"Will you return to Star Luo with your team, or…"
Xu Jiujiu sighed, "We lost, but it's not like we have to run away."
"The top 8 is about to start, and the tournament will be over in a few days."
"Might as well stay a little longer and watch the rest."
"I have to see the Sun Moon Empire lose with my own eyes, those bastards."
Xu Jiujiu gritted her teeth.
Pulling these dirty tricks, truly shameless.
How could all strong teams end up in one group? Their ambition was obvious.
When Star Luo held tournaments, they never played so dirty.
Sun Moon Empire lacked integrity.
She just wanted to see their team lose.
With Su Yu's overpowered team, she was sure the Sun Moon Empire would lose terribly.
Suddenly worried, Xu Jiujiu said, "Su Yu, I remember you're a student at Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy."
"If you face them, you won't go easy on them, right?"
Su Yu took another sip, unconcerned, "Does it matter?"
Xu Jiujing nodded seriously, "It matters, a lot."
"You should go all out in a match, shouldn't you?"
Su Yu exposed her, "You just want to see them lose badly, don't you?"
"Woman, your thoughts are written all over your face."
Caught, Xu Jiujiu didn't panic, "I'm just upset. Besides, they set you up—aren't you angry?"
"I'm not trying to stir things up, but the Sun Moon Empire doesn't value you. If I were you, I'd never stand for it."
Seeing Xu Jiujiu fanning the flames, Su Yu rolled his eyes.
This woman had a strong sense of vengeance.
Setting his cup down, Su Yu said, "Enough, I have my plans."
"No matter which team, I won't go easy. A match should be played seriously."
Xu Jiujiu smiled—this was the right attitude.
Yes, treat everyone the same.
As long as Su Yu didn't go easy, the Sun Moon teams wouldn't stand a chance.
She was even less willing to leave now; the upcoming matches would be wonderful.
After another exchange, Xu Jiujiu got down to business, "Su Yu, I want to discuss something with you."
"About those rocket launchers your Holy Slayer Palace produces—how can we work together?"
Su Yu glanced at her, "What's your idea?"
Xu Jiujiu quickly said, "Star Luo Empire is willing to establish a long-term cooperation agreement with Holy Slayer Palace."
"In terms of price, we can pay 10% above market price."
"We want priority supply, and at least 50 launchers per month."
Su Yu shook his head, "That's too many—50 per month?"
"Even if we could produce that many, what would Star Luo do with so many launchers?"
Xu Jiujiu replied, "Of course, to arm the army."
"The Sun Moon Empire is always eyeing us. We Star Luo have it tough."
She complained at length about Star Luo's struggles and Sun Moon's ambitions.
Su Yu laughed, "That's enough, stop playing the victim."
"Even in a Sun Moon division, there aren't more than 100 fixed soul cannons."
"Of those, less than 10 have the range and power of a level six soul cannon."
"And there are only about ten divisions in the Sun Moon Empire."
"You've seen our launchers—one can match a small artillery battalion in a short time."
"Fifty a month is 600 a year. What, is Star Luo planning to unite the continent?"
Xu Jiujiu quickly denied, "You wrong us, Su Yu. We're not so ambitious."
"We just want to defend our land."
Su Yu snorted, "Do you think I believe that?"
"If Sun Moon weren't a threat, and Shrek wasn't meddling, you'd have gone after the other empires already."
"Slander, that's all slander. Please don't believe those lies, Su Yu."
Xu Jiujiu swore.
Su Yu waved, "Enough, don't play dumb with me. Any strong country wants to unite the continent."
"You can fool others, not me."
"Fifty launchers a month is impossible."
"We only have about 100 people, all working flat out, we could make 30 at most."
"And this isn't our only business. At most, I can give you fifteen a month—that's the limit."
Su Yu half-joked.
Xu Jiujiu pleaded, "A bit more, please. Fifteen is too few. The Sun Moon's true strength is much more than ten divisions."
Su Yu shook his head, "No room for negotiation. Fifteen at most. My team has other things to do."
Xu Jiujiu sighed deeply, looking very aggrieved.
Su Yu ignored her, "These launchers are traded for rare metals first. If you pay in gold soul coins, you'll pay 10% more."
Xu Jiujiu: ?????
She stared wide-eyed, no longer caring about Su Yu's status, "Are you robbing me?!"
Su Yu grinned, "Robbery isn't as fast as this. If it's too expensive, you don't have to buy it."
"I'm sure Heavenly Soul and Dou Ling empires would love to do business with me."
Xu Jiujiu: "..."
She stared at Su Yu, her eyes full of resentment.
Logically, she and Su Yu were familiar, she even liked him.
But when it came to business, this man was ruthless.
Who does business like this?
Damn.
She was angry, but had no choice—the launchers were too good.
Even non-soul masters could use them, thanks to the bottle trigger technology—too tempting to refuse.
Xu Jiujiu gritted her teeth, "You are a businessman, Su Yu."
Su Yu shrugged, neither confirming nor denying.
"Always bullying me." Xu Jiujiu muttered, "Why do you need so many rare metals anyway?"
"Holy Slayer Palace is based in the Sun Moon Empire, there's no shortage of rare metals there."
Su Yu glanced at her, "Some people in Sun Moon have started targeting me."
"Do you think I can still get large amounts of rare metals easily?"
"For now, we can still buy enough, but once things go bad, Sun Moon will cut off our supply."
"Then, even Jing Hongchen wouldn't dare help me openly. If that happens, Holy Slayer Palace would be in real trouble."
Xu Jiujiu thought deeply—Su Yu's worry made sense.
He was in the arms business—if someone in Star Luo sold arms to their enemies, could Xu Jiujiu tolerate it?
No.
Sun Moon would also lose patience one day.
Maybe they wouldn't act openly, fearing the Ice God Palace, but they'd surely cut off rare metals.
Then, not even Jing Hongchen could help openly. At that point, Holy Slayer Palace would be in a tough spot.
Xu Jiujiu admired Su Yu—she liked how, despite his talent, he was never arrogant, always clear-eyed about the future.
Her eyes sparkled, "Since you're worried, do you have a plan?"
Su Yu replied, "It's simple—if we can't stay in Sun Moon, we move."
"It's just easier to start here because of the resources."
"Now that we're established, I do plan to set up a branch in one of the three other empires."
Xu Jiujiu's eyes lit up, "Please choose Star Luo Empire!"
"You can rest assured, we'll relax all conditions and meet any needs."
"Please trust me, I would never deceive you."
She had her agenda—if Holy Slayer Palace was set up in Star Luo, they'd always get first dibs on new weapons.
It would also be easier for her to visit Su Yu.
Though he rejected her repeatedly, she never gave up.
After seeing Su Yu's brilliance, all other so-called geniuses seemed dull.
And she was proud—she refused to believe she couldn't win him over.
If not once, then twice, or thrice—he had to give in eventually.
She cheered herself up inwardly.
Su Yu simply replied, "We'll see."
"Hey, don't be like that…"
Seeing Su Yu's vague answer, Xu Jiujiu got anxious but shrank under his gaze.
Strange, why was she so scared? His eyes weren't fierce at all.
Taking a sip of tea, Su Yu looked outside, "It's getting late. That's all for today. Princess Jiujiu, would you like to stay for dinner?"
Xu Jiujiu perked up, "Can I?"
Su Yu said nothing, just looked at her. Are you staying?
Seeing his expression, Xu Jiujiu understood, her eyes showing a hint of grievance. "Better not, we just lost, everyone's in a bad mood. I still have to go back and comfort them, so I won't stay."
Su Yu nodded, "Alright, next time."
Xu Jiujiu rolled her eyes, leaving full of disappointment.
Xue Di came out of the lounge, teasing, "Such a delicate, pretty princess—you are heartless."
Su Yu grinned, "So you'd better behave, or I'll even scare myself when I get ruthless."
Xue Di giggled, giving him a beautiful sidelong glance.
...
...
Two days passed, and the round robin finally ended.
With the round robin over, the top 8 were decided.
The group winners: Holy Slayer Palace, Snow Demon Sect, Holy Spirit Sect, and Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy.
The group runners-up: Shrek Academy, Heavenly Dragon Sect, Proud Sword Sect, and Radiant Soul Engineering Academy.
Snow Demon Sect, from Heaven Soul Empire, was in Group 2.
With them was Heavenly Dragon Sect.
Heavenly Dragon Sect was strong but held back in their match with Snow Demon Sect.
Proud Sword Sect, a group Su Yu hadn't heard of, was also very strong.
Radiant Soul Engineering Academy, a long-standing Sun Moon institution, was always overshadowed by Sun Moon Royal Academy.
But this year, Radiant Academy had a genius unseen in a thousand years and squeezed into the top 8.
With the top 8 set, there would be a two-day rest.
Then, the quarterfinals would be held in a single day, deciding the top 4.
After another two-day break, the semifinals—again, all in one day.
Two more days' rest, then the final.
At this stage, every team was far stronger than before.
The matches would be even more intense, which is why there was a two-day rest between rounds—to let the contestants recover and put on the best show.
At the Bright Moon Hotel lobby—
Now, only eight teams remained.
Any eliminated teams had to move out the same day—no exceptions.
Tomorrow was the quarterfinals, and tonight was the pre-match draw.
In the hall, the eight teams lined up in eight rows.
Su Yu stood at the front of Holy Slayer Palace, with Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy to his left, and the gloomy Holy Spirit Sect to his right.
The Holy Spirit Sect members all wore bamboo hats, their auras dark, and their eyes full of malice.
Su Yu's gaze didn't change, but he sneered inwardly.
Sooner or later, these beasts would get what they deserved.
When the time came, if they dared show up, he'd make sure they were carried off the stage horizontally.