The despondent state of Shrek Academy left Xiao Hongchen at a loss for words.
Sun Moon Royal Academy had always regarded Shrek Academy as their imaginary rival.
Even after Shrek Academy had been destroyed once, they shouldn't have fallen to such a state, right?
Even if they won against such a Shrek Academy, who would feel happy about it?
"There are still a few days until the competition. They must have been delayed by something."
Beibei shrugged, speaking with an indifferent expression.
What happened to Shrek Academy no longer had anything to do with him.
"I hope so."
Xiao Hongchen nodded and said.
Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, Xiao Hongchen nudged Beibei's shoulder with his own and said, "Brother Beibei, if we meet on the stage, you'll have to go easy on us!"
"At least give us a good fight of twenty or thirty rounds, save us some face."
Even without Shrek Academy, they were still no match for Liyue Academy!
Golden Tortoise, Bear Lord...
How could they fight against that?
Sure, they had soul tools, and their overall soul power level was higher than Liyue Academy's, but these were monsters!
Winning was impossible unless they were extremely lucky and drew rules that favored them.
But the chances of that were far too slim!
"Brother Xiao, why are you being so self-deprecating? Your talent and strength are not weak."
"Plus, your mastery of soul tools is something we can't even begin to match."
"It's not that we're not confident, but if we put ourselves in your shoes, do you think you could win against the Golden Tortoise and Bear Lord?"
Xiao Hongchen said gloomily, his face filled with resentment and envy.
Such amazing soul spirits! It's a pity he hadn't reached level 50 back then, and even now he still hadn't, so he couldn't fuse with a soul spirit.
Hearing this, Beibei and Tang Ya thought for a moment and realized it was true.
The Golden Tortoise and Bear Lord, even if they couldn't unleash even a tenth of their original strength, were not opponents that a group of Soul Emperors, Soul Kings, or even Soul Ancestors could hope to challenge.
If the Bear Lord went all out, he could probably take out one kid with a single swipe of his claw...
That was the ancestor of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear. Any defensive soul tool would be like paper in front of him.
"If we meet, we'll definitely have a good spar."
Beibei didn't say he'd go easy on them, only that they'd spar, which was a face-saving gesture for Xiao Hongchen and the others.
Xiao Hongchen's teammates nodded. As expected of people from Liyue, their demeanor and grace were completely incomparable to the arrogant and self-important people from Shrek.
"Good brothers, for life!"
Xiao Hongchen patted Beibei's shoulder and said, "Everyone, there are still a few days until the competition starts. Today, I, Xiao Hongchen, invite you all for a drink. Let's not stop until we're drunk!"
This was a great opportunity to bond, and they naturally couldn't miss it.
The people from Liyue were easy to get along with and didn't care where they were from, which was like a dream come true for the Sun Moon competitors.
Though they had heard Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen talk about Liyue, they still didn't fully believe it.
But now that they had seen it with their own eyes, they had no choice but to believe.
"Alright, then we'll have to thank Brother Xiao!"
Led by Xiao Hongchen, the members of the Sun Moon team and the Liyue team, whether they were main members or substitutes, all headed out of the hotel.
There was food in the hotel, but after eating there for so many days, they were tired of it, so they decided to go somewhere else to eat.
In the room, Zhongli watched the backs of the young men and women as they left, a faint smile on his lips.
If everyone in the world could be like this, with no wars, no discrimination, and living together in peace, how wonderful that would be.
Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, Zhongli's figure flickered, and his appearance changed "slightly."
Walking the continent in Zhongli's appearance was somewhat inconvenient, so changing his identity was both necessary and easy.
If Xiao Xiao were here, she would definitely recognize Zhongli now... Wasn't this Barbatos?
Zhongli's figure flickered again, and when he reappeared, he was in an empty alley. Exiting from this alley wouldn't seem too out of place.
At the same time, on the streets of Star Luo City, a green-haired girl and a blue-pink-haired girl walked arm in arm, chatting and laughing.
The appearance of the two girls was a beautiful sight on the street.
They were none other than Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong'er.
They hadn't been familiar with each other at Shrek Academy, and hadn't even met.
It wasn't until they came to Liyue and became neighbors...
"Dong'er, who were those two uncles?"
Xiao Xiao turned her head to look at Wang Dong'er and asked curiously.
They had come to Star Luo City to watch the competition.
But as soon as they arrived, two "uncles" who looked quite intimidating had taken Wang Dong'er away.
When they met again, it was already an hour later.
Hearing this, Wang Dong'er snapped out of her thoughts and said, "They're my Big Dad and Second Dad."
"I don't know who my birth parents are. Big Dad and Second Dad raised me. In my heart, they are my fathers."
"I see."
Xiao Xiao suddenly understood. So those two burly men were Wang Dong'er's family.
"What did they tell you? Why... did you seem so distracted when you came back?"
Had something happened to Wang Dong'er's family?
If it was a small matter, her Xiao family could help.
But if it was something big, even if they wanted to help, they wouldn't be able to. The Xiao family was just a small family.
"No... nothing."
It really was nothing. It was just that her grandfather, whom she had never met, had passed away.
In Wang Dong'er's heart, the word "father" didn't hold much meaning. His death didn't affect her much, but it left her feeling somewhat empty.
Why hadn't her family wanted to see her when they were alive, but only informed her after they had died?
"Did they think I'd feel guilty?"
Wang Dong'er shook her head, pushing these thoughts aside.
Suddenly, Wang Dong'er felt something was off. Her good friend Xiao Xiao had let go of her hand and was no longer walking arm in arm with her.
Weren't they good sisters? Walking arm in arm was a normal thing to do. What was Xiao Xiao's problem?
Though she was puzzled, Wang Dong'er didn't show it. Instead, she followed Xiao Xiao's gaze and looked ahead.
"Gasp!"
"So it's him!"
This young man only bore a slight resemblance to the Martial God, but it was enough to make countless girls lose their minds!
His looks were secondary. This young man was also incredibly talented.
Wang Dong'er glanced sideways at Xiao Xiao.
This plastic sister! Just a moment ago, they had been fine, but now that she saw a "handsome guy," she abandoned her!
"Hmph~"
"Barbatos, long time no see!"
Xiao Xiao forgot about Wang Dong'er beside her and quickly walked up to Zhongli, her face flushed, the tips of her ears red.
Zhongli: "..."
He had really just chosen a random alley. He had really just changed his appearance on a whim.