Upon arriving in Spirit City, Ma Hongjun felt a distinct difference.
Compared to the Heavenly Dou Imperial Capital, it was far more majestic and mysterious.
Spirit City differed from ordinary cities with their quadrilateral buildings; instead, it was a regular hexagon.
On each of the six city walls was a massive relief, identical to the one on the Spirit Hall token, symbolizing six powerful spirits.
Entering Spirit City, one felt a sense of emptiness. There were few pedestrians and shops on the streets. The shops mostly sold items needed by spirit masters. They even sold soul tools with spatial storage capabilities, though of lower quality.
The hexagonal Spirit City was built around a hill. On this hill stood two extremely conspicuous buildings. The one halfway up the hill was the most magnificent, clearly visible even from a distance. It
was entirely a columnar structure with a dome, and its exterior was covered in a golden material that shimmered in the sunlight. A simple question revealed that it was the brand-new Papal Palace. The supreme ruler of the Spirit Hall resided there.
This was a city with extreme power characteristics; every building bore the Spirit Hall's insignia.
Even from the outside, Spirit City exuded a solemn aura, displaying hierarchical authority everywhere.
The Heaven Dou and Star Luo empires held no influence or power here.
The biggest difference between this city and others was its exceptionally large number of Spirit Masters.
Essentially, everyone you saw was a Spirit Master; the patrolling armies on the streets and the city's defensive forces were all composed of Spirit Masters, each with a cultivation level of at least Spirit Master.
This was only the surface-level display of strength; it was terrifying. It could be said that the strength of this single city far surpassed that of Heaven Dou City.
While Heaven Dou and Star Luo were debatable, Spirit City's sheer number of Spirit Master armies already far exceeded those of the duchies and kingdoms.
Upon arriving here, the festive atmosphere of the competition suddenly diminished.
Without the diverse spectators and cheering, the competition had become purely about determining the champion.
The finals proceeded without any opening ceremony, starting simply.
However, the venue was still large enough to accommodate tens of thousands of spectators. The
Spirit Hall would host the entire competition, with a Platinum Bishop making an appearance.
The finals used a knockout system, consisting of five rounds.
The three seeded teams received a bye in the first round.
The thirty teams competed in pairs; a win meant advancing to the next round, a loss meant elimination.
After the first round draw,
Shrek Academy's opponent was Blazing Academy.
What a coincidence!
However, if it were Blazing Academy, Ma Hongjun wouldn't have to play.
But during the match, something unexpected happened: Blazing Academy forfeited.
Although they were no match for Shrek Academy, such a forfeit was extremely rare.
In the second round, eighteen teams remained. This time, Shrek Academy, representing the Heaven Dou team, received a bye.
Shrek thus entered the top ten without playing a single match.
However, a familiar team appeared in the second match: the Beast Academy, including Meng Yiran.
The Beast Academy was a team that had qualified from the Star Luo Empire.
Their opponent in this match was Tianshui Academy.
The two academies were roughly equal in strength, each with only three Soul Masters.
Shrek Academy came to watch and cheer, sitting with the Dragon Duke and Snake Granny. While ostensibly cheering for Meng Yiran, Ma Hongjun was actually there to see Tianshui Academy.
Tianshui Academy was entirely female, a very unusual academy; they only admitted female students, and all their martial souls were water-attribute.
Water-attribute female soul masters, like Ye Lingling, were incredibly beautiful.
Undoubtedly, Tianshui Academy had the highest average attractiveness among all the participating teams.
They wore uniform blue soul master robes, giving them a pure and flawless aura.
Ma Hongjun loved watching their matches; it felt like a dance, extremely entertaining.
Especially their captain,
Shui Bing'er.
She was a woman Ma Hongjun dreamed of.
With Ma Hongjun's current experience and knowledge, as a seasoned veteran,
he already knew the mature and alluring Shuang'er sisters, the pure and innocent Ning Rongrong, and the aloof and proud Zhu Zhuqing—all stunning beauties.
These factors were already enough to make Ma Hongjun very resistant; ordinary beauties were simply unappealing to him.
However, Shui Bing'er was an exception. She not only caught Ma Hongjun's eye, but also entered his dreams and remained in his heart.
This wasn't just because of Shui Bing'er's beautiful appearance, nor merely because of her intelligent and elegant eyes, nor even just because of her long, beautiful blue hair. Most importantly, it
was her martial spirit—
the Ice Phoenix—that ignited a flame in Ma Hongjun's heart.
Phoenix-type martial souls are extremely rare; in the Douluo Continent, phoenix martial souls are far rarer than dragon martial souls.
Shui Bing'er was the first one Ma Hongjun encountered.
During the preliminaries, Shui Bing'er only caught Ma Hongjun's eye briefly. Because Ma Hongjun didn't participate in the competition and lacked close contact, he only had a vague impression of her.
Ma Hongjun didn't think much of it at the time, assuming he would forget her after a while, especially since he had Rongrong and Zhuqing by his side to help him relieve his worries.
However, Shui Bing'er's image was deeply imprinted in his heart, becoming increasingly profound. During the twenty days of travel, Shui Bing'er's image frequently appeared in Ma Hongjun's mind, and he even saw her summoning her martial soul and dancing with him in his dreams.
One blue, one red; one ice, one fire;
phoenixes flying together, dancing hand in hand.
It could be said that during these twenty-odd days, the complete stranger Shui Bing'er became Ma Hongjun's nightmare.
This directly led to some strange changes occurring during his time with Qian Renxue, who was disguised as a man, during those twenty-odd days.
The two initially interacted as friends, like brothers.
However, Ma Hongjun began experiencing hallucinations while spending time with Qian Renxue. He saw Shui Bing'er and Qian Renxue overlapping in his eyes, and Qian Renxue's delicate face, despite being dressed as a man, looked perfectly natural as a woman.
Therefore, Ma Hongjun unconsciously began to project Shui Bing'er onto Qian Renxue, his gaze towards her revealing something more.
Most importantly, Qian Renxue didn't avoid Ma Hongjun. Although she sensed his strange behavior, she continued to interact with him as if nothing was amiss, showing no awareness of her male disguise.
In truth, Qian Renxue hadn't expected things to escalate to such an uncontrollable point.
She had approached Ma Hongjun with the intention of recruiting him, hoping to develop a brotherly relationship.
But something indescribable seemed to have suddenly intruded into their interactions.
Deep down, she was still a woman, and there were things she couldn't escape; sooner or later, she would face them.
The principle of attraction between opposite sexes always exists.
Before Ma Hongjun revealed his possessive gaze, Qian Renxue remained calm.
But when Ma Hongjun's eyes held a hint of infatuation, Qian Renxue could no longer remain composed.
That gaze touched her heart.
She even secretly changed into the snow-winged angel outfit Ma Hongjun had given her late at night, donning an exquisite hair crown and applying alluring lipstick.
She always secretly wondered what Ma Hongjun's expression would be when she appeared before him in this women's attire.
Would he be surprised?
Confused?
Or delighted?
For the first time,
Qian Renxue felt the urge to dress in women's clothing for a man.
(End of Chapter)