Dai Mubai walked in as well. He stood a towering six foot five, with shoulders broad as a doorway. His short blond hair was meticulously styled, and he wore the academy uniform with the air of a nobleman.
A silver belt was fastened around his waist, adorned with the crest of the Star Luo Imperial Family.
The moment Dai Mubai entered, he caught the scent of blood. Looking down, he saw that Oscar's mouth was still bleeding at the corner, and the bruising on Tang San's face had yet to fade.
"Hmm? What happened to you two?"
Tang San and Oscar exchanged a glance, then recounted everything that had happened that day, leaving nothing out.
From Xiao Wu beating Tang San black and blue on the sports field, to Oscar's Flying Mushroom Sausage inexplicably turning to stone, to Ning Rongrong punching out one of Oscar's front teeth.
When they finished, the room fell silent for several seconds.
Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun looked at each other.
Ma Hongjun turned to look at Tang San, then Oscar, and reached out to feel Tang San's forehead.
"You're not hot."
Tang San slapped his hand away. "I'm not running a fever!"
"But, Third Brother, what you're saying is way too far-fetched." Ma Hongjun counted on his fingers. "Xiao Wu went from level 62 to level 70 in just a few hours? And Oscar, the Mushroom Sausage made with your own Soul Skill turned to stone? What kind of nonsense is that?"
Dai Mubai folded his arms and leaned against the doorframe, his expression inscrutable.
Ma Hongjun thought for a moment, took out an academy-issued communication Soul Tool, and dialed a number.
"Hello, is this the infirmary? I've got two friends in my dorm who haven't seemed quite right mentally today... Oh, okay, okay. A higher dose, right? Got it. I'll come pick it up now."
After ending the call, Ma Hongjun walked in from outside, wearing an utterly serious expression.
"What did the doctor say?" Dai Mubai asked.
Ma Hongjun shrugged. "They need meds. A higher dose."
Tang San nearly choked.
"Fine, don't believe me if you don't want to. But I'm telling you, something was off today. Something must have happened to Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong."
After listening for so long, Dai Mubai still wondered if the two of them had trained themselves into a stupor and muddled their brains.
"Fine." Dai Mubai straightened up from the doorframe. "You go take care of it. I'm going out for some air."
"Sure," Ma Hongjun replied, heading out with the communication device in hand.
Dai Mubai followed him out of the dormitory building.
The night breeze swept over him, carrying the scent of grass and earth. Dai Mubai took a deep breath and wandered aimlessly along a path on campus.
Before long, he found himself at the academy training grounds.
Unlike the sports field, this place was mainly used for physical training. It had more equipment, a smaller area, and dimmer lighting.
A few dim yellow Soul Power lamps hung from pillars around the grounds, bathing the entire area in warm, orange light.
Someone was doing physical training in the middle of the grounds.
Dai Mubai slowed his steps.
Zhu Zhuqing.
She wore a black leather outfit that clung to her skin, its fit outlining her figure. Her waist was impossibly narrow, and below it her hips were full and rounded. Black leather pants hugged her long, straight legs.
Zhu Zhuqing was doing sprint drills, running from one end of the grounds to the other and back. Every stride was sharp and powerful, the soles of her boots scraping against the stone with a brief hiss.
After who knew how many laps, Zhu Zhuqing stopped, bent over with her hands on her knees, and panted. Her forehead was slick with sweat, and damp black strands clung to either side of her face. Droplets ran down her chin and splattered on the ground.
A patch of her black leather jacket was soaked through and clung to her back, rising and falling with each breath.
Dai Mubai's Adam's apple bobbed.
Dai Mubai, scion of the Star Luo Imperial Family and one of the academy's well-known rich kids, had been with at least fifty beautiful women, if not a hundred. But Zhu Zhuqing was his type: cold, aloof, and completely indifferent to him. That only made him more obsessed.
Dai Mubai straightened his collar and strode over.
"Well, if it isn't Miss Zhu Zhuqing. What's got you working so hard?"
Zhu Zhuqing's panting paused. Sweat still trickled down her forehead as she looked up at Dai Mubai.
"None of your damn business."
Dai Mubai wasn't angry in the least. Instead, he laughed.
The more Zhu Zhuqing acted this way, the more interesting he found her. He got bored of girls who blushed as soon as he spoke to them in three days flat.
Dai Mubai took two steps closer, reducing the distance between them to three meters.
"Listen, Zhuqing. I've been thinking about something lately."
Zhu Zhuqing didn't want to deal with him. She straightened up, ready to resume her training.
Dai Mubai's voice came from behind her. "I've realized I'm growing fonder and fonder of white tigers."
Zhu Zhuqing stopped in her tracks.
Her Martial Soul was the Hell Spirit Cat, a feline Soul Beast with some connection to tigers. Whenever Dai Mubai said things like that, he was always making a roundabout attempt to take liberties with her.
"How about we go climbing tonight?" Dai Mubai drawled, his voice lazy and obnoxious. "Then I can ride my white tiger and do that thing together, at sunrise and sunset. What do you say?"
Zhu Zhuqing spun around, disgust filling her eyes.
"Get lost, scumbag!"
"Scumbag?" Dai Mubai slid his hands into his pockets and cocked his head at her, his smile utterly undisturbed. "Zhu Zhuqing, face reality."
Dai Mubai took another step forward.
"You know how many favors your father owes my Dai Family in the Star Luo Empire. Once you graduate, you have only one choice: marry me. And then I can..."
Dai Mubai left the rest unsaid, a suggestive smile tugging at his lips.
"Heh heh heh."
Whoosh! Zhu Zhuqing moved.
Her black figure flashed through the dim light, fast enough to whip up a gust of wind. Her right hand transformed into a gleaming claw that shot straight for Dai Mubai's throat.
Bang! Dai Mubai didn't move an inch.
His right arm swelled in an instant, stretching his sleeve to its limit. The entire arm became a massive white tiger's forepaw. Golden-white fur covered the paw, its five thick fingers powerful and strong, each tipped with a claw an inch long.
The tiger paw lifted and caught her strike in its palm.
The sound of metal clashing rang through the training grounds.
The tip of Zhu Zhuqing's claw pressed against the center of the tiger paw, unable to pierce even the outermost layer of skin.
Dai Mubai looked down at Zhu Zhuqing, who was right in front of him. He towered over her, his smile unchanged.
"You're a level 62 Soul Emperor. I'm six levels above you. How do you expect to beat me?"
In their class, Dai Mubai's strength was second only to Tang San's. Zhu Zhuqing was only level 62, and at their level, a six-level difference was a chasm that was hard to cross.
Zhu Zhuqing's hand trembled. She couldn't pull it back or drive it forward. Sweat ran into her eyes and stung, but she didn't even blink.
The mocking smile on the face before her made her grit her teeth in hatred.
But she couldn't beat him. That was the truth.
Dai Mubai held her there for a while before releasing her with a loosening of his tiger paw.
Zhu Zhuqing pulled her hand back and turned away without a word.
Her footsteps grew fainter and fainter, then vanished at the training grounds' exit.
Dai Mubai stood where he was, flexing his right arm as it returned to its normal form. The smile slowly faded from his face.
"What are you running for? You'll be mine sooner or later."