Disposition, Debt

"Bastard!" Tang Wuyang's furious roar rang out again.

This time, his voice echoed through the entire corridor. His wind-like figure charged back into the dormitory and lunged at the cold, arrogant youth once more.

A flicker of surprise flashed through the cold, arrogant youth's eyes. He had never known how to show mercy. He had used considerable force in that strike just now, yet his opponent had gotten back up so quickly.

Moreover, when his elbow had struck Tang Wuyang's back, he had clearly felt a faint rebound from it that had dissipated much of his strength.

He leaped, turned, and executed a spin kick, all three movements completed in an instant with flowing clouds and running water. Not only did he evade Tang Wuyang's pounce, but he also swept a kick across his back, sending him flying into the upper bunk Tang Wulin had chosen.

The wooden upper bunk was immediately smashed to pieces. Fragments scattered across Tang Wuyang's lower bunk, and his clothes were slashed in several places as well.

The cold, arrogant youth drifted gracefully to the ground, landing directly on Tang Wuyang's blanket that lay sprawled across the floor. He had even happened to step on the little embroidered flower Na'er had made.

"You bastards!" Tang Wuyang let out a grief-stricken roar as white light surged around him.

A pure white Ten-Year Soul Ring rose beneath his feet. Dragon horns and a dragon tail appeared on his forehead and behind him respectively, while the temperature in the dormitory abruptly plummeted. Five Ice Chains shot toward the cold, arrogant youth in unison.

Qilin Martial Soul, Ten-Year Soul Ring skill—Tang Wuyang's First Soul Skill: Water, Ice Element Control.

Though the cold, arrogant youth was exceptionally agile, he faced five chains attacking from different directions, the sudden drop in temperature around him, and Tang Wulin blocking his path behind him.

Under such unfavorable conditions, even he could not possibly evade Tang Wuyang's attack within such a cramped space.

Yet his reaction remained incredibly swift. He raised his right hand, and a brilliant golden light lit up in it.

At the same time, a yellow Soul Ring rose beneath his feet. Golden light flashed as it drew an arc through the air, slashing toward the Ice Chains shooting at him.

The cold, arrogant youth struck with extreme precision. His Golden Short Dagger accurately cut every Ice Chain that came at him.

Then a scene that astonished him occurred.

The instant the five Ice Chains were struck, they turned from ice into water. Once his slash passed through them, they immediately condensed into ice again.

Not good! the cold, arrogant youth cried inwardly.

If he had retreated at once, he might still have been able to circle around Tang Wulin at the doorway and rush out of the dormitory to evade the five Ice Chains.

But now, that was clearly impossible.

The five Ice Chains swept over him in an instant, binding him tightly from head to toe as a chill invaded his body.

The Century Soul Ring beneath the cold, arrogant youth's feet flared brightly. Blade Light flickered from the Short Dagger in his hand, accompanied by a faint dragon's roar, as he used all his strength to break free from the Ice Chains.

With a thought from Tang Wulin, a pure white Ten-Year Soul Ring appeared around him. He waved his right hand, and several Blue Silver Grass Vines surged forward, entwining the cold, arrogant youth from behind and reinforcing his confinement.

But at that very moment, a fist rapidly enlarged before his eyes.

"Bang!"

The cold, arrogant youth was sent flying backward instantly. At the exact moment Tang Wuyang's fist smashed into his face, the Ice Chains binding him loosened at the same time.

Like a cannonball, the cold, arrogant youth flew straight out the door.

Tang Wulin shifted his feet slightly, neatly avoiding the body hurtling toward him.

Another boom rang out, and the cold, arrogant youth was embedded in the corridor wall.

That was right—embedded. Tang Wuyang's terrifying strength had left the cold, arrogant youth utterly unable to resist.

The cold, arrogant youth was an Agile Attack System Battle Soul Master, specializing in speed and explosive attacks. But Agile Attack Soul Masters shared the weakness of poor defense. Once struck by the overwhelming power of someone like Tang Wuyang, whose strength exceeded even that of same-level Strength Type Battle Soul Masters, the result needed no explanation.

Thus, the instant he was sent flying, the cold, arrogant youth lost consciousness.

Tang Wulin, standing at the doorway, did not care about any of that. To prevent the cold, arrogant youth from getting back up, he sent out another thought, and countless Blue Silver Grass blades surged forward, tightly binding the youth until only his head remained exposed.

Yun Xiao, who had originally only come to watch the excitement, now had legs that were beginning to go weak. He hurriedly begged, "Ge, Big Brother, I really wasn't with them! I just came to watch some gossip. Please let me go!"

As he spoke, his voice had already taken on a faintly tearful tone.

The one inside the room was no human at all. He was clearly a Beast!

Tang Wuyang crouched down and carefully picked up his blanket. He dusted the dirt from it and clutched it tightly in his arms as if he had recovered a priceless treasure.

Fortunately, the blanket was not damaged. It was only somewhat dirty.

Seeing this, Tang Wulin did not even bother with his luggage scattered all over the floor. He hurried over and held his upset younger brother in his arms.

He understood that Tang Wuyang missed Na'er.

"What happened here?"

Just then, a deep, powerful voice came from the corridor.

Ten minutes later.

The Teaching Office of Eastsea Academy's Intermediate Department.

"So, this tragedy was caused by a blanket?" Long Hengxu coldly watched the five youths before him, his expression so grim it seemed ready to drip water.

Zhou Changxi, Yun Xiao, Tang Wulin, Tang Wuyang, and the cold, arrogant youth stood in a row.

Cold light flickered in the cold, arrogant youth's eyes. His sharp gaze drifted toward Tang Wuyang from time to time, as if he wanted to tear him apart.

Zhou Changxi's face was ashen, and his body bore quite a few injuries. Yet upon closer inspection, one could see a trace of fear deep in his eyes. Not once did he look toward the Tang Wulin and Tang Wuyang brothers.

Tang Wulin recounted the earlier events without missing a single detail. Long Hengxu did not merely take his word for it and questioned Yun Xiao as well.

Combining their accounts with what he himself had seen at the time, Long Hengxu finally understood the full story.

Tang Wuyang stood there with both fists clenched, faint anger still churning in his eyes.

"Zhou Changxi, given the type of your Martial Soul, you should have been able to enter Class Three. Your level was merely a little low."

"But now it seems your character is even lower than your Soul Power. You deserved that beating. Stay in Class Five forever," Long Hengxu said coldly.

Zhou Changxi wanted to argue, but when he saw Long Hengxu's grim gaze, the words reached his lips before he forcibly swallowed them back down.

"You two as well. Fighting on your first day of school—you will both enter Class Five. You deserved your beatings." This time, Long Hengxu pointed at Yun Xiao and the cold, arrogant youth.

The cold, arrogant youth paid no attention to Long Hengxu's words. His gaze remained fixed on Tang Wuyang throughout.

One side of his face was swollen high. If, in the instant before being hit, he had not used his speed to rapidly dissipate the force through his head, he did not know how many teeth he would have had left.

"Director Long, I didn't take part in the fight!" Yun Xiao said in shock. "From beginning to end, I was only a bystander."

Long Hengxu said coldly, "You think watching the excitement gives you an excuse? You saw your classmates fighting, yet not only did you fail to stop them, you chose to stay out of it."

"You're already so sly at such a young age. What will become of you when you grow up?"

"As for you brothers." Long Hengxu turned his gaze toward Tang Wuyang and Tang Wulin. "The two of you did well. Two against three. You were not at fault in this matter. Zhou Changxi provoked you first, and it is good for men to have some fighting spirit."

"Therefore, I will not punish the two of you. However, one of your Martial Souls is Blue Silver Grass, while the other only has Level 11 Soul Power. You can only go to Class Five."

Tang Wuyang and Tang Wulin looked at each other, both seeing surprise in the other's eyes. They had thought their punishment would be the harshest.

After all, one of them had beaten someone badly, while the other had used his Martial Soul to tie up a classmate.

"Thank you for your fairness," Tang Wuyang hurriedly said.

Tang Wulin also thanked the Director of Teaching, who looked extremely stern.

Long Hengxu said evenly, "Although there were reasons behind the fight, you still need to compensate for damaging public property."

"I'll have the finance office calculate the repair costs for the window, wall, and beds later. Remember to pay the money."

"Ah?" Both brothers froze.

Pay money?

Between them, all they had was the six thousand Federation Coins Tang Ziran had given them as spending money for the semester.

Because intermediate academy was compulsory education and provided food and lodging, there should not have been much need to spend money in the first place.

"Enough. All of you, get out."

"If you have the ability, go back and keep fighting."

"If there is a next time, it will be recorded in your files. Those files concern whether you can enter the Advanced Department in the future and whether you can become Mecha Masters."

"If you have the guts to fight, don't let the academy find out. Otherwise, you will be severely punished."

After leaving the Teaching Office, Long Hengxu's stern voice still echoed in their ears, but the Tang Wuyang and Tang Wulin brothers were in quite bright spirits.

Though they still did not know how many Federation Coins they would have to pay, at least the academy had handled this fight fairly. It had not favored others just because their Martial Souls were poor or their Soul Power low.

Teaching Office.

Long Hengxu narrowed his eyes and said to the secretary beside him, "Bring me Tang Wulin and Tang Wuyang's files."

"Director, those two children—one has Blue Silver Grass as his Martial Soul, and though the other has a Beast Martial Soul, isn't his Soul Power only Level 11? He isn't even as strong as his Blue Silver Grass older brother." The secretary spoke in great surprise.

Long Hengxu's earlier sternness had completely vanished. The corners of his mouth rose. "I'm afraid it's not that simple. Tang Wuyang beat two people at once on his first day of school, including that kid from the Xie Family. Is that something an ordinary little fellow with Level 11 Soul Power could do?"

"And Tang Wulin has a useless Martial Soul like Blue Silver Grass, yet he reached Level 12 at the age of nine. There is clearly something strange about him as well."

"These brothers are both oddities. We should pay them more attention."

When the four people returned to the dormitory, they found the same mess as before.

After all, no one would clean it up for them.

As for why there were only four people, Yun Xiao had naturally been afraid of getting dragged into things again. The moment he left the Teaching Office, he hurriedly distanced himself from the four culprits.

Tang Wuyang and Tang Wulin ignored Zhou Changxi's blazing stare, as well as the unfamiliar cold, arrogant youth beside him. Silently, they gathered their scattered luggage and piled it all onto Tang Wuyang's lower bunk.

Zhou Changxi stood beside his own bed, clenching and unclenching his fists several times.

The cold, arrogant youth continued glaring at Tang Wuyang for a few seconds, then walked over to Zhou Changxi and pointed upward. "You go up."

Zhou Changxi was already full of rage. "Ha! You—"

Before he could finish, he saw the Century Soul Ring that had appeared around the cold, arrogant youth and the dagger in his hand flashing with cold light.

He could only swallow his anger and obediently move his belongings from the lower bunk to the upper bunk.

Light flashed in the cold, arrogant youth's hand. No one saw how he did it, but a clean bedsheet had appeared in his hand and was spread over the lower bunk.

On the other set of bunk beds, Tang Wulin's upper bunk had been smashed apart.

Working from opposite sides, the two brothers quickly removed the damaged upper-bunk bed boards and threw them into the corridor outside. Then they made Tang Wuyang's bed together.

"This room, right?"

A voice came from outside. A middle-aged man who appeared to be academy staff entered the room carrying a wooden bed board.

He glanced at the four youths inside, whose atmosphere was somewhat awkward, then chuckled. "Not bad, you lot! Fighting on your first day of school. You really have prospects."

"If you've got the skills, keep fighting. Our wooden beds cost ten thousand Federation Coins each."

"Break a few more, and I'll have my prize money for the year."

As he spoke, he raised a hand. The wooden plank in his hand flew up and landed on the upper bunk, fitting perfectly without the slightest deviation.

Ten thousand Federation Coins?

The brothers' eyes widened at the same time. It was only a wooden plank!

"Teacher, can we not have it, or can we buy one outside ourselves?" Tang Wulin asked urgently.

Tang Wuyang also looked toward the staff member, his eyes full of inquiry.

The middle-aged man snorted coldly. "Do you think the academy is your home? Damaging public property is a serious offense at the academy."

"You two are Tang Wulin and Tang Wuyang, right? The window, the bed, plus the corridor wall—that comes to thirty-four thousand Federation Coins. Remember to go to the Teaching Affairs Office and pay it as soon as possible."

Thirty-four thousand Federation Coins?

Hearing that number, Tang Wuyang and Tang Wulin both froze. They had forged without fail through wind and rain for three years, yet each had only saved thirty thousand Federation Coins.

And now, just a wooden bed board, a window, and a wall that had not even been completely damaged...

This was far too expensive!

After hearing that figure, Zhou Changxi, who had originally been glaring furiously at the brothers, climbed straight onto the cold, arrogant youth's upper bunk and fell silent.

Tang Wuyang and Tang Wulin moved in sync, dropping onto the newly tidied lower bunk. What were they supposed to do? How could they pay it back?

Thirty-four thousand Federation Coins. That was thirty-four thousand Federation Coins!

"My name is Xie Xie!" The cold, arrogant youth stood before the silent brothers and spoke coolly.

"No need to thank me," Tang Wulin replied instinctively.

Tang Wuyang acted as though he had not heard, keeping his head lowered without offering any response.

"No, not 'no need to thank me'..."

Xie Xie, whose expression had always been cold and stern, immediately looked deflated.

What did he mean, no need to thank him?

Gritting his teeth, Xie Xie said, "I'm saying my name is Xie Xie!"

Only then did Tang Wuyang raise his head and look at the figure standing before him.

The two brothers now remembered that they had seen this youth before.

They had watched Xie Xie leave the Soul Guidance Train Platform and get into a luxurious car.

"What do you want?" Tang Wuyang said coldly.

Cold light flickered in Xie Xie's eyes. "Tang Wuyang, come outside the academy with me. Let's fight."

At that moment, his heart was filled with humiliation.

No matter how much Xie Xie thought about it, he could not understand how someone of his strength had lost to a guy whose Soul Power was not even as high as a Blue Silver Grass Soul Master's.

Besides, Tang Wuyang was incredibly strong. His swollen cheek even made his speech somewhat slurred.

From childhood to adulthood, he had never been beaten like this. Of course he could not swallow this anger.

But neither could he disregard what Long Hengxu had said earlier. Once his files were stained, it would cause trouble in the future.

"Get lost!" Tang Wuyang snapped.

The sudden debt had already put him in a terrible mood.

"What did you say?" A cold, powerful aura erupted from Xie Xie in an instant.

Tang Wuyang glared at him with rage-filled eyes. "You were the ones who bullied people first. Are you still not done?"

"Thirty-four thousand. Do you know what thirty-four thousand means to our family?"

"If you want to die, I'll grant your wish. At worst, I won't attend this school anymore."

"You're worried about that?" Xie Xie paused.

He had never had much concept of money. What was thirty-four thousand?

Tang Wulin stepped forward and stood in front of Tang Wuyang. "For city people like you, thirty-four thousand Federation Coins may be nothing. But for Wuyang and me, it is money we could not earn even after years of hard work."

Tang Wuyang said in an icy voice, "Don't provoke my brother and me again. Otherwise, I'll fight you to the end."

Looking at Tang Wuyang's eyes gradually reddening, Xie Xie did not know why, but the aura around him noticeably weakened.

"Fight me, and I'll pay the money." Xie Xie stared straight at Tang Wuyang and said coldly.

Not only Tang Wuyang, but Tang Wulin also froze.

"You'll pay?" Tang Wulin's tone was filled with disbelief.

Xie Xie looked at Tang Wuyang, who said nothing, yet whose reddened eyes instantly cleared and whose gaze abruptly filled with delight. For a moment, Xie Xie did not know what to say.

These two guys...