Unexpected

Ning Tian felt as though she had been struck head-on by a Fixed Soul Guidance Shell. Her entire body flew backward out of control, agonizing pain tearing through her from head to toe as blood spilled from her mouth and nose like tiny snakes.

Qin Shu frowned slightly and instantly completed Martial Soul Possession. His black Fifth Soul Ring flashed, and an emerald-green pillar of light composed solely of pure life energy flew from the Tree of Life, enveloping Ning Tian where she had fallen.

"Young Master! Young Master!" Wu Feng struggled wildly in Qin Yue's grip, her eyes nearly splitting with rage. "Let me go! Let me go! Wuwu—I'll kill you! Wuwu—"

Qin Yue felt rather speechless as her movements made him itch. He first raised Wu Feng so she could clearly see Ning Tian's condition, then spoke to calm her down.

"Calm down. Ning Tian is fine. Do you even know what the Tree of Life Martial Soul is? Not to mention, that was a ten-thousand-year Soul Skill from a Soul Saint."

Wu Feng did not believe Qin Yue at all, but she still looked tearfully at Ning Tian again. Only then did she realize that her Young Master had already risen from the ground, her injuries completely gone. Yet Ning Tian was still trembling uncontrollably, her eyes filled with fear as she looked at Qin Yue.

Moved by the disbelief in Wu Feng's eyes, Ning Tian clenched her teeth and asked Qin Yue in a low voice, "Before this, did Feng Mei take a punch like that?"

Qin Yue shook his head. He glanced at Wu Feng, whom he still held firmly, and grinned. "I hadn't even used a Soul Skill yet..."

Ning Tian shuddered violently. Only then did she recall that of the two punches Feng Mei had taken the day before the assessment began, one had been thrown after Qin Yue activated his First Soul Skill!

Feng Mei did not say a word after waking up that day, and I actually forgot about it... Ning Tian clenched her fists as her entire body trembled, gritting her teeth tightly. She did so both to endure the pain still wracking her body and out of shame and anger at her own dullness.

After confirming that Ning Tian's injuries had truly healed, Wu Feng stopped struggling. She tilted her head against Qin Yue's waist and pleaded humbly.

"Ning Tian is a Support System Soul Master. There's no need for her to endure something like this. I'm the Power Attack System Soul Master responsible for protecting her. Please choose me as your opponent..."

Before Qin Yue could respond, Ning Tian, standing before them, declared firmly, "I refuse! Qin Yue, I want to try again."

Though she did not say it outright, all three of them understood that by "try again," Ning Tian meant the second punch Qin Yue had thrown that day.

"No! No!" Wu Feng immediately cried out in terror, struggling frantically again as she tried to break free from Qin Yue's control.

"Feng Mei, you are not allowed to interfere. That is an order."

"You are not someone 'responsible for protecting' me. You are my Feng Mei, my family. If I remain ignorant of the pain you suffer for my sake and keep commanding you from the rear like I'm above it all, will there come a day when I can send you to your death without changing expression?"

"I don't dare imagine it. I won't do it. I would rather die than become that kind of person."

Ning Tian took a deep breath. Her three Soul Rings shone brilliantly at once, pushing her condition to its peak.

Qin Yue set down Wu Feng, who had gone completely still. Electricity surged around him as one yellow and two purple Soul Rings enveloped his body. He looked at Ning Tian, who was trembling without cease but still staring stubbornly at him, and nodded slightly.

If Qin Yue had previously regarded Ning Tian as merely an ordinary classmate and friend, then after hearing those words, he knew that this Young Master of the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect was utterly different from one of her ancestors. She was someone worth befriending deeply.

Thunder surged as armor-like lightning covered Qin Yue. He lightly bounced twice, as though adjusting to his powerful body, which had already been activated to its fullest.

Ning Tian held her breath and stared at Qin Yue with complete concentration. Although she knew she could never react to his terrifying speed, waiting helplessly for death was not in her nature either.

In the instant Ning Tian blinked, Qin Yue vanished soundlessly from Wu Feng's side. When he reappeared, he was already before Ning Tian. His feet drove into the ground like steel nails. With force flowing through his waist and abdomen, his left hand thrust forward while his clenched right fist drew back.

The next second, Qin Yue twisted his waist and unleashed his fully charged right fist. The surrounding air boomed as though it had been Torn apart. Ning Tian's neat short hair was blown high by the force of the punch. In the brief instant her pupils dilated, that iron fist had already reached her face!

Ning Tian's entire body tensed. She wanted to dodge, only to find that her body seemed to have slipped beyond her control, leaving her unable to move. She stared blankly at that iron fist, as though she could see a large character for "death" written upon it.

Boom!!!

A tremendous impact rang out. Vast sections of flooring were ripped up and shattered, while even the wall of the training ground was blasted through. The light of the setting sun streamed through the opening, falling over everyone present.

"Young Master!" Wu Feng cried as she rushed over and threw her arms around Ning Tian, who stood there blankly without moving. Her hands continuously searched over Ning Tian's body, checking whether her Young Master had been hurt anywhere.

Startled awake by Wu Feng's actions, Ning Tian suddenly came back to herself. When she saw the fist less than a centimeter from her face, she staggered back two steps, her eyes still carrying a trace of dazed disbelief.

A full half-minute passed before Ning Tian suddenly sucked in a deep breath and fully recovered her senses.

She looked at the wrecked training ground behind her and the wall that had completely vanished, then forced out a smile. "Are you really only a three-ring Soul Elder?"

She was not the only one with that question. Wu Feng and Qin Shu, who were also present, wondered the same thing. The training ground's current state was simply too exaggerated. It looked as though a Power Attack System Soul King had gone berserk here.

"My strength is just a little greater, and my speed is just a little faster, that's all."

Qin Yue withdrew his Martial Soul, and the surging lightning around his body faded away. Nothing about him now suggested the aura of the humanoid tyrannical dragon he had been moments earlier.

Qin Shu's mouth twitched. He suddenly understood why the clan, which had not contacted him in a long time, had abruptly sent him a letter asking him to protect Qin Yue's safety at the academy with all his strength.

After confirming that no further fighting would take place, Qin Shu nodded to Qin Yue and quietly left the training ground to deal with the accidental damage to the floor and walls.

Just then, Qin Yue suddenly felt something. He stopped looking at Ning Tian and Wu Feng, who were hugging each other closely, and carefully sensed the Soul Power within his body.

After only two or three breaths, Qin Yue opened his eyes in disbelief. The Soul Power that should have required at least another half year of arduous cultivation to break through had silently advanced to Level 33 just now!