"The elimination tournament begins tomorrow. This is the most important hurdle Shrek Academy must face. If we can make it through, the subsequent group stages will be much easier."
Teacher Wang revealed a faint smile, his gaze lingering longest on Lu Cheng.
He paused for a moment before continuing to explain the competition rules.
"In the preliminary elimination tournament, each team only plays one match. If you lose, you've booked your carriage ride home. If you win, you proceed to the next round, the group stages. There will be about eight groups, with eight to nine people per group. It will be a points-based system, and the top two teams from each group will advance to the round of sixteen finals—"
"There are a total of one hundred and thirty-three teams in the elimination tournament, and it will follow a seven-on-seven team battle format."
"Therefore—"
Teacher Wang looked at Lu Cheng with eager eyes.
"For the first round, I will handle it," Lu Cheng said with a slight nod.
"Good! Then you, Bei Bei, Jiang Nannan, Tang Ya, Xiao Xiao, Wang Dong'er, and Ning Tian shall participate. One Soul King, three Soul Ancestors, and three Soul Elders—that should be enough to deal with the vast majority of teams, provided our luck isn't too bad." Teacher Wang took a deep breath, his tone filled with excitement.
"No, you misunderstood. What I meant was—I alone am enough."
Lu Cheng's lips curled, revealing a smile.
Teacher Wang: "..."
The meeting was dismissed.
Turning down the invitations from Tang Ya, Jiang Nannan, and the others to go downstairs for a late-night snack, he walked straight to his bedroom door and pushed it open. It was pitch black inside, so Lu Cheng casually turned on a Spirit Tool lamp, which emitted a soft, warm glow.
As the darkness in the room was dispelled, a pale blue figure appeared on the sofa. She was reclining lazily against the backrest, legs crossed, feet clad in green cloth shoes. A verdant hairpin gathered her hair into a high ponytail, and her beautiful, pale blue eyes were quietly observing Lu Cheng.
"How is the situation over at Shrek?"
Lu Cheng let out a lazy yawn and removed his outer garment, revealing a black short-sleeved shirt. It was summer, the most sweltering time of the year; if he weren't a soul master with Ultimate Ice and Sun-Refining Fire to regulate his body temperature, he would have been drenched in sweat long ago.
Zhang Lexuan remained silent.
The atmosphere was somewhat strange.
"Hmm?"
Lu Cheng turned his head in surprise and glanced at Zhang Lexuan. Her expression remained calm, and she lifted her chin, revealing a long, proud, swan-like neck before parting her red lips.
"Brother, I've said it before—I will find a way to leave Shrek Academy. You are always so self-righteous." Zhang Lexuan said softly, her pale blue eyes fixed on Lu Cheng: "So, Xuan Zi—is he being controlled by you? And the entire team, the casualties from the encirclement and suppression of the Evil Soul Masters in the Mingdou Mountains this time, were also you—"
Lu Cheng's eye twitched.
"I'm afraid you've misunderstood.
If it were the me from that other life, perhaps I could have manipulated Xuan Zi, but in this life—you overestimate me."
It was no wonder Zhang Lexuan was suspicious.
It was simply because Xuan Zi's "inhuman" actions made it very easy for people to suspect that the old guy was feigning madness, only to jump out and sabotage someone at a critical moment.
As it turned out, who could have guessed that this was purely him acting naturally, without a trace of pretense, truly embodying the unity of knowledge and action?
Zhang Lexuan had been equally stunned upon learning the truth.
"Heh, he couldn't even catch that Death God Envoy. If I hadn't intervened, the other side would have likely gotten away." Lu Cheng shook his head.
"Is that so?" Zhang Lexuan's eyes twitched.
Lu Cheng sat beside the beauty, holding a steaming cup of coffee and stirring it gently. This was a specialty of the Sun Moon Empire; in this world, the food was quite similar to his previous life, a hodgepodge of Eastern and Western styles.
There was blonde hair and blue eyes, yet paired with Asian faces, the colorful hair didn't seem out of place, looking exactly like the cosplayers from his previous life.
"Since I promised you, I will no longer act recklessly." Lu Cheng took a light sip of coffee and placed his hand on the beauty's soft, boneless hand, gently kneading it.
He wore an expression of deep emotion.
"Rest assured—"
"Mm."
Ripples gradually appeared on Zhang Lexuan's calm, pretty face, and a blush spread across it, as if she had made a fool of herself.
"Over at Shrek, Mu En should have already sensed something amiss." The beauty stiffly changed the subject.
"It was only a matter of time. The relationship between you and me is too bizarre; no one could understand it," Lu Cheng said leisurely.
"So tonight, you're staying here?"
He looked at Zhang Lexuan with great interest.
This Senior Sister of the inner court was already twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, possessing a hint of the elegant charm of a mature woman.
"I came in such a rush that I didn't notify Teacher Wang to arrange a room, and all the rooms on the top floor are fully booked. I have no choice but to squeeze in with you," Zhang Lexuan said without changing her expression.
Several hours later.
On the soft and comfortable bed.
Lu Cheng's eyes were unfocused, as if he had been hollowed out. In his arms, the nearly 1.8-meter-tall beauty's pretty face was flushed, her pale blue eyes soft as the sea. Her slender, white, onion-like fingers poked gently at Lu Cheng's cheek, as lively as a little girl.
However, at this moment, their outer garments had long since been removed.
The beauty was wearing only a cool, thin dress. Their skin was pressed together, they could feel each other's breath, and the atmosphere was ambiguous.
"Brother, you are still so weak."
Zhang Lexuan rested her head on her hand, lying on her side in Lu Cheng's arms, smiling.
"Forget it, forget it."
Seeing that Lu Cheng had no strength left, Zhang Lexuan sat up from his arms. Her snow-white, jade-like feet stepped into slippers, and she casually gathered her soft, waterfall-like hair that draped over her shoulders before walking toward the bathroom.
"I'm going to take a shower first. It seems like dawn is almost here."
Lu Cheng: "…"
The ride is indeed smooth, but unfortunately, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
Even though his physical body had been tempered to the level of a Soul Saint, he was simply no match for the Titled Douluo Zhang Lexuan. It was simply a crushing defeat.
"Sister Lexuan!" Ma Xiaotao's phoenix eyes flashed, filled with excitement.
"Mm."
Zhang Lexuan wore a deep blue trench coat, her expression gentle. She lightly ruffled Ma Xiaotao's hair and revealed a faint smile, saying, "Well done."
The others: "…"
Well done? Where exactly was it well done?
All the main team members were seriously injured and forced to return to the academy, leaving behind this mess. Even if it wasn't entirely Ma Xiaotao's fault, this didn't seem to have anything to do with "well done," right?
"Senior Sister—" Teacher Wang said with a fawning face, feeling somewhat awkward.
"Teacher Wang, you?" Tang Ya said, taken aback.
"I only graduated from the inner court not long ago. My talent is dull, so the difficulty of the inner court assessment was lowered again and again for me, and I only barely managed to graduate before becoming a teacher in the Outer Academy," Teacher Wang said, coughing lightly twice.
Ling Luochen and Gongyang Mo stood on either side, exchanged a look, and both let out a sigh of relief.
With Xuan Zi gone and Teacher Wang's strength inferior to theirs, Shrek Academy currently had no one to hold down the fort.
Fortunately, she had appeared—
One of the youngest titled Douluo powerhouses to ever make a name for themselves in Shrek's history.
Notes:
Sorry for the mistake (,,>﹏<,,)👉👈
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