After all that, Chen Yumo's appetite had been greatly dampened. Running into an idiot in the middle of the day was truly disgusting.
A high-end meal set costing a full three Silver Soul Coins tasted like wax in his mouth. Chen Yumo added the blood debt of those three Silver Soul Coins to Yu Xiaogang's forehead.
To borrow Tang San's words:
Gangzi, you have found your Way of Death!
After finishing that particularly agonizing meal, Chen Yumo returned to the dormitory. After feeding the Ice Silkworm mulberry leaves for a while, Boss Xiao sent someone to find him, saying that the bet with the Work-Study Students was about to begin.
Chen Yumo did not back down. Even though he knew Xiao Chenyu and the others were bound to lose, and that going along meant he would have to take on work that the Work-Study Students should not have had to do, he still went.
By the time he arrived, the Louse Swarm was already restless and ready to hunt. Chen Yumo slipped into the crowd without drawing anyone's attention, quietly putting everyone in front of himself.
Participating was one thing, but getting beaten up was out of the question. He could only scrape by as dead weight.
The group marched grandly to the back mountain. At that moment, the Work-Study Students' group also arrived from another path. The two sides stood on opposite ends of the clearing, facing off, and the atmosphere immediately ignited.
Chen Yumo did not pay much attention to their pre-battle trash talk.
It was probably Xiao Chenyu's seemingly crude but actually calculated provocation. The Rogue Rabbit, being an animal by nature, did not understand such twists and turns. She was riled up within moments and agreed to the bet.
Ten against ten.
There were only ten Work-Study Students, while Xiao Chenyu's side had twice that number. Naturally, they chose the strongest fighters, so it had nothing to do with Chen Yumo and his mere level-one Soul Power.
But honestly, with the Noble Students' numerical advantage, rushing them all at once and bullying the few with the many would have been the safest tactic. If Chen Yumo had been the leader, he definitely would not have talked about honor with the other side. Only victors had the right to write history and make speeches.
Boss Xiao was still too loyal. He was even unwilling to bully the weak with superior numbers.
The duel officially began. The first match was still Liu Long against Wang Sheng.
The Rogue Rabbit's remark about "withered flowers and ruined willows" when they took the field was rather shocking. It angered Liu Long badly, and once he began fighting Wang Sheng, every strike of his staff targeted vital areas, clearly aiming to knock Wang Sheng flat.
A one-ring Tool Spirit Master fighting someone with level-seven Soul Power and no Spirit Ring was basically a complete stomp.
Standing in the corner, Chen Yumo saw it clearly. Liu Long's staff technique was not particularly brilliant; it even had the artistic beauty of wildly flailing around. Yet Wang Sheng simply could not get close. Every time he tried to close in, Liu Long forced him back with a swing of his staff.
The battle was extremely tense—so tense that Chen Yumo nearly fell asleep watching it.
Just as Wang Sheng lunged forward again and Liu Long repeated the same move, Chen Yumo, whose mental strength had been naturally powerful since transmigrating, caught sight of an incredibly fast black shadow.
It jolted his drowsy mind awake at once.
The black shadow accurately struck the numb tendon at Liu Long's elbow. His hand holding the staff immediately trembled, and his swinging motion stalled uncontrollably. Wang Sheng seized the chance to tackle him to the ground, then sent him into a sweet dream with a punch.
That was the weakness of Tool Spirit Masters.
Before reaching seven rings and becoming a Spirit Saint, their physical attributes were far inferior to Beast Martial Soul Spirit Masters of the same level. Liu Long had suppressed Wang Sheng from beginning to end, but as long as he exposed the slightest flaw, Wang Sheng could turn the tables and defeat him.
Although that flaw had been created by Tang San and had nothing to do with Wang Sheng himself.
Still, it exposed the weakness of Tool Spirit Masters, and Chen Yumo had that same weakness.
He was indeed a Beast Martial Soul Spirit Master, but his was an External Beast Martial Soul. So far, there had been no sign that his Martial Soul could possess his body.
If he could not use Martial Soul Possession, then what difference was there between him, a Beast Martial Soul Spirit Master, and a Tool Spirit Master?
If he still could not use Martial Soul Possession after obtaining his first Spirit Ring, then he would need to consider adding defensive capabilities with his second Spirit Ring. Nothing mattered more than his own life. That had always been his belief.
Especially since his future opponent was Tang San...
That black shadow had undoubtedly been a pebble Tang San had thrown using Tang Sect Hidden Weapon techniques. Even if Chen Yumo had not seen it personally just now, he knew this scene existed in the original story.
After all, if Tang San did not descend like a god, how could the importance of him being the protagonist be highlighted?
What followed was no different from the original story. Tang San made his entrance, his yellow Hundred-Year Spirit Ring shocked everyone present, and one damn Bind directly turned Boss Xiao into braised tofu, forcing the Noble Students' side to admit defeat.
Xiao Wu later revealed her Hundred-Year Spirit Ring as well, leaving Boss Xiao and the others utterly silent.
As the City Lord's son, he only had a Ten-Year Spirit Ring. Yet Tang San and Xiao Wu, two Work-Study Students, possessed Hundred-Year Spirit Rings. More importantly, both had Innate Full Soul Power, despite having awakened their Martial Souls only recently.
Boss Xiao was no fool. He quickly realized that the two on the other side were not people he could afford to provoke. To a certain extent, talent and strength already reflected one's background. Ordinary commoners could not possibly be so outstanding.
So he decisively surrendered, called Xiao Wu Sister Xiao Wu, and took over the Work-Study Students' jobs as well.
And so the matter came to an end.
Chen Yumo had initially only come to watch this Louse Swarm battle for entertainment, but the first Spirit Master duel he witnessed still gave him some insight.
He had to admit that on Douluo Continent, Tang San's Hidden Weapons were fucking dirty.
Originally, Chen Yumo had planned to solidify the Ice Silkworm's Break Cocoon ability with his first Spirit Ring, then use his second Spirit Ring to strengthen his combat abilities. But Tang San's threat was something he had no choice but to consider.
That meant the order of his Metamorphosis would have to be adjusted.
It would not affect his potential, but it would affect his early combat strength.
Ha, what combat strength could an Ice Silkworm possibly have early on?
Stacking more life-saving abilities might still be the better choice.
What surprised Chen Yumo, however, was that when Xiao Chenyu and the others assigned the Work-Study Students' tasks, they did not include him. Instead, they handed the work to the others.
Those who received that treatment were undoubtedly the people with higher cultivation in the group, yet Chen Yumo, the one with the lowest cultivation, had been left out.
What did that mean?
Chen Yumo immediately became a little wary.
Not until Xiao Chenyu came over, patted him reassuringly, and told him not to let the master's words disturb his state of mind—he only needed to cultivate diligently.
There was even a hint of pity and sympathy in his gaze as he spoke.
Well, damn. Case solved.
Everyone, I'm getting fed too.
Chen Yumo did not know whether to laugh or cry, but he still accepted Xiao Chenyu's kindness.
At worst, when he intercepted the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well in the future, he could leave the Nine-Rank Purple Ganoderma that had originally belonged to Gangzi for him.
A Louse Swarm battle thus ended with a whimper after its grand beginning, becoming entirely Tang San and Xiao Wu's personal show. The fame of those two geniuses would undoubtedly spread rapidly throughout Nuoding Academy.
None of that had much to do with Chen Yumo.
The bet had not taken long. Afternoon classes had not even begun yet. After parting with Boss Xiao and the others, Chen Yumo slowly headed toward the classroom while feeding the Ice Silkworm.
There were quite a few others like him, including the random bystanders who had spent the entire noon as background props in the back mountain woods.
Chen Yumo even saw Xiao Wu surrounded by a large crowd, looking smug as she bossed everyone around.
Seriously, sis? You're a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form, and you really think you're a human toddler?
Before you continue