Information That Doesn't Match Memory

For Eastsea Academy, the promotion tournament was an annual grand event, because it was the only competition that involved every grade and the entire academy.

At the center of the intermediate division's sports field.

A competition platform had long since been set up here.

Calling it a competition platform was somewhat misleading—it was actually a circular area one hundred meters in diameter, paved with metal plates ten centimeters thick.

Special soul tool barrier generators surrounded it, preventing accidents during the matches.

Today was the first day of the competition. To avoid disrupting the students' studies, the matches were held after school.

The dismissal bell rang.

The students poured out of the teaching buildings, but very few headed toward the competition platform.

After all, there was truly nothing worth watching in the match between Class Five and Class Four of the first grade.

Only a handful of curious onlookers, along with Class Three, who would be competing tomorrow, paid attention to the upcoming match.

On a path through the campus.

Xu Yue held Xu Xiaoyan's hand as they walked slowly forward.

At that moment, Xu Xiaoyan suddenly raised her head and suggested to Xu Yue, "Brother Yue, let's go shopping."

"Hm?" Xu Yue was taken aback. "You're not going to watch the promotion tournament?"

"What's there to watch?" Xu Xiaoyan shook her little head, speaking rapidly. "With you around, is there even a chance our class will lose?"

As she spoke, she blinked her large dark-blue eyes, pouted her little lips, and gently swayed Xu Yue's arm as she acted cute.

"Brother Yue... you said before that as long as I broke through to Great Soul Master before school started, you'd make time to go shopping with me."

"Alright." Xu Yue smiled indulgently. "But I'll ask Sister Mu Xi if she wants to come too."

However, before he could take out his communicator, Xu Xiaoyan abruptly pressed down on his hand, a hint of slyness appearing on her delicate, pretty face.

"Hehe, I already asked. Class One of the fifth grade, where Sister Mu Xi is, is preparing to challenge the sixth grade. She doesn't have time today."

"You..." Xu Yue immediately understood Xu Xiaoyan's little scheme. He reached out and scraped her cute nose. "Then I'll listen to you..."

However, just as Xu Yue turned around and was about to lead Xu Xiaoyan toward the school gate.

A series of startled cries suddenly erupted from the sports field.

Even from several hundred meters away, they could be heard clearly.

Hearing the waves of noise, Xu Xiaoyan tilted her little head and looked toward the sports field.

"What happened?"

Xu Yue smiled and shrugged indifferently.

"Maybe Class Five beat Class Four."

But at that moment, hurried footsteps suddenly sounded behind them, accompanied by a shout.

"Brother Yue! Sister Xiaoyan!"

Hearing this, the two turned around and discovered that the newcomer was Wei Xiaofeng.

"Xiaofeng, did you need something from us?"

Looking at Wei Xiaofeng, who had run over and was gasping heavily, Xu Yue asked with a smile.

"Ha... ha..." Wei Xiaofeng panted. "This is bad, Brother Yue. Over at Class Five... Class Five..."

"Class Five? What happened to Class Five?" Xu Xiaoyan asked in confusion.

"I can't explain it in one sentence." Wei Xiaofeng waved his hand. "Brother Yue, you need to go take a look!"

Seeing Wei Xiaofeng like this, Xu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan exchanged glances before heading toward the sports field.

The closer they got to the sports field, the louder the cries of surprise became.

At the same time, Xu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan could hear more clearly what everyone was discussing.

"Did you see that?! That girl is actually a Great Soul Master! Class Five actually has a two-ring powerhouse!"

"Who cares about a Great Soul Master? Didn't you see that her soul rings are thousand-year soul rings?"

"How is that possible? That's completely different from what the teachers taught us!!"

"How could a genius like that be assigned to Class Five?"

The discussions washed into Xu Yue's ears along with the uproar, making him frown deeply.

A girl? A Great Soul Master? Thousand-year soul rings?

Could it be Gu Yue, the Silver Dragon King?

But that wasn't right either!

He searched through the memories in his mind. Even though Gu Yue had come to find Tang Wulin because of Na'er, she had deliberately suppressed her soul power to around Rank Fifteen.

Even after two months of cultivation, he vaguely remembered that she should only have been around Rank Seventeen or Eighteen, and her soul rings should have only been hundred-year ones.

Other than her gender, none of the information being discussed seemed to match.

But the answer was not far away, so there was no need for him to keep guessing in his mind.

Led by Wei Xiaofeng, Xu Yue parted the gathered crowd and made his way to the front.

At a single glance, he saw the black-haired, white-clad woman on the arena, who had just withdrawn her martial soul.

She was slender and perfectly proportioned. The exposed skin of her arms glowed with a lustrous white sheen, yet there was rarely any emotional fluctuation on that breathtakingly beautiful face, making her seem cold and distant.

At the same time, the lingering elemental aura on the arena and the flash of purple light that had vanished in an instant allowed Xu Yue to identify the woman's true identity immediately.

She was none other than Gu Yue, the Silver Dragon King.

Yet the various details that did not match his memories made him frown as he stared at Gu Yue in confusion.

On the arena.

Gu Yue sensed a heavy gaze fixed upon her and could not help turning to look, meeting Xu Yue's eyes below the stage.

Seeing Gu Yue look over, Xu Yue instinctively nodded in simple greeting.

After hesitating for a moment, Gu Yue nodded as well.

Just then, Xu Xiaoyan tugged at him. "Brother Yue, let's go. You promised to take me shopping."

Xu Xiaoyan was indeed surprised by Gu Yue's strength. She had not expected Class Five, the weakest class, to produce such a genius.

But that alone was not enough to interest her. The person she liked also had a thousand-year soul ring—and more of them, at that.

Hearing Xu Xiaoyan's words, Xu Yue nodded, and his furrowed brow relaxed.

It was merely a small change from his memories. It was nothing significant.

Besides, with his appearance, this world was already bound to differ from its predetermined course. There was really no need to dwell on it.

"Alright! Let's go!"

As he spoke, Xu Yue greeted a few classmates from Class One beside him, then left once more with Xu Xiaoyan.

Among Class Five's group.

Xie Xie looked at the noisy crowd over there and curled his lip disdainfully. "Tch, who's that? Making such a big show of himself."

"He's the class monitor of Class One," Tang Wulin said.

He had seen Xu Yue as well.

Thinking about how he would have to face Xu Yue in a few days, he told his teammates the information he had learned from Cen Yue.

"What? A Soul Elder?! A fourth-rank blacksmith!" Xie Xie was instantly shocked and cried out.

"How is that possible?"

Gu Yue, who was not far from them, heard this information, and a gleam immediately flashed through her black eyes.

"Interesting! Could it be him?"

With that thought, Gu Yue looked in the direction Xu Yue and Xu Xiaoyan had left and quickly followed after them.

Seeing Gu Yue leave, Xie Xie immediately called out.

"Gu Yue, do you want to go to the snack street with us? We just beat Class Four—we should celebrate!"

However, Gu Yue, walking ahead, did not even turn back at his suggestion. Her steps even quickened by several paces.

"What's with her? We've been classmates for months, and she's still so cold," Xie Xie muttered, curling his lip.

"Geniuses tend to be a little arrogant," Tang Wulin said with a smile. "Weren't you pretty much the same at first?"

Likewise, he thought of Xu Yue, both from the Blacksmith Association and from what he had just seen.

"How am I anything like her? Let's go to the snack street."

"Wait for me first! I'll be right there."