Robin didn't stop her movements, continuing to hum the beautiful tune; she clearly enjoyed this mode of interaction.
"Sigh! I feel like A'Ming is the group's favorite. Don't you think so, little darling?"
March 7th said, picking up the little fox beside her and burying her face deep into the little fox's pink fur, taking a few deep breaths, looking utterly intoxicated.
The little fox seemed to enjoy March 7th's affectionate gesture, comfortably narrowing its eyes.
"Woof woof woof!"
The little fox raised its fluffy paw and lightly waved it, agreeing with March 7th's statement.
"Ah, so fragrant and soft! My little darling is the best. It's decided, tonight I'm sleeping with my little darling!"
March 7th finished, hugged the little fox, and dashed into her room like a gust of wind, moving so quickly as if afraid someone would snatch her right to sleep with the little fox.
"Boring!"
Gu Yue stood by, glancing at Lu Jingming lying on Robin's lap. She gently shook her head, then turned and returned to her room.
Soon, only Robin and Lu Jingming remained in the hall.
Lu Jingming rested his head on Robin's soft lap, the pleasant scent of Robin's body lingering in his nostrils. Feeling the gentle pressure on his forehead and the crisp, melodious humming in his ears, his heart was filled with ease and contentment. He truly wanted to shout, "Robin, you're the best in the world!"
Lost in this gentle embrace, Lu Jingming's eyelids grew heavier and heavier. He gradually drifted into a deep sleep, lying on the sofa, head on Robin's lap, completely unguarded.
"Sister Robin, A'Ming, you two...?"
The next morning, golden sunlight, like fine threads, streamed through the window cracks into the room.
March 7th groggily pushed open her door, yawning and looking utterly lazy.
But when her gaze landed on the sofa, she instantly sobered up, her eyes wide with shock.
On the sofa, at some unknown point, Robin and Lu Jingming were tightly embracing, sleeping in each other's arms.
Hearing March 7th's voice, the doors of the other rooms also pushed open simultaneously. Several pairs of eyes, in various colors, all turned to look at the two on the sofa.
Robin and Lu Jingming were also startled awake by the sudden noise and immediately realized their extremely intimate posture.
Robin's face instantly turned bright red, like a ripe apple. She quickly scrambled up from Lu Jingming's embrace, nervously sitting to the side, fumbling to tidy her messy hair and wrinkled clothes.
Fortunately, her clothes were still relatively intact. Clearly, after they fell asleep, nothing embarrassing had happened between them; they had simply embraced and slept.
Robin tried hard to collect her thoughts, recalling what happened last night.
It turned out that after Lu Jingming fell asleep, she had originally wanted to send him back to his room, but she was afraid her movements would wake him.
Leaving Lu Jingming alone on the sofa felt wrong, so after much thought, she decided to just stay with him for the night.
They had already finished one round of elimination matches, and their next match wouldn't be for three days, so they had plenty of time.
As a result, she unknowingly fell asleep in the middle of the night, and in her sleep, the two of them naturally embraced and slept on the sofa.
Thinking of how she had been nestled in Lu Jingming's arms just moments ago, a deeper blush involuntarily spread across Robin's pretty face. She lowered her head, not daring to meet anyone else's eyes.
Lu Jingming, however, appeared relatively calm and composed. After all, he was the one who benefited, and a barely noticeable smile still played on his face.
"What are you looking at? Aren't you all hungry? I'll have someone send up some breakfast."
Lu Jingming glared at March 7th and the others, then took out his communicator to notify the Daydream Hotel staff to send up breakfast.
Seeing that there was no more excitement to be had, March 7th and the others returned to their rooms to wash up.
Robin also hurried back to her room to tidy herself, leaving only Lu Jingming in the hall, a faint smile on his face as he savored the warmth of the previous night.
Time flew by; three days passed in a flash. The intensely fierce elimination rounds temporarily concluded, and the round-robin matches were about to begin.
The cruelty of the elimination rounds was still fresh in everyone's minds. In comparison, the intensity of the round-robin matches was slightly lesser.
After three days of fierce competition, a total of sixty-seven teams successfully broke through and advanced to the round-robin stage.
These sixty-seven teams were divided into eight groups, with three groups having nine teams each, and the remaining five groups having eight teams each.
In the round-robin matches, each team would participate in at least seven matches, with a points system determining the advancement spots.
The specific rules were: two points for a win, no points for a loss, and one point for each team in case of a draw.
The sixty-seven teams would engage in round-robin competition, and the entire process was expected to last for about half a month.
Unlike the elimination rounds, which were purely determined by team battles, the round-robin matches had a richer and more diverse combat mode, divided into individual elimination, team battle, and two-two-three battles. The match mode would be decided by drawing lots.
While other academy teams were busy devising tactics in their hotel rooms, Lu Jingming's team seemed exceptionally relaxed and carefree.
In the tense and oppressive atmosphere of the early stages of the tournament, they even had the leisure to go out for walks and shopping together, showing no signs of nervousness before the impending battles.
During the tournament, Sea Abyss City was exceptionally lively and bustling.
March 7th and the others, immersed in such a vibrant and cheerful atmosphere, had a great time.
A group of ten, one male and nine females, each holding different flavored milk teas, leisurely returned to the Daydream Hotel.
As they took the elevator to the top floor of the hotel, they encountered a man and a woman in the corridor, both with white hair, approximately the same age as Lu Jingming and his companions.
Coincidentally, at the same time, a suite door opened, and two more youths emerged from the room.
The newcomers were Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen from the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy, and Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong from Shrek Academy.
Including Lu Jingming's group, the contestants from the three academies most favored to win the tournament unexpectedly met in the hotel's top-floor corridor.
In an instant, the air seemed to solidify, and the atmosphere became subtle, but this tension quickly dissipated.
Lu Jingming and his companions remained composed, as if nothing had happened, and walked directly towards their suite.
As they passed by Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, the siblings' attitudes were markedly different.
Xiao Hongchen's gaze towards Lu Jingming was full of provocation and battle intent, as if he couldn't wait to compete against him on the arena.
Meng Hongchen, however, had curved brows and a smiling mouth, greeting Lu Jingming with a friendly wave, appearing very amiable.
Facing such an enthusiastic greeting from the white-haired beauty, Lu Jingming naturally wouldn't ignore it coldly. He returned a smile and a gentle nod.
As they passed Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, Lu Jingming keenly noticed a subtle change in Huo Yuhao's demeanor, appearing somewhat effeminate, a slight yet noticeable difference from before.
At this moment, he gave off a feeling that was increasingly closer to Wang Dong beside him, with less of his former masculinity and more of a delicate, feminine air.
Lu Jingming understood that this was probably a negative effect of his physical injury, but he wondered if Huo Yuhao himself had noticed.
During the previous matches, due to the distance and short duration, Huo Yuhao's changes weren't obvious, but now, observing him up close, these differences were clearly visible.
Lu Jingming, out of politeness, nodded to the two of them, then led his own team back into their Cloud Roost Sky Realm suite.
All three academies were staying in the hotel's top-tier suites; they simply hadn't run into each other before.
On the Douluo Continent, the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament was the top event in the Soul Master world, its popularity unrivaled across the entire continent.
The tournament was held every five years, and each session became a focal point of attention, attracting audiences from all directions.
This year's event, from the very beginning, was a major spectacle.
At the start of the competition, a hundred-thousand-year spirit ring made a dazzling appearance, its astonishing effect far exceeding the previous session's grandeur when a Spirit Saint-level powerhouse appeared, instantly igniting everyone's enthusiasm.
Sea Abyss City, as the host city, became a sacred place desired by countless people due to its miraculous architecture, the Eye of the Abyss.
This miraculous building possessed terrifying allure, attracting a large number of spectators to flock to it.
To buy tickets to watch the next day's matches inside the Eye of the Abyss, countless people didn't hesitate to queue overnight, waiting patiently through the long night, just to obtain a precious entry ticket.
The price of tickets also soared amidst the frantic buying spree, reaching astonishingly high prices.
Even so, it could not stop people's enthusiasm. Countless individuals gritted their teeth and shelled out more gold coins, just to set foot on that miraculous Eye of the Abyss and to watch the Soul Master Tournament up close.
The matches in the elimination phase were far more intense and brutal than imagined.
Every participating academy knew the cruelty of the tournament; no one wanted to be eliminated in the first round and become a laughingstock.
Therefore, all academies went all out, with every battle becoming a life-or-death struggle, the fighting process thrilling and gripping.
Fortunately, Sea Abyss City was fully prepared in terms of event organization.
Dan Heng, serving as the tournament referee, possessed extraordinary strength. Even if the contestants in the arena fought with bloodshot eyes and the situation spiraled out of control, he could intervene at the last moment, saving contestants from the brink of death and turning danger into safety.
Furthermore, Sea Abyss City had prepared advanced healing pods in the resting rooms for the contestants. These healing pods embodied Sea Abyss City's top spirit tool technology.
As long as a contestant wasn't instantly killed on the spot, no matter how severe their injuries, they would receive timely and effective treatment after being sent into a healing pod, allowing their injuries to recover quickly and preventing the tragedy of death from severe wounds.
Because of this, after the elimination rounds concluded, although many contestants were injured, the number of actual deaths was zero.
This unprecedented achievement earned Sea Abyss City extremely high praise and goodwill from numerous Soul Master Academies.
After all, students capable of representing their academy in the competition were all carefully cultivated and outstanding talents; these students were the future and hope of their academies, and losing any one of them would be a heavy blow to the academy.
And Sea Abyss City, with its thorough arrangements, successfully preserved the lives of every participating student, how could it not make the academies grateful?
Looking back at past All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournaments, almost every session saw contestants die in matches, and the most casualties usually occurred during the most brutal elimination rounds.
But Sea Abyss City broke this curse, creating the miracle of zero accidental deaths in the "death gate" of the elimination rounds.
The strongest referee, the most advanced medical spirit tools, and the most timely and effective treatment – Sea Abyss City's event guarantee was perfected to the extreme, impeccable.
Due to Sea Abyss City's excellent performance, even some academies that were defeated in the elimination rounds and lost their qualification for advancement did not leave immediately.
Instead, they chose to stay in Sea Abyss City, preparing to continue watching the subsequent matches and experience the passionate atmosphere of the Soul Master Tournament.
Many even planned to thoroughly explore Sea Abyss City and appreciate its unique charm.
And Sea Abyss City, for its part, showed great magnanimity towards these defeated academies.
Not only did they not ask them to leave the Daydream Hotel just because they were eliminated, but they also continued to let them stay for free until the end of this Soul Master Tournament.
This greatly increased the goodwill of the eliminated academies towards Sea Abyss City.
After all, at this time, Sea Abyss City, due to the hosting of the Soul Master Tournament, was already overcrowded, and rooms were difficult to find.
If they were asked to leave the Daydream Hotel, they would either have to reluctantly leave Sea Abyss City or find a place to camp outside the city, enduring the elements.
Now, the elimination rounds have concluded, and the round-robin matches are about to begin with great fervor.
The round-robin matches have a completely different format from the elimination rounds. While they lack the life-or-death tension of the elimination rounds, they offer more strategic depth, further heightening the audience's enthusiasm.
Moreover, after the fierce competition of the elimination rounds, the academies that managed to stay and participate in the round-robin matches are all outstanding in strength.
The clashes between these powerhouses will make the battles even more spectacular and brilliant, with every match being filled with suspense and surprises, making them highly anticipated.