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Yu Xiaogang slowly raised his eyes and said, "We were all harmed by Shi Quan."
"Xiaogang, what exactly do you mean by that? Can you explain it clearly?" Flender said helplessly. If he continued to be so slow, he wouldn't be able to stop Dai Mubai and the others. After all, his spirit power was currently Sealed, making him at most a normal person with a relatively good physique.
Naturally, he was no match for Dai Mubai and the others who possessed spirit power.
Yu Xiaogang let out a long breath and said, "I originally thought it was just because the Immortal Herb types were different, so the medicinal effects varied, and your lack of significant improvement was simply because the medicinal effects were hidden within your bodies."
"Now it seems that the Immortal Herbs you consumed definitely had problems. Think carefully about the changes in Zhuqing and Shi Quan after they consumed the Immortal Herbs. Either their strength Advanced by leaps and bounds, or their Martial Spirits evolved. In contrast, for the Immortal Herbs we consumed, everyone's average improvement was only one level."
"Xiaogang, do you mean that Shi Quan secretly tampered with those Immortal Herbs?" Flender immediately grasped the key point.
"That's right. Although I'm not familiar with Immortal Herbs, before you consumed them, I carefully asked Xiao San. The Immortal Herbs you consumed all had the most basic effects of strengthening the foundation and cultivating the origin. According to Xiao San's estimation, they should have helped you increase your spirit power by at least three levels."
"Xiao San and I discussed this issue and believed that the medicinal power of the Immortal Herbs should be within your bodies, which is why I arranged such high-intensity training, hoping to unleash the medicinal power within you."
"But what if there was no medicinal power in your bodies at all…?"
Yu Xiaogang clenched his fists, his voice filled with grief and indignation, "If Shi Quan and the others hadn't secretly tampered with the Immortal Herbs, with the power of the Immortal Herbs, your bodies would definitely not have problems now, and your strength would be even higher!"
"This isn't my fault, but Shi Quan and the others deliberately harmed you!"
Yu Xiaogang became more and more agitated as he spoke, his voice growing louder.
Oscar paused and said nothing, but the problem was, "The Immortal Herbs were stolen by Tang San himself, and distributed by Tang San. You yourselves didn't discover that the Immortal Herbs had problems. You stole someone else's things to use, and when problems arose, you blame others?"
However, the people present were clearly misled by Yu Xiaogang, because their suppressed emotions needed an outlet. Due to Flender and Tang San, they couldn't make things difficult for Yu Xiaogang. Now that Yu Xiaogang had found a new outlet for them, he immediately diverted their attention.
"No wonder he discovered the Immortal Herb aura on Xiao San. Perhaps he deliberately lured Xiao San to steal the Immortal Herbs to harm us! That's right, he did it on purpose!" Dai Mubai growled viciously, venting his unwillingness and anger.
"If he hadn't pulled Zhuqing into the Heaven Dou Battle Team, then Zhuqing and I would still have our Spirit Fusion Skill. We might not have lost the Tournament, and I wouldn't have ended up in such a predicament!"
For a time, Dai Mubai blamed all his failures on Shi Quan, his evil eyes filled with unconcealed resentment and brutality.
Three days later.
Shi Quan, who had been resting with his eyes closed in the carriage, suddenly opened them.
"What's wrong, Shi Quan?" Ye Lingling beside him asked, looking at Shi Quan with confusion.
"It's nothing." Shi Quan patted Ye Lingling's hand.
A faint smile, however, appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Because just now, the familiar voice of the System echoed in Shi Quan's mind.
"Ding, congratulations to the Host for achieving Renowned Fame, triggering a Reputation Treasure Chest. It has been opened for the Host. Congratulations to the Host for obtaining One-Tail Shukaku!"
That bullet from the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament championship had finally hit its target and yielded results!
"One-Tail Shukaku? The Tailed Beast from Naruto?"
Shi Quan raised an eyebrow. If he remembered correctly, he had watched some Naruto. If he wasn't mistaken, One-Tail Shukaku was the Tailed Beast Sealed within Gaara's body. Based on Naruto's power levels, this One-Tail, no matter how weak, could not be weaker than a 100,000-year Spirit Beast.
"It's also a decent combat force."
Thinking this, Shi Quan summoned the System space. His gaze fell on the Q-version raccoon dog with spell-like patterns all over its body. While thinking that this was Shukaku, his expression froze when he saw Shukaku's note.
One-Tail Shukaku: Originating from a certain Naruto World, a Tailed Beast formed from one of the nine portions of chakra separated from the Ten-Tails.
Note: Transformed to be more compatible with the Host's Natal soul spirit, possessing partial Tailed Beast memories.
He had thought he had gotten a powerful fighter, but after all that, it turned out to be a soul spirit, just like Xiao Meng!
If he remembered correctly, Shukaku's power was more about Wind Release and Magnet Release. These two powers didn't seem very compatible with Shi Quan's Martial Spirit. If there was any connection, it seemed Shukaku also used Sand Release, which was a ninjutsu generated by simultaneously mixing wind-natured chakra and earth-natured chakra.
This was the only thing that could be slightly related to Shi Quan's Martial Spirit.
However, the note mentioned that it had been transformed to be more suitable for his Natal soul spirit, so its power might have changed.
"It seems it should be suitable for the Earth Martial Soul." Shi Quan thought to himself, looking at the rewards in the System, his gaze falling on the three golden streams of light.
He had previously complained that the rewards from this Plunder Treasure Chest were a bit weak, but after checking, he realized that the three 10,000-year spirit ring lifespan increases obtained from the Tournament championship treasure chest were not all 10,000 years.
To be precise, two of them increased spirit ring lifespan by 30,000 years, and one increased it by 50,000 years.
This perfectly corresponded to the lifespans of the three Spirit Bones: the Rapid Advance Wind Chasing Left Leg Bone and the Burst Incineration Flame Right Arm Bone Spirit Bones were 30,000 years, while the Mind Condensing Wisdom Skull was 50,000 years.
The 10,000-year spirit ring lifespan awarded by the System could not help a spirit ring Breakthrough 100,000 years. This meant that if Shi Quan absorbed a 90,000-year spirit ring and then added 50,000 years of spirit ring lifespan to it, the spirit ring lifespan could only reach 99,999 years.
Therefore, Shi Quan planned to directly add these three 10,000-year spirit ring lifespans to the Blue Silver Emperor's first three spirit rings, which would be just right.
With many eyes around, Shi Quan was not in a hurry to add them, and the same went for Shukaku. He planned to extract and absorb them after returning to the Heaven Dou Empire.
The return journey was noticeably faster than the outbound one.
A few days later.
Outside Heaven Dou City, the convoy slowly stopped.
Shi Quan and the others stepped out of the carriage. Looking around, Emperor Xue Ye was standing at the city gate with three Education Committee members and all the officials.
The news of the Heaven Dou Battle Team winning the Spirit Master Tournament had been sent to Emperor Xue Ye early by Qian Renxue, who had dispatched royal knights ahead of time. It was precisely because they had won the championship that Emperor Xue Ye personally came to greet them and celebrate their success. Afterwards, rewards would be distributed as previously promised.
Everyone's faces were beaming with joy, except for the members of the Heaven Dou Battle Team. Flender and the others were silent, and the other team members also remained quiet.
"Hahaha, the Empire's Prodigies have finally returned."
Looking at Shi Quan and the others being led by Xue Qinghe, Emperor Xue Ye happily stepped forward to greet them.
The All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament was held every four years. In the past five tournaments, the Heaven Dou Empire had not won a championship. Finally, in this session, the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, representing the Heaven Dou Empire, helped the Heaven Dou Empire win the championship.
This was the first championship in twenty-four years, and it was the glory of the entire Empire. As the emperor, Xue Ye was naturally overjoyed.
At such a time, an inspiring speech was inevitable. Afterwards, Emperor Xue Ye led Shi Quan and the others to stand on a specially made open-top carriage, and they grandly proceeded towards the Imperial City.
"Long live the Heaven Dou Empire! Long live the Heaven Dou Royal Academy!" Along the way, cheerful and fervent cheers continuously came from both sides of the street. Everyone in the Heaven Dou Empire was cheering for Shi Quan and his team.
Emperor Xue Ye was in the central high position. Below them, on the left, was Xue Qinghe, and on the right were Shi Quan and the seven others. Facing so many fervent gazes, Shi Quan could still barely maintain a smile, unmoved, but Yu Feng and the others couldn't help but feel excited, their faces flushed.
Such a lively scene naturally included Emperor Xue Ye's special publicity. It was not easy to win a championship once, so shouldn't the entire Empire celebrate together?
Of course, as for the Shrek Team's matter, through Xue Qinghe's clever handling, Tang San and the others were portrayed as villains who deliberately sabotaged the Tournament and harmed their colleagues. Furthermore, Tang San and the others were disassociated from the Upper Three Sects, because Tang Hao had already been expelled from the Clear Sky Sect back then.
As Tang San's descendant, although Tang Hao possessed the Clear Sky Hammer Martial Spirit, he did not belong to the Clear Sky Sect. Coupled with the cooperation between Xue Qinghe and the Spirit Hall, Tang San's conviction further showcased the royal family's authority.
Through this series of operations, not only was Qian Renxue's reputation not affected, but she also gained a reputation for righteousness, treating and handling even her own people fairly and justly.
Emperor Xue Ye was satisfied with such a perfect handling method. Moreover, Shi Quan was a talent brought in by Xue Qinghe. Shi Quan leading the Heaven Dou Empire to victory also added a lot of prestige to Xue Qinghe.
The speed along the way was not fast. After about half an hour, the convoy finally stopped in front of the Imperial Palace.
A speech was naturally indispensable, followed by the distribution of rewards: noble titles and gold coins. Since he had already said he would support Qian Renxue, Shi Quan naturally agreed.
As for fiefdoms, Shi Quan thought about it and inquired about Nuoding City. However, because Nuoding City belonged to Fasinuo Province and was part of another duke's territory, it could not be directly granted as a fief. Shi Quan then abandoned this idea and casually allowed Emperor Xue Ye to grant him a fiefdom with abundant vegetation.
Soon, all of Shi Quan and the others' rewards were distributed, and the banquet began.
The banquet mostly consisted of exchanging toasts and enjoying song and dance.
After eating and drinking their fill, as the crowd dispersed, Shi Quan actively sought out Xue Qinghe to show closeness to Emperor Xue Ye. The two chatted as they walked towards a secluded area.
Emperor Xue Ye smiled as he watched this scene. This was a Prodigy who had defeated the Spirit Hall's Golden Generation in a one-versus-three battle. If he grew up, he would surely become a Peak in the Spirit Master's World. If Xue Qinghe could win him over, it would naturally be a great help to the Empire.