Victor's Privilege

"What's with this kid's attacks?"

On the academy training ground, Lu Song, a Soul Elder, retreated again and again. Faced with Yan's rapid fists and kicks, he was actually unable to fend them off for a time.

Weapon Soul Masters excelled at close combat, but that was when they wielded their Weapon Souls. To lower the difficulty of the assessment for the students, Lu Song had voluntarily given up using his Weapon Soul and instead fought the students' combined efforts with only his fists and feet.

Normally, that would have been nothing. A three-ring Soul Elder facing a group of Spirit Scholars without even a single soul ring should have been utterly crushing them. Yet he had not expected to encounter an anomaly like Yan.

Among ordinary energy attributes, fire was already one of the more destructive types. Not to mention that Yan's Martial Soul had undergone an evolution. Once he released his Martial Soul, flames erupted across his entire body without a single blind spot. To Lu Song, he was a scalding hedgehog that was difficult to handle.

A three-ring Soul Elder's Soul Power was indeed formidable, but Weapon Souls were naturally less resistant to energy attacks like fire and ice. Furthermore, he had not even used his Weapon Soul. Although Soul Power covered his body, his "magic resistance" was only slightly higher than that of an ordinary person. There was no way it could withstand flames of at least a thousand degrees.

Thus, Lu Song did not dare take Yan's attacks head-on. He could only dodge and retreat, hoping to regroup. However, Yan's attacks were far too dense, and every single one came at precisely the right moment, pinning him down completely. He could only keep retreating, trying to find an opportunity.

"You have no chance."

As Lu Song continued backing away, his breathing gradually became hurried. Looking at the child before him, who was no more than six years old, he actually felt immense pressure. Then Yan suddenly spoke in a cold voice, and Lu Song's heart skipped a beat as he instinctively lost focus for an instant.

Bang!

One of his retreating steps missed its footing. His entire foot, knee included, sank into the soil, and at that moment, Yan's flame-wreathed palm grabbed toward him.

Alarmed, Lu Song instinctively kicked off with his other foot, wrenching himself free from the ground and barely evading Yan's grasp. Borrowing the rebound force, he retreated backward.

Bang!

Yet something else entirely unexpected happened. The instant his back touched the ground, it suddenly gave way beneath him. He felt his whole body falling underground. For some reason, there was another huge pit there.

Just as Lu Song fell into the pit and prepared to get up, he found mud on all sides, leaving him nowhere to exert force. At that moment, two claws struck from behind. It was Tuo Ba Hong, the chubby boy who had kept his distance from him from the very beginning.

The claws from White Armor Earth Dragon Martial Soul Possession could inflict considerable damage if they struck his body. Lu Song hurriedly twisted and rolled aside, barely avoiding them. Before he could even catch his breath, a burst of flames rapidly spread before his face.

At this critical moment, he finally could not hold back any longer. As he fell backward with his eyes shut, he flicked his right hand. The scythe Martial Soul that had been embedded in the ground shot out at high speed and landed in his hand in an instant.

Weapon Souls did not enhance the body as much as Beast Souls, but they possessed an effect similar to a cultivator's bonded artifact. They could move at their owner's will and even briefly strike objects from afar. At critical moments, they could also protect their master.

With the scythe in hand, Lu Song's entire aura immediately changed. However, Yan had already pulled the chubby boy away from where they stood. The flames on his body had gone out, as though nothing had happened.

"Teacher, this test is over, right?"

When Lu Song rushed out of the pit, filled with fury, he happened to hear Yan pour cold water on him with those words. Though anger had surged to his head, he could only force himself to calm down.

"You... what happened here? Why are there so many holes in the training ground...?"

Lu Song hesitated before asking. Pointing at the pits in the ground, he looked toward Tuo Ba Hong beside Yan. Having been played by a bunch of students and beaten so miserably, he was already simmering with anger. More than that, he wanted to understand exactly how he had lost.

"Um... Teacher, I set these traps, but I don't know why you stepped into them either..."

After glancing at Yan, Tuo Ba Hong answered. To be honest, when Yan had told him to manipulate the underground soil and create hollow traps, he had been full of doubts. He had been completely unable to imagine how they could make Lu Song step into one. Yet reality was that Lu Song had not only stepped on them, but had ultimately fallen into the largest trap.

Even now, he was still rather dazed. Their victory had been utterly bewildering. It felt as though Lu Song had been led around by the nose by Yan the entire time. Was the boss he had casually acknowledged really this powerful?

"How did you do it?"

Tuo Ba Hong could not get any answers, so Lu Song could only look toward Yan. Recalling the battle just now, he still felt lingering fear. From the moment Yan made his move until the end, he, a three-ring Soul Elder, had been forced step by step into traps and remained entirely at a disadvantage. It was simply unbelievable.

"I predicted your movements, then guided you to move in the direction I planned. It was that simple."

Faced with Lu Song's question, Yan merely gave a calm reply. It sounded somewhat perfunctory, but that was indeed the truth. By observing Lu Song's various data—his height, weight, foot width, and so on—he had calculated the pressure exerted by both feet on the ground and the pressure exerted when standing on one foot.

As for where this guy would land with each movement, Yan had naturally obtained that by sacrificing his teammates. Yan had hidden and kept a low profile at the beginning, allowing those four cannon fodder to be dealt with first. At least they had provided some data on Lu Song's movements, allowing him to complete the final piece of his plan.

The first place where Lu Song's foot had sunk was a trap designed around differing pressure. The several situations afterward were each different, but Yan had accounted for all of them. That was how he had forced this three-ring Soul Elder into danger step by step. Of course, explaining it all in detail would have been too troublesome, so he had simply answered casually.

"You said you predicted my movements? That's impossible."

Lu Song's face was full of disbelief. Even if that might truly have been the case, the thought of a battle-hardened three-ring Soul Elder like him being calculated into a dangerous situation by a child was too fantastical. He would rather believe it had been a coincidence.

Yan merely replied coldly, "Is predicting your movements really that difficult? Don't think so highly of yourself. There was once an Evil Soul Master who thought I was a rat he could crush to death at will. Then he died. Since I've passed the test, you have nothing more to say, right? If there's nothing else, I'd like to leave first."

After saying that, Yan shook out his bright red clothes and straightened them. Then he leisurely turned and walked toward the shade of a tree at the edge of the training ground. He had no time to waste with this teacher. Instead of waiting around on the training ground, wouldn't it be better to read a few more books?

"Enough. What are you staring at? If you had his level of skill, you could go slack off too. Now, the assessment continues. Your group, get ready."

Yan's departure left Lu Song rather irritated with that troublemaker, but he had no reason to lash out. He could only vent his anger on the students still watching the show. His sudden roar made all the little children shudder, while the unfortunate second group that caught his attention was brutally put through the wringer under everyone's gaze.

Second update. Please vote, keep reading, and add it to your collections.