Sea God Lake, brightly lit.
Dai Yueheng looked at the eager male students gathered at the shore and called out with a smile, "Everyone get ready. Three! Two! One!"
"Begin!"
As his voice fell—Boom! Boom! Boom!—forty-two beams of light suddenly burst out from beneath the lake's surface, forming into three neat rows. Each row contained fourteen beams, spaced five meters apart from one another, and one meter between each light in a row, evenly distributed across the surface of Sea God Lake.
These beams were about a hundred meters away from the female students, and nearly two hundred meters from the male disciples on the shore. As the light pillars dissipated, they revealed pads of lotus leaves.
With the command given, the male disciples sprang into action—some flew, others dashed forward using soul skills or movement techniques. Soul rings glowed across the lake, illuminating a flurry of soul power ripples.
Compared to the rest who were unwilling to fall behind, Zhu Ziyang remained calm and unhurried. He was now the only one left on the shore. The furthest ahead among the others was a flying-type Soul Sage, who was just about to land on the leftmost lotus pad in the first row. Seeing this, Zhu Ziyang smiled, golden light flickering in his eyes—and in the next moment, he vanished from the shore and reappeared directly atop a lotus pad.
Looking closer, he had chosen the fifth lotus pad from the left in the first row—not too forward, not too far back. He was quite satisfied.
Zhu Ziyang's sudden appearance immediately caused pressure for the front-runners, who all accelerated. The Soul Sage in the lead charged straight for the leftmost lotus pad—only to suddenly emit a dark light just as he was about to land, and vanish.
In his place appeared a smirking Xu Sanshi.
"Say, aren't you worried that brother might beat you up for that?" Zhu Ziyang looked at Xu Sanshi's troll move and asked helplessly.
"Hehe! Not worried. My martial soul's pretty tough!" Xu Sanshi replied smugly.
"Xu Sanshi, you bastard!" The cheated Soul Sage—around thirty, one of the senior disciples from Zhang Lexuan, Han Ruo'ruo, and Zhang Weiwei's generation—was visibly frustrated. Who would've thought he'd get ambushed in a dating event? Not only was his first-row spot stolen, he probably wouldn't even make the second row now.
But as frustrated as he was, there was nothing he could do. According to the rules, once you landed on a lotus pad, the position was fixed. He could only blame himself for charging ahead too eagerly and getting targeted.
Xu Sanshi turned around and chuckled awkwardly. "Hehe, Brother Li, my bad. Can't help it—you picked such a prime spot! But don't worry, I'm already taken. Everyone knows I'm a committed man. Hehe!"
"You rascal… I'll let you off this time for being a good little junior." Brother Li shook his head. "You owe me a drink!"
"Hehe! Thanks, Brother! Next time we drink 'til we drop!"
As Xu Sanshi chatted with Brother Li, the rest of the disciples had already settled onto their chosen lotus pads. Zhu Ziyang observed them all, silently forming a new estimate of the strength of the inner courtyard.
Of the 42 male disciples (excluding himself), there were four Soul Sages—all seasoned veterans with over ten years at the academy. The rest were all at least Soul Kings. Which meant: these disciples, ranging in age from eighteen to just under thirty, were all Soul Kings, Soul Emperors, or Soul Sages!
Soul Kings now, Soul Sages later—and in ten, twenty, thirty, even forty years… how many would become Title Douluo?
This… was the true foundation of Shrek Academy. At least half of these forty-two would remain loyal to the school. With such accumulation, it was no wonder Shrek held such an unshakable position. And now, this grand institution was—more or less—under Zhu Ziyang's command.
Among the male disciples, Zhu Ziyang paid particular attention to those favored by the Tianyuan Pavilion. Beibei and Xu Sanshi went without saying—being Soul Emperors around level 65 in their early twenties said it all.
There were also newly admitted students, such as Dai Yueheng's younger brother, Dai Huabin—seventeen years old, 59th-ranked Soul King, even more talented than Dai Yueheng. Then there was Xie Huan Yue, also seventeen, at rank 53.
Naturally, Zhu Ziyang also paid attention to Huo Yuhao and He Caitou. During their exchange at the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Academy, it was clear they hadn't slacked in soul cultivation. Huo Yuhao had reached Soul King—upholding the honor of being Mu En's disciple and Zhu Ziyang's junior—and He Caitou, like Beibei and Xu Sanshi, was now a Soul Emperor.
"Alright, let's begin the first round: Kindred Spirits." Zhang Weiwei smiled. Surprisingly, this usually cold and aloof senior sister looked quite charming with a smile. Even her voice softened, completely different from her usual demeanor.
Zhu Ziyang could already hear mutters of regret and admiration from the boys behind him. Zhang Weiwei, meanwhile, continued, "Starting from the leftmost of the front row, each male student may show off their talents. But don't overdo it. If a sister can't hold back and attacks you, I might just pretend I didn't see anything~"
First up, naturally, was Xu Sanshi.
Seeing him already itching to go, Dai Yueheng and Zhang Weiwei exchanged glances. Dai Yueheng asked, "Brother Xu, ready?"
Xu Sanshi gave a thumbs-up.
"In that case," Dai Yueheng said, "don't waste time—good luck!"
Xu Sanshi leapt up high. His Xuanwu Shield flew from his hand—yet despite its size, it drifted like a leaf across the water. Then Xu Sanshi landed lightly atop it, smacked his palms behind him, and the shield surged forward like a small boat, gliding swiftly toward the female students.
His skill with water control and martial soul manipulation impressed several onlookers.
"Xiao Weiwei, where are you~?" Xu Sanshi shouted cheekily. The shield accelerated again and brought him to within ten meters of the girls before stopping.
Apparently, the shout wasn't wasted—one of the "Sea God Fairies" flinched, clearly trying not to laugh.
Xu Sanshi grinned. "Weiwei, here I come!"
He steered his shield to the fifth fairy, reached to lift her hat—and she didn't resist. Even more convinced, he grinned wickedly and pulled the hat away…
Only to freeze.
A mischievous smile greeted him.
Xu Sanshi panicked. "Tang Ya?! Why is it you?!"
Tang Ya burst into laughter. "Surprise!"
"I—You—" Xu Sanshi stammered helplessly, reduced to gibberish as Tang Ya laughed herself silly.
"Okay, okay, I'll stop laughing." Tang Ya wiped a tear, then added, "You should go find Weiwei now—she's not far from me."
"I—I—I don't have the heart anymore!" Xu Sanshi whined. "I feel a chill down my spine… Tang Ya, Beibei's gonna kill me, isn't he?"
"Relax, relax." Tang Ya waved with a grin.
At this moment, Beibei was indeed black-faced, glaring daggers at Xu Sanshi. If possible, he would've drowned him right then and there.
Thankfully, Xu Sanshi had time left and—with Tang Ya's help—successfully found Xue Weiwei at the seventh spot.
"Ye Liu, you're up next," Zhang Weiwei called.
Ye Liu was a 27–28-year-old, one of four Soul Sages among the men, with the Storm Swan as his martial soul. Thanks to that, he flew easily to the girls' side—but then tried to send a breeze to give his brothers a peek.
Bad move.
One hot-tempered senior sister slapped him straight into the lake. Disqualified.
Surprisingly, it wasn't Ma Xiaotao—it was Wu Ming.
Zhu Ziyang rubbed his temples. How could he not know what Ma Xiaotao was planning? It was exactly why he had a headache.
(End of Chapter)
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