Dai Mubai's Challenge, The True Gap in Strength

Dai Mubai had sufficient "grounds" for his judgment. His cultivation as a level 27 Battle Soul Master was, without a doubt, the highest among the current students at Shrek Academy.

Although he was unsure of Xiao Qing's exact level, he knew from Ma Hongjun's daily muttering that Oscar was a food-system soul master with Innate Full Soul Power. Even so, Oscar had only recently broken through to level 20 to obtain his second soul ring.

Dai Mubai absolutely did not believe that Xiao Qing also possessed Innate Full Soul Power. In his understanding, such talent was a once-in-a-century occurrence; there were only thirty or forty clearly recorded cases in the last hundred years. How could he possibly encounter two of them in a row at this remote academy?

It was more likely that Xiao Qing's innate soul power was between levels five and seven—considered excellent, but certainly not top-tier. Given that Xiao Qing appeared to be around his age, or perhaps even slightly younger, reaching level 20 would be decent, but it was highly probable he was still below that.

Relying on the assault attributes of his White Tiger Martial Soul, a soul power advantage of at least seven levels over his opponent, and his own lack of shortage in combat experience, Dai Mubai believed the outcome of this duel was beyond doubt.

The next day's basic practical combat training class arrived as scheduled. On the training ground, Zhao Wuji stood with his arms crossed, watching the four students standing in a row before him.

Considering that Oscar was a food-system soul master lacking direct means of attack, those paired with him could only engage in "hand-to-hand combat" without the use of soul power.

Suddenly, Dai Mubai stepped forward, his gaze fixed directly on Zhao Wuji. He raised his voice deliberately, ensuring everyone present could hear clearly: "Teacher Zhao, I would like to spar with Xiao Qing one-on-one first. Sparring between students should align with the spirit of the curriculum."

The field went quiet for a moment.

Zhao Wuji raised a thick eyebrow, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Dai Mubai's face, which held a hint of provocation, and Xiao Qing's calm, ripple-free expression.

He naturally sensed the unusual atmosphere between the two and could roughly guess what was on Dai Mubai's mind. However, in his view, friction between young people—especially involving different philosophies and styles—was not necessarily a bad thing, provided it didn't lead to major trouble.

He looked at Xiao Qing: "Xiao Qing, what is your intent?"

Xiao Qing's gaze met Dai Mubai's, in whose eyes lay undisguised fighting spirit and a sense of certain superiority.

Xiao Qing was not surprised by this challenge. He had long since sensed Dai Mubai's undisguised rejection and his increasingly accumulated irritability during this period.

Dai Mubai's thoughts were not hard to guess; it was nothing more than his long-held sense of superiority and inherent hedonistic lifestyle being challenged, leading him to blame his dissatisfaction on Xiao Qing, the "outlier."

Dai Mubai was attempting to use the most direct display of power to re-establish the "rules," even childishly believing that defeating Xiao Qing would make everything "return to normal."

As it happened, Xiao Qing also wanted to take this opportunity to practically test his current level of combat power.

Ever since Xiao Feng and A'Man advanced to thousand-year soul beasts, his physical fitness and spiritual power had steadily improved through the feedback from their contracts.

Now, he could use "Wind Shadow" and "Rock Armor" five times each in a short period, but once exhausted, he would have to wait until the next day for the usage counts to fully recover.

This change had both pros and cons. The benefit was a massive increase in tactical flexibility, allowing for explosive usage at critical moments; the drawback was the limited number of uses—once depleted, he could only wait for them to restore.

Dai Mubai, a level 27 assault-system battle soul master, was a perfect test subject.

"Very well."

Xiao Qing's reply was concise and clear.

Seeing this, Ma Hongjun very tactfully pulled Oscar, who still wanted to say something, to the other side of the field.

Zhao Wuji gave a grunt, tacitly approving Dai Mubai's request. He stepped back a few paces to clear the center of the field and said in a gruff voice: "Stop when you've made your point. Begin."

Almost the instant Zhao Wuji's voice fell, Dai Mubai let out a low roar and completed his Martial Soul Possession.

"Second Soul Skill, White Tiger Intense Light Wave!"

A milky-white ball of light, brimming with destructive power, was spat from his mouth and blasted straight toward Xiao Qing, who was still standing where he had been.

In Dai Mubai's view, dealing with an opponent who was "at most level 20" required no wasted time. By using his strongest long-range soul skill to crush him and establish a winning momentum instantly, he would achieve the best deterrent effect.

He had already imagined the scene where, after Xiao Qing dodged in a panic or was injured, he would "generously" state it was just a sparring mishap, then take the opportunity to suggest they go "relax" that evening.

The White Tiger Intense Light Wave was extremely fast, reaching Xiao Qing in the blink of an eye.

Yet Xiao Qing, from start to finish, made no move to dodge or defend, simply watching the light ball approach with an expression that didn't even flicker.

Got him!

Dai Mubai felt a surge of glee, along with a trace of imperceptible disappointment. As expected, he was just a guy putting on an act; his reaction in actual combat was so sluggish. It seemed his usual hard training was just for show. After defeating him, he would have to "teach" him properly what a soul master's life should be like.

The moment the light ball touched Xiao Qing, the expected explosion and the sight of a body being sent flying did not occur. The "Xiao Qing" became somewhat blurry the moment it was struck, eventually dissolving into wisps of air and vanishing quietly.

A Phantom Shadow?!

Dai Mubai's joy stopped instantly, his pupils contracting sharply. A chill shot up his spine to the back of his head, and he released his first soul skill almost as a conditioned reflex.

"First Soul Skill, White Tiger Protective Barrier!"

A layer of white light enveloped his body, boosting his defensive power. At the same time, he tried to turn his head to locate Xiao Qing.

However, Dai Mubai was still too slow.

A calm voice rang out, pressed right against the back of his head, drilling into his ears with perfect clarity.

"Are you looking for me?"

At the same instant the voice sounded, a burst of extremely precise force slammed heavily into the small of Dai Mubai's back.

Dai Mubai felt half the strength in his entire body drained away in an instant. Completely unable to control himself, he stumbled forward seven or eight steps, finally crashing headlong onto the hard, muddy ground of the training field.

He struggled to push his body up with his hands, but the sharp pain in his waist left him unable to muster any strength.

His vision was somewhat blurred by pain and dizziness; he only saw a pair of ordinary cloth shoes, stained with a little dust, stop on the ground not far before his eyes.

Then came Zhao Wuji's emotionless voice announcing the result: "Xiao Qing wins."

Clean and decisive.

From start to finish, it had taken only a few breaths. Dai Mubai hadn't even seen how Xiao Qing moved, hadn't seen Xiao Qing use a soul ring, and yet he had fallen inexplicably.

His soul power level, which he took such pride in, his White Tiger Martial Soul, and his powerful soul skills—in front of his opponent, they were like a joke.

On the other side, Ma Hongjun and Oscar, who had been pretending to spar while actually stealing glances this way, were also stunned.

Ma Hongjun's mouth hung wide open; he knew Xiao Qing was formidable, but he hadn't expected him to be this powerful—Dai Mubai was level twenty-seven, after all! Oscar, meanwhile, let out a sigh of relief, his admiration for Xiao Qing deepening even further.

Zhao Wuji walked over and first checked on Dai Mubai's condition, confirming that he had merely been knocked back, leaving him winded and with some contusions, but nothing serious.

He glanced at Xiao Qing, a flicker of barely perceptible surprise crossing his eyes; the combat awareness Xiao Qing had just displayed was not something an ordinary person possessed, and he hadn't seen the lad use it during their usual sparring sessions.

This kid was hiding quite a lot.

"Take him back to rest."

Zhao Wuji said to the approaching Oscar and Ma Hongjun, then cast a sidelong glance at Dai Mubai, who had climbed to his feet but remained pale-faced. "Frivolous and impatient, full of openings. Go back and reflect on this."

Oscar and Ma Hongjun hurriedly supported Dai Mubai, one on each side. Dai Mubai did not resist, allowing them to lead him away toward the dormitories in a daze, not even sparing Xiao Qing a single glance.