Gu Yue: Little Lan Kai, watch me take you down!

A month later.

"Lan Kai, how has that Gu Yue been doing at Eastsea Academy? Has she come to cause you any trouble?"

Juggler, having temporarily concluded his travels, had returned to Eastsea City. Upon meeting Lan Kai, he handed him a souvenir while asking with a smile.

He seemed to be looking forward to seeing something interesting, but Lan Kai sighed with considerable helplessness.

"Sigh, don't even mention it. I don't know what got into that girl, but she dragged her feet for a whole month before finally showing up at Eastsea Academy just a few days ago. For some reason, she had massive dark circles under her eyes."

"I ran into them at an auction with a few classmates, and before Wei Xiaofeng from my dorm could even start a provocation, Gu Yue actually took the initiative to challenge me!"

"She even said, 'Just you wait, my mastery of the power of light will definitely be better than yours!'"

"Do you think she ate some wild mushrooms somewhere and got so hopelessly poisoned that she's lost her mind?"

Recalling Gu Yue's abnormal behavior, Lan Kai could only mimic the classic "shrugging bear" meme pose of a certain Seventh Master. However, after hearing this, Juggler burst into laughter, as if he had found something highly amusing.

"Interesting, truly interesting. It seems your appearance has made her feel a sense of crisis. She even went out of her way to change the name of her Martial Soul—it's clear she's targeting you!"

"In that case, what is the schedule for your Class Promotion Tournament? When will you likely face Gu Yue?"

"Before that, I will put you through special training again. If you still end up losing to Gu Yue, hmph hmph hmph..."

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

"The Elemental Master Martial Soul shouldn't be able to use the power of darkness, but Gu Yue specifically emphasized that in her Martial Soul's name. She's definitely aiming for you!"

Seeing Juggler reveal a meaningful expression, Lan Kai felt a twinge of pain in his backside. His eyes darted around as he immediately tried to shift the heat onto Juggler.

However, Juggler remained completely indifferent, as if Gu Yue's actions posed no threat to him whatsoever.

"Right, the Spirit Ascension Platform has been reinforced. Once this typhoon passes, you can go in and experience it."

"But, unless it's an absolute last resort, you are not allowed to transform inside the Spirit Ascension Platform, and you are certainly not allowed to grow to giant size. Do you hear me?"

"Osu!"

Lan Kai replied once again.

The typhoon arrived quickly and left just as fast. It only stayed in Eastsea City for a week before passing completely, leaving the city in a mess and significantly increasing the workload for the sanitation crews.

After the typhoon, the air in Eastsea City felt exceptionally fresh, carrying a faint hint of moisture. Sunlight spilled across the earth, and occasionally, one could even see the glow of a rainbow against the clear, cloudless sky.

Breathing in this refreshed air and looking at the rainbow in the sky, Lan Kai couldn't help but show a look of relief.

Juggler's special training had indeed been beneficial, but it was truly painful.

Moreover, this time, perhaps because Lan Kai had resisted more fiercely, Juggler had even used the Liver-Exploding Fist on him, causing Lan Kai such intense pain that the world spun and his breathing nearly stalled.

After accidentally landing that punch, Juggler had become visibly panicked, terrified that he might kill Lan Kai in one blow and cause this book to end at light speed.

However, Lan Kai's gains this time were not insignificant; he had even obtained two cards.

Although the contents of the cards remained blurry and the colors were very faint, through the pale hues and the horn-like symbol on one of them, Lan Kai and Juggler recognized them as cards of Ultraman Taro and Ultraman Mebius.

"Burnmite Form, is it... Then I'll prepare a fire-attribute spirit for you. Given your current mental power and physical fitness, according to the rules of this world, fusing with a thousand-year spirit is no problem."

Juggler returned the cards to Lan Kai and immediately began to ponder what kind of spirit would be most suitable for him.

At the thousand-year spirit level, even with his status as the Fifth Spirit Envoy, it was not easy to secure a top-quality thousand-year spirit; he would have to find a way to pull some strings.

Of course, he could try to use his Demon Form to slaughter his way through the Spirit Pagoda and become the Pagoda Master, but that would be even more exhausting, and Juggler had no desire to lead such a massive and troublesome organization.

Managing an organization the size of STORAGE was just right—not too much work, and it kept things simple.

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

Just as Lan Kai was about to head out, Juggler suddenly shouted.

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

Lan Kai responded loudly.

As for why Gu Yue had arrived a month late, Lan Kai had gained some insight after being beaten (er, specially trained) by Juggler for a week.

Could it be that she saw the Ultra Slash and Specium Ray he had used and developed a competitive streak?

But setting aside whether Gu Yue could actually learn those two moves, even if she thought she had, Lan Kai wasn't afraid.

The power of light was not so shallow, and besides, the person Lan Kai studied for his light-beam skill imitations was none other than the brutal mage of the Land of Light, Ultraman Ace.

What surprised Lan Kai was that Juggler was actually a fan of Ultraman Ace, so when Lan Kai tried to study them, Juggler was able to offer some pointers.

He just didn't know if, given Ultraman Orb's reputation as the "King of Debt," he would ever have the chance to use an Ultraman Ace card to transform.

That evening, the Class Promotion Tournament, which had been postponed due to the typhoon, resumed. Lan Kai, along with the other students of Class 1, Grade 1, followed their homeroom teacher Ye Yingluo to the playground.

As for the other side participating in this tournament, Class 5, Grade 1, although all the students had arrived at the playground under the leadership of Wu Zhangkong, only two people followed closely behind him: Xie Xie and Gu Yue.

For some reason, Tang Wulin had not arrived at the scene.

Lan Kai wasn't surprised by this; Tang Wulin had likely just completed the first unsealing of the Golden Dragon King's power and couldn't manage his timing, forcing him to pay tribute to the Flame Emperor of the Battle Through the Heavens by arriving just in the nick of time to save the day.

However, for some reason, when Gu Yue saw Lan Kai, she immediately lifted her chin, revealing a provocative expression as if to say, "Little Lan Kai, watch me take you down!"

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

"Since you've taken the initiative to issue an invitation, I can't afford to lose face. I must respond with my full strength."

Lan Kai looked at Gu Yue calmly, a polite smile appearing on his face.