It's All a Setup

"Next, it'll be your turn. But we'll need some time to clear the arena first... You understand, right?" A handsome young male teacher walked over to Zhongli and Mo Yuqing, speaking with some helplessness.

"Mm, it does need cleaning up."

Mo Yuqing glanced at Hua Banhao, who was holding his form and laughing loudly, her expression turning somewhat strange.

That guy had not noticed Teacher Chi Tianxiang's expression at all. He could not see the displeasure on the teacher's face whatsoever. It was not that the teacher was petty; Hua Banhao had dirtied the entire venue, making the staff's cleanup work troublesome. Naturally, it was hard for him to look pleased.

Still, displeasure was one thing. As a teacher, Chi Tianxiang would not maliciously give Hua Banhao a low score over something like this. He still had that bottom line.

It was just...

For the next match, Chi Tianxiang would personally conduct the test, and the ones being tested were Zhongli and Mo Yuqing. That was the true reason for Mo Yuqing's strange expression.

If the teacher tested them while carrying some resentment and made them suffer more because of it, that would be far too unlucky.

"It's fine. A Soul Emperor is indeed strong, but we aren't that weak either. We just need to do our best," Zhongli said with a calm smile.

By universal standards of reason,

a Soul Emperor was indeed not weak.

Of course, that was by universal standards of reason.

Amid the sound of footsteps, a tall figure gradually approached Zhongli and Mo Yuqing. His expression was slightly cold, and with his arms folded across his chest, he said imposingly, "To test your actual combat abilities more precisely, I plan to test your strength in three matches. Two individual tests and one test where you fight together."

One match had become three. What a delightful surprise.

"Huh?"

Mo Yuqing's little face immediately fell. She looked at Zhongli with a troubled expression. A solo test without a shield simply felt far too unsafe.

"It's fine. You're very capable."

Zhongli comforted her.

"Hmph!"

Chi Tianxiang snorted coldly. A strange smile gradually appeared on his face as he looked at Zhongli and said, "You have a Power Attack System Martial Soul, yet you want to be in the Support System. Hua Banhao has a Food System Martial Soul, yet he wants to be in the Power Attack System. Since that's the case, I'll have you fight Hua Banhao. Then Mo Yuqing can fight another student. I'd like to see how you'll fight!"

"Hua Banhao..."

Mo Yuqing slowly turned her head and looked at Zhongli worriedly, but he remained utterly calm, without the slightest ripple in his expression.

"It's fine. I'll definitely win."

Zhongli said with absolute confidence.

Here's a joke: a holder of a Geo Element God's Eye could fight the Geo Archon!

Victory was certain. Not only could he win, Zhongli had even thought of an excuse for how he would win. He would just say Hua Banhao's attack power was too low to break his shield, then beat him down one-sidedly. It would be easy and enjoyable.

"You're quite confident. I hope you can smile that confidently during the actual battle later." A smile gradually appeared on Chi Tianxiang's cold face. He turned around and spoke as he walked away.

In truth, although he looked rough and burly, he was actually very meticulous. As the teacher who had read the forms, there was no way he did not know about Zhongli's shielding ability. If he truly only wanted to test the shield's strength, he would definitely have Mo Yuqing stay farther away from Zhongli. Otherwise, there would be "passive enhancement."

Though that was fake...

Chi Tianxiang was more annoyed by Hua Banhao, so he had Zhongli fight him because he could clearly tell that Zhongli countered him completely. Hua Banhao's soul skills might be disgusting, but their attack strength was not high. Otherwise, he would not have needed to disgust that previous boy for so long instead of simply controlling and instantly defeating him.

And Zhongli... had a shield!

With a shield, as long as the defense was not broken, it was equivalent to taking no damage. Moreover, that disgusting "smear your whole face" tactic could not reach Zhongli himself. At most, it would splatter onto the shield, so it was not very useful. Zhongli himself had strong attack power, and his shield was not weak either. Chi Tianxiang had not even restricted Mo Yuqing from standing nearby to "resonate and strengthen the shield," so...

Zhongli was guaranteed to win!

On the surface, Chi Tianxiang wanted to vent some frustration on Zhongli and Mo Yuqing. In reality, his blade was pointed directly at Hua Banhao. He wanted to properly crush that guy's arrogance and make him honestly become a Food System Soul Master in the future instead of thinking about such useless things.

At the same time, in a real battle, Zhongli would come to understand that his shield capacity was already excessive. There was no need to waste soul skills further enhancing it; it would be better to gain more useful utility or offensive soul skills.

Two birds with one stone~ Kill two birds with one stone~ One arrow, two hawks~

Perfect!

That was his entire plan!

"Then, Teacher, can I cheer Zhongli on from below the stage?" Mo Yuqing raised her brows upon hearing that and immediately had a "brilliant idea," thinking of secretly enhancing Zhongli. Although she had only just discovered this ability, she needed to make good use of it.

"Cheer him on?"

Chi Tianxiang stopped walking and frowned slightly. He looked back at Mo Yuqing with a strange expression and said, "You'll be fighting in the next match. If you like cheering people on, go ahead. Why are you asking me? It's not like I'm restricting your personal freedom."

After saying that, he left, as though he did not know Mo Yuqing could enhance Zhongli's shield.

"Yay!"

Mo Yuqing jumped excitedly, clenching her little fists as she said with a smile, "He actually forgot that I can enhance your shield strength. This teacher is really stupid, really! But that's good too. Now I can help you from below the stage! Perfect!"

This time, I'm on the second level!

Hahahaha~

"By universal standards of reason, it indeed isn't against the rules. But wouldn't that be a little unfair to that guy?" Zhongli said with a righteous expression.

"He made the teacher unhappy, and that's why we got extra matches. He deserves it, hmph!" Mo Yuqing said resentfully, folding her arms and lightly biting her lip. She still had not forgotten how that guy had snatched the amber and run off. She still felt she had taken a loss, so she retained a bit of negative emotion.

"That is indeed true."

The look in Zhongli's eyes changed, and he nodded in complete agreement.

He was not stupid. He could tell there was something off about Chi Tianxiang's attitude, and his gaze had not been right either. He simply did not care about those things. If they were scenery along the journey, they were somewhat interesting.

"You need to be careful. Keep an eye on refreshing your shield capacity at all times, and absolutely don't let it break." Mo Yuqing instructed him with concern. "Also, if you get a chance to attack proactively, don't miss it. Once your shield is covered in that stuff, it'll affect your vision too much."

"Mm, I understand."

Zhongli nodded slightly, then directly stepped forward and wrapped both arms around Mo Yuqing, who seemed to still want to say something. He whispered into her ear, "It's fine. Compared to my situation, I'm more worried that your first time fighting alone might make you uncomfortable. Care more about yourself, silly."

"Oh..."

Mo Yuqing's little face reddened slightly. Her heart felt warm and full.