```
After that, he easily made his way onto a lily pad and secured a spot...
In just a few minutes, all the lily pads had been occupied...
Some male students, noticing this, looked disconcerted, one of them gritted his teeth and said, "Damn it, all the spots on the lily pads are taken, what do we do now?"
Another curled his lips upward, "Didn't Academy President Cai just say? It's time to show our strength; even if we can't make physical contact, as long as we use repelling soul skills, that should do the trick, right?"
"That's right, no need to hold back then, charge!!"
"There are only so many places available; those who get eliminated, don't blame us!"
Thereupon, these students immediately released their soul skills, targeting the weaker-looking students for attack...
"Fifth soul skill, Storm Rage!!"
"Fourth Soul Skill, Immovable Golden Body!!"
"Second soul skill, Soul Force Purification!"
Finally, after an intense struggle, the male students with inferior strength were forcibly pushed off the lily pads and helplessly fell into the water...
And the vacated spots were naturally taken by students with stronger abilities...
Xie Xie curled his mouth and commented, "Tsk tsk tsk, quite cruel, but... why isn't anyone trying to compete with me?"
Tang Wulin chuckled softly, "We are inner court students; they probably know it's a futile effort to lay hands on us, so they rather target the weaker ones!"
Yue Zhengyu folded his arms and said, "If I'm not mistaken, it looked like some students tried to attack Teacher Xu just now, but they were naturally flung away."
After a pause, he frowned and said, "By the way, can you tell where Gu Yue and the others are?"
The female students in front had not released any soul power fluctuations, so it was impossible to sense them that way!
Xie Xie shook his head, then looked at Tang Wulin, "I can't for sure! Wulin, what about you?"
Upon hearing this, Tang Wulin took a deep breath and fixed his intense gaze on the female students ahead, all dressed alike!
Suddenly, as he glanced over a female student, his heart thumped wildly, a familiar feeling burgeoning within him...
"I think I should be able to discern where Gu Yue is!"
His bloodline resonated with Gu Yue's, so all it took was a simple gaze to tell her apart!
The female student Tang Wulin was staring at, with her face half-hidden by a veil, also had her beautiful eyes light up quietly...
The surrounding female students whispered among themselves, "Gu Yue, I feel like Wulin has spotted you; he has been looking in your direction all this time!"
"Huh, I didn't expect Wulin's piercing ability to be so strong, to be able to find Gu Yue among all these people who haven't released their soul power aura!"
"Perhaps this is the fate between Gu Yue and Tang Wulin..."
Cai Yue'er nodded slightly at the male students on the lily pads, "Very well, it seems that the students who will continue with the next part of the event have been decided. Now, please, the eliminated students leave the area quickly and watch from outside!"
Upon these words, the eliminated male students left the area with some reluctance...
They hadn't even gotten to enjoy the joy of the Sea God Courtship Ritual, and it was already over, leaving them feeling quite disheartened!
Then, she spoke again, "According to the tradition of the Sea God Courtship Ritual, the first segment is called Mutual Recognition. Although it sounds nice, the difficulty is much higher than before"
"The specific rule is that the female students will line up 100 meters away from you, all wearing a hat with a veil, making it impossible to discern their faces with the naked eye. Thus, each of you can take your turn to employ whatever means you have to attack the female students. You can target one or several, with the sole objective of uncovering the veil on their hats."
"Likewise, when the female students are attacked, they can defend passively, but they are not allowed to assist each other or attack the male students!"
No sooner had she finished speaking than the expressions of some male students became noticeably altered...
```
Among them was Xu Lizhi, a support-class Soul Master, who said in a panic, "To... to actually need to launch an attack? I... I'm a support-class Soul Master!"
Having no offensive or self-defense capabilities, he was not eliminated when snatching the lotus leaves only because of the people like Tang Wulin by his side!
But now, what was being tested was individual strength! Wasn't that just standing by helplessly?
Hearing this, the other students glanced at each other and said, "Well then, everyone, let's cooperate, otherwise, we might end up with nothing!"
"Yes, relying solely on personal ability, it's impossible to lift the veils of all the female students. Cooperation is the best method!"
"I agree, as long as we work together, everyone can win over the fair lady!"
"I also agree. Surely there are students among us who can't lift the veil of the one they adore, so those with strength should help out more and try to lift as many veils as possible!"
Puffing out his chest, Yue Zhengyu said arrogantly, "Don't worry, juniors, watch how your senior here lifts the veils of a dozen female students in a bit, hehe!"
He was extremely confident in his own abilities, so he took it upon himself to lend a hand to these weaker juniors!
Annoyed at having his words preempted, one student retorted, "Tch, didn't you hear Elder Cai say the female students can defend passively? Don't get too cocky, or you'll end up embarrassing yourself."
Apart from anything else, were students like Wu Siduo and Yuanen Yehui that easy to unveil?
Tang Wulin then patted Xu Lizhi's shoulder, comforting him, "Lizhi, you're a support-class Soul Master and lack combat abilities, but don't worry, we'll all help you!"
Xu Lizhi, touched, responded, "Yeah!"
Although he wished to lift Ye Xinglan's veil himself, clearly, that was just wishful thinking!
After a brief exchange among themselves, Cai Yue'er turned to the first male student and said with a light smile, "So, number one male student, it starts with you! Show us what you're capable of, as much as possible!"
Then, the female students standing on the lotus leaves began to line up in a single file, facing the male students straight on...
The male student under the scrutiny of countless gazes tensed up completely...
After releasing his Martial Soul, a dove imbued with an aura of light appeared behind him, and slowly, three soul rings rose from his feet...
Suddenly, the third soul ring lit up vividly...
Third soul skill, Phantom Clone!
To the naked eye, the body of the dove instantly split into dozens of identical phantoms, each charging toward the female students in front...
Among these phantoms, only one was real, and in his mind, he would at least unveil the veil of one female student!
But this thought was, without a doubt, naive!
Seeing the incoming attack, one female student snorted coldly and her second soul ring also lit up...
Straight in front of her, a golden barrier took form, perfectly defending against the approaching phantoms...
In contrast, the male student, watching his soul skill dissipate in mere seconds, stayed stunned...
"What... what? My soul skill was so easily broken!"
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