A Good Woman

The yellow soul ring atop the head of Ralts suddenly flickered, and invisible spiritual power, like an endless tide, layered itself to seal the Goddess of Light Butterfly's yellow soul ring.

Wing Blade is a sustained, channeled attack-type soul skill. Once Imprison struck, Wang Dong's yellow soul ring trembled violently before suddenly dimming, turning a monotonous grayish-white as the golden light patterns of the Wing Blade instantly disintegrated.

She was like a butterfly that had fallen into a spiderweb, gradually exhausting her strength, destined to become the spider's meal.

With her vital joints locked tight by the Psychic Shield—knees, elbows, and shoulder blades—Wang Dong struggled stubbornly, her joints emitting faint, creaking sounds.

"I've tolerated you for a long time." Bai Cai slowly approached Wang Dong, gradually clenching his fist. "I've always, always wanted to see this stupid expression of impotent rage."

Bai Cai raised his right fist, making a move to strike. Wang Dong gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, resigning herself to her fate.

She felt nothing...

Wang Dong instantly opened her large, powder-blue eyes, just in time to see Bai Cai cautiously retreat several steps, as if wary that she might break her oath and attempt to release her second soul skill at point-blank range.

A nameless fury burned within her. Wang Dong laughed out of extreme anger, and blue-gold energy flowed around her body, dispelling the constraints of the psychic power.

The wings of the Goddess of Light Butterfly flashed with a fleeting blue-gold luster. Wang Dong instantly shattered the Psychic Shield released by Ralts and tackled Bai Cai to the ground.

"I won, let me go!" Bai Cai struggled, saying, "You, you, cough, cough!"

After tackling Bai Cai, Wang Dong tightly wrapped her left forearm around his neck, instinctively grabbing her own left wrist with her right hand to form a closed loop, continuously applying pressure. To prevent Bai Cai from struggling further, Wang Dong pulled her slender legs together, quickly locking his waist and legs.

"Admit defeat." Wang Dong tightened her arm slightly and growled, "Hurry up and admit defeat!"

"Despicable." Bai Cai was nearly suffocated. In such close-quarters combat, Ralts dared not continue manipulating the psychic power, fearing that Bai Cai might suffer double the damage.

The resistance gradually weakened. Wang Dong finally loosened her arm, and the referee carefully checked Bai Cai's condition before announcing loudly, "Wang Dong wins."

Bai Cai, his eyes vacant and his mind in a daze, returned to the dormitory.

Why, why did he lose? Bai Cai fell into deep self-doubt.

Even Huo Yuhao, with only an eleventh-rank Soul Power Level, could defeat a Wang Dong who wasn't using her martial soul. Wang Dong's second soul skill had been disabled, her first soul skill sealed, and her vital joints locked by psychic power—why had he lost?

Upon returning to the dormitory, Bai Cai went straight to bed and covered himself with his quilt. Melodious bell chimes rang out, and Wang Dong happened to push open the dormitory door.

"Are you angry?" Wang Dong sat on Bai Cai's bed.

"No." A muffled voice came from the bundle of blankets.

Wang Dong probed, "We've become friends, right?"

"If you say so, then we are." Bai Cai completely gave up on fighting it. "Does my opinion even matter?"

"Your first soul ring, its color is pink, right?" Wang Dong said cautiously. "That afternoon, I saw it."

"You saw wrong." Bai Cai wrapped himself tighter in the quilt, flatly denying it.

"I didn't mean to threaten you." Wang Dong weighed her words and suggested, "We can exchange secrets; that would make us friends, wouldn't it?"

"I have no interest in your secrets." Bai Cai paused slightly, his tone filled with disgust. "I just want to punch you once."

"Fine." Wang Dong said without hesitation, "I won't fight back."

"Really?" Bai Cai immediately threw off the quilt and sat up on the bed. "I don't believe you."

"By my martial soul..." Wang Dong raised her right hand. Bai Cai waved his hand to interrupt, "Get up first."

Wang Dong did as she was told, standing straight before Bai Cai, her large, powder-blue eyes shimmering with a strange light. "During this afternoon's physical training, could you..."

Although an assault-type soul master's resistance to blows was relatively high, bruises and the like would not fade so quickly. Wang Dong did not want to be hit in the face—literally.

"Close your eyes." Bai Cai commanded mercilessly.

When Wang Dong had been bound by psychic power and was resigned to being beaten, he hadn't dared to step forward to land an extra punch, and Bai Cai felt deep regret for that.

"Fine." Wang Dong gently closed her eyes. "Just one punch, otherwise I'll hate you."

Bai Cai stared for a long time before grabbing Wang Dong's left hand. Wang Dong flinched, trembling slightly.

"Ah!" A sharp pain suddenly radiated from near her left wrist. Wang Dong hurriedly raised her right hand to cover her mouth, preventing any strange sounds from escaping.

A row of neat tooth marks appeared, with faint blood seeping from the skin. Bai Cai mocked, "Does it hurt? If it hurts, that's good. It was this hand that choked me until I couldn't breathe!"

"I really wanted to take a bite out of you back then, but it's a pity I couldn't reach." Bai Cai said with lingering resentment.

Wiping away the residual saliva, she then took off the bracelet from her right wrist and moved it to her left, barely covering the tooth marks. Wang Dong asked expectantly, "We're friends now, right?"

In the afternoon, at the Freshman Class One classroom.

Ten minutes before the bell rang, the classroom was packed, and it was unusually quiet; not a single student dared to speak loudly.

There was no fixed seating arrangement, so Wang Dong naturally sat down next to Bai Cai.

As the bell rang, Zhou Yi walked into the classroom. "Everyone stand up, gather at the plaza."

The students of Freshman Class One dared not delay; they followed Zhou Yi out in a single file and quickly arrived at Shrek Plaza.

A pile of iron chains had already been placed on the plaza, and Zhou Yi ordered the students to stand in neat rows.

"Wang Dong." Zhou Yi called out.

"Here." Wang Dong stepped out of the ranks and stood at attention.

Facing all the students, Zhou Yi said indifferently, "Based on the entrance examination results and this morning's test scores, as of now, among all the students, the one with the highest Soul Power Level is Wang Dong."

"Therefore, starting now, Wang Dong is the monitor of Freshman Class One. Of course, the position of monitor is fluid; whoever has the ability to defeat him can become the new monitor."

The students in the ranks whispered among themselves. A few male students who considered themselves strong had their gazes gradually sharpen, while the eyes of most female students grew even softer.

Zhou Yi raised her hand and pointed at the pile of iron chains in front of her, saying sternly, "These Iron Vests are training equipment. Carrying the weight of an Iron Vest while running can improve your physical fitness. Everyone, pick one. Once you have put it on, run around the plaza until the bell rings for the end of class."

"You may use soul power, but you cannot use soul skills. You will be ranked by the number of laps completed, and the last place will be eliminated."

Zhou Yi shifted her toe, and a heavy Iron Vest made of thick iron chains slid in front of Wang Dong.

Wang Dong lifted the heavy Iron Vest with one hand, his expression changing slightly. The Iron Vest weighed at least over thirty jin!

Upon hearing about the elimination for last place, the students scrambled to pick an Iron Vest, struggling to pull them on over their school uniforms. The male students fared slightly better, keeping their emotions hidden. As for the female students, nine out of ten turned pale with fright upon putting on the vests.

Zhou Yi said coldly, "Will soul skills and soul cannon shells treat Tool Soul Masters and Beast Soul Masters differently? Will they treat boys and girls differently?"

"The enemy will not spare you because you are weak; they will only stay away from you because they fear your strength."

Zhou Yi waved her hand, signaling to the students that the timer had begun.