At the Spirit Academy's training grounds, the afternoon sun scorched the earth. The air was thick with the salty tang of evaporating sweat, mingled with the scent of soil and grass.
"Ha!"
Dai Mubai let out a thunderous shout as powerful Soul Power surged from his body.
His muscles bulged, stretching his clothes taut. An eerie light flickered in his eyes, and his golden hair stirred without a breeze.
With the White Tiger Martial Soul possessing him, he radiated the fierce aura of a king.
Across from him, Ma Hongjun was just as unwilling to yield. Flames of the Evil Fire Phoenix blazed around him, scorching the air until it warped.
The two traded blows, fists and feet colliding with dull thuds. Each exchange whipped up a fierce gust that sent dust swirling across the ground.
Oscar sat on the stone steps to one side, a cigar dangling from his lips. He clutched several freshly made Restoration Sausages, watching the fight intently and ready to provide backup at any moment.
Tang San stood alone at one corner of the training grounds, eyes closed. Rather than sparring, he had summoned the pitch-black Clear Sky Hammer, which hovered quietly before him. The ten-thousand-year black Soul Ring on its head emanated a heart-pounding pressure.
Tang San was repeatedly familiarizing himself with the surging power in his body after his Soul Power had broken through to level 72. He was feeling out the terrifying might of the "Titan Hammer," power enough to shake mountains.
A lackey in a gray short jacket came running from a distance, panting, his face wearing a strange expression. He didn't dare interrupt Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun while they sparred, nor approach the intimidating Tang San. He could only trot over to Oscar and report in a lowered voice.
"Master Oscar, Young Master Dai, we... we have news about those women."
Oscar glanced at him lazily. "Speak."
"Reporting, big brother Mu Bai, Xiao Wu and the other three are having hot pot with Shopkeeper Qin Chuan." The lackey lowered his voice even further, afraid Dai Mu"Bai, sparring in the distance, might hear him.
Oscar nearly choked on his cigar.
"Hot pot? Now? At this time of day?" He glanced incredulously at the blazing sun overhead, then at his brothers, drenched in sweat as they trained. Were those women out of their minds?
Dai Mubai had sharp ears. When he heard the words "hot pot," his movements faltered, and Ma Hongjun punched him in the chest. He stumbled back several steps.
"Fuck, what did you just say?" Ignoring the pain in his chest, Dai Mubai strode over to the lackey and grabbed him by the collar.
"Young... Young Master Dai, it's true." The lackey turned pale with fright. "Our people saw it with their own eyes. They're at that Claw Machine Shop. They've even set up the tables, and steam's rising from the pot. It smells so good... the whole street can smell it."
Dai Mubai let go and stood there, stunned. He imagined the scene: four women who should have been sweating it out on the training grounds, now gathered around a man, eating steaming hot pot.
A nameless fire suddenly flared in his heart.
"Hmph, they're still having hot pot at a time like this! Keep an eye on them!" Dai Mubai gritted his teeth and forced the words out. It was an outright insult to all their hard training!
The lackey fled in relief, stumbling over himself in his haste.
Training resumed, but the mood had clearly grown more volatile. Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun threw themselves into their attacks with extra ferocity, as if they were treating their sparring partners as those women lounging over hot pot.
Half an hour later, the lackey came running back, his expression even more animated than before.
"Reporting, big brother Mu Bai, we found Zhu Zhuqing and the others making dumplings with Shopkeeper Qin Chuan."
"Pfft!" Oscar spat out the mouthful of water he had just drunk.
"Making dumplings?" Dai Mubai stopped, the veins on his forehead bulging. "Are you fucking sure?"
"Absolutely!" The lackey grimaced. "They moved the table outside the shop. They're kneading dough and rolling out wrappers, while that Qin Chuan just sits beside them watching. Every so often, they even feed him a bite of the filling they mixed... They're laughing and chatting, like... like it's a festival."
"Heh, now that's interesting." Tang San, who had been silent all this time, finally opened his eyes. He put away the Clear Sky Hammer, the corner of his mouth curling into a cold smile. "Keep an eye on them."
Over the next few days, the four members of F4 seemed to descend into a frenzy.
They poured all their anger and confusion into training.
The spirit medicines sent by Dai Mubai's family went down their throats like candy.
The medicine's power rampaged through their bodies, its agony twisting their faces into grimaces, but not one of them complained. They only gritted their teeth and frantically circulated their Soul Power, refining that violent energy into cultivation.
Meanwhile, reports about those four women arrived like snowflakes, right on time every day.
"Reporting, big brother Mu Bai, we found Ning Rongrong watching a movie with Shopkeeper Qin Chuan."
"Reporting, big brother Mu Bai, we found Bai Chenxiang flying kites with Shopkeeper Qin Chuan."
Each report was like a potent drug, striking F4's fragile nerves hard.
They couldn't understand it. They just couldn't. Had those women truly fallen so far? Had they given up on cultivation to spend all day eating, drinking, and having fun with an ordinary man?
In Tang San's dormitory, the four sat cross-legged, steam from their medicinal baths still rising around them.
"It's strange. Have they really let themselves go? They haven't trained or meditated in days." Dai Mubai rubbed his damp hair, brows knitted.
"Who cares!" Ma Hongjun slapped his thigh. "The more they act like this, the better for us! In a month, let's see how they expect to fight us!"
"Exactly!" Oscar chimed in, looking just as excited. "As they fall behind, we pull ahead. We're getting stronger every day, while they're goofing off every day. In the arena tournament, Third Brother, you won't even have to use the Clear Sky Hammer. The three of us can take care of them and make them behave!"
A confident smile spread across Tang San's face. This was exactly the effect he wanted.
Letting their enemies sink into comfort and pleasure while they themselves rose higher through pain and hardship. The feeling of keeping their fate firmly in their own hands filled him with indescribable satisfaction.
"They're done for. Those four she-devils are completely finished!" Dai Mubai concluded, his voice brimming with glee. "But that's all the better. In a month, let's see how you die in the arena!"
A week passed just like that.
With abundant resources piled on and his own hard work, Tang San's Soul Power steadily rose to the mid-level of level 72.
Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Oscar each broke through as well, raising their Soul Power by one level.
On the training grounds, the four felt the power coursing through them, their faces beaming with confidence.
This absorption in cultivation, this feeling of growing stronger through their own efforts, filled them with a satisfaction they had never known before. It was even more intoxicating than their old days of lounging around bars and in the arms of beautiful women.
Sweat poured off all four of them as they looked at the flames burning in one another's eyes and saw each other's resolve.
"When the Freshman Arena Tournament begins, we'll wipe away the shame of our defeat!" Dai Mubai shouted.
The four formed a circle and stacked their hands atop one another, as if taking part in some sacred ritual.
"Good!"
"Very good!"
"Excellent!"
Their voices rang across the empty training grounds, brimming with energy and boundless anticipation for the future.
They could almost see themselves on the arena a month later, trampling the four women who had once humiliated them beneath their feet.