Gu Qiu'er Laughs: They Haven't Won Once in Three Thousand Years

The year passed faster than expected, and Lu Yuan's group of three settled down in Mingdu.

At first, they had only planned to take a look around before leaving, but their winning streak at the Soul Duel Arena brought in a substantial income. The Hongchen siblings also invited them to spar and exchange pointers from time to time, and before they knew it, staying had become the norm.

They rented a two-story house with a courtyard in the south of the city.

Most days, they meditated to cultivate their Soul Power, occasionally went to the Soul Duel Arena for a few matches to stay sharp, or wandered around the outskirts of Mingdu together.

Life was peaceful, but never dull.

Every few days, the Hongchen siblings would come over to get beaten up.

At first, everyone fought separately, but gradually, it turned into mutual instruction.

Lu Yuan's group of three taught them Soul Duel techniques.

Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, meanwhile, taught Lu Yuan's group about Soul Tools.

Whenever the three girls met, they often huddled together to research which restaurants in Mingdu had released new dishes. They ate their way from the south of the city to the north, and the list of restaurants in their notebook grew longer and longer.

After more than a year, the atmosphere among the five had changed from strangers who had fought their way into acquaintance to a familiarity marked by unspoken understanding.

None of them deliberately tried to define whether this was friendship or something else.

That day.

The Hongchen siblings invited Lu Yuan's group to spar again.

The location was a patch of wasteland in Mingdu's western outskirts.

Young people exchanging pointers were quite cultured, stopping at the appropriate point.

Before long, it was time for a break.

They sat in a circle, chatting idly.

Meng Hongchen was poking at the ground with a twig and drawing something when she suddenly looked up and asked, "By the way, Lu Yuan, have you three ever considered joining an academy?"

Xiao Xiao had been drinking water. Hearing that, she froze for a moment, set down her water flask, and looked at Lu Yuan.

Gu Qiu'er turned her head as well.

Lu Yuan looked up at Meng Hongchen, then glanced at Xiao Hongchen.

"Why ask that all of a sudden?"

"We're members of the Abyss Cult, so naturally, we haven't joined any academy."

Meng Hongchen and Xiao Hongchen exchanged a glance, then nodded at each other.

Meng Hongchen said, "The next Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Duel Tournament will be held soon. Though your Abyss Cult is a reclusive sect, you still need to interact with the outside world eventually, right?"

"The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Duel Tournament gathers the greatest young geniuses from across the continent. Lu Yuan, Qiu'er, Xiao Xiao, all three of your talents are obvious for everyone to see."

"How about joining our Royal Soul Engineer Academy and competing as specially recruited contestants?"

Xiao Xiao's eyes lit up. "A Soul Duel Tournament?"

As a native of the Douluo Continent, she was naturally no stranger to the name of the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Duel Tournament.

It was the stage nearly every young Soul Master dreamed of, a true proof of being the strongest among the continent's younger generation.

To Xiao Xiao, it was undoubtedly a huge temptation.

"Brother Lu Yuan!"

She tugged at Lu Yuan's sleeve. "Should we go?"

Gu Qiu'er tilted her head and asked, "A Soul Duel Tournament? What do you fight?"

"It's a competition between academies."

Meng Hongchen explained, "Every advanced Soul Master Academy on the continent sends a representative team to participate. The final winning team is the strongest on the continent for that generation."

The chance to compete against young geniuses from across the continent was definitely a rare opportunity to show off!

Gu Qiu'er rubbed her hands together and looked at Lu Yuan. "Then this tournament sounds pretty interesting. How about we take part too?"

Xiao Xiao also looked at Lu Yuan expectantly.

Lu Yuan asked Xiao Hongchen, "Is this your grandfather's idea, or that regent's idea?"

Xiao Hongchen gave a bitter smile. "Both, I suppose. The three of you have become rather well-known in Mingdu, so His Highness the Regent naturally knows about you."

"The Empire has always attached great importance to the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Duel Tournament. After all, displaying the strength of the Empire's younger generation before the eyes of the world is good for the Sun Moon Empire's reputation."

"My grandfather and His Highness the Regent believe that if they can invite you to compete as specially recruited contestants from the Royal Soul Engineer Academy, our chances of winning this tournament will be much greater."

Meng Hongchen took over, looking seriously at Lu Yuan.

"The most important goal is to defeat Shrek Academy."

At the mention of Shrek Academy, Xiao Xiao and Gu Qiu'er both turned to look at Lu Yuan.

Xiao Hongchen noticed.

He asked in confusion, "What's wrong? Could it be... you don't want Shrek Academy to lose?"

Of course, they were from the Douluo Continent after all.

"Fight! Shrek Academy is exactly who we want to fight!"

Lu Yuan grinned. "Fighting Shrek Academy is great. Shrek Academy deserves a beating!"

"Whenever someone wants to fight Shrek Academy, we of the Abyss Cult will lend a hand."

Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen exchanged glances, each seeing a trace of surprise in the other's eyes.

There was clearly more than ordinary bad blood between the Abyss Cult and Shrek Academy.

Suppressing his doubts, Xiao Hongchen said, "Then it's settled? I'll inform my grandfather and have your names added to the participant list."

"Not so fast."

Lu Yuan raised a hand to stop him. "You can invite us as outside help, but how are we calculating the appearance fee?"

Xiao Hongchen blanked. "An appearance fee?"

"Didn't you just say that whenever someone fights Shrek Academy, you'll help them out?"

"Why are you asking for an appearance fee now?"

Xiao Xiao planted her hands on her slender waist, lifted her chin, and said with a smile, "Business is business! Helping out is our business, while appearance fees are your academy's business. Those are two separate matters."

Gu Qiu'er added from the side, "What, do you expect the horse to run without feeding it? You weren't planning to make us fight for free, were you?"

"Otherwise, we'll have to consider joining another academy. Then we'll beat up your Royal Soul Engineer Academy along with you."

Xiao Hongchen: "..."

Meng Hongchen covered her face and helplessly tried to smooth things over. "All right, all right, Brother, stop making a fuss."

She looked at Lu Yuan's group, her tone becoming more serious. "Lu Yuan, don't worry. The academy will pay your appearance fees according to the standards for official contestants. We definitely won't shortchange you."

"And if we truly defeat Shrek Academy then, the academy will also give you an additional generous reward."

Lu Yuan nodded. "That works. We'll take the job."

After thinking it over, Gu Qiu'er asked Meng Hongchen, "What grudge does your academy have against Shrek Academy? Why are you so determined to defeat them?"

Meng Hongchen sighed. "Apart from imperial glory... our Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy has been suppressed by Shrek Academy for nearly three thousand years."

"From the time we first began participating in the tournament until today, we haven't won a single match."

Gu Qiu'er's eyes widened in shock. "More than three thousand years? Not even one win?"

"Not once."

Meng Hongchen nodded with a bitter smile.

"HAHAHAHAHA!!"

Gu Qiu'er immediately burst into laughter and turned to Xiao Hongchen. "Hey, then you really are hopeless. You focused entirely on developing Soul Tools and became amateurs at Soul Duels, didn't you?"

Xiao Hongchen's expression darkened. "Hmph! That's because I wasn't around before! With Meng Hongchen and me competing in this tournament, we'll definitely defeat Shrek Academy!"

"Oh, please. You can't even beat me, and you want to challenge Shrek Academy?"

Gu Qiu'er crossed her arms, a smile at the corner of her lips.

Xiao Hongchen's face reddened. "Gu Qiu'er! Stop looking down on people! Do you think everyone is a monster like you?"

Not everyone's Soul Rings started at ten thousand years!

As a genius of the Hongchen Family, Xiao Hongchen still knew certain things.

During the year Lu Yuan's group had acted so brazenly in Mingdu, plenty of factions had investigated them. Some had even secretly made moves, intending to use force to obtain the secret behind the enhancement of their Soul Rings.

Yet every one of those attempts ended without a conclusion. Those who went never returned, and no one knew whether they were dead or alive.

But people guessed that they were probably dead.

For the three of them to openly display Soul Rings beyond their limits in Mingdu, there had to be someone backing them!

Thus, fewer and fewer people dared to test them afterward.