Xu Sanshi

Jiang Nannan froze for a moment, then quickly understood what Xia Linyuan meant. She said apologetically, "Sorry, I just made a casual guess. I was too quick to judge. If I get the chance, I'll try one later." With that, she turned to leave.

"Kid, you dare refuse to sell?" A deep, resonant voice, brimming with anger, suddenly rang out.

Immediately afterward, a point of golden light shot toward them like lightning, aimed straight at the grill.

"I knew it," Xia Linyuan murmured. Then he struck like lightning, effortlessly intercepting the golden light.

The golden light was none other than a Gold Soul Coin.

At the same time, a figure strode over and reached Huo Yuhao's stall in the blink of an eye. He raised a hand and grabbed for the two grilled fish on the grill.

Just as he was about to seize them, a calm voice rang out. "Senior, don't you know what it means to wait your turn?"

Before the words had even faded, a not particularly thick, but not especially slender, arm shot out and struck the newcomer's elbow. It then smoothly scooped up the two grilled fish from the rack.

"Ow!" A numbing sensation spread down his entire arm like an electric current. The newcomer cried out in pain and instinctively pulled his hand back.

Only then did they get a good look at him.

He wore a purple school uniform (Xu Sanshi was called a sixth-year student in his first appearance in the original work, but a year later he became a fifth-year student. This version follows the later description). He was tall, with thick eyebrows, tiger-like eyes, a straight nose, and a square jaw—a truly handsome and dignified young man.

When Xu Sanshi saw that the person who had stopped him was a first-year student in a white uniform, he was both surprised and annoyed. "Kid, are you looking to die?"

As he spoke, he swept his right foot out, kicking Huo Yuhao's grill over to one side. At the same time, he took a step forward and reached for Xia Linyuan's chest.

Through Spiritual Detection, Huo Yuhao saw that Xu Sanshi's seemingly simple grab was actually full of variations. Although he could spot a few openings, the gap between their cultivation levels was simply too great. If it had been him, he wouldn't have been able to dodge the move at all.

But to Xia Linyuan, who had seen countless battles, the move was full of openings.

He merely took a step back, and Xu Sanshi brushed past him, grabbing at empty air. Xia Linyuan raised his right leg and drove his knee hard into Xu Sanshi's lower abdomen. The pain twisted the latter's handsome features into a contorted mess.

"Hiss..."

Seeing Xu Sanshi's face twisted beyond recognition by the pain, the people around them couldn't help sucking in a breath.

That had to hurt.

"It seems you don't just not know what it means to wait your turn. You also don't know that upper-year students who attack lower-year students can be expelled," Xia Linyuan said coolly.

After hearing Xia Linyuan's words, Xu Sanshi, who had still been simmering with anger, seemed to have a bucket of cold water thrown over him. He instantly calmed down.

It had all happened too suddenly, and the whole thing had unfolded so quickly that the people around them only reacted now.

Huo Yuhao looked at Xia Linyuan gratefully.

Since he was grilling fish, his Spirit Eye had been active the whole time. When Xu Sanshi suddenly made his move, he had instinctively released Spiritual Detection.

Through Spiritual Detection, Huo Yuhao knew that his cultivation was far below Xu Sanshi's. Even with the assistance of the incredible skill Spiritual Detection, he wouldn't have been able to fight back in the slightest, much less respond as calmly as Xia Linyuan had.

As grateful as he was, Huo Yuhao couldn't help wondering just how powerful Xia Linyuan was. He could actually stand up to a fourth-year senior.

"What are you doing?"

"Xu Sanshi! How dare you bully my people while I'm away! And you even tried to steal my beloved grilled fish! Do you want me to fight you to the death?"

Two angry shouts rang out at the same time. The first came from Jiang Nannan, who was furious. The second came from Tang Ya, who had just returned from looking for Beibei.

Hearing Tang Ya's bold way of referring to herself, everyone around them was left speechless.

Xu Sanshi had just been pulled out of his anger by Xia Linyuan's words. Now he heard Tang Ya and pointed at Xia Linyuan, clutching his still-aching abdomen as he asked, "Is this guy one of yours?"

Tang Ya froze, then shook her head and pointed at Huo Yuhao. "He's my disciple."

Beibei, who had arrived right behind her, said, "Xu Sanshi, you bullied my junior fellow disciple. You owe me an explanation. Otherwise, we'll have to settle this with a match in the Soul Fighting Zone."

Xu Sanshi curled his lip. "There's no need for that, is there? Your junior fellow disciple's classmate disrespected Nannan, which means he disrespected me, too. And it was only two grilled fish. I already paid for them. I didn't even get the fish, and this guy hit me. I'm in agony, and you still want to take me to the Soul Fighting Zone? Have you no compassion?"

"Paid?" Before Beibei could say anything, Xia Linyuan held up the Gold Soul Coin between his index and middle fingers. "You mean this?"

Xu Sanshi said smugly, "That's right. You sell the fish for five Copper Soul Coins each, and I offered one Gold Soul Coin for two. That's a great deal, isn't it?"

The way he looked, with his nostrils practically tilted toward the sky, could be summed up in one word:

Shameless!

Xia Linyuan said calmly, "Senior Xu Sanshi, I'm sorry, but I'll say it again: everything has its proper order. The two of us waited in line and bought these two grilled fish fair and square. Even if you paid first, I won't let you have them."

Xu Sanshi's expression darkened. He spoke each word slowly. "You think you can act so recklessly in front of me because the academy has a clear rule that upper-year students aren't allowed to attack lower-year students?"

"No." A cool smile curved Xia Linyuan's lips. He flicked the Gold Soul Coin between his fingers over to Huo Yuhao. "I heard that winning a match in the Soul Fighting Zone earns you quite a few credits."

At that, everyone except Gu Yuena stared at the first-year student in the white uniform in disbelief.

The Soul Fighting Zone was in the northwest corner of the Outer Court's Martial Soul Department campus. To compete in a Spirit Fighting match, both sides had to pay at least ten Gold Soul Coins as a venue fee. The higher their cultivation, the more they had to pay.

They charged not only for matches, but also for watching. One ticket cost one Silver Soul Coin.

However, that amount was nothing to Shrek Academy's students. After all, aside from Jiang Nannan and Huo Yuhao, those who could study at Shrek Academy came from wealthy or influential families. Could they really be short one Silver Soul Coin?

Hardly anyone claimed the cultivation subsidies the three great empires issued to Spirit Masters studying at Shrek Academy. In the end, the fame and money found their way into the pockets of certain people.

On the first day of the school year, news that a lower-year student had challenged an upper-year student spread like wildfire.