Three days later.
Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena.
The event was grander than ever.
As the continent's premier Soul Master tournament, it had drawn countless spectators.
Cheers crashed like a tsunami, each wave louder than the last.
In the VIP seats.
Xue Ye sat at the center, with Ning Fengzhi and Bishop Salas seated beside him.
And in a corner.
A young man dressed in a crown prince's robes watched the entrance ceremony below with bored indifference.
Xue Qinghe.
Or rather, Qian Renxue.
Her gaze drifted aimlessly over one team after another.
Until.
A team wearing ugly shit-green uniforms entered the arena.
Shrek Academy.
This unique sense of fashion drew cheers from the entire audience.
The corner of Qian Renxue's lips lifted slightly in a smile.
However.
In the very next second.
Her gaze froze.
At the very back of the Shrek lineup.
There was someone.
He walked casually.
His hands were in his pockets, his head tilted back slightly.
As if sensing her gaze.
That person suddenly turned his head.
Across the deafening sea of tens of thousands of people, across that vast distance.
With absolute precision.
He looked toward her in the corner of the VIP seats.
Their eyes met.
Qian Renxue's heart abruptly skipped a beat.
What kind of eyes were those?
Pitch-black and unfathomably deep.
As though they contained an entire starry sky.
Even through the disguise, she could sense the... mockery in his gaze?
He's looking at me?
Can he see through my disguise?
Qian Renxue's pupils narrowed slightly.
An unprecedented sense of danger—or perhaps... excitement—spread through her heart.
"Han Yuchen..."
She softly spoke the name from the dossier.
"Interesting."
"I'll uncover every one of your secrets."
Below.
Han Yuchen withdrew his gaze.
The corner of his lips curved upward slightly.
"You can barely hold