...
Seeing Qian Renxue's exasperated yet helpless expression, Na'er, standing to the side, enthusiastically clapped her hands, her purple eyes filled with starry admiration.
"Brother's acting is as perfect as ever! During that scene just now, I almost thought he had really turned into a saint with the world in his heart!"
Listening to Na'er's shameless, blindfolded boasting, Ning Rongrong and the others beside her all helplessly rubbed their foreheads.
Ning Rongrong stepped forward, looking at Xuan Hao with a strange expression, and couldn't help but voice her concerns:
"But seriously, that scare you just gave us... didn't it terrify everyone?"
"Look at the way those participating teams are looking at you, like you're the King of Hell. You've created such a terrifying atmosphere.
What if when we get to the preliminary round arena, everyone sees our Royal Fighting Team 2 and is so scared that they don't even dare to activate their Martial Souls and just surrender?
How are we supposed to gain experience and practice our teamwork on the arena then?"
"They ran away? Isn't that even better?"
Xuan Hao chuckled.
"The reason I spoke so forcefully on stage just now was to give them a heads-up!"
"I've already intimidated them so blatantly. If any fool dares to laugh and joke in front of me again..."
"Then I can throw a punch without feeling guilty!"
"After all, they knowingly committed this crime."
Hearing Xuan Hao's self-righteous "entrapment" theory, Qian Renxue, disguised as Xue Qinghe, turned pale with anger and interrupted him with a dark expression:
"No! We absolutely cannot do that!"
Qian Renxue took a deep breath and patiently advised:
"You can't just use excessive force to injure people in the competition.
This is a rare opportunity to improve your bullying image in Heaven Dou City.
If you make a rash move on the stage and seriously injure or even cripple the geniuses from various factions, then your reputation will be truly beyond saving!"
"My reputation?"
Xuan Hao retorted mercilessly, as if he had heard a joke: "It's like I can still clean up my reputation after I threatened them on stage today."
"Besides, isn't reputation just something that people can say whatever they want about with their mouths?"
"I have no interest in such vague and ethereal things. If someone really gets in my way or makes me unhappy, I'll just punch them and send them flying."
"I've worked tirelessly day and night for so many years to reach this point, not so that I could sit down and reason with people or preach about benevolence and morality."
"They have no right to listen to my reasoning."
Qian Renxue looked at the stubborn and unyielding bastard in front of her and felt a splitting headache.
Don't try that on me!
Xuan Hao looked at her and said, "Which Soul Master isn't competitive at heart?
In my eyes, as long as you hunt a Soul Beast, obtain a Soul Ring, and enter the Soul Master circle... then whether you're male or female, support or offensive, there's no such thing as being innocent!"
"The nature of a Soul Master is to constantly plunder the energy of other lives to strengthen themselves!
In the end, we are all beasts in human skin! There are never any rules among beasts!"
"Whoever has the harder fist, whoever is stronger, is the ultimate rule!
The same applies to you, so stop trying to fool me with those high-sounding political rhetoric!"
"I am not you. I don't need to pretend to be compassionate, nor do I need to wear any mask of hypocrisy.
Because those things are worthless to me! I don't need the praise of others, much less any so-called worship! On the contrary…"
"I'd much rather see them genuinely fear me like they do today!"
After hearing these words, Qian Renxue fell into a brief silence.
She took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing her anger, and changed her strategy, softening her tone:
"Fine, I'm begging you, please give me, the Crown Prince of Tiandou, some face, okay?"
"oh?"
Xuan Hao raised an eyebrow, seemingly somewhat surprised by her submissive attitude.
"Then tell me first, how do you want me to give you this face?
Don't expect me to go and kindly guide those newbies. I have no interest in playing any friendly competitive childish games with them."
Xue Qinghe rubbed his temples helplessly and proposed a compromise:
"You can play, but you can't voluntarily go on the field to play."
"I will communicate with the team leaders of the other participating teams.
If they still have the fearless desire to challenge you after seeing your spirit rings, you can go on stage and grant their request."
"However, if they don't have that idea, and they take the initiative to admit defeat or dare not provoke you when they see you, then you should sit quietly in the audience and not go up on stage to bully them!"
Xue Qinghe glanced at the group of beautiful girls behind Xuan Hao and sighed, "Anyway, with Na'er and the others' current setup, even if you don't make a move, winning the preliminaries and the qualifying rounds is more than enough."
In this competition where even Soul Masters can be ace players, the group of girls surrounding Xuan Hao is so luxurious it's almost abnormal!
After being baptized by the Xuanhao Immortal Herb and undergoing more than a year of arduous training, Dugu Yan has now reached the level 58 Soul King!
Na'er is a level 52 Soul King, and Ning Rongrong has also broken through to a level 51 Soul King.
Ye Lingling has just obtained her fifth spirit ring, which is also level 51.
Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing, who were slightly lower in level, also reached level 42 and 47 Soul Master respectively!
This team, with almost all members being Soul Kings and even top-tier support players, could rival the Spirit Hall's Golden Generation, let alone the preliminaries!
In fact, with Dugu Yan's terrifying poison skills or Na'er's bizarre elemental control, either one of them could easily take on seven opponents in this region!
The fact that these six women were competing in this kind of match was, frankly speaking, just Xuan Hao indirectly showing off his powerful "harem" to the entire continent.
"You are now a level 79 expert, with strength comparable to a titled Douluo.
You are already among the top experts on the continent."
Xue Qinghe continued to persuade him patiently, "With your status, it would be beneath you to participate in this game played by a bunch of Soul Masters and Soul Venerables.
Consider it an opportunity for me, the Crown Prince, to curry favor and win over various forces.
Just consider it a small favor you're doing me, okay?"
Hearing Xue Qinghe's gentle, even pleading words, the fierceness in Xuan Hao's eyes gradually dissipated.
He stroked his chin, looking at her thoughtfully: "If you had spoken to me in this tone from the beginning, I could have agreed to your request."
"but..."
Why didn't you talk to me like this when we were in the waiting area?
Xue Qinghe's face darkened, and he felt as if a million alpacas were stampeding through his mind.
She gritted her teeth and forced out a few words: "I...was...wrong. Is that okay?"
Damn it! Today she finally understood everything Na'er had told her last night!
This guy really only listens if you coax him like a donkey!
Just now in the garden, Na'er had privately reminded her:
"Your Highness, if you really need my brother's help with something, don't talk to him about long-term plans or the greater good."
"He's not interested in those things at all.
In fact, the more you try to pressure him with those grand principles, the more annoyed he gets, and the more he'll deliberately go against you and not want to talk to you at all."
"On the contrary, even if it's just a very troublesome and absurd little thing, as long as you're willing to humble yourself, flatter him, and beg him... he can handle things perfectly for you in no time."
At the time, Qian Renxue was somewhat unconvinced, but now it seems like a lesson learned the hard way!
She could have easily gotten him to do things by simply softening her tone and coaxing him a bit.
Why did she have to be so stubborn and try to lecture him about the "future of the empire"?
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