Qin Ming joined the Royal Knights and smashed all the boulders, allowing the academies to continue their journey.
Although the enemies had retreated, they were not unscathed. Some, like Qin Ming and Flender, needed to recover from their injuries. Others, like Jun Tianlin and Huang Dou, were replenishing their soul power. Meanwhile, Ning Rongrong was sulking.
On the other hand, Tang San, the target of this incident, was completely fine. He now sat in Ning Fengzhi and Yu Yuanzhen's carriage, inquiring about the cause and effect of the attack.
Of course, Ning Fengzhi couldn't reveal everything. He only mentioned that the matter was related to Tang San's father and the Haotian Sect. His true intent was to use this father and son to lure out the Haotian Sect, which had been in hiding for over a decade.
With Ning Fengzhi's intelligence, how could he not perceive the ambitions of Spirit Hall and Bibi Dong? Spirit Hall was already stronger than the three upper clans combined, and the four lower clans were now dependent on them. If this continued, they would be picked off one by one.
If Jun Tianlin knew what Ning Fengzhi was thinking at this moment, he would surely give him a thumbs-up. In the original novel, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan were annihilated in exactly this manner. However, Jun Tianlin had the foresight to strengthen his clan and prepare for the impending crisis, while Ning Fengzhi was relying purely on speculation.
The unfortunate truth was that Ning Fengzhi could never pinpoint the exact timing of Bibi Dong's actions. Even Jun Tianlin was uncertain. His presence had significantly altered the balance of power, and Spirit Hall might act sooner to eliminate unexpected variables.
It seemed that once the cooldown for his Future Cognition skill ended, he would need to use it again to determine the precise time of their opponent's attack.
That night, the contingent finally arrived at Wuhun City. As Jun Tianlin stepped out of the carriage, he immediately noticed that Tang San had become much more polite—likely because he still held a favorable impression of Ning Fengzhi.
However, Tang San's thoughts had not changed. He still planned to take over the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan in the future. At worst, he would allow Ning Fengzhi to continue leading it as an affiliate of the Tang Sect—a so-called repayment for today's life-saving grace.
It was a pity that Jun Tianlin had not used soul reading on him at that moment. Otherwise, if he had known Tang San's thoughts, he would have slain him with the Demon Sword without hesitation. Only Tang San could repay kindness with enmity in such an utterly unrepentant way.
As the Crown Prince of Heaven Dou, Xue Qinghe was assigned separate lodgings from the other contestants. Since Jun Tianlin's soul power had nearly recovered, she did not insist on keeping him by her side any longer.
Jun Tianlin had no intention of staying with Xue Qinghe either. This was, after all, her home. It was rare for her to return, and she would likely take the opportunity to visit her grandfather.
Back at the Emperor Team's quarters, Jun Tianlin helped Qin Ming settle in. Having taken a direct hit from Ju Douluo's soul skill, Qin Ming was seriously injured.
"Xiaotian, thank you for today. If you hadn't arrived in time, Dean Flender and I would have died in that battle" Qin Ming said gratefully
"It's nothing, Teacher Qin. You were willing to risk your life for your teacher—why wouldn't I do the same?" Jun Tianlin replied with a smile.
Looking at Jun Tianlin's still-youthful face, Qin Ming felt deeply moved. This child had stood in front of a Titled Douluo despite being injured and had declared that he would kill the enemy if he dared attack again. What incredible courage.
As he pondered this, Qin Ming suddenly blurted out,"Xiaotian, do you still remember when you invited me to join your clan during the title ceremony? Does that offer still stand?"
If the Purple Gold Pill that Jun Tianlin had given him had already filled him with gratitude, then today's life-saving act had completely shaken his once-firm resolve to remain a free spirit master.
"Of course! If Teacher Qin is willing to join, I would be honored to welcome you at any time" Jun Tianlin replied enthusiastically
Like the peerless Dragon and Snake couple, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, and others before, Jun Tianlin had been guiding them step by step toward joining the clan. Yet today, he had no such intention—he had acted purely to protect his friends and teacher. And by doing so, he had won another valuable ally without even trying.
This was the essence of sincerity—treat others with honesty, and they will reciprocate in kind.
After ensuring that Qin Ming was comfortable, Jun Tianlin stepped outside, where the rest of the Emperor Team stood, concern evident on their faces.
He smiled reassuringly "Don't worry. Teacher Qin is fine. Though he's injured, he'll recover with my medicine in due time. However, he may not be able to guide our tactics in the first few matches of the finals. We'll have to rely on ourselves."
Hearing this, everyone sighed in relief. Osler said nonchalantly "That's nothing. With our strength, we can crush the other academies even without a strategy."
"You're right. With Xiaotian here, even Spirit Hall Academy won't be able to defeat us," Dugu Yan said, patting Jun Tianlin's shoulder. Although she often claimed she would protect him, she knew that Jun Tianlin's true strength far exceeded that of their entire team combined.
"Yan Zi, it's not just Xiaotian—I'm here too. I'm the captain of the Emperor Team and also your fiancé. Can you have a little more confidence in me?" Yu Tianheng said, clearly jealous.
Dugu Yan gave him a sidelong glance. "Talk to me when you become a Spirit King. Xiaotian and Gu Ran have already surpassed you."
"Don't worry, Yan Zi. It won't take long before I surpass Gu Ran," Yu Tianheng said confidently. Though Gu Ran had overtaken him unexpectedly, Yu Tianheng had experienced a life-and-death battle against a Spirit Saint, which had loosened his bottleneck. He was sure he would break through to level 50 soon.
Unfortunately, since they were in Wuhun City and the finals were approaching, even if he managed to break through, he wouldn't be able to hunt a spirit beast to advance to Spirit King.
But what he didn't know was that Jun Tianlin had a powerful spirit beast stored in his belt—a gift originally prepared for either Yu Tianheng or Dugu Yan.
Now, it seemed likely that this gift would belong to Yu Tianheng.
Three days later, the grand opening ceremony of the finals took place before the Pope's Palace.
Fifteen teams from Heaven Dou and Star Luo had qualified, along with teams recommended by the two empires and Spirit Hall, making for a total of thirty-three teams. These were the elites of the younger generation, the future of the continent.
From this point on, Senior Sister Huanyin would no longer participate. Dugu Yan would take over as the control-type spirit master for Emperor Team, and they would face the competition with their full main lineup.
Bibi Dong did not attend the opening ceremony. She usually only appeared when the top three academies emerged. This left Jun Tianlin somewhat disappointed—he had hoped to catch a glimpse of the legendary female pope from the original novel.
After all, just how beautiful must she be to turn an Angel Douluo into a Secret Chamber Douluo?