The moonlit night was cool.
In the courtyard of the Pope's Palace—
Drunk and dazed, Su Linfeng and Hu Liena had both collapsed.
After teasing Hu Liena, Su Linfeng had completely passed out, lying flat on his back atop the roof, limbs sprawled out as he snored away.
Hu Liena, equally intoxicated, had fallen asleep sprawled across his chest. In her drunken mumbling, crystal-clear drool slipped from the corner of her lips onto Su Linfeng's chest.
But she was far too gone to notice.
The next morning—
Dew dampened the early dawn.
Su Linfeng stirred groggily, opening his eyes. That was when he felt a soft weight pressing down on him.
Just as he was about to move—
Hu Liena jolted awake from her dreams.
Their eyes met.
The air grew awkwardly stiff.
Hu Liena's cheeks flushed scarlet as she stammered, "B-Brother Su… w-we drank too much last night…"
Inside, her emotions churned. Why did I drink so much…? Did he kiss me last night? No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember what happened afterward.
Staring blankly at Su Linfeng's handsome face, she suddenly felt dazed.
Su Linfeng smiled faintly. "We were both drunk… maybe you should get up first?"
In the next instant—
Hu Liena shot up like lightning, hastily fixing her clothes, her face red with embarrassment.
Still groggy, Su Linfeng pushed himself off the tiles—only to notice the wet stain across his chest.
Hu Liena noticed too. She immediately panicked, rushing forward to wipe at it. "S-Sorry, Brother Su, I'm so sorry!"
The next second—
Her face burning, she turned and leapt off the roof, fleeing back to her side hall like she was escaping for her life.
Uh…
Su Linfeng's lips twitched.
Drank that much, and nothing even happened? Useless! The little fox had practically offered herself up, yet it all got ruined by alcohol.
But he wasn't worried.
There was plenty of time.
If that silly fox dared to play around again, this time he'd make sure things went her way.
For more than ten days, aside from daily training, Hu Liena didn't dare test Su Linfeng further when they returned to the Pope's Palace at night.
Still, their relationship gradually grew warmer in their time alone.
After all, a young man and woman living under the same roof during adolescence… sparks were inevitable.
It wasn't until half a month later, when Bibi Dong returned, that Hu Liena obediently moved back to her side hall, and things returned to normal.
The Continental Elite Spirit Master Tournament.
After fierce competitions within the two empires, thirty teams had emerged victorious.
Fifteen from the Heaven Dou Empire, fifteen from the Star Luo Empire. Together with the three seeded teams from the two empires and Spirit Hall, thirty-three teams would advance to the finals.
Both empires' delegations had already set out for Spirit City.
Ten days later—
Three days before the finals, in a hotel within Spirit City built to host all participating teams.
The Heaven Dou Empire's delegation—over two hundred people—had all checked in. Their imperial guards, however, were stationed outside the city, as required. With this being the very first Spirit Master Tournament, both empires were taking no chances.
The Spirit Hall Hotel was a large building, big enough to house five hundred people. The first floor was a communal dining hall. The second floor was a VIP area reserved for the royal families of Star Luo and Heaven Dou. From the third floor up were accommodations.
At this moment, the dining hall bustled with noise and activity.
Aside from a few exceptions, all thirty finalist teams from both empires were dining there together.
The Five Elemental Academies—Elephant Armor, Thunderclap, Godwind, Blazing Fire, and Tianshui—each sat in groups of a dozen around their own tables.
The teams from the two empires were divided into east and west sections.
The atmosphere, however, wasn't exactly harmonious.
Among the crowd were also independent competitors—free spirit masters, or smaller academies like Shrek Academy. Qin Ming sat quietly in a corner, eating alone. No one paid him any attention.
At that moment—
A group of people entered through the doors.
Leading them was a fifteen-year-old youth. Handsome, tall, with a faintly unique aura. Every time his eyes flickered, they seemed to carry a subtle fiery glow.
Behind him followed five boys and two girls, all about fourteen or fifteen years old. They wore matching gray uniforms with a striking emblem embroidered on their left shoulders—two bold characters:
Spirit Hall.
Who were they?
The Spirit Academy battle team—led, of course, by Su Linfeng.
According to the tournament rules and for fairness, Spirit Academy's representatives were also required to stay in this hotel. In three days, they would attend the finals at the Pope's Palace square alongside all other teams.
The moment they appeared, the entire dining hall turned its attention toward them.
Spirit Academy was the hottest topic of the tournament. They had bypassed the preliminaries, entering the finals directly, and were the only single team allowed this privilege. Naturally, many of the empire teams felt resentment.
Their entrance silenced the room. Every eye locked on them.
Especially the Five Elemental Academies.
Some looked eager to challenge them. Others are envious. Still others, awestruck.
Su Linfeng, however, was unfazed. What he cared most about right now was going upstairs—to see her.
Qian Renxue had arrived.
No—
To be precise, the Heaven Dou Empire's Crown Prince, Xue Qinghe, had arrived.
"Let's go. To the second floor."
Su Linfeng spoke quietly but firmly to his team. "Remember what I told you—no one makes trouble these next few days."
"And if they provoke us?"
Yan curled his lip. "Look at them. Most of those guys already look at us with hostility. We can't just pretend we didn't see it."
That was Yan's nature—competitive, wild, domineering.
It was exactly why Su Linfeng had to remind him.
Before they left, Bibi Dong had stressed it: this was the first Spirit Master Tournament. Spirit Hall's image had to be protected.
And no one knew better than her the temperaments of the Golden Generation.
Every one of them was fiercely competitive.
That was the result of her teaching. Without the will to challenge the strong, how could one become truly strong?
So she had reminded Su Linfeng again and again to keep them in line.
"Yan, hold it in."
Su Linfeng knew how to control the field. He wasn't as impulsive as the others. "If you've got energy to burn, save it for the arena. Now—everyone follow me upstairs."
With that, he strode toward the staircase.
The Golden Generation fell silent, following him toward the second-floor entrance.
"Rumor has it Spirit Academy's team is destined to win this tournament."
Just then, an unpleasant voice rang out from the corner.
"They don't even look like they've grown all their hair yet."
All eyes turned toward the Five Elemental Academies.
The speaker was none other than Hu Yanli, captain of the Elephant Armor Academy team.
Hu Yanli—
Twenty years old, a level thirty-nine Defense-type Spirit Master.
Nearby, Godwind Academy and Blazing Fire Academy were seated close together.
Seeing the situation, Feng Xiaotian raised an eyebrow. He leaned toward Huo Wu with a smirk. That idiot Hu Yanli… this should be fun. Hopefully, he'll be the one to test Spirit Academy's strength for us.