Without any warning.
"Wang Dong, watch out!"
Wang Dong had naturally spotted it through Spiritual Detection, but she was delighted.
"Right! Come at me! That's it! You should be coming after me! What's the point of picking on a weak guy like Yuhao?"
Huo Yuhao: ??
At the very moment the Light Swords scattered, the white combat suit on Zheng Li's body vanished...
"Ah!!"
Screams instantly rose one after another from the new students watching the match. There was no doubt they were all girls.
Many girls hurriedly covered their faces with their hands, while many others immediately turned around. A few seemed to have been frightened and just stared blankly...
On the viewing platform, the teachers all went, "..."
Qian Duoduo stared at Zheng Li's body. "What a great Martial Soul. But this kid still needs to grow a little!"
Yan Shaozhe: "..."
On the field, Xiao Nai's body had also grown almost completely transparent. After Zheng Li's Platinum Combat Suit vanished, he fainted as well. His Soul Power was severely depleted.
With his Soul Power, it should have been impossible for him to use the Light Sword again, but he had forced himself to summon it one more time.
Before Xiao Nai vanished, she did one last thing: she hurled the naked Zheng Li toward Wang Dong with all her strength!
Ling Nan withdrew. Wang Dong was still fending off the Light Swords. Seeing Zheng Li's appearance through Spiritual Detection had already left her terribly embarrassed, and she had been barely holding herself together. She hadn't expected Zheng Li's Martial Soul to throw him at her, too...
Under Spiritual Detection...
And Zheng Li was coming along with the Light Swords. How could Wang Dong dodge?
Zheng Li drew closer and closer. Through Spiritual Detection...
Everything was crystal clear!
She couldn't take it anymore.
"Ah!!"
A piercing scream burst from Wang Dong's mouth. Her voice was clear and crisp, like a girl's...
Had fright made her revert to her original voice?
"Take the opportunity..." Xiao Nai left behind a faint remark, then turned into a golden streak and shot into Zheng Li's forehead.
Zheng Li's target was naturally Wang Dong.
If they had chosen Huo Yuhao, he would have been eliminated all the same. But with Wang Dong still in the match, Ling Nan and Cui Yajie—whose Soul Power had already been greatly depleted—might not be able to win.
So they would eliminate Wang Dong first.
Then Huo Yuhao would be easy to deal with. Even with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, hidden weapons, Mysterious Jade Hand, Soul Shock, and the rest, he wouldn't be able to hold out for long.
His Soul Power was the real problem.
Cui Yajie, who had been locked in combat with Huo Yuhao, was embarrassed too, but Zheng Li had told her this might happen, so she had been mentally prepared. Now she spun around, suddenly pushed off the ground, and followed the Light Swords with three quick strides using an unfamiliar footwork technique. She lit up her Second Soul Ring, aiming straight for Wang Dong.
Huo Yuhao: "..."
He had naturally heard Wang Dong's scream, and through Spiritual Detection he had also seen why she'd screamed.
But... he couldn't understand it. Wang Dong, why were you—a boy—afraid of seeing another boy's body?
By the time he could say anything, it was too late. Wang Dong had lost her composure, and several Light Swords were stabbing straight toward her.
Huo Yuhao hurried over to help anyway.
But he was too late.
The middle-aged teacher stepped in, dispelled the Light Swords, grabbed Wang Dong by the back of her collar, caught the naked Zheng Li in his other arm, and retreated from the field.
The muscles on the middle-aged teacher's face were twitching. He was clearly bewildered...
He, too, had been stunned when Zheng Li's clothes vanished. By the time he came to his senses, things had already gotten this far.
In truth, it had all happened in just a few seconds.
Their tactics hadn't violated any rules, so he had nothing to say—no, wait!
He could say, "Young people these days sure know how to have fun..."
On the field, Huo Yuhao froze. Wang Dong had already lost her composure. She was sure to be eliminated without anyone needing to finish her off, so why was Cui Yajie... Oh no!
Just as Huo Yuhao thought this, Cui Yajie abruptly turned around, and her Fox Tail Needle swung with her, attacking Huo Yuhao!
Huo Yuhao reacted swiftly, retreating at once with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. Just then, a black-and-white figure flashed past, accompanied by a dark glow!
Although Ling Nan had been keeping his eye on Wang Dong, his attention had remained on Huo Yuhao the whole time.
Now, his Cat Claw rested against Huo Yuhao's neck.
Huo Yuhao: "..."
Had he been tricked?
The middle-aged teacher had just stopped Zheng Li and draped his own clothes over him. Then he turned around, and the match was already over?
The battlefield really could change in an instant...
He'd just learned that lesson from another example...
The middle-aged teacher sighed.
"Class Five's Zheng Li team wins and advances to the final!" the middle-aged teacher announced.
Ling Nan and Cui Yajie paid him no attention. They hurried off the field and ran to Zheng Li.
Had he just been ignored?
The middle-aged teacher felt a little speechless.
As Zheng Li and Cui Yajie reached Zheng Li's side, they heard a furious voice say, "You're shameless! How could you... how could you use such a disgusting tactic!"
Wang Dong stood there with a flushed face, fury filling her eyes!
Cui Yajie's face was red too, and she didn't know what to say.
But... they clearly hadn't planned that part!
They really hadn't. Xiao Nai had added it on the spur of the moment, and it had worked better than expected, possibly sparing them a tough battle.
In fact, Zheng Li's tactics had only two key elements.
First, catch them off guard. Second, act!
That was right—act.
They had kept Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection from predicting and judging their moves. As it turned out, they had succeeded, even though all three of them had nearly exhausted their Soul Power.
Ling Nan shrugged at Wang Dong. "You can't put it like that. That's just how A Li's Martial Soul works. He can't do anything about it."
"Fine, let's put his Martial Soul's nature aside for now. Then why..." Wang Dong's face was flushed, and she couldn't bring herself to finish.
She wanted to ask why they had thrown Zheng Li at her! Was he trying to sexually harass her?
"I can't be bothered to argue with you. You're a boy, and you're afraid of seeing another boy?" Ling Nan naturally understood what Wang Dong meant. He rolled his eyes.
"Yajie, let's go."
After saying that, he picked Zheng Li up and carried him off the field, leaving Wang Dong fuming behind them.
Huo Yuhao and Xiao Xiao, standing beside Wang Dong, also looked speechless.
Xiao Xiao especially wanted to say that even she, a girl, hadn't made such a fuss...
"Wang Dong, don't be angry. Let's go too. Things won't be easy for us from here on out. Look at Teacher Zhou's expression on the viewing platform." Huo Yuhao tugged at Wang Dong's sleeve and gestured toward the platform.
His words immediately calmed Wang Dong's anger a little. She instinctively looked at Zhou Yi on the viewing platform... Zhou Yi's face was icy as she stared straight at them, especially Wang Dong.
Wang Dong shivered.
That pretty much extinguished her anger...
Ling Nan slapped Zheng Li on the butt.
By now, Zheng Li had gotten dressed.
"You're still not awake? Let's try again!"
Smack! He slapped him once more.
This wasn't something he'd come up with on his own. They had agreed on it before the semifinals began.
Zheng Li had already foreseen that he might run out of Soul Power and even push himself into severe exhaustion. He might faint.
He wouldn't be able to wake up on his own afterward, so he had asked Ling Nan and Cui Yajie to wake him.
Why?
Because the final was this afternoon, and Zheng Li definitely needed to recover his Soul Power!
Why slap his butt instead of his face?
There were two reasons. First, Cui Yajie wouldn't let him. Second, he was afraid Zheng Li would beat him up...
After the second slap, the burning pain in his butt finally managed to rouse Zheng Li. He opened his eyes with some difficulty, feeling as though he had no strength left in his body.
At least he could still turn his head.
Remembering what had happened before he fainted gave Zheng Li a little strength. He turned his head, saw Cui Yajie, and hurriedly asked, "Did we win?"
"We did, but..." Cui Yajie replied, but she wanted to say something and didn't dare.
"But what?"
Ling Nan helped Zheng Li sit up. As he did, Zheng Li asked in confusion.
They'd won, hadn't they? Had something else happened?
Cui Yajie hesitated, then said, "Zheng Li, your reputation..."
"Reputation? Oh, you mean that. It's fine. I'm not the one who suffered a loss." Zheng Li had a pretty good attitude about it.
At that, Ling Nan paused and gave him a thumbs-up. A Li sure had an interesting way of looking at things.
Cui Yajie's fair, beautiful face turned bright red. She didn't know what to say.
"But speaking of which, A Li, that was pretty ruthless. You had your Martial Soul throw you at Wang Dong and make him lose his composure. Otherwise, it really wouldn't have been easy for us to win." Ling Nan smiled.
Zheng Li: ??
"When did I tell Xiao Nai to throw me at Wang Dong?"
"After you fainted!" Ling Nan scratched his head, puzzled. Hadn't Zheng Li done it?
"Tsk... You should've seen how angry Wang Dong was afterward. I don't know what a boy like him had to be so angry about..." Seeing that Zheng Li wasn't saying anything, Ling Nan added.
"..."
The corner of Zheng Li's mouth twitched. He shouted angrily:
"Meng Xiaonai!!"
She'd set him up! What if Tang San came at him with the Seagod Trident and ran him through?
Unfortunately, with his Soul Power gone, Xiao Nai was asleep in his Sea of Consciousness. She couldn't hear Zheng Li at all.
Ling Nan and Cui Yajie: "..."
Why was he reacting so strongly? Hadn't he said he didn't care?
It took Zheng Li a good while to recover. With a helpless look, he said, "Come on, let's head back to the dorm. I need to restore my Soul Power as soon as possible, or I'll miss this afternoon's final. That would be a disaster... By the way, are we up against Dai Huabin and his team?"
"Sure. I'll carry you. You don't look like you can walk." As he spoke, Ling Nan swept Zheng Li up in a bridal carry. Why not carry him on his back? Given Ling Nan's height, carrying Zheng Li that way would feel awkward.
Cui Yajie could carry him, but they were, after all, a man and a woman. She did want to, though.
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