"Pre-selection tournament? Sister Meng, you'll be participating too, right?"
Liuxing looked at Meng Hongchen.
"Of course, not just me, but Xiao will also be participating. Barring any surprises, the final members of the reserve team will be us. We are also the next generation's official team members."
Meng Hongchen licked the sugar-coated hawthorn skewer in her hand with her pink tongue and spoke nonchalantly.
Her tone was filled with confidence, and she firmly believed that Liuxing and the others would pass the pre-selection tournament and secure their spots on the reserve team.
"Even though we're not official team members, we still have a chance to compete. Even if we don't get to compete, it wouldn't be a bad thing to see the talents from other academies, especially the students from Shrek Academy."
Having been in the Sun Moon Empire for so many years, Liuxing had heard the name "Shrek Academy" countless times.
The Sun Moon Empire held a deep grudge against Shrek Academy, but at the same time, there was a strange obsession with wanting to claim it for themselves.
Four thousand years ago, during the continental war, the Sun Moon Empire had been defeated by Shrek Academy.
In the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Grand Tournament, held every five years, the Sun Moon Empire had been losing for thousands of years.
It was no wonder that many high-ranking officials in the Sun Moon Empire held complex feelings toward Shrek Academy.
They both wanted to defeat and even destroy Shrek Academy, but also desired to subdue or cooperate with them. Their thoughts were very contradictory.
Liuxing had also heard from Meng Hongchen that Jing Hongchen had repeatedly applied to Shrek Academy for exchange programs, but had always been rejected.
Because of this, Xiao Hongchen was particularly resentful toward Shrek Academy.
Liuxing was actually quite familiar with Shrek Academy.
It was the academy where the previous protagonist, Sea God Tang San, had studied. With a ten-thousand-year legacy, it was only natural for them to be so strong.
He had always been somewhat interested in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Grand Tournament.
He wanted to see the current level of the fated child of this world, the contemporary protagonist, and see who was stronger between them.
From a rational perspective, Liuxing felt that the Sun Moon Empire and the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy were more like the antagonists.
Of course, he didn't care much about being the antagonist or the protagonist.
In his eyes, the world wasn't black and white. For him, what mattered most was one's stance.
For Liuxing, there wasn't much difference between being on vacation and being at the academy.
In this world where strength was revered, even when on vacation and back home, wasn't the main focus still on cultivation?
Meditating, cultivating, dual cultivating with Liuying (in a serious manner), researching their soul fusion skill, developing the Molten Knight martial soul, and providing some inspiration for Luan Yu's soul tool research.
Liuxing always felt that they hadn't fully mastered the Molten Knight martial soul.
The Molten Knight possessed three attributes, and the one he and Liuying were most familiar with was the fire attribute.
After all, all four of their soul rings were fire-attribute soul rings.
The second most familiar was the life attribute. Whether it was physical training or combat, the constant life domain within their bodies played a huge role.
The only attribute they hadn't been able to grasp was the destruction attribute. Both Liuxing and Liuying had a feeling that they hadn't fully unleashed the power of the Molten Knight martial soul.
The fact that the power of destruction hadn't manifested at all was the best proof.
But there was no need to rush. This was their own martial soul, and they would eventually figure it out.
To develop the destruction attribute, they needed to understand the concept of destruction themselves.
The concept of destruction was vast, and different people had different understandings of it.
It was hard to say whether the God of Destruction in the divine realm truly represented destruction.
Was his understanding of destruction correct?
At the very least, Liuxing knew of a God of Destruction who viewed civilization as a cancer of the universe.
Whether in terms of power or understanding of destruction, that god far surpassed the God of Destruction in this world.
For Liuxing, comprehending destruction was still a bit early.
If all else failed, there was still Liuying. At least her progress was much faster than his.
Liuxing looked at Liuying, who was enveloped in a grayish-white aura, and his mouth twitched.
Is this really destruction? Not nothingness?
Although he really wanted to complain, Liuxing didn't disturb Liuying.
Whether it was destruction or nothingness, as long as it worked, it was fine.
Without disturbing Liuying, Liuxing quietly left the room.
He planned to go out for some fresh air. It wasn't good to be too engrossed in cultivation. One needed to balance work and rest.
"Hmm? Xue Nu, she's not cultivating? What is she looking at?"
Liuxing was stunned when he saw Xue Nu sitting in the pavilion, holding a book, occasionally smiling and then blushing.
Seeing the usually silent, cold, and aloof Xue Nu showing such a girlish expression, Liuxing rubbed his eyes, afraid that he was seeing things. But it was indeed Xue Nu, not Luan Yu.
This was unbelievable!
The usually reserved and proud Xue Nu was showing such a girlish expression.
Had she taken the wrong medicine today?
As if sensing Liuxing's gaze, Xue Nu turned her head toward him.
In the next moment, the book in her hand was instantly stored in her soul tool, and her expression returned to its usual coldness.
But upon closer inspection, one could still see that her ears were slightly red, indicating that she wasn't as calm as she appeared.
"Xue Nu, what were you reading?"
Curiosity got the better of Liuxing, and he asked directly.
"Nothing, just a theoretical book on cultivation."
Xue Nu brushed aside a strand of silver hair by her ear and calmly took a sip of the red tea on the table, appearing elegant and composed.
Liuxing looked at her with a strange expression.
Only after noticing her red ears did he nod and say, "I see! I also like reading theoretical knowledge in my spare time. We should exchange ideas sometime."
Liuxing's eyesight was sharp, and he had caught a glimpse of the word "romance" on the book Xue Nu was holding.
Recalling her earlier expression, Liuxing understood but chose not to expose Xue Nu's pretense.
If he dared to do this, he would definitely receive a strike from the Ice Extreme Unrivaled.
Sometimes, pretending to be ignorant was the key to survival.
What was wrong with having a little hobby? So what if someone's public image collapsed?
Didn't Liuying also enjoy watching these things?
Though she always hid it from him, she couldn't fool Liuxing, who was practically inseparable from her.
Everyone had their little secrets that couldn't be shared. Exposing them wouldn't benefit anyone.
Liuxing had enough emotional intelligence to understand this.
---
In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.
Liuxing and his companions were no longer first-year students.
Due to their outstanding performances in the grand assessment, they had been promoted ahead of schedule.
Of course, that wasn't the most important thing.
The Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy had suspended all classes to make way for the selection process for the preliminary tournament.
Although the selection was open to the entire academy, due to the age restriction of fifteen and below, most participants were second- and third-year students.
Students like Liuxing and Meng Hongchen were quite rare.
Despite this, the number of eligible students but after some battles, several powerful Rank 4 Soul Engineers were eliminated.
To prevent such an embarrassment from happening again, the academy introduced this method.
This ensured that those selected for the reserve team were truly the best students at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy.
If it weren't for the need to give all students a fair opportunity and to avoid overlooking hidden talents, the academy could have just directly appointed the reserve team members.
After all, did anyone really think the academy didn't already know who its strongest students were?
---
After four rounds of elimination, only about forty competitors remained.
At this stage, all remaining contestants were at least at the Soul Elder level.
With the next two rounds approaching, Liuxing started to take things seriously.
Even though he was far ahead in raw power, Soul Engineers constantly came up with new and unpredictable soul tools.
One careless mistake could turn the tide of battle.
If that happened, Xu Tianzhen and the others would laugh at him endlessly.
---
By the end of the sixth round, only twelve students were left standing.
Among them:
- Two Soul Kings: Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen.
- Three Soul Ancestors: Liuxing, Liuying, and a fourth-year student.
- Seven Soul Elders: Ye Guyi, Xu Tianzhen, Xue Nu, and Gu Yuena were among them.
Nana, unfortunately, had been eliminated.
The one who defeated her was none other than the third Soul Ancestor besides Liuxing and Liuying.
Now, only seven of the twelve could be selected.
First, they would engage in one-on-one duels. The six winners would secure their spots.
Then, the remaining six would compete in a revival match to determine the last member of the team.
---
The final round began.
Liuxing looked at the opponent displayed on the soul tool screen and was visibly surprised.
His opponent was Xiao Hongchen.
"Seriously? I have to fight Liuying again?"
Xu Tianzhen let out a dramatic wail and collapsed to the ground in despair.
Liuying gave an awkward chuckle, she hadn't expected to face Xu Tianzhen again either. It was almost comical.
Ye Guyi patted Xu Tianzhen's shoulder, her face openly gloating.
Xue Nu and Gu Yuena also looked at Xu Tianzhen with sympathy.
Among their close-knit group, everyone agreed that Liuying was the strongest.
Meanwhile, the fourth-year Soul Ancestor who had defeated Nana also looked grim.
His opponent was Meng Hongchen.
That was already bad enough, but what made it worse was that Liuxing and Xiao Hongchen were also facing off.
Whoever lost between them would enter the revival match.
And he had zero confidence in defeating either of them.
If he lost to Meng Hongchen, his revival match opponent would be either Liuxing or Xiao Hongchen, two absolute powerhouses.
In other words, his fate was sealed.
Had he been paired against Ye Guyi or Xu Tianzhen, he would have at least stood a fighting chance.
But now, he was utterly doomed.
---
"So that's their plan, huh?"
Liuxing glanced at Xiao Hongchen, who wore a provocative smirk, and sighed internally.
If this wasn't rigged, he wouldn't believe it.
Clearly, Xiao Hongchen himself had requested this matchup.
However, the academy didn't want either of them eliminated, so instead of having fourteen finalists, they had twelve, with the revival match specifically designed for them.
No matter who lost, they'd still get a second chance.
This way, Xiao Hongchen got his wish, and the academy didn't risk losing a top talent.
To accommodate Xiao Hongchen, Jing Hongchen had really gone to great lengths.
---
On the spectator stand,
Dean Lin Jiayi stole a glance at Jing Hongchen, who looked extremely pleased.
With a sigh, he thought,
"Tampering with matchups... of course, the great Hall Master of Illustrious Virtue wouldn't do it personally. That kind of small trick falls on me, the humble Dean."
Still, he didn't think Xiao Hongchen stood much of a chance.
Even though Xiao Hongchen had broken through to Soul King and become a Rank 5 Soul Engineer, his odds of defeating Liuxing were incredibly slim.