The Sea Soul Beast had not harmed the two ships or their passengers, so the Star Luo Empire staff only remained vigilant for a few days. When nothing else happened, the senior officials dismissed the matter as insignificant.
The other people on the ship soon forgot about the incident, except for a few who still talked about it occasionally. But whenever they saw Ditian and Biji, their eyes filled with longing. The sight of Ditian leaving the sea had left a lasting mark on them.
Everyone in Shrek continued their usual training routines, but they stopped hunting and killing sea soul beasts. They had learned their lesson from the previous encounter.
Days passed by, until one morning, they saw the faint outline of land on the horizon. They knew they were finally approaching the Star Luo Continent.
Both the Star Luo Empire and the Sun Moon Federation delegations felt a surge of excitement. Most of them were young people who had grown tired of the long and dull sea voyage. They were eager to end their journey and start their adventure.
After half a day, the two giant ships reached the port of the Star Luo Empire. The people of Star Luo Continent were descendants of those who had migrated from Douluo Continent, so the architecture here was not very different from that of their homeland.
As soon as the ship docked, the Star Luo Empire delegation disbanded. They had completed their mission. The Sun Moon Federation delegation, however, had just begun theirs.
They were greeted with a grand welcome ceremony, and then escorted to their rooms by the Star Luo Empire hosts. Anping, Gu Yuena, Ditian, and several other fierce beasts gathered in one of the rooms. They had not come here to mingle with others. They had a different agenda.
Anping activated the isolation barrier in the room, and then turned to Ditian. "We have finally arrived at Star Luo Continent. What are your plans?"
Ditian had followed Anping's instructions since their first meeting in the Star Dou Forest. He had helped him collect various metals, meet Yun Ming and Yali, and even stop infiltrating the Spirit Pagoda.
He did not understand why Anping had made these requests, especially since Anping and Gu Yuena had improved their strength faster than he had anticipated. But he did not question him or show any discontent. He trusted his judgment and asked for his opinion.
Anping pondered for a moment and said, "Based on your previous observations, it will take some time before the barrier in the dragon cemetery space can be broken. Until then, you and Biji should focus on monitoring the situation in that space and inform us of any changes as soon as possible."
He added: "The entrance to that space is now under the control of the Tang Sect. You should keep your distance when you observe, and try not to be detected by them."
Di Tian frowned. "What about your safety and Lord's? This place is no safer than Douluo Continent. You and Lord have shown your talents to the Star Luo Empire, and they might try to assassinate you."
He had a point. The people of the Star Luo Empire had been exiled here by the original Sun and Moon Empire. They harbored a deep resentment and a desire to reclaim their homeland. They would not welcome the emergence of too many geniuses in the Sun and Moon Federation.
Anping shook his head slightly. "Don't worry about our safety. Mr. Xiong and Biji can handle it for now. There are no powerful titled Douluo on the Star Luo Continent. The two of them are enough."
Mr. Xiong laughed and patted his chest. "As long as I'm here, no one can touch Lord and Little Anping. I'll slap anyone who dares to try."
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Anping sensed that it was Le Zhengyu and Xu Xiaoyan. He said to Ditian and the others, "That's all for now. When you observe the space barrier, remember to find a hidden place for convenience. We'll talk more later."
He let them leave and put away the shielding device. Then he opened the door to the room. Le Zhengyu looked excited. "Dean Hongchen has something to tell us. He asked us to come with him."
Anping nodded and followed him to Ling Hongchen's room. He saw that not only the four of them, but also the other students from Sun Moon College who were part of the exchange group were there.
As soon as Anping and Gu Yuena entered the room, Ling Hongchen got to the point. "I have two things to tell you. The first is the itinerary for this exchange event."
He handed out the itinerary to Anping and the others. It listed the places and colleges they would visit for the exchange event, as well as the time schedule.
After they had finished reading, Ling Hongchen continued. "The second thing is that I just received news that the Star Luo Empire is holding a young soul master competition soon. They have invited us to join."
He paused and added, "The competition rewards are very generous, but the age limit is twenty years old. Most of the competitors will be older than you, so it's up to you to decide whether to join or not. I won't force you either way."
Le Zhengyu's eyes lit up. He had been training every day on the ship, but he had few chances to compete with the students from Star Luo Royal Academy. He asked eagerly, "Dean Hongchen, what are the rewards of the competition?"
Ling Hongchen said, "The competition has several categories: individual, team, mecha, and so on. The final reward for the seven-person team category is a piece of soul-forged metal. The final reward for the two-person category is a ten-thousand-year spirit item. The champion of the mecha category will get a black-level mecha, and the runner-up and third place will get purple-level mechas. The most generous reward is for the individual champion: a soul bone."
"Soul bone!" Everyone gasped, except for Anping and Gu Yuena.
They knew that on Douluo Continent, the soul beasts were dying out, and almost all the existing soul bones were in the hands of the big forces. They would never share them with outsiders, so it was almost impossible for ordinary soul masters to get soul bones.
The situation of soul beasts on Star Luo Continent was different, but soul bones were still extremely rare and valuable. Only the hundred-thousand-year soul beasts were guaranteed to produce soul bones, and the chances of other soul beasts doing so were very slim.
So the students were astonished when they learned that the Star Luo Empire had offered soul bones as a prize for the competition.
Ling Hongchen saw their excitement and quickly dampened it. "Don't get your hopes up. Soul bones are not easy to win. The Star Luo Empire wouldn't use them as a reward and invite us to join unless they had some people who could crush all the competitors. They're not doing this to give soul bones to us from the Sun and Moon Federation. I bet they have some absolute geniuses in their younger generation."
His words sobered up the students of Sun Moon College. They realized that the people of the Star Luo Empire were not stupid. They had a plan.