Lan Mengqin looked at Chen Ming, at a loss for words. That scene had been so absurd—what the hell, a confession turning into a challenge.
"Did you two come here because you're worried I can't beat that guy? You're overthinking it. I'm the top student in our year, after all. There aren't many people who can beat me."
Chen Ming smiled at them. He figured Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu had come because they were worried he couldn't beat the other guy on his own.
"What are you talking about? Weren't you here to accept that girl's confession?"
Lan Mengqin felt like her brain was about to short-circuit. Had Chen Ming really come here to fight?
"What confession? We're still kids! If a girl likes me, wouldn't that make her a lolicon? She'd have to eat seaweed and egg-drop soup—the kind with no vegetables and no flowers."
Chen Ming frowned slightly. Seriously, how old were they? Why were they already making confessions? Was this for real? Were kids on Douluo Continent really this precocious?
"Um... Mengqin told me the letter was a love letter. She was worried a bad woman might steal you away, so she brought me along to keep an eye on you."
Dong Qianqiu offered an explanation, though she'd made a few changes to the story. Chen Ming frowned even more deeply and pulled out the letter.
"She told me not to leave after school. Wasn't she asking to fight me? You call that a love letter? Are you kidding me?"
Lan Mengqin glanced at the contents and was instantly speechless. Then she dragged Dong Qianqiu away, grumbling as she went.
"What a blockhead. No wonder he's single."
But her mood had clearly improved. The next day, Lan Mengqin browsed the school forum on her phone, trying to hold back her laughter.
"Qianqiu, look at this!"
"What is it?"
"That girl from last night stayed up all night writing a long post to rant about Chen Ming mistaking her love letter for a challenge. I'm dying!"
Dong Qianqiu read the post, trying to hold back her laughter too. It was obvious the girl had been deeply traumatized.
"But Chen Ming's approach was pretty clever. Now no one will dare give him a love letter. Qianqiu, if we ever run into the same situation, let's do that too."
"That way we can beat someone up and stop them from pestering us with love letters."
Lan Mengqin suddenly realized Chen Ming's idea had been pretty clever. It solved the problem of unwanted love letters perfectly, and they could beat someone up too.
"That doesn't sound right... If we get caught beating someone up, we'll be punished."
"What are you afraid of? We'll just drag them off to some deserted corner and beat them up."
"Then that's fine. How badly should we beat them?"
"Uh... until they pass out?"
Lan Mengqin didn't have much experience beating people up, so she had no idea how badly they'd need to do it to scare someone off.
"Chen Ming, teach me! You've already done it once, so share your experience. Hand over the Burning Heaven Art!"
Lan Mengqin sidled up to Chen Ming to ask the one person with firsthand experience for advice.
"...How should I know? I just picked up a Heavy Hammer and smashed a tree. The other person ran off. But I do have a question."
"What if it's someone from a higher year—someone you can't beat? Could you beat them?"
Chen Ming had suddenly spotted a flaw in their plan, and he asked what they would do if they ran into someone from a higher year.
"No way... Someone from a higher year probably wouldn't be interested in me... If they were, they'd be a real creep. They'd deserve seaweed and egg-drop soup."
Lan Mengqin paused, but she didn't think it was likely. She had only awakened her Martial Soul six months ago. If someone from a higher year liked her, what would that make them but a disgusting scumbag?
Dong Qianqiu nodded in agreement, then added,
"Seaweed and egg-drop soup with no vegetables or flowers!"
"Exactly!"
Soon it was time for class. The students had a few more courses this semester than they had the previous one.
For example, that afternoon they had an unfamiliar class called Ancient Martial Arts.
Everyone gathered at the Physical Education and Arts Hall. Before long, a tall figure approached. She had silver hair and violet eyes, a cool, otherworldly air, and stunningly beautiful features.
Lan Mengqin and Dong Qianqiu's eyes widened. Then they both turned to look at Chen Ming.
"She... looks a lot like your little sister."
Chen Ming's second form flashed through Dong Qianqiu's mind, as did Di Qiu'er's appearance. She looked at the teacher on the platform again. They really did look alike.
"Probably a coincidence."
Chen Ming gave a calm explanation. Lan Mengqin grew suspicious. It really did seem like they were related.
"I'm your Ancient Martial Arts teacher, Nana. I'll be teaching you Ancient Martial Arts this semester. First, let me explain what Ancient Martial Arts is."
Ancient Martial Arts mainly involved creating your own combat techniques. Examples included the most representative techniques from Douluo II: Junlin Tianxia, Dragon Emperor Breaking Evil Split, and Dragon Emperor Shocking Domain Realm.
Techniques from Douluo III, like Red Dragon Nine Styles, Accumulate Momentum, Forbidden Technique, and Unity of Heaven and Man, were also Ancient Martial Arts—combat techniques that could be used without Soul Rings.
Of course, spearmanship and swordsmanship counted too. After Teacher Nana's explanation, everyone had a general idea of what Ancient Martial Arts was.
"Teacher Nana, are you going to teach us Ancient Martial Arts next?"
A male student asked, blushing. Nana shook her head and replied,
"I'll teach you the basics first. You need a solid foundation before you can use Ancient Martial Arts. Let's start by training your stance. First, horse stance."
The students began practicing their horse stances. Now and then, the class grew noisy. Some of the boys were captivated by Nana's looks, while some of the girls watched Chen Ming and whispered among themselves.
That girl's long post on the school forum, written in the middle of the night, had been so absurd that all the girls now felt a little wary of Chen Ming.
They all liked the handsome top student, but none of them wanted him to mistake a love letter for a challenge and beat them up.
Of course, some girls thought being beaten up by their handsome idol would be a reward and would feel great, but they didn't dare say so out loud.
Nana walked around, correcting the students' posture from time to time. Lan Mengqin glanced at her, then leaned over and whispered to Chen Ming,
"Are you sure this teacher has nothing to do with you? Your little sister looks so much like her—she's practically what your little sister would look like grown up."
"They're not related. It's just a coincidence."
"But they really do look alike..."
"Then what if I dyed my hair white and wore blue contacts? Would you call me big brother?"
"Get lost! If anyone's calling the other one big sister, it should be you calling me that."
Chen Ming and Lan Mengqin chatted as they held their horse stances. Huo Tian and Dong Qianqiu were on either side of them. The four friends naturally chose to practice together.
While they were chatting, Nana soon came over too. She rested a hand on Chen Ming's shoulder and gave it a squeeze.
Chen Ming frowned slightly. A flicker of red flashed through his dark eyes. Then Nana spoke.
"Your fundamentals are excellent, student. You must have practiced swordsmanship or spearmanship before, right? Or perhaps both?"
Nana wrapped her small hand around Chen Ming's hand and felt it, then voiced her guess.
Before you continue