After that, Fan Xinglou remained enthusiastically curious about Amagiri Ayato but never mentioned Valda-Vaoth. It should have been impossible for Fang Li to know about Valda-Vaoth in theory, but in the face of Valda-Vaoth, Fang Li clearly knew a lot.
Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't be surprising if Fan Xinglou inquired about this matter. However, Fan Xinglou never brought it up until Fang Li mentioned it himself.
"I've said it before, I'm only responsible for teaching you Martial Arts, and everything else is none of my concern," Fan Xinglou said, brushing the matter aside, leaving Fang Li without any complaints.
Even if Fan Xinglou did care about this matter, Fang Li wouldn't be able to say much about it. So, Fan Xinglou's laissez-faire attitude actually helped Fang Li quite a bit.
Of course, without any constraints, there would be no help. Fang Li probably wouldn't expect Fan Xinglou to intervene or show concern if he continued to get involved in Valda-Vaoth's affairs and encountered danger.
Regarding this, Fang Li had no illusions. He spent the night back in the Stars Room, thinking about many things.
Originally, Fang Li had considered giving Sylvia a call and mentioning this matter briefly. However, he realized that even if he told Sylvia, it wouldn't lead to any substantial progress, so he abandoned the idea.
The next day was the day to determine the official tournament's groupings. Unlike the preliminary rounds where the Student Council decided the groups, for the official tournament, the groups were determined by drawing lots. Even if participants were from the same academy, they had to compete against each other.
For this reason, the Student Council Presidents or student representatives from various academies went to the Sirius Dome today to draw lots.
Soon, the results of the groupings were announced. In the training room, Fang Li and Cecily had just finished their sparring match. They looked at the display floating in front of them and exchanged puzzled glances.
Shortly afterward, Cecily chuckled. "This time, we can finally have some fun."
Indeed, they could have some fun. At least this time, if Cecily fought alone as before, it would be challenging for them to lose.
The information in the grouping table displayed on the floating window in front of Fang Li and Cecily clearly conveyed this.
"Fang Li × Cecily Wang vs. Ernesta-Kühne × Camilla-Pareto."
Yes. Fang Li and Cecily's opponents were the two representatives from the Arlequint Academy.
In other words, in the fourth round of the official tournament, the match that Fang Li and Cecily needed to prepare for was against those two "puppets."
— Ardi.
— Rimsy.
"Is it really them?" Fang Li furrowed his brows, somewhat helpless, and thought, "It seems like it's not the time to think about Valda-Vaoth's matters for now."
After all, those two puppets were incredibly powerful. During the initial preliminary rounds, even with one of their opponents being a Page One, Ardi and Rimsy had easily secured victory after thoroughly throwing the match.
"Those are formidable opponents," Cecily commented sincerely. "Junior Brother, this time you won't be able to just watch from the sidelines."
"I know," Fang Li smiled slightly, touched the activation device at his waist, and whispered softly, "It's time to make my appearance, Bo Xie."
Inside the white activation body that hung at Fang Li's waist, a slight vibration immediately occurred.
…
At the same time, Ernesta and Camilla understood who their opponents would be in the upcoming official match.
"Wow, I can't believe we're facing this pair as soon as we start. Our luck is really bad!" In a room that exuded a mechanical and technological vibe, almost resembling a laboratory, Ernesta stared at the grouping information displayed on a screen-like space window in front of her. She seemed struck by this revelation and slumped onto the table.
"Are they really our opponents?" Camilla furrowed her brows as well, clearly finding the situation tricky. She said, "Cecily-Wang has made significant progress since the last 'Phoenix Festa,' not to mention that she's learned Seisenjutsu in recent years.
She didn't showcase much during the preliminaries, and her current strength analysis isn't complete. As for Fang Li, he's been a mystery from start to finish. We lack information on both of them, which puts us at a disadvantage."
"So," Ernesta sighed dramatically, "I had planned to find an opportunity to test them, at least gather some data. But it looks like we missed our chance, which is a real blunder." However, shortly afterward, she slyly smiled and continued, "Nevertheless, when facing formidable opponents, I'm really looking forward to how my two 'children' will react."
Ernesta's goal was to create puppets that were no different from humans.
That didn't just mean in appearance, but also in their inner world.
They could cry and laugh.
They could sing and dance.
They could fight and run.
They could love and hate.
Puppets that possessed emotions no different from humans were Ernesta's ultimate goal.
Therefore, even though Ardi and Rimsy were experimental models of autonomous puppets, they were already very close to Ernesta's goal.
At the very least, those two puppets did have emotions.
So, Ernesta genuinely anticipated how Ardi and Rimsy would perform when faced with formidable opponents.
On the other hand, Camilla, in a calm tone, remarked, "I'm not fixated on winning or losing. I'm participating in the Festa just to gather data on Ardi and Rimsy. As long as we can obtain results, it'll suffice."
"No, no, that won't do!" Ernesta pouted and exclaimed loudly, "My goal is to win the championship and then make a wish to have Ardi and Rimsy enroll in Arlequint just like humans. Losing is not an option!"
"Even if you say that, our opponents this time won't be so easy to deal with," Camilla sighed and asked, "Especially that pure star Lux, do you have a way to deal with it?"
"Hehehehe." Ernesta emitted a mysterious laugh and said, "Well, we do have an ace up our sleeve."
Hearing these words, Camilla's eyes widened slightly as she spoke in disbelief, "Could it be that you intend to have Ardi and Rimsy use 'That' when the time comes?"
Ernesta shrugged and left this remark hanging in the air.
"It depends on whether we'll be forced into such a situation."
...
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