Exhibition Match Slots

Mu Ye's face filled with disdain at those words.

"Why would you bother joining a competition where children play house?" Mu Ye leaned back. "A bunch of teenage brats shoving each other around onstage. You might be willing to embarrass yourself, but I'm not."

As far as Mu Ye was concerned, with Lu Guan's current strength and ruthlessness, entering that sort of competition would be nothing but diving into a fishpond to crush the small fry.

Utterly pointless.

Lu Guan tapped the tabletop.

"What do you know?" Lu Guan looked at Mu Ye. "How many people does the Body Sect have left?"

Mu Ye froze for a moment and said nothing.

"You, the sect master, my senior brother, and me. Then there's that girl over there who joined halfway down the road." Lu Guan pointed at Xu Xiaoyan in the corner. "Four people, even counting everyone."

Hearing herself mentioned, Xu Xiaoyan hurriedly sat up straight and nodded repeatedly.

"If you want to revive the Body Sect, hiding in the mountains won't do." Lu Guan's tone was calm. "A reputation has to be won through battle."

Mu Ye raised an eyebrow. "You mean..."

"The Skysea Alliance Grand Competition is the biggest event on the entire East Coast. Academies and families from every city will send their most outstanding talents."

Lu Guan leaned forward, clasping his hands on the table. "On that arena stage, I'm going to trample those so-called geniuses underfoot."

"I'm going to let everyone on the continent know that the Body Sect is back."

Since he had joined the Body Sect, and since he was being groomed as its future successor, he naturally had a part to play in its revival.

Mu Ye stared steadily at Lu Guan.

This kid...

The carriage fell silent, save for the faint rumble of the moving train.

A long moment passed.

"Good lad!" Mu Ye slapped his thigh, making the cups on the table shake. "Now that's arrogance! You've got the same spirit I had back in the day!"

Mu Ye stood, walked over to Lu Guan, and gave his shoulder several heavy pats.

"All right! If you want to crush small fry, I'll go with you!"

Lu Guan shook his head with a smile. He had no interest in crushing small fry. Besides, even winning the Youth Division's individual championship would have only a limited impact.

To truly make a name for himself, he needed a hook.

This Skysea Alliance Grand Competition happened to have just the hook he needed.

Tianhai Academy.

Long Huan Tian, the dean of Tianhai Academy, was brewing tea in a rosewood teapot.

Three uninvited guests arrived, one adult and two children.

Long Huan Tian was startled at first, then sighed in relief when he recognized his visitors.

"Sect Master Mu! What a rare guest, a truly rare guest! Why didn't you let me know before coming?" Long Huan Tian adopted an exceedingly deferential attitude.

Although Tianhai Academy was the foremost soul master academy on the East Coast, its dean amounted to little before a veteran Titled Douluo like Mu Ye.

Mu Ye picked up the freshly brewed tea on the table, blew away the steam, and took a sip.

"Enough. Spare me the empty pleasantries." Mu Ye set down his cup. "I need you to arrange something."

Long Huan Tian nodded repeatedly. "Please, tell me. If it's within Tianhai Academy's power, we certainly won't refuse."

Mu Ye tilted his chin toward Lu Guan and Xu Xiaoyan beside him.

"These two are my disciples. For this Skysea Alliance Grand Competition, they're going to join your previous championship team," Mu Ye said casually.

"And face Shrek Academy's representative team in the opening ceremony's exhibition match!"

Lu Guan raised his head proudly.

Xu Xiaoyan: Huh, me?

Long Huan Tian's expression stiffened, then he gave an awkward twitch of his lips.

"Sect Master Mu, you... you must be joking, right?" Long Huan Tian glanced at Lu Guan, then back at Mu Ye. "Join the championship team? And fight Shrek?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" Mu Ye asked.

Long Huan Tian rubbed his hands together, looking troubled.

"Sect Master Mu, it's not that I'm refusing to show you respect. The Skysea Alliance Grand Competition's championship team represents the honor of our entire East Sea Alliance. Those seven members are the original lineup, tempered through years of hammering and forging until their coordination became seamless."

Long Huan Tian paused, weighing his words.

"A sudden substitution would not only disrupt their existing tactical system, but also cause resentment among the other members."

"Besides, their opponent in the exhibition match is Shrek Academy! The continent's number one academy! If our coordination falters and we lose too miserably, the entire Skysea Alliance will be humiliated!"

Long Huan Tian phrased it tactfully, but his meaning was clear.

He did not believe Lu Guan and Xu Xiaoyan were strong enough.

Even if they were Mu Ye's disciples, their ages spoke for themselves. How strong could they possibly be?

At those words, Lu Guan stepped forward, pulled out another chair, and sat down.

"Tactical system? Coordination?" Lu Guan leaned against the backrest. "They just need to listen to me. I'm a system all by myself!"

Long Huan Tian frowned, feeling displeased.

Is this kid really that cocky?

Did he understand what Shrek Academy was? It was a gathering ground for monsters!

Anyone who could represent Shrek in an exhibition match would definitely be a monster among monsters!

Long Huan Tian turned toward Mu Ye, hoping he would rein in his disciple.

Instead, Mu Ye was looking down and drinking his tea, showing no intention of responding. He was clearly giving his tacit approval to Lu Guan's arrogance.

Long Huan Tian: *...*

Two cocky ones.

Only that little girl isn't so arrogant.

Long Huan Tian considered his options. Refusing was clearly difficult under these circumstances, but if he could seize this opportunity to gain something...

Although Tianhai Academy was already the Skysea Alliance's top academy, Long Huan Tian still felt that was not enough.

If he could get a Titled Douluo to occasionally visit the academy and instruct its students, it would give the academy's reputation an enormous boost!

After a moment's thought, Long Huan Tian made up his mind.

"Sect Master Mu, how about this?" Long Huan Tian braced both hands on the table. "Any substitutions must be justified by strength. Otherwise, I can't explain them to the other team members or the alliance's higher-ups."

"How do you want to test them?" Mu Ye set down his cup.

"I'll summon two members of the previous championship team. As long as your disciples can defeat them, I'll take responsibility for adding both your disciples to the starting lineup, and personally discuss the exhibition match with Shrek."

Long Huan Tian immediately laid out his own condition.

"But if your disciples lose, I hope Sect Master Mu will honor us by serving as a visiting professor at Tianhai Academy for one month, offering a little guidance to our promising students. What do you think?"

Mu Ye grinned and turned to Lu Guan. "Well?"

Lu Guan stood. "Let's go to the training grounds. The sooner we finish fighting, the sooner we can head back for a meal."

Tianhai Academy, No. 1 Advanced Simulation Training Hall.

The hall was extremely spacious, its floor laid with a special alloy capable of absorbing high-intensity soul power impacts.

Wang Heng stood in the center of the grounds with his arms folded, his teammate Zhou Ming beside him.

Both were in their twenties and tall, with soul power fluctuations at the Three-Ring Soul Elder level.

Long Huan Tian briefly explained the situation.

After listening, Wang Heng's brow furrowed into three deep creases.

He lowered his head and sized up Lu Guan, who stood opposite him, more than half a head shorter.

And Xu Xiaoyan, who was hiding behind Lu Guan.

Wang Heng scoffed.

"Dean, you summoned us out of the blue just to play house with two little brats?"

Wang Heng slapped his solid chest muscles, producing dull thumping sounds.

"I'm afraid I might accidentally knock them to pieces with one slap. If Sect Master Mu blames me afterward, I can't shoulder that responsibility."

Zhou Ming laughed along beside him.

Long Huan Tian coughed lightly.

"Enough nonsense. This is Sect Master Mu's arrangement. Both of you, use your full strength. Don't get careless."

Despite saying that, Long Huan Tian also felt there was no suspense about the outcome of this match.

He merely wanted to go through the motions so he could naturally keep Mu Ye here as a visiting professor.