Special Training, Three vs. Lin Chen

At dusk, the afterglow of the setting sun stained the Eastsea Academy training grounds in a faint, golden-red hue.

As the group led by Yun Linchen arrived, Xie Xie could no longer contain his curiosity and was the first to speak: "Teacher Wu, what is our special training mission today?"

Wu Changkong swept his gaze over them with a calm expression, his voice devoid of any ripples as he uttered two words: "Live combat."

Xie Xie subconsciously rubbed his hands together, a flicker of trepidation in his eyes. He had assumed today's special training would involve sparring against Wu Changkong, but the next moment, Wu Changkong's gaze shifted slightly, and he raised a finger to point at the tall, upright youth standing beside Gu Yuena.

"Your opponent is not me."

Yun Linchen was somewhat bewildered: "Not you, sir? Three against one?"

Yun Linchen stood there in a daze. He had originally expected the timeline to follow the original path where four people fought Wu Changkong, but he hadn't expected Gu Yuena, Xie Xie, and Tang Wulin to be ganging up on him instead.

Xie Xie subconsciously swallowed hard, his face twisting into a grimace: "Teacher Wu, you want the three of us to go together? To deal with just Linchen?"

"Yes." Wu Changkong spoke calmly, his face expressionless: "The three of you will join forces and do your absolute best to give him a proper beating."

Gu Yuena's beautiful eyes narrowed as she turned to look at the youth beside her; she truly hadn't prepared herself to gang up on Linchen.

Tang Wulin scratched his head, looking troubled: "Teacher Wu, did you forget? We don't even know Linchen-ge's last two soul skills. His first soul skill already has such heaven-defying attack power, and the next two..."

Wu Changkong's tone remained completely flat: "That is why your task today is to defeat Linchen by tonight and force him to reveal his final two soul skills."

Seeing this, Yun Linchen could only offer a helpless, wry smile as he looked at Gu Yuena beside him and said: "It's alright, Na'er, no need to hold back."

Seeing Linchen say this, Na'er could only nod in agreement.

As soon as these words were spoken, Xie Xie, standing to the side, was stunned: "Wait, Linchen-ge, your progress is quite fast, isn't it? You're already calling her Na'er after just one afternoon." He turned to look at Tang Wulin, his face full of confusion.

Tang Wulin took a deep breath. That afternoon, Yun Linchen had already explained his relationship with Gu Yuena—that Gu Yuena was the Na'er from before.

He leaned into Xie Xie's ear and lowered his voice, quietly informing him of the matter.

After hearing this, Xie Xie's eyes widened sharply, and he nearly cried out in surprise. He looked back and forth between Yun Linchen and Gu Yuena—he had to admit, they were quite a match—his face filled with disbelief.

"So that's how it is. I was wondering, there's no way Linchen could be this much of a stud."

Knowing the inside story, Xie Xie felt even more conflicted, muttering under his breath: "How are we supposed to fight now? Asking Na'er to attack Linchen, isn't that just making things difficult for her?"

Tang Wulin was also full of hesitation, but facing Wu Changkong's non-negotiable gaze, he could only grit his teeth.

"Don't worry, just come at me with everything you've got." Yun Linchen's voice was gentle as his gaze swept over the three of them.

Wu Changkong's cold, clear voice rang out: "Begin."

Three purple soul rings rose from beneath Yun Linchen's feet, cyan ultimate lightning coiled around his entire body, and the phantom of an Azure Dragon flickered faintly behind him.

As the words fell, Xie Xie launched the first attack, the Light Dragon Dagger striking from Yun Linchen's flank.

Tang Wulin knew well that relying on Blue Silver Grass alone would not be enough to control Yun Linchen. A low, deep sound of air being torn apart echoed as his Thousand-Refined Tungsten Steel Hammer smashed toward Yun Linchen's face.

Yun Linchen's mouth twitched slightly: "Using a hammer to smash people? You really are something, Tang Wulin."

He condensed a bolt of lightning in his palm and struck it directly at the incoming Thousand-Refined Tungsten Steel Hammer, knocking it away, before casting a glance at Xie Xie to the side.

Tapping his right foot lightly on the ground, a thin thread of lightning crawled across the floor toward the ambushing Xie Xie.

Xie Xie was struck, his right thigh going numb, and losing his balance, he let out a yelp and tumbled to the ground.

Gu Yuena's delicate brows furrowed. With a flick of her fingertip, a scorching fireball wreathed in intense heat tore through the air, lunging straight at Yun Linchen.

Facing the combined assault of Gu Yuena and Tang Wulin, Yun Linchen flashed aside, dodging the fireball, while the lightning in his palm erupted once more, easily neutralizing the follow-up attacks.

As the battle continued, the coordination between Gu Yuena and the others grew increasingly seamless.

Xie Xie used his agility-type speed to harass and distract like a swimming dragon, Tang Wulin pressed forward with his formidable physical strength, and Gu Yuena threw in fireballs to disrupt Yun Linchen from time to time.

With one distracting, one attacking, and one disrupting, their offensive grew increasingly fierce.

Seeing this, Yun Linchen no longer deliberately held back his strength.

Within his eyes, a faint, glazed luster radiated outward. The Azure Dragon behind him instantly solidified, and the cyan ultimate lightning surged forth like a tsunami.

"I won't hold back anymore. Be careful, everyone."

As he spoke, his third thousand-year soul ring erupted with brilliant light. Taking advantage of the moment Xie Xie and Tang Wulin were close together, he activated his third soul skill: Myriad Thunder Azure Sea.

The entire training ground was instantly enveloped by a boundless sea of cyan lightning. Countless dragon-shaped bolts of lightning roared within the sea, the violent energy scouring the battlefield at will.

Just as the raging sea of lightning was about to swallow the three of them, an ice-blue figure suddenly appeared in the center of the battlefield.

Wu Changkong condensed a soul power barrier around himself, steadily shielding Gu Yuena, Xie Xie, and Tang Wulin together.

The lightning across the sky dissipated. Wu Changkong remained standing in place, his soul power barrier having already vanished. His clothes were completely intact, but his usually smooth and elegant ice-blue hair was now standing straight up on end.

His typically cold and aloof appearance was, for once, looking rather disheveled.

Gu Yuena and the others peeked out from behind Wu Changkong, and seeing their teacher in such a state, they nearly lost their composure.

Yun Linchen dispersed the soul power around his body, the Azure Dragon phantom fading away. He said with a hint of apology: "My apologies, Teacher Wu. I didn't control the power well just now."

Wu Changkong raised a hand and expressionlessly smoothed his messy hair, attempting to return to his usual cold demeanor, though it was safe to say it had absolutely no effect.

His gaze landed on Yun Linchen, his tone carrying a hint of approval: "Not bad. A wide-range, heavy-attack skill that possesses both suppression and destructive power."

Gu Yuena walked slowly up to Yun Linchen, her beautiful eyes filled with obvious resentment as she said: "You really didn't hold back at all. That strike just now almost left the three of us severely injured."

Yun Linchen smiled helplessly, his tone apologetic: "Sorry, Na'er. There was really no other way. The three of you were coordinating better and better; if I had held back any more, I'm afraid I would have been the one suppressed by you."

Xie Xie, standing to the side, still felt a lingering fear and instinctively patted his chest, his face full of trepidation. "Exactly. It's a good thing Teacher Wu is handsome and quick-witted; otherwise, the lot of us would probably be lying on the ground right now."

He paused, then added, "I seriously suspect you ran out of Shrek Academy just to bully us newbies."

Linchen's mouth twitched slightly. "It seems you actually guessed right."

Tang Wulin nodded repeatedly in agreement.

Wu Changkong stood to the side, still fussing with his messy long hair. Hearing this, he spoke indifferently, "Yun Linchen's soul power is already far beyond the three of you. In today's live combat, you have finally seen the true gap between you."

After failing to tidy his hair for a long while, he simply gave up and waved his hand at the group. "Alright, today's special training ends here. Everyone go back and rest, and take some time to digest the insights from today's battle."

Gu Yuena let out a soft huff, turned around immediately, her delicate profile pulled tight, and walked straight toward the dorms, feigning anger.

Linchen watched the girl's slender figure gradually drift away and helplessly massaged his forehead.

Great, now he'd managed to look cool, but he'd also managed to tick off his Na'er.

He spread his hands helplessly toward Tang Wulin and Xie Xie, then took a few quick steps to catch up with Gu Yuena, his voice softening to an extreme degree. "My fault, Na'er, I'm sorry."

Gu Yuena crossed her arms over her chest, her delicate chin tilted slightly upward. Not only did she not stop, but she deliberately quickened her pace, making it clear she had no intention of acknowledging him.

The girl's voice was cold, carrying a hint of feigned indignation. "When you unleashed the Myriad Thunder Cangming just now, you didn't hold back in the slightest. Apologizing now is a bit too late, isn't it?"

Yun Linchen kept pace beside her, looking at her puffed-up expression with a helpless smile in his eyes, his tone growing even softer. "I didn't have a choice, did I? Teacher Wu was watching from the sidelines; if I had intentionally gone easy on you, I would have been in for a lecture later. Besides, I knew what I was doing—I definitely wouldn't have hurt you."

"That doesn't matter." Gu Yuena turned her head away, deliberately refusing to look at him. "In any case, you need to make it up to me for what happened today."

Tang Wulin and Xie Xie followed slowly behind. Watching this scene, Xie Xie couldn't help but lower his voice and lean in toward Tang Wulin, clicking his tongue in wonder. "See that? He's completely fallen for her. Linchen is definitely going to be henpecked in the future."

Tang Wulin scratched his head, wondering what "henpecked" meant.

Xie Xie, who was relatively more mature than them, looked speechless. "Never mind, Wulin. Just pretend I never said anything."