Chapter 154: A Slightly Altered Plan

The next morning, the sun was shining brightly, and the sky was clear.

"Not bad, it's a good day!"

Standing at the entrance of the Heaven Dou Grand Hotel, Mu Yang nodded in satisfaction.

Such good weather—it called for action! And not just any action, but something big!

Before long, under the bright sunlight, a group of people arrived at the Grand Soul Arena.

In the resting area, Mu Yang was carefully pondering his next course of action, making sure he hadn't overlooked any details.

Today, he planned to take down Tang San. The commotion that would follow would undoubtedly be huge. This plan had to be as flawless as possible—flaws could exist, but under no circumstances could they be traced back to him. Otherwise, he would face retaliation from Tang Hao and even the entire Clear Sky Sect.

At that moment, a tournament staff member walked over, bowed slightly to Huo Lie and Mu Xiyue, and said, "Deans, for today's match between Blazing Academy and Shrek Academy, Shrek Academy has forfeited. Blazing Academy wins by default."

"What? Shrek forfeited?!"

Mu Yang's eyes widened in shock.

Good one, Tang Buddha! The plan hasn't even started yet, and you've already chickened out?

Mu Yang felt like he had punched a pile of cotton—completely powerless. He almost twisted his waist in frustration.

"Tch, looks like Shrek has a bit of self-awareness after all!"

Unlike Mu Yang, upon hearing that Shrek Academy had forfeited, Huo Wu lifted her chin and clicked her tongue.

In her view, while the Shrek team was a dark horse and stronger than their previous opponents, they were still far from being a match for Blazing Academy. Forfeiting was the wisest choice.

If Shrek had stubbornly gone ahead with the match, that would have been truly foolish.

"Shrek pulled out, so my plan..."

Mu Yang's face darkened as he silently contemplated whether he should change his approach.

Give up on the plan? Not an option!

If he abandoned the plan, Tang San would still be a threat.

After all, Tang San was the protagonist of the original work, blessed with immense fortune. Even though Mu Yang had already intercepted his immortal herbs, there was still a chance that he could stage a comeback.

Mu Yang was not about to make the same mistake as Bibi Dong—believing he had the upper hand, only to be overturned by Tang San's destiny.

As someone well-versed in web novels, Mu Yang knew that protagonists were not normal beings. There was nothing a protagonist couldn't do. No matter how far ahead you thought you were, you could never let your guard down. The best approach was to eliminate him early, before he could grow.

Moreover, giving up on the plan would be letting Salas off the hook.

If not for yesterday's assassination attempt, Mu Yang wouldn't have bothered with sabotaging Salas or going after him so aggressively.

But that bastard—of all people to provoke, he had to provoke him? That was like stirring up a hornet's nest! Could he tolerate that? Absolutely not!

There's a saying: revenge should not wait overnight. The fact that he had waited until the next day to retaliate was already him being patient. There was no way he would let this slide any further.

However, with Tang San out of the match, it was difficult to strike at him.

If he tried something outside the arena and Tang Hao happened to witness it, then he would be welcoming a Clear Sky Hammer straight to the face.

But on the battlefield, it was different.

In a match, using mental techniques was completely normal. As long as he didn't take Tang San's life, Tang Hao likely wouldn't care too much.

After thinking it through, Mu Yang decided to change his approach. If he couldn't strike at Tang San directly, he could target the Heaven Dou Soul Hall instead.

He could manipulate a couple of unlucky Rank 60 Soul Emperors from the Heaven Dou Soul Hall and have them ambush Tang San, who was only Rank 40. If the attack caught him off guard, there was a real chance of success.

And if the attempt failed, that would mean Tang Hao had intervened from the shadows.

If his precious son was attacked, no matter what his original intentions were, Tang Hao would surely take down the assassins.

And if his men were killed, Salas—being the head of the Heaven Dou Soul Hall—would definitely not take it lying down.

The best outcome would be Tang San's death.

Even in the worst-case scenario, Mu Yang could use Tang Hao to severely damage Salas—maybe even take him down completely.

Tsk, yet another flawless plan!

Glancing at the Shrek team still in the resting area, Mu Yang's eyes lingered on Tang San for a moment before he found an excuse to leave the Grand Soul Arena.

There were too many experts inside the arena, making it risky to use his Soul Capture technique to manipulate targets without being noticed by other powerful spiritual beings. To play it safe, Mu Yang avoided the Soul Hall members who had already arrived at the arena and instead decided to scout outside.

Perhaps due to bad luck, even after walking all the way to the Heaven Dou Soul Hall, Mu Yang still hadn't found a Rank 60 Soul Emperor from the Soul Hall.

After some thought, his gaze landed on a man dressed in a purple robe in the distance. The man was walking toward the Grand Soul Arena, seemingly to watch the match. He was a Rank 50 Purple Robe Bishop of the Heaven Dou Soul Hall.

Fishing, huh? This was his specialty!

From dozens of meters away, Mu Yang discreetly cast his Soul Capture technique on the burly, fierce-looking Purple Robe Bishop.

"Go, bring me a Black Robe Bishop."

After turning the Purple Robe Bishop into his temporary puppet, Mu Yang gave his command through a spiritual transmission.

Half an hour later, just as Mu Yang returned to the Grand Soul Arena, two Red Robe Bishops—who originally had no plans to watch the match—walked into the arena.

At first, Mu Yang had only planned to lure out a couple of Rank 60 Black Robe Bishops to serve as disposable pawns. But then he reconsidered—Soul Emperors might not be strong enough.

So, he went a step further and reeled in two Red Robe Bishops, both Soul Sages below Rank 75.

After all, these were Soul Hall experts. Using them for a suicide mission didn't bother him in the slightest.

And with two Rank 70 Soul Sages launching a sudden ambush, there was no way Tang San could react in time. If the hidden Tang Hao failed to intervene immediately, then Tang San was as good as dead!

As for the Rank 50 Purple Robe Bishop he first controlled, as well as the Rank 60 Black Robe Bishop he used as bait—both of their corpses were currently stored inside the Red Robe Bishops' spatial soul tools.

Anyone experienced in assassination knew that while killing was easy, disposing of bodies was the real challenge. When it was inconvenient to deal with the remains, storing them in a spatial soul tool was the simplest solution.

As for exposure? By the time the plan was in motion, it wouldn't matter if Tang Hao or Salas realized there was a mastermind behind the scenes.

On the continent of Douluo, strength ruled—reason didn't matter.

Once something was done, regardless of the circumstances, someone had to take responsibility for it.

Otherwise, in the absence of a clear culprit, who would bear the losses? There was no way either side would simply accept their misfortune.

Besides, there was already deep hatred between them—like a powder keg waiting to explode. All it needed was a spark.