Chapter 156: The End of the First Round
"The first Sea Goddess to reveal her true face has emerged; Junior Qianjue is truly impressive," Gong Yangmo said with a radiant smile on his face.
"Who would have thought that the first Sea Goddess to reveal her face would be our senior sister? And let me say, she looks really beautiful today."
"Yes, Lexuan is so beautiful that even I, her good sister, am envious," Han Ruoruo joked with a smile.
Zhang Lexuan's cheeks flushed, and she shot Han Ruoruo a fierce glare, which only made Han Ruoruo laugh softly.
"Without further ado, let's welcome the next Inner Court disciple, Chen Zifeng!" Gong Yangmo, struggling to hold back his laughter, turned his attention to Chen Zifeng. "Old Chen, you need to give it your all, don't let us, the Shrek Seven Monsters, down!"
"Hey, Xiao Momo, even you dare to tease me?" Chen Zifeng retorted sarcastically.
But Chen Zifeng was also focusing on the eighteen Sea Goddesses. With senior sister Zhang Lexuan's hat already removed, and Xue Linglong and Ma Xiaotao out of the options, that left only fifteen targets.
The clear sound of a sword being unsheathed suddenly rang out, and a black-and-red sword quietly appeared behind Chen Zifeng. Under the dim night sky, the Pursuing Soul Sword, emitting a sinister black-and-red aura, seemed particularly eerie.
"Breaking Edge, Pursuing Soul—" Chen Zifeng murmured as his soul rings flashed in succession, and the Pursuing Soul Sword fell into his hands, its blade glowing brighter with black-and-red light.
A flash of black-and-red lightning suddenly lit up, cutting across the surface of the Sea God Lake, and instantly appeared behind a Sea Goddess. Sensing the danger, the Sea Goddess quickly released her martial soul and soul rings. Five optimally configured soul rings rose at her feet, and an ice crystal staff also appeared in her hand.
Her fourth soul ring lit up instantly, enveloping Chen Zifeng in a flash of icy blue light. An ice prison formed instantly, trapping Chen Zifeng in the air.
However, Chen Zifeng, confined within the ice prison, showed no signs of panic; instead, a sly smile spread across his face. Realizing something was amiss, the Sea Goddess did not hesitate to activate her fifth soul ring.
But Chen Zifeng was quicker, turning into a shadow within the ice prison. Another streak of black lightning shone in a dark corner, brushing past the Sea Goddess in an instant. Everyone could only see that the black lightning had successfully removed the Sea Goddess's hat.
A calm and expressionless face was revealed. Ling Luochen.
Yes, Chen Zifeng's target was her. Having coordinated together in the Soul Fighting Tournament for a long time, he knew her tactics better than anyone, given they were former teammates.
Chen Zifeng had anticipated Ling Luochen's reaction even before he made his move, so his backup plan was also successfully implemented.
Ling Luochen, her hat removed, gave him a speechless look, tidied her slightly disheveled ice-blue hair, and resumed her impassive demeanor.
"Sorry about that, I'll treat you to a meal next time," Chen Zifeng mouthed to Ling Luochen, his expression apologetic.
"No need," Ling Luochen gently shook her head. She wasn't interested in Chen Zifeng.
Whether it was Chen Zifeng from the original story who ended up with a broken leg, or the current unharmed one, Ling Luochen only ever considered him a classmate, with no further feelings involved.
Seeing Ling Luochen's response, Chen Zifeng could only give an awkward smile, his gaze returning to his own affairs.
"So, the one who stabs you in the back isn't necessarily your enemy; more likely, it's your teammate!" Du Qianjue said with a strange expression.
"Is that the advantage of teammates? Anticipating every countermeasure in advance, Senior Chen, that's brilliant!"
Du Qianjue's words made Chen Zifeng blush, and he quickly retorted: "How can you call it backstabbing in the Sea God Connection?"
What followed was a long discourse on pursuing love, the necessity of a thick skin, and the courage needed to win a girl's heart, which filled the male students' side with a lively atmosphere.
Time slowly passed, and each male student tried their best to remove the hats of the Sea Goddesses, wracking their brains to succeed.
But until the end of the Mutual Understanding phase, only about half of the Sea Goddesses had their hats removed. Among the eighteen Sea Goddesses, Xue Linglong's hat was certainly unattainable for anyone but Du Qianjue; anyone else attempting it would have ended up as an ice sculpture.
Ma Xiaotao's hat was also unremovable. While other Sea Goddesses merely resisted, confident in their looks and not overly concealing their faces, Ma Xiaotao was truly fierce. The terrifying temperature of her Evil Fire Phoenix flames, coupled with her holding nothing back, meant even Soul Saint level male students would return defeated.
Indeed, this was the Sea God Connection. If it really came to a fight, the Soul Saint male students definitely wouldn't hold back against Ma Xiaotao, a Soul Emperor, but they couldn't just blast her into the lake, could they? So, they could only return, tails between their legs.
Wu Ming was equally formidable. Already known as one of the two great 'live volcanoes' of the Inner Court along with Ma Xiaotao, she was someone no one dared provoke.
Besides them, six other strong female students had not had their hats removed. The biggest surprise was Zhang Lexuan. She truly did not expect Du Qianjue, this crafty individual, to target her hat, leaving her unguarded and easily deprived of her hat.
Throughout the Mutual Understanding phase, Zhang Lexuan was grinding her teeth, glaring venomously at Du Qianjue.
On the male students' side, those who managed to remove the female students' hats were all powerful and resourceful. They all shared one characteristic: their martial souls were incredibly versatile. Even if they weren't agility-type soul masters, they possessed numerous displacement soul skills. For instance, Chen Zifeng, whose Pursuing Soul Sword was technically an offensive-type martial soul, managed to use his flexible soul skills to remove Ling Luochen's hat.
Interestingly, Dai Weiheng, despite being a Soul Emperor, failed to remove even one hat, which left him looking quite displeased by the end of the first round.
As the last male student returned to his spot empty-handed, it marked the end of the first round of the Sea God Connection, the Mutual Understanding phase.
Next up was the second round: Love at Second Sight!
In this phase, the male students would need to impress the Sea Goddesses like peacocks displaying their feathers. They would be reorganized based on the number of hats they had removed, and this time, Du Qianjue surprisingly found himself in the first position.
End of Chapter