Chapter 123: The Promotion Match! Monster Academy vs. Shrek Academy
"Heh, this guy is pretty handsome," Qian Renxue muttered, observing the face that was so close to hers.
Soon, the two raised their glasses and drank the wine together in a toasting gesture.
"I can't believe I'm doing something so ridiculous with him," Qian Renxue thought, surprised at herself. In her mind, the wine toast was a ritual meant for weddings or pre-marriage ceremonies, but here she was doing it with this man.
After drinking, Qian Renxue wanted to quickly distance herself from Ye Wen's embrace.
However, at that moment, Ye Wen's hand suddenly caressed her face. "Brother Xue, upon a closer look, your face is really fair and delicate!"
Their faces were so close that their noses were almost touching.
"Ah~" For a moment, Qian Renxue was startled and almost gasped. Her heartbeat unexpectedly sped up. Her face was being touched!
"This guy! This guy!"
"Is he interested in men?!" Qian Renxue tried to suppress her anger.
She had planned to get Ye Wen drunk to gather some information, but instead of asking anything, she ended up being touched and embraced by him. She was even almost groped in inappropriate places.
Qian Renxue didn't want this to continue, so she quickly pretended to be too drunk to let Ye Wen leave. She knew if this went on, she'd be taken advantage of even more.
"Hehe," Qian Renxue awkwardly laughed, pushing Ye Wen's hand away, acting as if she couldn't go on, "Brother Ye Wen, let's stop here for today. We'll meet again some other time. You can go now."
After saying this, she pretended to fall onto the table as if she were drunk.
"Brother Xue! Let me help you to your room!"
"No need to bother. You... you can go back now," Qian Renxue still lay on the table, waving her hand to signal Ye Wen to leave.
"Eh, Brother Xue, since we call each other brothers, it's not a hassle. Let me carry you inside," Ye Wen said casually, showing no reluctance.
"Carry!? Carry!!"
Before Qian Renxue could react, Ye Wen directly scooped her up in a princess carry.
"Ah~" In that instant, Qian Renxue panicked, letting out a surprised cry.
"His hand... his hand!!!"
One hand was gripping her buttocks, while the other slid around her slim waist, almost pressing against her chest!
"Brother Xue, why are you making such sounds?" Ye Wen asked, pretending to be confused.
"Ahhhhh~!!! Bastard! This bastard!!! How dare he... how dare he!!!" Qian Renxue's mind was about to explode. She was in a male form, but being touched like this still felt no different than if it were a woman. It made her feel extremely shy and angry!
No one had ever touched her so intimately before!
This guy was grabbing her butt with one hand and the other hand was—
"Dammit!! This bastard!!"
At this moment, Qian Renxue wished she could chop off Ye Wen's hands.
"Hehe, she's still able to tolerate it. Maybe because she's in a male form, she doesn't mind?" Ye Wen thought to himself. "But even though I know Qian Renxue is extremely beautiful, her male disguise is... a bit lacking in charm. Let's just leave it for now."
Ye Wen stopped, gently placed her on the bed, took off her shoes and socks, tucked her in, and turned to leave.
As soon as Ye Wen turned around, Qian Renxue opened her eyes, silently watching his retreating figure. For the first time that night, she felt a new sensation inside her.
She whispered his name softly, "Ye Wen..."
After leaving, Ye Wen looked back at the Prince's Palace. "Qian Renxue, now that I've suppressed Tang San, he won't have a chance to meet Dugu Bo. He probably won't be able to save the poisoned Emperor Xue Ye either. I guess I've helped you out a bit."
"Hehe," Ye Wen shook his head with a smile as he left the palace.
Seven days later.
The fifteen teams that advanced from the Tiandou region were now at the Soul Master Tournament's second stage, the Promotion Matches.
In the Promotion Matches, there were no eliminations. This stage mainly determined the seating order for the finals.
The finals would feature thirty-three teams.
In the first round, the Spirit Hall team, Tiandou Team 1, and Xing Luo Team 1 would have a bye. In the second round, the first-place teams from both regions would also get a bye, and so on.
The rankings in the Promotion Matches would decide how many rounds teams would skip in the finals, making it very important for positioning.
The Promotion Matches were 1v1, not team battles.
For example, Monster Academy vs. Shrek Academy.
Each academy would send out seven members, and each would compete 1v1. The team with all seven members defeated would lose.
This was a round-robin format, and each team had to fight through, with rankings determined by the number of wins.
By chance, Monster Academy's first opponent in the Promotion Matches was Shrek Academy!
Ye Wen had been waiting for this moment, hoping for a chance to challenge Shrek Academy again. During the pre-qualifiers, Shrek Academy had voluntarily forfeited, so there had been no chance for a confrontation. This time, however, they probably wouldn't forfeit, right?
"My chance has come!" Tang San clenched his fists.
This was exactly what he had been waiting for. During the pre-qualifiers, Tang San had been practicing the Chaotic Wind Hammer technique like crazy. With the addition of the Bat Wing Reincarnation technique, he was now confident he could defeat Ye Wen and even secretly poison him with a slow-acting toxin to kill him during this battle!
But Tang San was only worried about Ye Wen coming out last. He knew very well that his teammates were not strong enough to last until Ye Wen entered the field.
"The Promotion Match is about to begin!"
"First round: Monster Academy vs. Shrek Academy!"
"Both teams, please decide your seven participants, including their order of appearance!" the host called out.
"Hehe, I'll take the first match. I'll crush Shrek Academy, leaving them no dignity. After this, I won't play anymore. I'll leave the rest to you all," Ye Wen smiled, planning to be the first to fight.
Even though the Promotion Matches had no eliminations, they were still about face and reputation for the academies. If a team was defeated in a one-vs-seven, it would be a huge insult to them.
(END CHAPTER)
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