"Hey, Emperor Tian, you guys are really something else. You didn't even tell me that Spirit Ice had returned."
"Didn't you find out yourself?"
Hearing the deep male voice coming from the other end of the soul communicator, Bear Lord muttered, "That's not the same thing. So, aren't you going to meet him?"
"He will eventually go to Mingdu with the Master. It won't be too late to meet then."
Hearing the rare emotional fluctuation in the voice from the other side, Bear Lord scratched his head.
Emperor Tian's tone was off...
What happened between the Master and Huo Yuhao that even got him a little agitated?
Bear Lord couldn't figure it out for the moment and decided not to dwell on it. He chuckled and asked, "Aren't you going to do something about the Golden Dragon King's seal?"
The Golden Dragon King's remnant soul was inside Wulin's body. Wulin was his disciple. Rounding up, the Golden Dragon King was his disciple too. Emperor Tian, what should you call me?
"You itching for a beating?"
Emperor Tian's tone suddenly turned cold and deep, making Bear Lord shiver. "I will send the methods over later. You pass them to your disciple. That wisp of divine consciousness will be my responsibility from now on. If there are any more problems, you will be held accountable!"
"..." Bear Lord's mouth twitched, but he couldn't argue.
If Emperor Tian hadn't already communicated with the Master beforehand and given him some face, he would have probably struck at Tang Wulin directly.
Hanging up the soul communicator, Bear Lord's expression turned a bit strange as he thought about all the methods placed on Tang Wulin.
Spirit Ice left methods on Wulin. Emperor Tian gave his own. And he himself occasionally circled around Wulin as well.
And Wulin himself went every day to harass that wisp of divine consciousness...
Was that divine consciousness bearing pressure it was never meant to bear?
Well, it was a God King's divine consciousness, not to be underestimated. As Spirit Ice put it proceed with caution.
...
"The closing ceremony ends today, so we're going back, right?"
"Probably. I heard your side is finished too, Wulin?"
"Mm. Teacher Bear Lord said there's no rush. I've already mastered the techniques, and the things I needed have been sent over. We can go back to Eastsea now..."
Xie Xie, Wang Jinxi, Zhang Yangzi, Xu Xiaoyan, and Tang Wulin five of them walked down the hotel corridor, chatting as they went.
"I heard the hotel prepared a luxurious feast today for all the participating teams as a closing ceremony celebration."
Xu Xiaoyan blinked, her tone filled with anticipation.
Xie Xie rested his hands behind his head and grinned lazily. "Then we need to eat well. The food the hotel provided these past few days couldn't compare to what Teacher Luo and Boss Yuhao made. We have to make up for it today."
Wang Jinxi nodded. "We're heading back tomorrow. Tonight we can relax."
Zhang Yangzi looked thoughtful. "I wonder if teams from other academies will come too. Maybe we'll run into some familiar faces."
The five of them chatted and laughed as they entered the dining hall. Sure enough, the food today was even more abundant than usual. The long tables were filled with exquisite dishes everything from seafood to roasted meat, from desserts to specialty snacks. There were students from other academies already eating, but maybe because of the timing, not many had arrived yet.
They had just found a place to sit when suddenly, Xie Xie heard a familiar voice not far away.
"What do you want to eat?"
Xie Xie turned his head and saw Huo Yuhao holding a girl's hand nearby. The two were chatting and laughing while picking out food.
Seeing the girl's appearance, Xie Xie felt momentarily dazzled.
The girl had silver hair cascading like moonlight, clear violet crystal eyes, and delicate features. She possessed both a maiden's liveliness and an innate cool and refined temperament. Her white long dress outlined her slender figure, making her look like the darling of heaven and earth.
Xu Xiaoyan and that Ye Xinglan from Shrek Academy were both beautiful. Gu Yuena was also a beauty with great presence. But in front of this girl, they were all eclipsed.
Only Gu Yuena could match her in presence, but even then, it was just that.
"Xie Xie, what are you looking at?" Xu Xiaoyan followed Xie Xie's gaze with some confusion and immediately widened her eyes. "Wait... that's Yuhao... and next to him is..."
Na'er's home got stolen? Where did this monstrous vixen come from?
Her focus landed on the hands of Huo Yuhao and that girl held together. She instinctively looked around, afraid that Gu Yuena would suddenly appear and witness this scene.
The other three also noticed and looked over, sucking in a breath.
"Which academy is that girl from? I don't remember seeing her at all."
"She might not be a competing student. Maybe she's connected to the hotel? Saw Yuhao dominating the tournament and came to chat him up?"
"That's possible."
"Is that the real issue here? The point is she's about to succeed!"
Xu Xiaoyan withdrew her gaze, her expression complicated. "After the competition ended, a lot of people approached Yuhao. That Ye Xinglan from Shrek seemed to have approached him too. But he used his spirit abilities to brush them all off. Anyone who got within five meters of him seemed to fall under an illusion and turned right around. But this girl clearly didn't get that treatment!"
Honestly, in Xu Xiaoyan's opinion, although Huo Yuhao had been a bit too straightforward before, he gave off a strong sense of security to the girls. He didn't seem like the type to enjoy attracting bees and butterflies.
But she never expected that someone like Huo Yuhao would eventually fall victim to looks.
So this world really did value appearance after all?
Oh, but she herself seemed to value appearance too?
Then never mind.
Xie Xie snapped back to reality and said in a low voice, "Boss Yuhao said he and Gu Yuena would come together. Did they separate halfway? What happens if Gu Yuena walks in and sees this?"
Xu Xiaoyan stood up. "What else can we do? Separate them and keep this a secret."
"Is that really going to help?"
Wang Jinxi's tone was low. "The atmosphere between Yuhao and that girl doesn't seem any worse than what he has with Gu Yuena. This is just treating the symptoms, not the root cause."
"No time to hesitate. Treating the symptoms is better than doing nothing. I'll lure that girl away. You go talk to Yuhao."
Xu Xiaoyan turned around, and her movement froze.
Right in front of her, Huo Yuhao and that silver-haired girl had already walked over to their table with their plates in hand.
Looking at their frozen expressions as they stood in a circle, Huo Yuhao smiled helplessly at the person beside him.
"Just tell them directly, Na'er."
Na'er?
Xu Xiaoyan and the others felt their pupils shake.
What did that mean?
Gu Yuena smiled gracefully and nodded to the group. "Let me reintroduce myself. This is the real me Gu Yuena. Before this, I kept my appearance disguised for certain reasons."
Xie Xie swallowed hard. "So the black-haired one before was an imitation disguise?"
Gu Yuena nodded gently, a strand of silver hair slipping from her shoulder. "To avoid drawing attention. But now..." She turned to look at Huo Yuhao, a trace of tenderness flashing in her eyes. "There's no need to hide anymore."
She had originally planned to reveal her true appearance at some point. After Yuhao confessed to her yesterday, she simply took the opportunity to do so.
After all, one of the reasons she had changed her appearance in the first place was because of Yuhao's words and identity.
Xu Xiaoyan murmured, "Unbelievable."
"Believe it or not, it's true."
Huo Yuhao smiled and shook his head, pulling out a chair for Gu Yuana to sit down while taking the seat next to her. "It's the truth."
Gu Yuena's gaze swept over the still shocked group and finally landed on Xu Xiaoyan, picking up the conversation. "Let's set aside the matter of appearance. Weren't you just about to lure me away?"
Xu Xiaoyan's face instantly turned bright red. "Well... we thought..."
Gu Yuena chuckled lightly and didn't press her. "Thank you for your concern, Xiaoyan. Oh, I asked my teacher to find a teacher for you."
"Really?" Xu Xiaoyan's face lit up with joy. "What is that senior's name? What do they like?"
Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena exchanged a glance. The latter smiled. "Secret."
...
Although the Tianhai Alliance Grand Competition had gone through various ups and downs, even blasting a large hole in the hotel and inn, it ultimately ended smoothly.
For the five-man team matches of Tang Wulin and the others, aside from the last match, neither Gu Yuena nor Huo Yuhao participated. The five of them had fought their way into the semifinals on their own.
The audience was also deeply impressed by the five of them after all, among them there was a thousand-year spirit soul, a martial soul fusion technique, and a very sharp tongued agile attack "expert"...
To this, Comrade Xu Xiaoyan expressed her protest.
When would her days of having no presence ever end?
She would learn from her mysterious teacher and rise!
Aside from the middle school division, the Eastsea Academy's high school division, led by a Blue Silver King four ring Spirit Ancestor, also achieved very good results.
Combined with the impact of Huo Yuhao and Gu Yuena's earlier appearances, many eyes suddenly turned toward Eastsea. But with the Spirit Transmission Tower covering things up, only basic information could be uncovered, and it did not interfere with anyone's daily lives.
Cultivation knows no time. The river of time flowed quietly, and in the blink of an eye, two years slipped through their fingers.
***
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