"-ni… -arni. Hey! Val Karni!"
Karni woke up. He looked around and looked at the time. Shit. He had school. He had to get ready.
"You sleepy son of mine. You have school in half an hour. Didn't you say you have an exam today?"
Karni nodded. He looked to his mom and smiled…
But his mom had no face.
… … …
Karni woke up. Truly, this time. He sat upright. His breathing was heavy. It was the middle of the night. He felt a hand touch his own, pulling him back to bed.
"Kiki… come back. We return in the morning."
"Right…" Karni went back to bed. And as if Siduo felt it, she hugged him from behind.
Karni's heart was unsteady. That was his mother's voice… and he tried to remember her face…
But he couldn't.
… … …
"It smells just like I remember." Karni took in the air of the academy grounds. Shrek Academy grounds.
They were back. The goodbyes were sweet; they had a little goodbye party the day before, but nothing much. They prepared a curriculum that took into account everything the learnt for Teacher Ye to use as she wanted. That way all of their students left behing would be trained properly. Especially Jianyu and Wang Chao, who have developed in many ways in the last half a year.
They left their new house behind in the care of family and friends. Now they were no longer teachers, just Inner Court students.
Though if anyone heard them saying "just" Inner Court students it would likely cause an uproar. Being in the Inner Court of Shrek meant you had your future was guaranteed greatness.
The two entered the Inner Academy and messaged their friends. It didn't take long before all of the Shrek Seven Devils came out with smiles and greeted the two of them. They've seen each other over the years, so this was not too big of a reunion.
Xie Xie ran up ahead toward them, and as soon as he got close, he asked a question none of them expected. "So. Have you done it?"
"What?"
"Did you do it? You know… the deed."
The two blinked in shock, and Xie Xie was about to ask again, but Siduo interrupted him.
"Xie Xie. If you ask one more time, I'll punch you in the ground so hard you won't remember it was me who hit you."
Xie Xie raised his hands in defeat. "It's just…" He looked back at Yue Zhengyu who was facepalming. "Why are you surprised?" Xie Xie asked Zhengyu.
"Idiot. You don't go asking like that even if you're curious. Have some subtlety and tact."
"Siduo, you have permission to hit him from me." Yuanen Yehui said. The two still weren't together, but somehow, everyone knew it was her who was the authority on things like that.
"Yehui!" Xie Xie looked aggrieved.
Siduo looked to Karni, and Karni shrugged.
Siduo cleared her throat. "We did. But it's none of your business from now on."
Xie Xie's face went pale, while Zhengyu started laughing. "I told you so." Zhengyu started laughing even harder. "You shouldn't have challenged me."
"Honestly, you shouldn't have." Even Yuanen Yehui said. "Everyone knew about how open they were about waiting, yet you still thought they wouldn't do it."
Karni cleared his throat. "Did everyone make the bet?" He was genuinely curious, trying to hide his surprise.
"All of us against Xie Xie." Gu Yue said.
Karni and Siduo fell silent. Gu Yue…. Even Gu Yue made the bet?
She saw their looks and shrugged. "It was free money."
Xie Xie begrudgingly walked to the group and started handing out money. From Karni's count, he gave out 60000 federation credits. That guy really was a fool sometimes.
"I suppose most of you guys are waiting to get together on the upcoming festival."
The group fell silent and awkward, because, well, it was true, but none of them admitted it.
"How did you hear about it?" Xu Lizhi asked the question no one thought of.
"Yeah. How did you?" Siduo looked from Karni's side.
"I just knew." Karni smiled.
"Well. Couples can't sign up." Xie Xie said somewhat begrudgingly.
"Yes, we can." Karni said. He looked to Siduo. "We're signing up by the way. You don't have a choice."
"Hoho? But if you want to join the famous festival of love, I will not just let you woo me freely you know?"
"Of course. That's only natural." Karni nodded and admitted.
"I'm going. I can't watch these two." Xie Xie said. Watching them be all lovey-dovey made him feel insecure about his satiation with Yuanen Yehui.
"I'll come as well." Of all people, Gu Yue was the one who also got tired of this instantly. Though in her case it was probably because she was missing Wulin—even if she would never admit it.
Karni chuckled and grabbed Siduo's arm. "Come on. Let's go say hi to our teachers and tell them that we will join the festival."
… … …
A car arrived at the back entrance. Out of it walked a tall, strong, and lean man with a terrifyingly handsome face.
The man looked at the academy and couldn't help but smile. "I'm home."
… … …
A car arrived at the front entrance. Out of it walked two people. A tall rough man, whose muscles defined the shape of his clothes, and a smaller girl, youthful woman, incredibly elegant in her bearing.
"I wonder if I'll see him." The girl said.
"Yun'er. Val Karni said he should return around this time, so take his word for it."
The girl was silent. "Yue. I'm sorry that you have to go along with me for this. I… I'll give you an answer after this."
The rough man, Long Yue, just grumbled. "I wish to find a way to balance myself as well. I see the fear in your eyes at times, Yun'er. I'm aware of how I am. I hope Val Karni will be able to help, like he did before. I… want you to look at me differently."
Yun'er fiddled her hands. She even blushed slightly. "I hope it goes well. And I also hope to finally get over Brother Three. Then my heart and mind can be connected."
… … …
The Sea God's Festival had begun. It attracted a great many people this time around. Word got around that the current Shrek Seven Devils would be participating. At the same time, Na'er, the Dragon Spear Goddess, the disciple of the Sea God's Pavilion Master would be participating as well! She had become famous as the greatest beauty in the academy.
All of the Outer Court came to watch. Karni was waiting on the side of the competitors, while he simply looked over the audience. He soon found the people he was looking for.
"Oho? You guys are watching? Enjoy the show." Karni sent a message of Sound.
A group of Outer Court students was startled. The one who was clearly the leader among them looked around. "Teacher? Where are you."
"I'm your senior now Lan Meixiang. Just enjoy. You'll see me among the participants."
"You're participating? Aren't you and teache- senior Wu together?"
"Yes, we are. You'll understand as you watch Xu An. You guys just have fun. And look for what you can learn as well."
"And you say you're not our teacher anymore. Hah." Qiang Ruoye snorted. Karni's former students around her agreed as well.
"You guys are lucky that Siduo isn't listening in on this. Anyway, I'm cutting the connection. I'll see you guys around in the academy."
"Yes." Karni heard the students say, and then stopped listening in. He noticed they stopped chatting in excitement as soon as he stopped listening. He couldn't help but shake his head with a slight smile.
Karni was excited about the festival. The legendary Sea God's Festival of Love. It was inspired by the story of Tang San and Xiao Wu twenty thousand years ago. Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong also got together during the festival. Finally, Tang Wulin and Gu Yue were about to become a couple as well.
As for why Karni wanted to get into this festival? He had certain plans.
He felt like this was the perfect way to achieve his goals. The atmosphere was fantastic, the crowd was excited and the competitors, including him, were excitedly nervous.
The chatter was wild about the Shrek Seven Devils, The Dragon Spear Goddess, and interestingly, even about Long Yue and Dai Yun'er, who were visiting, and had decided to join the festival.
The chatter turned intense as a ship sailed onto the lake. A mighty, beautiful ship which had the Pavilion Elders on it. At the forefront was a young-looking man. Karni's teacher. The Atlas Douluo. The main topics immediately all changed to Atlas Douluo and his legends.
The ship sailed to the side of the lake, where it had a clear view over the centre of the lake.
The chatter died down as something shifted in the air. It was evening, the lights in the surroundings darkened, and spheres of light grew in the centre up high.
Two beams of light shot down from the sky, and two people appeared from them in a majestic manner. A man and a woman.
They wore smiles, were elegant, and looked to be in their thirties or late twenties. Their dresses were the colours of gold and Shrek's iconic green.
"On Sea God Lake, there's Sea God Festival. Welcome to this year's date festival. First of all, let us introduce ourselves. I am Inner Court disciple Lan Muzi. The lady beside me is Inner Court's Tang Yinmeng. We'll be your hosts during tonight's Sea God Festival on Sea God Lake."
The lady beside him, Tang Yinmeng, smiled widely. The audience felt like warmth entered their hearts. "It is our honour to be your hosts tonight. The reason for it is that the two of us must be the oldest among the inner court students. I wanted to be an assistant very much, but I couldn't let go of my young student's identity. That's why we're here."
The students surrounding the lake broke into laughter. These two were only known within the Inner Court. Like they said, they were the big brother and sister of the Inner Court students. They were also older than they looked by at least five years. They were Wu Zhangkong's generation. The two of them had already become Soul Douluos by now. The youngest to achieve that level in their generation.
Lan Muzi continued on with the banter as the host. "That's right! As long as I can put off my graduation, I will not easily choose to graduate. It's not because I'm young. At the same time, there are too many events in my past which I cannot forget. I cannot forget the Sea God Fated Date Festival which I had participated in. Yinmeng, are you still together with our batch?"
Tang Yinmeng looked at him then rolled her eyes. "Stop saying that, I'm feeling shy already."
"What's there to be shy about? I won't tell our juniors how you threw caution to the wind and expressed your love for me in that year's date festival."
Karni chuckled on the side as well. It reminded him a bit of his and Siduo's banter. Though in that case, both of them did the teasing constantly.
That being said, the teasing between the two hosts continued for a while more. Maybe for a bit too long.
Karni refocused on what they were saying when quite the shocking sentence was said by Tang Yinmeng. "Hmm, let's host this event first. I'll reward you when we get home tonight."
The people were all quite shocked, Karni could swear Xie Xie cursed somewhere in the crowd of participants. "Those two. Just like Karni and Siduo. So annoying."
Lan Muzi didn't care about the fact it was all public, but he too thought it was enough. "Alright, that's all the teasing done. If you want to find your better half in the Sea God Lake Date Festival, then better work hard, my juniors! Now, let's invite all the inner court disciples who will be taking part in today's Sea God Lake Date Festival to make their appearance."
Good. Finally, the thing was beginning.
Tang Yinmeng cooperated with Lan Muzi as the host. They switched the roles as speakers incredibly smoothly. "I believe that there are some juniors who are unfamiliar with the rules of our date festival. Let's take a look."
The lights focused out of the hosts and onto the lake. From below the lake grew Lotuses that were big enough for a person to stand on. Fifty-one leaves in total.
"The Sea God Lake Date Festival isn't only an event to find your partner, but also an opportunity to display your strengths. Hence, throughout the date festival, the male and female students will stand atop the lotus leaves on both sides, which are a hundred meters apart, in front of me. If you fall into the water during the proceeding, then I'm sorry, you can't continue participating in the date festival. Before the first segment starts, the ability to occupy a good spot is the best proof of one's strength. With that, let's start with the incoming participants. I invite my juniors from both sides to begin securing their spots!" Everyone was anonymous for now, wearing masks.
"Begin!" Tang Yinmeng announced loudly, and everyone started running.
Well, Karni took a simpler approach. His fourth Soul Ring shone. Fourth out of six. He Shifted.
He was the first to the Lotus Leaves, however, instead of Shifting to the first position, he Shifted to the forty-ninth position.
Lan Muzi immediately commented. "Interesting. The first competitor to reach the leaves, had decided that he does not wish to be first, but one of the last. Is that intentional? Did he just wish to showcase that he let the others get the first few spots?"
Karni went to this spot for a reason. Forty-ninth. He wanted to have some control over what he would do. He was most familiar with where Long Yue and Wulin would be. They would be the last two spots.
And as he predicted, many of the students went into a short, rough, but intense battle. The last two to arrive were burly and tall men who had their faces covered. Long Yue settled next to Karni, and Karni knew that Wulin settled next to Long Yue on the very last spot.
"Long time no see." Karni sent both of them the message.
They didn't know that they both heard it, but both of them turned to look at Karni with some surprise. At the end, they didn't say anything, just gave him a nod each.
When everyone was settled, Lan Muzi continued on. "Alright, that should be everyone. If you guys can still recognize each after even in these costumes of yours, then that's true love for sure. But, I think that such a possibility is very low. At least, I wasn't able to do that back then."
As Lan Muzi said that Karni yet again caught the eyes of Long Yue and Tang Wulin. Karni just shrugged.
On the other side, the women had sorted themselves as well. Thirty-two of them in total.
The scenery changed. The lights focused on all the participants. Each participant had a single orb of light shining on them.
Lan Muzi nodded at the scene. "According to the tradition of the Sea God Fated Date Festival, the first segment is called Match Made in Heaven but although the name sounds nice, it's quite a difficult segment. The thirty-two female students will stand in a single row a hundred meters from you. Then, each of them will be wearing a bamboo hat with a veil hanging from it so you won't be able to see their faces. Simply put, for you male students, this contest requires you to work together. The fifty-one of you can strike out one by one and attack the female students with your own methods. You can attack one, or many. Your aim is to remove the bamboo hats from their heads. If you can't even see them, how can you choose your girlfriend, right?"
Karni was nodding from the side. This event was going almost identically to how the memories he gained of the world from Hope went. Word for word actually.
Next, Tang Yinming started speaking. "This segment is also the time where you will display each of your strengths. Without a doubt, the more bamboo hats one can remove, the more powerful the person is. The female students aren't allowed to help each other in this segment, and you cannot attack the male students. You can only passively defend yourselves and try your best not to let the bamboo hat on your head fall off. Once the female student is sent into the water by an attack, she will also be eliminated from the festival. But, generally speaking, in this segment, the male students will show restraint in their attacks. After all, if all the girls have already fallen into the water, how are you going to find your partners?"
Karni nodded at this. He might have remembered things, but he didn't intentionally memorise it word for word, so the rules were important for him as well.
The lotus leaves of the women moved on the lake. All of them were sorted into a single row. All the girls were different. Each of them would react differently, but Karni could care less. He only cared about one person on the other side. He already knew who she was.
However, Karni scrounged up the next moment as the future and the words played in his head. Lan Muzi started speaking.
"Alright, now's the time for all of you to show your manliness."
Karni rolled his eyes. Of course, the obscure definition of manliness. The thing everyone defined differently. The thing men thing more about than women.
"I'll call you out to attack by your numbers. Before you make your move, you have the option of removing your mask or keeping it on. Then, make your move on the female students. On the other hand, the thing that you must take note is that the girls cannot remove their bamboo hats of their own accord in this segment. That's why, if you guys don't figure out a way to knock their bamboo hats off, I'm afraid it'll be difficult for you to determine their identities."
With the rules established, it was time to finally start.
"Male Number One, you can choose to reveal your face or keep your mask on."
Male Number One walked forth. "I choose to reveal my face."
And that was when Karni stopped watching and simply sat down to listen and focus on himself.
This Male Number One would get blasted into water instantly. Karni did not have to watch.
Following him, Yue Zhengyu would use his cute Spirit Soul to unveil a bunch of ladies until Xu Xiaoyan was revealed.
There was a quiet period until Xie Xie, who went to the sixteenth spot, put off a few more hats, but couldn't find Yuanen Yehui among them. Originally, he was meant to pull of Wu Siduo's hat as well, but not this Siduo. Not Karni's Siduo.
Xu Lizhi and Luo Guixing were also participating. On another hand, among the unveiled girls appeared Zheng Yiran and Liu Liu. Karni expected Zheng Yiran, but not Liu Liu to be unveiled. He didn't even know she was participating.
On the other hand, where was Xu Yucheng? It turned out he was in the audience alongside Wen Bao. They were already a couple, so the two were not participating. The academy only enforced people without companions to join the festival.
Li Tai and Yu Tian also were not forced to participate, because the two were also a couple. Even if being gay was not widely accepted in this world yet, the academy would not force gay couples to break up so they could pair up with the opposite gender.
Finally, it came to Karni's turn. "Number Forty-Nine. The first to sit on the lotuses. Will you reveal yourself?"
Karni did not answer. He simply started walking on water. Small Lotus leaves grew from his legs regularly. People saw his Soul Rings rise. Four Black Soul Rings. The audience was surprised. Four Black Soul Rings was an incredibly unusual configuration.
The girls all went on edge when they saw Karni act like this. A lot of them had been unveiled right now, but they were still protective of each other. They've already shown they could be aggressive when they knocked Male Number One into water.
However, Karni was only walking in a direct path, not exactly straight from his point. He was going toward the right side.
Soon, not just the women, but the men, the teachers and the audience felt Spiritual Fluctuations.
Tang Yinmeng could not help but exclaim. "Spirit Abyss Spiritual Power!"
However, outside of her, no other sound appeared after that, even when people tried to exclaim their surprise.
Karni closed in toward his goal, and into the Spiritual Power was infused an emotion.
Love.
Everyone could feel the emotion through his Spiritual Power. However, all of them could feel it directed toward one person.
The girls next to the still covered figure started blushing intensely. They started glancing at the bamboo hat next to them.
Karni stopped in front of the bamboo hat, Love was oozing out of his very being and imbued into the bamboo hat.
Karni reached out with his hand and softly put off the bamboo hat. From beneath, bright Auburn hair appeared, and an equally red face, absolutely awestruck at Karni.
She whispered and covered her face from embarrassment. "That's unfair."
Karni chuckled and revealed himself. He would have given her a kiss if not for the festival.
"Men. You don't need some obscure sense of manliness. Just show your love. If she loves you back, that means she loves you for you." He eyed Lan Muzi who was surprised at Karni.
Lan Muzi wasn't exactly thinking about what he said in that moment. It was just a comment most people said in such festivals. Just the way of their culture.
"Perhaps we can all learn from Student Number Forty-Nine." Tang Yinmeng said as she held Lan Muzi's hand to comfort him about the slight embarrassment. "Love. It is indeed the focus of this festival. This junior's name is?"
"Val Karni." Karni bowed slightly. He was inwardly embarrassed. When he revealed himself, he didn't say his name!
But the reactions when he said his name went differently than he expected.
"Wait. Val Karni?" Lan Muzi recovered from the slight call out. "The same Val Karni that was meant to join the Shrek Seven Devils but abruptly disappeared after?"
Karni, it turned out, was actually quite famous. Chatter soon started, asking about his name. Speculations were abundant. There were recordings of his fight against the Crown Prince Dai Yueyan that were quite popular due to the sheer dominance he showed in the fight. To this day, people liked to speculate why he did not join the Shrek Seven Devils.
However, Lan Muzi and Tang Yinmeng had a festival to lead. Tang Yinmeng started. "Alright then, Val Karni. Thank you for the introduction."
Karni returned at once, and next came Number Fifty.
"Followed by Val Karni. Male Number Fifty. Will you reveal yourself?" Lan Muzi was fully in charge of himself again, no traces of the slight embarrassment present anymore.
"Yes!" A thick voice was heard. The man revealed himself. Yue Zhengyu from the front exclaimed out loud. "Madman Long?!"
Long Yue grunted and nodded toward Yue Zhengyu. "Hello everyone. I'm from Star Luo Empire's Monster Academy, and I'm honoured to be studying in Shrek Academy as an exchange student for the next year. I'm fortunate to be here on this occasion to participate in today's Sea God Lake Date Festival with the approval of Shrek Academy's teachers. It's my pleasure to meet all of you. So, I shall begin."
The chatter became louder. So, he was one of the two rumoured people from outside the continent. Two people who aroused the audience back-to-back. However, his appearance was not exactly appealing to the girls.
This was why Karni was speaking out against "manliness". If one were to look at Long Yue, both in character and in appearance, he might as well be the personification of what people of this world called manliness. Nuances existed everywhere. Karni simply felt he needed to point that out in a simple manner.
If one looked at Wulin, he didn't look like Long Yue, but no one could deny he was manly. They wouldn't be able to say it back then, and they especially couldn't deny it after they would see him today. The same question could be asked about Yue Zhengyu. He was the epitome of elegance, a sort of "prince" appearance. But no one would call him feminine.
And the same could be said for women and being feminine! Karni was genuinely shocked that women Soul Masters were still looked at by men as something to be protected. They were Soul Masters for fuck's sake. Being a man or woman did not give one advantages in matters of cultivation. Here though, he at least understood that it came out of traditional culture from normal people.
Funnily enough, one of those manly things Long Yue had, seemed to have been gone. He was… calm. His presence was controlled. And if anything, that made him more attractive than before.
This event… was going differently than it should have. Long Yue was meant to step forward in a domineering manner. Too domineering.
And against him should have gone that white haired student. Xu Mi'er.
However, the scene soon looked familiar once more. Long Yue pressed his palms together, creating a soft shockwave, but from that followed a release of his Soul Rings. Seven of them. He had become a Soul Sage!
However, the Mountain Dragon King Martial Soul was not one for finesse. He activated his fourth and first Soul Ring. Mountain Dragon King's Rest and Mountains.
His body gained the presence of the very mountains. He readied his arm, preparing a punch. The girls got careful. He punched, but he punched upward, which surprised the women.
Then came the shockwave after. A few of the girls didn't predict it, and he unveiled three hats. He used his mighty presence and the instinctive danger people sensed next to him against them.
Even if he was an outsider, and if some of the elder sisters wanted to attack him right now, he did not actually attack anyone. It would not be suitable of a Shrek Student to act in such ways.
Long Yue was satisfied with this result and returned.
Finally, it was Male Fifty-One's turn. This was secretly Tang Wulin. He chose not to reveal himself at the beginning.
Wulin stood on the lotus, the stepped onto the lake. His aura changed, and water droplets started rising high into the sky.
The droplets soon turned gold and started changing shape. They soon turned into the spread tail of a peacock.
Peacock Spreading its Feathers. A Tang Sect technique Karni quickly recognised, as it was part of the Hidden Weapon Hundred Separation. Those texts talked both about crafting weapons and usage of techniques that Karni hod long since integrated into his arsenal.
This particular one focused on catching one's attention and then…
As the peacock feathers bloomed, golden droplets flew at the many bamboo hats from below, instead of the peacock feathers. This was the main effect of the technique, to attack from where one did not expect. Also something Karni regularly utilised in his own manner. Many times, it happened that Karni adapted the philosophy of the technique instead of the technique itself.
With Male Fifty-One's turn, he and Yue Zhengyu got rid of almost all the hats! Only two girls were still wearing their bamboo hats! That were Female Number Seventeen and Eighteen.
"What an ingenious idea. Junior, you've won. Aren't you going to take this opportunity to reveal yourself?" Lan Muzi praised the hidden Wulin.
Wulin chose not to reveal himself.
"Alright then. We respect your decision. I'm announcing the end of the Match Made in Heaven segment. I presume that our fellow juniors have gained some familiarity with each other through this recent segment. There are five males who chose to keep their identities a secret. On the females' side, there are only two females still wearing their bamboo hats, much to my surprise. I presume that everyone can guess their identities by now. Do you wish to unveil yourselves now?"
The two girls, who were certainly Na'er and Gu Yue also chose not to reveal themselves.
Lan Muzi nodded, then quickly changed his tone into an excited one. "Alright then. We are about to begin the second segment of the Sea God's Lake Date Festival. It's known as Love at First Sight!"