Douluo Continent II: The Dragon King Suppresses the World!

"Next is the second part."

Beibei announced loudly, "After the first stage of getting to know each other, it's time for the girls to express who they like. So, our second stage is called 'Love at First Sight.' The rules are simple: each female student will receive a switch to control the soul guide lamp beneath her. They will light up the lamps for each male student. Any male student who receives a female student's light can stay and participate in the next stage. But unfortunately, if no female student leaves a light on for him, then, sadly, he will have to leave this event."

Huo Yuhao was the first to bear the brunt; he was the first to face a major test.

"Please, all you sea goddess fairies, consider this carefully. You have one minute. Please make sure you've thought it through. And let me emphasize this: if you do not leave your light on for any of the male students, it means you will be forfeiting this matchmaking event and withdrawing from Sea God Lake."

The female trainees each had their own plans. They were all very quiet, about 100 meters apart, but no one knew whether they already had someone they liked.

A minute passed quickly. At Zhang Lexuan's prompting, Beibei continued hosting.

"Alright, let's begin the second round, 'Love at First Sight.' First, all you sea goddess fairies, please keep your lights on for Huo Yuhao. In this second round, keeping your light on doesn't mean you have to choose him in the end. Just making a good impression gives him a chance, and also gives yourself a chance. I believe he will also pay attention to the girls who keep their lights on for him. Let's begin."

It would be impossible for Huo Yuhao not to be nervous. Looking at the nineteen girls in the distance, he could clearly feel his heart racing.

"Three, two, one." As Beibei counted down, two beams of pale gold light suddenly went out.

Huo Yuhao looked closely and realized that one of the people who turned off his light was Gu Yuena, and the other was none other than Wu Feng. Even so, he was stunned. He did not expect to encounter so many people leaving their lights on for him, and for a moment, he was at a loss.

"Okay, that's it. There were seventeen light beams in total. Yuhao got off to a good start!" Beibei said with a smile.

"Second one, He Caitou. All sea goddesses, please prepare." Beibei continued the segment.

Huo Yuhao has already passed the test, but He Caitou doesn't have the same good mentality. He doesn't even dare to lift his head now, for fear of being eliminated. Although this is only the second round, it is enough to prove whether Xiao Xiao has feelings for him.

"Start." As Bei Bei announced the start, Ye Qi'an, who was standing in third place, felt a sudden darkness before his eyes as a large area of ​​lights opposite him went out rapidly.

As Ye Qi'an watched this scene, a voice involuntarily appeared in his mind: It's a pity it wasn't you who stayed with me until the end... The guest left the stage with regret!

Indeed, his previous act of aiming the level 7 fixed-mount soul guide cannon at the opponent had really detracted a lot from He Caitou's image. Moreover, his burly figure and dark skin were not really in line with the aesthetic preferences of most girls.

"We're not all wiped out, are we? No!" He Caitou screamed in a low voice.

Fortunately, when most of the lights went out, two beams remained. The first beam illuminated Jiang Nannan, and the second beam enveloped Xiao Xiao. However, Xiao Xiao had her head down and did not look at He Caitou.

He Caitou felt his whole body go limp, and his clothes were completely soaked with sweat. Just that moment felt like a life-or-death decision for him.

The "love at first sight" segment continued, and the female trainees were quite ruthless. Apart from Huo Yuhao receiving seventeen lights, the next few people, although not as badly off as He Caitou, still didn't receive more than a third of the lights. Soon, it was Ye Qian'an's turn.

He Caitou was nervous about participating in the Sea God's Fate Blind Date Event for the first time, and Ye Qi'an was just as nervous. He stared intently in Gu Yuena's direction. For him, it didn't matter if all eighteen lights went out, as long as Gu Yuena left a light on for him.

"Ye Qi'an, love at first sight, let's begin."

Silence, deathly silence. The imagined series of lights going out did not occur; none of the nineteen lights on the entire Poseidon Lake went out.

"This... am I that popular?" Ye Qi'an stared wide-eyed, his face full of disbelief. He stared blankly at the nineteen bright lights, a complex emotion welling up in his heart.

Beibei was also caught off guard by this unexpected situation. He cleared his throat and said, "It seems that Ye Qi'an is quite charming! All nineteen lights are on, which is unprecedented. Well then, let's move on to the next student."

"Xu Sanshi, love at first sight, begin!"

The lights went out, went out, went out... Whether it was because the girls all knew that Xu Sanshi's target was only Jiang Nannan, or for some other reason, the lights went out even faster than when He Caitou did it. Soon, only two lights remained, one for Xiao Xiao and the other for Jiang Nannan.

Just as Xu Sanshi breathed a sigh of relief and a smile began to appear on his face.

With a "whoosh," Jiang Nannan resolutely pressed the button in her hand, and the pale golden light went out instantly, leaving only Xiao Xiao's single beam of light still shining.

Xu Sanshi's smile instantly froze, his face turned deathly pale, and his body even swayed.

"Nannan, how cruel you are!" Xu Sanshi cried out, but he managed to regain his footing.

Xu Sanshi narrowly escaped elimination, but the boys behind him weren't so lucky. There were far more wolves than sheep! The number of male trainees still exceeded that of female trainees by more than double, so someone was bound to be eliminated.

As the lights went out one by one, when the second round of "love at first sight" ended, only 24 male trainees remained on the field. This second round alone eliminated one-third of the boys. Somewhat surprisingly, Dai Huabin had also had many lights turned off, but Wu Feng kept his light on for him in the end, ensuring that he could stay on the field.

Xie Huanyue's situation was much more tragic. When he left the stage, he was still shouting, "Fatty has no human rights! No human rights!" Not a single lamp smiled upon him.

The second stage has now concluded. The positions of the twenty-four male trainees have changed again; due to the reduced number, they are now lined up in a row, facing the seventeen female trainees across from them.

This time, it was Zhang Lexuan who spoke.

"After the first two rounds, I believe everyone has a basic understanding of each other. Next, we will move on to the third stage—Love at First Sight. This time, ladies, please pay attention; you can't just choose randomly like in the second round. Once you choose, you must be responsible for your choice. Each boy has one minute to introduce himself. After your introduction, come to me and give me the number of your favorite sea goddess. After all the boys have finished their self-introductions, the girls will begin their selection. This selection represents your final choice; each girl can only choose once, and there's no going back. After the selection, we will begin the fourth stage."

"Attention, gentlemen! When you present yourselves, you may showcase any abilities you believe to be powerful, or introduce your cultivation levels, etc., as long as you feel your presentation will attract the girl you like. This time, we're going to shuffle the order and draw lots to decide who goes first, to ensure fairness."

Beibei floated slowly towards the male students, stepping on water lilies and lotus leaves, holding a handful of bamboo sticks in her hand, and drew lots from left to right.

The female trainees opposite weren't idle either; each of them started wearing a number tag on their chest, representing their own number. They also rearranged their positions.

The draw ended quickly. Ye Qi'an's luck this time was neither particularly good nor bad. He drew the eighth spot and was scheduled to appear in the middle position. In this third round, it was obviously not good to appear first or last. Those who appeared first lacked experience, while those who appeared last were more likely to cause aesthetic fatigue among the girls.

Zhang Lexuan said, "Alright, the third segment, 'Love at First Sight,' begins. Boys, you'd better do your best. This is your best chance to win the attention of the Sea Goddesses, so don't miss it."

The first person to draw a number was Chu Qingtian, the six-ring agility-type battle soul emperor who had stood next to Huo Yuhao in the first round. After a series of introductions, he decisively wrote down the number of the girl he liked.

Dai Huabin was the one who drew the second lot.

"Hello everyone, my name is Dai Huabin. I'm seventeen years old. I'm a level 57 Power Attack Type Battle Soul King. My Martial Soul is White Tiger. That's all. Thank you." After saying this calmly, he turned around and leaped back onto the water lily leaf. He didn't even go to Zhang Lexuan to give her his number, which meant that he didn't have a girl he particularly liked.

A few simple statistics were enough to make him the focus of all the women's attention: seventeen years old, level fifty-seven, White Tiger Battle Soul King. Everyone present was a genius Soul Master, and they all understood what these statistics meant. With his current cultivation level, it was highly likely he would break through to level sixty before the age of twenty. And genius Soul Masters who could reach level sixty before twenty almost always ended up becoming Title Douluo-level powerhouses, and some might even become Super Douluo.

When female students in the inner academy look for a partner, strength is absolutely the most important factor they need to consider. Otherwise, it wouldn't be a good feeling if their future husband's cultivation level was lower than their own!

After Dai Huabin, several male students demonstrated their abilities. They were mostly between twenty-five and thirty-five years old and had cultivation levels of Soul Emperor and Soul Saint.

Ye Qi was assigned to the eighth position, He Caitou to the ninth, Huo Yuhao to the tenth, and Xu Sanshi unfortunately drew the twenty-fourth position, which meant he would be the last to introduce himself. Soon it was Ye Qi'an's turn to appear.

"Ye Qi'an, it's your turn. Get ready." Zhang Lexuan's soft and melodious voice echoed across the lake.

Ye Qi'an nodded, took a deep breath, and barely managed to calm himself down. He lightly touched the leaf with his toes and floated away, feeling light and weightless.

After reaching a similar distance, Ye Qi'an lightly touched the water's surface with his left toe, and a sudden surge of cold air from the Ice and Fire Dragon King's left leg bone condensed into a layer of ice, steadily supporting his body.

"My name is Ye Qi'an, I am eighteen years old, a level 70 Soul Emperor, without a seventh Soul Ring, a power-attack type Battle Soul Emperor..."

As soon as Ye Qi'an finished speaking, the female students opposite him were all filled with surprise. Among them, the most impatient Golden Crow Saintess couldn't hold back any longer. She raised her hand and said, "Wait a minute. Senior Sister, I don't understand something. Can I ask him a question?"

Zhang Lexuan said, "One. And this won't happen again."

"Okay." Wu Ming readily agreed, then asked Ye Qi'an, "Didn't you deliberately report such a high soul power level just to attract girls? An eighteen-year-old Soul Saint, how is that possible? How can you prove that what you're saying is true?"

Ye Qi'an said calmly, "Senior, I certainly wouldn't exaggerate my strength. My soul power is indeed as I say. As for proof, please wait and see."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ye Qi'an revealed his spirit rings for the first time after returning to Shrek Academy. One blue-gold, one black-gold, and four red-gold spirit rings rose instantly from his feet. The phantom of the Golden Dragon King Martial Soul slowly emerged, and a terrifying aura swept over everyone, instantly making him the focus of attention. In an instant, Ye Qi'an's entire demeanor suddenly rose.

Exclamations erupted as everyone's eyes were focused on Ye Qi'an, whether male or female students, Zhang Lexuan, Bei Bei, or the elders and teachers of the Sea God Pavilion in the distance.

A spirit ring of a different color? What's going on?

It should be noted that Shrek Academy is already the most sophisticated place for researching martial souls. However, in the history of soul masters, neither evil soul masters nor the Body Sect have ever had soul rings of this color. Moreover, there were two more prominent soul rings before those four crimson gold soul rings.

"Snow Empress. Come." Ye Qi'an called softly, and immediately, the blue-gold soul ring at the top lit up.

With a flash of light, Little Snow Emperor was already floating in front of Ye Qi'an. Enveloped in a blue-gold halo, she looked at Ye Qi'an with a dazed gaze, her small white hands rubbing her sleepy eyes, looking as if she hadn't woken up yet.

"Sword and palm command the heavens to freeze and snow!" As Ye Qi'an raised his hand and exclaimed softly, Little Snow Emperor also raised his finger to the sky, his chubby little face turning serious.

Snowflakes drifted down from the sky. At first, it wasn't very noticeable, but in just a short while, a large number of snowflakes were falling from the sky. At the same time, the left leg bone of the Ice and Fire Dragon King quietly appeared, and with a flash of blue light, a terrifying chill spread outwards from Ye Qi'an as the base.

As you can see, the ice beneath Ye Qi'an's feet spread rapidly, and the entire Sea God Lake seemed to be enveloped by this extreme cold. When the cold dissipated...

In the distance, the inner court students participating in the Sea God Pavilion matchmaking event were all somewhat dazed, staring at the ice surface covering the entire Sea God Lake. Everyone clearly felt the bone-chilling cold and the overwhelming chill, which even caused the temperature in the entire Shrek Academy to drop several degrees.

At that very moment, deep within Huo Yuhao's mind, an extremely shocked voice resounded: "It...it was her...how is this possible? How is this possible?"

"Hyotei, what's going on? What do you mean?" Huo Yuhao asked.

Hyotei's voice was still filled with shock: "That's Yuki-tei's aura!"

"The Snow Empress?" Huo Yuhao was also shocked and exclaimed, "You mean, the 100,000-year-old soul beast embryo sealed in the Conferred God Platform is the Snow Empress, the leader of the three Heavenly Kings of the Far North and the third-ranked of the ten most ferocious beasts on the continent?"

Because Ye Qi'an froze the entire Sea God Lake, the female students immediately felt a sense of grounding under their feet. They no longer needed to use their soul power to lighten their bodies and stand up, which made them feel much more relaxed.

"I don't think I need to prove it anymore now," Ye Qi'an said in a deep voice, raising his head slightly.

At this moment, the entire venue fell silent, everyone was shocked by the powerful strength Ye Qi'an had displayed.

After a moment, Zhang Lexuan was the first to recover. She smiled and said, "Ye Qian, your strength is truly amazing. I believe everyone here has a deep understanding of you now."

Ye Qi'an put away his martial spirit and soul skills, and Little Snow Emperor also transformed into a ray of light and returned to his soul ring. He bowed slightly and said, "Thank you for your praise, Senior Sister."

After speaking, Ye Qi'an wrote down the number of the girl he liked, number one, and handed it to Zhang Lexuan. He then turned and returned to the water lily. At this moment, he had become the focus of the entire audience, and everyone was looking forward to seeing how he would perform in the next segment.

Next, He Caitou appeared. After watching Ye Qian'an's brilliant performance, He Caitou felt both pressure and motivation.

"Next." Zhang Lexuan's soft and melodious voice echoed across the lake.

He Caitou cleared his throat, took a deep breath, and barely managed to calm his turbulent emotions. He lightly touched the leaves with his toes, hovering above the soul-guided shield. The soul-guided thrusters on his back emitted a faint light, propelling his body towards the girls. As he moved forward, he shouted, "My name is He Caitou. A very silly name."

"Although I look older than my age, I am indeed only nineteen years old this year."

"It was my teacher who saved my life, brought me to Shrek Academy, and made me who I am today."

"I am a Soul Master. I am also a Level 62 Support-type Weapon Soul Emperor."

"I'm here today for just one person. I'm nervous, but I know that if I don't say it, I'll never forgive myself. Xiao Xiao, I'm back. I love you. In my entire life, I've never loved anyone like I love you. I lost my family a long time ago, and I've even lost my memories of them. But I know very clearly that there's someone who occupies the most important place in my heart. That's you. I really love you."

As he spoke these words, he kept his head down, not daring to look at Xiao Xiao opposite him. His dark face was flushed, and large beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.

The entire venue fell silent. Among all the male trainees who had appeared, apart from Ye Qi'an, who had expressed his feelings for Gu Yuena at the beginning, only He Caitou had directly expressed his love to a girl during his introduction, showing unwavering devotion.

"Hey, we're going to crash."

The sudden sound startled He Caitou, who was walking with his head down using the soul-guided thruster. When he looked up, he saw that he was about to bump into the girls, and Han Ruoruo was right in front of him.

"Ah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry." He hurriedly turned off the soul-guided thruster, his body swaying slightly.

Looking at his dazed expression, Han Ruoruo felt a sudden surge of envy for some reason, and smiled, "Big guy, keep it up."

"Oh." He Caitou subconsciously agreed, but then he realized what he meant, gave Han Ruoruo a deep look, and said, "Thank you."

He Caitou glanced cautiously in Xiao Xiao's direction, but Xiao Xiao didn't dare to look at him. She kept her head down, her two slender hands clasped in front of her. At this moment, Xiao Xiao's mind was also blank.

"Ahem, one minute is up," Beibei reminded He Caitou from a distance.

"Oh, oh." He Caitou awkwardly reactivated the soul-guided thruster and retreated in the direction he came from.

Zhang Lexuan smiled and said, "Caitou, so you've chosen Xiao Xiao, right?"

"Mmm, mmm." He Caitou nodded repeatedly. Then he turned around and fled back to his water lily leaf.

"Xiao Xiao," Han Ruoruo called softly.

"Huh?" Xiao Xiao finally looked up, her fair face now flushed red.

Han Ruoruo chuckled and said, "Little sister, don't be shy. Girls should be bolder. To be honest, that big black guy just now, his looks and stuff, really don't match you."

"Huh?" Xiao Xiao's blush faded slightly, but her eyes showed some dissatisfaction. Just as she was about to defend herself, she heard Han Ruoruo continue.

"Although he may not be as good-looking as you, I can tell that he is sincere and persistent towards you. Once a man like that has made up his mind, he will not change it. You will be happy with him."

"Ah!" Xiao Xiao couldn't utter the words of defense that were on the tip of her tongue. She lowered her head shyly again, but this time, she felt a sweetness in her heart.

After Ye Qi'an, the only one in his life, and He Caitou, the God of Pure Love, it was finally Huo Yuhao's turn. He lightly touched the water lily leaf with his toes, and he floated out, light and weightless.

After floating five or six meters forward, Huo Yuhao lightly touched the water's surface with his toes, causing the cold air to condense into a sheet of ice, supporting his body as he glided forward.

"My name is Huo Yuhao, and I am seventeen years old. I am a level 50 dual-type battle spirit king with control and power attack abilities. I have twin martial spirits. My first martial spirit is my original martial spirit, the Spirit Eye, and my second martial spirit is the Ice Jade Scorpion, which possesses the ultimate ice."

The moment the words "twin martial souls" were uttered, many female students' eyes lit up, especially the younger ones. As inner court students, they knew all too well what twin martial souls meant.

Huo Yuhao bowed slightly, making a very elegant gesture, and quietly slid back to his previous position, landing once again on the water lily leaf.

The second chance encounter segment continued, and every male trainee cherished this opportunity to showcase themselves. After passing this segment, they would only be able to enter the final segment if they passed the fourth segment.

In the fourth round, whether the female students choose them will determine everything, so everyone is going all out to show their abilities. However, since everyone is a Soul Master, the most common way to express themselves is to show their strength. But after Ye Qi'an and Huo Yuhao, the two outliers, almost all the remaining students performed mediocrely and did not stand out.

Finally, it was Xu Sanshi's turn to go first. Xu Sanshi's expression was slightly unpleasant. It was clear that Jiang Nannan's failure to leave him a light in the previous round had been a big blow to him. He slid out of the ice using his Xuanjia Shield.

Jiang Nannan frowned slightly, turned her head away, and did not look at Xu Sanshi who was coming in her direction.

Xu Sanshi slowly stopped ten meters away from her.

Ye Qi'an was actually quite surprised by the story of Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan. As a time traveler, he naturally knew what had happened between Jiang Nannan and Xu Sanshi. As an outsider, he couldn't comment. One shouldn't advise others to be kind without experiencing their suffering. He could only see what the two parties involved thought.

Under everyone's gaze, Xu Sanshi's confession went unanswered, and Jiang Nannan gently bit her lower lip.

"I understand." Xu Sanshi didn't wait long. A bitter smile appeared on his face as he turned and walked off the field.

"Bastard, bastard, bastard!" Jiang Nannan suddenly burst into tears, as if she had lost her soul, with tears streaming down her face.

"Why? I've rejected you so many times, why won't you give up? You're a grown man, why are you crying? Why are you crying?"

Jiang Nannan lay sobbing on the water lily leaves, her voice already hoarse. Watching Xu Sanshi's departing figure, she suddenly murmured in a trembling voice, "Bastard, don't go..."

Xu Sanshi stopped abruptly, slowly turning around with eyes full of surprise as he looked at Jiang Nannan, his voice trembling slightly: "Nannan, you...you were calling me?"

Jiang Nannan looked up, her face streaked with tears, but her eyes held a hint of stubbornness: "You idiot, who let you leave?"

Xu Sanshi hurriedly walked back to Jiang Nannan's side and gently removed the hair that was covering her eyes from her forehead, saying, "You're the one who called me back! You have to take responsibility for me."

A blush rose on Jiang Nannan's pretty face, and she lowered her head and said softly, "I'll think about it."

"I'd wait for you even if it took me a lifetime." With that, Xu Sanshi pulled her into a tight embrace. Jiang Nannan only resisted slightly before burying her head in his shoulder, refusing to lift it no matter what.

"Clap clap clap..." Applause rang out as both male and female students applauded to bless the couple.

Ye Qi'an smiled slightly as he watched this scene. Sometimes, feelings are just that complicated. The road to love is full of obstacles, but as long as you have the courage to face them and the sincerity to give, you will surely reap happiness.

…(End of this chapter)