"I will stay away from Xiaogang from now on. Are you satisfied, Uncle?"
Liu Erlong's face was drained of color, her eyes brimming with tears as she struggled to stand up, leaning on the armrest of the chair. "I have something to attend to, so I'll take my leave now."
She had originally thought that as long as she and Xiaogang lived their lives in peace, ignoring the outside world, everything would be fine. But every time, things would spiral out of her control.
Since Yu Yuanzhen arrived, this was already the second time she had been scolded. From her father and uncle's dignity to now being accused of shamelessness, the continuous humiliation had reached the limit of what Liu Erlong could endure.
Flender felt a sharp pain in his heart seeing Liu Erlong in such a state, but at this moment, he had neither the standing nor the strength to voice any opinion in front of Yu Yuanzhen.
"What? Your nephew has been missing for two or three days, and yet your own matters are more important?"
Yu Yuanzhen narrowed his eyes and let out a cold laugh. "You'd better pray that Tianheng is safe, or else I'll have Luo Mian come and have a talk with you."
"Uncle, there's no need to involve my father. I won't have any more dealings with Xiaogang from now on." Two clear tears rolled down Liu Erlong's face, and without caring about anything else, she lowered her head and ran out of the meeting room.
Silence. The entire meeting room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
"Senior Yu Yuanzhen, perhaps we should discuss Tianheng's matter first," Tang San said, breaking the oppressive atmosphere as he touched his nose and addressed Yu Yuanzhen.
Seeing this, the others quickly chimed in, "Yes, yes, Senior, Tianheng's matter is the most important right now."
"Do you think Tianheng might have been kidnapped?" Ma Hongjun's eyes flickered.
"How so? Has Tianheng offended anyone?" Hearing Ma Hongjun's words, Yu Yuanzhen temporarily set aside the matter of Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong.
As one of the top forces on the continent, there were naturally no shortage of enemies and sects that wished for their downfall.
But when it came to assassination or kidnapping the seeds of a sect, everyone had an unspoken agreement not to do so. Such an act was like opening Pandora's box; once opened, every sect and family would live in fear.
Dai Mubai reacted quickly upon hearing Ma Hongjun's words and immediately said, "If Tianheng has had any enemies in recent years, it would only be Li Xun from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School."
Hearing such blatant provocation from the two, Flender frowned but said nothing. Although the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School was unlikely to do such a thing, they were indeed enemies of everyone present, including Yu Tianheng.
Tang San, Xiao Wu, and the others remained silent, but their attitudes were clear.
Ye Lingling, who usually stayed out of such matters, lowered her eyelids at the scene.
"Although there have been some conflicts between the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School and the Blue Lightning Tyrant School in recent years, Ning Fengzhi's sense of propriety would not allow him to go this far."
Yu Yuanzhen's eyes flickered as he took in the varied expressions of everyone present. "But for now, there aren't any good leads. I'll go and ask around."
The thoughts and emotions of these youngsters were too obvious. Having lived for so many years, Yu Yuanzhen was not one to be easily provoked by such petty schemes.
I heard these two kids were crippled by that boy named Li Xun. Hmph, trying to play these little tricks with me—truly, dog meat can't make it to the banquet table. Once Tianheng returns, I think it's best to leave this academy behind.
As for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, Li Xun really needed to pay a visit. After all, their development in Heavenly Dou City over the years had been quite impressive, and their information network was far more extensive than his own.
Thinking of this, Yu Yuanzhen sighed, slowly stood up, and walked out without paying any further attention to the people in the room.
It had been six years since he last saw the Sword Douluo, and he wondered what level of cultivation the Sword Douluo had reached by now.
"Young Master, there's news from Shrek Academy," Aunt Xue said.
Li Xun took the note handed to him by Aunt Xue, read it, and smiled. He casually tossed the note into the fireplace. "Isn't this just slandering a good person? And I didn't want to bother with such trash in the first place, but since he's still jumping around, he might as well die."
Aunt Xue helped Li Xun put on his coat and straightened his collar, smiling as she asked, "What does the Young Master plan to do?"
Li Xun thought for a moment. "I heard there's a lot of Whale Glue in stock now? I bet he's never tasted such an expensive tonic. Let him try it in a couple of days."
"Isn't that a bit wasteful?"
"It's fine. Consider it a gesture of dignity," Li Xun said with a faint smile, thinking of the past. "Let's not talk about this anymore, Aunt Xue. Are Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing up yet?"
"Miss Zhu Zhuqing is up, but Rongrong absorbed a Soul Bone late last night and said she wanted to nap a little longer since it's not time yet," Aunt Xue replied, chuckling at the thought of Ning Rongrong's drowsy appearance. "Will it delay the match? Should I go and wake her?"
Li Xun glanced at the time and realized there were still a few minutes before the scheduled wake-up time. "No need, Aunt Xue. If you go to wake her now, there really won't be enough time. I'll go and call her."
Li Xun walked out of the room and arrived at the door next door. He calculated the time and, right on the dot, pushed the door open. "Rongrong, it's time to get up."
"Isn't it just on time? Brother, let me nap for two more minutes."
"I'll count to three."
"Just two minutes."
"Three."
Slap, slap, slap—
"Ugh, I think you just want to hit me."
At the Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena.
On the stage, the seven beauties of the Tianshui Academy team were already waiting. Dressed in their blue uniforms, each of them was youthful and radiant, occasionally drawing loud cheers from the audience.
However, this lively scene didn't last long before it was interrupted by Li Xun and his team.
With over twenty consecutive victories, Li Xun's team had firmly planted the seeds of victory in the hearts of the Heavenly Dou people. Even the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School's uniforms and figurines were selling like hotcakes.
Listening to the deafening cheers of tens of thousands of people, Shui Yue'er pouted, turned her head away, and snorted softly. "Eldest Sister, do you think we'll become like this if we defeat him?"
Shui Bing'er brushed her water-blue shoulder-length hair and looked at Li Xun as he stepped onto the stage, smiling. "Maybe."
"Both teams, please summon your Martial Souls," the referee announced, and the members of both teams quickly summoned their Martial Souls.
"Shui Bing'er of Tianshui Academy team, Level 43 Control System Battle Soul Honour."
"Li Xun of Heavenly Dou Royal Team, Level 54 Control System Battle Soul King." Li Xun glanced curiously at Shui Bing'er, who had been staring at him since earlier.
"No matter how many times I see it, your Spirit Rings are always awe-inspiring," Shui Bing'er said, looking at the one yellow, two purple, and two black Spirit Rings beneath Li Xun's feet. She took a deep breath. "Let's proceed as planned."
As soon as the words were spoken, the members of the Tianshui team quickly formed their battle formation, with Shui Bing'er at the forefront, encircling Xue Wu in the center.
"Even if you compliment me, I won't go easy on you in this match," Li Xun sighed regretfully, feeling the probing gazes of Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, and Dugu Yan behind him.
"Wood Release: Advent of a World of Trees."
Seeing a beautiful woman smiling at him from the opposing side, Li Xun didn't dare to be careless. With a clap of his hands, vines instantly sprouted from the ground, rapidly forming a massive wave of trees nearly ten meters high and as wide as the arena. The roaring wave of the Tree Sea surged toward the Tianshui Academy team.
The sheer scale of the attack not only stunned the Tianshui team but also left the audience and Yang Qianjun in shock. Only Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, and Dugu Yan behind Li Xun smiled.
"Going all out against women?" Shui Bing'er, standing at 1.65 meters, bit her lip and glared at the tsunami-like wave of trees approaching, her voice filled with resentment.