Another few days passed in the blink of an eye.
The elimination rounds had completely ended. With one team receiving a bye, only sixty-seven out of the one hundred and thirty-three teams remained. What followed was the intense and grueling group stage.
By now, the group stage was already half over. Shrek had participated in several matches, but Lu Cheng had not shown his face again. Ever since he left an unforgettable, powerful sense of oppression on many teams, he had handed the arena over to Teacher Wang Yan's command, leaving Bei Bei, Jiang Nannan, and the others to practice.
After all, they could afford to lose in the group stage. Moreover, in their group, only one or two teams could be considered strong opponents with a soul king holding the fort. The captains of the other teams were only at the Soul Ancestor Realm at best, so it was treated as practice for the preparatory team.
Star Luo Hotel, top floor.
Inside Lu Cheng's dormitory.
As he breathed in and out, grayish-black mist surged around him, wrapping the entire room airtight to prevent his aura from leaking out. Lu Cheng sat on the bed, his expression slightly pained, with fine beads of sweat seeping from his forehead.
His left arm, in particular, was radiating a bright light.
Beside him, a tall figure dressed in a snow-white gown stood quietly. Her exquisite face was like frost, and her eyes were as calm as water…a presence that would make anyone gasp and call her a goddess at first glance. At this moment, she was watching Lu Cheng with a hint of worry in her beautiful eyes.
She looked at Electrolux beside her. "Elder Electrolux, this child… he won't be in any danger, will he?"
"Soul bone fusion is a difficult task, after all. However, as the Snow Empress, you rule over all snow clans in the Far North, and now that you have sacrificed yourself to Lu Cheng, you naturally carry the pressure of a superior being. As long as he can endure this pain, he will pass through safely." Electrolux stroked his beard. Although his state was still that of a divine sense, it had clearly become much more solid.
Nourished by the Life Gold, his divine sense was gradually recovering, and many of his lost memories were being retrieved.
Hearing this, the Snow Empress's beautiful face softened slightly.
Holding a towel in her delicate hand, she gently wiped the youth's forehead, her beautiful eyes still carrying a trace of worry.
For some reason, although this youth was clearly much younger than her, he possessed an indescribable charm that made one unable to resist wanting to follow him. She had also spoken with Xiao Huo, who felt the exact same way.
The youth's solitary figure somehow evoked a sense of pity in her, constantly giving her the urge to pull him into her arms and cherish him deeply.
"Whew…"
Half an hour passed in an instant.
Lu Cheng exhaled a breath of turbid air as the icy mist around him slowly dissipated. The seventy-thousand-year Ice Jade Scorpion soul bone had completely transformed into a drop of pale blue liquid, thoroughly merging into the seven hundred thousand-year-old left leg bone given to him by the Snow Empress.
(Author Notes: In the original work, Huo Yuhao fused the secret method left arm bone into the Ice Empress's torso bone; soul bones of different positions can also undergo fusion.)
The soul skill granted to Lu Cheng by the Snow Empress's seven-hundred-thousand-year-old left leg bone was called "Snow Empress's Realm." It was actually a domain-type soul skill. Within a diameter of five hundred meters, everything became a home field of snow, boosting his ultimate ice attribute by fifty percent.
After the fusion, the Snow Empress's soul bone still remained dominant, but it gained an additional soul skill…Ice Explosion.
However, this Ice Explosion was by no means from a seventy-thousand-year cultivation soul bone, but rather a seven hundred thousand year one.
Because the two soul bones had merged into one and the Snow Empress held the dominant position, the power of the Ice Explosion rose accordingly, essentially becoming one of the spirit abilities of the Snow Empress's left leg bone.
"Is this the power of a fused soul bone?"
Lu Cheng's eyes filled with joy.
Ice Explosion.
This skill was incredibly powerful. After all, almost any Soul Skill related to explosions could be considered a divine skill, and this one was at the seven-hundred-thousand-year level, making it even more terrifying…
As Lu Cheng rubbed his fingers, a slender, graceful figure emerged from behind him. She gently wrapped her arms around his neck, her cool, delicate fingers brushing against his cheek as she exhaled a sweet fragrance. "Did you succeed?"
Lu Cheng's body stiffened.
His throat bobbed.
Why was this Snow Empress acting more and more like… a mother?
No matter her actions or expressions, she looked at him with a subtle, doting affection that was almost intimate. No one would ever believe that this was once the ruler of the Far North.
Just looking at the dumbfounded expression of the Tianmeng Ice Silkworm nearby, one could tell how shocking this scene was to a spirit beast of the Far North.
"Yes."
Lu Cheng's eyelid twitched slightly as he nodded.
"Soul bone fusion isn't that difficult. Under your suppression, the Ice Jade Scorpion could only submit. The greater the difference in cultivation years, the smoother the fusion is."
"Don't use formal pronouns; it sounds too distant…" The Snow Empress's finger, as fair and tender as a peeled scallion, gently tapped Lu Cheng's lips as she leaned in and whispered softly in his ear.
"Then what should I call you?" Lu Cheng's expression tensed.
"If I hadn't sacrificed myself to you, it would be normal for us to be polite and distant. But now… I have sacrificed myself to you, giving you everything I have, including my soul rings, soul bones, and myself. So tell me… what should you call me?" The Snow Empress teased, seemingly finding it quite amusing to play with the young man.
"M…Mom?" Lu Cheng hesitated.
The room suddenly fell dead silent.
The Tianmeng Ice Silkworm was dumbstruck and gave a thumbs-up.
Electrolux shook his head repeatedly, looking regretful.
The Snow Empress froze on the spot. Only after a long while did she slowly move, a blush spreading across her fair earlobes. She leaned close to Lu Cheng's ear, parting her red lips to reply, "Yes, my child…"
…
"Elder Electrolux, you've recovered?" Lu Cheng asked, his eyes showing a hint of pleasant surprise.
"Indeed…" Electrolux stroked his beard. While expressing silent disdain for his disciple's thick skin in randomly calling someone his mother, he still nodded slightly.
"I have recovered a sliver of my divine sense power. Nourished by the vast Life Gold in your spiritual ocean, I now have some confidence. As for your little girlfriend, whenever you bring her over, I can resolve the imprint within her spiritual ocean."
"Will you get hurt?" Lu Cheng frowned slightly.
If Electrolux got hurt, the loss would definitely outweigh the gain. Wang Dong'er's imprint could wait, but Electrolux had only just recovered. Though he seemed powerful, he was still incredibly weak compared to a god king of Tang San's level.
…
"Hahaha…"
Electrolux laughed heartily, quite pleased with his disciple's concern. Patting Lu Cheng's shoulder, he said, "Rest assured. Only when one reaches the realm of a god does it deserve to be called divine sense. Even if I am just a fragment of divine sense, the big worm and the others cannot do anything to me because my status is far superior to theirs.
By the same token, no matter how powerful the big worm's mental force is, it cannot shake that fellow's divine sense imprint. But I am different. A mental imprint and a divine sense are also worlds apart; the former is merely a remnant shadow programmed by the main divine sense without independent consciousness, while the latter is a split soul carrying the main divine sense's origin.
Furthermore, with the support of the vast and rich Life Gold, crushing that mental imprint is just a trivial matter."
Electrolux said with a smile.
Lu Cheng nodded slightly. Just as he was about to look for Wang Dong'er, the door was suddenly pushed open. Wu Feng rushed in, completely ignoring that Lu Cheng's upper body was bare, revealing his toned and well-defined abs. She grabbed his arm and dragged him outside.
"Quick, Teacher Wang Yan asked me to get you! We can't win the match. In today's team battle, the opposing team has a Soul King. If you don't fight, I'm afraid it will be very difficult to win…"
"Against whom?"
Lu Cheng was slightly taken aback.
"Qianling Advanced Spirit Master Academy," Wu Feng said urgently.
"Qianling…"
Lu Cheng realized. There indeed was such a team in the original work, though they were basically background characters. Under the joint efforts of Xu Sanshi, Bei Bei, He Caitou, and the others, they had secured a hard-fought victory. But things were different now. With Ma Xiaotao and the others recovering from their injuries and unable to play, the only Soul Ancestors the Shrek preparatory team could field were Bei Bei and Jiang Nannan. The opponents they had faced in the previous days were mostly a mix of Soul Elders and Soul Ancestors, with no Soul Kings playing, so they were still able to handle them relatively easily.
But the Qianling team still had some tricks up their sleeves.
Their main force was basically made up entirely of Soul Ancestors, and they also possessed a Soul King. Their combat strength was indeed not to be underestimated.
"Let's go."
Lu Cheng nodded slightly.
They had to finish in the top two of the group stage to advance to the round of sixteen. Although he would definitely pull off something big for Shrek in the finals, for now… it was better to play it safe.
Not to mention, Elder Xuan would also be arriving today.
"But could you at least let me put on some clothes first?" Lu Cheng looked helplessly at Wu Feng, who was only focused on rushing forward.
…Ah?
Wu Feng turned around carelessly and bumped right into Lu Cheng's chest.
The rich, sunny scent of the youth rushed into her nose, causing her face to instantly flush. Taking advantage of the confusion, she stealthily felt him up, then turned her head away with a lingering desire. "Then hurry up and get dressed. I won't look…"
"If the Young Miss found out that I took advantage of the Lu Cheng she constantly longs for, she wouldn't get angry, would she?" Wu Feng stood outside the bedroom door, her back against the doorframe, lightly tapping her leather boots as a blush colored her pretty face.
Originally, she would only feel disgusted upon seeing men.
Coupled with her frequent intimacy with Ning Tian, she had mistakenly believed she liked women. But after Lu Cheng woke her up to the truth, she had increasingly realized over the past few days that she felt nothing for Ning Tian. Even when wrapping her arms around Ning Tian's waist, hugging her, or smelling her faint body fragrance, her heart remained completely undisturbed.
On the contrary, today…
That rich masculine scent entering her nose suddenly made her legs feel weak.
"Could it be… I actually like men?"
Wu Feng scratched her head, arriving at this conclusion in disbelief.
The door slowly opened.
Lu Cheng was fully dressed. Glimpsing a flash of disappointment in Wu Feng's crimson eyes, he raised an eyebrow, curled his lips into a smile, and pulled the girl along toward the arena.
Xingluo Square.
As the referee announced the match lineup,
The entire venue erupted in cheers once again.
"Shrek!"
"Shrek!"
"Shrek!"
…
On the imperial city wall, the Star Luo Emperor looked on with a smile in his eyes as he turned to Princess Xu Jiujiu beside him. "After that Shrek youth made massive purchases at my Starlight Auction a few days ago, he hid in the hotel and hasn't appeared since. I wonder what he's up to. He isn't even participating in today's crucial team battle. Isn't he afraid that Shrek might fall at this hurdle?"
"Shrek cannot lose…" Princess Xu Jiujiu's beautiful eyes were filled with complex emotions. "Although the group stage allows for some margin of error, if Shrek Academy loses even a single round, their path forward will only become much harder."
"He couldn't have gone to study the soul-devouring engraving knife, could he?"
At this point, a trace of worry couldn't help but flash through the girl's eyes.
That was a brutal weapon that had backfired on more than a dozen of its owners.
No matter how much of a monster he was, if he dared to study that thing, he would likely be unable to escape the fate of being cursed with misfortune. She could only hope he was just looking at it and hadn't delved too deeply.
"It's hard to say…"
Xu Jiawei shook his head, his gaze falling back onto the Shrek waiting area.
"What should we do? Did that girl find him?" Teacher Wang Yan paced back and forth like an ant on a hot pan, his eyes bloodshot as he looked up toward the Star Luo Hotel from time to time.
If Lu Cheng doesn't appear, then there is a high probability of a loss.
After all, they were missing one person out of seven, and the entire lineup consisted of the preparatory team without a single official member to back them up. Even if they wanted to hide their strength, this was taking it too far. Lu Cheng had made a great start, intimidating the restless groups who wanted to challenge Shrek and forcing them to restrain themselves, which was how they had made it this far.
But if they lost this round, their secret would be out.
Everyone would see through Shrek's vulnerability.
It would mean Shrek Academy temporarily had no top-tier combat power to field. The subsequent teams would definitely not go easy on Shrek; they would even go all out.
And it would be very difficult for Shrek Academy to win as easily as they did in the first two matches.
This "Empty Fort Strategy" could no longer be sustained.
"Will the contestants from both sides please take the stage!"
The referee announced slowly.
Opposite them, the seven members of the Qianling Team had grim expressions and moved with heavy steps, clearly not expecting to face one of the teams they least wanted to encounter. On Shrek's side, Bei Bei, Jiang Nannan, and the other three also showed hesitant expressions as they prepared to take the stage.
"How about I…" Ma Xiaotao stepped forward, about to speak.
However, a hand rested on her shoulder.
Lu Cheng's slender figure appeared by her side, a smile playing on his lips. "Sister Xiao Tao, let me handle this instead…"
"You guy."
Ma Xiaotao rolled her eyes, her phoenix-like eyes glaring at Lu Cheng.
"You always do things that make people's hearts leap into their throats."
"Haha, I alone am enough."
Lu Cheng shook his head.
"There's no need for you all to go up."
A faint chill flashed in his eyes. "Since their first reaction upon seeing me wasn't to surrender but to test me instead, then I will make them feel the price of their hesitation."
He also found it troublesome.
It seemed the lesson last time wasn't enough, leaving these fellows with wishful thinking.
In that case, they shouldn't even think about preserving their strength in this group stage. Just buy your carriage tickets back home right now…
"Alright."
The heavy stone in Teacher Wang Yan's heart instantly fell to the ground, and his face finally regained some Life Qi.
As Lu Cheng's figure appeared at the center of the arena,
The atmosphere of the entire tournament suddenly reached a climax.
Many young girls had eyes full of affection, cupping their delicate hands around their mouths as they loudly called out Lu Cheng's name.
"Aren't you going to consider surrendering directly?"
Lu Cheng smiled as he spoke to the captain of the Qianling Team.
"You're still as arrogant as ever…" The tall, thin youth narrowed his eyes. His palms were sweating, but he still held his ground, quietly staring at Lu Cheng. "I want to see if we can force out some of your trump cards."
"Our Qianling Team is by no means as useless as the Tianling Team."
"We shall wait and see."
A gentle smile appeared on Lu Cheng's handsome face.
"But my time is also limited…"
"Since you've chosen to waste my time, you must be prepared to pay the price."
Shen Ce's face twitched as he resisted the urge to beat this guy up right then and there.
What a show-off…
Notes:
Reward for losing heroine fic~