The distance from the Tianhai Grand Hotel to Tianhai Port wasn't far, so the people on the bus soon caught sight of the azure sea. As the ocean came into view, two massive ships appeared on the horizon between the sky and the sea.
From a distance, it was clear that these two ships were typical military vessel conversions—essentially warships repurposed into cruise ships. Each had at least five decks, and their hulls gleamed with a deep metallic sheen, resembling two colossal beasts crouching on the water's surface. Rows of dark, ominous soul cannon barrels exuded an awe-inspiring and terrifying aura.
Ferries undertaking transoceanic voyages must possess sufficient firepower, as the Douluo Sea has never been humanity's domain. Especially in this era of intense conflict between humans and Soul Beasts, the deep sea remains a forbidden zone that most humans dare not venture into.
According to statistics and estimates from the Douluo Federation a thousand years ago, the number of Soul Beasts in the distant seas of Douluo is at least fifty times that of those on land. Even today, despite some development of the distant seas by the Douluo Federation, the number of deep-sea Soul Beasts remains incalculable.
Not only are they vast in number, but their strength is also terrifying. More importantly, human Soul Masters currently lack the overall capability to deal with sea Soul Beasts. After all, even the most elite Soul Masters cannot guarantee invincibility against sea Soul Beasts in the ocean.
The bus arrived, and everyone disembarked in an orderly manner to board the ships.
To facilitate communication, members of the Douluo exchange group and the Star Luo exchange group were mixed together, with both ships carrying people from both sides. This arrangement effectively bound the two groups together, ensuring that if any issues arose in the deep sea, there would be no disagreements.
As representatives of Shrek Academy, they received special attention during the boarding process.
"Greetings, Elder Cai," a man of average stature approached Cai Yue'er respectfully and saluted. He was Pan Wen, the leader of the Douluo exchange group.
"Hello, Secretary Pan," Cai Yue'er replied indifferently.
Although Pan Wen was the Secretary-General of the Douluo Federation Secretariat, the sixth most powerful figure in the entire federation, and could be considered highly influential, he dared not display any bureaucratic airs in front of a Titled Douluo. After all, this world belongs to the strong, and politics is merely a representation of power.
Pan Wen smiled and said, "Elder Cai, to facilitate mutual exchange and learning, we've arranged for your academy to board the Star Luo ship on the Star Luo Continent. Accompanying your academy will be members of the Star Luo Royal Academy from the Star Luo Empire. They've come to the continent for an exchange and are eager to engage in friendly competition with your academy."
"Oh!" Cai Yue'er responded nonchalantly, "So it's those students who wanted to exchange with our academy but were rejected!"
The surrounding atmosphere fell into an awkward silence.
Jing Shaoyu and the others behind Cai Yue'er couldn't help but stifle their laughter. They hadn't expected Cai Yue'er to be so blunt, leaving them unsure whether she was genuinely straightforward or intentionally making the remark.
However, Pan Wen was still eager to make progress, so how could he let Cai Yue'er's words fall flat? He immediately laughed and said, "Indeed! At that time, your esteemed academy was unable to spare any availability, so the Federation didn't make any arrangements. That's why this is a perfect opportunity for us to exchange ideas on the way, don't you think so, Elder Cai?"
"Mm," Cai Yue'er simply nodded and said no more.
Pan Wen breathed a sigh of relief and quickly said, "That's wonderful, Elder Cai. This way, please. I'll escort you and the talented students of Shrek Academy aboard the ship."
Under Pan Wen's personal guidance, the group from Shrek Academy boarded the Star Luo. Not far ahead of them was a group of well-dressed teenagers, averaging around seventeen or eighteen years old. They were all wearing white uniforms and, upon seeing the Shrek Academy students in their green school uniforms, they pointed and whispered, their faces filled with mockery and amusement.
"It seems like we're being laughed at!" Xu Xiaoyan said with a smile, holding onto Ye Xinglan's arm.
"Don't mind them," Ye Xinglan replied calmly, not even glancing their way.
"If I'm not mistaken, those are students from the Star Luo Royal Academy," Jing Shaoyu said with a light chuckle. "No doubt they'll come over to provoke us soon."
"Hehe, just a bunch of clowns. Big brother, don't pay them any attention," Na'er said with a giggle, clinging to Jing Shaoyu's left arm. "When we get to the rooms, I want the one next to yours."
"Sure," Jing Shaoyu replied with a smile.
"I want it too," Gu Yue said expressionlessly, seemingly indifferent, but Jing Shaoyu could feel her grip on his right arm tighten slightly.
"Hey, you two, don't just decide on the spots next to Shaoyu by yourselves! Xinglan and I also want to be close to him!" Xu Xiaoyan, hearing the conversation ahead, immediately grabbed Jing Shaoyu's clothes and protested.
"I didn't, I wasn't," Ye Xinglan quickly denied, her cheeks flushing red.
At the back, Wu Siduo and Mo Hentian exchanged glances, unsurprised to see the same desire in each other's eyes. If possible, they too would have liked to stay next to Jing Shaoyu. However, they were well aware of their place as latecomers and knew it would be difficult to compete with Gu Yue and Na'er.
As they spoke, the group had already boarded the cruise ship. Standing on the deck and looking back at the shore, everything seemed so small.
Before they could express their awe, the staff of the Star Luo approached them. These staff members were undoubtedly from the Star Luo Continent.
Under the staff's arrangements, Jing Shaoyu and the six girls quickly received their room keys. As a luxury cruise ship, it naturally ensured that all passengers had single rooms. Since the keys were marked with room numbers, and the seven numbers were consecutive, Jing Shaoyu was placed in the middle room by the six girls, while the other six rooms were fiercely contested among them.
Soon, the rooms were assigned. In order of room numbers, from smallest to largest, they were Ye Xinglan, Wu Siduo, Na'er, Jing Shaoyu, Gu Yue, Mo Hentian, and Xu Xiaoyan.
This arrangement naturally brought joy to some and disappointment to others. Just as they were about to check out their rooms, the students from the Star Luo Royal Academy approached.
"The uniforms of Shrek Academy are really ugly. How can you stand them?" A sarcastic voice rang out from the group. There were twelve students from the Star Luo Royal Academy, eight boys and four girls, all roughly the same age. The one who spoke mockingly was a short boy, barely taller than Xu Xiaoyan.
"An ugly uniform is better than an ugly person!" Xu Xiaoyan retorted without hesitation. She was already in a bad mood because of the room situation, and now someone had come looking for trouble. Naturally, she had no intention of holding back.
The Star Luo Royal Academy student who had mocked them was not particularly ugly, but compared to the group of handsome boys and beautiful girls like Jing Shaoyu, he was somewhat hard to look at.
However, Xu Xiaoyan's words had struck a nerve with the short boy.
"Little girl, who are you calling ugly?" the short boy shouted angrily, taking a step forward and lunging at Xu Xiaoyan.
Seeing this, Jing Shaoyu immediately stepped in to protect Xu Xiaoyan. He raised his hand and pressed it against the boy's head, preventing him from moving forward no matter how hard he tried. The boy could only let out a frustrated roar.
"Not only are you ugly, but you also try to attack a girl. How shameless can you be?" Xu Xiaoyan, hiding behind Jing Shaoyu, tilted her head and continued to taunt.
"Ah—" The short boy's face turned red with anger, and all his strength seemed to surge to his head as he tried to push against Jing Shaoyu's hand.
But Jing Shaoyu didn't budge. A faint, helpless smile appeared on his handsome face as he gave a gentle push. The short boy immediately lost his balance and fell backward, landing on the deck with a loud "thud."
"Tsk—" The students from Star Luo Royal Academy behind him gasped in shock and quickly gathered around, ready to defend him.
"You're way too arrogant. This is our Star Luo Empire's ship!"
"That's right! Apologize now!"
Jing Shaoyu and the others just laughed it off. "How amusing. You were the ones who started the provocation. Why should we apologize?"
"Who provoked you?" a girl from Star Luo said, her eyes filled with envy as she looked at Na'er, Xu Xiaoyan, and the other girls. "He was just stating a fact. Is stating a fact considered provocation in Douluo Continent?"
"We were just stating a fact too," Xu Xiaoyan said innocently, her big eyes sparkling with feigned innocence. "He really isn't good-looking, after all."
"Exactly!" Ye Xinglan chimed in. "Is he considered handsome in your Star Luo Continent? Your standards must be really high!"
"Of course not!" the other three girls from Star Luo Royal Academy immediately retorted. "In our Star Luo Continent, only someone like this young man here is considered handsome!"
As they spoke, the three girls even threw flirtatious glances at Jing Shaoyu.
The short boy's face turned even uglier. He growled, "Enough! Let's go. Haven't we embarrassed ourselves enough?"
With that, he turned and left first, walking with a noticeable limp. It was clear that he had taken quite a fall earlier. Seeing this, the other members of the Star Luo Royal Academy also realized how much face they had lost this time. With grim expressions
, they quickly followed suit.
As the farce came to an end, Jing Shaoyu led the six women to their rooms.