Xu Sanshi said, âCaitou, considering how loud you snore, should you pay the doctor a visit? Even if Xiao Xiao does walk away with you during the Sea Godâs Fate, youâll both have quite a hard time. Who in their right mind could stand having a sleepless night every day?â
He Caitou lowered his voice and said, âI can meditate; I wonât snore if I donât sleep. Are you telling me that you actually sleep every single night?â
âEh, that makes sense.â They were soul masters, thus they didnât spend that many days sleeping. Generally, most of their nights were spent meditating.
Huo Yuhao attempted to help his second senior brother and asked, âWhat are the rules for todayâs Sea Godâs Fate, eldest senior brother? How many people will be participating?â
Bei Bei answered, âYouâve asked the right person. Nobody but me and eldest senior sister know the exact number of participants tonightânot even the teachers are aware. We benefit from being the insiders. As such, Iâll explain the key events to you guys in order to ensure that none of you run into any problems before the confessions.â
Xu Sanshi, He Caitou, and Huo Yuhao all began to listen intently to Bei Beiâs explanation. In the end, this event would be a major turning point in their lives.
Xu Sanshi and He Caitou both had a target in mind, while Huo Yuhao seemed to desire the girl of his dreams. However, the three of them had something in common: They didnât have absolute confidence.
There was no need to mention Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nannan, as theyâd always been a resentful couple. Even though Jiang Nannan showed some concern to Xu Sanshi from time to time, she was generally cold towards him, while her speech was typically serious and direct.
He Caitouâs relationship with Xiao Xiao was comparatively better, as theyâd been relatively well-acquainted since the beginning. However, Xiao Xiao had still been young back then. He Caitou was exceptionally diffident about these things, thus heâd never proposed any sort of official relationship between them. He Caitou and Huo Yuhao had then left the academy for two years, thus he was afraid that Xiao Xiao had forgotten all about himâhow could he have even a thread of confidence?
As for Huo Yuhao, he hadnât known a thing about romance when he left Shrek Academy on the exchange program. He hadnât had a chance to think much about it, as he was still mired in grief from his teacherâs passing.
However, the number of girls that he interacted with began to increase proportionately with his age, thus he began to gain an inkling about love and romance, especially during his interaction with Ju Zi. The Goddess of Light that had been conjured by the Raiment of Light had simply been too beautiful, and this feeling of âlove at first sightâ had taken root deep inside his heart. However, the Goddess of Light herself was virtualâshe wasnât real. If not for that glimpse of beauty and enchantment on the day heâd returned, Huo Yuhao probably wouldnât have had any fantasies about the Sea Godâs Fate at all. However, since he had, things were different now: âWang Qiuâerââthe name of Wang Dongâs twin sister that heâd mentionedâwas starting to ferment in his mind. An unknown eagerness had appeared in his heart towards tonightâs Sea Godâs Fate.
Bei Bei continued, âThe Sea Godâs Fate is one of the most important internal activities within Shrek Academy. Shrek Academy is known as the number-one academy in the Continent, and we arenât called that for nothing. As Iâm sure youâre all aware, the inner courtyardâs disciples are all extraordinarily elite soul masters; their abilities are formidable, so itâs natural that they have high relationship standards. As such, it isnât that easy for them to find a suitable partner in the outside world. This is the reason for the Sea Godâs Fated Blind Date. Weâre trying to give the inner courtyardâs disciples, who typically devote their concentration and focus to cultivation, a chance to mingle with and get to know each other.â
âGet to the point.â Xu Sanshi said a little impatiently.
Bei Bei smiled and said, âDonât be impatient, you have to let me explain properly. Neither He Caitou nor our little junior brother have participated in this event before. Even though this is a blind date, we are an academy after all, and the number one academy on the Continent at that. This even isnât as simple as a blind dateâthe Sea Godâs Fated Blind Date is also a platform to test the abilities of the inner courtyardâs disciples. Obtaining approval from the girl of your dreams isnât that simple; everyone will have to pass through multiple trials before theyâll gain the chance to confess. If they canât even pass this hurdle, then they wonât even get a chance to confess. Of course, luck is also involved; if youâre lucky enough, you might be able to enter the final part. When both parties are happy with each other, then you might just be able to walk away with said girl of your dreams.â
âSince itâs still considered an assessment, that means that it goes both waysâthe men and women will both be assessed. The only difference is that there have always been fewer girls who participate in the Sea Godâs Fated Blind Date, thus the assessment will naturally be more difficult for the guys.
âThe event is separated into five segments. There are a total of fifty-six single inner courtyard disciples participating in the event including the three of you. That number also includes Dai Huabin, Xie Huanyue, Wu Feng, and Ning Tian, who entered the inner courtyard not too long ago.
âEldest senior sister and I will be the hosts for this event. The first segment will be the Entry Phase. This event is known as âThe Sea Godâs Fate on the Sea Godâs Lakeâ, which literally means that this event will be hosted atop the Sea Godâs Late. The lake will be decorated with lights, but there wonât be a stage or anything of the like. When the time comes, the only things that you guys will have to stand on will be water lilies.â
âWater lilies?â He Caitouâs face instantly darkened. Water lilies were aquatic plants enormous leaves more than one meter in diameter. The leaves edges then curved upwards, thus they could hold some weight on the waterâs surface. However, water lilies could only hold the weight of a six or seven year-old kid without capsizing; grown adults were a bit too dense and heavy for water lilies.
He Caitouâs frame was at an extreme disadvantage under these circumstances and rules. He weighed more than a hundred and twenty kilograms, and his muscles were compact and knotted together. As he was a food-type soul master, even though his soul power had reached the level of Soul Emperor, controlling and manipulating his weight wasnât his forte.
Huo Yuhao asked, âWill people from the Soul Tool Department be allowed to use their soul tools during the Sea Godâs Fate?â
Bei Bei nodded and said, âNaturally, so neither you nor He Caitou should worry too much. Even if you have to make one now, Iâm sure it wonât be difficult to create something to aid the two of you in floating atop the water.â
He Caitouâs expression lightened somewhat as he nodded his head.
Bei Bei then spoke in a serious tone, âThereâs one thing that you have be careful about, Caitou. No matter what sort of shape the soul tool you create ends up having, you have to make sure that itâs agile and nimble. This will be vital.â
âAll male and female students will be provided with a leaf from a water lily as tools to float on during the Sea Godâs Fated Blind Date; everything else will be up to them. Anybody that falls into the water during any segment will be immediately forfeit, and will no longer be allowed to participate in the activity.â
He Caitou asked, âEldest senior brother, can we attack each other?â
Bei Bei answered, âIn some segments. Youâll understand if you just keep listening.
âOf the fifty-six students from the inner courtyard participating in Sea Godâs Fate, thirty-nine are male, while seventeen are female. The first segment is called âMutual Feelingsâ. While the name sounds nice, itâs actually quite difficult. The seventeen female students will be standing in a row one hundred meters away from the guys, and will all be wearing bamboo hats with veils covering their faces so that youâre not able to see their appearances. Simply put, this round requires teamwork from the male studentsâall thirty-nine of you will be able to attempt to use your own respective powers to launch attacks at the girls. You can attack one, or you can attack multiple. The goal is simply to lift the veils covering their faces. How can you choose a girlfriend if you canât even see what they look like, eh?
âThis round is also meant as a way for everyone to display their skills and abilities. Thereâs no doubt that the more bamboo hats a guy can remove, the stronger he is. The girls arenât allowed to help each other during this segment, nor can they retaliate against the guys. They can only passively defend and do their best to stop the bamboo hat from being removed from their heads. If a girl drops into the water during this round, she will also be forfeit. However, the guys generally know what they should and shouldnât do during the first roundâif all the girls fell into the water, who would there be to matchmake with?â
Xu Sanshi sighed from the side and said, âThereâs so many guys yet so few girls! Who could bear to chase even a single girl into the water? Anyone that does that will incur everyoneâs wrath.â
Huo Yuhao noticed that Bei Beiâs words seemed to contain another meaning. âEldest senior brother, that also means the guys will have to cross a hundred meters across the lakeâs surface in order to attack, right? Weâll also have to cross the same distance after we attack, right?â
Bei Bei nodded and said, âYes, youâre right. The difference in martial souls and how advantageous and disadvantageous they are in this segment will be obvious. All thirty-nine of you will draw lots to decide the order in which youâll attack, and are allowed to give up the first round when your turn has come. In the end, not all martial souls are able to attack through the air, and not all martial souls can launch an attack and manage to return to their original spot safely. However, male students that choose to give up will be pushed to the back in the second round. The more bamboo hats that you can lift in the first round, the earlier that youâll start in the second round. Following this, the earlier that you start the second round, the more girls that there will be, and the more choices youâll have.
âLet me explain the second roundâ¦â
Bei Bei continued to explain the Sea Godâs Fated Blind Dateâs rules and the various details to the three of them. As he was one of the hosts, he was extremely clear regarding the entire event and its itinerary. This explanation took up their entire afternoon.
The sun dipped over the western horizon when Bei Bei finally stood up and said, âThe three of you should grab something to eat. Iâll go and find eldest senior sister to confirm the itinerary. Remember, donât be late. Everyone already knows where to go. Good luck, everyone! Especially Caitou and little junior brother.â
Xu Sanshi retorted unhappily, âWhy arenât you wishing me good luck?â
Bei Bei said, âDoes it matter if I do? Is this the first time that youâve participated in Sea Godâs Fate? Donât get your hopes up. It doesnât matter because youâre shameless anyway; if you can continue with your incessant entangling, maybe one day, Nannan will be so upset with your entanglement that she accepts you.â
Xu Sanshi jumped up angrily and said, âWhat? Donât get my hopes up? Iâll definitely succeed this time!â
Bei Bei didnât even look at him as he waved towards Caitou and Huo Yuhao. âIâm leaving.â