Ten Seconds

Eastsea City, outside Eastsea Academy, inside a luxury car.

Gu Yue: "..."

Zi Ji: "..."

"You mean... Yun Jingheng already has Four Rings?!"

Gu Yue's voice was quiet, but Zi Ji's back instantly stiffened.

She did not know where to put the hand resting on the steering wheel, her knuckles turning slightly white.

"Di... Di Tian told me so..."

"The Nine-Tailed Frost Moon Fox can give him at most four soul rings. What about the rest of his soul rings?"

Zi Ji: How would I know... Don't ask me, Lord! I'm a military commander, not a civil official!

"Di... Di Tian didn't say..."

Zi Ji's voice grew softer and softer. "I... I don't know either..."

Gu Yue looked at the back of her head in silence for a moment. "Why are you nervous?"

Zi Ji froze. "I... I'm not nervous."

"Your hands are shaking."

"I'm just... uh..."

Gu Yue rolled her eyes at her and rubbed her brow.

"Why do I feel like I'm raising a child?"

Zi Ji looked puzzled. "Huh?"

"His Soul Bone was given to him by me, and I had Di Tian find his soul spirit..."

Gu Yue paused and pressed her fingers against her temple. "Tsk, why does this feel like being a nanny?"

Zi Ji froze for a moment, then hurriedly shook her head. "Lord... you're doing this for... uh... our cause! How can you put it that way?"

Gu Yue looked at her, the corner of her mouth twitching. "Our cause?"

Zi Ji nodded frantically. "Yes, our cause! You're investing in him so that he can become your support in the future."

"This is long-term planning, this is foresight. How can it be called being a nanny?"

Gu Yue leaned against the seat and looked at the car ceiling.

"Investing in him, I gave him a Soul Bone. Investing in him, I found him a soul spirit. Investing in him, I even have to worry about what he'll do after his fifth ring."

She turned to Zi Ji. "Is this an investment, or am I raising a son?"

Zi Ji opened her mouth, not knowing what to say.

She looked at Gu Yue's expression and cautiously said, "Then... how about we stop investing?"

Gu Yue gave her a look, and Zi Ji immediately shut up.

The car fell silent for a while.

Gu Yue suddenly smiled, very faintly.

"Forget it. I've already invested so much, and I haven't even seen any returns yet."

Zi Ji let out a breath of relief. "Then, Lord, next—"

"Keep watching him."

Gu Yue cut her off. "His fifth ring is still a long way off, but the matter of soul spirits can't wait."

"Have Ten Thousand Monster King keep an eye out for anything suitable in the Star Dou Great Forest."

"Prioritize the Silver Moon Fox Clan. If there aren't any, other moon-attributed ones will do."

Zi Ji nodded. "Yes."

Gu Yue looked out the window.

The sunlight was bright, and Eastsea Academy's gates were quiet beneath it.

She watched for a while, then pushed open the car door. "I'm leaving. I have classes this afternoon."

She stepped out, sunlight spilling across her body.

After taking a few steps, she stopped again and turned back to look at Zi Ji.

"Zi Ji, do you think I'm meddling too much?"

Zi Ji froze. "Lord, you mean—"

"Soul Bones, soul spirits, soul rings... I'm thinking about everything for him. Even his parents don't worry about him as much as I do."

Zi Ji was silent for a moment. "Lord, have you ever considered..."

"Considered what?"

"Nothing. Lord, your grand ambitions will definitely succeed!"

I just feel that you're far too good to him—so good that it's almost abnormal...

Gu Yue stared at her for several seconds but did not press further.

She closed the car door and headed into the campus.

Not long after entering, she ran into Tang Wulin.

He stood beneath a tree by the roadside, holding a communicator and looking down at something.

Hearing footsteps, he raised his head. When he saw Gu Yue, his eyes lit up. "Gu Yue! I was just looking for you."

Gu Yue looked at him. "What is it?"

Tang Wulin walked over and handed her the communicator.

"Yun Jingheng has Four Rings."

There was an indescribable excitement in his voice.

Gu Yue glanced at the message on the communicator. Yun Jingheng had sent it to Tang Wulin—"I have Four Rings now. Keep it up~"

There were only eight words, yet even the punctuation carried an annoyingly smug air.

The corner of Gu Yue's mouth curved up, only to flatten again almost immediately.

"Isn't he provoking you?"

Tang Wulin put away the communicator, his eyes bright. "He has Four Rings, so he told me to hurry up. That means he's already ahead, and he wants me to catch up."

Gu Yue looked at him. "Do you want to catch up?"

Tang Wulin nodded. "I do. But I don't want to do it alone."

He looked at Gu Yue. "I want to bring Zero Class with me. The four of us against him alone—what do you think?"

Gu Yue froze. "Four against one?"

Tang Wulin scratched his head. "It does sound a little shameless, but he has Four Rings and we only have two."

"We definitely can't beat him one-on-one. Four against one might give us a chance."

He paused. "It's just a spar. I want to see exactly how big the gap between us and him is."

Gu Yue said nothing.

She was calculating just how badly that idiot would get thrashed when the time came.

"When are you planning this?" Gu Yue asked.

"Once we enroll at Shrek, we'll go beat him up."

Are you sure he won't be the one beating you up?

"Have you figured out how to fight him?" Gu Yue asked.

Tang Wulin froze. "Not yet. That's why I came to discuss it with you."

Gu Yue looked at him and sighed. "Come on. Let's talk in the classroom."

The two walked side by side toward the teaching building.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, falling onto the ground in scattered patches.

Tang Wulin did not walk quickly, but his strides were large, every step filled with force.

"Yun Jingheng's four soul skills."

Tang Wulin counted on his fingers. "First soul skill, Crescent Slash—long-range. Second soul skill, Moonlight Protection—a shield, pull, invincibility. Third soul skill, New Moon Assault—a charge, intangibility."

"His Fourth Spirit Ability is called Moonlight Sword Dance. When he spins his sword, it fires sword energy. The faster he spins, the denser the sword energy becomes, and he can cast it while moving."

Gu Yue glanced at him. "Where did you get that intelligence?"

"He told me..." Tang Wulin paused. "I mailed him the metal I forged, he paid me for it, I gave him a discount, and he told me a few things, including his soul skills."

The two entered the teaching building.

The corridor was quiet. Sunlight streamed through the windows, falling across the floor in neat grids.

Tang Wulin pushed open the door to Zero Class's classroom. Xie Xie was already there, sitting on a desk with one leg crossed over the other, spinning a pen in his hand.

Xu Xiaoyan sat in the front row with her head lowered over a book. Hearing the sound, she looked up.

"You're back?"

Xie Xie jumped down from the desk. "So, what did you decide?"

Tang Wulin walked to the podium and turned to face everyone.

"I'm planning to fight Yun Jingheng after we enroll at Shrek. The four of us against him alone."

Xie Xie froze. "Four against one?"

"Yeah."

"Isn't that a little shameless?"

Xie Xie scratched his head, but his lips were curved in a grin. "Still, I like it."

Xu Xiaoyan asked softly, "Will he agree?"

Tang Wulin nodded. "He definitely will. He's that kind of person. He never refuses when someone challenges him."

Xu Xiaoyan did not ask any more questions.

She lowered her head, tracing a finger across her textbook, the tips of her ears turning slightly red.

Xie Xie glanced at her, then at Tang Wulin, and sighed.

Gu Yue walked to the last row and sat down, still holding her cup of water. "So, have you figured out how to fight?"

Tang Wulin turned around and began drawing on the blackboard.

He drew one circle for Yun Jingheng, then four smaller circles around it for the four of them.

"The core of Yun Jingheng's martial soul is his mark. Once he places a mark on someone, he can teleport to them."

"The sword energy from Moonlight Sword Dance also tracks marked targets. So the first thing we need to do is stop him from placing marks, or make it impossible for him to use them even if he does."

Xie Xie raised a hand. "How do we stop that? We can't knock it off."

Tang Wulin looked at Gu Yue. "Gu Yue, can your elemental control interfere with his marks?"

Gu Yue thought for a moment. "No. We tried it during the Sky Sea Grand Competition."

Tang Wulin wrote the character "Gu" on the blackboard. "Then you'll be in charge of disrupting him. Ice walls, earth walls, wind walls—anything. Put them between him and us so his Crescent Slash can't hit anyone."

Gu Yue said nothing and took a sip of water.

Tang Wulin wrote the character "Tang" next.

"I'll handle the frontal restraint. My Golden Dragon Claw has great power, and Blue Silver Grass can bind people. I'm not trying to beat him, just hold him back."

Xie Xie pointed at himself. "What about me?"

Tang Wulin wrote the character "Xie." "You... will move around and launch sneak attacks. You're fast, so look for opportunities from the sides and behind."

"Don't fight him head-on. Hit once, then retreat."

Xie Xie nodded. "Sure, I'm good at that."

Tang Wulin looked at Xu Xiaoyan.

Xu Xiaoyan straightened up, her eyes shining.

Tang Wulin wrote the character "Xu" on the blackboard.

"You'll provide long-range support. Your Star Wheel Ice Staff has control skills, so find an opportunity to restrain him."

Xu Xiaoyan nodded hard. "Okay."

Tang Wulin took two steps back and looked at the crude tactical diagram on the blackboard.

"Our advantage is numbers. Four against one, and he won't be able to handle all of us. Our disadvantage is cultivation—he has Four Rings, while we have two. So we can't fight him head-on. We have to rely on teamwork."

Xie Xie looked at the blackboard for a while. "How long do you think he can last?"

Tang Wulin thought about it. "I don't know."

"I mean, how long can he last against the four of us?"

Tang Wulin froze.

He had thought Xie Xie was asking how long they could last. Instead, Xie Xie was asking how long Yun Jingheng could last.

"He should be able to last quite a while."

Xie Xie smiled too. "Then that settles it."

Xu Xiaoyan sat in the front row, looking at the circle representing Yun Jingheng on the blackboard, a smile curving her lips.

Gu Yue sat in the last row with her cup of water, her expression calm, but her gaze was also fixed on that circle.

"Anything else to add?" Tang Wulin asked.

"Yes." A voice came from the doorway.

The classroom instantly fell silent.

All four turned at once—Wu Zhangkong stood in the doorway, his hands in his pockets and his expression indifferent, like an icicle planted in the doorframe.

No one knew when he had arrived or how long he had been standing there.

Xie Xie's mouth twitched, while Tang Wulin opened his mouth and then closed it again.

Gu Yue held her cup without moving.

Wu Zhangkong walked in and stopped before the podium.

He swept a glance over the tactical diagram on the blackboard, then over the four of them.

"What about Yun Jingheng's Soul Tool?" His voice was cold, like a winter wind.

Tang Wulin froze.

"Soul Tool?"

"As far as I know, he isn't just a genius Soul Master. He's also a genius Soul Engineer. What do you think he could make with the rare metals he bought from you?"

"Have you considered how to deal with his Soul Tools?"

The classroom was so quiet that they could hear the wind rustling the leaves outside.

Wu Zhangkong stood before the podium, his gaze sweeping over the four of them.

Tang Wulin froze, his voice slightly dry.

"Soul Tools?"

Wu Zhangkong looked at him. "You didn't know?"

Tang Wulin shook his head. "He... never told me."

"Then why do you think he bought rare metals from you?"

"..."

Wu Zhangkong said nothing more.

He turned around and wrote two words on the blackboard—"Ten Seconds."

The chalk made a crisp sound against the board. When he finished, he set it down, brushed the dust from his hands, and stared at those two words for a while.

"This is how long you can hold out." His voice was quiet, but every word drove into the ears of the four like a nail.

"If he goes all out and doesn't care how he fights, you won't last ten seconds."

The classroom was so quiet they could hear their heartbeats. Tang Wulin raised his head and looked at the two words on the blackboard.

"Ten seconds." He repeated it softly.

Wu Zhangkong turned and headed for the door. "Extra training. Starting today, two extra hours every day."

He reached the door, stopped, and looked back at them.

"When you enroll at Shrek, don't embarrass me." Then he left.

His footsteps gradually faded down the hallway.

The classroom remained quiet for a moment.

Xie Xie spoke first.

"Ten seconds."

His voice was a little dry. "Teacher Wu said we can't hold out for ten seconds."

Tang Wulin said nothing. He stared at the two words on the blackboard for a while.

"Then we'll train more."