Chapter 744
The golden water droplets spread through the air like a peacock flaunting its tail, and at the same time, a faint dragon's roar could be heard erupting from them.
All of the female inner court disciples of Shrek Academy were very powerful beings, and even in the face of this startling turn of events, they were able to react extremely quickly. All of a sudden, soul power lights of all different colors flourished, shattering most of the golden water droplets surging through the air.
Atlas Douluo Yun Ming suddenly chuckled as he sat on the boat at the edge of the lake. "That's a Tang Sect technique, Peacock Flaunting Its Tail. It's a hidden weapon technique that's very rarely practiced by anyone nowadays. Oh? And that was only a decoy! Interesting!"
Just as he was speaking, the girls had already destroyed all of the golden water droplets. However, right at this moment, a series of water arrows suddenly erupted from beneath the surface of the lake right under the 10 female participants who were still wearing their veils.
The water arrows had emerged in a very abrupt fashion, and the timing was perfect; it was right when everyone was heaving a sigh of relief after vanquishing all of the golden water droplets.
It had to be said that Boy Number 51 had controlled his timing to absolute perfection. He was clearly aware that it would be very unlikely for him to remove so many veils through his own powers alone, so he had devised a very clever scheme.
He'd used the extremely flashy Peacock Flaunting Its Tail to attract everyone's attention, but that had only been a smokescreen to set up his true attack.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..." One veil was sent flying after another, revealing a series of stunned faces.
Only two of the female disciples had managed to react in time. One of them quickly rose up into the air to evade the arrow, while silver light flashed from the other female disciple's body, upon which she abruptly vanished just as the water arrow was about to reach her, then reappeared after the arrow had sped past her. All eight of the other female participants were stunned to find that their veils had been sent flying.
This was a startling comeback, one that no one had expected! Even Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng were momentarily completely flabbergasted.
During the first Perfect Match segment alone, 29 of the 31 female disciples had had their veils removed. Such a high percentage was completely unprecedented in the past editions of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. Boy Number Two, Yue Zhengyu, and this mysterious Boy Number 51 had accounted for over half of the 29 veils removed.
Even Yuanen Yehui had fallen prey to this surprise attack. The water arrow was simply too quick and abrupt for her to evade, and she only caught sight of a glimmer of golden light before her veil was removed.
Dai Yun'er's face had also been revealed, and she was just as astonished. Long Yue had come to attend the match-making convention, so she obviously tagged along as well. After all, how could she miss something so fun?
At this moment, her mouth had formed a large round "O", and she was in complete shock.
Setting aside whether this Boy Number 51 was actually all that powerful, both his innovation and timing were simply extraordinary! As expected, Shrek Academy really was filled with brilliant prodigies. It was no wonder that their Monster Academy team had been defeated by them. It was just a pity that the one she was waiting for didn't seem to have returned yet. Everything would be perfect if he were here.
The expressions on their faces were also mirrored by the six other female participants who'd had their veils removed. Only girls numbers 17 and 18 had managed to evade the water arrows just in the nick of time, then descend back onto their original spots.
At this moment, Boy Number 51 had already returned to his own lotus leaf, and golden light flashed as if something had disappeared into his body.
"What a brilliant ploy. You're the undisputed winner of this segment, Junior Disciple Brother. Are you not going to take off your mask?" Lan Muzi asked with a smile.
Boy Number 51 shook his head in silence.
Lan Muzi smiled, and continued, "Alright, we respect your decision. I hereby announce the conclusion of the first segment, Perfect Match. Following this segment, I'm sure all of you will have gained a slightly better understanding of one another. At this point in time, there are five male participants who have chosen to keep their masks on, but what's very surprising is that there are only two female disciples left who are still wearing their veils. With so few participants left still in disguise, it's quite simple for everyone to guess your identities. Would you like to remove your veils?
That was indeed true; even the outer court disciples had already guessed who the remaining two girls were. Through the process of elimination, they could determine that one of them had to be the Dragon Spear Goddess, Na'er, while the other one was the leader of Shrek’s Seven Monsters, Gu Yue.
As such, there really was no point for them to continue wearing their veils.
However, they still shook their heads, and Lan Muzi didn't press the issue.
"Alright, following the conclusion of the first segment, we'll immediately be moving on to our second segment, Love at First Sight!"
Tang Yinmeng took over from here, and she announced, "Now that the first segment has concluded, it's time for the female participants to express their love, which is why this second segment is known as Love at First Sight. The rules are very simple; each female disciple will receive a switch that can control the soul light in the water beneath them. They'll turn on their lights for the male participants that have caught their eye, and all male participants who have at least one soul light lit for them will be able to continue participating in the next segment, while those without any soul lights will, unfortunately, be eliminated."
This segment usually took up the least amount of time, but it was an extremely important test for all of the male disciples. Regardless of how powerful or exceptional they thought they were, if there were no female disciples that switched on their lights for them, then they'd immediately be eliminated. The number of male participants always outnumbered that of their female counterparts, so this segment had been designed to simplify the situation.
Due to the fact that Boy Number One had already been eliminated, Yue Zhengyu was the first one to face this test.
"Please consider carefully, celestial maidens of the inner court. You'll be given one minute to make your decisions! Also, allow me to remind you that if you don't switch on your light for any of the 50 male participants, that'll be taken as a sign that you no longer wish to participate in this convention, and you'll be eliminated," Lan Muzi cautioned in a serious manner. He didn't want any of the female participants to unintentionally eliminate themselves simply because they weren't aware of this rule.
All of the soul lights beneath the feet of the male and female participants were snuffed out, with the exception of the soul light beneath Yue Zhengyu's feet.
"Please switch on your lights for Boy Number Two," Lan Muzi prompted.
All of the female participants were each holding a control button, and a series of lights were switched on. In the blink of an eye, 16 out of 31 soul lights had lit up for Yue Zhengyu, which meant that he had caught the fancy of over half of all of the female participants.
Xu Xiaoyan was clearly rather infuriated by this, but she still kept her light on for Yue Zhengyu as well.
Lan Muzi chuckled, "As expected, Zhengyu is very popular with the ladies; 16 lights is quite a lot indeed! This is a very good beginning for the male participants. Next up, please step forward, Boy Number Three."
There was special personnel recording the numbers of lights that each male participant received, so Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng didn't have to keep track of everything while hosting the event.
Soon, male participants began to get eliminated. Their cultivation ranks didn't seem to be the primary factor of consideration for the female participants. This was evidenced by the fact that some boys with relatively weaker cultivation ranks yet handsome appearances received light over some of their more powerful counterparts. Female disciples were permitted to switch on their lights for multiple male participants in this segment.
Following his elimination, a male participant with a slightly shorter stature and ordinary facial features howled with anguish, "This is such a shallow world; why can't you look beyond outward appearances?"
Soon, it was Xie Xie's turn to take the stage. He was a member of Shrek’s Seven Monsters, and he was quite handsome as well, so he received nine lights. It wasn't as splendid a result as Yue Zhengyu's, but it was still very good. What made him extremely excited was that Yuanen Yehui had switched on her light for him.
Almost none of the male participants who still had their masks on received any lights. In the past editions of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, male participants who refused to reveal themselves were either not interested in finding love or had some kind of deformity. As such, women generally refrained from switching on their lights for them.
During the second segment, these male participants still had a chance to remove their masks.
Luo Guixing and Xu Yucheng both received lights, as did Yang Nianxia. After a while, it was finally Xu Lizhi's turn.
The soul light beneath his feet lit up, illuminating his portly body. He'd already taken off his mask during the first segment. After all, with his distinctive figure, it really didn't matter whether he wore a mask or not.
"You may begin switching on your lights for Boy Number 32," Lan Muzi reminded.