Douluo Continent: The Eternal Dawn

Chapter 149 The competition begins

As night fell, Ye Xixuan arrived as scheduled and knocked on Ling Luochen's door.

Just as he was about to strike a second time, his hand landed on empty air.

Ling Luochen walked out of the room expressionlessly. Without waiting for Ye Xixuan to say anything, she pulled Ye Xixuan into the room and closed the door behind her.

The rooms assigned to all the students of Shrek Academy by the Star Luo Empire organizers all had the same layout: the entire suite included a bedroom, a bathroom, and a spacious living room facing the balcony.

Ye Xixuan and Ling Luochen were standing in the living room, their eyes meeting face to face, creating a strange atmosphere.

Given the deep-rooted ties between their families and their verbal engagement made in childhood, they shouldn't have ended up like this. Now, while they're not exactly strangers, their interactions are merely based on their senior-junior relationship.

"Have a seat." Ling Luochen broke the silence first, then turned around and walked towards the lounge area where the sofa and crystal coffee table were located.

Ye Xixuan didn't hesitate much and silently followed behind Ling Luochen. In his eyes now, Ling Luochen's figure could not be described as tall at all; in fact, she had a somewhat petite and cute appearance.

In just a few short years, his understanding and mindset have undergone tremendous changes.

Ye Xixuan had just come from Tang Wutong's place. He was in a state of perfect tranquility and sat down on the sofa, letting Ling Luochen pour him a cup of fragrant and warm black tea.

He stared at the cup of black tea for a moment, but didn't touch it. Instead, he went straight to the point and said to Ling Luochen, "Sister Luochen, let's start now."

“You have a woman’s scent about you.” Ling Luochen sat opposite Ye Xixuan, gracefully crossing her long, straight legs, her cold eyes seemingly carrying an inexplicable sense of oppression.

"Tang Wutong is the fiancée the academy arranged for you?"

“No.” Ye Xixuan shook his head calmly.

Upon hearing Ye Xixuan's answer, Ling Luochen was taken aback and couldn't help but furrow her brows as she continued to ask, "Then what is your relationship with her?"

"Just like what you saw, Sister Luo Chen." Subtly influenced by Elder Mu, he gradually learned the essence of dealing with matters between men and women. First of all, never express your clear attitude; only ambiguity leaves room for maneuver.

Ling Luochen fell silent again. Only now did she truly realize that the incredibly innocent Ye Xixuan of the past was gone forever. She had been completely absent from this process and knew nothing of Ye Xixuan's innermost thoughts.

Just then, a gentle smile returned to Ye Xixuan's face.

"Sister Luo Chen, do you have any other questions? If not, let's begin. Only by helping you resolve the hidden dangers in your body as soon as possible can I wholeheartedly prepare for the first round of elimination matches tomorrow."

"Hmm." Ling Luochen responded lightly, then turned her back to Ye Xixuan and took off her upper body clothes. She then swept her long black hair in front of her, completely exposing her round, snow-white shoulders and even her entire smooth, white back to Ye Xixuan.

“Use your talent ability on me; it should be more efficient than simple physical contact.”

Upon seeing this, Ye Xixuan's eyes widened instantly. He wasn't surprised that Ling Luochen knew the effects of his talent, but rather shocked by Ling Luochen's sudden and unexpected action.

However, this did indeed seem like something Ling Luochen would do, his tone devoid of any emotional fluctuation, as if he were simply going through the motions.

Ling Luochen didn't give Ye Xixuan a chance to refuse. She sat cross-legged on the soft carpet, turned her head to look at Ye Xixuan, and her dark blue eyes sparkled.

"Is there a problem with what I said?" "Yes... um, no problem." Ye Xixuan was no longer as composed as before. Her gaze darted away unconsciously. Then she quickly got up and sat down behind Ling Luochen.

When Ling Luochen turned her head, she inevitably exposed herself, but she didn't seem to care at all.

Ye Xixuan's awkwardness stemmed from witnessing this glimpse of spring. After all, no matter how much his temperament had matured over the years, he couldn't withstand Ling Luochen's unpredictable behavior.

Ling Luochen's cold voice rang out again, urging Ye Xixuan, "Didn't you say you would help me resolve the hidden dangers in my body as soon as possible? Why haven't you started yet?"

"Oh." Ye Xixuan couldn't care less about anything else at this moment. He stretched out his hands and placed them on Ling Luochen's back. Black magic patterns suddenly spread out, extending all the way to Ling Luochen's cheeks and forehead.

The location of each person's martial soul origin is different. For example, Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul origin is in the lower dantian in her lower abdomen, while Tang Ya's Dark Blue Silver Grass martial soul origin is in the middle dantian in her chest.

Although Ling Luochen is not a Soul Master with a spiritual attribute, her special ice elemental attribute martial soul relies more on the control of spiritual power. The origin of her martial soul is naturally located in the upper dantian between her eyebrows.

The mark of the inner demon combined with the martial soul imprint between Ling Luochen's brows, forming a bewitching pattern, a dark blue fusion of dark and ice attributes. Using this as a medium, all the subtle evil energies scattered throughout her limbs and meridians instantly converged, separated at an astonishing speed, and then silently merged into Ye Xixuan's body.

While Ye Xixuan was focused on absorbing the evil energy from Ling Luochen's body, Ling Luochen's delicate earlobes had already turned bright red. This ice beauty's heart was far from as calm as she appeared; for her, her actions today were equally outrageous.

However, she also confirmed Ye Xixuan's thoughts in this way, at least Ye Xixuan couldn't possibly ignore it.

Ling Luochen now had a legitimate reason for her actions; she felt it necessary to guide Ye Xixuan in the future. As for what she truly thought deep down, only she knew the answer.

The first rays of morning sunlight pierced the sky and shone into Xingluo City, adding a touch of solemnity and grandeur to this historically significant capital.

Early in the morning, the teachers leading the teams from each college arrived at the capital and drew lots using the competition numbers they received during registration. There are a total of 133 teams participating in this competition. Apart from the lucky team that received a bye, the remaining 132 teams will complete the first round of elimination matches over the next three days.

The draw was simple, and the officials from the Star Luo Empire quickly completed the tally. Once the competition order was announced, the preliminary preparations for the tournament were considered complete.

As the sun slowly rose from the distant east, a warm feeling instantly spread through Xingluo City, located in the central part of the continent.

At this moment, the teams representing various academies began to enter the venue in an orderly manner, with the Shrek Academy team, the reigning champions, leading the way.

To the great surprise of the other participants from the academies present, the Shrek Academy team consisted of only two people, and they were two rather inexperienced young men and women, namely Ye Xixuan and Tang Wutong.

The people from the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy walked behind Ye Xixuan and Tang Wutong, leaving Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, the siblings, completely dumbfounded.

Aren't these the two guys we saw before? What exactly is Shrek Academy trying to do?!

Although the audience hadn't entered yet, this didn't stop Ye Xixuan and Tang Wutong, representing Shrek Academy, from becoming the focus of everyone's attention. Similar questions arose in the minds of every participating student.

Shrek Academy only sent two people?! And judging from their ages, they're clearly just in the reserve team!
Ignoring the strange looks from others, Tang Wutong affectionately linked arms with Ye Xixuan, her beautiful face beaming with a bright smile. If they didn't know that the two were contestants from Shrek Academy, everyone present would probably have thought they were a young couple in love who had wandered into the wrong place.

Reality is always so absurd, but it is the fact that is right in front of us.

In this situation, the participating teams from other colleges seemed to have become mere foils to Ye Xixuan and Tang Wutong.

(End of this chapter)