Tianhai Alliance Competition

"When you wanted my life, that wasn't what you said. I bet you were even happier than Xu Junwen back then."

Xu Xiaoyu fell silent, looking at Lin Xiuran with a hint of scrutiny. He admitted that Lin Xiuran had indeed guessed how he had felt at the time. At the same time, he realized that the person he had once been able to manipulate at will had truly changed.

Lin Xiuran walked straight past him, leaving behind a cold remark:

"Remember this, future head of the Xu Family. My ties with the Xu Family end here. There's no need for you to come looking for me to say anything. Things have reached this point. We have nothing left to discuss."

Xu Xiaoyu did not try to persuade him further. He silently watched Lin Xiuran depart. He always had the feeling that Lin Xiuran would soar to great heights in the future, while the Xu Family would eventually receive the retribution it deserved.

Lin Xiuran simply felt that it was both expected and unexpected. Xu Xiaoyan naturally knew of his talent, so it was perfectly normal for her to tell the Xu Family.

Now that Xu Junwen was forbidden from making a move against Lin Xiuran, he would not dare do anything as long as the Clan Elder was still around.

And with the talent Lin Xiuran had displayed, if he grew powerful in the future and came to settle accounts with the Xu Family, they would truly have no one to blame but themselves.

That was why Xu Junwen had asked Xu Xiaoyu and Xu Xiaoyan to spend more time around Lin Xiuran, hoping to ease the tension between them.

But as he had said before, Lin Xiuran was not Huo Yuhao. He would not forget what they had done just because they offered him a sweet date, nor would he ever bow to power, even if it meant death!

Afterward, life returned to normal. Their intense days of studying and cultivation passed quickly. A month went by, and throughout that month, they had basically been working on coordination and actual combat.

Their actual combat naturally meant sparring against Wu Zhangkong. It had been manageable at first. Facing Wu Zhangkong with his cultivation suppressed to two rings, they could handle him with ease. But once he raised his cultivation to three rings, their suffering began.

Donghai Square, in the center of Eastsea City.

The place that was usually quiet was now filled with students. They all wore identical uniforms and stood in orderly, organized lines.

A great many people had already gathered at Donghai Square, while luxurious Soul Guidance Buses pulled in one after another.

They were all students of Eastsea Academy. More precisely, they were students representing the academy in the Tianhai Alliance Competition.

These participants consisted of youths aged ten to fifteen from the junior division's youth category, as well as students aged fifteen to twenty from the senior division's young adult category.

The Tianhai Alliance Competition, also known as the Haitian Feast, was jointly hosted by five first-tier cities along the eastern coast, with several second- and third-tier cities participating as well. It was a grand event held once every three years. It included competitions for Mecha Masters, Battle Armor Masters, and Soul Masters, as well as a series of events for Forging Rooms, Mecha Manufacturers, Mecha Designers, repair technicians, and more. Different events were divided according to age groups: the under-fifteen category, the fifteen-to-twenty young adult category, the twenty-to-thirty adult category, and an overage category above that.

The Tianhai Alliance Competition was massive in scale and had many different divisions, especially the Soul Master competitions. There were individual matches and team matches. The team matches were further divided into three-person, five-person, and seven-person team competitions. The seven-person team competition attracted the most attention.

And the event they were mainly participating in was the Soul Master competition.

"Brother Xiuran, who's that girl chatting so happily with Wulin?"

Xie Xie watched Tang Wulin chatting with the beautiful girl beside him with an odd expression on his face.

As for why he addressed Lin Xiuran that way, there was no helping it. Over the past month, Lin Xiuran had conquered Xie Xie with his absolute strength. It was heartfelt respect.

Although Lin Xiuran was usually quiet and not much of a talker, every one of his talents was practically cheat-level. Especially when they faced Teacher Wu Zhangkong, he had turned the tide on multiple occasions.

Xie Xie admired him immensely, and Lin Xiuran was not stingy about teaching the guy a thing or two.

He had trained Xie Xie using the same method Gu Yuena had used to specially train him, greatly improving the other's spiritual power.

Lin Xiuran chuckled softly and shook his head indifferently. He had never cared about such things.

He did not want to meddle too much in Tang Wulin's affairs. After all, that old bastard Tang San had a strand of divine consciousness inside him. It would be bad if Tang San considered him a threat and eliminated him over some wrong move.

If Gu Yuena were not inside him, he would have tried to stay as far away from Guyue as possible.

Although he did not know why Gu Yuena was unwilling to mention the Guyue before him, he did not particularly care. In any case, Gu Yuena had been so good to him that he had no reason to doubt her.

Still, Lin Xiuran found it amusing. What would happen if the Gu Yuena in his Sea of Consciousness met the current Guyue someday?

Would Gu Yuena get so angry that she beat her up? After all, Gu Yuena from twenty thousand years ago probably was not lovesick yet.

No longer dwelling on it, Lin Xiuran turned his attention to the other participants in this Tianhai Alliance Competition.

Aside from that Xu Xiaoyu, they were basically talented students from the senior division. He did not see Ouyang Zixin, though that made sense. Her talent was not particularly remarkable.

The youngest people at the scene were the members of their Zero Class. The other students participating in the youth category were mostly fourteen years old, and since the youth category cutoff was under fifteen, fourteen was the most advantageous age.

Therefore, the youth category was basically made up of fifth-year students.

At the age of ten-something, differences in age still played a decisive role in differences of strength. Those fifteen and above competed in the young adult category, while no younger students participated below that.

Of course, Zero Class was the exception.

And Zero Class's participation was actually something they had no choice about. As Eastsea Academy was the only intermediate Soul Master Academy in Eastsea City, the overall quality of its students was relatively low.

The Tianhai Alliance Competition was jointly hosted by five first-tier cities along the eastern coast, with several second- and third-tier cities participating as well. As one of the major cities, Eastsea City's results in the previous competitions had been worrying. Not only had the academy lost face, but even Eastsea City's governing officials had been greatly embarrassed.

That was also why Long Hengxu's proposal to establish Zero Class after discovering several talented students had been approved so quickly.

If things continued this way, Eastsea City's reputation would be affected. In terms of economic development, however, Eastsea City had been growing rapidly. Through the Tianhai Alliance Competition, the academy also hoped these ten-year-old children could show the upper echelons of the Tianhai Alliance's major cities Eastsea City's potential, while also securing more help and support from the Eastsea City authorities.

After all, they were only ten years old. As long as they displayed their talent, even if they did not win the final championship, their futures would still be limitless.

Six updates first. I specifically posted two more chapters before going premium, making six chapters in total.