Ten Seconds

Inside a luxury car outside Eastsea Academy in Eastsea City.

Gu Yue: "..."

Zi Ji: "..."

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

Gu Yue's voice wasn't loud, but Zi Ji's back instantly tensed.

She didn't know where to put her hands on the steering wheel, her knuckles turning slightly white.

"Di... Di Tian told me that..."

"The Nine-Tailed Frost Moon Fox can only give him four spirit rings at most. What about the remaining spirit rings?"

Zi Ji: I don't know... Don't ask me, Lord, I'm a general, not a civil official!

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

Zi Ji's voice grew smaller, "I... I don't know either..."

Gu Yue looked at the back of her head and was silent for a moment, "What are you nervous about?"

Zi Ji was stunned, "I... I'm not nervous."

"Your hands are shaking."

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

Gu Yue gave her a sideways glance and rubbed her temples.

"Why do I feel like I'm babysitting?"

Zi Ji was confused, "Ah?"

"I gave Yun Jingheng his Soul Bone, and I had Di Tian find his spirit soul..."

Gu Yue paused, pressing her fingers against her temples, "Tsk, why does it feel like I'm a nanny?"

Zi Ji was stunned and quickly shook her head, "Lord... you are doing this for... uh... our cause! How can you say that?"

Gu Yue looked at her, her mouth twitching, "Cause?"

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

"This is long-term planning, it's foresight, how can you call it being a nanny?"

Gu Yue leaned back against the seat, looking at the car roof.

"Investing in him, I give him Soul Bones. Investing in him, I find him spirit souls. Investing in him, I even have to worry about what to do after his fifth ring."

She turned to look at Zi Ji, "Is this an investment or raising a son?"

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

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

Gu Yue glanced at her, and Zi Ji immediately shut her mouth.

Silence filled the car for a moment.

Gu Yue suddenly smiled, a faint smile.

"Forget it, I've already invested, and I haven't seen any results yet."

Zi Ji breathed a sigh of relief, "Then Lord, next--"

"Keep watching him."

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

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

"Prioritize the Silver Moon Fox Clan, and if not, any other moon-attribute ones will do."

Zi Ji nodded, "Yes."

Gu Yue looked out the window.

The sunlight was bright, and the gate of Eastsea Academy was quiet in the sun.

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

She got out, and the sunlight fell all over her.

After a few steps, she stopped again and looked back at Zi Ji.

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

Zi Ji was stunned, "Lord, you mean--"

"Soul Bones, spirit souls, spirit rings, I think of everything for him. Even his parents don't worry as much as I do."

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

"Thought about what?"

"It's nothing, the Lord's grand ambition will surely succeed!"

I feel like you're too good to him, to the point where it's not even normal...

Gu Yue stared at her for a few seconds, not pressing the matter further.

She closed the car door and walked into the campus.

Not long after entering the gate, she ran into Tang Wulin.

He was standing under a tree by the roadside, holding his communicator and looking down at something.

Hearing footsteps, he looked up, and his eyes brightened when he saw Gu Yue. "Gu Yue! I was just about to look for you."

Gu Yue looked at him. "What's wrong?"

Tang Wulin walked over and handed her the communicator to look at.

"Yun Jingheng has reached Four Rings."

His voice carried an indescribable sense of excitement.

Gu Yue glanced at the message on the communicator; it was sent by Yun Jingheng to Tang Wulin—"I'm Four Rings now, you better keep it up~"

There were only eight characters, and even the punctuation mark carried a hint of being punchable.

The corners of Gu Yue's mouth curled up, but she quickly suppressed it.

"Is he provoking you?"

Tang Wulin put the communicator away, his eyes shining. "He's reached Four Rings, so he came to tell me to hurry up. It 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 not by myself."

He looked at Gu Yue. "I want to pull Zero Class into this. How about the four of us take on him alone?"

Gu Yue was stunned for a moment. "Four against one?"

Tang Wulin scratched his head. "Although it's a bit shameless to do it that way, he's at Four Rings, and we're only at two."

"We definitely won't win in a one-on-one. Four against one, maybe we'll have a chance."

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

Gu Yue didn't speak.

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

"When are you planning to do it?" Gu Yue asked.

"Right after we enroll in Shrek, we'll take a crack at him."

Are you sure he won't be the one taking a crack at you?

"So, have you figured out how to fight him?" Gu Yue asked.

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

Gu Yue looked at him and sighed. "Let's go, let's talk in the classroom."

The two walked side by side toward the teaching building.

Sunlight leaked through the leaves, falling onto the ground in patches.

Tang Wulin didn't walk fast, but his strides were long, each step filled with energy.

"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 that provides traction and invincibility. Third soul skill, New Moon Assault, a charge with intangibility."

"The fourth soul skill is called Moonlight Sword Dance; he shoots out sword qi while spinning his blade. The faster the rotation, the denser the sword qi, and it can be cast while moving."

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

"He told me..." Tang Wulin paused. "I send the metals I forge to him, he pays me, I give him a discount, and he tells me some things—his soul skills included."

The two walked into the teaching building.

The hallway was very quiet, and sunlight shone in through the windows, falling onto the floor in a grid pattern.

Tang Wulin pushed open the door to the Zero Class classroom. Xie Xie was already there, sitting on a desk with his legs crossed, spinning a pen in his hand.

Xu Xiaoyan was sitting in the front row, head down reading a book, and she looked up upon hearing the commotion.

"Back already?"

Xie Xie jumped down from the desk. "What's the word?"

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

"I'm planning to find Yun Jingheng for a fight after we enroll in Shrek. The four of us against him."

Xie Xie was stunned. "Four against one?"

"Yeah."

"Isn't that a bit shameless?"

Xie Xie scratched his head, but the corners of his mouth were curled up. "Still, I like it."

Xu Xiaoyan asked in a low voice, "Will he agree?"

Tang Wulin nodded. "He'll definitely agree. He's just that kind of person; he never refuses when someone challenges him."

Xu Xiaoyan didn't ask anything else.

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

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

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

Tang Wulin turned around and began to draw on the blackboard.

He drew a circle to represent Yun Jingheng, then drew four smaller circles around it to represent the four of them.

"Yun Jingheng's Martial Soul core is his mark. Once he tags you with a mark, he can teleport."

"The sword qi from his Moonlight Sword Dance also tracks targets that have been marked. So, the first thing we need to do is prevent him from landing that mark, or make it impossible for him to use it even if he does."

Xie Xie raised his hand. "How do we stop it? It's not like we can just knock it off."

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

Gu Yue thought for a moment. "No, we already tried that during the Sky Sea Grand Competition."

Tang Wulin wrote the character "Gu" on the blackboard. "Then you're responsible for disrupting him. Use ice walls, earth walls, wind walls—anything—to block the space between him and us so his Crescent Slash can't hit anyone."

Gu Yue didn't speak; she just took a sip of water.

Tang Wulin then wrote the character "Tang."

"I'll be responsible for holding the front line. My Golden Dragon Claw has great strength, and my Blue Silver Grass can bind him. I'm not looking to win; I just need to stall him."

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

Tang Wulin wrote the character "Xie." "You... you're responsible for roaming and sneak attacks. You're fast, so look for opportunities from the sides and the rear."

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

Xie Xie nodded. "Fine, that's my specialty."

Tang Wulin looked at Xu Xiaoyan.

Xu Xiaoyan sat up straight, her eyes bright.

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

"You're responsible for long-range support. Your Star Wheel Ice Staff has crowd control skills; find the right time to lock him down."

Xu Xiaoyan nodded vigorously. "Okay."

Tang Wulin stepped back two paces, looking at the crude tactical diagram on the blackboard.

"Our advantage is numbers—four against one, he can't watch everything. Our disadvantage is cultivation; he's at Four Rings, and we're at Two Rings. So, we can't force a direct confrontation; we have to rely on coordination."

Xie Xie stared 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 was stunned for a moment.

He had thought Xie Xie was asking how long they could hold out, but it turned out Xie Xie was asking how long Yun Jingheng could hold out.

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

Xie Xie smiled too. "Then that's all that matters."

Xu Xiaoyan sat in the front row, looking at the circle representing Yun Jingheng on the blackboard, the corners of her mouth curving upward.

Gu Yue sat in the back row, holding her water cup with a calm expression, though her gaze was also fixed on that circle.

"Anything else to add?" Tang Wulin asked.

"Yes," a voice came from the doorway.

The classroom went silent instantly.

All four of them turned their heads at once—Wu Zhangkong was standing in the doorway, his hands in his pockets, his expression as cold as an icicle planted in the doorframe.

They didn't know when he had arrived, or how long he had been standing there.

Xie Xie's mouth twitched, and Tang Wulin's mouth opened and closed.

Gu Yue sat motionless, still holding her water cup.

Wu Zhangkong walked in and came to a stop in front of the podium.

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

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

Tang Wulin was taken aback.

"Soul Tool?"

"As far as I know, he's not just a genius soul master, but also a genius soul engineer. What do you think he can make with the rare metals he bought from you?"

"Have you thought about how to deal with his soul tools?"

The classroom was so quiet you could hear the wind rustling the leaves outside the window.

Wu Zhangkong stood at the front of the podium, his gaze sweeping over the four people.

Tang Wulin was stunned, his voice a little dry.

"Soul tools?"

Wu Zhangkong looked at him, "You don't know?"

Tang Wulin shook his head, "He... didn't tell me."

"Then why do you think he wanted to buy rare metals from you?"

"..."

Wu Zhangkong didn't say anything further.

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

The chalk made a crisp sound on the blackboard. After writing, he put down the chalk, clapped the dust off his hands, and looked at the two words for a while.

"That's how long you can last," his voice wasn't loud, but every word hammered into the ears of the four people like nails.

"If he goes all out, without caring how he fights, you won't last ten seconds."

The classroom was so quiet you could hear heartbeats. Tang Wulin looked up at the two words on the blackboard.

"Ten seconds," he repeated, his voice very soft.

Wu Zhangkong turned and walked towards the door. "Extra training. Starting today, two hours of extra training every day."

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

"When you enroll in Shrek, don't embarrass me." He left.

The sound of his footsteps faded down the corridor.

The classroom was quiet for a moment.

Xie Xie spoke first.

"Ten seconds."

His voice was a little dry, "Teacher Wu said we can't last ten seconds."

Tang Wulin didn't speak. He looked at the two words on the blackboard for a while.

"Then we'll train extra."