Dai Mubai's White Tiger

Dai Mubai walked in, his one-meter-ninety-five frame broad as a door panel. His short golden hair was groomed to perfection, and he wore the academy uniform with an air of nobility.

A silver belt was fastened around his waist, inlaid with the crest of the Star Luo Empire's imperial family.

The moment Dai Mubai entered, he smelled blood. Looking down, he saw Oscar's lip still oozing blood, and the bruises on Tang San's face had yet to fade.

"Hm? What happened to you two?"

Tang San and Oscar exchanged a glance before recounting everything that had happened today, point by point.

From Xiao Wu beating Tang San senseless on the sports field, to Oscar's flying mushroom sausage inexplicably turning into stone, to Ning Rongrong knocking out Oscar's front tooth with a single punch.

After they finished, the room fell silent for several seconds.

Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun stared at each other in disbelief.

Ma Hongjun turned to look at Tang San, then at Oscar, and reached out to touch Tang San's forehead.

"It's not hot."

Tang San swatted his hand away. "I don't have a fever!"

"But Third Brother, this story is just too ridiculous." Ma Hongjun counted on his fingers. "Xiao Wu jumping from level 62 to 70 in a matter of hours? And Oscar, your own soul skill-manufactured mushroom sausage turning into stone? What kind of nonsense is this?"

Dai Mubai crossed his arms over his chest, leaning against the doorframe with a subtle expression on his face.

Ma Hongjun thought for a moment, pulled out an academy-issued communication soul tool, and dialed a number.

"Hello? Is this the infirmary? I have two friends in my dorm whose mental state seems a bit off today... Oh, I see. Increase the dosage, got it. I'll come pick up the medicine right now."

Ma Hongjun ended the call, walked in from outside the door, and put on a dead-serious expression.

Dai Mubai asked, "What did the doctor say?"

Ma Hongjun shrugged. "Need to take meds, increased dosage."

Tang San nearly choked on his own breath.

"Believe it or not, but I'm telling you, something is wrong today. Whether it's Xiao Wu or Ning Rongrong, something must have happened to them."

Dai Mubai listened for a long time, still convinced that the two of them had either messed up their cultivation or were simply losing their minds.

"Fine." Dai Mubai straightened up from the doorframe. "You go handle that; I'm going out for a walk to get some air."

"Alright." Ma Hongjun agreed, taking the communicator and walking out.

Dai Mubai followed him out of the dormitory building.

The night breeze blew by, carrying the scent of grass and soil. Dai Mubai took a deep breath and walked aimlessly along the small path within the academy.

As he walked, he found himself at the academy's training ground.

The training ground was different from the sports field; it was primarily for students to perform physical conditioning, filled with equipment, smaller in size, and dimmer in lighting.

A few dim soul-power lamps hung from pillars around the perimeter, bathing the entire training ground in a warm, orange glow.

In the center of the field, a figure was performing physical training.

Dai Mubai's footsteps slowed.

Zhu Zhuqing.

A black leather outfit clung to her skin, outlining the curves of her upper body in full detail. Her waist was impossibly narrow, leading down to a pair of full, rounded hips, with black leather pants tightly wrapping her long, straight legs.

Zhu Zhuqing was doing sprint training, running from one end of the field to the other and back again. Every step was crisp and powerful, the soles of her leather boots scraping against the stone floor with a sharp hiss.

After running who knows how many laps, Zhu Zhuqing stopped, bending over with her hands on her knees to catch her breath. Her forehead was drenched in sweat, black strands of hair clinging to her cheeks, and beads of sweat dripped from her chin onto the ground, shattering into droplets.

A patch of her black leather top was soaked through with sweat, clinging to her back and rising and falling with her breathing.

Dai Mubai's Adam's apple bobbed.

As a member of the Star Luo Empire's imperial bloodline and a well-known wealthy heir at the academy, he had been with at least fifty beautiful women, if not a hundred. But it was this type—the cold, aloof, unapproachable kind like Zhu Zhuqing—that drove him the most wild.

Dai Mubai straightened his collar and strode over.

"Yo, isn't this Miss Zhu Zhuqing? What's this, working so hard?"

Zhu Zhuqing's panting paused. With sweat still streaming down her forehead, she looked up and glanced at Dai Mubai.

"None of your business."

Dai Mubai wasn't angry at all; instead, he laughed.

The more she acted like this, the more interesting he found her. He would have been bored within three days of any girl who blushed the moment he spoke to her.

Dai Mubai took two steps forward, closing the distance to three meters.

"Let me tell you, Zhuqing, I've been thinking about something lately."

Zhu Zhuqing didn't want to deal with him and straightened her back, preparing to continue her training.

Dai Mubai's voice came from behind her: "I've discovered that I like white tigers more and more."

Zhu Zhuqing's footsteps halted.

Her martial soul was the Nether Spirit Cat, a feline soul beast that shared some lineage with tigers. Every time Dai Mubai said things like this, he was beating around the bush to take advantage of her.

"How about we make a date to go mountain climbing tonight?" Dai Mubai's voice carried a provocative, lazy tone. "And then I can ride the white tiger and do that—watch the sunrise and sunset. How about it?"

Zhu Zhuqing spun around abruptly, her eyes filled with nothing but disgust.

"Get lost! You scumbag!"

"Scumbag?" Dai Mubai shoved his hands into his pockets, tilting his head to look at her, his smile not wavering in the slightest. "Zhu Zhuqing, you need to face reality."

Dai Mubai took another step forward.

"You know full well how many favors your father owes the Dai family in the Star Luo Empire. Once you graduate, you have only one choice, and that is to marry me. By then, I will..."

Dai Mubai didn't finish his sentence, a meaningful smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

"Heh, heh, heh."

Whoosh! Zhu Zhuqing moved.

Her black silhouette flashed through the dim light, her speed whipping up a gust of wind. Her right hand transformed into a sharp claw, glinting coldly as it thrust straight for Dai Mubai's throat.

Bang! Dai Mubai didn't even budge.

His right arm instantly swelled, his sleeve stretching to its limit as the entire limb transformed into a massive white tiger's forepaw. The tiger claw was covered in gold-and-white fur, its five fingers thick and powerful, with claws an inch long protruding from the tips.

With a lift of his tiger paw, his palm caught her strike perfectly.

The sound of metal clashing echoed across the training grounds.

The tips of her claws pressed against the tiger's palm, failing to pierce even a layer of skin.

Dai Mubai looked down at Zhu Zhuqing, who was mere inches away, his expression condescending and his smirk unchanged.

"Level 62 Soul Emperor; you're six levels behind me. How do you expect to fight me?"

In their class, Dai Mubai's strength was second only to Tang San. With Zhu Zhuqing only at level 62, a six-level gap at this stage was a chasm that was nearly impossible to bridge.

Zhu Zhuqing's hand trembled; she could neither pull it back nor drive it forward. Sweat trickled from her forehead into her eyes, stinging sharply, but she didn't blink once.

The mocking face before her made her grit her teeth in hatred.

But she couldn't beat him; that was the reality.

Dai Mubai held her hand for a long moment before finally releasing his tiger claw.

Zhu Zhuqing retracted her hand and turned to leave without a word.

Her footsteps grew fainter until they vanished at the exit of the training grounds.

Dai Mubai stood where he was, flexing his right arm as it returned to its normal form, the smile on his face slowly fading away.

"What are you running for? Sooner or later, you'll be mine."