Chapter 169: Worship

The sound of birds chirping could be heard, followed by a cute yawn as a young lady stretched and rubbed her eyes. The early morning sun filtered through the window, casting a warm glow on her room.

Sitting upright on a luxurious queen-sized bed was a cool beauty. Though she wore very cute blue pajama with white lilies patterns, her beauty had an ethereal quality that made her appear regal and graceful. Her skin is very white, with light blue hair that extends down towards her shoulders and she seems completely weightless as swung her legs over the side of the bed and stood up.

The plush carpet beneath her feet felt soft and comforting as she walked towards the balcony. She opened the glass doors, allowing a gentle breeze to flow in, carrying the sweet scent of morning dew and fresh flowers.

Taking a deep breath, she stepped out onto the balcony and leaned against the railing. The bustling noises of people could be heard, a regular occurrence in the Star Luo City since it was the Soul Dueling Tournament.

From here, she could see the other academy teams trickling out of the grand hotel, heading straight towards the arena.

"....Sucks to them, hahaha. Haa. Will I finally get in the stage this time? I'm so bored from just watching and training." The young lady, who is Ling Luochen, rested her chin on her palm as she observed the various academies heading out of the hotel so early in the morning. Which is weird for the Shrek Academy, the highly anticipated team in the tournament and the one who should be the first to fight in the match, was going in late.

Well, that's all thanks to Huo Yuhao. If they wanted to show an aura of power and dominance, then they should be abusing their privilege as the overlords of the continental tournament.

Oh, they were late to the introductory? Sorry, they were up all night training. What gave them the right to hold up the tournament like this? Ah, I'm sorry, but are you team the reigning continental champion for the past hundreds, or even thousands, of years? No? Then buzz off.

Ling Luochen wasn't complaining, she loves getting a good night's sleep and this sort of attitude that her team was showing off to the world resonated with her. In the inner courtyard of the academy, she was given a name that struct both fear and awe in her classmates—Snow Princess, she hopes that in this tournament that she would shine brightly as the beautiful crystal that she was.

Not just for her, but for those who aren't here to share the honor and glory in participating the most grand event in the entire continent.

Ling Luochen sighed, "Unfortunately, you guys aren't here to bask in the glory. Rest in peace."

Although they interacted sparsely, that didn't mean they weren't close. They were a team after all, and though they didn't show it much, but they had great chemistry together. Ling Luochen inwardly promised to go to their graves and lay down flowers for them.

Knock* Knock*

"Luochen? Get up and change, it's time for us to get going."

"Hm. I'll be right there!"

Star Luo City.

The event was minutes away from starting before Shrek Academy finally made their entrance, making the organizers heave a sigh of relief.

As always, Huo Yuhao lead his teammates into the resting area while their teacher, Wang Yan, inconspicuously behind his students. Everyone, from the Emperor to the audience, looked at them with anticipation and awe.

The strongest academy team was here!

Wang Yan had given them an introduction to the opponents they would be facing today during breakfast.

Unlike their previous matches, they would be facing a soul academy today. The Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Academy originated from the Dou Ling Empire, and it was an extremely famous academy within the empire itself. It was ranked in the top three most outstanding academies within the Dou Ling Empire, and it had provided a large number of outstanding talents for the empire.

Huo Yuhao maintained an indifferent look on his face as he walked into the resting area, surrounded by his companions. As he passed by the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Team and saw Xiao Hongchen, he curled his lips into a mocking smile.

He was channeling his inner Uchiha so hard right now...

'This bastard.' Xiao Hongchen narrowed his eyes and responded by raising his thumb to his throat in a threatening manner, but Huo Yuhao had already walked past him without a second glance.

The disregard to him was so disrespectful that he almost spat out blood, how dare he...! He was trying to show off here but this arrogant douche just brushes him off? Oh, you better be prepared when we go up against you!

Ling Luochen walked behind Huo Yuhao and inwardly giggled from seeing the interaction between her junior and someone from the Sun Moon Empire; just like the rest of the "mainland" she doesn't really have a good impression on these invaders.

She took a subtle glance at her junior, and her impression of him was...pretty mixed.

He was pretty good looking, even moreso now for some reason, surpassing even Dai Yueheng who was dubbed the "Prince Charming" of the inner courtyard before his exile, but Huo Yuhao was just 13 years old! He has more room to become even more good looking.

Not only just his looks, but he was also extremely talented in cultivation, more so than the legendary senior sister Zhang; twin top-tier martial souls, has four ten thousand year old soul rings(3 on his Sharingan and 1 disguised on his Ice Jade Scorpion), has invented all kinds of secret techniques for starting his own sect, and has the physical strength to rival a agility-type Soul King like Xi Xi.

He was the best candidate for a boyfriend that Ling Luochen was looking for!

There was one problem though.

'He's a chick magnet!'

Ling Luochen secretly glanced at Ma Xiaotao, clearly noticing that her gaze would always drift toward Huo Yuhao whenever she thought no one was looking. Her eyes then went towards her juniors, specifically the four females that were classmates to Huo Yuhao: Wang Dong'er, Xiao Xiao, Wu Feng, and Ning Tian.

Wang Dong'er really surprised her with the reveal of her true gender, no wonder she was so intimately close to Huo Yuhao. For a while there, she really thought they had another Gongyang Mo in the group.

Sometimes she'd also noticed Tang Ya being strangely close to Huo Yuhao....nah, she has Bei Bei. She's probably like that because she thought of him as her younger brother, yeah, that must be it.

Huo Yuhao was really a tempting person to get together with, but he was just surrounded by too many women! Women who are equally talented as she is.

Was she afraid of the competition? Hmph, please. She was Ling Luochen, the Snow Princess of Shrek Academy.

But why doesn't she go after him? Simply put, she doesn't know if he's worth it. Would they have a good chemistry? Will he treat her right? Would he go after other women when they're together?

She just doesn't know him well enough, and she doesn't have the opportunity to get to know him better amidst all the competition and their busy training schedule.

Ling Luochen sighed internally. It was frustrating, feeling this pull towards him but being unable to act on it. There were too many uncertainties—

"—Shrek Academy vs Thousand Spirits Academy, team fight." the referee loudly announced the result of the lot.

'Huh? The decision is over already? Ugh, I really need a better grasp of my surroundings while going through an internal monologue.' Ling Luochen groaned as she turned towards Wang Yan for the team selection.

Although it was good for the junior team to get as much experience in the tournament as possible, but what about the official team? They had been preparing for this moment for five years, they didn't went through grueling training and losing most of their teammates for nothing.

"Okay, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi—"

"Wait, Teacher Wang," Huo Yuhao interrupted and to everyone's surprise, he placed his hand over Ling Luochen's shoulder and said, "I propose a different strategy."

Wang Yan raised an eyebrow, "What kind of strategy?"

Huo Yuhao grinned and to Ling Luochen's complete shock, she felt her body stiffen as frigid air emanated from her body, turning into a misty chilly fog—this wasn't new to her or to everyone else, as the Snow Princess, her martial was Ice, she can create and control ice at will.

But this time, it wasn't her doing. She felt a subtle yet powerful energy coursing through her body, one that felt both familiar and foreign. It was Ice, but it was significantly much stronger than what she's used to.

Ultimate Ice! She then realized what the power coursing through her veins and stored into a sort of black seal, which looked like three commas in a triangular position tattoo on her right shoulder where Huo Yuhao was touching her.

Whatever Huo Yuhao was doing, he was somehow transmitting a fraction of his Ultimate Ice into her body and sealed it into her shoulder, and she was granted the knowledge on how to unseal it so it would boost her Ice to Ultimate Ice for a brief moment.

She trembled, the feeling was incredibly pleasant and intoxicating, like she was tapping into a limitless well of power. No, it was more than that. It was like an addicted person who had been sobered for days and was suddenly given a taste of their favorite indulgence again.

Ling Luochen's eyes widened, and she couldn't help but gasp softly.

And she quickly lowered her head, biting down on her index finger.

'This feeling...feels so good...!' She bit her index finger, suppressing the urge to let out another breath as the surge of power calmed down.

No wonder a lot of them are after him, this feeling, it isn't like anything she felt before...!

"If we want to dominate this whole tournament, and show these people who are the true champions, we need to show them..." Ling Luochen felt Huo Yuhao's gaze and the others on her, "That I am not the only one they have to fear, I am not the only Shrek Monster. Senior Ling Luochen, will you come up on stage and finally show them the prowess of one of the official Shrek Seven Monsters?"

Huo Yuhao removed his hand from her shoulder, and the icy fog dissipated, entering Ling Luochen's body.

Ling Luochen let out shaky breath and straightened her posture. Her expression hardened with resolve as she met Huo Yuhao's eyes.

Her eyes brimming with determination....and something else...

"I'll do it!"

After entering the stage, surprising everyone of her sole presence on stage, she then quickly shocked everyone as she single-handedly defeated the Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Academy within a few minutes—summoning a powerful ultimate ice tornado that quickly overpowered the enemy team's own ice tornado.

Unfortunately for them, their ice tornado was suppressed by absolute elemental suppression.

Ling Luochen smiled brightly towards her team, more specifically, towards Huo Yuhao. Within her eyes flashed heart-shaped pupils, her cheeks slightly red.

'For you, my Ice King, I'll do anything!'

Huo Yuhao waved at her and sweatdropped. 'Why do I feel a sudden chill...?'

...

AN: Any Genshin Impact players here? You guys excited for the Natlan update?! Woo! Finally, new places to explore!

Also, fans of the original Soul Land series, I can't believe I haven't asked this before, but what do you think about the series? Which one is your favorite? 1, 2, 3, 4? And, in my opinion, 5 doesn't really count as Soul Land since it (spoiler alert) takes place in another planet and without the normal cultivation system of Soul Land.

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