Opening Ceremony, Exhibition Match

"Juggler, why have you returned?"

Seeing Ye Xinglan follow that white-haired woman away with a vacant gaze, Lan Kai asked with some confusion.

"Because those few Evil Soul Masters were nothing more than small fry. Compared to them, that old hag surnamed Cai is far more dangerous. Even I didn't expect her to be capable of reaching such a level."

"Yet, even for someone as twisted as her, she doesn't possess a Dark Ring. It's truly baffling..."

Juggler shook his head. Seeing Lan Kai's current attire, he hesitated for a moment before pulling an old-fashioned radio from nowhere and hoisting it onto his shoulder. The music playing from the radio was none other than that classic Kurenai Gai tune.

"Uh..."

Seeing Juggler suddenly shoulder the speaker, Lan Kai didn't know what to say. Should he mention that the bond between him and Kurenai Gai was indeed profound, and that the line "Gai, I will never help you again" was the biggest lie of all?

"If even a Silver Moon Dog Donkey isn't qualified to possess a Dark Ring, then I fear only Yun Ming and Long Yeyue in Shrek Academy would be eligible."

"I personally believe that Cai Yue'er likely already possesses a Dark Ring, but since she publicly prides herself on being a noble Shrek member, she certainly wouldn't use such dark power lightly."

"But as long as she suffers enough setbacks, or encounters a crisis that shatters the beliefs in her heart, she will be forced to use the Dark Ring and find every way to justify her own actions."

"I estimate the Dark Ring is currently being kept in the Sea God Pavilion, or perhaps hidden in her most secure storage Soul Tool?"

To diffuse the strange atmosphere, Lan Kai attempted to deduce what Cai Yue'er would do if she possessed the Dark Ring.

"A storage Soul Tool? That thing is indeed troublesome. If only we could search it, things wouldn't be so difficult."

Juggler couldn't help but show a look of disdain, glancing in the direction where the white-haired woman from Shrek Academy had left.

The mechanism of a storage Soul Tool itself isn't complex, but most modern ones have added functions to bind with the holder, as well as self-destruct features. Furthermore, the spatial power of the Douluo Continent is relatively fragile; if Juggler were to forcibly probe the contents of someone else's storage Soul Tool, he would likely destroy it, causing the contents to vanish into who knows where.

Otherwise, Juggler wouldn't have "ignored" the storage Soul Tool or found it so tricky.

However, this didn't mean he was out of options. As long as he knew that the storage Soul Tool on that person might contain the Dark Ring, it meant there was a target.

"By the way, are you confident about that match?"

"Confident? Juggler, do you have any additional requirements?" Lan Kai asked again.

"Of course. If the Dark Ring is indeed in Cai Yue'er's hands, then to force it out, a humiliating defeat—one that makes everyone supporting Shrek Academy shout 'Refund the money!' and 'You've lost all sense of shame!'—would be most appropriate."

"And what if someone shouts 'Shrek is awesome!' instead?" Lan Kai, not expecting Juggler to know certain memes, subconsciously replied with another one.

"Wouldn't that be even more insulting?" Juggler flashed a meaningful smile again, shouldering the speaker as he and Lan Kai returned to the restaurant.

The next day, the opening ceremony of the Tianhai Alliance Grand Competition finally began.

The preceding content was so boring that Lan Kai even felt drowsy, wanting to fall asleep right there.

After the final drawing of the opening ceremony concluded, staff members quickly gathered in the center of the arena to construct a high platform, providing a venue for the upcoming exhibition match.

However, after several days of hype, this exhibition match had completely changed in nature. Most of the audience had turned into bloodthirsty spectators, anticipating a confrontation thick with gunpowder.

It wasn't just the official footage released by the Tianhai Alliance Grand Competition; many people had recorded videos privately, the content naturally being the day Ye Xinglan, wearing her Shrek Academy uniform, was easily schooled by Lan Kai.

Coupled with the overly arrogant and domineering pre-match declaration issued by Lan Kai, which provoked many "spiritual Shrek members" to engage in fierce arguments with the Tianhai Alliance Grand Competition audience, the pre-match atmosphere had been stoked to an unprecedented level.

Unlike the relaxed and easygoing demeanor of Lan Kai and the Zero Class, the atmosphere among the Shrek Academy group was now so oppressive it was hard to breathe.

A furious Cai Yue'er glared at the seven teenagers before her, especially Ye Xinglan, who stood at the very front and bore the brunt of her anger.

"Today, you must use thunderous means to severely injure or even kill those ignorant brats! Use their blood to uphold the glory of Shrek, do you hear me?!"

"Yes!" the seven teenagers shouted in unison, though their inner thoughts were vastly different.

Among the seven, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Soul Master Yu Tianlin, who had the highest soul power cultivation on paper, secretly glanced at Ye Xinglan at the front, feeling particularly contemptuous of her.

If she hadn't acted on her own to fight that Lan Kai and ended up getting thrashed, they wouldn't be under so much pressure right now.

Moreover, even though she was a genius rumored to have been pre-selected for the inner court, Yu Tianlin was very unconvinced by her.

His own Martial Soul was more powerful, his cultivation was stronger, and he had even hunted a sea soul beast to obtain a ten-thousand-year soul ring. No matter how one looked at it, he was stronger than that Ye Xinglan.

If it were him, he would definitely use his incredibly powerful lightning to make these bumpkins in Tianhai City understand what a true powerhouse was!

Not long after, as the high platform was completed, Lan Kai and the Shrek Academy group walked onto the stage amidst the announcer's broadcast.

Lan Kai and his team were all wearing Eastsea Academy uniforms. Although they looked very young, under the leadership of Lan Kai and Gu Yue, they had managed to suppress their initial nervousness, though their slightly trembling hands and feet betrayed their excitement.

They were actually going to compete on the same stage as people from the legendary Shrek Academy! And in front of such a massive, expectant crowd!

As for Lan Kai and Gu Yue, both wore expressions of indifference, as if this weren't the highly anticipated opening ceremony of the Tianhai Alliance Grand Competition at all.

This attitude made the seven representatives of Shrek Academy, as well as Cai Yue'er sitting in a certain private box, particularly furious.

"Show some respect to Shrek!"

Yu Tianlin, walking at the front of the Shrek Academy group, couldn't help but shout out.

"What, does meeting you require me to kneel and kowtow to be considered respectful?"

Lan Kai couldn't help but laugh, his gaze passing over the Shrek Academy group and landing on a certain private box in the distance.