Pretending to be a genius starts with the civilization advancement assessment.

Chapter 307 The competition begins, Central Divine Mountain
The Pan-Spirit Alliance Virtual Network, a dedicated section for the Genius Battle.

The moment the countdown to the registration deadline reached zero, the entire forum seemed to be bombarded with billions of mental energy bombs, instantly entering a state of complete frenzy.

The languages ​​of countless races and civilizations transformed into a surging torrent of data, washing over every sub-channel and every discussion forum.

The curve on the real-time popularity chart is soaring vertically, almost piercing the top of the virtual interface.

"It's starting! It's finally starting!"

"I've registered! I don't aim for the top 100, I just want to win!"

"Your Highness Liuguang will surely win! The Spirit Race will be glorious!"

"Holy radiance illuminates the starry sea!"

Cheers, encouragement, slogans, battle cries. Text, sound, holographic images, dynamic totems—all forms of information intertwined and collided, converging into a deafening roar that swept across the entire information territory of the Pan-Spirit Alliance.

In the real world, the scene is equally spectacular.

Whether in a technologically advanced interstellar city or a remote outpost on a resource planet; whether in a magnificent racial council hall or a bustling bar street; whether in the rest cabin of a warship or on the plaza of an academy.
Countless virtual screens, holographic projections, and even rudimentary public information boards, as long as they have the basic function of connecting to the Pan-Spirit Alliance's virtual network, are currently playing content related to the Genius Battle.

This has long transcended a simple competition.

It was a super cultural phenomenon that affected every corner of the Pan-Spirit Alliance, a carnival feast with the participation of the entire population, and a concentrated venting of racial honor and collective emotions.

Even those weak races that are unknown in the vast universe and don't even have a single one of the top 10,000 will gather in front of the public screen to cheer for the geniuses of other races that they admire or favor, immersing themselves in that collective excitement of sharing in the glory.

Origin Star.

Lin Yi sat in his study, where several light screens displayed in front of him clearly reflected the commotion outside.

His expression remained calm as he tapped his finger, bringing up the official participation notification that had just been sent to his personal terminal by the Genius Battle Organizing Committee.

Lin Yi's brow twitched almost imperceptibly as he glanced at the match schedule.

"Huh? Why is it the ninth day?"

The Genius Battle is divided into five stages: preliminary rounds, preliminary rounds, elimination rounds, ranking rounds, and finals.

Because of the extremely large number of applicants, in order to increase the sense of participation, the preliminary round adopted a group system, with 10 participants forming a group and randomly distributed on a virtual continent.

Each participant starts with 1 point. Defeating other participants will earn them half of their points. Additionally, star beasts of varying strengths will be randomly distributed across the continent. Defeating star beasts will also earn points. The top 100 participants with the highest total points will advance to the preliminary rounds.

As is customary, in order to maintain the popularity of the preliminary rounds to the greatest extent, the preliminary rounds will be divided into one hundred days. At the same time, the organizers will stagger the appointments of the top 100 seeded players.

The usual sorting logic is: on the first day, arrange the seed ranked first; on the second day, arrange the third seed; on the third day, arrange the fifth seed.

As for the second, fourth, and sixth seeds, they will be placed on the last day of the preliminary rounds, the second to last day, etc.

This cross-competition format ensures that there are enough star players to compete in both the early and late stages of the competition, avoiding uneven popularity.

Generally speaking, the order in which the tournament organizers identify the seeded players almost always matches the order published by the Starry Sea Observer team.

Lin Yi estimated that he should have participated in the competition in the last few days, based on his sixteenth place ranking.

But now, the notice clearly states: Day 9 of the competition.

Lin Yi's mind raced as he quickly calculated in his head.

On the ninth day of competition, the corresponding seeding should be seventeenth.

Clearly, his ranking has changed from predicted sixteenth to official seventeenth.

This means that after the registration deadline, when the official seeding was finally confirmed, a player who was not originally in the top sixteen was deemed by the organizing committee to have the strength to insert himself into the top sixteen, thus causing his seeding to move down one place.

"Interesting." A hint of amusement flashed in Lin Yi's eyes.

He immediately switched back to the official section of the Genius Battle and clicked on the latest "List of Top 100 Seed Players".

Sure enough, the list changed.

The Spirit Race genius "Liuguang", who was originally at the top of the list, has now slipped to second place.

The top spot belongs to a name that is quite unfamiliar to most viewers.

Edith Lanxing (Elder Race).

Below the name is a brief evaluation.

"Rule integration level: eight levels."

"Core rules: spacetime, light and darkness."

Eightfold Realm, Spacetime, Light and Darkness!
Even though Lin Yi was mentally prepared and knew that the Spirit Race might be hiding a true trump card, his pupils still contracted slightly when he saw the naked data with his own eyes.

"Fortunately, although spacetime, light, and darkness are all present, it's only at the eighth level."

Lin Yi muttered to himself, and then a tension that had been hanging over him eased.

Eight times, this number is astonishing, but it is still within his estimated range.

It now seems that Edith is the true number one genius of the Eldar this generation, and she was just following convention by not showing herself in public before.

The speculation of the Stargazers may be one of the reasons that prompted the Eldar to decide to let her appear in the competition ahead of schedule.

"Alright." Lin Yi's lips curled slightly. "That makes it more interesting."

His gaze fell back on the list, and he saw that his name was indeed ranked seventeenth, with the following evaluation still being "fourfold (time and space)".

Lin Yi could imagine the storm that would be stirred up in the virtual network at this moment because of this sudden update of the official list.

He clicked on the discussion forum out of curiosity.

Sure enough, the moment the page refreshed, a massive number of comments exploded out, with their core focus almost entirely on the newly crowned number one, "Edith," and "Lin Yi," who had dropped one place.

There's no way around it; as the only two people in this year's competition to comprehend the rules of spacetime, it's hard for them not to be compared.

"Eightfold, the interplay of light and darkness in space and time! Is this the true foundation of the Spirit Race?"

“Look at her suffix, Lanxing! That’s an ancient family that has produced more than one Venerable Lord in legend!”

"Hahaha, that's hilarious! Didn't that human Lin Yi brag about how powerful his spacetime rules were? Now the real spacetime master has arrived, and he's at the eighth level of the realm! Let's see how you guys can still brag now!"

"We used to talk about the quality of the rules, but now the quality of the rules is the same, but the quantity is half that of the rules. It's a complete crushing defeat!"

"It's great to see this happen! I'm just waiting for Lin Yi to be slapped in the face by reality on the ninth day!"

"The Eldar are mighty! Princess Edith will surely sweep away all!"

"Humans have been boasting about how difficult spacetime is, but Lin Yi was just delayed by comprehending the rules of spacetime. Haha, he was suddenly punctured by a single finger from the Spirit Race."

"Four levels versus eight levels? This isn't just a difference, it's a chasm!"

Apart from humans and a few other races, the comments section was almost entirely filled with mockery, ridicule, and pessimism.

It's actually normal. The more jealous these alien races were of Lin Yi's spacetime rules before, the more powerful they will be when they start yelling now.

As for the Spirit Race having it too? Shouldn't it be expected that the Spirit Race would have it?
Edith's sudden emergence was like a boulder thrown into a lake of already turbulent public opinion, instantly stirring up huge waves.

Most of this wave crashed down on Lin Yi, who was seen as the "comparison group".

Previously, human supporters could use the argument that "the rules of spacetime are of high quality and difficult to master" to refute those who questioned Lin Yi's slow progress. Now, the Spirit Race has directly sent out a monster who is equally proficient in the rules of spacetime and whose number of domains far surpasses Lin Yi's, making this reason seem extremely weak and powerless.

In an instant, all sorts of sarcastic and gloating comments emerged, especially from accounts belonging to some small and medium-sized ethnic groups.

They seemed to have transformed the oppression and awe they felt from the Eldar into a strange excitement over the "fall of a human genius," and their words were extremely sarcastic.

Lin Yi flipped through the pages casually, initially finding it somewhat amusing.

These clamors, separated by the stars and the screen, are like fleeting clouds in the face of his life-and-death experiences and the rise and fall of civilizations.

The Spirit Clan has produced a top genius, but before the Spirit Clan itself has even made a big fuss about it, a group of onlookers are already getting excited. It's like the emperor isn't worried, but the eunuchs are.

However, as he flipped through the pages, his fingers gradually slowed down as he swiped the screen.

Some familiar IDs have begun to frequently appear on the front lines of refuting those malicious comments.

"Huiyao (Human): How long has Lin Yi been cultivating? He can still participate in another Genius Battle. I hope you can still laugh then."

"Ling Xuan (Human): I've noticed some races are acting really arrogantly, pontificating about everything. I thought they were incredibly strong, but it turns out they don't even have a single strong contender."

“Evan Whisper (Spirit Race): None of us Spirit Race have belittled Lin Yi. I've noticed that those who say Lin Yi's talent is lacking seem to be races that have never produced a genius of space-time fusion.”

These are the geniuses he met in the training camp, as well as his own teammates.

Their words were relatively restrained.

However, the comments from other IDs were much more direct and even heated.

"Chen Yu (Human) (Certified by Dongfeng Mercenary Group): Bullshit interstellar spiral bullshit! What strength does our leader have that requires evaluation from a bunch of scum?"

"Andre (Human) (Certified by Dongfeng Mercenary Group): Where did this stray dog ​​come from, barking like that? Get lost!"

“Zhou Yuxuan (Human Race) (Certified by Dongfeng Mercenary Group): Clown, he will shut up when the time comes.”

These are all our own brothers, so we went all out and showed no mercy.

Amidst the chorus of rebuttals, one ID appeared most frequently and presented the clearest logic in its rebuttals, but it also attracted the most concentrated and vicious attacks.

"Irelia (Elder Race) (Certified by Dongfeng Mercenary Group): Please stop your baseless denigration and personal attacks. Leader Lin Yi's cultivation progress is planned according to his own schedule, and the depth and breadth of the rules of spacetime cannot be summarized by the number of domains. Before the competition results are in, any arbitrary conclusions are laughable. In addition, I would like to remind certain people who make excessive remarks that the Pan-Spirit Alliance Virtual Network Convention prohibits racial discrimination and foul language, and has been reported."

Her remarks were calm and objective, presenting facts and reasoning while also reminding people of the rules.

But it is precisely this "reasoning" attitude that seems to have further enraged those trolls who were already emotionally charged.

Soon, attacks targeting her personally began:

"Oh, isn't this the former princess from the Spirit Race who ran off to the Human Race? What, couldn't make it in the Spirit Race, so you've gone to cling to the Human Race's coattails?"

"A mere expendable pawn of the Eldar, what right does he have to speak here?"

"I heard you're that Lin Yi's deputy commander? Tsk tsk, no wonder you're so fiercely protecting your master, you're probably the deputy commander in bed, aren't you?"

"With so many heroes of the Spirit Clan, why not join them? Instead, you sold your entire clan to a human. That's how short-sighted you are."

Some of the comments were so filthy and vulgar that Lin Yi's brows furrowed and his eyes turned cold.

Irelia seemed to be silent for a moment, but soon her ID reappeared.

“Irelia (Elder Race) (Certified by Dongfeng Mercenary Group): I am both an Elder Race member and the Vice Leader of Dongfeng Mercenary Group. My choices are not for you to define. Any further insults will be met with a virtual court.”

Afterward, she ignored the vile provocations and continued to debate with other relatively rational skeptics in an orderly manner, explaining the characteristics of the spacetime rules, listing Lin Yi's past achievements, and analyzing various possibilities.

Lin Yi watched silently, the chill that had arisen in his heart from the unwarranted provocation gradually being replaced by a complex emotion.

He knew Irelia's personality: gentle on the outside but strong on the inside, very opinionated, and she never needed him to take special care of her or explain anything to her.

There is a tacit understanding between the two based on long-term cooperation and absolute trust.

She never pried into the details of his spiritual practice, but simply offered all the support he needed; he also trusted that she could handle her own affairs, including dealing with this cyberbullying.

But seeing those vicious words directed at her still made Lin Yi feel uncomfortable.

In particular, those comments attacking her background and her relationship with Lin Yi have gone beyond the scope of normal discussion and are purely low-level personal attacks.

Lin Yi shook his head slightly and closed the discussion forum interface.

He knew that comforting or explaining now would be pointless; Irelia didn't need it, and those trolls wouldn't listen anyway.

The best response is always on the ring.

In a few days, all the noise will subside and the outcome will be clear.
-
The next day.

The first day of the preliminary rounds of the Pan-Spirit Alliance Genius Battle has officially begun.

The virtual network seemed to have been injected into the core of a supernova, reaching its peak in brilliance and popularity since the start of the competition.

Countless viewers flooded the viewing platform, selecting the groups they wanted to follow.

Lin Yi also logged in on time. Instead of looking at the groups of popular human players, he directly searched for and entered the spectator channel of the group where "Edith" was located—the super arena numbered "A01".

This choice is not surprising at all.

At this moment, countless eyes and screens throughout the Pan-Spirit Alliance were focused on this, just like his own.

Everyone wanted to see for themselves what kind of demeanor this descendant of an ancient spiritual family, who had suddenly appeared at the top of the list and possessed eight layers of spacetime light and darkness domains, truly possessed.

The spectator interface unfolds into a vast virtual continent, with mountains, rivers, forests, deserts, glaciers, and volcanoes, featuring complex and varied terrain.

The specks of light from 100,000 participants were scattered randomly across the continent like stardust.

On one side of the interface are hundreds of real-time split-screens of varying sizes, capturing encounters, chases, or battles between contestants and star beasts taking place across the continent.

The massive main camera, occupying nearly half of the screen at the very center, locked onto a figure immediately after the match began.

She was a woman from the Spirit Clan.

She wore a simple yet exquisite silver-white battle robe, the hem of which shimmered with a faint halo, as if she herself were radiant. Her long golden hair, like flowing sunlight, was tied back by a small star-shaped headband, revealing her smooth forehead and pointed ears.

Her appearance was so perfect that it seemed unreal, as if sculpted by the most outstanding artist. However, her silver eyes, which seemed to contain a galaxy of stars, were calm and undisturbed, revealing an indifference and detachment that looked down upon all living beings.

She carried no obvious weapons and simply stood quietly on an open grassland, seemingly oblivious to the several alien contestants who were only a few kilometers away and had clearly spotted her, showing either wariness or hostility.

Then, she moved.

He simply took a seemingly casual step forward.

The next second, the main camera suddenly switched to a different view.

The silver-white figure seemed to merge into the space itself, and when it reappeared, it was already in the very center of this virtual continent, at the foot of the towering "Central Divine Mountain".

"Go straight to Mount Kailash?" Lin Yi raised an eyebrow, instantly understanding Edith's plan.

Central Sacred Mountain is the most unique landmark on the virtual map of the preliminary rounds.

The mountain is divided into nine layers from bottom to top, and each layer is guarded by a randomly generated virtual projection of a genius who actually existed in previous genius battles.

The strength of these projections increases progressively, from the first level, which is equivalent to an ordinary genius in the first realm, to the ninth level, which is equivalent to an unparalleled prodigy in the ninth realm of the star core.

Defeating the projection will earn you an extremely generous amount of points; the first level of a genius in the first realm alone is worth 100 million points! The points double for each subsequent level.

Clearly, Edith was too lazy to accumulate points by "stomping noobs" on the periphery and directly chose the most efficient method, targeting the core.

At this moment, on the other side of the spectator channel, the live discussion area was already boiling over:
"As expected of Princess Edith, she doesn't bother wasting time on those small fry!"

"To directly challenge the sacred mountain—that's the style of a top genius!"

"As expected, they are not on the same level as those players who only know how to fight each other."

"Look! She's going to climb the mountain."

In the scene, Edith's figure did not pause at all, and stepped straight onto the mountain path leading to the first level.

The battle began almost instantly and ended almost instantly.

Edith simply raised her hand and pointed, and an extremely condensed silver beam of light arrived in an instant, piercing through the projection's brow, causing the projection to disintegrate.

Points +1000000.

Instant kill.

Immediately afterwards, Edith climbed the second, third, and fourth levels at a speed that was breathtaking.

Against projections below the fifth level, she often only needs one move: a beam of light from her fingertip, a spatial rift she casually creates, or a distortion of time that freezes her opponent's movements before effortlessly defeating them.
He effortlessly employs various superficial applications of spacetime and the rules of light and darkness, showcasing a despairing disparity in strength.

Soon, we reached the eighth floor.

Upon arriving here, the atmosphere was noticeably different, and Edith's steps visibly paused for the first time.

She was facing a tall, thin alien projection with dark purple skin and three vertical pupils.

Lin Yi noticed that in the discussion area on the side, someone had already found out the specific information about this prodigy based on his appearance.

"This is the peerless genius of the extinct Star Nightmare Clan, named 'Illusionist' Moros. His rules are time and space, life and death, and eight realms!"

Time, space, life, and death; eight realms!
The discussion area in the spectator channel also quieted down considerably, with everyone holding their breath.

The battle broke out instantly.

Lin Yi watched with exceptional focus.

This was the first time he had witnessed another genius who had cultivated the rules of spacetime to an extremely high level in actual combat, especially since the other party had also integrated light and darkness.

Edith's use of space and time is skillful and ingenious. Her combination of the rules of light and darkness with space and time is also quite unique. The instantaneous transformation of light and darkness and its subtle influence on the properties of energy and matter have given him some inspiration.

"However, in terms of combat skills and secret techniques, the Spirit Race's foundation is indeed profound," Lin Yi thought to himself.

He noticed that in several key confrontations, the combat techniques that Edith displayed, in terms of their energy circulation and the sophistication of their rule rune combinations, clearly surpassed the combat techniques used by the Star Nightmare Clan projections.

It was through these superior methods that she gradually accumulated a slight advantage in the stalemate.

The battle lasted for about ten minutes, which is quite long for a duel between Star Core level experts.

Finally, Edith seized the brief respite after the opponent unleashed a burst of death power, suddenly pushing the rules of light and darkness to their limit, creating an absolute "light and darkness chaos" region, forcibly interfering with the opponent's perception of space and time. Then, with a combined attack that combined time stop and space cutting, she successfully destroyed the core of the Star Nightmare Clan projection.

The projection disappeared.

Edith stood quietly on the eighth-level platform. Her silver-white battle robe had a few faint gray marks from the erosion of death. Her aura fluctuated slightly, but her eyes remained calm.

The points have surged again, reaching 25500 million!
At this moment, the Spirit Race genius who ranked second on the overall list has just reached 120 million.

The discussion forum was instantly flooded with exclamations of "invincible," "crushing," and "this is the power of the Eightfold Domain."

After catching her breath, Edith looked up at the last stretch of mountain path leading to the ninth level, which was also the summit of the sacred mountain.

She stepped upwards.

The ninth level, the summit of the sacred mountain.

When Edith stepped onto the summit platform and saw the figure standing with his back to her, hands behind his back, gazing at the sea of ​​clouds, she stopped in her tracks.

Edith watched that figure silently for a few seconds.

Then, amidst the astonished gazes of countless onlookers, she turned around without hesitation and walked down the mountain along the path she had come from.

Giving up? Not taking the challenge anymore?

Lin Yi was taken aback at first, then suddenly realized.

He immediately looked at the discussion forum, and sure enough, someone had already excitedly pointed out the reason:
"It is Prince 'Morning Star' Lothar! A peerless genius from seventeen eras ago, now one of the best among the eternal gods. Back then, he was a peerless genius in the nine realms of the rules of spacetime, light and darkness."

"Princess Edith is facing a senior of the same race and the same rules. Her combat skills and secret techniques are at a disadvantage, and she is a level lower in cultivation. Her success rate in the challenge is extremely low. Giving up is the wisest choice."

“That’s right. The projection on the ninth level of the sacred mountain will have a high probability of showing ancestors of the same race or those with similar rules, depending on the challenger’s race and rule preferences. This is to increase the difficulty and significance of the ultimate challenge. The fact that Princess Edith has made it this far proves everything!”

"This is true wisdom: preserving your form and advancing with an absolute advantage in points. Perfect."

It turned out to be the case.

Lin Yi nodded.

Edith's choice was indeed rational.

Facing a senior who is almost a "perfect and enhanced version" of oneself, there is no point in challenging them except for the possibility of failing and losing points, as well as making oneself extremely embarrassed in front of everyone.

She has already exceeded her goals for this trip: to demonstrate her strength, acquire a large number of points, and secure first place.

With Edith giving up on challenging the ninth floor and choosing to descend the mountain, her journey in this preliminary round has essentially come to an end.

With her more than 20 million points, even if she does nothing all day, it is impossible for her to be surpassed.

Therefore, Edith ignored the other contestants on the mainland and chose a secluded spot on the mountainside to meditate quietly and wait for the competition to end.

The first day of the preliminary rounds concluded with Edith's impressive score and the buzz she generated.

Eightfold Realm Emerges! Is the Spirit Race's Edith Secured First Place?

The Eighth Level of the Sacred Mountain! Unparalleled Splendor Amidst the Light and Darkness of Time and Space!

"The Strongest Genius of the Last Decade? Edith's Debut Dazzles the Starry Sea!"

The Lanxing Family Shines Once Again: Its Ancient Heritage commands Awe.

Almost all mainstream media outlets in Xinghai published news with similar tones immediately, praising the news to the extreme.

Edith's popularity reached its peak, and her family background, her talent, her stunning beauty, and her rational choices were all magnified and analyzed.

As for Lin Yi, who also possesses the rules of spacetime but only has four realms, he is almost never mentioned in these reports. When he is occasionally used as a background or comparison object, he is usually described with words like "obvious gap" or "unattainable".

The preliminary rounds continued in full swing for the next few days.

Every day, there are popular contestants, unexpected dark horses, fierce battles, and tragic exits.

However, Edith's points record and the buzz she generated on the first day remain like a blazing sun hanging over the heads of all the players and viewers, and are difficult to surpass.

Her name is now firmly associated with being the "biggest favorite of this year".

As this atmosphere continued to build, the seventh and eighth days of the competition came to an end.

The ninth day is approaching.

Evening, at the manor restaurant.

Lin Yi, Irelia, Chen Yu, Zhou Yuxuan, and Kanlia, a member of the Eldar mercenary group, were having a meal together.

The atmosphere is a bit subtle.

Chen Yu and Zhou Yuxuan buried themselves in their food, but their eyes kept glancing at Lin Yi and Irelia.

Kanlia looked at the strange atmosphere with some confusion. She was the type of person who focused solely on cultivation and carrying out missions without caring about anything else, so she didn't quite understand why everyone was so quiet today.

Irelia ate absentmindedly, occasionally glancing at Lin Yi, hesitant to speak.

Lin Yi, however, remained calm, as if tomorrow was just an ordinary training session.

After finishing his meal, Lin Yi got up, preparing to return to his cultivation room as usual.

"Commander," Irelia suddenly called out to him.

Lin Yi stopped and turned around, looking at her with some surprise: "Hmm? Ellie, is there something else?"

Seeing this, Chen Yu almost immediately put down his cutlery, wiped his mouth, and shouted, "Ah! Commander, Deputy Commander, we've finished eating! You guys chat, you guys chat!"

Without waiting to see if Zhou Yuxuan and Kanlia had finished eating, he grabbed them by the arm and hurriedly left the restaurant. Before leaving, he winked at Lin Yi and gave him a thumbs-up.

Lin Yi was both amused and exasperated, but he let them be.

Only Lin Yi and Irelia remained in the restaurant.

Soft light shone down, and the atmosphere suddenly became somewhat quiet.

Irelia seemed hesitant, her fingers unconsciously stroking the rim of the glass, her clear blue eyes looking at Lin Yi.

"Captain," she finally spoke, her voice slightly lower than usual, "tomorrow is the competition."

"Yes, I know," Lin Yi smiled.

“I know you’ve always been very sensible and never do anything you’re not sure of,” Irelia continued, her pace slightly quickening. “Don’t take those random things said on the internet to heart.”

"Just do your best during the competition and play to your level. No matter the result, we will support you. Other people's opinions are not important."

She tried to make her tone sound relaxed and natural. In the past few days, she had endured the most attacks online, but in turn, she was most worried that Lin Yi would be affected by those comments.

Lin Yi listened quietly, his smile gradually deepening until he even chuckled softly.

“Ellie.” He looked at her with interest. “You told me not to care about what other people think, but I see you’ve been arguing quite passionately with people online these past few days because of what they think.”

Irelia paused for a moment, and two distinct blushes quickly rose on her fair cheeks, spreading all the way to the tips of her ears.

She instinctively wanted to retort, but when she met Lin Yi's smiling eyes, the words of explanation stuck in her throat, and in the end she could only manage to stammer, "That's different!"

She raised her voice slightly, trying to regain the authority of a star-level powerhouse and the vice-leader of a mercenary group.

“You may not care, but as the vice-captain of the Dongfeng Mercenary Group, I absolutely cannot turn a blind eye to those baseless slanders against the captain and our mercenary group. This is my duty!”

Seeing her trying so hard to keep a straight face, Lin Yi's smile deepened.

But he knew when to stop, and before Irelia's blue eyes widened and she showed any signs of getting angry, he quickly cleared his throat and suppressed his overly obvious smile.

"Alright, alright, no more joking around." Lin Yi waved his hand, his tone becoming more serious. "Ellie, don't worry, I didn't take a single word of those comments to heart. They don't affect me at all."

He paused, leaned forward slightly, and lowered his voice, "As for the reason..."

Lin Yi smiled, raised his right hand, and made a gesture towards Irelia.

You'll find out tomorrow.

Irelia was slightly taken aback.

What does it mean, the number nine?
I know you are competing on the ninth day.
But she immediately realized something was wrong.

Lin Yi couldn't have done this to remind her.

So, nine.
Suddenly, an incredible thought flashed through my mind like lightning.

Her heart skipped a beat, and she looked at Lin Yi in shock.

Lin Yi winked at her, chuckled, then turned around decisively, waved, and walked out of the restaurant.

Irelia was left alone, standing there blankly, watching Lin Yi's disappearing figure, motionless for a long time.

(End of this chapter)