At noon, the sky was clear and radiant.
Inside Fu Ye's private villa dormitory at Tianshui Academy in Ice-Condensing City, the young man sat lazily on his sofa. His expression was one of pure, unadulterated indulgence.
The little cat girl, Jiang Jing, was currently giving him a highly localized massage. Her delicate, exquisite face was flushed a burning crimson, but she remained entirely focused. Though it was her very first time performing such an intimate task, her movements were remarkably light, gentle, and careful.
As she grew more accustomed to the rhythm, her cheeks burned even hotter. Fu Ye couldn't help but give her a mental thumbs-up for this incredibly novel and soothing experience. Satisfied, he casually stroked her feline ears while enjoying the treatment.
A cat's ears are notoriously sensitive. After being gently kneaded in Fu Ye's hands for a short while, the little cat girl felt her focus slip, her body growing entirely weak and breathless.
Fu Ye, however, was no ruthless capitalist. He wouldn't expect his cat girl to work without proper compensation; when a kitty gets tired, she deserves a proper rest.
His fingers traced down her back, lightly running all the way to the base of her silken tail. The moment he touched that core nerve, Jiang Jing felt a literal jolt of electricity coarse through her spine, collapsing onto the soft cushions of the sofa.
Gazing down at her dazed, completely helpless, and flustered expression, Fu Ye gently gathered her up into his arms. As a diligent gardener, he took his duties very seriously—ensuring that every beautiful flower under his care would bloom with unmatched vibrancy.
As a brilliant splash of crimson officially blossomed across the sheets, Fu Ye leaned into his work, fully embracing the afternoon's true agenda.
🏟️ One Week Later: The Heaven Dou Imperial Capital
The qualifiers for the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Tournament had officially begun!
Because this tournament was a massive, once-in-a-lifetime event, Fu Ye took zero risks regarding his home base. Before leaving, he deployed over a dozen Limit Douluo puppets around Tianshui Academy to guarantee its absolute security. Meanwhile, Liu Erlong and Ruyan tagged along to the capital to watch the young girls showcase their skills on the grand stage.
The primary venue for the qualifiers was situated right in the heart of the Heaven Dou Imperial Capital. After a solid week of intense preparation and reconstruction, the main arena had been transformed into a breathtaking, ultra-luxurious coliseum.
Erlong, Xiao Wu, and Ruyan were currently relaxing in the VIP stands, occupying the seats with the absolute best vantage point over the arena. Shielded by a massive, custom sunshade, they remained perfectly cool and comfortable despite the glaring afternoon sun.
Below them, the competing academies marched out onto the central field in perfect, synchronized order. Led by Shui Bing'er, the Tianshui Academy team slowly emerged from the player tunnel.
Tianshui Academy held immense influence within the imperial capital. To the civilian populace and young nobles alike, they weren't just a powerful combat team—they were the undisputed premier goddess group of the entire continent.
Due to his unique status, Fu Ye was seated at the absolute apex of the VIP stands, sitting perfectly level with Ning Fengzhi. Directly adjacent to them sat Emperor Xue Ye, the ruler of the Heaven Dou Empire, whom Fu Ye had famously scammed out of 5 billion gold spirit coins not too long ago.
"Brother Fu Ye, would you like some grapes? Xue Ke peeled them all by hand just for you."
"Hehe, Master, Jiang Jing also prepared some fresh fruit juice for you."
Indeed, the cat girl Jiang Jing and the former imperial princess Xue Ke had been brought up to the highest VIP tier by Fu Ye. They sat snugly at his sides in custom, plush, elevated chairs, with two small tables overflowing with fresh fruits and refreshments set right in front of them.
Emperor Xue Ye sat nearby, forced to watch his own flesh-and-blood daughter laughing, chatting, and submissively feeding grapes to the man who had bankrupted his treasury. The old emperor looked as though he had been forced to swallow a bucket of filth, his expression twisted in agonizing, silent frustration.
Ning Fengzhi glanced over at the little cat girl, a faint trace of regret flashing through his eyes. Looking back, dropping 3.5 million gold spirit coins for a mutated cat girl simply wouldn't have been a smart business move. More importantly, the man bidding against him was Fu Ye—a monster who had casually extorted 5 billion from the empire without a single consequence. Ning Fengzhi knew better than to provoke someone that catastrophic.
Besides, a mere cat girl meant absolutely nothing to him right now. What truly mattered were the secret blueprints Fu Ye had sold to him.
Over the past few weeks, Ning Fengzhi had ordered his most trusted, tight-lipped clan blacksmiths to manufacture the weapon components in isolated, disconnected batches. Under his own secret, personal assembly, he had successfully brought several mechanical marvels to life.
Standard Armaments: Small-scale hidden weapons like the Godly Zhuge Crossbow and Silent Sleeve Darts were already entering streamlined production. Arming the core support disciples with these would exponentially skyrocket their survival rates.
The Tragic Prototype: He attempted to assemble the highly restricted weapon known as the Buddha's Fury Tang Lotus. Although the rare metallic materials were sufficient, a minuscule alignment error during assembly triggered a catastrophic internal chain reaction, exploding right in his face.
The Blast Radius: According to Gu Rong (Bone Douluo), who had been standing guard by his side, the raw explosive force of that single failed assembly was potent enough to instantly obliterate an completely unprotected Titled Douluo.
The Saving Grace: Thanks to Gu Rong's unique space-type martial soul, he managed to instantly warp the entire shockwave into an alternate dimension. Had he failed, the entire subterranean secret chamber would have collapsed, burying Ning Fengzhi alive.
{Note: this is a sum up of what happen, nothing more}
It had taken fifteen master blacksmiths working day and night for over two months just to forge the components for that single Tang Lotus. Currently, the clan's stash of rare spiritual metals only contained enough resources for one more attempt. However, armed with the data from the previous failure, Ning Fengzhi was highly confident that this ultimate weapon of mass destruction would successfully debut within his clan in another two months.
Thinking of this, a profoundly satisfied, relieved smile spread across Ning Fengzhi's face.
He felt incredibly fortunate that he had chosen to build a bridge with a freak of nature like Fu Ye rather than making an enemy out of him. Otherwise, how could a miraculous opportunity of this magnitude ever fall into the hands of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan?
"Mm, these are delicious," Fu Ye praised gently, patting the two girls. "You two can sit down and relax now. Consider these next few days a complete vacation; just focus on having fun."
The overall combat strength of the Tianshui battle team already stood lightyears ahead of every single team in their bracket. Their eventual victory and championship title were an absolute statistical certainty.
Of course, Fu Ye wasn't naive enough to rule out underhanded tactics or covert assassinations from jealous rival factions outside the arena. To counter this, he had secretly planted nine Limit Douluo black-armored puppets inside the shadow of every single girl on the team. Even if Qian Daoliu himself marched down to ambush them, he would be jumped and beaten into a pulp before he could even blink. Whether the old man would even leave the capital alive after that would be up to Fu Ye's mood.
Meanwhile, standing rigidly behind Emperor Xue Ye's throne, Prince Xue Xing looked utterly miserable. His iconic white beard had been completely plucked clean during his previous punishments, giving his bare face a deeply unsettling, effeminate, and gaunt appearance.
Following a series of grand, sweeping opening speeches from Emperor Xue Ye and Ning Fengzhi, the tournament was officially declared open.
The old fox Ning Fengzhi had actually tried to pass the microphone over to Fu Ye, offering him a chance to address the massive crowd, but a single cold, razor-sharp glare from Fu Ye instantly forced the Sect Master to pull his hand back and swallow his words.
Stepping up to the side of the VIP dais, the head announcer projected his voice across the entire stadium.
"The team drawn to face the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy's Second Team will participate in the sole opening match of today! A victory will secure an immediate early point for the bracket, while a defeat will send the losing team straight into the losers' pool! I shall now announce the official drawing results for the first round!"
"Qualifier Round One:苍晖 Academy (Canghui) versus 紫星 Academy (Purple Star)."
"Qualifier Round One: 奥克兰 Academy (Auckland) versus 火焰光辉 Academy (Blazing Brilliance)."
"And finally, for today's grand opening match..."
"Qualifier Round One: Heaven Dou Imperial Academy Team Two versus Tianshui Academy!"