When Liu Lin heard Xu Jiujiu, he couldn't help laughing. He thought she made a lot of sense. After all, reaching Soul Elder before the age of ten was a first in the entire history of the Star Luo Empire.
After Xu Jiujiu had reminded Liu Lin about these things, she left his quarters to attend a training session at Star Luo Royal Academy.
Three days later, at the north gate of Star Luo City.
A convoy waited outside the gate. Seeing that everyone had arrived, Elder Lin prepared to lead them to the Heaven Dou Empire.
To protect Liu Lin and Xu Jiujiu, Xu Jiawei had sent two Titled Douluo to accompany them. Alongside Elder Lin, who had traveled with them last time, was a middle-aged man.
The man's surname was Meng and his given name was Tao. He was a middle-aged man, a Rank 91 Power Attack System Titled Douluo whose Martial Soul was the Iron-Armored Giant Bear.
What was most interesting, though, was that despite Meng Tao's enormous build, his face made him look very kind.
Besides the regular and reserve team members from Star Luo Royal Academy, several instructors who would lead and direct them were accompanying the convoy.
Xu Jiujiu, as the reserve team captain, stood at the front of the group, going over precautions for the journey with her teammates.
Liu Lin stood beside the carriage, watching Xu Jiujiu explain things to her team with bored disinterest.
When Xu Jiujiu finished, everyone waited for Elder Lin's instructions. Seeing all eyes on him, Elder Lin called out, "Set off!"
At his command, the carriages slowly rolled through the north gate and left Star Luo City.
The journey from Star Luo City to Heaven Dou City took the convoy half a month.
By the evening of the fourteenth day, they had arrived in Heaven Dou City.
As they entered the city, Liu Lin looked out at Heaven Dou City from the carriage. Compared with Star Luo City's imposing solemnity, Heaven Dou City felt older and more prosperous.
The convoy then proceeded straight into Heaven Dou City and checked into the hotel arranged for them by the Heaven Dou Empire.
Two days later, the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Elite Tournament officially opened at the Heaven Dou Great Spirit Arena.
Star Luo Royal Academy wasn't competing that day, and the others had no interest in watching the matches. Only Liu Lin and Xu Jiujiu went to the Great Soul Arena, accompanied by Elder Lin.
In the VIP stands, Xu Jiujiu nudged Liu Lin, who was sitting beside her.
"Liu Lin, we're watching Shrek's match today. Don't let it get you down," Xu Jiujiu teased.
"How could it? I have plenty of confidence in myself." Liu Lin shook his head at her words.
Hearing his confident reply, Xu Jiujiu smiled and nodded.
"Good. Then you'd better work hard at your cultivation."
Xu Jiujiu had barely finished speaking when she spotted the people from Shrek Academy. She poked Liu Lin, then pointed to the western side of the arena.
"Hey, Liu Lin, look. The people from Shrek Academy are over there."
At Xu Jiujiu's words, Liu Lin looked in the direction she pointed.
The first person he noticed sitting at the front of Shrek's team was a young woman who looked to be in her early twenties.
Her long black hair fell over her shoulders. Her features were exquisite, and her bearing cool and ethereal.
When he looked at her, he realized she was looking right back at him. Liu Lin felt terribly awkward and hurriedly looked away.
"Pretty, is she?" A resentful voice sounded just as Liu Lin turned his gaze aside.
"Yeah... No, she isn't." Liu Lin answered without thinking, then hurriedly corrected himself when he realized what he'd said.
"Really? Then why were you staring for so long?" Xu Jiujiu said, pinching his hand.
"I mean it, Jiujiu. The match is about to start. Let's watch."
At Liu Lin's words, Xu Jiujiu let go of his hand and turned her attention to the match below.
The referee standing on the competition platform called out through an Amplifying Soul Tool, "The first match is Shrek Academy versus Di'ao Academy. This will be a team match. Both teams, please send your members onto the platform."
The people in Di'ao Academy's rest area turned gloomy when they heard the announced matchup.
Nevertheless, they were the first to walk onto the platform. The seven team members wore sky-blue uniforms, each with a Di'ao Academy badge on their chest.
At the front was a tall young man, his imposing Five-Ring Soul King aura radiating all around him.
On Shrek Academy's side, only one person walked onto the platform: the same woman who had just exchanged a glance with Liu Lin.
The woman stepped onto the platform alone, dressed in black with black hair and a cool expression. Facing seven opponents, she showed no sign of emotion.
Her calm gaze passed over the opposing Di'ao Team, as if she were looking at a group of ants.
When the seven members of Di'ao Academy saw that Shrek Academy had sent only one competitor, their faces filled with anger. They felt Shrek had shown them no respect at all.
Even so, the seven followed the rules and introduced themselves.
"Shrek Academy, Zhang Lexuan." After the other side had finished, the woman slowly gave her name.
When both sides had finished introducing themselves, the referee announced, "Introductions are complete. Let the match begin."
The seven members of the Di'ao Team released their Martial Souls at the same time, then formed a surrounding formation and charged Zhang Lexuan.
Zhang Lexuan raised her right hand. A flash of silver moonlight appeared behind her, and seven Soul Rings rose beneath her feet. Her astonishing configuration—one yellow, two purple, and four black—silenced the entire arena in an instant.
A Soul Saint! No one had expected Shrek Academy to send a Soul Saint into the match.
The seven Di'ao Academy members attacking Zhang Lexuan saw the Soul Rings, and their offensive rhythm immediately faltered.
There was no suspense in the battle that followed. The Di'ao Team's formation was as fragile as paper before her. In less than the time it took an incense stick to burn, all seven members had fallen.
Zhang Lexuan had crushed the seven members of Di'ao Academy.
The spectators erupted into a deafening roar of cheers.
In the VIP stands, Xu Jiujiu watched Zhang Lexuan on the platform, her bright blue eyes filled with astonishment.
"She's so strong. As expected of Shrek Academy," Xu Jiujiu exclaimed.
Liu Lin nodded in agreement. Based on the novel he'd read in his previous life, Zhang Lexuan would single-handedly dominate this year's Continental Advanced Spirit Master Elite Tournament.
But he couldn't help wondering whether Zhang Lexuan's Soul Ring Configuration had changed. He remembered that in the original story, her Soul Ring Configuration should have been the optimal one.
After the match ended, the spectators began to leave. When Xu Jiujiu and Liu Lin returned to the hotel, she parted ways with him to discuss tactics for the next day's match with the others from Star Luo Royal Academy.
Liu Lin nodded and decided to buy some food. He went downstairs, and just as he reached the lobby, he ran into Zhang Lexuan, who had just returned from the Great Soul Arena.
She had already changed out of the black fitted outfit she had worn during the match and was now dressed in a moon-white gown. Her black hair fell loosely over her shoulders.
When Zhang Lexuan saw Liu Lin coming down from upstairs, she stopped, her gaze settling on him.
Seeing her eyes on him, Liu Lin couldn't help feeling nervous.
Could she be like that, too? From the emotion in her eyes, Liu Lin felt that Zhang Lexuan was like the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.
After all, he didn't know Zhang Lexuan. Why was she looking at him that way?
Zhang Lexuan didn't answer right away. She simply looked at him, her lips twitching slightly, as if she were confirming something—or trying to hold something back.
"Miss, is there a reason you've been staring at me?" Feeling a little embarrassed under Zhang Lexuan's gaze, Liu Lin spoke up to distract her.
"Wasn't it you who stared at me in the Great Soul Arena first?" Zhang Lexuan replied slowly.
"Hm?" Zhang Lexuan's words put Liu Lin at ease. So she wasn't like the Three-Eyed Golden Lion after all. She was only doing this because he'd stared at her during the match.
"Sorry, Miss Zhang. That was my fault. May I ask what you wanted to see me about?" After speaking, Liu Lin bowed to her in apology.
At his words, Zhang Lexuan gently shook her head.
"It's all right. I happened to see you, so I just said something in passing. I don't know your name yet."
"My name is Liu Lin." Liu Lin answered when Zhang Lexuan asked.
Hearing his reply, Zhang Lexuan nodded and turned to leave.
Liu Lin stood where he was, watching Zhang Lexuan's figure disappear at the end of the corridor. His brows furrowed without him realizing it. He still couldn't understand why Zhang Lexuan had acted that way.
Liu Lin had clearly sensed a possessive look in her eyes, but it had vanished just as quickly, as if she had become someone else.
He shook his head and decided not to dwell on it. The soldiers would block the enemy, and the water would cover the earth. He wanted to see what would happen next.
Liu Lin took a deep breath, composed himself, and headed out.
At the Tiandu Grand Hotel, in Zhang Lexuan's room.
Zhang Lexuan sat alone in the room. Moonlight streamed through the gauze curtains, spreading a layer of silvery starlight across the floor.
At that moment, she had her eyes closed, her consciousness sinking deep into the Sea of Consciousness.
When Zhang Lexuan entered the Sea of Consciousness, she saw a woman standing in the distance.
Another woman stood there. She had exactly the same features and the same black hair, but her eyes and brows bore the maturity that came with years.
"What are you planning to do today?" Zhang Lexuan asked the woman in the distance.
"Of course I want to get to know him. What's so hard to understand about that, younger me?" The woman's voice reached Zhang Lexuan's ears.
"You stared at him for too long. He doesn't know you yet. If you look at him like that, he'll think you're some kind of pervert who likes children."
"Fine. I'm a pervert who likes children. Happy now?"
Hearing the other woman's words, Zhang Lexuan was left speechless.
"You... Why are you like this? How did I turn into someone like you in the future?"
The future Zhang Lexuan chuckled at those words.
"I've already missed him once. This time, I won't let him slip away again. So call me whatever you like. I don't care."
Hearing what her future self said, Zhang Lexuan withdrew from the Sea of Consciousness. Gazing at the bright moon outside the window, she thought of the first time she had met her future self.
On the night her family was wiped out, the jade pendant she had worn on her chest suddenly shattered as she lay dying. A beam of silver moonlight emerged from the pendant and possessed Zhang Lexuan, slaughtering every one of the enemies who had destroyed her family.
After the moonlight faded, young Zhang Lexuan fell into a deep sleep. Later, Mu En came there and found Zhang Lexuan unconscious.
After investigating, Mu En learned that Zhang Lexuan was highly talented, so he brought her back to Shrek Academy.
When Zhang Lexuan woke up, Mu En told her what had happened, saying that a powerful expert had killed her enemies.
He also told Zhang Lexuan that he had brought her back because she was talented and he wanted her to join Shrek Academy.
When Zhang Lexuan learned that someone had killed her enemies and that she had nowhere else to go, she joined Shrek Academy.
A few years after Zhang Lexuan entered Shrek Academy, the soul finally awakened.
At the time, Zhang Lexuan was meditating when a faint silver glow appeared in her Sea of Consciousness and slowly coalesced before her into a woman identical to herself.
"Who are you?" Young Zhang Lexuan warily watched the woman who looked exactly like her.
"I'm you," the future Zhang Lexuan replied. "You, from the future."
The answer was absurd, yet it carried a certain undeniable truth.
After all, in the conversation that followed, her future self correctly named all of Zhang Lexuan's secrets and preferences.
Even now, Zhang Lexuan remembered asking her future self what her life would be like if she never received her help.
Her future self fell silent, but didn't answer. From the look in her eyes, Zhang Lexuan understood that her future self hadn't had a good life.
In the dead of night, a faint figure silently passed through the corridor and pushed open a door.
Liu Lin was fast asleep in his room. In a daze, he felt something soft and warm press against his lips.
The touch was light and tender, laced with a tentative hesitation and a longing suppressed for far too long.
Then a soft body pressed down against his chest. A few strands of hair fell across his cheek, carrying a cool, delicate fragrance.
Feeling the softness against him, Liu Lin abruptly opened his eyes.
In the darkness, he could just make out someone leaning over him. Long hair fell from her shoulders, gleaming faintly in the moonlight. Her hands were braced beside his pillow, her body resting on his chest, her lips having just lifted from his.
Liu Lin's mind went blank. He instinctively tried to push the person off him, but she gently pinned his arm down.
"Don't move." The woman's voice was low and hoarse, thick with an emotion so deep it bordered on obsession. "Let me look at you."
Hearing that voice, Liu Lin froze. He recognized it. Wasn't it Zhang Lexuan, whom he had met earlier that day?
Liu Lin's mind raced, and he quickly calmed down, staring intently at the "Zhang Lexuan" before him.
There was something deeply wrong with Zhang Lexuan's gaze. Her eyes churned with emotions too complicated to name: longing, joy, and a desire suppressed for far too long.
"You're not Zhang Lexuan. Who are you, really?" Liu Lin stared at her and asked the question that had been troubling him.