What? You Spent Two Hundred Million Gold Soul Coins on Me?!

Watching from the shadows, he couldn't help but sigh as he observed the members of Shrek Academy losing their composure over their ten-thousand-year legacy.

The newcomer was none other than the Dragon God Douluo, Mu En. He had come solely for the safety of Huo Yuhao; if anything else were to happen to the boy, Shrek would suffer a devastating loss. Xuan Zi was certainly not to be relied upon—ever since arriving in Star Luo City, he had been nowhere to be found. In Mu En's estimation, Xuan Zi had undoubtedly run off to eat chicken legs again.

"An eighty-level quasi-Soul Douluo at twelve years old... I have no idea how this Soul Hall managed to cultivate such a talent. Alas, it is a pity that there is no longer any possibility of an alliance." Mu En looked down at the youth below, unable to suppress a sigh of admiration followed by a heavy, lingering breath.

There was a three-day rest period following the conclusion of the semifinals. Xiao Jinchen had already made his plans; once the finals were over in three days, he could begin the work of establishing the Soul Hall. He would have Bing'er serve as the Hall Master, then lure the Snow Empress into joining as the Deputy Hall Master. After that, he could prepare to establish the Pill Tower.

Lost in thought, Xiao Jinchen arrived at his residence in the Star Emperor Grand Hotel.

The moment Xiao Jinchen pushed open the hotel room door, before he could even react, a massive pile of shopping bags came crashing down on him.

"Ugh."

Xiao Jinchen was completely buried, letting out a muffled groan. After struggling to carve a path out of the mountain of bags, he looked up and was left completely stunned.

Good heavens, it was truly a sight to behold. The entire room, from the doorway to the windows, was packed so tightly with shopping bags that not a single gap remained. Clothes, pastries, snacks, desserts, and a pile of Soul Tools filled every inch of the space.

As Xiao Jinchen stared, the pile of clothes on the bed suddenly shifted, and two heads poked out. One small head belonged to the Ice Empress, and the other, naturally, was the Snow Empress.

"A-Chen, you're back!" Upon seeing Xiao Jinchen at the door, the Ice Empress immediately chirped from the pile of clothes. Beside her, the Snow Empress maintained her cold, aloof demeanor, merely glancing at him indifferently before ducking back into the heap of garments.

"Wait, what? What did you two buy? Why is the whole room filled with stuff?" Xiao Jinchen pushed back the items spilling out of the room, closed the door, and couldn't help but ask.

"Heehee, I took Xue'er to explore the entire Star Luo City, and we even visited other cities in the Star Luo Empire," the Ice Empress said with a giggle.

"Uh..." Xiao Jinchen's eye twitched uncontrollably. "Bing'er, you didn't empty out the entire Star Luo City, did you?"

He casually picked up a piece of clothing from the floor, only to discover it was a jade-green camisole. It wasn't just camisoles; there were dresses, miniskirts, pencil skirts, blouses, and even intimate undergarments—and was that a pair of overalls? The jig is up!

"Bing'er, didn't I let you take my Storage Ring? Why didn't you put these inside? Why leave them all over the room?" Xiao Jinchen asked, bewildered.

"The Storage Ring was already full, there was no room left, so I had to put them in the room," the Ice Empress said with a smile.

"Full? The Storage Ring has a full hundred cubic meters of space! Just how much did you buy?" Xiao Jinchen asked, stunned.

"I don't know. Anyway, I just took Xue'er and bought everything we saw that we wanted," the Ice Empress said softly, blinking her orange-gold eyes.

"Then how much is left of the two hundred million Gold Soul Coins we looted from the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect?" Xiao Jinchen pushed aside the surrounding items to clear a small space to sit down.

"Uh... um..." The Ice Empress's fair, jade-like fingers tapped against each other in front of her as she stammered, "It's... it's all spent..."

"What? You spent all two hundred million Gold Soul Coins?!" Xiao Jinchen stood up abruptly, disbelieving. "Bing'er, how did you even spend it? It's only been a few days, how could two hundred million Gold Soul Coins be gone?"

"Cough, cough, cough." The Ice Empress's face flushed red, and she said somewhat awkwardly, "Xue'er and I didn't look at the prices when we bought things. We just paid millions at a time, and then like this, and like that, and the money was just gone."

"A-Chen, if the money is gone, we can just go rob someone else," the Ice Empress said, stepping over the various clothes and Soul Tools to reach Xiao Jinchen. She picked up a dessert from the side, scooped a spoonful, and held it to his lips, saying softly, "Come on, A-Chen! I'll feed you. Open wide, ah~"

"Hmph!" Xiao Jinchen huffed indignantly. "You're so good at spending money, what will I do if I can't afford to keep you later?"

Despite his words, he opened his mouth and ate the dessert she offered. As the sweet, creamy texture melted on his tongue, the frustration on his face dissipated somewhat.

Xiao Jinchen reached out to ruffle the Ice Empress's hair, his tone softening. "Fine, fine. When the time comes, we'll just go to Shrek Academy and loot a bit more."

"Mm-hmm." The Ice Empress nodded, pecked him lightly on the cheek, and giggled. "I knew A-Chen was the best."

Behind them, the Snow Empress watched this intimate display between Xiao Jinchen and the Ice Empress. For some reason, she felt a twinge of bitterness in her heart, so she simply closed her eyes to avoid watching the two of them flaunt their affection.

Three days later, Star Luo Plaza.

For days, Star Luo City had been packed with people, leaving no room to move. Since the conclusion of the semifinals, countless people had lined up outside Star Luo Plaza, all to witness the ultimate feast of the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Duel Tournament.

After all, the team battles, individual elimination rounds, and the two-two-three format would all be decided within this single day. Even though the outcome felt predetermined, no one wanted to miss such a rare and spectacular event.

On the day of the finals, the sky was overcast, and a light drizzle mixed with a chill blanketed the entire city. However, this slight rain could do nothing to dampen the fervor of the hundreds of thousands of spectators in the stands.

The two teams walked along the passage into the rest area. High above on the city walls, the Emperor of Star Luo sat solemnly, surrounded by his civil and military officials.

Xu Jiawei sat in the center, with Xu Jiu Jiu to his left, and a man in his thirties clad in golden armor standing to his right—the White Tiger Duke, Dai Hao.

Seeing that both teams were in position, Xu Jiawei smiled slightly and nodded toward Dai Hao.

Dai Hao immediately stepped forward, his powerful voice infused with Soul Power, carrying across the entire arena: "Silence! The competition is about to begin. His Majesty will now address the crowd."

Xu Jiawei spoke in a clear, resonant voice, smiling, "As per tradition, the champions of this tournament will receive three Spirit Bones and one million Gold Soul Coins. I have personally selected ten top-tier Spirit Bones from the national treasury for the winning team to choose from. Today, the Heavenly Fiend Douluo will once again serve as the referee. Now, join me in witnessing this duel that is destined to be recorded in the annals of history!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a flash of light streaked across the sky, and the Heavenly Fiend Douluo, Huang Jinxu, landed steadily in the center of the competition stage like a falling star.