The reserve team.
Although they were not the official Shrek Seven Devils, as long as nothing unexpected happened, it was basically a foregone conclusion. As the signboard of Shrek Academy, it was extremely beneficial whether it was to receive more academy resources or for their future individual development.
And for An Zhen, this was a good identity to build up his resume.
Time to go home and celebrate.
"An Zhen, do you think we should rank ourselves like the First Generation Shrek Seven Monsters?" Wang Dong suggested.
"It's still too early to say," An Zhen said calmly, facing the gazes of the girls, without showing any other emotions. "Let's talk about it when we officially become the Shrek Seven Devils."
The First Generation Shrek Seven Monsters ranked themselves by calling each other brothers and sisters, to foster closer relationships.
But for him, ranking them would be the death of him.
Ranking six girlfriends? Wasn't that just a fight over who was the main wife? A veritable Shura field!
Tonight was Wu Feng's time.
As soon as An Zhen entered the bedroom, he saw the quilt on the bed bulging, clearly hiding something.
A surprise?
An Zhen lifted the quilt.
"Meow~"
"Woof~"
Two soft voices, tinged with a hint of shyness, rang out.
The golden hair of a young girl was skillfully tied into two cat ears, and her fluffy white dress resembled the soft body of a cat, with a fluffy, slender golden tail draped behind her. On the other side, Wu Feng had no cute animal decorations on her. Her perky buttocks formed a rounded curve, and her knees, wrapped in black stockings, were on the bed, moving like a puppy, but her rosy cheeks were filled with an expression of disdain.
"Hiss~"
An Zhen gasped.
"If this were a few years from now, I'd have to execute you two on the spot."
For a moment, An Zhen almost rushed forward, but fortunately, he still had some rationality. An Zhen pulled the adorable golden-haired cat girl into his arms, his fingers tracing the girl's white-stockinged calves.
"Doesn't An Zhen want a little cat?"
The elegant and noble young lady gently rubbed her soft cheek against An Zhen's chest. The Red Dragon Girl, who had crawled over on all fours, looked at An Zhen with disdain, but her black-stockinged jade feet voluntarily extended into An Zhen's hands, allowing him to play with them.
Although he had previously made the NPC dolls of Ning Tian and Wu Feng dress up as kittens and puppies to "play" in the Virtual World, seeing real people do such things now felt completely different.
Excited.
"Wonderful."
Kissing Ning Tian's cheek, An Zhen smiled and looked at Wu Feng, "Ning Tian is a kitten, so what is Wu Feng playing?"
"Hmph."
Wu Feng, her cheeks flushed, turned her head away.
She wouldn't say it.
Lights out, consciousness entered the Virtual World.
A silver figure skillfully flipped into An Zhen's bedroom.
The next moment, An Zhen, who had been waiting, directly grabbed Gu Yuena's ankle, and a battle was about to erupt. The energetic young man could not withstand the actions of Ning Tian and Wu Feng, and everything ultimately fell on the "sneaky" Silver Dragon.
...
Two weeks of campus life quietly passed.
Every Friday, Yan Shaozhe would take them to Sea God Island for cultivation. The existence of the Golden Tree made every place on Sea God Island comparable to the Mimicry environments of other advanced academies.
Since moving out and living outside, An Zhen's life had been wonderful.
It's just that he and Gu Yuena were often late in the mornings, but with Huo Yutong and Wang Dong covering for them, the other girls, except for Zhang Lexuan, didn't know. The sneaky Silver Dragon also showed no favoritism; besides the one night she had An Zhen all to herself, she would flip through An Zhen's window into his bedroom on time every single night.
It was another morning.
"An Zhen, what is that hanging around your neck?"
Wang Dong'er noticed something new around her boyfriend's neck. It was a small ball that appeared to be made of ice-white and fiery-red, seemingly of considerable value. Inside the spiritual jade, half was a fingernail-sized fiery-red crimson gel, and the other half was a corner of an ice-white crystal. The two seemed like burning flames and cold spiritual ice, quite extraordinary.
They were a small part of the crimson gel from the Blazing Apricot,嬌疏 and the octagonal mysterious ice crystal from the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass.
"Teacher told me before that once my body reached a certain stage, I should absorb the pure ice and fire energy from it to temper my body. Wearing it has the miraculous effect of strengthening one's physique," An Zhen said, putting the pendant inside his collar.
This was a lie.
It was actually "bait."
As an Immortal Herb as famous as the Blazing Apricot,嬌疏, the ice crystal condensed by the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass naturally had a similar effect to crimson gel, enhancing the attributes of ice-attributed Spirits.
"Oh."
Wang Dong didn't think much of it and continued eating.
Today was the day for cultivation with Yan Shaozhe. When they arrived at a combat arena similar to the Dou Hun District on Sea God Island, they found that besides Yan Shaozhe and Zhang Lexuan, who had left early in the morning, several people were already standing there. Their blood-red school uniforms and seven-person team vaguely indicated their identity.
"Everyone is here." Yan Shaozhe glanced at the scene and nodded slightly. "There are ten days left until the start of the All-Continent Advanced Academy Soul Fighting Competition. You should all know each other's identities. We are Shrek's main and reserve team members for this competition. After this competition, the old generation of Shrek Seven Devils will expire, and a new generation of Seven Devils will take over."
"Today, I'm letting you meet and get to know each other," Yan Shaozhe said, looking at An Zhen and the seven others. "Although you are reserve members, with your abilities, it's highly probable that you'll participate in quite a few matches."
"!"
Surprise flashed in the eyes of the Inner Court Seven Freaks.
They were surprised that six of the seven Devils taking over were stunningly beautiful girls, and even more surprised that Dean Yan's evaluation of their abilities was so high.
"Let's introduce yourselves to each other."
"An Zhen, second year, forty-fifth rank Spirit Ancestor, World Spirit." The handsome young man stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the Inner Courtyard male disciples who seemed a little more excited, and said, "By the way, these six are all my girlfriends."
"Forty-fifth rank!"
Even with elixirs, it wouldn't be this fast, right?
"Six girlfriends!"
All these beautiful girls were this guy's girlfriends?
One of the cool, ice-blue-haired girls looked at An Zhen with some surprise, then her gaze shifted to the senior sister, Zhang Lexuan, who was standing quietly beside him. This young man seemed to be the one she had seen earlier, being hugged and kissed by the senior sister.
"You're that An Zhen who was rumored throughout the Outer Courtyard to be dating six girls?" a thin man asked.
"Mm."
"Killing a ten-thousand-year Darkgold Bear alone… speaking of which, among your seven, even Xiao Tao is at most on par with An Zhen," Yan Shaozhe said calmly.
The Inner Courtyard members, including Ling Luochen, looked at the tall, red-haired woman in surprise.
Ma Xiaotao didn't refute, just nodded slightly, "Martial Uncle is very strong."
That Spirit with the Pole Ice attribute was too powerful. The Evil Fire that was suppressed that time was almost on the verge of losing control, yet it was directly suppressed.
"Hiss~"
Someone gasped.
This person was Ma Xiaotao's Martial Uncle?
Hmm, the rumor did say that An Zhen was Dean Yan's junior brother.
"Ning Tian, second year, Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, fortieth rank spirit power, will absorb her fourth spirit ring upon reaching Star Luo City." The golden-haired young lady introduced herself gracefully, her aura not at all weaker in front of the Inner Courtyard seniors.
Another second-year, but a quasi-Spirit Ancestor, and even the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, a Spirit only seen in books before.
"Wang Dong, second year, fortieth rank quasi-Spirit Ancestor, Light Goddess Butterfly Spirit." After absorbing the Golden Radiance Spirit Bone, Wang Dong broke through this bottleneck.
Inner Courtyard disciples: Another quasi-Spirit Ancestor!
"Xiao Xiao, second year, thirty-fifth rank Spirit Elder, twin spirits."
"Wu Feng, second year, thirty-eighth rank Spirit Elder, Flame Holy Dragon." This was the name Wu Feng gave her Spirit after its evolution, to match the Light Holy Dragon, and it was expected to advance further after absorbing it.
Flame Holy Dragon?
The Inner Courtyard disciples were confused; they had heard of the Light Holy Dragon.
"Gu Yuena, first year, thirty-fourth rank Spirit Elder, twin spirits."
Her stunning beauty amazed the Inner Courtyard disciples, but a first-year? No, can a first-year participate in this selection assessment?
"With the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda as support, and without using her Spirit Ability, Gu Yuena consecutively defeated Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi. We at Shrek believe in the capable taking the lead," Yan Shaozhe said.
Hiss, another monster.
The Inner Courtyard disciples sighed inwardly. They knew about the Outer Courtyard's twin stars. Although she had the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda as support, her strength, even in this monster academy, was monster-level. At the very least, besides An Zhen, they hadn't heard of anyone so fierce.
"My name is Huo Yutong." The adorable blue-haired girl had a confident smile on her face, optimistic and cheerful. "Second year, thirty-eighth rank, body martial soul, Spirit Eye, Pole Ice Ice Dragon King."
Ling Luochen's eyes lit up.
The Inner Courtyard disciples were utterly shocked and numb.
Although they were all first or second-years, were their spirit power levels and combat strength normal? They suddenly felt like useless trash, except for having lived a few more years than the others. At the same age, even compared to the relatively normal Xiao Xiao and Wu Feng, they were far inferior.
Yan Shaozhe's smile was brilliant.
Each and every one of them was at least a Super Douluo!
Evil Fire Phoenix Ma Xiaotao, White Tiger Spirit Emperor Dai Yueheng, Chasing Soul Sword Spirit King Chen Zifeng, agility-attack system Spirit King Xixi, Ice Spirit King Ling Luochen, Rainbow Dragon Gongyang Mo, comparable to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, and Spirit King Yao Haoxuan, who was exploded to death in the original work.
"Today, besides letting you get to know each other, we will also conduct team cooperation to familiarize yourselves with each other's abilities. I will lead this Soul Fighting Competition, formulating different tactics based on different opponents during the matches. I can replace members at any time," Yan Shaozhe said.
"An Zhen, Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, step forward."
The three whose names were called stepped forward.
"For this competition, I need a main captain and a vice-captain. As I said before, our academy believes in the capable taking the lead. The three of you will have a free-for-all, and whoever wins will be the captain."
If it were previous teams, he wouldn't have made such an arrangement. Reserve team members in previous years played a very small role; they basically had no role after the top sixteen. So, the main and vice-captains of the current Shrek Seven Devils would be the captains for the competition. However, this year's reserve team members were too strong, especially his junior brother. Furthermore, the other six were all An Zhen's girlfriends, so parachuting a captain in would not be appropriate. Therefore, they would speak with strength.