The choices made by both the female and male participants were irreversible, so they had to make their decisions wisely.

This segment generally determined how many matches would be made during the convention, and it was also the segment where the largest number of participants were eliminated.

Generally speaking, it was very rare for more than 10 matches to be made during any edition of the Sea God Fate Match-making Convention. During this segment, it was often the case that around 50% of the remaining participants would be eliminated. Of course, most of those were male participants who were rejected by the women they'd chosen. If more than one woman chose the same man, then a competition would commence.

A cylindrical bamboo container appeared in Lan Muzi's hand, and he turned to Tang Yinmeng as he said, "You can draw numbers, Yinmeng; let's see who our first male participant will be. Please note that you will only have one minute to make your self-introductions and confessions, so do and say the things that you feel to be most important. This is a very important reminder that I must issue as sometimes, it's better to confess your love to a single woman rather than give a general self-introduction to keep your options open. During a segment like this, it could prove to be a wise decision to put all of your eggs in one basket."

As Lan Muzi was speaking, Tang Yinmeng had already pulled a number out of the bamboo tube.

"The first male participant to introduce themselves will be Boy Number 32. Please take the stage."

The lotus leaves parted to reveal Boy Number 32 in the back row, and the lotus leaf beneath his feet slowly drifted forward, taking him to the front of the group of male disciples.

The man standing atop the lotus leaf swayed and almost fell into the water; it was none other than Xu Lizhi!

At this moment, he wore a rather blank and panicked expression, and he was wringing his hands in a nervous manner.

After witnessing Tang Wulin's return, he had been filled with excitement, just like all of his friends had been. However, at this moment, he was in an atrocious mood.

He'd clearly seen that Ye Xinglan, Yuanen Yehui, and Xu Xiaoyan had all refrained from switching on their lights for Tang Wulin, but they'd switched on their lights for him. This meant that he had guessed right from the very beginning; they had switched on their lights for him out of nothing more than pity. He was also quite perplexed about why Girl Number 17 hadn't switched on her light for Tang Wulin, but he was far too dejected to be thinking about that now.

A self-deprecating smile appeared on his face before his expression gradually returned to normal.

"Alright, Junior Disciple Brother; your time for your self-introduction begins now," Lan Muzi announced.

"My name is Xu Lizhi," Xu Lizhi began in a slow voice, "I'm a food-type Soul Master, and I love all types of food. My martial soul is a steamed bun, so I came to look like a steamed bun. I'm sure no one likes a fatty like me, but just as Senior Disciple Brother Lan had said, I've already come here, so perhaps I'll have a chance if I place all my eggs in one basket. Hence, please allow me to say what I'm about to say next.

"I met the girl of my dreams at a very young age. Ever since back then, I've loved her like I love food. I'm a food-type Soul Master, so I was inevitably bullied by my classmates, but she always stood up for me and protected me. She's like my guardian angel, and I look up at her with awestruck eyes every single day. I've only managed to become who I am today because she's always been around to help and protect me."

At this point, Yue Zhengyu, Xie Xie, and Tang Wulin's faces were already filled with surprise. It was quite apparent whom he was referring to from this snippet of his monologue alone. Even they had been unaware that Xu Lizhi harbored such feelings toward that person, but how could they not have figured out who he was talking about by now? It was far too obvious!

Xu Lizhi seemed to have settled his nerves at this point, and he was speaking in a far more smooth and steady voice."Time passed, and we grew up together, day after day. She's very determined in her pursuit to reach the pinnacle of all Soul Masters, and I've watched her for every single day along her journey. When I was younger, I always regarded her as a big sister, a guardian angel. That was until I gradually realized that the most important thing in my life was no longer food; it was her instead."

He paused momentarily here before continuing in a serious voice, "If there's one person in this world that could make me want to lose weight for them, then it's her."

All of the female participant's expressions changed slightly upon hearing this. This was a very simple confession, but it was an extremely meaningful one coming from a food-type Soul Master who weighed in excess of 100kg.

Xu Lizhi paused again here, and Lan Muzi checked the time, yet just as he was about to announce that time was up, Tang Yinmeng suddenly grabbed onto his hand.

He turned to her to discover tears shimmering in her eyes.

After a brief silence, Xu Lizhi sighed, "I know I'm not good enough for her; I knew that from the very beginning. Ever since I could remember, I'd always thought that perhaps I liked her due to the lack of maternal love in my childhood. However, as time passed, I finally discovered that this wasn't a yearning for maternal love; I can now confirm 10,000% that I love her like a man loves a woman. I love her in the truest and purest way. She's so beautiful, yet I'm so fat, but I still love her. Hence, I stay by her side every waking second over every day. Wherever she is is where I'll be.

"Right here, right now, this may be the only place that I'll have the courage to say everything that's been hiding in my heart for so long. You may not know how much courage this requires, but you have to realize that the risk I'm taking here is that she might not ever talk to me again. However, I'm finally going to say this because I don't want to be on my deathbed someday with this as my biggest regret in life. I've never considered whether my confession would be successful nor whether she likes me or not. There's such a huge gap between us, after all. However, I have to tell her that I've only ever liked one woman in this world, and she will be the only woman I'll ever love. I don't want to cause trouble for her with my one-sided confession, so I won't say her name, but I feel a lot better now that everything's off my chest.

"After this, let's just pretend that nothing's ever happened," Xu Lizhi seemed to have completely relaxed at this point, and he cast a meaningful gaze toward the row of female participants as he continued, "I don't need pity, and nor do I need sympathy. I just want to be by your side, so please don't take that privilege away from me. Even if you find someone you love someday, please allow me to continue watching over you from afar."

He abruptly took a deep breath, and he seemed to have swelled up slightly like a balloon, then roared with all his might, "I! LOVE! YOU!"

Following that raw and heartfelt cry, had jumped straight toward the Sea God's Lake.

He knew that he had no chance whatsoever, and he simply wanted to make this confession to ease his soul, but he didn't want to cause any trouble for her. As such, he chose to leave.

Right at this moment, a burst of blue light suddenly erupted before winding itself around his sizeable waist. This was a blue vine, and the vine tugged Xu Lizhi back just as he was about to fall into the lake. The vein was only around as thick as a human arm, but it was somehow able to support Xu Lizhi's entire body, thereby preventing him from plummeting into the water.

"How do you know you won't succeed? You can't just leave without getting a result."

Xu Lizhi turned around to Tang Wulin, who had summoned the blue vine to catch him, and tears were flowing down his rotund face.

"Captain!"

The vine was slowly withdrawn, and it gently placed him back onto the lotus leaf.