"Now then, please welcome our two competitors. The representative for our Star Luo Empire today will be..."

The announcer intentionally paused here to build suspense.

"The supervisor of the Star Luo Empire's Spirit Pagoda branches, and Spirit Pagoda branch chairman, Zhang Geyang!" Zhang Geyang's Douluo Title was Infernal Flame, and he was the most powerful being in the Spirit Pagoda in the Star Luo Empire. The announcement that he was going to represent the empire in this soul spirit battle immediately sent a massive stir running through the spectator stands.

Infernal Flame Douluo Zhang Geyang was a vastly renowned figure in the Star Luo Empire, and as a Spirit Pagoda branch chairman, his soul spirits were naturally extremely powerful. Just like the Smiling Douluo, he was also a rank 98 Hyper Douluo, but Hu Jie was slightly superior to him in terms of overall combat prowess. In a sense, the two of them had been long-standing rivals.

Hu Jie's expression clearly changed slightly upon hearing this name, and he turned to En Ci with a hint of rage in his eyes. "This is the man you chose? He can represent the empire?"

En Ci replied in a calm manner, "Why not? Regardless of whether it's the Tang Sect or the Spirit Pagoda, both are organizations in our empire, so they're part of our empire; even you're eligible to participate in this trial as long as your participation is approved by the empire. Do you think there's anyone else more suitable than Zhang Geyang to participate in this soul spirit battle? I had to do a lot of convincing before he agreed to compete on behalf of our empire. Only by defeating him can your sect master prove that he's number one in soul spirits in our Star Luo Empire."

Hu Jie's breathing became noticeably heavier upon hearing this. Only an idiot would believe what En Ci had just said! Tang Wulin had just destroyed the Spirit Pagoda headquarters in the Dou Spirit Empire and declared war on the Spirit Pagoda; the Spirit Pagoda was definitely more than eager to strike back at Tang Wulin.

If anything, Zhang Geyang was most likely the one who had to convince En Ci to let him participate in this trial!

This was undoubtedly the person that the Smiling Douluo least wanted to see. Infernal Flame Douluo Zhang Geyang was a truly powerful being, and certainly not someone the likes of the deceased Air Douluo Hua Tao could compare with. Furthermore, Zhang Geyang was also a vice-chairman of the entire Spirit Pagoda, which ranked him alongside someone like Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu.

Hu Jie had always held a slight edge over Zhang Geyang with his twin body martial souls, but Zhang Geyang's soul spirits were extremely powerful, so Hu Jie wasn't able to do anything to him. Just that fact alone was a clear indication of just how powerful Tang Wulin's opponent for today was.

Zhang Geyang's soul spirits had left Hu Jie with a very strong impression, and in contrast, Tang Wulin had only just progressed to the Soul Douluo level, so he would only have three soul spirits at most, which placed him at an absolute disadvantage against Zhang Geyang. As such, his chances of winning this battle were very slim.

Most of the Star Luo Empire's citizens weren't aware of the conflict between the Tang Sect and the Spirit Pagoda, but they had virtually all heard of Zhang Geyang.

Infernal Flame Douluo Zhang Geyang had been the supervisor of the Star Luo Empire's Spirit Pagoda's branches for 27 years, and he possessed tremendous powers, as well as a steely personality. He was one of the most powerful and revered beings in the entire Spirit Pagoda, and even Chairman Qiangu Dongfeng referred to him as an equal.

The Tang Sect's status was clearly superior to that of the Spirit Pagoda in the Star Luo Empire, but they were unable to truly crush the Spirit Pagoda into the ground, and Zhang Geyang was one of the primary reasons behind that. Under his leadership, the Spirit Pagoda had established a very solid foundation in the Star Luo Empire.

As the lights in the sports stadium dimmed, Zhang Geyang appeared at one of the entrances to the stadium. Under the illumination of the bright searchlight, he was revealed to be an extremely handsome middle-aged man.

His hair was impeccably arranged, and he wore a black robe with golden embroidered edges. He was completely expressionless as he strode forward with his hands clasped behind his back, and he immediately drew the attention of all the spectators present.

"Next, let's put our hands together for Sect Master Tang! I'm sure we're going to be treated to another fiercely contested battle today."

Tang Wulin made his way into the stadium under the illumination of another bright searchlight beam, and his white robes created a stark contrast with Zhang Geyang's black attire.

Tang Wulin's brows had furrowed involuntarily upon hearing Zhang Geyang being introduced while he was in the waiting area. What were the Star Luo Empire's intentions? Were they using this Spirit Pagoda branch chairman to target him? Was the Star Luo Empire trying to make a display of power to the Tang Sect?

There were many important implications behind this situation, and Tang Wulin had to tread with caution. In any case, it was extremely important for him to secure victory in this battle.

No one was going to consider his age and make excuses for him; in the eyes of the vast majority of people, this was a battle between the Tang Sect Master and the Spirit Pagoda branch chairman. If he were to lose, then that would be the equivalent of the Tang Sect losing to the Spirit Pagoda! This was truly an underhanded tactic being employed by the Star Luo Empire, and even Dai Tianling was currently appraising En Ci with a hint of discontent in his eyes.

The Trial of Five Gods was already very unfair to Tang Wulin, and the fact that they were now getting the Spirit Pagoda involved was making it far too obvious that this was not just a friendly match between sect and empire. This was not what he wanted to see. After all, the Star Luo Empire was closer with the Tang Sect, and it really wouldn't be worth it to drive a wedge between the Tang Sect and the empire over something like this.

En Ci's lips tremored as he transmitted his voice toward Dai Tianling, upon which an enlightened look appeared on Dai Tianling's face, and he smiled as he gave En Ci a slight nod.

Hu Jie was keeping an eye on the two of them this entire time, and he knew that En Ci had to have an objective behind getting Zhang Geyang to participate in this match. Aside from doing this to exert power over the Tang Sect, there had to be some other objective, and this objective was most likely not a harmful one to the Tang Sect.

Under the current circumstances, this was the extent of what he could analyze.

At this point, both participants had already strode onto the competition platform, and the first thing that Tang Wulin sensed from Zhang Geyang was a powerful yet peculiar aura. It seemed to be as hot as fire, but also as cold as ice at the same time, and this conflicting dual-faceted aura was very unsettling.

Zhang Geyang was also appraising Tang Wulin. He had watched Tang Wulin's match against Huang Zhengyang the day before, but he still couldn't help but be in awe of just how young Tang Wulin was now that they were meeting in person. He was truly far too young! How could the Tang Sect allow someone so young to become their sect master? This was truly perplexing to him.

Tang Wulin had indeed displayed powerful abilities, but that was only in a mecha battle. In the eyes of Zhang Geyang, a young man in his early twenties definitely wouldn't have the emotional maturity to be able to lead such a powerful sect. Could it be that the Tang Sect really had no one else?

He had heard about what had happened in the Dou Spirit Empire, but he didn't know that Tang Wulin had been the perpetrator. All of the Spirit Pagoda survivors of that attack could only recall that their branch had been completely destroyed by a crimson dragon, and they had no idea that it was the Tang Sect Master that had been responsible for the attack.

Currently, all news surrounding the Spirit Pagoda had been completely sealed off by the Dou Spirit Empire, and all types of rumors concerning collusion between the Spirit Pagoda and the Holy Spirit Cult had surfaced in the federation.

At a time like this, why had the Tang Sect Master come to the Star Luo Empire? One couldn't help but wonder if this Tang Sect Master was somehow related to the incident that had taken place in the Dou Spirit Empire.