"Whew—"
Ji Jing exhaled a breath of stale air. He braced his core, and the muscles in his arms bulged as he poured all his physical strength into the hammer and swung it fiercely toward the open ground ahead!
"Boom!"
The hammer never touched the ground, but the terrifying gust it stirred up was like an invisible giant hand, crushing the ground within ten meters in front of him!
Dirt and grass were swept up by the gale, forming a small tornado. Clear cracks appeared in the trunks of several nearby trees.
"What a powerful boost!"
A flash of delight crossed Ji Jing's eyes.
He could feel that the hammer's weight and material had multiplied his purely physical strength several times over.
But this was only the beginning.
"Next, let's try a Soul Skill."
His gaze sharpened, and his first and Second Soul Rings lit up at the same time.
"First Soul Skill, Soaring Yang Fire! Triple stack!"
"Second Soul Skill, Solar Impact! Triple stack!"
Surging Soul Power flooded into his body. Golden-red Bingwu Primordial Yang Sacred Fire erupted from him, soaring skyward and enveloping his entire body.
As the flames billowed, his strength, speed, and defense all climbed to their limits.
At the same time, an unimaginable boost in speed began to gather in his arms.
When the triple-stacked effects of both Soul Skills reached their peak, Ji Jing poured all of the scorching Bingwu Primordial Yang Sacred Fire, blazing like a miniature sun, into the Hammer of Creation.
A strange sight unfolded!
When the supremely yang, supremely potent flames touched the divine hammer, which brimmed with boundless life force, the two did not clash. Instead, they fused perfectly.
Intricate golden-red patterns lit up across the green-gold hammerhead. Its pure life aura intertwined with the power of the flames, forming an even more terrifying force.
"Now!"
With a low growl, Ji Jing slammed the hammer, imbued with all his strength, into the ground!
There was no earth-shaking boom, only a moment of utter silence.
The next instant, a thick golden-red beam erupted from the point where the hammer met the ground, shooting straight into the sky!
Everything in its path, whether tree or rock, vaporized in an instant, leaving not even ashes behind.
A visible shock wave spread wildly outward from him. The forest within a hundred meters was flattened, leaving behind a terrifying crater, unfathomably deep, with edges smooth as a mirror!
This power had far surpassed the realm of a Soul Ancestor.
Ji Jing had no doubt that even a Seven-Ring Soul Sage with their Martial Soul Avatar activated would be unable to withstand this strike. Their only fate would be instant annihilation!
"The power... is beyond what I imagined."
Looking at his handiwork, he nodded in satisfaction.
"Time to go."
Having tested the divine hammer's power, he felt no attachment to the place. He lightly tapped the ground with the hammer in his left hand.
A gentle green light welled from the hammer, like a spring breeze sweeping over the earth.
Under this immense power of creation, the flattened forest and bottomless crater began to recover at a visible speed.
The earth churned, grass and trees sprang back to life. In just a few breaths, everything had returned to its original state, as if that world-destroying strike had never happened.
Once he had finished, Ji Jing activated Flying Fire Meteor. Flames streamed from his back, and he once again became a shooting star, quickly leaving the area.
Ji Jing silently returned to the penthouse suite of the Star Luo Grand Hotel and opened the door to the room he shared with Wang Dong.
The moment he stepped inside, a fragrant breeze rushed toward him.
Wang Dong's soft body threw itself into his arms. She wrapped both arms around his neck and said in a slightly aggrieved, clingy voice:
"You're finally back! Next time you go out, take me with you, okay? I... I want to be with you all the time."
Feeling the trust of the beauty in his arms, Ji Jing's heart warmed. He gently held her and comforted her in a soft voice:
"Of course. Whatever you say. No problem."
Just as Ji Jing was about to close the door, something unexpected happened.
The door to the room opposite theirs clicked open. Rubbing her sleepy eyes, Xiao Xiao stepped out, mumbling:
"I wonder if this hotel has late-night snacks. I'm starving..."
As she spoke, her gaze instinctively swept toward Ji Jing.
Then she froze.
Xiao Xiao's eyes went wide.
What was she seeing?
Their invincible class monitor, Ji Jing, was holding a stunning beauty with long, dreamlike pink-blue hair and a tall figure, his eyes full of tenderness. Judging by the way they stood, they were about to close the door and head into the room!
W-What was going on?!
Since when had their class monitor been keeping a beauty hidden away?
Wait, why did that beauty look a little familiar...
The sheer amount of information overwhelmed Xiao Xiao's brain, and she stood there in a daze.
Ji Jing and Wang Dong hadn't expected this to happen either. The three of them stood frozen in the hallway, staring at one another, the atmosphere painfully awkward.
Wang Dong reacted the fastest.
Just as Xiao Xiao was about to recover from her shock and cry out, a flash of panic crossed her beautiful face. She dashed over, clamped a hand over Xiao Xiao's mouth, and forcibly dragged her into the room.
"Bang!"
The door slammed shut, sealing off every sound inside.
In the room, Wang Dong kept one hand firmly over Xiao Xiao's mouth while making a "shh" gesture with the other.
Held captive by her, Xiao Xiao stared with eyes as round as bells, her face full of shock as she struggled to make muffled "mmph, mmph" sounds.
Just then, Jiang Nannan emerged from the opposite room in her pajamas, smoothing her hair as she asked gently:
"Xiao Xiao, if you're getting a late-night snack, could you bring me one too?"
Before she had even finished speaking, she had reached the doorway.
Looking at the empty hallway, Jiang Nannan glanced around in confusion.
"Strange,"
she muttered to herself,
"I clearly heard Xiao Xiao come out just now. Did she leave that quickly?"
She scratched her head, unable to make sense of it, then turned and closed her door before heading back to rest.
Inside the room, Wang Dong finally took her hand away from Xiao Xiao's mouth, though she still blocked the doorway.
Watching the rather comical scene, Ji Jing leaned against the wall and waited at his leisure to see how Wang Dong would handle things.
"Y-You're Wang Dong?"
Now able to breathe, Xiao Xiao pointed at Wang Dong, then at Ji Jing, and asked in shock:
"You... you two..."
Wang Dong's pretty face flushed. She knew there was no hiding it now.
She sighed helplessly.
"Since things have come to this, I won't hide it from you,"
Wang Dong said, rubbing her long pink-blue hair with a rueful look as she confessed to Xiao Xiao:
"I actually came to Shrek Academy disguised as a boy."
"Ah?!"
The revelation exploded in Xiao Xiao's mind like a thunderclap.
Her brain short-circuited again, and her eyes went even wider than before.
After a long moment, it seemed she finally worked something out. She clapped her hands in sudden realization and blurted:
"Oh! I get it! So you two aren't..."
Halfway through, Xiao Xiao seemed to realize what she was about to say and hurriedly covered her mouth.
Wang Dong's expression instantly turned dangerous. She stepped closer to Xiao Xiao, her pretty pink-blue eyes narrowing and her brows drawing together:
"Aren't what?"
There was a hint of embarrassment and menace in her voice, as if she'd kill Xiao Xiao to keep her quiet if she dared say that word.
"Nothing! Nothing!"
With a fierce will to survive, Xiao Xiao shook her head like a rattle drum.
How could she not understand now? She had completely misunderstood the relationship between their class monitor and Wang Dong.
Seeing how sensible Xiao Xiao was being, Wang Dong gave a cold snort and let her off.
She turned around, her expression growing serious again, and said solemnly to Xiao Xiao:
"But you have to keep this a secret for us."
"Absolutely! Absolutely!"
Xiao Xiao nodded repeatedly, like a chick pecking at rice.
She immediately raised three fingers and swore with a solemn expression:
"I, Xiao Xiao, swear on my Martial Soul that I'll keep what I saw today under lock and key! This will never pass my lips!"
Before you continue