A smug look had only just appeared on the face of the male students who'd landed on the front row first when he felt a burst of immense force surging toward him. He was immediately sent flying as a result, and the burly man took his place.

Thus, fierce competition commenced for all of the spots, and a spectacular show was put on by all the male disciples. Their potent soul power fluctuations were sending waves erupting over the surface of the lake, but in contrast, the female students were a lot less inclined to compete over spots. In fact, they were even politely offering spots to one another before landing on the lotus leaves in a much more civilized manner.

All of the participants were inner court disciples who were extremely powerful, so even though physical contact and soul skills were prohibited, they still put on a marvelous spectacle to behold.

After all of the students had landed on a lotus leaf each, everyone was finally able to ascertain the number of participants. Just like in all of the past editions of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention, there were clearly fewer female students than male students, thereby creating the usual disparity in numbers. There was no helping that; men simply had superior overall aptitude when it came to cultivating as Soul Masters, and this applied to Shrek Academy.

There was a total of 51 male students, and this was quite a large number considering only single disciples of a suitable age range were eligible for participation. In contrast, there were only 31 female participants. The lotus leaves beneath their feet had all been illuminated by the underwater lights, basking their bodies in a mysterious glow. Around them was the rippling surface of the Sea God's Lake, while pillars of light stood underfoot. A large number of lights were illuminated in the water around all of the participants following their arrival, and in that instant, the surface of the Sea God's Lake had become a dazzling stage.

During this event, many of them were going to find their true love, and those were perhaps bonds that would last a lifetime.

Lan Muzi smiled and crossed his arms as he announced, "Alright, everyone's all here now. If you can still identify someone despite how you're all dressed, then it has to be true love. However, I feel like that's probably rather implausible. At the very least, I was unable to identify anyone back when I took part in this event."

Indeed, it was very difficult to identify anyone when their entire bodies and faces had been concealed. They could only make observations before everyone had stepped onto the lotus leaves, but at the time, everyone was too busy competing for spots, so they simply didn't have time to observe the other side.

The female students were all wearing the same dresses, and most of them were very slender, so the only difference that could be spotted between them was their heights. On top of that, they were also wearing large veiled bamboo hats, which made it even more impossible to identify anyone.

Lan Muzi smiled, and continued, "According to the tradition of this convention, the first segment is known as 'Perfect Match'. The name is very alluring, but don't be fooled; it's a very difficult segment. There are 31 female disciples standing in a row around 100 feet away from all of you. As can be seen, all of them are wearing veiled bamboo hats that prevent you from being able to glean their true appearances. To put it simply, this is a segment where all of you male disciples will have to work together. The 51 of you can go one at a time, using your own methods to attack the female disciples. You can attack one disciple or multiple disciples, and your objective is to sweep their bamboo hats off their heads. After all, how are you supposed to find a girlfriend if you can't even see what they look like, right?

"This first segment will also be a chance for all of you to display your powers. Whoever manages to sweep off the most hats would naturally be the most powerful one among you. During this segment, the female disciple can't help one another, nor can they attack the male disciples in retaliation. They can only adopt passive defense to try and keep their hats on their heads. If a female disciple were to be knocked into the water during this process, then they'll be eliminated. However, generally speaking, the male disciples are quite measured in their attacks during the first segment. After all, if all of the girls are knocked into the water, how are you going to find your true love?"

The outer court disciples on the shore were all looking on with bated breath. The match-making convention was finally about to commence. In this segment, requited love alone was not enough; one also had to possess sufficient power. Those who found their true love during the event were indirectly displaying to everyone that they were powerful enough to deserve love.

The first segment, Perfect Match, was not that simple as the girls could defend themselves. Of course, some of the girls were more willing to reveal their identities, so they'd naturally be more cooperative during this process. However, those who were more reluctant or had no intention of finding love during this event would do their best to protect their hats. As such, this was not just a contest of powers, but also a battle of wits and psychology. The Perfect Match segment for every edition of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention was always different, so it was a very interesting spectacle to behold.

As soon as Lan Muzi's voice fell, the lotus leaves beneath the feet of the female disciples began to move on their own, arranging them into a single row.

He then turned to the front row of male disciples, with a smile, and said, "Alright, now it's time for you to display your masculine charm. I'll be calling out your numbers, and prior to commencing your attacks, you can choose whether you'd like to take off your mask or not. In contrast, the girls are prohibited from taking off their own hats during this segment, so if you don't knock off their hats, then it'll be very difficult to identify them."

The rules of the match-making convention weren't very complex, and most of the students had already done some research beforehand, so they were largely unsurprised by these rules.

Lan Muzi continued, "Boy Number One, you can choose whether you want to remove your mask."

Boy Number One wasn't the first male disciple standing in the front row, but instead, he was standing in the second row, and his number had already been assigned to him beforehand.

He had clearly already educated himself on the relevant rules, and he immediately replied, "I choose to take off my mask."

He raised a hand and removed his mask as he spoke.

In the past editions of the event, most of the male disciples during this segment chose to remove their masks. The reason for that was very simple; they had to let the female disciples see them so they could be chosen! Unless they hadn't planned on finding a match for themselves in the first place, most of the male disciples would choose to reveal themselves during this segment.

Boy Number One was a tall and broad young man. His appearance was rather plain, but he stood ramrod straight, and his eyes were shimmering with light.

Lan Muzi made a hand gesture toward him. "You may begin."

The man smiled, and said to the row of female disciples, "Please pardon my insolence."

He tapped his foot gently onto the lotus leaf beneath his feet as he spoke, and he rose up into the air.

He encircled his arms in front of him before abruptly thrusting them outward, and five rings of light emerged around his body in quick succession, consisting of two yellows and three purples, thereby revealing him to be a Soul King.

In reality, five-ring Soul Kings were very commonplace among inner court disciples, and from the combination of his soul rings, it could be seen that he wasn't a particularly outstanding disciple of the inner court, so it made sense that he had to settle for a spot in the second row.

A layer of azure wind propelled his body forward, and it quickly transformed into a vast expanse of azure light that swept toward the other side of the Sea God's Lake.

Azure light flashed, and massive waves were instantly swept up over the surface of the lake before hurtling toward the female disciples.

If they protected their hats, then they'd be struck by the waves, leaving them soaking wet in an instant! This Boy Number One was implementing quite a daring scheme.

Among the female disciples, one of the women standing at the center harrumphed coldly before her body rose up into the air. She hadn't leaped or jumped; her body simply levitated upward. She then swept her right hand through the air, and a total of seven soul rings instantly emerged beneath her feet, consisting of two yellows, three purples, and two blacks. The massive waves hadn't even reached her before they suddenly paused in mid-air. An intriguing turn of events then unfolded. The third soul ring beneath her body lit up, and she pointed forward with her right index finger. All of a sudden, the massive wave that had congealed in mid-air suddenly took on the form of a ferocious tiger before turning around and pouncing directly toward Boy Number One.