Reckless Folly

Just as Ye Liuyun was about to make his move.

"Wait!"

Oscar suddenly shouted and stepped in front of Ye Liuyun.

Reason told him that if Ye Liuyun acted, the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent would be secured.

But then he glanced at Ning Rongrong behind him, who was glaring at Ye Liuyun with clear displeasure.

The urge to show off instantly overcame his reason.

Rongrong hated Ye Liuyun most of all.

If I get the Spirit Ring thanks to Ye Liuyun, Rongrong will definitely look down on me.

No!

"Teacher Zhao!"

Oscar said, forcing himself to speak.

"I don't want his help."

"This is our team's business. Ye Liuyun has never fit in with us. I don't trust him to act, and I don't need his help either!"

Ning Rongrong immediately chimed in, folding her arms and snorting coldly.

"Exactly! Who knows whether he'd deliberately lose just to disgust us? Shrek isn't short of people!"

Oscar nodded in agreement.

"Let Tang San do it! Tang San is much stronger than him!"

Zhao Wuji froze.

He looked at Oscar as though he were looking at an idiot.

Is there water in your brain?

This concerned whether or not he could advance to Soul Elder!

Instead of using a level thirty-four Soul Elder, he insisted on making this into some petty clique dispute?

Ye Liuyun paused.

He looked at Oscar, whose face was resolute as he tried to draw a clear line between them, then at the haughty Ning Rongrong.

Then he laughed.

It was the kind of smile one gave an idiot.

If you want to play so badly, then play.

Ye Liuyun shrugged, withdrew without hesitation, leaned against the tree again, and slipped his hands into his pockets.

"Whatever."

Seeing this, a gleam flashed through Tang San's eyes.

An opportunity had arrived.

He could undermine Ye Liuyun's prestige, earn Oscar's gratitude, and display the Tang Sect's ultimate techniques before everyone.

"Then I'll do it."

Tang San stepped forward, calm and confident, and slightly cupped his fists toward Meng Yiran.

"Tang San, level twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster. Please advise me."

Chao Tianxiang also wondered whether these children had something wrong with their brains.

But they were all geniuses, so surely none of them could actually be stupid.

Then why ignore their strongest member and send someone else?

She could not make sense of it.

At that moment, Meng Yiran stepped forward smugly and explained with great confidence.

"Grandma, don't let them fool you. That guy is the weakest."

"They're putting on this act only because they promised you earlier that you could choose who to fight."

"But you happened to pick the weakest one, so they had no choice but to put on a show and switch people."

Chao Tianxiang also grasped the key to the matter. She glared viciously at the group before her and snorted.

"How despicable. If not for my granddaughter's cleverness, this old woman would truly have been tricked into letting you switch fighters."

Meng Yiran pointed her cane at Ye Liuyun with utter confidence.

"Do you dare come up and fight?"

Ye Liuyun gave a soft chuckle and released his Spirit Rings.

Yellow, yellow, purple appeared beneath his feet.

Golden Life Soul Power surged around him, so vigorous it seemed ready to overflow from his body.

The surrounding grass and trees appeared to grow visibly under that life-filled aura.

Merely revealing his Spirit Rings seemed to have changed the environment around him.

Leaves rustled in the wind as though cheering; the flowers and grass became even more verdant, as though carefully dressing themselves to welcome a new king.

Standing there alone, he was like an entirely new world, utterly out of place with everything outside it.

Meng Yiran's cane trembled slightly as she snapped viciously.

"What are you looking around for?"

"I'm talking about you."

"Tang San!"

"You swaggered forward just now."

"Do you dare fight me?"

Even Meng Yiran's voice trembled as stormy waves surged through her heart.

Just standing there and glaring at me put so much pressure on me that I nearly broke down.

My body started trembling on its own.

My god, I've met a monster among monsters.

How am I supposed to fight that?

Switch opponents. Now.

Tang San was utterly confused by this turn of events.

He had originally intended to fight Meng Yiran on Oscar's behalf.

She had acted as though she wanted to challenge Ye Liuyun, so why had she suddenly switched to him?

Tang San paused, then realized what was happening. She was looking down on him.

She clearly believed he was inferior to Ye Liuyun.

The once-calm Tang San was instantly enraged and branded Meng Yiran in his heart as someone with a death wish.

He could hardly wait to cup his fists.

"My name is Tang San. My Martial Spirit is Blue Silver Grass. Level twenty-nine, two-ring Battle Soul Grandmaster."

Meng Yiran tried her best to remain composed, as though the embarrassment just now had never happened.

"Meng Yiran. My Martial Spirit is the Serpent Cane. Level thirty, two-ring Battle Soul Grandmaster."

The two stepped forward.

As they drew closer, Tang San discovered that the girl named Meng Yiran was very beautiful.

After all, she was already sixteen.

Her body had developed beautifully. Compared to her, the academy's three girls seemed somewhat immature.

Meng Yiran's large brown eyes were framed by long lashes.

She was about the same height as Tang San and extremely well-proportioned. Her full, rounded breasts were lush, while her slender waist swayed lightly like a serpent's.

Though her face carried a trace of mild anger, it did nothing to diminish her charm.

Tang San's anger softened considerably. He raised his right hand.

"Please."

The instant that word fell.

The air in the previously silent forest clearing seemed to ignite, turning thick and scorching.

A withered yellow leaf drifted lazily down, passing directly through the center of their lines of sight.

The instant the leaf touched the ground.

Boom!

Meng Yiran moved.

Though she was a woman, the momentum she erupted with was like that of a savage beast unleashed from its cage.

The Serpent Head Staff in her hand slammed fiercely against the ground, cracking the earth and sending shards of stone flying.

Her entire body became a streak of silver light, carrying a fierce gust of wind.

"First Spirit Skill: Tongue Blade!"

Meng Yiran gave a sharp cry. The serpent head atop her Serpent Cane seemed to come alive, flickering with a chilling gleam.

The cane, originally only two meters long, abruptly extended and transformed into a silver venomous python. It opened its fangs and shot straight for Tang San's throat!

This strike was incomparably vicious, meant to determine life and death in an instant!

"So fast!"

Oscar and the others could only see a blur before their eyes and could not help crying out.

Was this really a battle between Soul Grandmasters?

The oppressive force alone made them feel as though they could barely breathe.

Yet in the eye of the storm, a strange violet-gold light surfaced in Tang San's eyes.

Purple Demon Eye, Perception!

In Tang San's world, that lightning-fast strike now seemed like slow-motion playback. Every trajectory and every trace of Soul Power was perfectly clear.

"Too slow."

A cold curve lifted at Tang San's lips.

His footwork shifted, and his figure suddenly became illusory and unpredictable, like Gui Mei walking between the realms of yin and yang.

Tang Sect ultimate technique—Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Meng Yiran's supposedly fatal blow only pierced three afterimages Tang San had left upon the ground!

"What?!"