Beautiful eyes stared intently at the green jelly paste. A fair, delicate hand picked up a chunk, which seemed to melt in her palm, slowly dripping between her fingers.
"And you're the team captain. I'm only the vice-captain. Brother, you're seriously asking me?"
"Cough, cough—hey, the academy's just been super busy lately! Another batch of students is lining up for artificial spirit rings and need my approval. Then there's all the custom orders from the major sects, and that damn 'Star Chain Project' and 'Ark Plan' that Ah Cheng started. I've been swamped..." Xiao Hongchen quickly began pouring out his grievances.
"Enough—hurry up and head to the arena. Or you won't even know who your next opponent is," Meng Hongchen urged.
"Oh, look who finally showed up—the busy man himself."
A figure walked in.
Xu Cheng strolled in with a grin, looking around at everyone.
Besides Zhang Lexuan, nearly everyone was present.
Of course, right beside him stood a tall beauty—Xu Jiujing, clinging lightly to his shoulder when they entered, then slowly letting go.
At the same time, Ye Guyi and Gu Yuena also looked away.
"Brother Cheng, come here! This was specially prepared for you." Meng Hongchen beamed as she lifted a bowl of "green jelly" and walked over to Xu Cheng.
"..."
"What the hell is this?" Xu Cheng blinked in confusion.
Even he had never seen this thing before.
"It's green jelly paste. Energy booster," Nana quickly jumped in to explain.
"Speak human language," Xu Cheng narrowed his eyes. Something felt off.
"Ahem... Tonic… uh, good for health… replenishes kidneys, okay!" Tang Ya muttered as she turned her head awkwardly under Xu Cheng's stare, before realizing she had no reason to feel guilty and stared back boldly.
Xu Cheng: "..."
Damn it. No wonder when he came in, Ah Xiao had been looking at him with a mix of pity and schadenfreude—70% pity, 30% mockery.
"I just think…"
Xu Cheng opened his mouth, trying one last time to struggle.
"Hmph. You should be thinking about how to survive tomorrow night. Without this stuff, you might not even be able to get out of bed," Ma Xiaotao raised an eyebrow. Her long, narrow eyes stared teasingly at him as she crossed her legs, her shapely legs looking even longer and straighter.
"…"
Xu Cheng sighed.
Because he could already sense it: Ye Guyi and Gu Yuena had sealed off all his escape routes. As she got "nourished" by him, Gu Yuena's internal injuries were visibly recovering. Though still far from her peak, she could easily dominate him now…
"In fact, I think this stuff is really quite good," Xu Cheng said against his conscience.
He glanced down at the translucent glass bowl Meng Hongchen held under his chin, full of wobbly green "jelly." His mouth twitched.
Although being pampered like a maid-served prince was enjoyable, just thinking about tomorrow night made it hard to smile.
And why tomorrow night?
Because Gu Yuena had claimed the entire night—tonight, actually—saying she needed him to help heal her injuries. So no one else was allowed near.
He had to become a god soon.
Xu Cheng thought grimly. The human body was still far too fragile. Compared to Ye Guyi's divine body, the gap was massive. If she weren't so careful with him, knowing how delicate he was, his body might have collapsed already.
As for Gu Yuena, there was no comparison.
She wasn't just a 100,000-year soul beast who took human form—she was the Silver Dragon King. She could shift between dragon and human form freely. In other words, her body wasn't frail like a human's. She had the powerful physique of a dragon. If she went berserk, the two of them could literally level the hotel.
The stuff they were doing? Let's just say… quite intense.
Xu Cheng downed the jelly in one gulp. The cool sensation slid down his throat.
He raised an eyebrow—surprisingly good. It really tasted like the jelly from his past life.
"Ah Xiao, want a bite?"He turned to Xiao Hongchen and offered politely.
"He doesn't need it." Meng Hongchen immediately chimed in, before Xiao could respond, eyes still glued to Xu Cheng.
Xiao Hongchen's mouth twitched. He had no way to refute it.
He really didn't need it.
Damn this world—some suffer drought, others drown in floods.
"Glug glug glug~"
Xu Cheng finished the rest in two more gulps. Nana hurried over with a towel to wipe his lips. The rest of the girls also performed their tasks dutifully—clear divisions of labor.
For the sake of their own happiness, they no longer cared about appearances.
At the arena—
There was no emperor's throne like in the original novel.
Xu Cheng had told Elder Jing not to set one up. Even if he did show up, Xu Cheng preferred staying in the rest area of the Sun-Moon Empire Royal Academy, laughing and joking with Xiao Hongchen, Wang Dong'er, and the others. Sitting on some imperial throne like a dummy while feeling countless eyes on him? No thanks.
"Lonely at the top"?
Just Gu Yuena's fullness alone was enough to make it hard for him to breathe. After becoming emperor, all he got was another title—his relationships with everyone remained unchanged.
A bunch of royal geezers had tried to object, but after being stripped of status and kicked out of the ancestral temple, they all shut up.
He never liked those old fossils anyway.
As for his father, the moment he abdicated, he ran off on a cross-country trip with a few guards. He was more excited than Xu Cheng himself.
"There are only five matches left. Honestly, the outcomes are mostly already decided."
Ji Juechen wiped his sword while watching the arena below, calmly explaining to the group that had just arrived.
He had been observing the matches, hoping to find some worthy opponents.
And in fact—he had found a few.
Besides Tang San, who had vanished after losing an arm and hadn't shown up since, only Bei Bei and that Long Aotian from Snow Demon Sect had caught his attention. But both of them held back—barely revealing any of their real power. After all, their groups didn't include anyone strong enough to force them to go all out.
"Too bad you're over the age limit. Otherwise, we could've sent you in," Xu Cheng smiled.
Xiao Hongchen clicked his tongue.
Originally, Ji Juechen was part of the main seven-man team. But they later discovered—he was 21.
The tournament rules clearly set the age limit at 20.
So Xu Cheng had taken Ji Juechen's place.
"Just to give him a sense of participation," they said. "It's fine if he doesn't actually fight."
Meanwhile, the substitute list had been expanded again. They added Ning Tian, which bumped another person off the seven-man bench.
But none of the likes of Yu Tianlong had any complaints.
If it had been some average genius, maybe they'd grumble a little.
But when they saw the main team list, filled with names so legendary it felt illegal, no one dared speak. These were the kinds of people you see in paintings or hear about in stories—just spotting them in the hallway was enough to make a student dance with joy: "I saw you on the wall! You're xxx, right?!"
As for the reserve team? They gave up entirely. They were just sent in as a cheer squad—to at least have some sense of involvement.
"It's fine. I'll go find them after the tournament," Ji Juechen said calmly.
"Uh…"
A scene suddenly popped into Xu Cheng's head.
Night. Silence.
Ji Juechen blocks Bei Bei's path with his sword on his back.
"Feng Yuxiu… challenges you."
(End of Chapter)