Chapter 731: All Grown Up

Compared to three years ago, they were all grown up. Xie Xie was already over 180cm tall, and Yue Zhengyu's height had even surpassed 185cm. Both of them were very handsome, but Xie Xie almost constantly wore a sly smile on his face while Yue Zhengyu gave off a pure and holy disposition. Their styles differed greatly, but both of them received a lot of attention from inner court disciples of the same age. The extra attention was simply unavoidable, considering they were part of Shrek’s Seven Monsters.

"What are you doing in here?" Yue Zhengyu pinched his nose as he looked around at the messy room. He then strode over and opened the window, allowing the balmy fresh air from the Sea God's Lake to blow into the room.

Xie Xie sat down on his couch again with a dejected expression on his face.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Yue Zhengyu glanced at him in an exasperated manner.

The two of them were constantly bickering back and forth, but they were actually very good friends. Both of them had similar personalities in that they were quite unpredictable, but this trait was more pronounced in Xie Xie's case.

A wry smile appeared on Xie Xie's face. "Do you need something? If not, then get out of here! I don't have time for your nonsense!"

"Oh?" Yue Zhengyu raised an eyebrow as he challenged "Getting a little cocky, are we? What's been going on with you? Do you want a sparring match so I can slap some sense into you?"

Xie Xie slumped onto the couch. "Not interested."

A thought occurred to Yue Zhengyu, and he made his way over to Xie Xie as he chuckled, "I know what's going on; this is about Yuanen, right? Look at how pathetic you are! you've been pursuing Yuanen for so long, yet you still haven't succeeded. I don't even know what to say to you anymore."

"Get out!" Xie Xie roared.

Yue Zhengyu stuck his hands into his pockets. "Tch, I know exactly what's going on in that little head of yours. We've all come of age this year, and Sea God's Lake Match-making Convention is about to be held soon. The convention can be attended by all inner court disciples at or above 18 years of age, so you're worried that someone will take Yuanen away, right? Or are you worried that you won't have a chance with her?"

Xie Xie harrumphed in response. "I'm so handsome, how could I not have a chance with her? Even if she were going to choose someone, it could only be me. If she doesn't choose me, then no one else has a chance, either."

Yue Zhengyu chuckled, "I'm not sure that's true. There are many seniors in the inner court with exceptional looks and powers, and there's no lack of two-word battle armor masters among them, either. How are you so sure that Yuanen will choose you? I think it's far from set in stone!"

Xie Xie aimed a vicious glare at him. "I'll fight anyone who dares to try and take her from me, even if it means I die!"

Yue Zhengyu scoffed, "Look at your pathetic self! You're going to fight anyone who tries to take her? If I were Yuanen, I'd ignore you as well. You deserve this!"

Xie Xie immediately sprang to his feet like an enraged rooster upon hearing this. "I'm never talking to you again!"

Yue Zhengyu chuckled coldly, "Be my guest. Do you know the most important element of pursuing a woman?"

Xie Xie replied, "Having thick skin just like you!"

"Piss off! You can sit around and mope; I'm not going to teach you anything," Yue Zhengyu said as he turned around to leave.

Xie Xie hurriedly lunged toward him before grabbing onto his arm. "Alright, you win! I'm sorry! Please teach me!"

Yue Zhengyu turned around, and chuckled, "It's confidence, you idiot! If you don't even believe in yourself, why would Yuanen believe in you? You do indeed need to have thick skin, but you have to be confident as well. You've been nagging Yuanen for a long time already, right? But think about this; how many times have you truly confessed to her? Isn't this convention the perfect opportunity for you? Even if you fail, you have to tell everyone in the inner court what you just said to me. If anyone tries to steal Yuanen from you, you'll fight them with your life on the line! Show everyone your determination! Even if Yuanen rejects, at the very least, you'll have far fewer contenders to deal with. Also, let me tell you the truth; Yuanen is quite beautiful, but she possesses a Titan Giant Ape martial soul and swings a pair of massive hammers around all the time, so not many people will actually want to take her from you."

Yue Zhengyu's words instantly struck Xie Xie with a sense of enlightenment. "You're right! Why didn't I think of that? I kept worrying about whether she was going to reject me, but so what even if she does? I just have to display my resolve and get everyone to back off! That's solid advice; I owe you one, Brother. I'm going to devise a plan, and after the match-making convention, I'm going to treat you to a big meal!" 

Xie Xie was instantly reinvigorated. He had always had a great combative spirit and was never the type to admit defeat easily. It was just that he had forced himself into a corner, and his pain stemmed from the notion that he would be rejected by Yuanen no matter what.

The Sea God Fate Match-making Convention was an event that only inner court Shrek Academy disciples could attend, and all attendees also had to be at or over 18 years old.

This was a tradition that had existed since over 10,000 years ago. The students of Shrek Academy were simply far too outstanding, so it was quite difficult for them to find a suitable partner for themselves in the outside world. As such, many people chose to attend the match-making convention to find their other half.

The most renowned match to have been made during the convention's history consisted of the Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao and the Dragon Butterfly Douluo Tang Wutong. Their story was like a real-life fairytale, so the period leading up to the match-making convention was always the most exciting time for the disciples of the inner court.

All outer court students that had reached 18 years of age could spectate the event, and that was meant to act as motivation for them, urging them to work hard in their cultivation so they could become one-word battle armor masters as quickly as possible. After that, they'd have a chance to attend the convention as well.

There was only around half a month left until the convention, and that was why Xie Xie had been so concerned.

All of a sudden, a massive figure squeezed his way into Xie Xie's room, panting heavily as he did so.

Xu Lizhi was a lot taller than he'd been three years ago, but his body weight had also increased proportionally. He had become a huge fatso, and he bore a rather similar appearance to the recovery pork buns that he made.

"What's going on?" Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu both turned toward him with surprise in their eyes.

Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu's personalities were rather similar, whereas Xu Lizhi's personality was quite close to that of Tang Wulin. He appeared to be quite bashful and simple-minded, but he was actually quite sinister on the inside, and those who got on his bad side usually ended up sorely regretting it.

However, in stark contrast with his normal calm and steady demeanor, he seemed to be quite panicked at the moment.

"What happened? Why are you in such a hurry?" Yue Zhengyu asked?

Xie Xie also chimed in, "Yeah, what's going on? By the way, if you don't lose some weight, will you be able to attend the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention?"

Xu Lizhi glowered at him in an indignant manner. "Why wouldn't I be able to participate in the convention? I've got a bunch of tricks up my sleeve! Now's not the time to be talking about this; Dai Yun'er and Long Yue just arrived at our academy."

"Who?" Xie Xie exclaimed in a puzzled manner.

Yue Zhengyu was also rather perplexed. "Those two names sound really familiar for some reason."

Xu Lizhi reminded, "They're two of the people on the Monster Academy team that we battled during the Continental Young Elites Tournaments! Dai Yun'er is also a princess of the Star Luo Empire; have you both forgotten about all this? That Long is that monster with the Mountain Dragon King martial soul."

Yue Zhengyu and Xie Xie's expressions both changed drastically upon hearing this and they asked in unison, "Why did they come here?"

Xu Zhili replied, "From the information I've gathered, they're apparently here as exchange students, and they'll be studying in our inner court, so we'll be studying at the same place as them from now on."

"What?" Peculiar expressions appeared on both Yue Zhengyu and Xie Xie's faces. They hadn't paid much attention to Dai Yun'er, but Dragon King Long Yue had left them with an extremely strong impression. On a one-on-one basis, none of Shrek’s Seven Monsters were a match for him, and Tang Wulin had even almost been killed by him in battle.

Yue Zhengyu had also been defeated by Long Yue once, so he was rather unsettled upon hearing this name.

Xie Xie and Yue Zhengyu glanced at one another before the latter asked, "What's he doing here? Does he want to flaunt his superiority over us?"

Even though all of the current Shrek's Seven Monsters had grown very quickly in the past three years, there was still a clear gap between them and Long Yue. He was already a six-ring Soul Emperor over three years ago, after all. On top of that, he was also a two-word battle armor master. Even if he hadn't become a three-word battle armor master during these past three years, he would've most definitely become more powerful than he had been, and there was no way that any of Shrek's Seven Monsters could match him.

Xu Lizhi shrugged in a nonchalant manner. "Who knows? Maybe he's here to seek revenge. In any case, I'm just a food-type Soul Master, so this has nothing to do with me, and I have Sister Xinglan to protect me. You two should pray for your own safety, though."

"Can you have any less backbone?" Yue Zhengyu scoffed as he rolled his eyes.

"Backbone? What's the use in having something like that? It's not like I can eat it. Alright, I'm going now; I still have to prepare for the match-making convention," Xu Lizhi chuckled.

Yue Zhengyu's eyes immediately lit up. "Who do you have your eyes set on, Fatty? You're not into Wu Siduo or Zheng Yiran, are you? One of them has thorns while the other is toxic, so you'd better be careful."