Word Count: 3,377 Words
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"Ling-ge, what do you think? Is my hair smooth enough…"
Two figures entered Shrek Academy through the east gate. Hoping to shine brilliantly tonight, Chu Qingtian had dragged Ling Bai to the most renowned salon in Shrek City at daybreak and had spent the entire day getting styled.
Ling Bai glanced at Chu Qingtian's hair, which was so saturated with product it practically reflected light, and praised him with a perfectly straight face. "Flawless."
Twilight deepened, and, likely because of the Sea God Fated Blind Date Festival, an intoxicatingly romantic atmosphere seemed to drape itself over Sea God Island.
When the two approached Sea God Lake, Ling Bai saw that the lakeshore was already packed with Outer Courtyard students, each youthful face filled with eager anticipation.
Excitement rippled through the crowd when they spotted Ling Bai and Chu Qingtian in their red Inner Courtyard uniforms. The students hurried over, greeting them enthusiastically and promising to cheer them on, wishing them luck in winning their beloveds' hearts tonight.
The two thanked them with easy smiles and crossed Sea God Lake toward Sea God Island. Ling Bai asked, "I remember Outer Courtyard students weren't allowed to watch the festival before. Did they change the rules this year?"
"Yeah, Dean Yan ordered it himself."
Chu Qingtian said. "This year's Sea God Fated Blind Date Festival is open for the Outer Courtyard to watch, to push them to cultivate harder and get into the Inner Courtyard.
The Inner Courtyard has been shrinking for years. Bei Bei's class had only four people in both the Martial Spirit and Spirit Guidance Departments combined. The next class didn't even have a single Inner Courtyard student. Fortunately, Junior Sister Ning's year is packed with talent and made up for last year's losses."
Ling Bai frowned slightly. "The Outer Courtyard always has a few core students every year. How could there be a gap like that?"
Chu Qingtian sighed heavily. "It all started with the mess during the selection for the Seven Monsters Reserve Team before the last Continental Elite Spirit Master Academy Tournament.
There's never been an official rule that the grand melee's winners get to represent Shrek, but it's been the unspoken tradition for thousands of years.
This time, four of the winners were actually replaced. Forget the junior brothers and sisters in the Outer Courtyard, even if it were me, I'd be discouraged!
Between us, the Inner Courtyard's teaching isn't much deeper or more profound than the Outer Courtyard's, and you still have to take on those surveillance assignments. Most Outer Courtyard students have strong family backgrounds; why come to the Inner Courtyard to suffer? So they graduate from the Outer Courtyard and each just goes their own way."
Ling Bai smiled faintly. "Looks like Dean Yan is getting desperate, using the Sea God Fated Blind Date Festival as bait. Love is exactly the kind of beautiful thing young people yearn for."
Disappointment builds up little by little. The Outer Courtyard students couldn't afford to provoke the colossus that was Shrek Academy, but they could certainly steer clear of it.
Now, with news of Jianmu Douluo's breakthrough to Limit Douluo, plus Lin Jiaran and a pile of Class 9 Spirit Guidance Device blueprints, the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Clan was about to enter a period of explosive growth that required a great deal of talent. If they weren't poaching people now, when would they!
They stepped onto Sea God Island and headed for the spot where the male participants were gathering. Ling Bai spotted plenty of familiar faces: Yao Haoxuan, Gongyang Mo, Gu Fan, Huo Yuhao, Xu Sanshi, He Caitou, and others…
Entertainment in the Inner Courtyard was scarce, and the bachelors were filled with anticipation for the festival. They craned their necks, trying to peer across Sea God Lake, but the surface was pitch black, veiled by a drifting mist that covered everything.
Just as the wolves were growing restless, a large, brightly lit boat approached from the distance, carrying the Sea God Pavilion elders and Shrek Academy's teachers. At the same time, eighteen pale golden beams of light shot up from the lake, and atop each one stood a girl in a white dress. They wore bamboo hats with three feet of white gauze trailing down, concealing their faces.
Bathed in the golden glow, they resembled fairies standing upon the water. Their ethereal, transcendent beauty sent the Outer Courtyard students into a frenzy of excited shouts, as if they longed to join the festival themselves, win the favor of a senior sister, and fly off together as a pair.
Elder Xuan and the other Sea God Pavilion elders exchanged satisfied smiles. The looks they gave Yan Shaozhe were filled with approval. He truly was a master of human nature, with a firm grasp on the hearts of the young.
Two figures appeared at the very center between the boys and girls: the hosts of the Sea God Fated Blind Date Festival, Bei Bei and Big Senior Sister Zhang Lexuan.
Zhang Lexuan wore a long goose-yellow dress. Her smile was gentle and poised as her voice carried far across the water. "On Sea God Lake, a fated bond is made. Ten thousand years of Shrek, a love decided in a day!
The annual Sea God Fated Blind Date Festival begins now! I wish you all the best in finding your destination of love, and I welcome our observing junior brothers and sisters, as well as the elders and teachers!"
Zhang Lexuan gave a deep bow toward the ferry boat. The teachers waved at the students, and the atmosphere instantly became even more fervent, waves of sound crashing and echoing without end.
Bei Bei smoothly followed up, "Male participants, please note that first is the warm-up segment.
In a moment, forty pillars of light will appear. Using any method, as long as you land on a water lily pad where a pillar is located, you will have occupied a position. The boys closest to the Sea God Fairies will have priority in the 'Mutual Appreciation' segment."
Zhang Lexuan smiled. "A friendly reminder to all the boys and girls: whatever you do, don't fall into the water, or you will be disqualified according to the rules.
Three, two, one, begin!"
BOOM—
Forty male students soared into the air, each displaying his unique abilities. Spirit rings of white, yellow, purple, black, and red blazed with light, like brilliant fireworks suddenly exploding by the lakeside.
"Red… a 100,000-year spirit ring!"
The eyes of the Outer Courtyard students bulged in disbelief as they stared at a golden figure that had shot ahead of the rest.
In this segment, Ling Bai was in a league of his own. The aerial advantage of his Seraphim was on full display, and the brilliant light of his seven spirit rings—yellow, purple, purple, black, black, red, red—instantly captured everyone's attention.
The green water lily pads floating on the lake were clearly visible. Ling Bai locked onto the very first pad. With his abilities, there was no need to hold back.
"Hehe, watch this!"
Xu Sanshi, who had landed last by standing on his Mystic Deep Turtle Shield, revealed a sly smile. His fourth spirit ring flashed: Mystic Deep Replacement!
The skill swapped the positions of two parties. Xu Sanshi had used this technique to trick countless people. Today, he planned for the Nth time to confess to Jiang Nannan and had been eyeing the first water lily pad for a long time.
Ever since hearing that Ling Bai would participate in the festival, Xu Sanshi had already made his plans: during the warm-up, he would catch Ling Bai off guard and exchange positions with him. After all, the Seraphim's speed was ridiculously fast. Even if Ling Bai started late, he would definitely still make it into the upper ranks.
For Jiang Nannan, this Xu was going all out!
Buzz—
Reality smacked Xu Sanshi hard in the face. Mystic Deep Replacement worked by locking onto a target through spiritual power and spirit power, but the moment it touched Ling Bai, an intense golden light erupted. It felt as if a razor-sharp blade had severed the bridge the skill had built.
Ling Bai landed steadily on the first water lily pad. He joined his fingers like a sword, and a beam of holy sword energy shot out, piercing the Mystic Deep Turtle Shield and pinning it to the lake's surface.
Xu Sanshi's face turned beet red. He struggled several times but couldn't break free and could only shout at the top of his lungs, "It's been a while, I was just joking with you! Big Brother, don't be angry, I'll never dare try it again!"
Creak, creak…
On the girls' side, someone clenched her fists so hard her knuckles protested. How shameless can he be!
"You can either go to the back, or I might consider stealing your girl."
Having tried to steal a chicken only to lose the rice, Xu Sanshi obediently went to the water lily pad at the very end upon hearing Ling Bai's words.
That brief exchange had shown him Ling Bai's strength. He was clearly not someone he could hope to take advantage of. If Ling Bai actually decided to steal Jiang Nannan, he would probably die of depression!
The warm-up segment ended with Ling Bai in first place, closely followed by Gu Fan. The latter's Spirit Saint cultivation, combined with the Sky Blue Sparrow's flight ability, had given him a significant advantage. The two exchanged encouraging smiles.
"Now we proceed to the first segment of the Sea God Fated Blind Date Festival: Mutual Appreciation."
Zhang Lexuan announced, controlling the pace. "Junior Brother Ling Bai, you'll begin."
The six angelic wings spread wide as Ling Bai floated upward. During the warm-up, the Outer Courtyard students had been so dazzled by the display that many had only noticed those two terrifying blood-red 100,000-year spirit rings without carefully observing Ling Bai's appearance.
Now, as Ling Bai stood alone, exclamations of awe erupted instantly.
Like the moon suspended high and a crane among chickens, he was a sight to behold. His figure was tall and slender, his golden eyes gleaming like a pool of clear spring water, rippling with bright reflections in the lazy night breeze.
The Outer Courtyard girls clutched their chests to keep the frantic little deers inside from breaking free, while the Inner Courtyard senior sisters were no better off. Their red lips parted involuntarily, letting out sounds of amazement.
Although most of them were familiar with Ling Bai, the two years from age fifteen to seventeen were a period of rapid growth for Spirit Masters. Combined with the influence of his spirit rings and spirit bones, Ling Bai's transformation had been tremendous.
His handsome face remained flawless, but it had lost some of its former gentleness and languor, replaced by a lofty pride and detachment. It was as though the Seraphim was never meant for this world and was destined to return to the endless sky.
Ling Bai paid no attention to others' opinions. He hovered before the eighteen white-robed girls standing in a row.
The Seraphim didn't have a cheat-like ability such as Spiritual Detection. He could only rely on his eyesight to identify each person.
He knew exactly whose bamboo hats he wanted to remove; he had his own way of telling who was who.
With a single sweep of his gaze, he locked onto the third figure from the left. As she watched him draw nearer through her veil, the girl's body trembled slightly where she stood on the water lily. In the next second, a head of smooth golden-red hair flew upward with the gauze, revealing an exquisitely beautiful face that combined coldness and allure.
Evil Fire Phoenix, Ma Xiaotao.
She wore a white dress, which seemed to temper her usually fiery personality. A rising heat softened her brows and eyes, making her entire being appear exceptionally warm. The corners of her rosy lips curved up as she spoke:
"Not bad. I thought you might have forgotten me in Mingdu."
"How could I forget?"
So prominent, easy to recognize.
They were each other's first. He had personally measured her hundreds of times, and Ma Xiaotao was indeed uniquely blessed; among the eighteen girls from Shrek, her natural endowments stood out prominently.
Continuing to the right, Ling Bai quickly found his next target: Wu Feng, whose fiery figure was second only to Ma Xiaotao's.
As he reached out, Wu Feng's toes tapped the center of the water lily. As her white dress fluttered, her right leg rose high, chopping down toward Ling Bai's shoulder.
Ling Bai effortlessly caught Wu Feng's leg with one hand and used his other to grab the gauze, pulling it backward and taking both the gauze and bamboo hat with it.
Wu Feng's pretty face now held a blush of annoyance, her beautiful eyes full of reproach, clearly dissatisfied that Ling Bai had removed Ma Xiaotao's hat first.
Normally, Mutual Appreciation was a test between boys and girls. A boy's willingness to remove a girl's hat indicated that he liked her, while a girl's level of resistance conveyed her own feelings.
Ling Bai had gone straight for Ma Xiaotao, and she hadn't resisted at all. In Wu Feng's view, those two had just publicly made things clear between them!
Letting go of Wu Feng's long leg, Ling Bai moved to the woman beside her, who was, naturally, Ning Tian.
Her exquisite, noble features appeared even more beautiful under the pale golden light emanating from the water lily. Ning Tian's temperament outstripped Wu Feng's by several streets. She gave Ling Bai a radiant, flawless smile and only turned her head away after he had left.
Noticing Ning Tian's gaze, Ma Xiaotao silently turned her own head. The two women's eyes met in mid-air, and the air between them turned subtly charged.
Finally, Ling Bai came to stand before Han Ruoruo. Under Wu Ming's teeth-gritting glare, he smoothly removed Han Ruoruo's hat.
"Elder Sister looks beautiful tonight."
"Thank you."
Han Ruoruo gently pressed her red lips together, her gaze clear and moist. According to their wager, she would choose Ling Bai in the final segment.
Using the title of 'Elder Sister' while giving the care of a lover; outwardly calling themselves elder sister and little junior brother, yet her heart had long since been moved.
After sensing Ling Bai's intentions, she suddenly felt less pressure. At least she had been brave. She would have no regrets.
Ma Xiaotao, Ning Tian, Wu Feng, Han Ruoruo.
Having removed four girls' hats, Ling Bai considered his mission accomplished and prepared to return to his water lily. But from behind came an enchanting voice:
"Won't you remove mine?"
The voice was like countless small hands plucking at one's heartstrings. Without even seeing her face, one could tell she was an extraordinary beauty. The young Outer Courtyard students flushed red with desire upon hearing it, while the Inner Courtyard boys showed wariness, whispering among themselves:
"Dugu Lin…"
"The Deadly Snake Woman…"
"This one is truly lethal…"
Ling Bai did not turn back. Anyone whose hat he removed, he had no intention of letting go. Dugu Lin was far from reaching that level.
"That's fine, I can do it myself."
Rejection meant nothing to Dugu Lin. She paid it no mind at all, smiling as she removed her own hat to reveal a beautiful and seductive face. She even turned to Zhang Lexuan with great interest and asked:
"Big Senior Sister, does it still count as Ling Bai's if I do it myself?"
"Yes."
Zhang Lexuan nodded. "During his turn, any hat that is removed belongs to him. Ling Bai's final score is five hats, giving this year's Sea God Festival an excellent start. The rest of the boys will need to work hard!"
In a corner unnoticed by others, a fair hand reached toward the edge of her own bamboo hat, but in the end, its owner merely let out a soft sigh and let her hand fall back down.
The moment Ling Bai stood on his water lily, he immediately felt pairs of eyes burning into him. The surrounding boys were nearly on fire with envy and jealousy.
Eighteen girls, forty boys—too many wolves, not enough meat. And now five girls clearly had feelings for a single man. If they weren't well aware they couldn't beat Ling Bai, they would have loved nothing more than to unleash a 'Loveless Cannon Hammer' on him.
The Inner Courtyard boys took their turns one after another. The Mutual Appreciation segment quickly came to an end. Few boys succeeded in removing any hats, and four even fell into the lake and were disqualified.
Even so, two girls still wore their bamboo hats when the segment concluded.
The warm-up had completely stirred the emotions of the Inner Courtyard students, and the Outer Courtyard students were equally excited. A super-handsome guy and five great beauties. They seemed to smell the thick scent of a Shura Field and couldn't help but roar inwardly:
Fight! Fight! Fight!
A fight between senior sisters was their favorite thing to watch!
The second segment required position changes: the boys were reordered based on how many hats they had removed in the first round. With his score of five hats, Ling Bai was, of course, placed first.
In this timeline, Huo Yuhao didn't have the Snow Empress and the Raiment of Light as groundwork, and He Caitou hadn't gone through the Spirit Master Tournament with Xiao Xiao. The two were participating mainly to broaden their horizons and didn't use any special tricks.
He Caitou had managed to remove one hat, while Huo Yuhao, having no particular target, didn't remove a single one.
Bei Bei announced in a clear voice, "After that first segment of acquaintance, the upcoming 'Love at First Sight' is the moment for the girls to express their interest.
The female students will receive a switch to control the spirit lamp beneath them. Any male student who has a girl's lamp left on for him can continue participating in the Sea God Fated Blind Date Festival. If no female student leaves her light on, he'll unfortunately have to end his Sea God journey here."
Zhang Lexuan smiled and said, "Love at First Sight begins now. First, would the Sea God Fairies please leave their lights on for Ling Bai."
Ling Bai gazed across at the eighteen bright lamps. For a long while, none went out, and he froze for half a second.
Wait, I thought my reputation was in ruins?
What's going on here?
Swish!
Finally, one lamp went out. It belonged to one of the two girls still wearing bamboo hats.
The final score: seventeen lamps.
"Didn't they all call Adoptive Father a scumbag?"
Yao Haoxuan was distraught at the sight. "But the moment the Sea God Festival begins, they all leave their lights on for him!
These girls who say one thing and do another!!!"
"Nannan, Nannan…"
Xu Sanshi looked at Jiang Nannan, who had left her lamp on, and wanted to cry but had no tears.
In reality, it was precisely because Ling Bai had put Xu Sanshi in his place earlier that Jiang Nannan had been greatly pleased and decided to leave her light on.
"Ming'er, didn't you always dislike him? Why did you leave your light on too?" Han Ruoruo asked curiously.
"I was afraid if he had too few lamps, it would make you lose face."
Wu Ming explained stubbornly, then turned to ask another female student, "Yun'er, why did you leave your light on for Ling Bai? You're usually the loudest one calling him a scumbag!"
Yun'er stood on her tiptoes, staring at Ling Bai without blinking as if pink bubbles were floating around her head:
"A scumbag is like junk food. You know it's bad for you, but it's just so delicious!
His feelings might be fake, but the happiness I feel is real!
The key is that he's both handsome and strong. I don't even dare imagine how adorable Junior Brother Ling would be if he actually took a liking to me, racking his brains for ways to trick me into getting all cleaned up just for him!"