Class Five, the Dark Horse

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the Class Five versus Class Three Class Promotion Tournament began. But the anticipated thrilling showdown never materialized. Class Three's students had already fallen amid a dazzling display of ice and fire.

"Holy crap? Holy crap! It's over already?" Zhang Yangzi stared at Wang Jinxi beside him in disbelief.

"Less than two minutes," Wei Xiaofeng muttered.

"Brother, Gu Yue seems to have gotten even stronger," Xu Xiaoyan said.

Yun Chen nodded. "She has Two Rings now, so of course she's stronger."

Ever since she had fought Spirit Beasts alongside Yun Chen and Xu Xiaoyan in the Spirit Ascension Platform, Gu Yue had realized that the limits she had set for herself were a little too conservative. Leng Yaozhu had happened to take her as a disciple then, giving her a suitable excuse. Thus, during this period, she had unsealed more of her power.

In terms of Soul Power, Gu Yue should now have been around rank twenty-five. But in terms of combat strength, even ordinary Soul Elders might not have been her match. Even high-ranking Soul Elders could suffer a setback if they were careless.

After watching the match, Wei Xiaofeng and the other two fell silent. In the past, they would never have believed they could lose. They had only come to watch because Yun Chen's reminder had given them a slight sense of crisis.

It would have been fine if they had not watched, but once they did, they were truly shaken. They were all Two-Ring Soul Masters, so why was she so strong? The alternating ice-and-fire assault, the wind attribute's enhancement of herself, and the earth attribute's restrictions gave those Class Three students no chance at all. Tang Wulin and Xie Xie had not even gotten a chance to fight. They had merely gone up onstage, made an appearance, and stepped back down.

"This is a little too strong, isn't it?" Wei Xiaofeng said.

"Let's go back and discuss this properly. If we really face her, our chances of winning may not be high," Zhang Yangzi said.

They knew their own situation best. Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi understood the power of their Martial Soul Fusion Skill better than anyone. Leaving aside the fact that they still could not perfectly control it, its speed weakness after fusion would make it difficult for them to gain any advantage against Gu Yue. They could not possibly rely on the Martial Soul Fusion Skill's defenses to endure until Gu Yue exhausted her Soul Power, could they? Never mind whether their defenses could withstand it—their own Soul Power would not last either!

Watching the three of them leave, Xu Xiaoyan asked with some concern, "Brother, are those three going to be okay?"

"It's nothing. Three people who thought they were geniuses just had their confidence knocked down a peg," Yun Chen said indifferently.

Hearing that, Xu Xiaoyan puffed out her cheeks. She felt that Yun Chen was brushing her off, and she was unhappy.

Just then, a somewhat mocking voice rang out. "So even Class One's geniuses can have their confidence crushed. Looks like they're not all that impressive after all."

Hearing that voice, Yun Chen and Xu Xiaoyan turned toward it. What came into view was Xie Xie, along with the mocking expression on his face.

Xu Xiaoyan gave an unhappy snort, but she was timid and did not argue with Xie Xie. Yun Chen's gaze, however, lingered on Xie Xie's body—or more precisely, on his mouth—for a moment.

When Yun Chen had first read the original novel, he had thought Xie Xie was just a clown. But the further the story went, the less he liked the character. That mouth of his was truly asking for trouble. Never mind how much trouble it caused; just looking at it was irritating.

Still, Yun Chen was not the type to trade insults with Xie Xie here. He felt that if he wanted Xie Xie to remember this lesson, he needed to give him a profound one.

But Xie Xie, under Yun Chen's stare, did not feel so good. He felt as though some terrifying creature had locked onto him, and his entire body trembled faintly.

"Xie Xie, what's wrong with you?" Tang Wulin noticed something strange about Xie Xie and asked in confusion.

Gu Yue watched the two of them from the side, then quietly shifted a few steps away. Without Na'er tying them together, Gu Yue no longer had so many thoughts about Tang Wulin. The reason she remained by his side was still to find an opportunity to see whether she could seize the Golden Dragon King's origin. At least for now, that intention had not wavered.

"Let's go. I'll take you out for something delicious," Yun Chen said to Xu Xiaoyan beside him after a moment, withdrawing his gaze.

"Sure. I'm going to eat you bankrupt," Xu Xiaoyan replied. She still remembered how Yun Chen had tugged her braid, so she planned to take the chance to get revenge.

"Fine. I'll use your allowance to pay," Yun Chen replied calmly.

"No!" Xu Xiaoyan covered her pocket, determined to protect her allowance to the death.

The siblings chatted as they left, not taking Xie Xie's words—or rather, his provocation—to heart at all.

After the two of them left, Xie Xie finally stopped trembling. His entire body was soaked in sweat, and fear filled his gaze as he looked in their direction.

"Xie Xie, what exactly is wrong with you?" Tang Wulin pressed.

"N-Nothing." Xie Xie refused to admit that Yun Chen's gaze had frightened him.

Gu Yue glanced at him, then turned and left directly. She was also somewhat fed up with Xie Xie's mouth. If they had not been classmates, she would have taught that guy, who always liked to make snide remarks for no reason, a lesson long ago. During Wu Zhangkong's training, every time Xie Xie was beaten up by Wu Zhangkong, Gu Yue felt thoroughly satisfied. Though she did not understand why she felt that way, she thought the feeling seemed rather nice.

The next day, after school.

The Class Promotion Tournament continued, this time with Class Five challenging Class Two.

With Gu Yue, a player practically using cheats, Class Two naturally could not stop Class Five, the dark horse. This time, however, Gu Yue was not the only one dominating the field. Tang Wulin and Xie Xie also revealed some of their strength.

After seeing that all three members of Class Five had their own strengths, the pressure on Wei Xiaofeng and the other two grew even greater.

Just as the Class Promotion Tournament between Class One and Class Five was about to begin, a typhoon approached Eastsea City. The entire city sounded typhoon warnings, and Eastsea Academy suspended classes until the typhoon had passed.

The interruption of the Class Promotion Tournament also allowed Wei Xiaofeng and the other two to breathe a sigh of relief. The three of them decided to remain at the academy these next few days and train hard. Otherwise, they might truly suffer an upset in their match against Class Five. As for having Yun Chen compete, none of them were particularly willing. Backing down without a fight would be far too spineless.

Yun Chen and Xu Xiaoyan, however, did not stay at the academy. After attending classes, they returned to the Xu Family residence. But during these days of the typhoon, Yun Chen had no intention of staying cooped up at home. He had already arranged with Mu Xi to practice forging together and see whether they could make a breakthrough and master the techniques of Thousand Refinement. Mu Xi had even spoken to Mu Chen in advance, asking him to personally guide them over the next few days.