The fourth segment continued. After number four, Ning Tian, two more girls had stepped forward. Now, it was the turn of girl number seven.
Girl number seven was Wu Ming.
Almost all the boys tensed up—especially Chu Qingtian. Zhu Ziyang clearly sensed the guy's body trembling slightly. It felt like fear… but also excitement… and maybe even nervousness? What a tangled mess of emotions!
Zhu Ziyang's gaze bypassed the two girls in the middle and landed on number one, Chu Qingtian. He noticed that the expression on Chu Qingtian's face was even more complicated than his body's reactions, and suddenly, he understood. This guy clearly had feelings for Wu Ming—but due to her personality and his own lack of strength, he didn't dare to express it.
When the woman is strong and the man is weak, it's easy for guys like Chu Qingtian to shrink away.
Wu Ming stepped out lightly, golden wings unfurling from her back—her martial soul: the Golden Crow. Zhu Ziyang was very familiar with Wu Ming. The two had gone through life-and-death experiences together. She was also one of the core disciples in the Empress Project, and an elite of the academy. The eldest daughter of the Wu Family, her ancestor was none other than the Golden Crow Douluo Wu Zhongtian, the one who led the Douluo Continent to victory against the Sun Moon Empire, and the former headmaster of Shrek Academy—a wielder of the Ultimate Fire martial soul.
However, compared to Wu Zhongtian's Three-Legged Golden Crow, Wu Ming and her family only possessed the regular Golden Crow martial soul. Though still highly attuned to the fire element, there was a significant gap between the two. That said, given their bloodline, there remained the possibility that a new Ultimate Fire user could emerge from the Wu Family again someday. The current strongest of the Wu Family was a Rank 95 Super Douluo, a member of the Tianyuan Pavilion, respectfully called Elder Wu—same seniority as Elder Song.
And speaking of the Wu Family, two other direct-lineage families within Shrek Academy must be mentioned as well: the Xian and Zhuang families. The Xian Family was the family of the War God Douluo Xian Liner, whose ancestor possessed the Ultimate Wind martial soul. The Zhuang Family descended directly from Zhuang Qingzhai, a former Ultimate Wood user in Shrek's history.
Wu, Zhuang, and Xian—these three great families had members in the Tianyuan Pavilion almost every generation and were closely tied to Shrek Academy's interests. They were its most loyal supporters.
As Zhu Ziyang was reflecting on this, Wu Ming had already flown to the center. Her face carried a decisive look, and her voice held a trace of threat as she declared:
"My name is Wu Ming, I'm thirty-two years old. Everyone calls me the Golden Crow Saintess. I know, some say I'm an old leftover. Can't help it—I'm getting old, so I'll just find someone random to settle with. Reject me, and you're dead!"
With that, Wu Ming flew toward the boys. As her gaze swept across them, nearly all of them instinctively lowered their heads, not daring to meet her eyes. But Wu Ming didn't care—she had long chosen her target. Her body flashed and appeared in front of a certain boy, her wings pointing to the lotus leaf under his feet.
"What are you looking at? Move over and give me the leaf!" she said playfully.
"Oh! Oh!" The boy she'd chosen was—Chu Qingtian.
He was completely stunned. At her coy reprimand, he subconsciously responded and stepped back—forgetting the lotus leaf had limited space.
Seeing that he was about to fall into the water, Zhu Ziyang smiled faintly and willed a layer of ice to form under Chu Qingtian's feet, catching him just in time and preventing elimination. But Chu Qingtian still stumbled and fell flat on his back.
Everyone burst into laughter. Chu Qingtian, dazed, finally snapped out of it.
"Looks like Ming'er has quite the charm! Junior Brother Chu was so excited he fell over," Han Ruoruo teased with a soft smile.
To everyone's surprise, Wu Ming didn't retort. Instead, she turned to Chu Qingtian and asked, "Dummy, are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine!" Chu Qingtian quickly got up, a smile on his face—somewhere between silly and bitter. "Thanks a lot, Brother Ziyang!"
"No need to thank me. Helping others is a joy!" Zhu Ziyang replied with a grin.
At this point, even the densest of observers understood—Chu Qingtian's earlier actions weren't instigated by anyone. They were premeditated!
"Senior Brother Chu, hiding pretty deep, huh?" Dai Yueheng laughed teasingly.
"Heh heh…" Chu Qingtian scratched his head and laughed awkwardly, saying nothing.
On the boat, Elder Lin turned to an old man beside him and said, "Old Wu, happy now? Time to prepare for great-grandkids."
"Sigh… That girl's finally found someone to settle down with. That Chu boy might be a bit unruly, but he's a decent match." The old man was none other than Elder Wu, head of the Wu Family and Wu Ming's great-grandfather—the Golden Crow Douluo.
After Wu Ming, it was girl number eight's turn—Ma Xiaotao.
Zhu Ziyang looked toward her, and she looked back. Their eyes met, and in that instant, both knew what the other was thinking.
"Next girl, please," Zhang Weiwei announced.
As soon as the words fell, Ma Xiaotao sprang into action. A road of flame extended from beneath her feet, stretching across the lake's surface. With each step she took, the fiery path grew. Everyone was stunned by the sight—including Zhu Ziyang, who hadn't expected her fire control to reach such a level.
"My name is Ma Xiaotao. I'm twenty-four years old. The elders say, 'A woman four years older brings blessing and long life.' I wonder… would you accept that blessing?" As she walked and spoke, her charming face glowed in the firelight. Her radiant smile carried deep emotion and lingered sweetly in the air.
The path of fire extended right up to Zhu Ziyang. Everyone understood her choice. Zhu Ziyang smiled and willed a pure white, artful lotus of ice to bloom beneath the flames. Ma Xiaotao stepped down from her fiery road, landing perfectly upon the frozen lotus.
The crowd was stunned once more. Ma Xiaotao's fiery path already required immense elemental control, and Zhu Ziyang's ice lotus was even more delicate and masterful. So this was the kind of prodigy who could become a Titled Douluo at age twenty? Unmatched!
"With great joy!" Zhu Ziyang finally spoke with a smile as Ma Xiaotao stood upon the lotus he created.
They exchanged knowing smiles. From the girls' line, Jiang Nannan and Qian Lingyi couldn't help but grit their teeth—they were already thinking about how to outshine Ma Xiaotao when their turns came. She couldn't have all the glory!
Even the elders aboard the ferry were stunned by Ma Xiaotao's performance and voiced their admiration.
"Shaozhe, Xiaotao has really made something of herself!" one elder said, patting Yan Shaozhe's shoulder.
"Haha, it's all her own effort. As her teacher, I can't claim too much credit," Yan Shaozhe replied with a half-embarrassed, half-proud smile.
"Her fire control has surpassed this old man already… Sigh, I have to admit, I'm getting old," Elder Wu laughed.
The girl after Ma Xiaotao was Han Ruoruo—the oldest current student in the inner courtyard, and one of its highest-ranked girls. At thirty-three, she was already an eighty-eighth-ranked Soul Douluo. Aside from Zhu Ziyang and Ma Xiaotao, her talent was easily top-three.
Yet such an outstanding woman was still single. It was enough to make one sigh.
Sometimes, being too excellent was a disadvantage. In her cohort, the most exceptional individuals—Zhang Lexuan, Zhang Weiwei, Han Ruoruo, Cheng Hui, and Shen Xu—had three girls. Among their peers, few boys could meet their standards. And those who could were hesitant to approach, intimidated by their brilliance.
Zhang Lexuan's situation was unique. Zhang Weiwei only found someone because of a fateful encounter with Dai Yueheng. Otherwise, she might still be single too.
So Han Ruoruo had joined the Sea God Fate Matchmaking Event with a "let's just see" attitude. If she didn't meet someone, she'd devote her life to the academy.
But fate is ever unpredictable.
Just as Zhu Ziyang was lamenting her situation, someone entirely unexpected appeared.
Wang Yan—an early forties, six-ring Soul Emperor and an outer courtyard teacher. He was also an honorary disciple of Cai Mei'er. This man openly broke the rules and proposed to a student. The elders made no public judgment. The students, however, had mixed reactions—contempt, shock, indifference… and even a few who were moved.
Han Ruoruo remained silent for a moment, then accepted.
For her, if no soulmate could be found, then a kindred spirit to share life with was just as good.
The elders took a cautious stance on this oddly matched pair with little age gap but a wide cultivation difference. In the end, Xuanzi intervened and said they could turn a blind eye—but Wang Yan would need to make satisfactory guarantees.
What guarantees?
That's a story for another time.
(End of Chapter)
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