In the shadows, watching Shrek's people lose their composure over a glory that had lasted ten thousand years, he couldn't help but sigh.
The newcomer was none other than Dragon God Douluo Mu En. He had come solely to ensure Huo Yuhao's safety. If anything happened to Huo Yuhao again, it would be a huge loss for Shrek. Xuan Zi was certainly no one to rely on. Ever since Mu En had arrived in Star Luo City, he hadn't been able to find him. In Mu En's view, Xuan Zi had probably run off to eat chicken legs again.
"A twelve-year-old Quasi-Soul Douluo at level eighty... I wonder how this Soul Hall managed to train him. What a pity there's no chance of befriending them now." Mu En looked down at the young man again, unable to stop himself from praising him before letting out another heavy sigh.
There were three days to rest after the semifinals. Xiao Jinchen had already made up his mind: once the finals were over in three days, he could start preparing to establish the Soul Hall. He would have Bing'er serve as its hall master, then lure Snow Empress into the Soul Hall as vice hall master. After that, he could get started on establishing the Pill Tower.
Lost in thought, Xiao Jinchen arrived at his lodgings in the Star Emperor Grand Hotel.
He had barely pushed open the hotel-room door when a huge pile of shopping bags came flying at him, burying him head to toe.
"Ugh."
Xiao Jinchen was completely buried. He could only let out a muffled groan. After finally digging a path out of the pile, he looked up and froze.
Good grief. The entire room, from the door to the window, was packed full of shopping bags, with not a single gap left. Clothes, pastries, snacks, desserts, and even a pile of Soul Tools filled the room to the brim.
As Xiao Jinchen stared, the pile of clothes on the bed suddenly shifted. Two heads poked out: one was Ice Empress's, and the other, naturally, was Snow Empress's.
"Ah Chen, you're back!" Ice Empress popped out from the pile of clothes. The moment she spotted Xiao Jinchen in the doorway, she called out to him. Beside her, Snow Empress, looking like a cool, aloof beauty, merely glanced at Xiao Jinchen before burrowing back into the clothes.
"Wait, what did you two buy? Why is the whole room full of stuff?" Xiao Jinchen pushed all the things spilling out into the room back inside, then closed the door and asked in disbelief.
"Heehee, I took Xue'er all over Star Luo City, and we even visited other cities in the Star Luo Empire," Ice Empress said with a grin.
"Uh..." Xiao Jinchen's eyes twitched uncontrollably. "Bing'er, you didn't clear out all of Star Luo City, did you?"
He casually picked up a piece of clothing off the floor and found it was a sea-green spaghetti-strap top. There were also dresses, short skirts, bodycon skirts, shirts, and even underwear. And a pair of overalls? The imposter has shown their true colors!
"Bing'er, I gave you my Storage Ring. Why didn't you put everything in there? Why leave it all in the room?" Xiao Jinchen asked, puzzled.
"The Storage Ring is already full. There's nowhere left to put anything, so I had to leave it in the room," Ice Empress said with a smile.
"Full? The Storage Ring has a whole hundred cubic meters of space. Just how much did you buy?" Xiao Jinchen froze, then asked in astonishment.
"I don't know. I just took Xue'er along and bought everything we wanted," Ice Empress said softly, blinking her orange-gold eyes.
"Then how much of the two hundred million Gold Soul Coins we took from the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect do we have left?" Xiao Jinchen pushed the things around him aside and cleared a space to sit down.
"Uh... well... that is..." Ice Empress held up both pale hands and tapped her index fingers together in front of her, stammering, "W-We... spent it all..."
"What? You spent all two hundred million Gold Soul Coins?!" Xiao Jinchen sprang to his feet, unable to believe it. "Bing'er, how did you manage that? It's only been a few days, and two hundred million Gold Soul Coins are already gone?"
"Ahem, ahem." Ice Empress's little face flushed red, and she said awkwardly, "Xue'er and I didn't look at the prices. We just paid a few million at a time, and then did this, and this, and that... and before we knew it, the money was gone."
"Ah Chen, if we run out of money, we can just rob someone again." Ice Empress stepped over the clothes and Soul Tools scattered across the floor and walked up to Xiao Jinchen. She picked up a dessert nearby, scooped up a spoonful, and held it to his lips. "Here, Ah Chen! I'll feed you. Open wide. Ah~"
"Hmph!" Xiao Jinchen gave a disgruntled snort. "You're really good at spending money. What are we going to do if I can't afford to keep you?"
Though he said that, he still opened his mouth and ate the dessert Ice Empress offered him. Its sweet, soft texture melted across his tongue, and some of the helplessness faded from his face.
Xiao Jinchen reached out and rubbed Ice Empress's little head, his tone softening. "All right, all right. We'll just rob Shrek Academy for a little more when the time comes."
"Mm-hmm." Ice Empress nodded, then gave Xiao Jinchen a light peck on the cheek and said with a grin, "I knew you were the best, Ah Chen."
Seeing Xiao Jinchen and Ice Empress being so affectionate, Snow Empress felt an inexplicable pang of jealousy. She simply closed her eyes, refusing to watch them flaunt their affection.
Three days later, Star Luo Plaza.
Star Luo City had been packed with people for days, the crowds so dense that not even water could pass through. Ever since the semifinals ended, countless people had formed a long queue outside Star Luo Plaza, all eager to witness this ultimate spectacle of the Continent-Wide Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Fighting Tournament with their own eyes.
After all, the team battle, individual knockout rounds, and two-two-three format would all be decided in a single day. Though the outcome was already certain, no one wanted to miss this rare spectacle, seen only once every several years.
On the day of the finals, the sky was overcast, and a fine, chilly rain hung over the whole of Star Luo City. Yet this light drizzle did nothing to dampen the fervor of the hundreds of thousands of spectators in the stands.
The two teams filed down the passageway into the rest area. On the distant walls of Star Luo City, the Star Luo Emperor had already taken his seat with his civil and military officials, all sitting ramrod straight.
Xu Jiawei sat in the center, with Xu Jiu Jiu on his left and a man in his thirties clad in golden armor standing on his right. He was none other than White Tiger Duke Dai Hao.
Seeing that both teams were in position, Xu Jiawei smiled faintly and nodded to Dai Hao.
Dai Hao immediately stepped forward. His powerful voice, infused with Soul Power, rang across the entire venue. "Silence! The match is about to begin. His Majesty will now address the crowd."
Xu Jiawei smiled and spoke in a clear, ringing voice. "As is customary, the champions of this year's finals will receive three Spirit Bones and one million Gold Soul Coins. I have selected ten top-grade Spirit Bones from the imperial treasury for the champion team to choose from. Heavenly Fiend Douluo will once again serve as referee today. Now, let us witness together this match that is destined to go down in history!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a flash of light streaked across the arena. Heavenly Fiend Douluo Huang Jinxu had landed squarely at its center, like a shooting star.