Huo Yuhao laughed and said, “Nothing. Someone is just experiencing seizures.”
“You are the one having seizures.” w.a.n.g Dong replied in fury. He chased after Huo Yuhao, but Huo Yuhao did not run away this time. After he was caught, he immediately straightened his look and said, “Stop playing, we’re about to compete soon. Remaining calm will help us keep ourselves in the best condition.”
“You… coming up with this trick again.” w.a.n.g Dong tugged his ears, and Huo Yuhao screamed in pain. Fortunately, everyone else came out from their rooms at this moment, and gathered together to leave the hotel. Huo Yuhao managed to avert a crisis just like that.
However, there were more coincidences today. When they reached the staircase, the members of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy came out of their room at the same time. Both teams descended the staircase together.
Today, Elder Ma wasn’t the one leading the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy . He smiled and nodded towards w.a.n.g Yan. w.a.n.g Yan returned the formality. But the students of both academies were not so cordial towards one another.
Xiao Hongchen spotted Huo Yuhao almost immediately, and his face flashed with the smile of a victor. He smiled, “Twin martial souls. You are brilliant!”
Although w.a.n.g Dong and Huo Yuhao were disturbing each other earlier, w.a.n.g Dong stood up for Huo Yuhao without any hesitation at this point and said sarcastically, “Uncle, who are you?”
“Un… uncle?” Xiao Hongchen opened his eyes wide as he looked at w.a.n.g Dong. He pointed to his nose and said, “Are you calling me?”
w.a.n.g Dong seemed innocent and unaffected as he said, “Of course I am! Uncle.”
Xiao Hongchen was not even 15 years old. Although he often seemed very arrogant, he was not that old. The short moustache above his lips was a symbol of his youth. But now, w.a.n.g Dong made it seemed like it was a symbol of a middle-aged man.
“Am, am I so old?” Xiao Hongchen was speechless as he stared wide-eyed at w.a.n.g Dong.
w.a.n.g Dong was very serious as he nodded his head and said, “You’re not that old. You must be the teacher of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, uncle.”
“Stop calling me uncle.” Xiao Hongchen felt as if he was going to go berserk. Normally, he was one who liked to flaunt himself, such that no one apart from his sister Meng Hongchen was willing to help him. Instead, they wanted to laugh.
Meng Hongchen was annoyed as she said, “Little fellow, take a careful look. My brother is only 14 years old; he has not even reached 15 years. He is no uncle.”
w.a.n.g Dong turned to Meng Hongchen, and the look in his eyes suddenly changed. It was a weird look that carried 30% admiration, 60% attachment and 10% yearning. “Elder sister, you are a ravis.h.i.+ng beauty!”
Meng Hongchen was stunned as he said that. It was important to note that when w.a.n.g Dong had first entered the academy, he caught the eyes of almost the entire batch of young girls, including those from his cla.s.s. He had charming, big pinkish-blue eyes, and pinkish-blue short hair that covered his forehead. His skin was tender and white, while his delicate face had a pink complexion. To every girl, he was like a lady-killer.
Although Meng Hongchen was older than w.a.n.g Dong and Huo Yuhao, it was only by a year. Looking at this young man who was around the same height as her and so attractive too, Meng Hongchen’s face blushed as she was complimented. She muttered, “You are very handsome too.”
w.a.n.g Dong smiled and said, “So this uncle is your elder brother! Is he your biological brother? Why do the both of you look so dissimilar? Although the both of you come from the same parents, the gap in looks is too stark.”
“Rascal, do you want to get beaten up?” Xiao Hongchen could not tolerate it any further. Not only did w.a.n.g Dong call him old, he even implied that he was ugly. He could not bear it any further!
“Elder brother, why are you so fierce?” Meng Hongchen looked at the frantic w.a.n.g Dong and could not help but pull her brother away.
“Meng, are you for real?” Xiao Hongchen was stunned as he looked at his own sister. Right now, w.a.n.g Dong had already shot him a provocative look before leaving the hotel with Huo Yuhao quickly. As he walked, he waved goodbye to Meng Hongchen.
“w.a.n.g Dong, you’re good!” Huo Yuhao was shocked as he said, “I didn’t expect that you were capable of picking up girls too.”
w.a.n.g Dong snorted and said, “You don’t know about this, but many young ladies have fallen in love with me. There are many ways to pick up girls, but it’s a pity that…”
“What’s there to pity?” Huo Yuhao asked casually.
w.a.n.g Dong glared at him and said, “Nothing. Huo Yuhao, do you know what the highest level of picking up girls is?”
Huo Yuhao shook his head ignorantly.
w.a.n.g Dong replied seriously, “It’s to make them chase you on their own! Haha.”
Bei Bei, who was walking in front, had been noticing all the movements behind him. He could not help but laugh, and shook his head as he said, “These little fellows are really active!”
Xu Sans.h.i.+ was beside him, and he said softly, “I think w.a.n.g Dong is very great! Seems like I should learn from him.”
Bei Bei looked at him disdainfully and answered, “What nonsense do you want to learn? His methods of picking up girls are build on his looks. Do you have his looks? If you were half as handsome as I am, you wouldn’t be in this state.”
“You are the nonsensical one.” Xu Sans.h.i.+ retorted. “I can’t pick up girls because… aiyo, who kicked my b.u.t.t?” When he turned around and saw Jiang Nannan’s infuriated look, he became honest, and slapped himself. He tried to appease her, “I won’t say. Rest a.s.sured that I won’t tell anyone.”
Jiang Nannan ignored him, and quickened her steps to overtake him.
The situation was rather weird now. The members of Shrek Academy were walking in front, whereas those of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy followed behind them. Many of the champions and runners-up of recent tournaments streamed into Star Luo Plaza.
Perhaps the Star Luo Empire had allowed more spectators in, as the Star Luo Plaza seemed to have a larger crowd than usual. People were packed in extremely tightly. As heads bobbed up and down, that was all the majority of people were able to see.
The resting area for the tournament felt very empty now. Most of the teams had been eliminated, and the 16 teams that remained were the representatives of the top academies on the continent. Today, 4 matches would be held. Tomorrow, another 4 matches would be held. After that, there would be 2 more days of individual compet.i.tion against the same opponents. When all 4 days of compet.i.tion had ended, the round of 16 would conclude, and the 8 finalists would be decided. After each stage of the tournament, there would be 1 rest day. Following that, the tournament would continue.
Both Shrek Academy and the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy would feature in today’s 4 rounds, but the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy’s match was in the afternoon, and they did not have to come in the morning. However, they still came to watch how Shrek Academy would perform against the 5 soul kings of the Dou Ling Imperial Soul Academy.
After settling down in the resting area, w.a.n.g Dong did not forget to smile at both Xiao Hongchen and his sister. Xiao Hongchen felt that he was obviously being provocative. But to Meng Hongchen, w.a.n.g Dong’s bright and beautiful smile made her heart beat faster.
Huo Yuhao tugged at w.a.n.g Dong’s arm and said, “Stop playing. Be careful of going overboard.”
w.a.n.g Dong groaned and said, “What? Are you jealous? Are you interested in that girl?”
Huo Yuhao answered him softly, “Stop harboring dirty thoughts, will you?”
w.a.n.g Dong laughed coldly and said, “I wonder who’s the one with all the dirty thoughts. Alright, I won’t bother you anymore. I’ll get ready to fight.” The elimination rounds would be held across 2 days, and today was the team compet.i.tion. The victor of the team compet.i.tion could be said to be one foot into the quarterfinals of the tournament. The individual elimination rounds would be held the next day.
w.a.n.g Yan was serious as he stood in front of everyone. “Act according to our strategy. The Dou Ling Imperial Soul Academy must have their reasons for intentionally losing first place in the qualifier round, or they must have some special preparations. This round is critical to both parties. Hence, we must not give them any shred of opportunity.”
As he saw Ma Xiaotao’s look of disapproval, w.a.n.g Yan said in a low voice, “Don’t forget what the consequences were when we were careless in front of the Envoy of the Death G.o.d. All these years, Shrek Academy has been the champion of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. However, we have also become everyone’s target for that same reason. I think it’s fair to say that every partic.i.p.ating academy will have done their research on us. Following the development of soul tools, there are more and more strategies now. Do not underestimate our opponents. Whoever is not interested in carrying out my strategy can forget about competing in the next round.”
Upon remembering the Envoy of the Death G.o.d that had heavily hurt the official team members, everyone felt a chill in their hearts. Ma Xiaotao looked up to w.a.n.g Yan. Although she was a little unconvinced, she was less scornful than before.
As the compet.i.tion drew closer to its end, the atmosphere also became more and more intense.
This was an elimination round. Furthermore, it was the round of 16 elimination stage. If defeated, it would mean elimination from the tournament. For every round won, one’s ranking would increase. Undoubtedly, all the academies that partic.i.p.ated in this tournament would give their all under such a circ.u.mstance.
The more they watched the tournament, the more the spectators appreciated it. The most intense battle was about to start. How could they not be eager to watch? There appeared to be more spectators than usual in Star Luo Plaza today. They managed to squeeze their way in through different forms of connections and through different channels, as they wanted to see this exciting duel! Especially since Shrek Academy was competing in the morning, and their opponent had taken second place in the round-robin stage of the tournament. This attracted more attention than usual.
“The round of 16 to qualify for the quarterfinals will now begin. The first match will be between Shrek Academy and the Dou Ling Imperial Soul Academy. Competing members, please enter the waiting area to prepare for the match.”