Gu Yue: You're going down, little Lan Kai!

A month later.

"Lan Kai, how's that Gu Yue getting on at Eastsea Academy? Has she come looking for trouble?"

Juggler's travels had temporarily come to an end, and he had returned to Eastsea City. When he saw Lan Kai, he handed him a gift and asked with a smile.

He seemed to be hoping for something entertaining to happen, but Lan Kai could only sigh helplessly.

"Ugh, don't get me started. That girl went who knows what kind of crazy and stayed away from Eastsea Academy for a whole month. She only showed up a few days ago, and for some reason she had terrible dark circles under her eyes.

"One time, a few classmates and I ran into their group by chance at an auction. Before Wei Xiaofeng, the guy in my dorm, could even start provoking them, Gu Yue actually provoked me first!

"She even said, 'Just you wait. I'll definitely be better than you at using the power of light!'

"Could she have eaten some poisonous mushrooms somewhere and gotten so badly poisoned that there's no saving her?"

Thinking back on Gu Yue's strange behavior, Lan Kai could only strike the classic "bear shrug" pose from some Lord Seven meme. But after hearing his story, Juggler burst into laughter, as if he'd just seen something hilarious.

"Interesting. Very interesting. Looks like your appearance has made her feel threatened. She even changed the name of her Martial Soul—she's obviously targeting you!

"So, what's the schedule for your Class Promotion Tournament? When do you think you'll get to face Gu Yue?

"I'll put you through another round of special training before then. If you still lose to her in the end, heh heh heh..."

"The typhoon's coming soon, so I guess we'll have to wait until it's over. By the way, Teacher Juggler, don't you think Gu Yue's actually coming after you, too?

"An Elemental Master Martial Soul can't use dark power in the first place. She made a point of emphasizing that in the name of her Martial Soul. She's obviously coming for you!"

Seeing the meaningful look on Juggler's face, Lan Kai felt a twinge in his backside. His eyes darted around, and he immediately tried to turn the spotlight on Juggler.

Juggler, however, didn't care in the slightest. He seemed to think Gu Yue's actions posed no threat to him at all.

"Oh, and the Spirit Ascension Platform's been reinforced almost enough. Once this typhoon passes, you should be able to go in and try it out.

"But unless it's absolutely necessary, you're not allowed to transform inside the Spirit Ascension Platform, and you're especially not allowed to grow giant in there. Got it?"

"Yes, sir!"

Lan Kai replied once more.

The typhoon came and went quickly. It lingered over Eastsea City for just a week before finally passing, leaving the city in disarray and adding considerably to the sanitation workers' burden.

After the typhoon, the air in Eastsea City felt exceptionally fresh, carrying a faint trace of moisture. Sunlight spilled over the land, and every now and then a rainbow shimmered on the horizon beneath a vast, cloudless sky.

Breathing in the renewed air and gazing at the rainbow in the sky, Lan Kai couldn't help showing a look of relief.

Juggler's special training had certainly benefited him, but it had really hurt.

And this time, perhaps because Lan Kai had fought back especially hard, Juggler had even used his Liver-Exploding Fist. It hurt so badly that Lan Kai felt the world spinning, and he could barely breathe.

After accidentally throwing that punch, Juggler had visibly panicked, afraid he'd killed Lan Kai with a single blow and made the book end at lightning speed.

Still, Lan Kai had gained quite a lot this time. He'd even obtained two cards.

The images on them were still blurry, and their colors were extremely faint. But through those pale colors—and the horn-like emblem on one of the cards—Lan Kai and Juggler recognized them as cards for Ultraman Taro and Ultraman Mebius.

"Burnmite Form, huh... I'll prepare a fire-type Soul Spirit for you. With your current mental strength and physical fitness, according to this world's rules, fusing with a Thousand-Year Soul Spirit shouldn't be a problem."

Juggler returned the cards to Lan Kai, then began considering what sort of Soul Spirit would suit him best.

At the Thousand-Year Soul Spirit level, even with his status as the Fifth Spirit Envoy, it wouldn't be easy to secure a top-quality one. He'd have to figure out a way to pull some strings.

Of course, he could also try using his Demon Form and carve his way through the Spirit Pagoda to become its master. But that would only make things more exhausting, and Juggler didn't want to lead such a massive, troublesome organization anyway.

An organization about the size of STORAGE was just right: not too much to deal with, and easy to manage.

"Oh, and don't you dare lose to Gu Yue!"

Juggler called out just as Lan Kai was about to leave.

"Don't worry. Even if she has some secret technique, I'm not afraid!"

Lan Kai shouted back.

After Juggler had beaten him (read: trained him) for a week, Lan Kai had started to figure out why Gu Yue had arrived a month late.

Could it have been because she'd seen him use Ultra Slash and Specium Ray before, and gotten competitive?

But putting aside whether Gu Yue could really learn those two moves, Lan Kai wasn't worried even if she thought she'd mastered them.

The power of light was anything but shallow. Besides, the person Lan Kai was studying to imitate for his beam skills wasn't just anyone—it was that ferocious mage from the Land of Light, Ultraman Ace.

To Lan Kai's surprise, Juggler was a fan of Ultraman Ace. So when Lan Kai tried to study his techniques, Juggler was able to give him a few pointers.

He just didn't know whether, given Ultraman Orb's reputation as the King of Debt, he'd ever get the chance to transform using Ultraman Ace's card.

That evening, the Class Promotion Tournament—which had been postponed because of the typhoon—resumed. Lan Kai brought the other students from Grade 1 Class 1 and followed their homeroom teacher, Ye Yingluo, to the sports field.

The other side in the tournament, Grade One Class Five, also arrived with all its students under Wu Zhangkong's leadership. But only two people followed right behind him: Xie Xie and Gu Yue.

For some reason, Tang Wulin wasn't there.

Lan Kai wasn't surprised. Tang Wulin had probably just completed the first unsealing of the Golden Dragon King's power and lost track of time, forcing him to pay tribute to the Flame Emperor of the Dou Qi Continent by making a last-second rescue.

But for some reason, the moment Gu Yue saw Lan Kai, she raised her chin and gave him a challenging look, as if to say, "You're going down, little Lan Kai!"

"Oh? I've never seen anyone make such a strange request.

"Since you've invited me, I can't afford to lose face. I'll have to give it everything I've got."

Lan Kai looked at Gu Yue calmly, wearing only a polite smile.