Fairy #3 nodded and spoke. “h.e.l.lo Huo Yuhao! I am Bai Se, but everyone calls me Xiao Bai. As of now, I"m a six-ringed Soul Emperor, which is a long way from you. To be honest, even before I entered the inner courtyard, I had already heard about your achievements in the Academy. Even though I entered the inner courtyard two years before you, you overtook me with so much ease. If I were to be very frank, I would say my feelings are borne out of curiosity rather than mere attraction. I have always revered strong soul masters and hence, whoever wants to take me as their partner must first defeat me. Even if you don"t choose me, I would challenge you to a duel in the later segment. That"s all I have to say. It"s up to you to choose me or not!”
This self-introduction was truly bada.s.s… She didn"t waste any time with flowery words, and laid her credentials and thoughts bare. She was a true bada.s.s heroine!
Huo Yuhao nodded politely as he remained silent.
Zhang Lexuan was resigned as she shook her head. Xiao Bai… You"re still as blunt as ever… It seems like it will be rather difficult for you to find a husband in the future… You"re no different from a man...
“Alright. Now let us welcome Fairy #6!”
Fairy #6 was a gentle-looking lady who had not been wearing a bamboo hat. She stepped forward before gently bowing before Huo Yuhao. She spoke softly, “h.e.l.lo Senior Huo, my name is Mu Yue. Similar to Xiao Bai, I heard about your incredible stories some time ago. Because I just entered the inner courtyard this year, my abilities are probably not worth mentioning. I just want you to know that I really admire you a lot. Your stories have been my source of motivation, to challenge myself and become better. Even though today is my first time meeting you in person, you have already left an indelible mark in my mind.”
Her introduction was even shorter than Xiao Bai"s, and she did not mention much about herself. But her self-introduction showed a lot more affection than Xiao Bai"s. Furthermore, Mu Yue had an enormous advantage in her voice. The way she talked was very gentle and melodic. Even Huo Yuhao was surprised at how perfect her voice was.
Similar to how he reacted to Xiao Bai"s introduction, Huo Yuhao nodded silently.
“Now let us welcome Fairy #11.” Zhang Lexuan announced. “You can also choose whether you want to remove your bamboo hat for Huo Yuhao.”
“I"m sorry, eldest senior sister. As of now, I don"t want to remove my bamboo hat. I hope that Huo Yuhao can take it off for me.” A calm and clear voice rang out from underneath the bamboo hat. Even though her voice was almost a monotone, one could sense the emotions br.i.m.m.i.n.g in her choice of words.
“Hi Huo Yuhao, my name is Su Tong. I"m a seven-ringed Soul Sage, and my martial soul is the Icesky Snow Lady.” Her introduction was even shorter than the two ladies before her. However, her last line was enough to catch Huo Yuhao"s attention. Icesky Snow Lady?! Unless... Su Tong also possesses Ultimate Ice?
From what Huo Yuhao knew, even in the Extreme North, the Snow Empress was the only Icesky Snow Lady around. There was no other known Icesky Snow Ladies. No one had expected to find someone with the Icesky Snow Lady martial soul among humans.
Huo Yuhao was not the only one shocked by Su Tong"s words. Even Zhang Lexuan, Han Ruoruo, and some of the higher-ups from Shrek Academy were taken aback by her words.
Elder Xuan turned around and asked Yan Shaozhe, “Shaozhe, what"s going on? When did we have a student with an Icesky Snow Lady martial soul in our inner courtyard? Why was I not informed of this?”
Yan Shaozhe gave an awkward laugh. “Elder Xuan, even I was not aware of this. Su Tong was only admitted into the Academy recently. When she just entered, she told us her Martial Soul was a Snow Spirit, a powerful Ice element Martial Soul. She never told us her Martial Soul was actually an Icesky Snow Lady, and we never detected her Ultimate Ice ability. It seems like she must have purposely concealed her abilities… None of us expected her to do so.”
Elder Xuan paused before saying, “How old is Su Tong this year?”
Yan Shaozhe replied, “She"s twenty—quite a bit older than Huo Yuhao. However, she possesses an Ultimate Ice Martial Soul. It is notoriously hard for a twenty-year-old to train one"s Ultimate Ice to the Soul Sage level. Her future must be unbelievably bright.”
Elder Xuan nodded and said, “Let"s wait and see. Who knows? Yuhao might be able to uncover more unknown things about her.”
Bai Se, Mu Yue, and Su Tong were all attractive candidates in their own ways.
Bai Se exuded the vibes of an energetic and driven heroine. Mu Yue was unbelievably gentle, while Su Tong, like Huo Yuhao, possessed Ultimate Ice, and was enshrouded in an air of mystery.
But even then, they were unable to overshadow Tang Wutong.
Zhang Lexuan looked at Tang Wutong and announced, “Fairy #8, it"s your turn.”
While the three ladies were giving their self-introductions, Tang Wutong was just standing there silently, occasionally frowning and stealing glances at Huo Yuhao. She had a confused look on her face as a tinge of melancholy crept across it. Her anxious breathing could not hide the uneasy feelings in her heart.
“I"m Tang Wutong.” And that was all she said.
There seemed to be some sort of strange pattern in the way the ladies introduced themselves. Their introductions simply got shorter.
Zhang Lexuan frowned at Tang Wutong before announcing, “Now that we are done with the self-introductions, we can move onto the last segment, Eternal Love! Yuhao, it is now your turn to choose one of these ladies. After you have made your decision, you may leave with her. However, if someone opposes you and challenges you to a duel, you must win in order to leave with the lady whom you have selected. Failure to win means that you have to return home empty-handed. Of course, you may choose from the Fairies who did not select you. If you choose any of them, they have the right to challenge you.”
Huo Yuhao nodded slightly. He already knew Zhang Lexuan had simplified the instructions given for the Eternal Love segment. After all, it was not his first time attending the Fated Blind Date, and he could still remember a large part of the rules.
Just when he was about to announce his decision — that he did not want to choose any of them — and leave, Zhang Lexuan continued, “Because we have four Fairies who have chosen you, they will now take turns to give you a one-minute confession. We will adhere to the same sequence as before. Bai Se, you may begin.”
Bai Se stared at Huo Yuhao as she glided forward on her lilypad. “Senior Huo, today is our first time meeting each other in person. To be honest, I only admire strong people, and that is why I chose you. But I must admit that we probably do not hold any romantic feelings for one another. Hence, even if you were to choose someone else, I won"t feel too upset about it. Even if you choose me, I will still find a chance to spar with you. To summarize what I have just said, rather than be your girlfriend, I"m more inclined to spar with you. If you were to trash me in a battle, who knows? I might just fall in love with you.”
Even though Huo Yuhao was just going through the motions, he was still very much amused by Bai Se"s words. In fact, her confession could be summed up as the following: You can make whatever decision you want, but I must fight you!
She was a true bada.s.s… Whoever married her in the future would most definitely have an enjoyable marriage… She was definitely one in a million!
Han Ruoruo announced, “Mu Yue, it"s your turn.”
Mu Yue followed Bai Se as she maneuvered her way in front of Huo Yuhao. She took a short pause before confessing, “Senior Huo, in my eyes, admiration and reverence is the precursor for love. Before I met you in person, I had heard so much about you. I know I don"t have much of an advantage before my outstanding senior sisters, but I still will stand forward to confess. This might just be the bravest thing I have done in the past ten years. I won"t regret my decision, because I really like you. Even if you don"t choose me, you will always be a hero in my heart, forever and always.”
Huo Yuhao nodded politely in her direction to acknowledge her feelings. Her eyes and voice are too gentle… If he didn"t already have someone whom he loved, he might have wavered under such circ.u.mstances.
“Su Tong, it"s your turn.”
Su Tong did not glide forward on her lilypad; instead, she stood where she was and kept her bamboo hat on her head. The same calm and border-line monotone voice came forth again. “I know both of us possess Ultimate Ice. That"s why I"m curious to find out how different we are in terms of our power. You might be the brightest star from Shrek Academy, but I"m also very confident in my abilities. If you can use your powers to take the bamboo hat off my head, I will leave with you.”
If they were to categorize Bai Se as bada.s.s and Mu Yue as gentle, Su Tong would undeniably be haughty. Her haughtiness exuded from her words, and made many of the spectators rather uncomfortable.
Huo Yuhao remained calm as he nodded politely, just as before. However, he had already shifted his attention to Tang Wutong.
Even though he knew very well that Tang Wutong was not w.a.n.g Dong"er, he could not resist looking at her beautiful face.
“Tang Wutong, it"s your turn.” Zhang Lexuan announced.
Tang Wutong nodded as she looked up and stared right into Huo Yuhao"s eyes. The lilypad beneath her did not move, but it began to give off a golden radiance.
“Yuhao, we have not known each other for long. But during our first encounter, you mistook me for w.a.n.g Dong"er, and hugged me. I was very angry back then, and really wanted to kill you. Afterwards, we had a couple more interactions, and I started to look beyond the initial hatred I had for you. I began to see some of your qualities: your calm, your quick thinking, and more. Whenever your group faced any form of danger, you were always the one rushing to the front and protecting your peers, sometimes at the expense of your own safety. It was during that time that I found my hatred towards you slowly disappearing…”
Compared to her self-introduction, Tang Wutong"s confession seemed more like a slow recitation of her memories with Huo Yuhao.
Huo Yuhao was a bit taken aback by her words. He could still remember how happy he was when he had first “met” Tang Wutong.
“Afterwards, when we were all by the river, you grilled fish for all of us. After our feast, Nannan came over to tell me how you actually only wanted to grill fish for me. That was the most delicious meal I had ever had. What surprised me most was how eating the fish that you grilled for me gave me an indescribable feeling. At that moment, I felt lost. I don"t know how to describe that feeling, but I just felt like I really admired you. It was an admiration, or rather, a sense of attraction that came from the bottom of my heart. Even though I could not put my feelings into words back then, I felt really really happy. Otherwise, I would not have allowed you to inject your soul power into me back then at the military camp. You should know very well what that means to a soul master.”