Sunny-Day Gu Yue

It was common knowledge that holidays always seemed to fly by.

Lan Kai could still picture himself heading to the Yuanen Clan's territory and beating the demons of the Demon Plane senseless alongside Juggler. Now he was back at Eastsea Academy, welcoming a new student with the rest of Class Zero: a cute girl with pale blue hair, whose looks far surpassed even Gu Yue's.

Seeing how Tang Wulin and the others seemed to know her, Lan Kai guessed the girl's name.

"Xu Xiaoyan, right? I remember she wasn't this meek in the original story. Did Tang Wulin and Gu Yue do something vicious to her?"

Xu Xiaoyan was even shyer than Lan Kai had expected, and she even seemed a little timid. He couldn't help frowning, and Wu Zhangkong also turned his gaze toward Gu Yue and Tang Wulin.

Lan Kai didn't need to enter the rampaging Primary Spirit Ascension Platform for the final exam, but that didn't mean the others got the same privilege. Wu Zhangkong had also watched their performance from start to finish. Though he hadn't shown any reaction at the time to how they had treated Xu Xiaoyan and her brother, Xu Xiaoyu, he had already taken a few points off Tang Wulin and Gu Yue in his mind.

Now, because of what had happened back then, Xu Xiaoyan was acting timidly with both Tang Wulin and Gu Yue present. Wu Zhangkong naturally had to find a way to address it.

"The holiday's over, so I need to reassess your abilities. You have half an hour to meditate and recover. We'll start with physical tests, then move on to combat assessments. You too."

Wu Zhangkong addressed the rest of Class Zero, directing his final words at Xu Xiaoyan.

Half an hour later, Xu Xiaoyan saw what a true monster looked like.

Every student in Class Zero had something exceptional about them and a signature technique. Each had several impressive stats in the physical tests.

But in front of Lan Kai, all their standout stats fell short of his "weakest points."

His stats crushed everyone across the board. They dealt a head-on blow to Gu Yue, who had thought she had a chance of catching up to him. Had this guy's strength really increased so much over the holiday?

It looked like even Teacher Wu, despite having advanced to Soul Saint, couldn't beat Lan Kai if he went all out.

Watching Lan Kai's back, Xu Xiaoyan's eyes turned into stars.

She truly hadn't expected that such a powerful Soul Master could be found in a small class like Class Zero. He looked far stronger than her brother.

If it hadn't been Tang Wulin and Gu Yue who'd attacked when they met in the Spirit Ascension Platform, but Lan Kai instead, just how badly would Xu Xiaoyu have been beaten?

"Next is the combat assessment. Xie Xie, Tang Wulin, Gu Yue—you three will team up against Lan Kai."

Wu Zhangkong arranged the matches without changing expression. His decision immediately caused an uproar in Class Zero.

Xie Xie stared at Wu Zhangkong in disbelief, then hurriedly raised both hands in a French military salute and surrendered on the spot.

"Teacher Wu, you want me to fight Brother Kai? Seriously?"

Xie Xie would rather challenge Wu Zhangkong one-on-one and recreate that famous moment when Wu Zhangkong had whipped him than fight Lan Kai.

That Ultra Slash could slice through a Soul Beast's body like it was nothing. If it cut those skinny arms or legs of his, he'd be disabled for the rest of his life.

Wu Zhangkong said nothing. He merely gave Xie Xie a calm look, then shifted his gaze to Tang Wulin and Gu Yue.

Xie Xie was just clowning around. Besides, Wu Zhangkong hadn't paired him with Tang Wulin and Gu Yue to target him.

First of all, Zhang Yangzi and Wang Jinxi were best buddies with a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. They couldn't be split up. What would even be the point of that?

More importantly, the combat assessment was mainly meant to rein in Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, whose confidence had grown a little too cocky. But if only those two faced Lan Kai, they'd stand no chance at all, even if Lan Kai had clearly said he wouldn't transform.

So they had to add one more person to give Tang Wulin and Gu Yue some support.

And of course, Xu Xiaoyan—who'd just arrived and seemed to have been scared into a psychological shadow by Tang Wulin and Gu Yue—was definitely not suited to facing Lan Kai head-on. Besides, her Martial Soul didn't seem capable of doing much against him.

Thus...

Xie Xie: Aah, Minos! Is my life not a life?!

Lan Kai: Don't worry. I believe in you—in your extensive experience at getting your ass kicked.

Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, under Wu Zhangkong's gaze, showed no sign of realizing what was going on.

Tang Wulin was fine. Since he hadn't done much last time, he was only thinking about how to combine his somewhat practiced control of the Golden Dragon King's power with the Tang Sect Secret Arts he'd just acquired, so he could last a little longer against Lan Kai.

But Gu Yue had already been possessed by Sunny-Day Sasuke. She wasn't just imagining herself defeating Lan Kai; she was even thinking about what to eat after she won.

Before long, the group arrived at the Sparring Arena, and the combat assessment began.

At Wu Zhangkong's signal, Tang Wulin and Xie Xie charged at Lan Kai from the left and right, moving at nearly the same speed and closing in like pincers.

They were naturally bolstered by the wind element Gu Yue had supplied, which made their bodies more nimble.

At the same time, Gu Yue had deliberately condensed ice into the shape of an Ultra Slash. Combining it with the hand-fashioned version of the disc she'd somehow managed to make, she fired at Lan Kai from several angles.

In terms of spectacle alone, Gu Yue had already left Lan Kai in the dust.

Xu Xiaoyan, watching from the sidelines, couldn't help clenching her fists. Her brother had left a huge opening under a similar attack, and Gu Yue had chased him right out of the Spirit Ascension Platform.

And now Gu Yue's attack was even more terrifying and more vicious than it had been in the Spirit Ascension Platform.

Could Lan Kai hold out?

Lan Kai quickly crushed the fear in Xu Xiaoyan's heart with his actions.

A Specium Beam Disc appeared beside him. As he controlled it with his mental power, it instantly smashed all of Gu Yue's flashy attacks to pieces, reducing them to dust. The dust formed an invisible wall of air not far from him.

Seeing this, Xie Xie didn't use the suddenly appearing "smoke" as cover to charge at Lan Kai. Instead, he turned and pulled away to the side, looking rather like that Ice Emperor who'd spotted a Buddha's Fury Lotus.

Tang Wulin, still charging headlong, had already activated his Golden Dragon Claw. He tried to rush Lan Kai and attack while covering Gu Yue.

Then Lan Kai slammed a fist into his shoulder joint. He immediately grabbed Tang Wulin's wrist and struck the crook of his elbow with a knife-hand blow.