Xiao Qing? Xiao Qing!

Qian San's gaze was calm. He did not even release his martial soul. With a single step forward, his figure flickered like a ghost, effortlessly dodging Wang Duo's straight punch. Immediately after, Qian San used his opponent's momentum against him; he lightly tapped Wang Duo's wrist with his right hand, guided it, and then tripped him at the ankle with his left foot.

"Bang!"

Before Wang Duo could even touch the hem of Qian San's clothes, he lost his balance entirely and fell face-first onto the floor with a heavy thud, unable to scramble back up for a long time.

The entire Dorm Seven fell into dead silence.

Wang Duo climbed up, looking disheveled and clutching his aching arm. The look he gave Qian San was filled with awe. "I lost. You're strong. From now on, you're the new boss of Dorm Seven!"

Qian San felt nothing for this childish game of fighting for the position of boss. Just as he was about to refuse, the slightly ajar door of the dormitory was pushed open once more.

Everyone's gaze snapped toward the entrance, and they were all stunned.

A little girl stood at the door. She wore a blue-green martial outfit without a single unnecessary decoration, looking clean and sharp. Her long, jet-black hair was simply tied behind her head with a cyan ribbon, cascading down to her waist.

Unlike the lively and cute nature of ordinary little girls, her temperament was exceptionally cold. Her eyes were like deep, bottomless springs—calm, profound, and revealing a maturity and indifference far beyond her years. She was quiet and composed.

She stood there silently, like a green lotus growing in a secluded valley, independent and aloof from the world.

"Is this Dorm Seven?" the girl asked. Her voice was crisp but carried a faint sense of detachment.

"Ye... yes, it is." Wang Duo swallowed hard and hurriedly stepped forward, forcing himself to regain some of the dignity he had just lost as the former boss.

"You must be the new Work-Study Student, right? My name is Wang Duo. Let me introduce you: the rule of Dorm Seven is that newcomers must spar with the boss; if you win, you become the boss. This is Qian San. He just defeated me and is our new boss. Do you want to challenge him?"

The girl's name was Xiao Qing.

She tilted her head slightly, her cold gaze sweeping over Qian San without a hint of fighting spirit or any excess emotion.

"Not interested."

Xiao Qing dropped those three words, walked straight past Wang Duo, and went to an empty bed in the corner. She set down her meager luggage and sat quietly on the edge of the bed to organize it, as if the noise around her had nothing to do with her.

"Let him be the boss. Don't bother me."

Not long after Dorm Seven had quieted down, the half-closed wooden door was pushed open again.

A senior student walked in carrying a roll of brand-new, not-so-thick bedding. He scanned the dormitory and asked loudly:

"Who is Qian San? Teacher Ning Dagang asked me to bring this bedding over to you."

Hearing this, Qian San stepped forward and took the bedding, which was crudely made and felt somewhat stiff to the touch. He weighed it in his hands, silently complaining that the academy's food and lodging conditions were likely quite concerning.

Before his father, Qian Xunji, had left, he had stuffed a dozen Gold Soul Coins into his hands—a massive fortune in this small Nuoding City. He could have easily bought a set of high-quality silk bedding himself. However, sticking to the principle of "never turn down a freebie," he nodded in thanks and placed the bedding on his chosen bunk.

Xiao Qing, who had been sitting silently in the corner, fixed her gaze on Qian San's bedding.

She turned her head to look at her own bare, hard wooden bed. A flicker of contemplation crossed her calm eyes. She sat there in silence for exactly three seconds.

Then, she stood up and walked toward Qian San with silent steps.

"I've changed my mind." Xiao Qing's voice remained cold and devoid of ripples, as if she were merely stating a fact.

"I want to fight you. If I win, the bedding is mine."

Qian San raised an eyebrow. He sized up the seemingly frail little girl who possessed such an exceptionally steady temperament. She hadn't even bothered to look when Wang Duo's group was causing a ruckus, yet now she was initiating a challenge over a simple set of bedding. Moreover, his intuition told him that this girl was far from ordinary; she exuded a faint, dangerous aura that even he found unsettling.

As it happened, he also wanted to test her depth.

"Fine, I accept." Qian San stepped back, took a stance, and his expression turned serious. "Qian San, Martial Soul Blue Silver Spider, level ten."

As soon as he spoke, the entire Dorm Seven erupted in chaos.

"Level ten? Innate Full Soul Power?" Wang Duo's eyes widened as he exclaimed. "But... what the hell is a Blue Silver Spider? Isn't that a trash martial soul found everywhere in the woods? How could it have Innate Full Soul Power?" The other Work-Study Students were also filled with disbelief.

Xiao Qing's expression did not change in the slightest at the surrounding exclamations. Mimicking Qian San, she raised her palm slightly, her cold, childish voice echoing through the dormitory:

"Xiao Qing, Martial Soul Sky Azure Bull Python, level ten."

This time, the dormitory became even quieter. Sky Azure Bull Python? What kind of martial soul was that? The Work-Study Students looked at each other in confusion, having never even heard of it. But Qian San felt inexplicably that this martial soul was extraordinary—it was definitely not some common beast martial soul.

"Martial Soul Possession!"

Qian San let out a low shout, and a deep blue light instantly spread from his palms across his entire body. The phantom of a Blue Silver Spider flashed behind him, and immediately after, a layer of fine, deep-blue, lustrous Spider Armor covered his arms and chest.

The moment his martial soul possessed him, a pair of sharp, pointed spider spears protruded abruptly from the outer sides of his forearms, but they only appeared for an instant before he forcibly suppressed them with his will and retracted them into his body. This was just a friendly spar between classmates, not a life-or-death struggle.

In truth, according to the normal form of Blue Silver Spider possession, his lower body would have mutated into a massive spider abdomen with eight spider legs.

However, that would have made his volume too large and would have completely ruined the balance of his footwork for the Tang Sect's secret technique, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track. Therefore, before leaving Soul Saint Village, he had specifically consulted his father and learned this regional possession method that only covered his upper body while retaining his human legs.

Facing Qian San's readiness, Xiao Qing also channeled her soul power.

An ancient, heavy aura carrying the faint might of thunder erupted from her petite body. As cyan-blue light swirled, fine cyan scales quietly emerged on her arms and slender neck. Her eyes transformed into cold, vertical pupils at that moment.

Even with just the most basic Martial Soul Possession, the top-tier bloodline pressure of the Sky Azure Bull Python made the surrounding Work-Study Students involuntarily retreat, some even finding it difficult to breathe.

"I'm attacking," Xiao Qing reminded him coldly.