Spatial Jump, Seizing a Dragon with One Hand!

The morning track was baked slightly hot by the sun, and the air was filled with the distinctive smell of the rubber running track.

"All Class Five members, run ten laps around the track. Xie Xie, Tang Wulin, put these on."

Two pitch-black iron vests had appeared at Wu Zhangkong's feet, their metal buckles clinking with dull thuds.

He flicked one up with the tip of his foot and accurately tossed it into Xie Xie's arms, nearly knocking him off balance.

"Teacher, this..." Xie Xie's face turned green as he held the deadweight lump of iron.

"Wear it, or leave."

Wu Zhangkong did not even raise his eyelids. He stood beneath the shade of a tree with his arms folded, like an ice sculpture without a trace of warmth.

Tang Wulin was obedient enough. Without another word, he pulled the vest on.

The crushing weight instantly made his breathing hitch, but he merely gritted his teeth and started running.

Seeing this, Xie Xie did not dare say anything else. He followed with a miserable expression.

Heavy footsteps echoed across the rubber track.

Xie Xie and Tang Wulin wore iron-sand weighted vests that weighed a full twenty kilograms. Every step felt as if it could crush the ground beneath their feet.

Sweat dripped from Xie Xie's chin. His face was deathly pale, and his lungs felt as though they were on fire.

"I can't do this... This is practically murder..." Xie Xie panted heavily, his steps unsteady.

"Don't stop. If you stop, you'll never be able to run again." Tang Wulin gritted his teeth. Though he too was drenched in sweat, his naturally immense strength made him seem slightly more at ease than Xie Xie.

In the shadows of the stands, Tang Linyuan sat cross-legged, not participating in this physical training session.

He had only touched upon the threshold of the Law of Space the previous night. At this moment, he was replaying the path of that folding rune in his mind again and again, automatically shutting out the noise of the outside world.

That was until a light set of footsteps stopped at the edge of the track.

Wu Zhangkong stood with his hands behind his back. His icy blue gaze passed over the students training on the track and landed on the figure that had suddenly appeared.

She was a short-haired girl dressed in faded casual clothes. Her features were delicate but not stunning, while her large black-and-white eyes carried a stubborn air.

She simply stood there quietly, watching the students run with great interest in her eyes.

"Which class are you from?" Wu Zhangkong asked coldly.

The girl raised her head and met Wu Zhangkong's oppressive gaze directly. "I'm not in any class. I missed the registration deadline."

"Eastsea Academy does not accept latecomers." Wu Zhangkong's voice was indifferent. "You can leave."

"Rules are made for ordinary people."

The girl did not back down. Instead, she stepped forward and lifted her chin. "As long as someone has the ability, it's never too late. I want to join your class."

"Ability?"

A faint curve appeared at the corner of Wu Zhangkong's lips.

He turned and looked toward the stands.

"Tang Linyuan."

His voice was not loud, yet it pierced the air like an Ice Spike and reached Tang Linyuan's ears with perfect precision.

Tang Linyuan opened his eyes, and a flash of silver flickered through his dark pupils.

He rose to his feet and, after a few light leaps, landed before Wu Zhangkong without kicking up even a speck of dust.

"Spar with her." Wu Zhangkong pointed at the girl.

Then he turned to her and said, "Show me what you can do, and I'll let you join my class."

Tang Linyuan glanced at the girl and immediately understood. This should be Gu Yue.

"Teacher Wu, I'm a student, not a teaching assistant." Tang Linyuan did not agree at once, instead bargaining for a price.

"That costs extra."

Wu Zhangkong's eyelid twitched. "What do you want?"

"Fight me again." Tang Linyuan grinned, revealing a row of white teeth. "You know what I want."

"Deal." Wu Zhangkong agreed readily, but immediately added a restriction. "But when fighting her, you may not use your Martial Soul or soul skills. Only physical techniques."

He wanted to see how capable this brat, who always swept through opponents with a gun in hand, would be once he put aside that divine weapon.

"No problem."

Tang Linyuan turned to face Gu Yue and casually rolled his wrists, producing a series of crisp cracks.

"Tang Linyuan."

"Gu Yue."

The girl looked at the boy before her, who seemed even more composed than she was and even somewhat nonchalant, and frowned slightly.

She could sense that he had not taken her seriously at all.

That disdain made her very unhappy.

"Begin."

At Wu Zhangkong's command, Gu Yue moved.

She did not charge forward or retreat like an ordinary soul master. Instead, she formed a strange hand seal before her chest.

Buzz!

A yellow soul ring rose beneath her feet.

First soul skill: Elemental Tide.

In an instant, the air around them grew restless.

"Go!"

Gu Yue gave a low shout and swept her left hand.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three crimson Fireballs shot out in a triangular formation, sealing off Tang Linyuan's upper, middle, and lower paths.

Before the Fireballs even reached him, scorching waves of heat had already crashed into his face.

Tang Linyuan's expression did not change. He tapped the ground with his toes and slid to the right like a drifting willow leaf.

Yet the instant he moved, Gu Yue's lips curved upward.

"Wind."

She flicked her right hand.

The Fireballs, which had been flying straight ahead, suddenly seemed to grow eyes and eerily curved through the air!

Azure wind element instantly wrapped around the Fireballs. Wind fed the flames, and the Fireballs, originally the size of washbasins, doubled in size in an instant. Their color shifted from crimson to blue-violet, and their speed surged!

"Composite magic?"

Wu Zhangkong's gaze sharpened slightly.

She could control both wind and fire, and transition between them so smoothly. Was she really a new student? There were more and more monsters these days.

While Wu Zhangkong was quietly marveling, Tang Linyuan did not panic in the face of this sudden change.

He did not dodge again. Instead, he abruptly stopped and stomped his right foot heavily onto the ground.

Bang!

A dull thud rang out from the ground. Borrowing the rebounding force, he advanced rather than retreated, shooting through the gap between the three Fireballs like a cannonball!

His grasp of timing was precise to a terrifying degree.

"I'm not done yet!"

Seeing this, Gu Yue slammed both hands downward.

"Swamp!"

The hard ground beneath Tang Linyuan's feet instantly softened into sticky mud. A massive pulling force dragged at his legs, trying to trap him in place.

Immediately afterward, Gu Yue flicked all ten fingers in rapid succession.

"Ice Spike!"

Dozens of sharp Ice Spikes condensed out of thin air and shot toward Tang Linyuan, who was trapped in the Swamp.

Earth element to restrict him, ice element to kill, wind and fire elements to block his movement.

In only a few breaths, Gu Yue displayed perfect control over four elements. The entire track seemed to become her elemental domain, dazzling and deadly.

Xie Xie, who had been running, was completely dumbfounded and even forgot to keep moving.

Was this even a soul master? She was practically a humanoid self-propelled artillery battery!

"Interesting."

Tang Linyuan looked at the rain of ice descending from above, and at last a spark of interest ignited in his dark eyes.

Yet he still did not use his Martial Soul.

"Break!"

He let out a low roar.

The muscles in Tang Linyuan's legs bulged, and a dark golden gleam flashed beneath his skin. That was the embryonic form of the Tyrant Body cultivated through the Primordial Body Casting Chapter.

Boom!

Pure physical strength erupted. With one stomp, he actually crushed the muddy Swamp beneath his feet, sending splatters of mud flying like bullets.

He shot into the air, charging straight into the Ice Spikes raining down from above.

He did not dodge.

His fists moved like Dragons, unleashing bursts of sonic booms.

Bang bang bang bang—!

The Ice Spikes, powerful enough to pierce steel plates, were smashed apart one after another by his iron fists, turning into a storm of ice dust.

Tang Linyuan was like a primordial Fierce Beast, brutally tearing through the elemental net Gu Yue had painstakingly woven. In the blink of an eye, he closed to within five meters of her!

Gu Yue was horrified.

What kind of monster was this? He was using his body to withstand magic?

"Light!"

Gu Yue gritted her teeth and slammed her palms together.

A blinding burst of light erupted from her palms, like a small sun rising over the track, attempting to blind Tang Linyuan.

This move would have been absolutely effective against an ordinary person, but Tang Linyuan's spiritual power was immensely strong!

Under the perception of his spiritual power, the intense light was useless. Gu Yue's figure had nowhere to hide.

Before Gu Yue even realized the danger, his hand had already shot out, clawing toward her shoulder like an eagle's talon.

There was no escape!

At that critical instant, a flash of silver appeared in Gu Yue's eyes.

It was her final trump card.

Buzz—

The surrounding space twisted without warning.

Tang Linyuan's unavoidable claw grasped nothing but air.

Gu Yue, who had been standing there, seemed to have been erased from that frame of reality. She vanished into thin air and instantly appeared five meters to his left.

Space Teleportation!

Wu Zhangkong's pupils abruptly contracted at the side of the field.

Seven Element Control?! This girl's talent was simply terrifying!

However, just as Gu Yue landed and before she could even catch her breath, she discovered in horror that the boy whose attack should have missed had not rushed forward due to momentum.

Tang Linyuan stood where he was, still holding his grabbing posture. Yet his eyes were not looking at where Gu Yue had just stood, but... at the place where she had appeared.

He had even looked there a fraction of a second before she appeared.

Countless folded lines were reflected in his pupils.

At the instant Gu Yue tore through space to shift positions, the originally invisible spatial fluctuations were, to Tang Linyuan—who had only comprehended Space Runes the previous night—like a glowing thread in the darkness.

"Got you."

Tang Linyuan's voice sounded beside her ear.

He did not run. Instead, following the spatial ripple that had yet to close, he took a natural step to the left.

Using the "door" Gu Yue had opened, he stepped onto a spatial node.

Whoosh!

A black shadow flashed.

Gu Yue felt her vision blur. The nightmare-like boy actually "squeezed" out of thin air, instantly appearing directly before her.

Their noses nearly touched, and they could hear each other breathing.

One long, powerful hand lightly clasped her wrist, while the other pressed against her shoulder, firmly binding her in place.

All elemental fluctuations came to an abrupt halt at that moment.

Gu Yue stared blankly at Tang Linyuan, who was inches away, her mind completely empty.

That was Spatial Jump!

He... had followed her? Without using his Martial Soul?

"Your elemental control is very strong."

Tang Linyuan released her and stepped back, calmly offering his assessment.

"But it is only control. Against absolute strength and speed, it is far too flashy."

The track fell completely silent.

Wu Zhangkong watched the scene, took a deep breath, and forcibly suppressed the shock in his eyes.

He could control space as well?

Just how many trump cards was this brat hiding?

"Gu Yue, although you lost, you showed me your ability."

Wu Zhangkong turned to Gu Yue, who was still somewhat dazed. "Starting today, you are a student of Class Five."

"Fall in."