Let Me Ask a Few Questions (Please Vote and Keep Reading)

"Once we kill them all, the assessment will be over. Let me ask a few questions."

As Ye Zhiqiu said this, he had already put away the Absolute Blade and slipped both hands into his pockets.

Standing behind them, Lan Xuanyu froze for a moment, then dropped his defensive stance and looked at the two people who had suddenly appeared.

A girl with long, dark blue hair and a boy with black hair and black eyes. They looked about the same age as his group, perhaps even a little younger.

But the strength they had displayed in that brief instant made him instinctively put them in the "not to be trifled with" category.

"Who are you?" Lan Xuanyu asked first. His voice was quiet but steady, with a trace of wariness.

"We were about to ask you that," Dong Qianqiu cut in. She put away her Ice Spear and planted her hands on her hips, sweeping her dark blue eyes over the three of them before continuing, "I was walking along when a glowing doorway suddenly appeared under my feet and dragged me here. Was that your doing?"

Qian Lei hurriedly waved his hands. "It wasn't a trick! It was a summoning! My Summoning Gate summoned you here!"

"Summoning Gate?" Dong Qianqiu frowned, clearly unconvinced.

Ye Zhiqiu was in no hurry to speak. His gaze swept over the three people opposite him.

One chubby boy, one tall, skinny boy, and one little girl with black hair and blue eyes.

Two boys and one girl... wait a second.

Ye Zhiqiu's gaze stopped on the little black-haired girl in the middle.

Black hair, blue eyes, strikingly pretty, with fair skin and features far too exquisite for an ordinary child.

He looked about their age and wore a Tianluo Star school uniform, with faint markings on both hands.

Lan Xuanyu?

No, wasn't Lan Xuanyu a boy?

In the original story, Lan Xuanyu was the son of Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena, a boy who eventually acknowledged his ancestry, changed his name to Tang Xuanyu, and became the new Dragon God.

But this one in front of me...

Ye Zhiqiu studied him again, making sure he had not seen wrong.

Long, straight black hair, soft features, a clear voice, and a stance and bearing with that particular crispness girls had.

This was clearly a girl.

Ye Zhiqiu's mind raced before arriving at a conclusion: In this timeline, Lan Xuanyu has been turned into a girl!

"You..." Ye Zhiqiu looked at Lan Xuanyu with a peculiar expression. After two and a half seconds of silence, he continued, "Are you really a girl?"

The question left Lan Xuanyu stunned.

He looked down at his hands, touched his face, then raised his head to look at Ye Zhiqiu, his eyes full of a bewildered "Are you all right?"

"Do I look like a boy?"

"No," Ye Zhiqiu answered honestly, then continued, "No, not at all. I was just checking."

After saying that, he glanced at Lan Xuanyu again and silently added, No wonder you were the original story's 'greatest beauty,' the Golden Dragon Princess. Already this beautiful as a child. In some ways, you even outshine Dong Qianqiu.

He did not say it aloud, but Dong Qianqiu beside him had clearly noticed that he looked at Lan Xuanyu a second or two longer than he looked at the others.

That idiot actually stared at another girl for so long!

Dong Qianqiu unobtrusively moved half a step forward, blocking part of Ye Zhiqiu's view, then changed the subject. "You still haven't answered my question. What exactly is going on?"

Lan Xuanyu looked at her, then at Ye Zhiqiu. After considering his wording, he said, "My classmate's Martial Soul ability is summoning. After he opened his Summoning Gate, I accidentally touched it, and then you were summoned here. Are you... Federation citizens too? Are you also on Tianluo Star?"

"Tianluo Star?" Dong Qianqiu froze, then continued, "This is Tianluo Star?"

"Yes, this is Tianluo Star." Lan Xuanyu nodded.

"But we're on Heaven Dou Star!" Dong Qianqiu exclaimed in surprise.

Hearing this, Lan Xuanyu also fell silent, then turned to Qian Lei.

Qian Lei blinked and puffed out his chest, trying hard to look unfathomable. "You don't understand the mysteries of space."

"And you do?" Liu Feng, beside him, mercilessly undercut him.

"Either way, I pulled off an interplanetary summoning!" Qian Lei retorted, stiffening his neck.

Watching Qian Lei desperately keep up appearances, Ye Zhiqiu's mouth twitched.

This fatty survived on his gift of gab in the original story. He certainly lives up to his reputation.

Liu Feng rolled his eyes beside him but did not undermine him again.

Standing between the two, Lan Xuanyu looked at Ye Zhiqiu and Dong Qianqiu, hesitated, then took the initiative to speak. "My name is Lan Xuanyu. I'm in Tianluo Star's High Energy Youth Class. These two are my classmates, Qian Lei and Liu Feng."

Hearing this, Ye Zhiqiu introduced himself as well, then indicated Dong Qianqiu beside him. "Ye Zhiqiu. This is Dong Qianqiu, my friend and partner. We're from the Heaven Dou Branch Affiliated Junior Academy on Heaven Dou Star. Second-years, just like you."

"Dong Qianqiu?" Lan Xuanyu repeated the name and glanced at her. "What an unusual name."

"Your name is pretty unusual too." Dong Qianqiu looked at Lan Xuanyu, her tone flat.

Hmph. You actually caught that idiot's eye.

Ye Zhiqiu stood beside them, his gaze passing between the two.

In the original story, Dong Qianqiu and Lan Xuanyu were a couple. I just never expected Lan Xuanyu to become a girl. Still, these two certainly have a connection. This makes things interesting.

"That summoning ability of yours..." Dong Qianqiu looked at Qian Lei. "Can it summon us back?"

Qian Lei scratched his head. "You should automatically return once the summoning ends. This is my first interplanetary summoning too, so I'm not entirely sure how it works."

After saying that, he thought for a moment and added, "But according to Douluo World's rules, all summoned beings are sent back to their original locations when the assessment ends. It should be soon."

"Assessment? What assessment?" Dong Qianqiu asked with a frown.

"This one." Qian Lei pointed at the Lava Hounds still growling around them. "We're taking the beginner assessment. The objective is to clear out all the Lava Hounds. We pass once they're all killed."

Hearing this, Ye Zhiqiu and Dong Qianqiu exchanged a glance. They had enough information now; there was no need to stay any longer.

"Then let's help them clear the rest," Ye Zhiqiu said.

The Absolute Blade appeared again, its long white blade hovering silently beside Ye Zhiqiu's palm.

At the same time, his second Purple Soul Ring flashed.

Second Soul Skill, Absolute Slash.

Dong Qianqiu had seen this move before.

She had witnessed it many times. Whenever he used it, the blade seemed to disregard distance and angle altogether. The instant it struck its target, there was no warning, no trajectory.

Ye Zhiqiu glanced at the only three soul beasts left in the arena. One hundred-year Lava Hound had lost its front legs and could not move, while two ten-year Lava Hounds had half their bodies frozen, shards of ice still clinging to them as they struggled fiercely.

Then he casually swung his blade.

The first slash landed on the hundred-year Lava Hound. Before the soul beast could even let out a final agonized howl, its body dissolved into specks of light.

Then he turned his wrist again.

The second slash swept toward the ten-year Lava Hound on the left. Before that soul beast could struggle, specks of light engulfed it, and it vanished into the air in the blink of an eye.

Then came the third slash.

The last ten-year Lava Hound was also swallowed by specks of light and disappeared completely.

Three slashes, three soul beasts.

Clean and decisive, without a single unnecessary movement. He did not even look as though he had exerted himself.

Lan Xuanyu and his two classmates watched, dumbstruck. How could someone their age be so much stronger than even their class monitor, Lu Qianxun?

At the same time, a cold electronic voice rang out from thin air.

"Beginner assessment passed. Assessment complete. Reward: one Douluo Coin."

The next instant, everyone's figures turned illusory. With a whoosh, Ye Zhiqiu and Dong Qianqiu transformed into a streak of light, returned to the Summoning Gate, and vanished.

Lan Xuanyu, Qian Lei, and Liu Feng also gradually faded away and disappeared.