The Tournament Ends, Heading to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well

The next morning, Liu Lin woke up, groggily rolled over, and discovered he was lying in bed alone.

When he got up, he found that the chains had already been unlocked by Zhang Lexuan.

Just as he was about to stretch, he saw a note pressed down under the table nearby.

Liu Lin walked over, picked it up, and read what was written on it.

The handwriting on the note was elegant yet forceful, consisting of only one line: See you tonight.

Liu Lin stared at the note for several seconds before using his soul power to burn it to ashes.

He stood up and pushed open the window; the morning breeze of Tiantou City flooded into the room, carrying the bustle of the streets and the aroma of food.

He looked down at his wrists. Seeing the faint red marks still lingering there, he felt as though his life was hurtling in an increasingly absurd direction.

He took a deep breath and decided to go get breakfast first. No matter what had happened last night, he still had to eat.

Just as Liu Lin was about to head out, his door was knocked, followed by the voice of Xu Jiujiu.

"Liu Lin, are you awake? I bought you breakfast, hurry and open the door."

Liu Lin subconsciously tugged at his cuffs, covering the red marks on his wrists tightly before walking over to open the door.

Xu Jiujiu stood outside, holding two portions of breakfast.

She was wearing light blue casual clothes today, her blonde hair tied back into a loose ponytail.

She looked Liu Lin up and down as he emerged, her brows knitting slightly.

"Didn't you sleep well last night? Your complexion is terrible."

"Had a nightmare." Liu Lin took the breakfast without changing his expression. "Why are you up so early?"

"Our academy has a match today. Even though it's the reserve team, we still have to go watch."

As she spoke, Xu Jiujiu walked into the room, her gaze sweeping across the interior. The bed was neatly made, the window was open, and everything looked perfectly normal.

Yet, her intuition told her something was off. She walked to the window, trying to catch some strange scent in the air, but the wind had already blown everything away.

"What's wrong?" Liu Lin asked, holding his porridge bowl, feigning indifference.

"...Nothing." Xu Jiujiu withdrew her gaze, sat down across from him, and began to eat her breakfast.

After a few bites, she looked up at Liu Lin again, but ultimately decided not to voice the questions in her heart.

In the days that followed, Liu Lin's life became extremely routine.

During the day, he followed Xu Jiujiu and the Star Luo Royal Academy team to the Great Soul Arena to observe the tactical arrangements and soul master coordination of various academies. At night, he accompanied Zhang Lexuan.

In the end, the Star Luo Royal Academy stopped at fourth place; this result was not a surprise, but it met expectations.

Under the leadership of Zhang Lexuan, Shrek Academy won the championship of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament.

As the captain of the reserve team, Xu Jiujiu had been incredibly busy these past few days, not only organizing the team members to observe and learn but also representing the academy in exchanges with teams from other empires.

But no matter how busy she was, she would go to breakfast with Liu Lin every morning.

And this led her to discover even more things that were not right. Liu Lin's mental state was deteriorating day by day, and faint dark circles were beginning to appear under his eyes.

At first, she thought Liu Lin was exhausted from cultivation or staying up late to study tactics, but when she borrowed his tournament tactical manual, she found that Liu Lin had already completed all the analysis.

She began to pay close attention to his every move, until the third morning, when Xu Jiujiu noticed his cuff slip as he reached for his porridge bowl, revealing a faint ring of red marks on the inside of his wrist.

"What happened to your wrist?" Xu Jiujiu set down her chopsticks and reached out to grab his arm.

"I accidentally chafed it while cultivating," Liu Lin said, his expression unchanging as he pulled his cuff back down.

Watching his expression, Xu Jiujiu did not press further, simply picking up her bowl to continue drinking her porridge.

However, she began to grow suspicious of Liu Lin. After all, marks from cultivation wouldn't be that thin, nor would they be in that exact spot on his wrist.

The fifth day, the sixth day... every morning, Xu Jiujiu would knock on Liu Lin's door right on time. Liu Lin's complexion grew worse than the day before, and every morning he claimed it was due to cultivation.

Xu Jiujiu did not expose him, but the morning knocks became increasingly urgent—from tapping to pounding, from inquiry to scrutiny.

She stopped asking, "Did you not sleep well?" and instead stared directly into his eyes, waiting for him to explain himself.

Liu Lin was suffering internally. Every night, the future Zhang Lexuan would appear in his room right on time, lock him up with chains, tell him stories, and finally fall asleep holding him.

Zhang Lexuan also liked to bury her face in the crook of his neck, as if she could only drift off to sleep peacefully in that position.

Furthermore, sometimes she would wake up in the middle of the night and quietly watch his face for a long, long time.

On the final night, Zhang Lexuan did not lock Liu Lin up with the chains.

She simply sat by the window, lost in thought, the moonlight falling upon her and shrouding her in a pale silver halo.

Liu Lin leaned against the headboard, watching her; neither of them spoke.

The silence lasted for a long time, until the distant lights had all been extinguished, before Zhang Lexuan finally spoke: "Leaving tomorrow?"

"Yes." Liu Lin nodded. "The Continental Advanced Soul Master Tournament is over; it's time for me to go back."

Zhang Lexuan nodded, stood up from the window, and walked toward Liu Lin.

"I see your little fiancée keeps a very close eye on you. Why don't you tell her the truth, Little Lin?" Zhang Lexuan looked at Liu Lin, who was sitting on the bed, and offered a playful smile.

Hearing Zhang Lexuan's words, Liu Lin couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

Zhang Lexuan was absolutely right; Xu Jiujiu wasn't a fool. Who would believe such an excuse day after day? She was simply waiting for him to confess it himself.

Seeing Liu Lin's grim expression, Zhang Lexuan laughed and steered the conversation elsewhere.

"Alright, I won't tease you anymore, Little Lin." Zhang Lexuan put away her smile.

After a brief pause, she adopted a serious expression and said, "I came to find you tonight to ask if you would like to accompany me to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well after the tournament concludes."

"The Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well?"

"Yes." Hearing Liu Lin's question, Zhang Lexuan nodded. "Do you have any concerns, Little Lin?"

"Where is the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well?"

"Oh, I forgot. You don't know where the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well is yet." Zhang Lexuan patted her head as if she had just remembered, speaking with an apologetic tone.

"It doesn't matter, though. There are many rare treasures there that can help you improve your strength. Won't you come with your big sister?"

Hearing Zhang Lexuan use a tone one would use to coax a child, Liu Lin couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"I'm not going."

Upon hearing Liu Lin's blunt refusal, Zhang Lexuan was visibly stunned for a moment.

"Why wouldn't you go? There are rare treasures there that can help you improve your strength." Zhang Lexuan looked at Liu Lin in confusion.