall through on the spot, wouldn't he?"
"Don't even mention it," Ning Rongrong pouted and complained.
"Without you coming out, my business deal fell through.
He was too wary and wouldn't budge an inch."
"This is normal." Xuan Hao put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth with a tissue.
"For such a big deal that involves the future of the sect, it would be more appropriate for you to write a letter to your father and ask him to come and discuss it in person. In the eyes of a mature person like Tang San, you are still too young.
You are just an impulsive young girl, and your words lack sufficient credibility and the authority to make decisions."
Xuan Hao paused, his tone becoming serious:
"Furthermore, do you really think you can so easily make a judgment on behalf of the sect regarding such strategic-level business deals that involve millions or even tens of millions of gold soul coins?"
"Several million gold soul coins?!"
Liu Erlong, who had been listening quietly, was stunned.
Although she came from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, she was still astonished by this enormous number.
"What kind of business could be worth so much money?
Are you talking about those small hidden weapons that Tang San made?"
"Erlong, you must not underestimate those 'small hidden weapons'."
Xuan Hao shook his head. "If Tang San's mechanical hidden weapons could be mass-produced, their power would be enough to completely change the current war situation in the Douluo Continent.
It's no exaggeration to say that most traditional soul master legions would be no different from lambs to the slaughter when facing ordinary armies equipped with those heavy hidden weapons."
"How is this possible?!" Liu Erlong's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief.
"Nothing is impossible," Xuan Hao analyzed.
"Tang San's hidden weapons, while not much of a threat to high-level Soul Masters like us, especially those at the Soul Saint level or above, are extremely lethal to mid-to-low-level combatants below the Soul King level.
If you combine them with his deadly poison… the potential of his stuff on the battlefield becomes limitless."
Xuan Hao tapped his fingers lightly on the table:
"You should know that even the Spirit Hall's Spirit Master Legion, which has the deepest foundation, is mostly composed of Spirit Masters below the level of Spirit King. As for the regular armies of the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires, that's even more true.
Most of the so-called elite forces are just cobbled together from Spirit Masters, Great Spirit Masters, and Spirit Venerables."
"If Tang San really disregards everything and puts the highest-level blueprints in his possession into mass production... the current war logic between the countries of Douluo Continent based on the number of Soul Masters will collapse instantly."
"At that point, it will be impossible to fight.
It will be a one-sided massacre that relies purely on weapons and equipment."
"Therefore, from the perspective of maintaining the balance of power on the continent, it's best not to let those dangerous hidden weapons in his possession circulate freely."
Xuan Hao chuckled lightly: "Fortunately, apart from a few people, there aren't many in the world who truly know their stuff and have no idea how much strategic value is hidden behind his junk."
He glanced at Ning Rongrong and continued, "It's fortunate that Tang San had a falling out with Prince Xue Beng before, preventing him from successfully joining the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
Otherwise, if he had really used this opportunity to make connections with the Heaven Dou royal family, and if a knowledgeable military genius happened to appear within the royal family..."
Xuan Hao shook his head: "Now everyone is always talking behind our backs, saying that the Heaven Dou Empire's army is weak and that it would be no match for the Star Luo Empire in a real fight.
But if Tang San's hidden weapons were all deployed in the hands of the Heaven Dou army, the Star Luo's proud iron cavalry would be powerless against the overwhelming Zhuge crossbows and heavy mechanisms!"
"If Emperor Xue Ye of the Heavenly Dou Dynasty truly harbors ambitions to conquer the world and desires war... once equipped with those hidden weapons, within three years, the Heavenly Dou army will be able to directly reach the walls of the Star Luo Imperial City!"
Upon hearing Xuan Hao's war simulation, everyone present was completely stunned.
Liu Erlong, Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, Dugu Yan, and Zhu Zhuqing... all the girls sat there dumbfounded.
They usually only thought Tang San's hidden weapons were a bit troublesome in one-on-one combat, but who would have thought that when it came to the level of national warfare, they would be so... powerful?!
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