Ye Yunji walked over and smiled as he said, "Congrats, you made it."
"Thanks." Gu Fenghua smiled back at him.
The news of Gu Fenghua being a Demon Beast Master swiftly spread through Celestial Academy like wildfire.
Some people believed it while others remained suspicious.
Gu Fenghua had never shown her true strength and no spirit pearls had ever appeared on her forehead before. Also, no one in the Gu family brought this up either.
It made sense for her to be a Demon Beast Master. Demon Beast Masters rarely displayed their powers, so their true talent could only be seen when they summoned their demon beasts to battle. Many people felt surprised that even though Gu Fenghua never displayed her talent before, she turned out to be a Demon Beast Master.
Some people remained skeptical and felt that Gu Fenghua's older brothers must have given her the demon plant to save her in her time of need. Perhaps they did something to make the demon plants submit to Gu Fenghua. Gu Fenghua could not have possibly captured it.
Zhu Zileng stood beneath the stage and watched every moment of the battle. He was certain that even though Gu Fenghua possessed a demon plant, no spirit pearls had ever appeared on her forehead. Also, no white light radiated from her at all.
Regardless of occupations, spiritual roots were needed for martial artists to cultivate and possess spirit energy or increase it. However, not a single drop of spirit energy could be detected when Gu Fenghua summoned the demon plant. In a word, she did not appear like someone with spirit roots at all.
Jun Lansheng ate melon seeds as he turned his head to look at Zhu Zileng. He felt that the man was awfully familiar.
"What are you looking at?" said Zhu Zileng impatiently.
"I think I know you from somewhere," replied Jun Lansheng.
Anger seethed in Zhu Zileng's heart. Familiar? Of course, Jun Lansheng found him familiar! He had already beaten Zhu Zileng to a pulp twice. How could Jun Lansheng say that Zhu Zileng seemed familiar?
Zhu Zileng glared at Jun Lansheng angrily before he turned to leave.
"Hottie, what is it?" asked Luo Enen quizzically after she came up to Jun Lansheng.
"Nothing. I just find that dude familiar, but I can't remember who he is." Jun Lansheng veered his eyes perplexedly. He looked at Ye Yunji and Gu Fenghua standing on the stage and smiled. "Congrats on the win, Fenghua."
"You two have to work hard as well. Don't lose during the first round," said Gu Fenghua with a smile.
Luo Enen nodded. She naturally had to work hard. She had to make it to the finals and fight Gu Fenghua. After Gu Fenghua surrendered, she would become champion and stood to win loads of money! Luo Enen laughed like an idiot at the thought of piles of money waiting for her.
Little White Flower had transformed back into a flower and was pinned next to Gu Fenghua's ear quietly. The flower accentuated Gu Fenghua's vulnerability.
Lu Tonglian finally composed herself and charged over to Gu Fenghua and said sternly, "Gu Fenghua, what trick have you pulled? I simply can't believe that you are a Demon Beast Master!"
"Your Highness, you have lost. Shouldn't you be a good sport since you are royalty?" Before Gu Fenghua uttered a word, Ye Yunji spoke with his face cold and voice frosty.
Lu Tonglian finally regained rationality when she looked into Ye Yunji's beautiful eyes that were bereft of warmth.
She stood still and bowed to Ye Yunji. "Thank you for the advice, Uncle."
She turned her head to look at Gu Fenghua. "I have lost."
The moment she finished her sentence, she turned to leave without looking back.
Zhong Wanying watched in shock as Lu Tonglian left. She was deeply disappointed. She thought she would get to witness Gu Fenghua getting trounced, but Lu Tonglian ended up suffering such a swift and indignant defeat. Also, the third princess left after she lost.
The show she was expecting did not happen. The envy in Zhong Wanying's heart rose when she saw Ye Yunji defending Gu Fenghua.
Luo Enen and Jun Lansheng won the next match and made it into the next round. They were good fighters and their opponents were weak, so they were easy wins.
More spectators turned up to watch the second round.
A lot of people wanted to see Gu Fenghua fight. They wanted to observe firsthand whether Gu Fenghua was really a martial artist and a Demon Beast Master.
Gu Fenghua's opponent in the second round happened to be the captain of the team that came in second for the freshmen exercise. He was a talented fighter and his name was Wu Yongjun. He was a tall brawny man who looked fierce and had a tanned complexion. Every single muscle on his body looked powerful.
Gu Fenghua stood before him like a lamb waiting to be devoured by a leopard.
Many people could not help feeling worried as they watched. Some men saw Gu Fenghua's vulnerable appearance and could not help feeling protective. Defenseless women like her were incapable of taking on a single blow from Wu Yongjun.
"If you get off the stage now, I won't put you in a spot." The violent-looking Wu Yongjun looked at Gu Fenghua and said roughly, "Or else, don't blame me for fighting a girl."
"But I don't feel like going down," replied Gu Fenghua gently with a smile.
"Don't force me to fight. I really don't want to fight a vulnerable girl," said Wu Yongjun once again sternly.
"Go easy on her. Don't hurt the girl, okay?" shouted someone off the stage at Wu Yongjun. Gu Fenghua recognized him. He was one of Wu Yongjun's team members. Their other team members stood around the man as they looked at the stage excitedly. Their team clearly got along well.
"Precisely! Don't go hard on her. Make sure you don't disfigure her," roared another team member.
"Shut up. I know what I'm doing? I don't need reminders," scolded Wu Yongjun. "If you keep yapping, I will come down and whack you."
"Fenghua, go easy on the guy since he and his team are so nice," said Luo Enen towards the stage.
Gu Fenghua nodded. "Got it."
"Humph. You sure know how to talk big. Little White Flower, hurry up and get off the stage. I really don't want to fight you." Wu Yongjun grinned. His pearly whites contrasted his tanned complexion immensely.
Hmm? Little White Flower? Gu Fenghua's lips twitched. What kind of stupid nickname was that? Did she bear any similarity with the bugger by her ear?
"It's okay. My demon plant will fight you." Gu Fenghua smiled gently. She genuinely had a good impression of Wu Yongjun. Despite the vulgar words he used on his team members, he did not speak the same way to her, so he seemed like a nice guy. Hence, Gu Fenghua added, "Don't worry. I will tell my demon plant to go easy on you."
"Hahaha!" Wu Yongjun belted out laughing. "Okay. In that case, both of us will go easy on each other."
Luo Enen and Jun Lansheng looked at Wu Yongjun pitifully. They sure hoped he would be capable of laughing when Gu Fenghua was through with him.