Tang Wulin's Unwillingness

The day after Xia Yi woke up, he headed straight for Eastsea Plaza in the heart of Eastsea City with Eastsea Academy's team.

Today was the day they would leave for Skysea City to participate in the Heaven Sea Alliance Grand Competition. Eastsea Academy had two teachers leading the team this time: Wu Zhangkong and the dean of studies, Long Hengxu.

Wu Zhangkong had come mainly because all of his Zero Class students were participating in the Heaven Sea Alliance Grand Competition.

As their homeroom teacher, he could not stay behind.

As for First Class, only Xia Yi and Wujin were participating in the Heaven Sea Alliance Grand Competition.

Originally, neither Ye Yingluo nor Long Hengxu had approved of Xia Yi participating, but Xia Yi insisted on registering. They had no choice but to agree.

The Heaven Sea Alliance Grand Competition was divided into the Young Adult Group and the Youth Group. The Young Adult Group was for contestants aged fifteen to twenty, while the Youth Group was for those aged ten to fifteen.

The Heaven Sea Alliance Grand Competition covered a wide range of events. Besides the Soul Master Tournament, there was also the Forging Tournament, the Mecha Tournament, and even a dedicated Battle Armor Tournament for the Young Adult Group.

The only events relevant to Xia Yi, however, were the Soul Master Tournament and the Forging Tournament.

Besides Eastsea Academy, other academies and various associations from Eastsea City had also sent teams.

Including the contestants and accompanying teachers, there were several hundred people in total.

Early in the morning, Eastsea Plaza was already crowded with people, and rows of extremely luxurious Soul Guidance buses had been waiting there for some time.

There were too many contestants. To ensure unified management, Eastsea City's officials required all contestants and teachers to travel and depart together.

Even Mu Xi, the daughter of a Saint Craftsman, had no choice but to squeeze onto a bus.

"Eastsea Academy teachers and students, board the bus." Eastsea Academy's bus was Number Six. Under the teachers' guidance, everyone began boarding.

Just as Xia Yi was about to get on, Mu Xi grabbed him.

"What?" Xia Yi asked in confusion.

"The Blacksmith Association is on Bus Number Eight," Mu Xi explained.

"I did join the Blacksmith Association, but I'm also from Eastsea Academy, aren't I?" Xia Yi rolled his eyes.

"But you're competing in the Forging Tournament, so naturally you should ride the same bus as the Blacksmith Association members," Mu Xi said flatly.

"Who told you I was only competing in the Forging Tournament?" Xia Yi curled his lip before adding, "I also registered for the individual event in the Soul Master Tournament."

"The Soul Master Tournament? You?" Mu Xi laughed, making no effort to hide her disdain.

With Xia Yi's One-Ring cultivation, and as a Support Soul Master at that.

Wasn't entering the Soul Master Tournament a joke?

"What's wrong with me?" Xia Yi asked indignantly.

Mu Xi shook her head and pointed helplessly at the two girls beside her. "Nothing. We're also representing the academy in the Youth Group team event. Do you really think you'll have a chance?"

As she spoke, light flashed beneath Mu Xi's feet, and three Soul Rings rose around her.

Two yellow and one purple—Three-Ring Soul Elder!

Mu Xi was currently in the second semester of Fifth Grade. She was four years older than Xia Yi and was just under fifteen, so naturally she was also competing in the Youth Group.

Mu Xi looked at Xia Yi. "We're also representing the academy in the three-person Youth Group event this time. Our goal is to reach the top eight. There are thirty-six cities participating along the East Sea coast. Whether it's the individual or team event, the first two rounds are elimination rounds. Can you even make it through the first round?"

"I'm just doing it for fun." Xia Yi shrugged.

Since explaining would be useless anyway, he could not be bothered to explain further.

"Mu Xi, is this your friend?" A girl around fourteen or fifteen beside Mu Xi suddenly asked.

The girl was extremely pretty, with delicate features and large, watery eyes. She had a slender figure and looked around fourteen or fifteen, though her body had already begun to mature. Her pink tracksuit accentuated her graceful figure, while her skin was as fair and supple as congealed cream. Her long blue hair was tied into a neat ponytail.

"This is Xia Yi from our Blacksmith Association. He joined the Blacksmith Association not long ago and is one of the contestants in this Blacksmith Association Forging Tournament." After introducing Xia Yi to the girl, Mu Xi introduced her to Xia Yi. "This is my classmate and roommate, Ouyang Zixin."

"Mu Xi, I didn't expect your Blacksmith Association to have so many handsome boys." Ouyang Zixin looked Xia Yi over curiously. The Blacksmith Association had already produced one handsome boy in Tang Wulin, yet it had somehow hidden another impossibly handsome one like Xia Yi.

"That's right, Mu Xi. You had such a handsome boy around and never introduced him to us? What kind of friend are you? By the way, handsome, judging by your age, you should be in first grade, right? Which class are you in? What's your Soul Guidance Communicator number?" The other girl beside Mu Xi, dressed in black, stared at Xia Yi with shining eyes. She had phoenix eyes, a well-proportioned figure, and sweet features.

"Liu Yuxin, if you want to act lovesick, go find your Wu Zhangkong. Don't corrupt an underage member of our Blacksmith Association." Mu Xi shot the black-clad Liu Yuxin a fierce glare, then turned toward Xia Yi and said gravely, "Aren't you a Support Soul Master? Why are you entering the Soul Master Tournament too? Even if you wanted to participate in the team event, at your age, you could wait until the next competition."

"Who said Support Soul Masters can't enter individual events?" Xia Yi retorted.

Just as Mu Xi was about to continue, the bus driver's voice suddenly came from inside. "We're leaving soon. Anyone not aboard, hurry up."

"Forget it. We'll talk after we get on. Come with me." Mu Xi shook her head and pulled Xia Yi toward the bus. She intended to get Xia Yi on board first, then send him to join the Blacksmith Association contestants after they arrived in Skysea City.

Because they had wasted some time below, by the time Xia Yi and Mu Xi boarded, the bus was almost full.

After considerable effort, Xia Yi and Mu Xi finally found two adjacent empty seats in the back.

However, before Xia Yi and Mu Xi could sit down, Gu Yue suddenly appeared and casually took the window seat among the two.

"You..." Mu Xi clenched her teeth, wanting to curse but unable to say it.

Gu Yue ignored her entirely. Instead, she directly pulled Xia Yi over and had him sit beside her.

This time, Mu Xi truly could not hold herself back. She looked coldly at Gu Yue. "Don't you think you're going too far?"

How could Mu Xi not be angry? During the first half of the semester, whenever she got even slightly close to Tang Wulin, Gu Yue would deliberately or unconsciously stop her.

Now, Gu Yue had been sitting perfectly well beside Tang Wulin, yet the moment she saw Mu Xi and Xia Yi, she rushed over and took the seats meant for them.

This was outright bullying.

"What did I do?" Gu Yue asked coolly.

Just as Mu Xi was about to flare up, she saw Long Hengxu walking over.

"What's going on?" Long Hengxu asked, looking at Mu Xi and Gu Yue, who seemed ready to explode.

"Nothing." Gu Yue shook her head.

"Just you wait." Mu Xi gave Gu Yue a deep look before turning and walking toward Tang Wulin.

Tang Wulin's expression was somewhat unpleasant as he turned back to glare at Xia Yi.

Ever since Xia Yi had appeared, Gu Yue had deliberately or unconsciously begun distancing herself from him.

Now even his senior sister Mu Xi was hovering around Xia Yi.

Tang Wulin did not feel much about Mu Xi's behavior, but Gu Yue was different. Whenever he saw Gu Yue getting even a little close to another boy, he felt inexplicably uncomfortable, as though something precious to him had been stolen.

He could not understand it. His cultivation was higher than Xia Yi's, and his blacksmith rank was also higher than Xia Yi's, so why were Gu Yue and Mu Xi leaving him behind to get so close to Xia Yi?

It left him deeply unwilling to accept it.

Could it be because I lost to Xia Yi last time? Tang Wulin secretly wondered. He swore that no matter what, he would defeat Xia Yi fairly and openly in this competition.

And make Gu Yue return to his side.