Wang Dong's Disgust +1

"Boom—!!!"

The golden guillotine and the purple thunder hammer, light and thunder, collided head-on in midair!

In an instant, dazzling golden-blue and purple light erupted!

A deafening boom rang throughout the area!

A visible, ring-shaped shock wave centered on the point of impact and suddenly spread outward!

"Whoosh—!"

The powerful gust tore up the grass, sending clippings and dust flying!

The onlooking students were struck by the gust and stumbled backward again and again, crying out in alarm.

Even Huo Yuhao, beneath a tree not far away, had his robes whipped by the wind. Yet he stood firm as a rock, his gaze piercing the swirling dust as he fixed it on the center of the collision.

A sharp glint filled Mu En's eyes as he nodded slightly from his recliner. "What explosive power... These two youngsters understand and use their Soul Skills far better than ordinary new students."

The dust slowly settled.

The scene before them gradually came into focus.

Wang Dong had already released Martial Soul Possession and landed back on the ground. Her normally fair cheeks were faintly flushed, a thin streak of fresh blood at the corner of her mouth, and her breathing was slightly ragged.

She looked at Lin Yan, her eyes filled with unwillingness and shock.

During that last clash, she had felt as though her Wing Guillotine had struck a mountain of thunder. The force of the rebound had churned her blood and qi, slightly shaken her internal organs, and consumed a huge amount of her Soul Power.

On the other side, Lin Yan had also landed back on the ground. The Black Iron Thunder Pattern Hammer in his hand had already been put away, and the glow of his Thunder Pattern Armor had dimmed considerably, though it had not vanished completely.

He panted heavily, sweat beading at his temples. That all-out strike had clearly taken a lot out of him too.

But compared with Wang Dong, he was in far better shape. He had no obvious injuries, only the weakness that came from exhausting too much Soul Power.

The winner had been decided.

Lin Yan had defeated Wang Dong through his higher Soul Power Level, the deeper and purer Soul Power foundation granted by the advanced meditation method taught by the Hundred Treasure Pearl, the dynamic visual assistance provided by Eagle Eye, and the Black Iron Thunder Pattern Hammer's advantage in strength and explosive power. Wang Dong's Martial Soul was of higher quality, but her Soul Power was slightly weaker.

Although Wang Dong's Light Goddess Butterfly Martial Soul was far superior in quality to the Black Iron Thunder Pattern Hammer, the gap in their overall strength had left little suspense about the outcome.

Whispers broke out among the onlookers. Quite a few students in their year now regarded Lin Yan with newfound respect and a measure of seriousness.

This new student, who looked handsome and a little proud, truly was not to be underestimated.

Wang Dong bit down hard on her lower lip, nearly drawing blood from its tender surface.

She was proud by nature and had rarely met a match among her peers growing up. Yet on her very first day at the academy, in front of everyone, she had lost to an unknown student her own age.

But she was not someone who couldn't accept defeat.

She took a deep breath, tamped down her churning blood and qi and turbulent emotions, then raised a hand and forcefully wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with her sleeve. Her voice was cool and concise, yet every word rang clear:

"I lost."

Those three short words were frank and decisive. She made no excuses and showed no trace of hesitation or lingering resentment.

Her straightforward acceptance of defeat, instead, earned her the respect of some of the students watching.

Lin Yan steadied his ragged breathing and looked at Wang Dong before him. Her face was pale, yet she still held her head high, stubborn as ever. The pride he had suppressed for so long nearly burst from his chest.

He tried to keep his expression calm, warm, and magnanimous, even deliberately curving his lips into a friendly smile. "You were the stronger one, Wang Dong."

He deliberately softened his voice, lacing it with a touch of affected humility. "Your Light Goddess Butterfly is indeed incredibly powerful. Its quality far surpasses that of my Black Iron Thunder Pattern Hammer.

"I was simply lucky to have a slightly higher Soul Power Level, so I had the advantage. Now that we're in Dormitory 108, let's get along peacefully. What do you say?"

His words were flawless. He acknowledged her advantage, gave his victory the objective explanation of having higher Soul Power, and took the initiative to offer an olive branch of "peaceful coexistence."

To anyone watching, the young man was a gracious winner who hadn't let victory go to his head.

Yet when Wang Dong looked at the gentle smile on Lin Yan's face, a chill shot up her spine.

The smile was indeed perfectly practiced: the curve of his lips, the look in his eyes, even the slight angle of his bowed head were all impeccable.

But the way Lin Yan looked at her—the predatory intensity, heat, and possessiveness leaking from the depths of his pupils despite his efforts to restrain them—clashed bizarrely with his gentle smile.

She had just argued with him without holding back, even challenged him to a fight to put him in his place.

That had been an outright "insult" and "provocation."

But now that he had won, he hadn't shown the slightest anger. Instead, he had so quickly put on this gentle, forgiving mask, as though their tense standoff had never happened...

This guy... Wang Dong's inner alarm blared. The clammy feeling of being watched by a snake made her want to turn and run at once. Could he really be into men? And... and does he seem to be interested in me...

She didn't dare think any further. Goose bumps prickled all over her skin.

Almost without thinking, she took half a step back.

Then she drew a deep breath and spoke one word at a time, her tone colder than before, pushing him even farther away. "No need."

The smile on Lin Yan's face stiffened slightly.

"I don't plan to live in the dorm." Wang Dong turned her gaze aside and stopped looking at him. Her voice was full of undisguised distance and disdain. "Besides, this dorm is shabby and filthy. The bed is as hard as stone, and the cabinet is rusty. It's no place for a person to live."

After that, she didn't look at Lin Yan's frozen expression again, nor did she care about the whispers of the crowd. She turned and left.

Her steps were hurried, her skirt fluttering in the wind, as if something filthy were chasing her from behind.

Lin Yan stood rooted to the spot, the flawless, gentle smile on his face completely frozen.

He was stunned.

No... The plot... wasn't it supposed to go like this?

In the fragmentary memories he had, Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao had shared Dormitory 108, spending day after day together. They had gone from disliking each other to gradually understanding one another and developing feelings... Wasn't that the normal script?

He had gotten the key to Dormitory 108 first, cutting Huo Yuhao out of the picture.

Then, according to his plans, shouldn't he and Wang Dong have lived under the same roof, slowly won her over with his talent, strength, and carefully cultivated gentle persona, and eventually taken the beauty home?

But now she was simply refusing to live in the dorm?

Then what had he cut Huo Yuhao out for? Cut out thin air?

The muscles in Lin Yan's face twitched faintly. He couldn't make sense of it at all.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something to stop her, but realized he had no idea what to say.

Should he say, "The dorm's actually pretty nice. Won't you reconsider?"

The words clogged his throat. He couldn't get a single one out.

Wang Dong's retreating figure had already disappeared into the shadow of the dormitory building's entrance. She hadn't spared him even a glance.

Seeing that the show was over, the crowd gradually dispersed too, leaving Lin Yan standing alone where he was, his expression shifting between light and dark.